[IC] Life of Trainees

[OliveYou]

Evaluation Day

"All trainees, proceed to the basement. Please take your seats around the stage and wait to be called."

---

---

Those words, the bane of anxious trainees and the delight of confident ones, ring throughout the AS Entertainment main floor, causing the hopeful students to stop their work and listen. Whether in the middle of stretching, talking, or practicing, the trainees drop what they're doing and begin their march of death down the company stairs and into the Judgement Room, commonly called the basement. Managers and staff members monitor the trainees as they enter, nervous chatter interspersed with vocal warm-ups silenced at the sight of the mock-up stage placed against the back wall. Even the bravest of them can attest to the feeling of cold fear that washes over them when they see the stage, for the knowledge of their fate--and the remembrance of last year's evaluation, for an unlucky few--is terrifying indeed.

For Yuzuru, this stage is a challenge. And, having seen it every month for the last three years, not a particularly difficult one. The routine, at this point known by heart, is simple: sit down and wait for your name to be called.

Most trainees who await evaluation day each month, have prepared their skills beforehand (unless you joined yesterday), and Yuzuru in particular has a good idea of what he wants to show on stage. After showcasing his dancing talents quite extensively for the past three years, he needs to prove himself worthy of debut by giving them something new. Thus, his idea: a self-choreographed, mixed martial arts routine interspersed with a vocal (in Korean, no less) performance of Infinite's "Bad."

To Yuzuru, the Korean language is still not as familiar and beautiful as his mother tongue, but five years in South Korea is more than enough time to coax the vowels and words of Korea into his vocabulary. He hasn't gotten rid of his slight accent yet; this is mostly due to his ongoing use of Japanese to speak to his family on Fridays, and his love for Japanese music, traditional or otherwise. And while he knows that foreigners, even ones from close by, like the Chinese and Japanese, can be singled out for being "different," he can never fully leave behind his culture. A part of him would never accept that and besides, his mother would be gravely disappointed.

So, while his tongue is busy going over the lyrics of "Bad," Yuzuru's heart is firmly Japanese. He's at AS Entertainment for a reason, after all--they promised an opportunity for anyone who could work hard enough to achieve them.

The crackle and screech of the faulty audio system draws Yuzuru out of his thoughts and back into the dirty yellow walls of AS Entertainment's basement, where the General Manager stands on the makeshift stage, characteristic frown on his face and mic in hand. If the rickety, years-old metal chairs don't alert you to the real nature of AS Entertaiment's financial status, then maybe the coffee stains on Manager Taeyung's well-worn yellow sweater will, along with the dark bags under his eyes.

"Alright, listen up, 'cause I'm only gonna say this once. If you've been here for years, you know the drill. But, since we have a new recruit--" At this point, Manager Taeyung consults the papers in his hands; "--Song Daehyun. Right. Okay. Today's schedule is as follows: First, solo performances. You've prepared ahead of time, I would hope. We'll call your name, you get up here, do your part, get down. Next, the girls, under dance instructor Ms. Lee, will have their dance performance of Very Very Very, and the guys have a performance of..." Manager Taeyung rubs his eyes, squinting at the paper in his hands. Somebody hands him a pair of glasses. "...Shinee's Lucifer. Good luck." He then steps off the stage and collapses into a nearby chair.

Yuzuru sucks in a breath, squaring his shoulders. He's been practicing so long, he no longer gets any stage fright, but the sudden pre-concert nerves? Regretfully, still very present. At times like these, he focuses on his mother's words before he left for Korea: "Make us proud." Don't come home until you're famous, she teased, but Yuzuru knows there will always be an empty place at the dinner table just for him. His step-sisters, too--

"Kang Hanseul! Please come up on stage!"

--But right now, Yuzuru will wait his turn. The opportunity will come itself soon enough. For now, he--and every other trainee--just needs to wait.

@KimHanuel@Lovely Complex@TheDookieNut@KatKook@Lady Ostara@Hey Im Jordan@Fabricant451

[Lady Ostara]

---

---

---

---

_{ICN Airpot->Company Car->AS Entertainment Building
Interacting with Eachother, Kyumin and anyone else}

---

_{"On behalf of Seoul Airlines and the entire crew, I’d like to thank you for joining us on this trip and we are looking forward to seeing you on board again in the near future. Have a nice day!”}

HeeYoung pushes her glasses up as she puts away the book she was reading, Turning in her seat to look at her sleeping brother. She starts to poke his cheeks. "Suny~ We are here now!" She said as she continued to poke his cheeks. "Ugh, I'm up! knock it off Noona!" JaeSun said as he slaps his sister's hands from his face. HeeYoung laughed as she backed away from her little brother, She quickly put her hair in a messy bun and opens the overhead bin where their carry on luggage was stored. JaeSun yawns and stretches before gets out of his eat and starts to help HeeYoung, "You told Kyu-Hyung what time to pick us up right?" He asks her as he takes the bags she was holding as they walk to the exit of the airplane. "Of course..." She says as she texts Kyumin to let him know that they just arrived. She pushes her phone in front of her brother's face when she gets a response back."See, he's already at baggage claim!" The Twins quickly made their way to baggage claim only stopping when people who recognized them, asking for photographs or just to shake their hands. The Twins smiled and happily took pictures with whoever approached them, Spotting a sign as soon as they reach Baggage Claim that read "My Brats! My Twins! Welcome home!!!" Both HeeYoung and JaeSun walk over to the sign where They see Kyumin pulling their luggage off the conveyor belt and onto a cart. "Kyu Hyung/Oppa!" The Twins say in sync, Kyumin smiled at them as he places the last bag on to the cart. "it's good to see you two, had fun on your trip?" He asked as He gave the twins a hug, He stepped back and looked at the twins. "So? would you like to go home or to AS?" He asked them as he pushed the luggage cart to where a black van was parked in front of baggage claim, The twins shared a look before answering in sync "AS, we were able to change before we departed the plane" Kyumin nodded his head, as he and JaeSun started to load the car together.

He looked over the twins' clothing again, "It should be fine, If Evaluations have started the clothes won't cause any restrictions" He thought to himself, as he took not of JaeSun's White v-neck tee, Blue Jeans and white sneakers. The only thing He was worried about was if HeeYoung would get cold, She was wearing a navy tank top with black shorts and black boots. Taking off his leather jacket he handed it to her for her to wear. "Here, Don't want you getting sick." "Thanks oppa!" she said cheerfully as she put on his jacket. She quickly hops into the front passenger seat before her brother can get it, She childishly stuck her tongue out at him as she closed the door. As they drove towards where AS is located, They sang along with the radio. The Twins were dancing in their seats while singing. Kyumin would laugh at their antics if he caught them making faces at each other, He was glad they were back. He and Taeyung were started to think they might comeback, Usually when they go on their birthday trip The Twins are usually gone for one week. This time The Twins were gone for three weeks, "They must have had a lot of fun, They came back with more luggage than they left with" He thought to himself as he catches a glance of The Twins luggage, He was broken out of his thoughts when he heard HeeYoung say "Suny! get out my ukulele and Taeyung's gifts! I can see AS already!" She was bouncing in her seat with excitement. Kyumin laughed at JaeSun, He had fallen a few times while searched for what his sister told him to find.

"Alright Guys! We are here!" Kyumin said as he parked the car by the entrance, "Great... Which one Taeyung's gift again?" JaeSun said, holding up to bags One orange and another Yellow. HeeYoung points at the yellow one as she grabs her ukulele case from the top the pile of luggage, Kyumin looked at the gift bags curiously. He really wanted to see what was in the bags. JaeSun puts away the orange bag as he follows after his sister, who was already out and waiting by the door. "Come on Hyung let's go before she leaves us" Kyumin quickly follows after The twins, locking the van behind him. He flinched lightly as he could already hear the AS rumor mill running as the Twins stepped into the building. Many people whispering, but no one approaching The Twins. He could hear the snippets of conversations,
_{"Oh! they're back” "Thought they got fired?” "I heard...” "isn't it true that?...” "cause problems...”}
He couldn't see The Twins' faces. But he could tell that they didn't appreciate the whispering. He throws his arms around The Twins' shoulder, standing between the two of them leading them to where Taeyung's office. He was about to knock on the door when the P.A. system crackled to life and a announcement was made.

"All trainees, proceed to the basement. Please take your seats around the stage and wait to be called."

In sync The Twins muttered "Really?" Kyumin laughed at similarity of Why that was showing on their faces, He quickly lead them the pair down to the basement where evaluations are usually held. Situated themselves to stand against the wall closet to the stage, The three watched as Taeyung took the stage and addressed the room, When Taeyung starts to rub his eyes, squinting at the paper in his hands. Kyumin smirks at his old friend, before leaning close to HeeYoung and quickly pulling her glasses off her face "Just gonna borrow these!" he whispered as JaeSun covers HeeYoung's mouth muffling her sentence of he assumed she was gonna say "My glasses!" Kyumin quickly goes up the rickety staircase and hands over HeeYoung's glasses to Taeyung, he almost busts out laughing as he puts on her glasses. as he makes his way to sit back down, he notices that HeeYoung has a odd look of squinting and glaring."Now HeeYoung don't get mad, Taeyung is getting old... He needs all the help he can get!" He says as he nod his head to confirm his statement, He almost jumps out of his seat in surprise when Taeyung suddenly collapes in the seat next to him. The Twins are covering their mouths to muffle their laughter from see his look of surprise.

---

---

[TheDookieNut]

---

---

"Lift your head when you sing." Mo Chou cussed as a tiny hand slapped her brother around the side of the ear. "You can't project if you don't lift your head beyond the floor, jackass." It was often entirely difficult to tell the difference between the elder Wang being endearing or a tyrant to her younger brother. "Again." Her hands busied themselves into a gesture of speed, hurrying him into a better sitting position in order to continue her neatly planned vocal warm up. The last event either of them needed was another probation period for Cheng Lei. "Just project, from your stomach this time. Your voice gets weak when you don't."

"Just face it, Chou. It's not going to happen, I'm not some wicked falsetto or some voice legend." The language of choice switched between the duo, bouncing between their own native tongue and the speech of the country they'd be housed within for so many years. "Let me stick to what I know; last time I failed because I couldn't hit the notes I wanted." The pursed lips and moderately annoyed expression were enough to indicate those weren't the words his dear sister had been expecting to hear.

