Fire (1)

"Hyung, I can't believe we're on a team together!" Mi Yong's posey, ranked 27th, Jong Dae exclaimed. He pulled on Mi Yong's side as glued to it. 

Mi Yong nodded, "Yes, yes, same to you Dae-ssi." He replied, turning to the entirety of Team One behind him with a weak smile, "Nice to team with you guys…" He said with a bow. 

Jong Dae chimed in to Mi Yong's works, "Yes! Let's win!" He cheered, still glued too close to Mi Yong's side. 

Joon-woo nodded, chiming into the sea of "You too, Hyung."'s just like the rest of the team. 

Cameras were rolling, each team had at least a camera pointed their way, recording their words, the way their faces moved and twisted, and every way their body language shifted. They still should by their newly formed teams, facing the stage and awaiting the words of Misa as she still stood upon the stage. 

The average rank of each team had been zoomed in and everyone's eyes were on Joon-woo's team's 34th ranked average. All of Team One's faces had dropped at the number, 50th and 49th place trying to make themselves smaller at the sight. Joon-woo imagined the edits when the first episode aired. It would zoom in on their faces with a nerve building caption and probably highlight Mi Yong looking oddly at 50th and 49th place. 

Joon-woo shook his head, as Misa began to explain again. 

"Do you guys like your teams!" She asked. 

Rehearsed 'yeses' rank from the contestants, Joon-woo included. 

Misa smiled at the reply, "Great, great!" She cheered, "Now it's time for song selection…" She revealed.

Many contestants visibly stiffened, the cameras caught it. Joon-woo didn't catch his lack of reaction until too late, he knew the camera probably caught that too. 

The backdrop began to change, various song titles appearing on screen and spinning in a medium-paced circle along the screen. Joon-woo frowned at the song titles. Drown by PXP, Lightning-erous by WildBoyz, LEAP by J2Harmony, and the names that surprised Joon-woo the most, U.U by MNIXX and Fire by STB.

U.U was not only a Girl Group song, but also known by the people as the song you either hate or like, and Fire made every contestant sweat. It had intense and well synchronized choreography and was known to be hard to master and do well. With the luck Team One had going for them, Joon-woo knew not to expect much, he just silently prayed for anything but Fire. 

He looked at Mi Yong. Mi Yong was Winner's lead dancer. He had dance breaks in each music video and was at one point considered one of K-Pop's 4th gen best dancers. He gulped as Mi Yong seemed to intently stare at Fire with determination in his eyes.

"Contestant Mi Yong." Misa called, "As rank one, you get to take the first pick!" She announced and all eyes fell on Mi Yong, cameras too. 

Mi Yong looked over to us, then to Joon-woo. He suddenly opened his mouth, "May I discuss with my team?" He asked, slightly tilting his head and loosening his stiff chance as if using his charm to swoon a 'yes'. 

It seemed to work, as Misa nodded yes, granting the group a minute of discussion. 

Mi Yong, rubbed the back of his neck, "Can we… we all dance?" He cautiously asked. 

Various 'yeses' rang through the team. It was just Joon-woo, and the 50th-49th duo that didn't reply. Joon-woo awkwardly scratched at his collarbone as his team members eyes well on him. They had expected the last placed contestants to be no good, but 13th?

"Ah, Joon-woo are you not a good dancer?" Mi Yong asked, tilting his head in confusion. 

Joon-woo ran his hands through his hair anxiously, "I'm not, Hyung." He quietly admitted, pierced through by the gazes of his surprised teammates. 

Joon-woo gulped, his teammates looked a bit unsure, as their 2nd highest ranked member was a no-good dancer. Joon-woo felt bad. Mi Yong seemed to lose a bit of spark in his eyes from Joon-woo admitting such. Was Joon-woo burdening Mi Yong more? Would the viewers go aggro on him for being a catfish from his rank to his dance skills?

"But we can still choose a dance oriented song!" Joon-woo suddenly continued, "I can learn!" He said, looking at Mi Yong a bit guilty. 

