Fire (6)

Joon-woo looked in the mirror of his apartment. 

Kite rested on his shoulder, judging Joon-woo's wet, stringy hair and slouched body. Joon-woo was exhausted. Despite listening to Ryeo Hyun's advice, cutting his practice short for the sake of… his body? Joon-woo didn't exactly remember what the man had told him. He just knew he had hurt Ryeo Hyun.

Joon-woo had made his Hyung admit to a hard time in his life. Joon-woo had reminded Ryeo Hyun of a hard time in his life. He had no intentions to do such a thing, as more blindsided with the fact Joon-woo was once Jung Ha-rin, both beloved and hated in her career. Joon-woo was Jung Ha-rin, who grew able to live with 3 hours of sleep, just 1,000 calories of food, and intense 24/7 schedules. 

But what weighed most on his mind, is that today he and Team One would perform 'Fire'. They would perform 'Fire' with the expectation of doing it well, thanks to the appearance of lead dancer of Winner Mi Yong. They would perform in front of Misa, who had asked and expected Joon-woo to improve. 

But with the hours of missed practice, could he really do as she wanted? Could he truly actually do the talents of his team justice? The thoughts weighed his mind in intervals of 20lbs. 

Kite watched the sight of Joon-woo with a blank face. 

"Kite, do you think I'll do okay?" Joon-woo asked, anxiously picking at his skin. 

Kite tilted his head, "I think you'll do fine, I don't know why you're stressing so much." It replied, juxtaposed with Joon-woo's jittery nature. 

"Fine?" Joon-woo asked, sensitive to the word.

"Great." Kite correctly, "You'll do great. You worked too hard to not do anything less." It reassured. 

Joon-woo shook his head, still unconvinced. "Not hard enough…" He murmured, the hours of missed practice crossing his mind, "God, Kite– couldn't you give me a body that actually knew how to dance?" He joked.

"That's not in my control." Kite shrugged, a bit snappy, Joon-woo caught.

"Well would you tell the person in control, God, if he exists, to do better next time?" Joon-woo asked, anxiety present even in his joking state.

Kite rolled his eyes, "I'll be sure to pass on the message." It replied sarcastically. 

–+–

Joon-woo wore blue skinny jeans and a faux leather jacket over a white t-shirt. He looked at himself in the mirror of the backstage and frowned, as Joon-woo's visuals definitely didn't suit this look. It highlighted just how slim his legs were and with the way the jeans puddled at his ankles he looked even shorter. 

Next to him stood his team, Team One. They all were grouped up, chatting about their worries and Joon-woo stood away, aloof. 

During the span of their teaming, Joon-woo had never gotten close with his team. He knew he was just burrowing himself in a corner of evil editing, but it didn't really faze him. The only thing he was really focused on was his dancing. Improving each move and Joon-woo's lacking physique. 

But he truly hadn't realized how much he isolated himself until now. Until he watched them discuss, Mi Yong in the middle, giving them some speech about doing well and believing in oneself. Until he watched his teammates gather and realized he was really never part of the team in the first place. 

When he turned around, he spotted Ryeo Hyun's team. He spotted them huddled together and laughing about something, as their faces were red with laughter. Decked out in modern street wear they smiled, decked out in modern street wear they genuinely got along.

Joon-woo turned to Reggie's team. They wore all black and tight clothing, as if trying to pull up a sexy concept. And while not joking around like Ryeo Hyun's team, they seemed to be content, lightly talking and Reggie watching with intense eyes. 

Then Joon-woo turned back to his own team, and a feeling all too familiar began to build at his gut. Loneliness. Joon-woo was lonely.

He licked at his lips, senses on fire when he felt a camera presented in his direction. He sighed, red recording dots blinking all over his body as if taunting him. And in his shaky stance he stood. He stood and quietly tried to join his group, lingering lightly in the back. 

Joon-woo began to hear Mi Yong's words, mid speech, "We Team One, have worked hard and worked tirelessly. We have grown friendships and memories as a team that will be reflected in the accuracy and skills of our dance today." Mi Yong said, an excited smile plastered across his face. 

It was as if Mi Yong had been itching for something like this, a chance. As if he had been itching for another chance to stand on stage, to lead and capture glances of admiration, to be an idol. 

Joon-woo tilted his head at Mi Yong's excitement. 

Mi Yong was 24. Jung Ha-rin was 29. And still, Ha-rin remembered being 24 and she remembered being tired. Ha-rin remembered being exhausted every hour of every day until she stepped onto a stage and suddenly she was the most energized she'd ever been. 

Now as Joon-woo, he watched Mi Yong as his eyes glimmered with the hope of being able to succeed. Joon-woo was a bit swooned by such, but ultimately, was jealous. Could he ever feel so excited to perform again? Could the faces of happy fans fulfill him like that used to?