"Trust me; for once." The most common fact about the younger Wang sibling, aside from the loud laugh he carried more often than his own phone or his sister's JW Anderson bag, was his general mediocrity. He wasn't the most talented nor the most liked among AS' fanbase and community. If asked, Cheng Lei would have quietly admitted he never expected to debut- not without a miracle. At present, that came in the form of a less vocally talented and more personality based group that didn't require the rigorous routines or vocal somersaults. Such a dream was unlikely, and both children knew that. Such a fact was the entire reason Mo Chou had been nothing but a pest for the last two weeks, just to ensure her brother stood a chance for a while longer whilst they worked on his strength and range.

"You need to practise more." Came a short, rather sharp retort made mostly of worry. The pale hands gripped the hands of the white, drawstring bag MoMo was clutching by her knees as she considered her brother's comment for a while longer. "Promise me you'll start training more. Take extra classes, anything." Her voice cracked a little above the volume of the room, enough to warrant an uncomfortable few glances in their direction. She offered a small smile in apology before hesitantly turning back towards her idiot of a brother.

"Besides, you need to practise your Korean. It's terrible." A curt laugh cackled as obviously unhappy expression crossed the elder's face. "There's a pretty big difference between an apple and an apology." The wide grin on Cheng Lei's cheeks was enough to pull the corner's of his sister's face into one of her own. It didn't stop the obvious nerves from cracking through the surface. Her voice in the two languages was entirely different- one a strong, defining soprano in height; the other, a shaky shadow in comparison. Chinese was Wang Mo Chou's safety net. A pleasant range of sounds she felt comfortable to surround herself within. It could have it was argued Korean was far easier on the vocal cords, the tongue lacked the confidence in proficiency.

"All trainees, proceed to the basement. Please take your seats around the stage and wait to be called."

"You got this-" Cheng Lei smirked in a ridiculous attempt at English he'd stolen from some show he'd been watching on repeat all week. He clapped a hand on her shoulder and pushed her along the gathering crowd. The commotion caused by the returned of both Kang twins certainly knocked against the duo's confidence. Mo Chou found herself staring until the disappeared down the hall.

There were a dozen or more trainees within the company that the doubtful singer found herself in heavy competition with. Mo Chou wasn't a dancer or the owner of a powerful set of lungs designed to fill a stadium alone. She career within the business came solely from her ability to hit a G5 with limited build up. The sight of her peers gathered in the Basement left her visibly knocked back. With Cheng Lei's guiding hand, they settled down towards the left, resting two seats from Yuzuru.

[KimHanuel]

---

---

Dae-hyun gasped heavily as he practiced dancing, sweat dripping down his face. "Teacher, can I please take a break? I've been practicing for three hours now." He slowed down as he spoke, staring at his teacher with a pleading look in his eyes. His teacher barked a laugh, asking, “Do you want to die? Evals are coming up soon, and you never know when you’re going to be chosen to perform for them. This is very, very, very important, Dae-hyun.” As she spoke, her heart softened a bit and she sighed eventually. “Alright, you can take a break. Thirty minutes, okay? Get some water, your sweat is all over your face.”

The man sighed in relief, shakily making his way towards the table with refreshments on it. He poured himself a cup of water, noticing some of the other trainees. As he sipped on the drink, letting it revive his tired muscles, he wondered what it would be like to be part of this group. Would his members be nice, or would they be rude? How long would they last, as a group? He noticed that one was playing a game of some sort, and two others were training just as he was. Were they speaking Mandarin?

"Alright, Dae-hyun! Your thirty minutes is up, back at it!" With a silent sigh, the man walked back towards his teacher and began to dance once again. It felt invigorating to be doing something he enjoyed, with a company that was known for making the best of the best K-pop groups. He picked up his pace, singing to himself under his breath. “Yah! No singing to yourself! They might knock-off points for that, or they could kick you out!” Dae-hyun winced, muttering an apology as he continued to dance.

Eventually, the intercom kicked in, and he heard the general manager tell everyone to take a seat around the stage. Dae-hyun grabbed a paper-towel and wiped his face, clearing his throat. He hoped he didn't reek of sweat as he sat down, a bit farther away from the others than he would have liked. His eyes were now glued to the stage, excitement making his heart race faster, combined with the amount of moving he'd just done. This was it, he thought to himself, his lips twitching into a smile. His mind wandered for a moment, and upon hearing his name fall from the general manager's lips, he snapped back to reality. "I'm here, Taeyung-nim." he answered, heat creeping into his cheeks as he realized that he probably shouldn't have spoken out of term.

Dae-hyun sank a bit lower into his seat, even though his posture was relaxed. He was slowly starting to feel nervous, almost anxious. He cast glances at the other trainees, wondering if they were as nervous as he was. His gaze traveled over to his teacher's, who was standing at the far left of the wall. She gave a tiny wave and a smile of encouragement. Giving him a double thumbs-up, she mouthed "Fighting!" He grinned, now returning to his normal position with a straight posture. His fingers linked themselves together as he began to grow more comfortable, telling himself that everything was going to be okay.

The room was full of other trainees, just like him. They were all hoping for a spot, each hoping to make their family proud. He turned his gaze back to the stage once more, his ears perking as the general manager called out the first trainee to perform. "Kang Hansuel! Please come up on stage!" Dae-hyun leaned forward slightly in his seat, watching the lights dim low enough to where she could, probably, only see the main people. As the man bit his lip, he waited eagerly for his turn to come up, wanting to make everyone proud.

[KatKook]

---

"Life is what happens..."

---

---

Her sweat was dropping, her breaths were heavy and yet that didn't stop her from practicing the same routine for the past three hours. "You've had one water break throughout the entire session, you should probably go fix that." A voice said a few feet from her followed by discorded strums from the guitar that he was holding. She stopped as soon as the routine music started and walked over to the speakers and paused it. "Hyun-oppa-" said the girl but was cut off with "Don't call me oppa." The girl just chuckled and continued, "Hyun-ah, I don't want to get kicked out for a bad routine, I have to practice." Hyunjin sighed, his back against the wall and his feet straight on the floor as he sighed, "Yeah but that doesn't mean you have to overwork yourself, and hey! If our EXO-sunbaenims were here they'd love your cover." He added to at least brighten up the mood. "Okay okay! I'll take a break, but if I get kicked out, I'm blaming you." Jiwon replied with a laugh as she picked up the water bottle that was still quite full since she didn't really have any other water breaks earlier; she then moved over and sat next to Hyunjin, "Whatcha tweeting about?" She asked, at exactly the moment Hyunjin opened the twitter app on his phone, he then showed a photo of Jiwon making a really stupid face while she was dancing and said, "This. I'm going to caption it with the word 'mood', it's going to be great." And what followed was Jiwon's struggle to grab the phone from Hyunjin's hand followed by a bunch of name calling and laughter. In the end, the tweet gained over four-thousand (4000) likes and two-hundred-fifty plus (250+) retweets.

One of the supervisors of the two then came over to scold them for being so rowdy, even though that same supervisor liked and retweeted Hyunjin's tweet (Thanks supervisor Do, those extra 200 likes were from your followers.) (Ahhh! Supervisor Do is so mean!.) After being scolded, the two then went off to scan the room, eyeing the new guy that looked like he was going to sweat through out the entire performance. Hyunjin then smirked at Jiwon and she knew exactly what his plan was and she would love to put a stop to it, Hyunjin stood up and was immediately followed by, "All trainees, proceed to the basement. Please take your seats around the stage and wait to be called." Jiwon then grabbed Hyunjin by the ear and dragged him to a seat that was further away from the new guy. She then whispered at him, "Oi, Ahn Hyunjin-" Said Jiwon but was cut off again with, "Wow, no honourifics, rude much-" Hyunjin whispered back, Jiwon then slapped his wrists and whispered again "Shut up! You are not going to mess with the rookie, you got that?" Hyunjin took quite a pause before he replied, "Yeah I got that." Jiwon then tilted her head, "Why did you pause?" She loudly whispered, Hyunjin then took another pause which was slightly longer than the first, "... No reason." Jiwon was now visually annoyed loudly whispered again, "Why did you pause-" but she was cut off with the manager saying, "Kang Hanseul! Please come up on stage!" Jiwon then looked over at the stage and was looking over to see if anyone was walking towards there before turning back to where Hyunjin was; turns out, Hyunjin snuck away when Jiwon looked at the stage, he was already at the new guy.

Hyunjin then tapped on his shoulder, "Hey, Daehyun right? I just came here to tell you, that if you don't do well you won't be eating tonight." Jiwon then snuck up on Hyunjin and slapped him pretty hard on the head, Hyunjin held on his head and claimed that he felt his brain get dislodged when she did that. Jiwon looked at the trainee and bowed as a form of apology to him and said "Excuse my stupid-pabo-idiot-friend here, he loves scaring new trainees, you'll be eating just fine tonight." Jiwon then bowed again to really show that she was apologetic while Hyunjin was holding his head, he even added "But Manager took my pudding when I didn't do well." Said Hyunjin as he rubbed his head, "That was because you pinched his nose and said that it was a button to outer space!" Jiwon added to clear things up, "Okay I did do that." Jiwon then held her hand out for a handshake to Daehyun and smiled at him, Her smile hopefully doing it's job of brightening the mood of everyone whenever she did it. "Hi, I'm Kim Jiwon, and that's Ahn Hyunjin, we've been here for a few years already." Hyunjin just added a wave because he was still a little bit in pain.

---

---

"...When you're busy making other plans."

---

[Hey Im Jordan]

_{Featuring: Chae Yun-Seo
Location: Yun-Seo’s room and her doorway
Interacting With: Just a poor, lost, new staff member.}

“All trainees, please proceed to the basement.”

Yun-Seo scoffed, rolling her eyes. What could they possibly want now?

“Please take your seats around the stage and wait to be called.”

Oh, so that’s what the call was for. Evaluation day; Yun-Seo had forgotten. With that being the case, the call wasn’t her problem — not that she had any intention of getting out of bed for anything short of spending time in one of the AS Entertainment recording booths. Yun-Seo had performed at evaluations before, and if the people running this school still needed to evaluate her, then they needed medical evaluations to check their sense of sight and hearing, and probably one to just make sure their heart was still pumping blood.

