Sponsors (1)

Joon-woo hummed along to their assigned song as it played off his phone. He sat on the practice room floor crisscrossing with a guitar in hand. The song they were assigned, based on the required original guitar segment, was 'Strawberry Cake' by Xdinary Villains. 

The song happened to be dance-less, and it more or less would be a performance similar to that of the vocal challenge, except Joon-woo would act as both a vocalist and a guitarist. 

Mi Yong and Ryeo Hyun were leading Sa Jung-Soo and Cha Ji-Hyuk in basic vocal exercises. They had left Joon-woo to his own devices, though Joon-wo hadn't asked for such. He figured that Mi Yong had assumed Joon-woo's guitar prowess was best developed when it was just Joon-woo and his thoughts.

And though they weren't totally wrong, Joon-woo felt as if a heavyweight was placed on his shoulders. He was hoping to lead Team One for this reason. Everyone knew Joon-woo was good at the guitar. Clips of his playing while busking went mega viral on applications like Tick Tock and Witter. Though he was named "Pretty Korean Guitar Guy" for the first couple days, he was eventually named as a Producer10 contestant and garnered some support.

That's why he hoped to lead Team One. They had to do a piano excerpt for their song for UI's 'Love wins all'. Joon-woo wanted to show his versatility of instruments. No one would be too expecting with the piano as they are the guitar. The ex-experienced idol Ha-rin felt a little stressed under such expectations. 

Still, sulking around was something idols never had time for. He couldn't sit and stress about doing well. He strummed at the strings to the guitar in a melody after a certain beat from the song.

He played notes of similar sound to the ones that played in the beat of the song. His strums were quiet at first, and only came in second-long intervals. Joon-woo blocked out the failure and hit high notes of his teammates in the back. He blocked it out and it felt natural. It felt as if he was Ha-rin again, busking again. 

The guitar was his escape. As Ha-rin, he would play it and practice on their rare free days. And as Joon-woo, his playing made him money to live. Ha-rin played the guitar on variety shows and got praised left and right. The guitar was one of the only things she took good care of when her depression got really bad. The guitar was his life. 

The large mirrors that had been giving him anxiety, their existence was forgotten within moments, and Joon-woo felt at peace. 

It was him and the music and the guitar. He played a string of notes, a notebook of scribbled notes. After every interval he erased or wrote something he thought fit. It was if he was disconnected from the floor, from the walls, from the world. 

And after about ten minutes of this process, Joon-woo took a particularly harsh breath. Suddenly, the walls and the floors he had drifted from, returned. The sound of his teammates doing vocal exercises, returned. Joon-woo, returned. And in front of him was a half-full page of notes that melded into a quarter of an original guitar segment for the song. 

Joon-woo dropped the pic from his hands with a heavy sigh. He hadn't gotten that entranced in guitar playing in a long time. He made an accomplished fist and small-y smiled. 

"Determined, aren't we?" A sly voice spoke. 

Joon-woo looked around, trying to find the source of the sudden voice. His teammates were still doing their vocal exercises without faltar. And Joon-woo gulped. Supernatural? He suddenly had another reason to jump Kite.

Eventually his eyes landed on a siamese with its face coated in dried blood. It sat about three yards away and looked at Joon-woo with a mischievous glint in his eyes. Joon-woo looked at his teammates. They didn't notice the cat, meaning this was more supernatural bullshit. 

"You're good with that guitar, Jung Ha-rin." The siamese spoke. 

Joon-woo flinched. 

"Who're you?" He spoke low, so his teammates wouldn't overhear and think him to be schizophrenic. 

"I'm a sponsor." The siamese replied, "Though you wouldn't know me." 

Joon-woo paused. Wasn't Kite his sponsor? If so, why was another approaching him? And why was it bloody? Joon-woo narrowed his eyes at the blood on the cat's figure. 

"The blood isn't mine, if that's what has you staring." The siamese purred. 

"Then…" Joon-woo went to begin, but trailed off. 