Mi Yong seemed a bit relieved, but still stressed out by his low-ranked team. He nodded, "Great." He said, looking back up at Misa as if to signify, finished. 

Misa smiled when Mi Yong looked up, "We pick 'Fire'." He said confidently. 

Gasps rang throughout the room, murmurs too. Misa looked pleasantly surprised at the answer, flashing a concerned glance to Joon-woo, who was too busy internally panicking to notice. 

The backdrop suddenly erased 'Fire' from the circle. Then it was time for Team Two to pick. 

Joon-woo, who had tried to pay as much attention as could, just watched in worry. He knew heavy practice days were to come and he knew that his fear of judgment was what had put him in his situation. He just couldn't handle the way Mi Yong looked confused, disappointed, like he had expected more from Joon-woo. 

That being said, he had made himself an easy target for evil editing now, bringing down a team though ranked the 2nd highest? It was perfect for editors and Joon-woo knew he would have to try his very very best to prove himself a hard worker, as he knew people would assume him a slacker. A cheater even who didn't belong in 13th place.

Proving himself was something Joon-woo grew tired of doing. He had to do it everyday as Ha-rin Sure, seeing the people who doubted him falter when he succeeded was satisfying, but he hated the process of it. He hated putting hours upon hours of an already large workload just so she would be looked at with the respect of a male idol who worked hours less. She would lose pound after pound so the scale would praise her name, so when she stepped out on stage she was seen as a perfect body, a perfect woman.

But again, he had let his anxiety control his mind and he would have to prove himself all over again, and it was his fault.

–+–

"Joon-woo!" The instructor scolded, pausing the chorus of 'Fire' and walking over to Joon-woo with a baggy-eyed expression. "You need to have more power when you drag your leg! And your arm, why aren't you raising your arms correctly?"

Joon-woo looked down at the ground, embarrassed. The cameras were rolling, the cameras saw his faltering movements and he knew the editor wouldn't miss it for the world. "Sorry, Teacher…" He replied quietly, trying his best to not look up at his teammates. 

The Instructed moved on to scold the last ranked contestants, who also apologized for their incompetence, but Joon-woo didn't care. They had the right to struggle in their respective spots, but not Joon-woo. 

And as the hours of practice continued, his situation only worsened. They weren't gonna sing live. It was revealed, as this challenge was a dance challenge, not a singing one. Joon-woo cursed at his luck, would anything go his way?

One by one, his teammates began leaving. Only the first hour of practice was recorded and after the 2nd hour, everyone was free to leave.

They each said their goodbyes, until three hours later just Joon-woo remained. His face was red with sweat, under arms were wet with sweat. He collapsed onto the practice room floor, his head was ringing and there was an ache in his feet. 

He had the dance memorized, he had it memorized since the first time they went over it. But his body just couldn't do it. His body wouldn't move to his brain's wants and compared to his dance-oriented teammates, he was no good. 

Park Joon-woo's dance had gotten a bit better thanks to Reggie's help, but it was just average. It was nothing compared to Mi Yong, who practically flew across the floor as if an angel. Not to mention it seemed most of the team had specialized in dance rather than singing, so of course their dance far outnumbered Joon-woo's.

He chugged down what was left in his water and looked to the ceiling. 

It was 7 P.M., just staff and a few contestants packing up were left in the building. His group only had three days to get the choreography down, and Joon-woo couldn't dare waste any time he had to improve.

He got up, the clock reminding him that time was limited, prepared to begin the routine again. By now his vision was fogged with exhaustion, his body overworked and crying for rest. His feet just socked felt flat and ached whenever he walked. But he still began again. 

His movements were getting sharper, his body slowly getting adjusted to the choreography, but it wasn't enough. He had told Misa he was willing to improve, so here he was. He had promised his team he was willing to grow his skills, so here he was. 

It was when he finished up with the ending fairy pose the team had decided on, his breath was heavy and his ears rank, which is probably why he didn't hear the voice coming from the practice room door. 

"Joon-woo?" The voice called, a bit louder. "Why are you still here?" 

Ryeo Hyun stood at the door.