She was still in her pajamas, and she saw no reason to get out of bed until it was time for food. She, and the managers, knew where they stood. Yun-Seo would do what Yun-Seo wanted; there was nothing left for her to learn here, and she was a trainee still out of sheer stubbornness, both on her part and the part of the powers that be. Yun-Seo wanted her way, and she wouldn’t accept anything else. She saw no reason to; she’d worked over half of her life with the sole goal of leading her own group in mind. If AS Entertainment didn’t want to give it to her, then fine. She’d be a trainee forever. Fine, whatever. She was prepared for that fate — it was her choice. Truth was? She likely could have left AS Entertainment by now, and went elsewhere with her ample experience and gotten her way, but that would have been admitting defeat.

Yun-Seo didn’t like to lose.

So, as a direct result of Yun-Seo outright refusing to join any suggested group that was led by anyone less than herself, while simultaneously refusing to leave the company, Yun-Seo and the administration of AS Entertainment had reached an unspoken agreement of ‘you don’t bother us, and we won’t bother you.’ Yun-Seo participated when she felt like it. Yun-Seo practiced when she felt like it. Yun-Seo had her own room. Yun-Seo used the recording studio when she wanted.

Yun-Seo was somewhat of a spoiled brat.

There was a reason that while the other trainees (beneath her, the lot of them) were scrambling to get ready to perform for their ‘evaluations,’ Yun-Seo was sitting on the edge of her bed holding a Nintendo Switch, with the door locked. She had been horridly distracted by the sound of the intercom, and as her opponent scored on her for free because of it, Yun-Seo decided then and there that her next outing would include the purchase of a pair of headphones.

Now she was losing, bastards. If Nintendo allowed her to chat with her opponents, she might have raged a bit, but… they didn’t. She wasn’t about to install an app on her phone to talk to people she was playing Mario Tennis against. It didn’t matter anyway, she was going to sink the shot and —

Knock knock.

Yun-Seo’s eyes pulled away from screen just long enough for her to miss the shot, and the opponent closed the game, the match, and the tournament. Her mood shifted from somewhat frustrated with the sound of the intercom going off, to flat out furious with whoever was behind the knocking. How dare they cost her the match!? In one fluid motion, she (gently) slammed the Switch onto her memory foam mattress and leaped to her feet. “What!? What do you want?!” She snapped toward the door, wondering who it could have been that was daring to interrupt her while she was in her last sanctuary in this godforsaken building.

Yun-Seo tore open the door to stare down the staff member who’d knocked. “Yes? What could possibly be sooo important that you had to bother me? I’m in the middle of something very important.” She demanded, jabbing her index finger into the chest of the male who was standing there. Someone new, obviously. Why else would someone have the gall to interrupt her? Yun-Seo paused, waiting impatiently for a response from the person standing across from her. Rapidly tapping her foot on the ground, Yun-Seo let out a frustrated sigh, “well?”

Yun-Seo’s apparent frustration and anger seemed to affect the staff member, who took a step back after she jabbed him with her finger. Clearing his throat, he spoke in a voice that he tried to make confident. “Did you hear the loudspeaker? Trainees are to report to the Judgment Room to —”

“Yes, and? Get on with it.” Yun-Seo ordered, snapping her fingers in front of the man’s face to hurry him along. The staff member cleared his throat, and tried again. Under Yun-Seo’s imposing glare and the ever present sound of her tapping foot, his voice wavered some, losing some of the false confidence he’d given himself before.

“So that means that you should… head that way... or you might miss your evaluation? Shouldn’t you be ready? Why are you in your pajamas?”

“Is that all you came here to say? You must be new here. When my door is shut, don’t bother me. Don’t knock, don’t call, don’t text, don’t interrupt me.” If Yun-Seo had a blunt object, she would have struck this man. “Though it’s none of your business, I’m in my pajamas because I want to be. They are comfortable, it’s that simple. Are you just going to stand there, looking like someone just told you that your breath smells? It does, by the way.” Yun-Seo paused, crinkling her nose to put emphasis on the fact that the man’s breath stank. “I don’t need to be evaluated. I already know how good I am — and so do your bosses, for that matter. Don’t ever knock on my door again, do you understand?” The man nodded.

“Good. Now, you’ve got two choices: option one, you run off and find someone who cares, or you go and fetch me some breakfast. Either way? Go get a breath mint.”

Slam!

With the door slammed shut so hard it bounced back open just a crack, Yun-Seo returned to her bed, plopping down and picking up her Switch, muttering something about the state of the help in this place.

[LovelyComplex]

_{Bliss & SunMi
Location// Roof → The Basement
Interacting with// Each other → No one in particular}

On the roof with one of the more well known faces at AS Entertainment, SunMi kept her heavy breathing to a minimum as her recent, very recent, tutor danced beside her to a Lee Hyo-ri dance routine for the song U-Go-Girl. A routine that would display all the things her instructors did not think she was capable of accomplishing. The red succubus assisted the desperate dreamer last minute, after SunMi begged her for help. The raw talent that was SunMi was exactly that, raw and unpolished, and she needed to bring out different sides of her or she'd get kicked!

Last eval, she was lectured on how she's been there a year and still hadn't shown improvement in confidence. No one wants to watch someone who doubts her every move. Confidence was key to the core of every idol. How else would they get someone to watch them? The more charismatic they were, the better off they'd be. More importantly, there was a higher likelihood they would become marketable and if anyone knew anything about this market, it was the daughter of AeRi from Three Wishes! So here she was, in a... red plaid skirt... dancing beside vanity incarnate. Just like AeRi.

Bliss.

Had she improved in the week? Was she getting the moves down? Did she like what she saw?

"Stop." The track continued, her phone connected to a small speaker, as the voluptuous specimen stopped her hips, that surely didn't lie, and spoke in clear, distinct English. "Get out of your head. If you want to nail this, stop thinking." Her voice was like... chocolate. Melting, delicious, chocolate. Hard to resist. Desirable.

Absolutely delectable... Wide eyed, SunMi blinked at the other idol, trying to decipher every fast word that just came out of her mouth. At last, her English was not good. Yet. It was only a matter of time, though. Although it was apparent she was confused, SunMi couldn't help but look at the cold diva with adoration. She was happy she gained the courage to ask for her help, like, two weeks ago! There was definitely more to this girl than she was revealing, but then again, there was more to herself that she had yet to show too. Maybe, just maybe, they weren't so different after all. Maybe, just maybe, their desire to become idols aligned in some way. Maybe... she could be her friend.

Rolling her eyes, Blissany went to the Bluetooth speaker on the floor, bent over, and pressed the pause button. After snapping back up, she turned on her heel, crossing her arms, and ending with an eye roll. Part of SunMi wished she was that... eye catching. It was incredibly hard to look away from the French Korean.

Going back to SunMi's native tongue, Bliss tsked, "Live in the moment. See this." She pointed to her own temple with her long, french manicure pointer nail, "That is your enemy. You're not getting trained to think, you're getting trained to perform. To be loved and liked by the world."

"I know..." Grabbing the ends of her skirt, SunMi looked toward the ground, swaying in place, "I just... I want to know if I'm good."

"Do you need me to tell you something you should be telling yourself?" Hearing her tutor's response, SunMi timidly glanced up, with a combination of shame and revelation, as she met the dark, enchanting gaze of Bliss. Those words. Harsh, but full of truth. The only person she needed validation from, truly, was herself. Sure, she needed to convince her instructors she was good, but before she could do that she needed to convince herself. Opening her mouth to respond, SunMi immediately closed it when she saw Bliss check her phone and mumble in a language she wasn't even going to try to understand. "Oh mec. Il est temps de les regarder devenir des imbéciles."

Perking up when the older idol's attention was back on her, SunMi carefully listened to the last piece of advice Ms. Monette would give her, "Just got a text. Time to shine, girl. The moment we walk into those doors, I want you to keep your head up. The act starts then, not when you're on stage. Got it?"

"O-ok, gurl. We do good. Good is... promise."

"Baby steps."

~★~

A rare sight occurred in the basement, right before Kang Hanseul was called on stage. Blissany, one of the bigger threats at AS Entertainment, at least as far as overall performance went, didn't walk in alone. She had the ordinary girl that some people didn't know her name yet, walking in beside her. Ryu SunMi. The girl who stuttered and choked on her words. The timid, bashful, cute girl. Who surprisingly walked in with a new type of 'look'. If she was going to perform, she was coming in ready. There was determination in her brown eyes.

Internally, though? Hiding behind the mask that was her face, SunMi was screaming. Before SunMi scurried to a seat, she turned her head toward one of her role models, "What will you perform?"

"You'll see. Now go." Bliss cooed. With subtle nervousness, SunMi nodded and made her way to a seat. One of the closer ones to the stage, to get a better view of the performances. Biting on the bottom of her lip, the shy girl knew she needed to be confidant, but it was hard to do so while she wasn't on stage. So! She'd just smile and fake it until she made it.

Sounds about right.

As for Bliss, she chose to sit in the furthest seat from the stage and decided to look at her Twitter feed, in boredom. Another eval, another day. Same-o, same-o.

Good luck, newbie.

_{Key
Italicize: English
Normal text: Korean
Any other language will be in that language.
----
Translation* Oh mec. Il est temps de les regarder devenir des imbéciles = Oh man. It's time to watch them become fools.}

[Fabricant451]

_{We run this spot like a Chinese sweatshop
Don't stop, work it, work it 'til chest pop; Cardiac arrested
I'm so invested, I'm self-invented
That's no illusion, there's no confusion
You see the future, you fear the future
I've seen the truth and I'm so deluded}

---

When the announcement rang out like the principal calling a student to the office Becky saw it for what it was: a nuisance. The sound of people engaging in their rituals of stalling for time before doing anything close to practicing was replaced by the funeral march of shuffling footsteps and nervous tittering from those who were either newer or still intimidated by the stares of people who in one breath claim to support you but would just as easily turn their back if it meant a better chance at personal advancement and survival. The simple fact of the matter was that many of the trainees that wandered around like they were going to be the next breakout star and ride the hallyu wave to people whose attentions were too short to even watch a full three minute PV were, of course, delusional. Becky had no grand aspiration to be the reigning queen of AS Entertainment - that role was 'taken' by someone who wasn't nearly as good as she fooled the naive people into thinking she was and someone who really didn't want to get into a battle of wits or words with Becky if she wanted to keep that loose grip on the pulse of this place intact. But what Becky did have was experience.