"It's Ha Jang-Soo's." 

Joon-woo help back a shocked expression with all his might. 

"I was his sponsor." The siamese added as if that would clarify much. 

Most people, based on Joon-woo's questioning, couldn't recall Producer Jang-Soo ever existing. The nationally-renowned producer, gone– forgotten? Was this little cat the cause? Would the same thing happen to him? 

"What… What happened to him?" Joon-woo asked in caution. Perhaps he would get more insight into his own fate. 

The siamese looked saddened, but just for a moment. "Don't you want to know my name?" 

Joon-woo furrowed his brows. Weren't sponsors supposed to be cooperative? "Tell me, please."

The siamese shrugged, "He finished his mission and wanted to pass on. The name's Carre, by the way, thanks for asking…" The siamese, Carre, huffed as if five years old. 

"...Pass on?" Joon-woo questioned, "Is that why… no one remembers him?"

"So you noticed. A smart contractor, aren't you?" Carre teased, playfully rubbing against Joon-woo's side. 

The soft fur sent shivers down Joon-woo's spine. It was an uninvited touch, in which he was quite sensitive too right now. 

He shoved the cat off of him, though the cat barely reacted at all. He fell back on his butt with a quiet thud. 

Such a thud got the attention of his teammates, who barreled over his way with concerned expressions and half-dead voices.

"I'll be back tonight, cutey~" Carre cooed, cat-walking away from Joon-woo and not sparing a glance to him. 

Mi Yong placed his hands on Joon-woo's shoulder, getting to his level. 

"Joon-ah? What happened, are you okay?" Mi Yong asked, letting go of Joon-woo at Ryeo Hyun's gestures too.

Joon-woo stared off into the wall where Carre had just disappeared to. He slowly nodded in reply to Mi Yong's question. 

Sa Jung-Soo picked up Joon-woo's messy paper of notes. His eyes widened at the progress. 

"It's been only fifteen minutes, you already have this much down?" Sa Jung-Soo asked, all attention turned to the half-full note paper. 

Joon-woo nodded, awkwardly scratching the back of his neck at the admiration. "I mean… I guess…" 

Cha Ji-Hyuk threw himself over Joon-woo's shoulder. Joon-woo couldn't help but flinch this time. 

"You're really a genius aren't you?" Cha Ji-Hyuk joked. 

"Ji-Hyuk." Ryeo Hyun warned, pulling Cha Ji-Hyuk off of Joon-woo with ease. 

Joon-woo appreciated that Ryeo Hyun and Mi Yong took hints to Joon-woo's dislike for physical contact. He shifted out of everyone's grip and his cheeks were a bit red as a wave of praise for his songwriting came his way.

In the back of his mind, a thousand worries weighed. Worries that he couldn't confide in anyone about, because they were supernatural…

–+–

Joon-woo's mind was foggy when he entered his dorm. Each team was given a week to have a performance ready. Luckily, Joon-woo's team was one of the two that didn't have any dance to learn, and it was just singing and a guitar piece Joon-woo had to learn.

It was late and as usual, Ryeo Hyun stayed back to practice more. This left Joon-woo and Reggie to their own devices in the room. It was 10:20 P.M. and Reggie being the early sleeper he was, was passed out on his bed and lightly snoring. 

Joon-woo pursed his lips at the sight. That meant he could finally get some answers from Kite and that siamese prick, Carre. 

He looked for the bird in the dorm, but only found its traces; feathers. Joon-woo gulped, a bit worried. The image of Kite gored out in the bathroom sink was an image he knew well. 

"Kite..?" Joon-woo quietly questioned. 

A light thud came from the bathroom. 

Joon-woo almost ran in. 

In the bathroom, Joon-woo spotted Kite. But by proxy and to his surprise, Carre stood above the bird, pining it to the bathroom floor. Cat fur and feathers littered the floor. 

"...what?" Joon-woo questioned. The animals looked at him with surprise. Kite seemed a bit fearful and Carre, just curious. "You guys better explain what's going on…"