"you guys came!", the youngest of the group expressed happily but surprisedly when he spotted his friends gathered in the theatre hall after school.

"of course!!", jaemin stated smiling and had some candies prepared which he would share with everyone.

"duhhh, what did you expect, ji? we all agreed", chenle, who had accompanied his best friend on the way to the theatre hall, commented sassily with a raised eyebrow.

the ash haired boy shrugged his shoulders while a sheepish smile appeared on his lips. "yeah, i don't know... maybe you guys have changed plans or something like that since the meeting is voluntarily", he replied shyly and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"no worries, jisung", hyuck reassured softly and put his arm around the youngest' shoulders. "we have basically promised to come to see and support you", he added smiling and ruffled jisung's hair.

the corner of his lips turned upwards and the younger boy couldn't help but feel shy and grateful towards them.

afterwards, jisung got his laptop out of his bag and placed it on the desk which mrs. cha usually used.

he turned his laptop on and opened his powerpoint, revealing the topic of his presentation.

in the meanwhile, the rest of the group made themselves comfortable on the seats and were looking forward to see the youngest boy present in front of them.

"let your inner steve jobs out", chenle shouted to motivate his best friend. "pretend that you are at a ted talk", yejoon added jokingly. the whole group chuckled amusedly due to their goofy comments.

"you can do it, jisung", jeno commented cheerfully. "you got this, fighting!", renjun encouraged him.

after setting up his presentation jisung stood at the front of the room next to the desk and his laptop. his eyes scanned his audience who were sitting in front of him.

the ash haired boy felt all eyes on him and his heart started to fasten. his nervosity grew stronger and he fidgeted with his fingers.

"jisung", mark said calmly and gained the attention of the youngest. "yeah?", the male freshman replied softly and looked up to face him.

"it's going to be alright, okay? take your time and take a deep breath", the oldest among the group reminded him and gave him a warm smile, trying to reassure him and help him to feel at ease.

jisung nodded and did as told. after inhaling and exhaling deeply, he started with his presentation.

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ timeskip to friday ]

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ DRAMA CULT ]
group chat with all drama club members

MARK
jisung remember

MARK
take deep breaths, collect your thoughts and keep calm, okay?

MARK
just like we have practiced

HYUCK
exactly

HYUCK
you can do it, jisung!!

CHENLE
i believe in you bestie <3

YEJOON
you did a great job at practice

YEJOON

you spoke greatly after two or three times of practice and i bet you will present 💫 PERFECTLY 💫 this time

YEJOON
claiming positive energy only 🕯

JAEMIN
it's okay to be nervous, it will be alright <33

RENJUN
don't give up, even if you get stuck, pretend that you are not and continue to talk

RENJUN
for example make up new sentences instead of trying to search for that missing word which is on the tip of your tongue

RENJUN
no one will notice then and you won't get too distracted by getting stuck!!

RENJUN
besides, it's totally fine to make mistakes and mess up sometimes. we're all human after all

HYUCK
EXACTLY 🗣🗣🗣

HYUCK
even if you are nervous or have messed up, it makes you more authentic

JENO
you can be proud of yourself once you have it behind yourself

SOOYUN
pretend to be confident, fake it until you make it!!

HAEWON
jisung you will perform well just like in our little acts for the drama club!!

JISUNG
thank you guys :(((

JISUNG
you are all so helpful, i cherish your advice and encouraging words 💗

JISUNG
and yet i'm still so nervous and lowkey scared haha

JISUNG
oh god i want to cry so bad

JAEMIN
JISUNG MY BABY

JAEMIN
it will be fine, okay? don't worry <3

JAEMIN
i will give you some candies after you have done your presentation if that motivates you

CHENLE
jisung's motivation now 📈📈📈

YEJOON
HAHAHAHAH

JISUNG
i have actually cackled

JISUNG
thank you guys

JISUNG
oh god i got to go now

CHENLE
GOOD LUCK JI <333

HYUCK
FIGHTING JISUNG

MARK
YOU CAN DO ITTTT

HAEWON
YOU GOT THIS SWEETHEART 💓

JAEMIN
GOOD LUCK JISUNG <3

JISUNG
thank you so much 😭😭😭

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

the teacher called his name, causing the ash haired boy to stand up and walk to the front of the class.

his body was filled with nervosity as he prepared the file for his presentation. after his powerpoint was projected on the wall, jisung was the center of attention.

all eyes were glued on the male, anticipating for him to start with his presentation.

the pressure he carried on his shoulders was immense and unbearable. he could hear his loud heartbeat which made him even more nervous.

jisung took a deep breath before he started to perform in class. "w-welcome to my presentation about-", his voice cracked, causing him to stop in the middle of his sentence.

his heartbeat sped up and he felt how his cheeks turned red in embarassment. jisung cleared nervously his throat before attempting to introduce once again.

"w-welcome to my p-presentation about h-hamsters", the ash haired boy uttered with a shaky voice.

"be louder, i can't hear you!", a classmate who was sitting in the back of the class exclaimed loudly.

jisung took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down and stop his shaking but failed miserably.

his anxiety grew with each second passing by. the fact that everyone was watching him embarrassing himself in front of the whole class didn't make things better. the other fact that all attention was on him made the situation worse — he despised that so much.

"do it like in practice... i can do it...", jisung thought to himself, trying to clear his mind and collect his thoughts. however, his mind felt cloudy and blank, causing him to be unable to recite the things he wanted to present. he was close to face a blackout.

the ash haired boy glanced at the cards he held shakily. reading his notes reminded him of his text and he looked back at his classmates.

jisung took another deep breath and wanted to say something out loud and yet, nothing came out of his throat. it felt like something was blocking him from doing that.

this caused the young boy to be in distress. anxiety and panic took over his body. his hands were visibly shaking while his mind was a mess and yet empty.

he wasn't able to think clearly, making him to panic even more. his breath started to be uneven, not steady enough.

"jisung?", the teacher called out worriedly, concerns were written on her face. "are you okay? jisung?", she asked, attempting to gain his attention once again, however, her student didn't react to her question.

"e-excuse me, i... i need to go", jisung stuttered shakily and bowed before leaving the room quickly. running away seemed like the only option he had left in that moment.

tears were running down his cheeks as he headed towards the restroom. it was too much for the boy. too much to handle for him.

with his shaking hand he locked himself up in one stall. jisung sat down on the floor, his back was pressed against the door as his legs were pulled towards him, embraced by his arms.

the boy sobbed in desperation and fear, his body didn't stop trembling. he felt hopeless, he felt utterly hopeless.

the mle freshman wondered how he managed to fail holding a presentation, even though he had practiced several times, even in front of his friends.

jisung felt pathetic and embarrassed about himself. it seemed like a simple task to do and yet, he had failed. 'why did he have to be so nervous and anxious about that? about a simple presentation?' — these were one of his many thoughts that were crossing wildly his mind.

the boy felt how he slowly drowned in his thoughts, how they were slowly dragging him down.

it was horrible for jisung. it seemed like his nightmare but he felt like it was all his fault for messing up.

━━━ ☆★☆ ━━━

[ author's note ]
this HURTS so much
i remember feeling so sad for jisung when writing it 😞😞

anyways i can't believe that it's already october... but hey, fact check by nct 127 will soon be released hehe ;)

stay safe and healthy everyone ♡
see you in the next chapter!!