And experience showed that most of the people that came into AS went out shortly thereafter.

When the announcement rang out, Becky merely opened her eyes with a narrowed gaze and a click of the roof of her mouth. While people were warming up, Becky was being as casual as could be, sitting in a chair resting on the far side of the main floor with earbuds firmly in place and the pounding music loud enough to be picked up by anyone who happened to be nearby. While training included different aspects, Becky was never going to be some prancy fancy dancy clown - and it wasn't as if they were training to be Fred Astaire here; the girls might as well have been training while instructors threw bills at them given the end result of it all. Knowing what she was about, knowing her weaknesses was the best strength possible for the American - it meant she didn't have to feel bad for negating them and it meant she could get away with calling 'listening to rap music' training. Many could probably question why she was even here, especially after five years, given that she did well on Show Me The Money and honestly her answer was as pragmatic as her outlook: She needed representation and AS made the best offer.

She wasn't interested in being an idol, not like some of these true believers who would work themselves to death to the detriment of their physical and mental health; she just needed someone or someones to get her foot in the door with big wigs in the entertainment world. If Becky didn't have the raw confidence or the skill to back up her claims of being the top rapper in AS, she probably would've been terminated years ago. Fortunately the management, despite their faults, know a good thing when her audition on a reality show got a million views the night it was uploaded.

So when the announcement rang out, Becky was in no hurry to respond to the summons. When the instructors asked her to jump, Becky rolled her eyes; when they asked her to go to the basement she simply switched to the next song and turned the volume up another pip. What was the point of evaluations at this point if only to thin out the people who didn't belong anyway? Did she really need to watch doe-eyed boys and girls stammer their way through a sub-karaoke rendition of a top song from the Gaon Chart? Did she really have to get in front of people, do some bars or a scene from some drama she was interested in but never got filmed again? Did she really have to pat someone on the back and tell them how good a job they did when their steps were out of rhythm and they were out of tune and early on the song cue?

No.

But she was going to do it anyway.

After this song.

And maybe the next one.

From her cozy spot against a wall, Becky watched as the main floor emptied, making a point to stare down anyone who glanced her way with eyes and expression that wordlessly asked if she was coming too. In those instances it was like a gazelle looking into the eyes of a lion, so much so that Becky could see the sweat drip down their neck - and it wasn't because of warmups or the overhead lights. The fact that these evaluations took place in a basement didn't seem as funny to the others as it did Becky. Basements by design spooked people, especially back home when every basement was dark, dank, and had stairs that creaked with every step - not to mention the rats - and that evaluations took place in the basement was the fine ironic cherry atop the entertainment sundae. Training was torturous for those who gave a shit, why not have everyone shuffle into an actual torture chamber and call it evaluation. Give the people a rope and watch them hang themselves.

The worst part is that so many of them still bought into this when they should really know better. But when some of them had been doing this since before they knew better - be it from shitty parents or manipulative scouts seeing a penny they could squeeze for gold - Becky figured it was too much to ask. Sucker them in when they didn't know any better, then half a decade later when they start asking when they're going to be in a group just tell them to look at something shiny and run away. In a way, Becky almost envied the people that weren't jaded; maybe it was the American in her that made her so cynical. It was definitely the American in her that caused no fewer than seven people across her reality show appearance and her AS signing meetings to remark on both her 'darker than expected' skin tone and her 'rough' language, both in terms of vulgarity and her speaking Korean as a second language - and one that she skipped a few lessons on.

For now, the hall was basically empty and she was free to do something vital before she shuffled her way down to the basement. Becky flipped through songs on her device before settling on one, turning the volume up to max. She was out of her seat before the beat dropped. 'What the fuck, though, where the love go? Five, four, three, two, I let one go..' Becky rolled her shoulders, shifted her torso to the right, snapped her fingers as her arms swayed like the waves of the ocean all before she turned to her side, dropped to a squat with palms on her knees, criss crossing her hands as she shook, before rising back up right all in time with the beats of the song echoing from her headphones. With no eyes on the room she was able to rehearse by dancing as if no one was watching.

The problem with dancing lessons in the world of idols is they rarely danced the way Becky was used to people dancing. Just letting the beats take you, the rhythms flowing through your body like lifeblood. It was all so...routine. No one actually danced like idols in reality except for backup dancers; Becky wasn't putting forth effort in choreography because choreography was, in her mind, the antithesis to genuine dance. The way she was moving now, away from prying eyes of her peers, Becky was able to cut loose, to pop her waist, to roll from head to foot in fluid step, to allow her head to bop along, to not have to worry about staying in step with whoever was on either side of her. Becky was a child of freestyle, from rhymes to attitude to moves. Maybe if dance lessons were less rigid she'd care more. Maybe if this idol music had better beats she'd take it seriously.

Maybe if she hadn't been lost in her own little world she would've seen a fresh faced girl standing and watching her with an excited smile. And maybe if the fresh faced girl hadn't been there, Becky wouldn't have looked like she got caught stealing from the cookie jar, her dancing stopping and her face contorting to an expression of guilt, as if freedom of expressive dance was a crime in this world of entertainment.

"Hi!"

---

_{Fall is here, hear the yell
Back to school, ring the bell
Brand new shoes, walking blues
Climb the fence, books and pens
I can tell that we are going to be friends
I can tell that we are going to be friends}

---

Baek Cho-Rong was in a bit of a cucumber, which was one step away from being in a pickle! You were in a cucumber when you could still float at the top of the brine, but a pickle was when you sunk below and things elevated to worse. A pickle was a bad situation, but Cho-Rong's father always liked to say that being in a pickle was nothing to cry about, because lots of people liked pickled vegetables! Cho-Rong liked pickled radish with her meals, so there was wisdom to her father's words. So despite Cho-Rong being in a cucumber and well on her way to being in a pickle, she wasn't letting that keep her down.

The cucumber was a combination of external factors, most obvious of which was the fact that she was a new member of the trainee dorm. Despite having technically been involved with AS for a small handful of months now, she only got permission to move to the dorms within the past week or so and it had been a bit of a process. The building was so much bigger than what she had been expecting! But then it would have to be to house so many trainees and rooms for training and study. Where she came from everything was much smaller; the biggest thing she was used to was the fields of tea leaves that was her front yard. Her school was a single floor building with class sizes so small she could remember everyone's names in a single day. But here? Here she confused the dance instructor with a simple staffer on the first day! And she still didn't really know anybody's name. But that was okay, that wasn't the cucumber problem; that was just an easily accomplished task of meeting her peers and potentially future idol partners!

The fact that the building was so much larger than she was used to with rooms that were sometimes open and sometimes not and the fact that no one really gave her the tour upon arrival meant that when the announcement to assemble in the basement rang out she was thoroughly confused. The building had a basement? Since when? Always? Normally she would have simply asked somewhere where the basement was or just followed a group of people and hope she was in the right place - that tactic so far had a fifty percent success rate. The first time she moved with a group she wound up going to a boys training session and practically laughed at as she apologized and was pointed in the right direction; the second time she attempted the group following method she wound up in the relaxation room which wasn't quite where she wanted to be but it was a nice change of pace so she counted it as a success anyway.

Unfortunately when the announcement rang out she happened to be in the bathroom and by the time she finished up everyone had already gone to the basement as instructed. Everybody moved so quickly! Was that because of the big city way of life? The family tea farm of Boseong County was easy going despite there being a number of chores on any given day. But when so much of the life is built around waiting for harvests, taking things slowly just comes naturally.

Stepping out of the bathroom into an empty hallway would normally not be much of an issue but Cho-Rong knew two things: that she was supposed to go to the basement and that she didn't know where that was. For a few moments she simply stood outside the bathroom door, listening for a footstep or something but hearing...not a footstep but...was that...music? It was basically her only lead at this point! And where there was music there was probably a person who knew the way to go! That was one way to take a bite out of that cucumber!

With light, springy steps, Cho-Rong followed the faint sound of pounding beats to a familiar area. She'd been here before! This was where the trainees tended to warm up or talk or just prepare for their activities that day. Normally there were a good number of people there but now? Now she only saw one and the one who was there was getting down. Cho-Rong had never really seen someone dance like that. Could it really be called dancing? It was more like...thrusting and grinding but with the whole body. It lacked the...grace and choreography that idols were supposed to have. It wasn't bad, just...different. And yet, Cho-Rong couldn't look away. Whoever that dark girl was, she certainly had...freedom.

And then, in the blink of an eye, the girl stopped and stared at Cho-Rong as if Cho-Rong had just caught the girl doing something illegal. Cho-Rong responded in the only way she knew how: earnestly. A quick clap of her hands before waving at her in the friendliest manner and tone she could muster. "Hi!"

"Who the hell are you?" The girl's tone was, in Cho-Rong's mind, a bit needlessly confrontational but she could understand the question. Cho-Rong didn't exactly look like she knew the run of the place, because she didn't, and the first rule of any new job was to walk like you deserved to be there.

"I'm Baek Cho-" "What do you want?" Cho-Rong didn't even get to properly introduce herself, but that's okay, she kept her friendly smile even if this other girl was still sneering. Cho-Rong's smile would just have to be big enough for the both of them.

"Are you a trainee too? We're supposed to be in the basement. Are you lost too?"

Cho-Rong watched as the dancing girl stared over every inch of Cho-Rong like she was on display at a museum. When the dancer cracked a thin smirk of a smile, Cho-Rong lit up herself; they were getting somewhere! She'd found someone who was as lost as she was, that was as good a basis for a friendly partnership as any. "I'm not lost. I'm exempt from the evaluation, but you? You're late. It's down that way. You can't miss it." The girl pointed towards a hallway on the far side of the room and Cho-Rong thanked her before bounding off on her way.

Unbeknownst to Cho-Rong was the fact that she was going completely the wrong way.