Mi Yong suddenly made eye contact with Joon-woo as he said, "Let's do well!" 

Joon-woo felt chills run along his body and was the only Team One member that didn't cheer at Mi Yong's speech. Instead he stood, looking at Mi Yong who looked back with a small smile. 

Mi Yong created a fist and mouthed: "Fighting." With an encouraging smile. 

Joon-woo tilted his head and rubbed at his eyes, had Mi Yong meant Joon-woo? Joon-woo looked behind him. Maybe Mi Yong meant someone else? 

His thoughts were interrupted by FYP's loud voice cong from the trainer's judge table that sat facing the currently empty stage. FYP sat, in a suit with a microphone in hand. 

The backdrop of the stage had a list of each team, accompanied by the average ranking of each team. The average ranking that had haunted Team One like a hawk to its prey. 

"May Team Five come to the stage!" FYP requested with confidence. 

And as rehearsed a few moments before, Reggie and his team walked far across the stage. 

"Team Four!"

Team Four took their spot. Then Team Three, then Team Two, and finally…

"Team One!" FYP said, with much more enthusiasm than he had said the rest. 

Joon-woo and Team One made their way into the middle spot of the stage, as thanks to Mi Yong's rank they were in focus the most. 

All contestants stood facing the ranking chairs and the Judge's table. Both Misa and FYP holding clipboards and serious faces. The ranking chairs were unlit, and due to the bright stage lighting, they seemed almost black. 

"Contestants," Misa began, "I hope you all have worked hard for today!" She said with a smile. 

FYP then spoke up, "That being said, we also hope you all knew the consequences for not working hard enough…" He spoke ominously, trainees stiffened, even Mi Yong. "Team leaders, please step forward!" 

The top five hesitantly stoop a step in front of their team, their faces frozen with both fear and anticipation. Mi Yong looked back at the team sadly, before looking to the front. 

"Each of you has many teammates, 9, to be exact." FYP started, making eye contact with each leader, his eyes lingering longer on Mi Yong. "And that in total is 50 contestants. But we, regretfully, cannot move on to the next round without any losses." 

As if the sun set early, the room's mood dipped into the negatives as everyone picked up on what FYP meant. Joon-woo suddenly felt quite bad for the leaders who looked back at their teams with gulps. 

"40 contestants. That's how many we want left by the end of this round." FYP revealed. 

Many gasps rang throughout the room, faces darkening dramatically.

"But!" FYP continued, noticing the change in mood as it was hard to miss, "This would usually mean each team leader has to choose two teammates to eliminate, but this year, we've decided to spice it up…"

As if having to choose two to eliminate was light, FYP stopped talking, Misa opened her mouth with a sad expression, "The team that gets last, their leader, regardless of rank, must choose THREE people from their team to send home." She revealed. 

The leader of Team Five pursed his lips at this, very clearly losing his composure compared to the other team leaders. Joon-woo observed this and sent a worried glance Reggie's way. 

"Which allows the team that ranks first, for their leader to only choose one person to eliminate…" Misa finished, a deathly silence engulfing the entire room. 

Suddenly, the once happy, socializing teams went silent, distrust and unsurity filling their eyes. In Joon-woo's team, the small cliches that had formed suddenly strengthened, as their eyes and a whole lot of pressure fell on Mi Yong. 

Mi Yong looked at Joon-woo, then the 50th and 49th placed contestants, the cliche of painfully average people, and then to his posey of glazers. He placed his hand over his mouth as the distrustful gazes fell upon him. Suddenly the pre-stage speech was nullified. 

Joon-woo, if being honest, expected some sort of cruel twist. He just hadn't expected the trainers to reveal it before they even performed their stage. He looked at Mi Yong with pity, as even though he appeared to be composed, Joon-woo knew better. He knew Mi Yong was stressed because who wouldn't be? He knew that blank expression partnered by twitching hands meant nothing but panic. 

Joon-woo's gaze was different from the rest of Team One's towards Mi Yong. And it appears Mi Yong noticed it, almost smiling at the pity Joon-woo shot his way. 

Misa controlled her frown at the scattered reactions, but as if forced, opened her mouth to continue. "With the news out of the way, let's choose a team order!"

The mood in the room was not suited for such, but still the backdrop suddenly listed each team on an organizer. Each name was constantly changing places, creating an undecided loop. 

After a few seconds of consistent rotation, the backdrop froze. It froze, placing teams in an order they would perform in. 

Joon-woo pursed his lips as he read the list in full. Team One was last. Team One was after every team, and they would have to end with something above what every other team before them had shown. Joon-woo would have to do better than he had ever practiced. And he wondered, with his hours of lost practice, could he do it?