By the time she realized that maybe the dancer had made a harmless little mistake, Cho-Rong was even more lost than before. It looked like she was in a hallway of doors but none of them were marked 'basement' or even 'stairs'. She couldn't just go around knocking on random doors, that would have been rude...maybe she should turn around and find the dancing girl again, calmly explain the situation, and find her way to the basement before it was too late. This cucumber was rapidly approaching pickle state.

Good fortune seemed to smile on her, however, as a sullen looking staff member (she could tell because he had a lanyard!), was walking towards her with his head aimed fully at his own shoes. "Excuse me, mister?" Cho-Rong tried to flag the guy down verbally and with a wave of her hand, but he just kept on walking. As he passed, she could swear she heard him mutter something about brushing teeth or breath mints or...something? Even as she turned to watch him continue on, calling out to him didn't work and now she was back to square one. Or zero. She wasn't even on a square anymore, but a circle that was rolling along endlessly!

And then, of course, good fortune opened another window as she heard sound. Not just music, but what sounded like people...exerting themselves? It didn't matter what the sound was - sound meant a person or people and maybe that was the basement. Cho-Rong didn't have to go far before the noise became more clear; it was coming from behind a slightly open door. She didn't see anything on the door that said 'staff only' or anything so she didn't see the harm in opening it just a bit further and knocking on the doorway. As far as she could see it was just one girl in the room; she wasn't dancing but she also didn't seem to be in any hurry to go to the basement.

"Hi!"

[murdoc]

^{Location: Practice Room → Basement
Interacting with: Yuzuru @OliveYou}

---

---

“Are you eating well? Have you been getting enough rest?”

“Dad—”

“Is anyone picking on you? You have to tell me if anyone’s picking on you. Your mom and I are worried, you know?”

“Dad, I’m fine. How’s mom?”

“Oh, hang on, I’ll just…”

Some rustling followed by a muffled shout fills Jasper’s left ear. He fiddles with a loose string in his hand for a few more moments before a familiar voice all but bursts from the phone, nearly making him jump out of his skin in shock.

“Jasper Nam! Oh my God, why haven’t you called?”

“Hi, mom. Yeah, sorry, I’ve been kinda busy preparing for stuff.”

The call only ends a full twenty minutes later, after reassuring his parents that he wasn’t going to die of starvation, and also apologising for being a terrible son who never phoned. Most calls with his parents follow a similar pattern – them grilling him about every last detail of his daily life, and Jasper doing his best to placate them without sounding too annoyed. By the end of it, he’s winded, almost like he just ran a marathon, but he really couldn’t fault them for worrying. He was living away from home for the very first time.

Truth be told, South Korea still felt more like home to Jasper than the States. He was born here, spent the majority of his childhood years within the sprawling metropolis of Seoul, and he was always better at Korean than English, anyway. Time and time again, he would get looks from people when he spoke to them as fluently as a local would, some even reacting with disbelief, though that was something he’s long since gotten used to.

Here, holed up in an empty practice room, Jasper has spent the past few hours doing vocal warm-ups and memorizing choreography. It was evaluation day, that much he knew, and he wasn’t about to be caught off-guard like last time. He feels a chill run up his spine when he remembers the cold, disapproving stare of one of the managers when he messed up the choreography for his performance. In AS Entertainment, it was something of an open secret that Jasper was born with two left feet, or at least that was how it seemed whenever he tried to move his body in any meaningful way. Perhaps he was just too tall — long, gangling limbs weren’t exactly conducive for dance, after all. Or maybe his

Whatever the reason, it still didn’t change the fact that he needed to work on his dance skills (or lack thereof). Achieving success in the K-pop industry wasn’t as simple as being good at one thing, you had to be the full package. Singing, dancing, not to mention looking like you just stepped out of a fashion magazine, were all important factors that contributed towards the making of a star. That’s what Jasper tells himself as he watches a practice video on his phone for what seemed to be the thousandth time. Just how did these people dance so effortlessly?

And then, the intercom rings out across the entire building, summoning every single trainee into what Jasper has since dubbed The Basement™ — capitalized for an extra sense of doom, obviously. He still hasn’t gotten the choreography down perfect yet, but he should be able to get through this without any slip-ups, right? God, he hoped so. The last thing he needed was another dance-related mishap.

With a sigh, he climbs back onto his feet, wincing a little at the high-pitched squeak his sneakers make against the flooring. No time for a shower, it seems. If he was the only one who showed up late for evals… he shuddered to think of the consequences.

Using a towel, Jasper dries the sweat from his face. He also pulls off the shirt he’s wearing to swap it out for a new one — more laundry for later. It’s only after he douses himself with a generous spray of citrus-scented deodorant that he starts to head for the basement. On the way there, he passes by a gaggle of trainees that seemed more intent on stalling for time than facing the inevitable. They hovered just outside the basement door, whispering amongst themselves about something he couldn’t quite catch.

“Um, excuse me. Are you guys going inside, too?”

At the sound of his voice, the group’s conversation grinds to a screeching halt, and they turn to look at Jasper with such perfect sync that he wanted to back away slowly, then run for the hills once he was out of eyeshot. But after an uncomfortably long moment, one of the group finally decides to head inside, causing the rest to follow suit, though not before shooting him a look that could only be described as disdainful.

Deciding not to waste any more time, Jasper slips inside the room as well, and casts his eyes about for an empty seat. Most of them were already taken, of course, so he couldn’t exactly be choosy about who he wanted to sit with. In the end, he finds himself awkwardly hovering on the outskirts of another trainee’s personal bubble. What was his name again? It definitely started with a Y — Yuji? Yuta? He’s seen him around the building before, mostly practicing dance, but for the time being, he was having a bit of trouble remembering his name.

Ah, doesn’t matter. He’ll figure it out along the way.

“Do you mind if I sit here?” He asks, gesturing to the empty seat next to the other. Jasper’s voice is surprisingly soft and gentle when he speaks, though he doesn’t get a response before the first trainee is being called up on stage.

---

---

[OliveYou]

★彡 ㄚㄩ乙ㄩ尺ㄩ 丂卂ㄒㄖ ★彡

★ ★ ★ ★

_{Location: Basement
Interacting with: @murdoc}

---

---

Watching the trainees pour into the basement from his comfortably out-of-the-way seat, Yuzuru mentally catalogues faces and names the best he can, compiling a list of who's here and no-shows. He's curious to see who's still sticking it out and who's given up on the whole "kpop idol" thing. Not that his memory is perfect; but he tries to make an effort to befriend people, in a quiet way. Luckily, his four years of living and training at AS Entertainment is more than enough time to see which trainees are friendly and which he'd rather avoid. There's your troublemakers Yun-seo and Becky; the ice queens like Blissany and Mo Chou; and, for some reason, a starry-eyed kid who slipped past AS Ent's audition, somehow.

Though, something could be said for not judging a book by its cover…

Still. Yuzuru is perfectly content to keep away from Becky's cynical musing and the occasional (he shudders just thinking about it) catfight between her and Yun-seo. He's just going to sit here and sip his tea, thank you very much; even living with his three loud, enthusiastic step-sisters didn't give him any extra knowledge on the petty inner workings of girls.

They're weird. He doesn’t get them very much.

“Do you mind if I sit here?"

Shaken from his thoughts, Yuzuru looks up from where he's absentmindedly staring at his sneakers to see another trainee standing--no, towering over him.

"Yeah, no problem," Yuzuru answers, Korean coming out a little sloppy as his mind starts to race to find the name to match to this new arrival. Hm, how long has he been here? He's sure it hasn't been over a year; Yuzuru estimates he's only started noticing the (admittedly, hard to ignore) new trainee during dance practice maybe last December? He sticks out like a sore thumb, it must be said; Yuzuru is sure there's something he's missing--

Jasper, right? The one who--" --Fell during practice and scared me half to death? Yes, yes he is. But… maybe don't say that.

As memories go, Yuzuru's remembrance of that fateful day is far from crystal clear, but he does remember being almost crushed by another guy during Lucifer dance rehearsals. He remembers this because he tripped over his water bottle, too, and then his sneakers were soggy for a day and a half, and then they made a gross sound whenever he walked and by the time he was done with his shift at the restaurant where he works his socks were soaking and freezing cold. It was not a good day.

Is he making too big of a deal about it? Probably. But Yuzuru can't just forget a pivotal moment in his career like that, now can he? (His mother would say yes, yes he can. That's not the point, mom! Those were my favorite pair!)

Halfway through Yuzuru's rapid-fire how-do-I-explain-this-without-sounding-weird (he doesn't hold it against him, so he doesn't want to make him feel bad…) train of thought, the intercom clicks on again. There's a screeching sound, which Yuzuru assumes is the fault of the old-as-dirt audio system, but is actually just Manager Taeyung stretching. Then, after three seconds of torture, the fateful words are spoken.

"Yuruzu Sato, come up on stage!"

Well. It's time.

Yuzuru stands up from his seat, brushing away a wave of sudden butterflies and advancing to the front of the room, fingers a little twitchy where they're shoved in his pockets. But that feeling is soon swept away, replaced instead by the things Yuzuru knew since the first dance competition, that first Swan Lake performance--resolve, spirit, and just a bit of star-struck thirteen-year-old that he doesn't have the heart to get rid of, even after so many evaluations. The situation is entirely mundane, but Yuzuru still wants to give it his best, as always.

From the corner of his eye, he sees another staff member setting up a camera, which is new, but Yuzuru wasn’t dancing in front of mirrors for nothing. Performance is an art, and art is meant to be seen. Therefore, he should put on a show. Conveniently, this is what Yuzuru is best at doing.

Spending no time fixing his mic, he double-checks his appearance; shoelaces tied, nothing out of place with his admittedly boring outfit--black pants, black v-neck shirt, black cord bracelet dangling off his wrist (a good luck charm, his sisters say) and the now-dry pair of sneakers. The music starts like it's supposed to; Yuzuru likewise. And beyond that?

Truthfully, he doesn't--he doesn’t not remember, he just gets serious. And when Yuzuru gets serious, everything other than his own body, his voice and the music ceases to matter.

It's easy to stop worrying; it's easy to let the music take control of his limbs and just start dancing, so Yuzuru does just that. While he's not stupid enough to completely indulge himself--no room for mistakes, they always say, and that means he needs to stay on his toes--he can let himself untense, because stiffness has no place in dancing and neither do nerves. Every move must be fluid; every step, leading into the next. The point of performance is to build and keep anticipation, not lose it. Honestly, he was a little worried about the choreography, it being his first time Yuzuru's freestyled more than a few seconds of dancing, but when the music starts his mind plays back every move and his body follows suit. After all, dancing has always come naturally to him; it's not a surprise that he would grow into not just memorizing, but creating his own dances. He expects nothing less from somebody raised by former choreographers and performers; his stepfather would be proud.

Click for Rocky

I imagine the dancing to be something like the second half of this video, because there's a lot of freestyling...
You should really just be watching the Rocky version though.

In comparison to his dancing skill, the vocals of "Bad" are a little more difficult, but Yuzuru hasn't trained four years just to be a backup dancer. He wants the whole package and it looks like the voice training lessons are finally starting to pay off. The lyrics to "Bad" aren't horribly complicated, and Yuzuru just has to hope he hits all the right notes and that nobody notices his slip-ups and Japanese accent that bleeds in halfway through. He wonders if his parents are watching--or is it better to surprise them? He'll send a video once the evaluations are done, or sing a little on the phone.

(That thought, though--that almost breaks his concentration somewhat. It has way of doing that, when his family is involved.)

And all of a sudden, it's over. He is no longer flying, no longer under the lights, no longer on the stage.

The crowd comes back into focus, but it's small and bored and Yuzuru comes to terms on how he is, once again, standing in the middle of a dinghy basement. He is not a star. The feeling is kind of discouraging, but he bows low nonetheless and takes his leave.

From somewhere off to the side, Manager Taeyung is looking confusedly at a pair of glasses that aren't his. The intercom crackles. Yuzuru sighs, flopping back into his seat (or, a seat) and reaching for his water bottle.

"Mo Chou, please come up on stage!"
_{@TheDookieNut}

---

---

[TheDookieNut]

---

---

The room poured full of the remaining trainee's left Mo Chou uncomfortably counting each head as they shambled through the doors, some enthusiastic and others appearing as concerned as she was. Whilst the elder of the two Chinese students believed she had the full requirements to achieve relative success within the fickle music industry, there still lingered the constant reminder of those who held far more talent than her. It remained her biggest concern and the main reason she spent extra hours practising in the dormitory kitchens. She'd been practising for years, to fail now would have been nothing short of embarrassing. Her gaze shifted as the doorway finally closed, watching the final attendee's take their seats; there were at least a few faces she was glad not to see.

"Just go with what you're confident with. Forget what everyone else thinks," Cheng Lei offered with a vague attempt at a strong smile. They both knew there was little getting between his sister's ears when she focused on a performance - more specifically, an evaluation. "You've got this." There was a reassuring hand on her shoulder although it didn't stop the perpetual anxiety from bubbling within her gut.

"It doesn't matter if it's Korean or not- they only care about marketable you are; just do your best." The sentence preceeded a short glare from the smaller framed Wang sibling. "You know what I mean-"

"I'm light years behind some of the others here. My dancing is terrible and my Korean is worse." She'd be eternally grateful for their ability to communicate alone in their own tongue. Revealing her insecurities to the rest of the trainee collection terrified her. Not a single one needed to know of her inability to match the high paced dances many of the others were capable of capturing after only a few attempts. What mattered more, however, was that none of them new of her struggling fate. Although, in comparison to her brother, Mo Chou wasn't struggling at all.

They paused for a moment as the intercom buzzed and the first of the collection was requested to perform. Yuruzu gathered himself onto the higher platform, and before too long began to perform as was expected. His dances were fluid and mesmerizing to watch. Each movement without an element of stiffness, as if he had no form. It hurt to watch. Mo Chou glanced across to her brother, who seemed so comfortably sat watching the performance.

In all honesty, the idiot had all but resigned himself to the fate of not making it through the trainee process. In fact, he'd developed a three-step plan to get himself the career he truly desired- after he'd turned eighteen, obviously. There would have been few television stations willing to cast an underage host. So, much unlike his sister, he watched Yuruzu's performance as less of a competitor and more of a colleague. How anyone could deny he was talented was something unbelievable.

The supportive train of thought was painfully ended as his sister's nails stabbed into his arms when her own name was called. Mo Chou's face phased between two forms almost instantly. The initial shock and terror evaporated into a wide, professional smile as two white pumps made their way across the basement and towards the designated space. Despite the look on her face, her mind was reeling. The decision to play it safe or to risk her reputation stood before her as she adjusted the equipment and laid her cream jacket on the nearest chair.

"Those moves were amazing." Cheng Lei muttered, leaning forwards to congratulate the performer on his display. "If you get a bad review, then they're blind." Whilst happy to continue the conversation, the slow fade of music echoed from the speakers following the familiar sound of his sister's vocal cords. He dropped back into his seat and offered her two thumbs - although whether she could see was a different story.

Mo Chou had taken the uncomfortable decision to take a risk with her evaluation. The main focus of her present vocal training as to project, and ensure her voice was stronger than it presently was. Any voice could fill a room with the assistance of a microphone but the raw power that many artists held was a standard she had yet to achieve. It was an attempt at proving her growth as a trainee and artist that she chose to perform in Korean, taking Taeyeon's "I" as her evaluation song for that performance.

Whilst the track wasn't originally a song to be danced to, with the assistance of the choreographer and their dance teacher, she'd been taught a small routine to perform between the two breaks in lyrics. It was neither a high powered routine like Yuruzu's or the traditional cutesy dances she performed. Instead, a ballet routine - only minus the pointed feet and terribly uncomfortable shoes.

Had someone been counting her flaws, the total would have been more than six. Whilst none existed within her vocals themselves, her Korean was far from perfect and her feet feel somewhat offbeat as the performance continued. As usual, however, the familiar swell of the music brought the best in her tone, giving her ample time to produce each of the higher notes within the song itself.

Certainly not her best performance, however, like the crackling of the track came to a close, Mo Chou allowed her eyes to settle back onto the ground after having been so intently focused on the Great Beyond - situated just above the room's head. With a deep bow, she scurried off stage, scooping her coat as she did. The intercom sounded once again, calling the younger of the two onto the stage. They barely had time for a passing smile between Mo Chou's arrival and her brother's departure. Still, however, they tried.

Cheng Lei jogged his way across the room lightly and took up the dedicated spot within the basement. As with each before him, he added just the microphone and let out a muffled cough. With his own vocal performances being his weakest aspect, it had been the sole decision of his primary vocal teacher to keep the upcoming evaluation based entirely around that weakness and advertise how much progress he'd made in his short time with the company.

Whilst the original track was laden with falsetto and a vocal range he would never achieve, the requirements aside from this were minimal. He was grateful and would be for years to come. With a carefully planned performance, Cheng Lei avoided each falsetto requirement with a far lower and individually crafted alternative - giving the whole song a far more calm feeling. It may have not been the comedic performance he would have preferred, he wouldn't deny it went reasonably well considering the circumstances.

"Next, Blissany Monette."

@Lovely Complex

The words echoed throughout the room as the final of the two siblings finally returned to his seat.

[LovelyComplex]

_{Hyun tagged for next @KatKook}

For those aware of how Blissany performs, she does not stray away from being dangerously risque. She puts the hoe in all the hoe anthems, and most, if not all, of her collegues can imagine her in various fantastical scenarios, like being one of those side chicks in Jay Park's MOMMAE. The trainers believe her to be a necessary evil at evaluations because of the pure intimidation she emits while she performs. Just another tactic to scare the 'weak' ones. And fortunately, she's more compliant than YS and Becky. Sort of.

Bliss was a child machine — the moment she could walk was the moment her life was completely over. A life signed to the path of stardom, for better or for worse. All because of her mother's crazed obsession with the idol world. Her last evaluation was literally sex on stage, as she performed Paradise Lost by Gain. It was unforgettable and completely on point, but it didn't change that she arouse feelings within her entire class. It also didn't help she wore black lace, which never failed to make her a wet dream. That simply was her 'stick'. She couldn't be cute even if she tried because it was forcibly instilled in her mind that sex sells, and as such, she would do exactly that. Use her body as a marketable asset.

Sure, she had talents. Her voice improving over the course of four years, her strength showing more when she sings in English than anything else, and her dancing being the greatest gift she was blessed with... she'd be better off as a choreographer than an idol. But, at the end of the day, none of that matter if it wasn't for her body. Not in this industry. For her, that is all that mattered to her trainers. Her body that sells.

Even if everything she showcased was a destined Star-in-the-making, just like her mother, that wasn't what they focused on. What they cared about was her iconic red hair, with cherry lipstick to match. Outfits that formed around her curves sensually. Today being more of a secretary look, with a white blouse unbuttoned low enough to reveal cleavage and a gray skirt with a slit to display her refined, smooth legs. It didn't matter if it went with the song. It was hot.

Complimentary to her outfits, she wore high stilettos that looked like the edge could stab someone. Honestly, the only time she didn't wear heels was when she exercises at the gym, or participates at a photo shoot where they preferred her wearing something other than these death traps and hardly comfortable shoes. There was a high chance they were going to make her perform in heels, so it didn't make sense not to wear them. Lastly, her moves that didn't give her gift any justice as a dancer through and through was major to her becoming the best her she could be. In their standards. They preferred dance moves that enhanced her sexuality and made people desire her. Nothing more, nothing less. Without that desire, she was nothing to them.

Contrary to common belief, Bliss is not the most predictable with her evaluations. If anything, her last performance was the most expected yet unexpected because she went with her stick but notched it up to max level. Yes, she was undoubtedly the ice cold 'hoe' of AS, but that didn't change the fact that she was an artist and didn't want to completely comprise her art for a bloodthirsty industry. She knew that everything would reach her mother and if they weren't pleased, she would hear a mouth full from the wench, but inside of Bliss was a raging war of wanting to do what she wanted and her doing what she was told to do.

People came and went on the stage, Bliss silently noting to herself the pros and cons of her competition. Yuzuru was her male counterpart, in her opinion, and his performance didn't fail to show that. Maybe, one day they would be paired to dance together. Though, she did catch the brief sullen look on his face, the moment he realized he was just in the basement. Not yet a worthwhile star. The bitter side of AS Entertainment. Be careful what you reveal to them. This industry loved the hopeless. Hopeless people did exactly what they were told.

Following him was the Chinese duo. Mò Chóu seemed like she was harder on herself than anyone else and any mistake would ruin the rest of her week until she corrected it. Something AS would surely abuse until they broke her. Her style was the concept that Bliss could never be, cute, but it was refreshing to see her explore outside of her box and do ballet. Mentally, Bliss would critique her but as usual, if said person didn't come to her for her opinions, she would keep them to herself. Bliss did wonder if she gave the girl pointers would it go on deaf ears? Chóu came off a bit 'spoiled', and not necessarily someone she was sure she wanted to associate with. Then again, she probably came off as the same to her.

Next was Chóu's brother, Chéng Léi. He chose to make the song his own, which meant putting it in the range he could handle. A smart choice for singers like him, and herself, who didn't belt like YS or even SunMi. Her new pupil, who didn't realize how strong her voice was. Léi was the funny guy, but his choice of song, wasn't for his strengths. It was for his weaknesses. For that, she would note his courage and continue to break him apart in her head, along with everyone else she watched with careful eyes. Finding the areas where they could work on, and areas where they're better off leaving alone. Master something, rather than focus on trying to get good at everything under the sun. At least with one mastery, the idol becomes a little less expendable.

This was just how her mind was trained to be. Judgmental, but for the betterment of herself and her colleagues. She hoped they'd judge her just as harshly. That was the only way they'd survive this company. Breaking themselves apart before someone else did it for them. With no surprise at all that she was called next, near the beginning of evaluations rather than the end, Bliss silently, with no emotion written on her face, stood up and sauntered to the stage. Before going on the platform, she gave one of the staff members her phone. They'd know to record her. She needed it for reference. But, she'd also make sure she'd get a copy of the recording that was being done for staff members use.

The song she was going to do was You Think, from Girls' Generation. However, for the first time in her four years, she was going to do a complete English cover. Her inspiration deriving from SAARA's version. The Finnish singer and songwriter who wrote the song for the KPOP girl group. The song was a hip-hop friendly song that featured trap beats, as the arrangement focused on high-pitched belts and brassy horns to bring out Girls' Gen's 'subtle, siren tones'. Bliss, however, preferred how SAARA portrayed it and since her voice was strong in English, she thought it was time to take creative liberties and inspire her classmates to take risks and do what's best for themselves. This song would show her vocal skills properly and the attitude that the song had, which she loved, was the vibe she wanted to go for. Bliss was more than just sex.

The dance for You Think was fluid and meant for a girl like Bliss, but for her version, she would make every move hard-hitting, to give her performance a more western feel, not straying from the aggressive nature she wanted to give off. Think Ciara hip-hop style, with a mix of floating, popping, locking, and even some robotting. Prior to the song playing, she did the unthinkable! She kicked off her heels. She wanted to dance and heels would prevent her from going all out. Yeah, her mom was going to hear about this.

The start of her performance she gave off the vibe she was a mannequin and for the first 20 seconds, her dancing was creepily subtle, every joint unnaturally moving as she sang, but then when the first chorus chimed in, she 'came to life' and let the flow take over her.

The song was about a woman warning her ex, that was spreading rumors about her after a bad break up. The song was better this way than the way SNSD did it. Of course, this was all in her opinion. She chose to tread the bold decision of not going off the choreography for the song. Since she was too focused on helping SunMi for this evaluation, Bliss chose to improvise and because dancing was her strength, it wasn't anything she'd sweat about. Her personal trainer realized awhile ago that whatever he told her to do, she'd change things up last minute for herself. It was a silent rebellion, but a rebellion nevertheless. What would they do? They knew she was good and that's the one thing she hoped her classmates came to terms with. Once they realized their worth, they could fuck with the people that were trying to fuck with them.

Blissany was an enigma and her performance came and went, like everyone else's. The one time people saw emotion in her was when she was dancing. Yet, once the music stopped she was back to being expressionless and without emotion. Before walking off the platform, she picked up her heels and went to the staff member who had her phone. A smile crept on her face as she offered her hand for her phone. The staff member looked at her with mild concern as she simply responded with a shrug. Her eyes went to the manager, who watched her pridefully walk back to her seat, without the sound of clicking heels. Dropping her heels on the floor, she leaned back in her seat and returned to browsing her social media on her phone, ignoring everyone else around her.

Truthfully, this was all becoming more and more mundane for her. The little changes she did helped her tolerate the industry.

"Ahn Hyunjin, you're up."

There was a hint of annoyance in the manager's voice at Bliss exhibiting 'free will'.

[KatKook]

---

"What say we turn it up for today?"

---

---

Hyunjin continued to be himself as he sat next to Jiwon, he loved watching her get annoyed with his antics. Though he seemed to have completely stopped when that last person did her performance, Blissany Monette. He definitely saw something in her, someone who would definitely do well in this company and it kind of scared him but being scared of people with absolutely insane stage presence usually always scares Hyunjin. He watched so carefully at Blissany's stage performance that Jiwon said that it was completely unlike him and that it was pretty weird. "Oi, Chicken Little, are you seriously crushing on this girl?" Said Jiwon as the performance went on. Hyunjin then raised a finger at her while continuing to watch the performance,"Okay, first of all, no not my type," he then raised a second finger up at her and continued, "And two, You know I intimidated I get with performances like this." Jiwon just nodded in response and then proceeded to move Hyunjin's hands down since they were still a few inches from her face.

Hyunjin blinked, and watched as the performance ended; Blissany still had this attitude that he couldn't put his finger on but he knew that it was present even if she is or isn't on stage. As Hyunjin turned back to Jiwon to annoy her again, suddenly "Ahn Hyunjin, you're up." and Hyunjin immediately stood up, and Jiwon also flinched at the sound of his name, she patted him on the back and said "Good luck, do well, fighting!" He then went back to where he was seated earlier to grab his guitar and rushed to the stairs of the stage. He pulled up his hood, took his slick, brown and white, double cutaway electric guitar out of it's case and walked up to the mic, and in full English he said "𝙷𝚎𝚢, 𝙸'𝚖 𝙰𝚑𝚗 𝙷𝚢𝚞𝚗𝚓𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎'𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢"

Hyunjin then adjusted his glasses and brushed his hair to the side before opening his mouth to sing BTS' Spring Day, but the twist was it was an english version, specifically the one sung by Ysabelle so it will have a small Korean verse in it (Click Me!). His voice was still pretty male like but it had very smooth that should still be a bit appealing with a fruity sound to it. During the performance, Hyunjin gave it his all, he even closed his eyes while raising his voice and in specific angles it looked like he was making out with the mic which was should show how dedicated he is to singing. As the last verse of the song, he snap his head back and the hood that was over his head fell off to his back and it revealed his entire head, then again it wasn't that hidden. As it ended, he smiled at the audience, glanced at Jiwon and took a bow, "Sorry that I spoke in Earlier, I just thought that with the song I performed it sounded right." He then took another bow and walked off the stage, he put his guitar back in the case and made his way back to Jiwon.

"Song Dae-Hyun please come up on stage."

Hyunjin then sat down next to Jiwon and he asked, "So, how'd I do?" Jiwon then squinted her eyes at him and gave this really annoyed look at him, she crossed her arms and Hyunjin was just surprised at her reaction. "D-Did I do bad? Ahh, Aigoo~!" Jiwon then couldn't keep a straight face and laughed as soon as Hyunjin responded, "You did great Ahnjin, you did really great!" Jiwon replied and continued laughing; Hyunjin started rubbing his head as he replied, "Ahh! Jiwon! Why would you do that?!" He exclaimed at her but quietly enough so that he wouldn't draw attention to himself. Jiwon just laughed, in reply as Hyunjin sulked there for a awhile, "I recorded you by the way, you should do the same for me." Jiwon added as she held up her phone, Hyunjin just nodded in response as they waited for whoever this Song Dae-hyun guy is.

---

---

_{Calling @KimHanuel's character Dae-hyun for the next performance, love you bye~
𝙳𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚞𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚏𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝙴𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑.}

---

[KimHanuel]

Using this for speech.

---

Dae-hyun wasn't really sure what to think when two other trainers came up to him. "Ji-won and Ahn-jin, you said? It's nice to meet you, I'm -" he was cut off by the instructor calling out his name. "Song Dae-hyun, please come up on stage!" The man dragged in a nervous breath, clearing his throat as he dipped his head towards the two and approached the stage. The room was now deadly quiet. As he licked his lips, he shoved the rest of his nervousness down and waited for the song to begin.

Dramarama-ma-ma-ma hey! The music began, and Monsta X's Dramarama filled Dae-hyun's ears. Automatically, his body began to move, and all of the training paid off. He spun, jerking his body every now and then to the beat. As the tempo rose, he was practically high off of the adrenaline. He danced like it was his last, staring into the crowd with an intense smolder. The song neared the end, and he threw every last ounce of strength into it.

Once it was over, he bowed in respect and made his way back to his seat. He glanced at Jiwon and Ahnjin with a happy smile. "So, what did you guys think? Did I do good?" he whispers, trying to be respectful. Ultimately, he had wanted to show everyone what he was made of, and that he would go above and beyond to make sure his group did well, whoever he was put into. Even after he had asked them the question, his gaze then searched around for his mentor. She beamed and gave him a thumbs up, her eyes glowing with pride.

"Thank you," he mouthed to her, earning a happy nod. "Of course!" Min-seo mouthed back, beaming more. She was beside herself with pride and joy at his performance. Dae-hyun leaned back, glad that his turn was finally over. As he waited for the next person to be called, he looked over at the two people that had come to talk to him. "So, Ahn-jin, right? You mentioned something about not eating? You weren't being serious, were you? Right now I feel like I could eat a whole horse and still be hungry." The man grinned, showing that he was joking about the horse part, even though his stomach growled loudly at the thought of food.

He leaned down, reaching for his bottle of water and forgetting that the lid was loose. As he grabbed it, it slipped between his fingers and spilled, causing him to gasp in horror. "Oh no. Oh no, no, no." he whispered, starting to panic. He fumbled around with his jeans pocket, finding a randomly placed napkin in it and using the cloth to soak up the excess water. Min-seo must have put it there, he thought to himself, hoping no one had seen his accident.

With a grimace, he turned his gaze back towards the front of the room, curious to know who was next. The person in charge stood up, clipboard still in hand.

"Kang Jae-sun! Get up here!"

Satisfied with his cleaning skills, or lack there-of, he sat back and watched as a dark headed boy approached the stage. He wondered what this Jae-sun person would have to offer. With a shrug, he relaxed himself to help his heart rate slow down. Time to wait and see.

@Lady Ostara

[Lady Ostara]

---

---

---

---

_{The Basement
Interacting with Hee Bear and KyuKyu}

---

JaeSun turned and nudged his sister when Kim Hanuel started his performance. "wait? are we going to have do evals even though we weren't here this month?" He whispered to her. "Probably..." she whispered back to him as she shrugged, Turning quickly to Kyumin who was paying attention to Kim Hanuel's performance. He tugged on Kyumin's sleeve to get his attention, "Kyu Hyung? Do we have to do evals too?" Kyumin tilted his head as he thought about his answer, "Yeah, Sorry even though you guys were gone. you are still going to have to do evals.." He replied sheepishly, "You should probably talk with one of the stage techs or Siai to give them your music choices or have them prep something for you when you go on." Kyumin said seriously to the Twins, "Well I'll be back in abit..." HeeYoung whispered as she got up from her seat and walked off.

JaeSun sighed as he plugged his earphones into his phone and started to flick through his music to search for a song he would be comfortable performing. Finally, finding one that he thought was good he took off his earphones. Only to look up and see Yuzuru finishing up his performance looking a little sad. Trying to look over at what Kyumin is writing in his notebook, to see his notes. He flinches and rubs his forehead when Kyumin flicks him to keep him from taking a peek. "𝒟𝑜𝓃'𝓉 𝒷𝑒 𝓃𝑜𝓈𝓎 𝒥𝒶𝑒!" He grins at Kyumin, "𝒮𝑜𝓇𝓇𝓎 𝒦𝓎𝓊" He said cheerfully, as turned to watch Mo Chou's performance. He took note it seemed lightly off, but he could have been wrong... maybe her steps were suppose to be off beat. Soon her performance was over, and Her brother was called up next up after her.

While Cheng Lei performed his song, JaeSun face scrunched up in confusion as he listened to the song. It was less memorable than the orginal, He was slightly disappointed to hear it being sung the way Cheng Lei was singing it, It really could have been better. He still applauded his performance at least he went up there and gave it his best. When Bliss's turn came up next he wasn't he was both impressed and slightly intimated by her performance, The way she performed was strong and confident. When her performance ended, he wasn't really surprised to hear some groans and mumbles of disappoint from some of the other trainees behind him. To him it was really funny how a lot people found her attractive, but wouldn't dare to approach her.

His attention got pulled back to Evals when Hyunjin got called up to perform his piece, He swore he heard some of the girls behind swooning as he got on to the stage. His mouth dropped open as he admired Hyunjin's guitar, He had heard that he knew how to play. but he never actually seen him in act. He briefly glanced around the basement to search for his sister, If she was here and seen it.. He'd bet everything that she would go up and ask if she could try out his guitar. Not being able to find her, he shrugged and turned his attention back to Hyunjin's performance. As he listened to his performance, he found it interesting and could understand why he already had a large following of fangirls even though he hasn't debuted yet.

JaeSun looked around curiously as he tried to remember which one is Dae-Hyun, When he finally spotted one of the new trainee's nervously make their way to the stage. He was slightly worried that instead of performing he might...vomit. He was pleasantly surprised, that He seemed to put his all into the performance. He was definetly doing a job performing his song choice, went better than how he thought it would go. As soon as Dae-Hyun's performance ended He heard his name being called, He fist bumped Kyumin and made his way over to the sound techs.

Handing his phone over to one of the sound techs, he directed them to which track they should play, When He made his way up the stairs to the stage he noticed Dae-Hyun quickly cleaning a mess that he caused on accident. He couldn't help the grin that broke out to his face, When Dae-Hyun looked around nervously to make sure no one had seen him. When he reached the mic looked out at the crowd, He smirked as He introduced himself. "The song I prepared today is a mash-up, Hopefully you guys enjoy it" He said as he winked at a random face in the crowd. He started to sway with the beat of the music, spotting his sister and Siai in the back of the basement giving him thumbs up. He threw up a shaka sign in appreciation, Getting to the part where he should sing. He sung the lyrics confidently, smoothly weaving the lyrics of the three differents into one flawlessly. He danced with the mic without missing a beat, He finished up his performance with a bow of thanks. He made his way off stage, and waited by the stairs to get his phone back from the sound techs.

"Kang HeeYoung! Your Next!"

Looking around to find his sister,he frowned in confusion when he was able to find her. when the sound tech comes up to him and hands him his phone. JaeSun makes his way back to his seat by Kyumin, plopping down into his seat. He relaxed knowing that his performance was done. He was just a little worried about his sister's performance. Hearing light beeping, he watched in confusion as a large projection screen came down from the ceiling.

---

---

---

---

---

---

_{The Basement, and The Roof
Interacting with JaeSun, Kyumin, and Siai
"Korean"
"𝐸𝓃𝑔𝓁𝒾𝓈𝒽"}

---

HeeYoung half listened to JaeSun and Kyumin's discussion, while she tried form some sort of plan for her performance,suddenly getting hit with a idea. "Well I'll be back in abit..." HeeYoung whispered as she got up from her seat as she grabbed her ukulele and walked off. Walking to the back of the room, She spots Siai in the back with a couple of computer screens and a laptop setup in front of her. Smiling she rubs her hands together, Siai is the perfect person to help her with her plan.

Settling into a free chair next to the older woman, she leaned forward and watch as viewer comments covered one monitor, while the other the other 2 monitors had different camera angles of the stage. HeeYoung lightly tapped Siai’s shoulder to get her attention. When Siai finically turns to her and takes off her headset. HeeYoung smiles brightly, “Hey, How are the viewer’s enjoying the evals? Siai finished typing on her laptop before answering HeeYoung’s question, “so far we have a lot of girls viewing and posting comments, I’m positive that we will have more guys posting comments when more girls go up for evaluations.” Siai looked at HeeYoung curiously, “There is no way you came back here just to see how everything is going...what’s up?”

"I can kind of want to do my performance on the roof, instead of here... Is there a way we can do that?" She asked curiously, making random imaginary doodles on the table. Siai chewed on the inside of her cheek as she thought about it carefully, "Sure... But if Taeyung asks, You take the blame.. got it. Don't include me at all." HeeYoung sits up excitedly in her seat, nodding her head. "Sure.. You got it Si!" glancing at the stage, "but how are we gonna do this do this?" She asked curiously, biting her lip nervously. "Well... We can take one of the live cameras and set it up on the roof for your performance. I can connect the live stream to the projector and project it onto the screen."

“That sounds awesome, let’s do it” HeeYoung said excitedly, she got up and followed after Siai. When she started walking to the stage, when they finally get backstage. Siai calls out to one of the company VJs to help her look for some items that Siai needed to make her performance go smoothly. Within a few minutes they had found a wireless microphone and battery pack, a small amp that she could hook up her Ukulele to, and a Video camera for the VJ to record her performance.

HeeYoung stood still while Siai helped her attach the battery pack to the wireless mic and putting it on her ear, giggled softly when the mic piece brushed against her cheek while Siai was trying to make sure it didn’t tangle in her hair. “Thanks for helping me Si.” Siai smiles down at HeeYoung as she continued to smooth out her tangled hair, “No problem kiddo! You got this. The VJ Kyo, He went up already to set up everything...So when he signals you to go, You just start playing your piece. I’ll make sure everyone down here gets to see it”

“I should probably head up there than..” she said nervously, she slowly followed after Siai back to her desk of computer at the back of basement. Both her and Siai smiled when her brother got called up on to stage, she gave him a thumbs up in encouragement before hugging Siai and making her way up to the roof. She took a breath before quietly existing the basement and running up to the elevators, hitting the top floor button. She tapped her foot nervously, humming the song she was planning to perform as she waited. When the elevator finally reached the last floor she ran the rest of the way to to the roof access. When she pushes the door open she kneels down slightly tired from all the running.

“Did I make it Kyo?” She asked him curiously as she tried to catch her breath. Kyo nodded his head, “yeah, you made it kid. But you should probably get ready sounds like your brother’s performance should be ending any minute now.” He told her, helping her to feet. He readjust her mic that came off and was hanging from her ear. “Got you all set up over here kid.” He said gesturing over to the roof ledge where her ukulele sat in front of a camera. “Nice spot” she mumbled as she looked out at the city view.

She moved to ledge taking a seat next to her ukulele, picking it up and strumming a few chords. Kyo moved to stand behind the camera, pressing his hand to his headset. He suddenly said “alright, I’ll let her know.” He looked at her seriously, “Alright kid it looks like it’s your turn, I’m going to count you down to one. When I point to you start whatever your gonna do.” HeeYoung nodded her head in understanding.

HeeYoung took a deep breath as she calmed her nervous, listening to the sounds of the city around her relaxed her nervous as she heard the VJ assisting her countdown to one. Noticing him flick his finger at her signaling her to go, She started to play the chords to the song she had chosen. It was song she grew up listening to and sing with her mom. It was old song, not many people knew it unless they grew up in Hawaii or actually liked IZ. She got lost in the memories that she had associated with this song, Before she knew it she was already finished singing and strumming the last chord. Holding her ukulele, she turned slightly to the city view blocking the camera view of her face. She slowly wiped the tears that had formed away from her eyes. She waited to hear that it was all clear from Kyo before hopping off the ledge and taking off the mic and handing it over to him. “Thank you, Do you need my help taking everything back?” She asked curiously, “Nah Kid your good, go on and head back”

HeeYoung smiles sadly giving a quick bow, before grabbing her ukulele and heading back downstairs. Instead of going straight to the basement, She made her way to the practice rooms. Peeking in till she found a empty practice room, she slipped into the empty room turning off the light. She laid down on the couch in the corner, strumming her ukulele while she got lost in her thoughts.

---

---