ong seongwoo

let's go through a little time jump, if that's okay for you everyone.

life in the revised a class is going better than expected, if you ask me. i still keep in touch with the original a-ranked trainees, get closer with the new ones, and i'm doing a pretty great job at.. well, existing.

euigeon doesn't seem to be that huge of a change either. as we both know that we still have different opinions of each other, none eager to finish the unspoken distraught that spawned between us both (well, lee woojin is definitely the best at this matter; despite the fact that the young boy literally doesn't know anything), we try our best to keep our displeasing thoughts away by not interacting that much. i'm afraid if we continue  to create a fresh, new relationship, it'll end up to us arguing with each other until there's no end. but if we fully don't interact with each other, there's a possibility for the rest of our friends to think, "are these two really acquaintances before produce 101?"

so yes, toleration with daniel is needed in order to survive. besides, who i'm interacting is in fact not kang (the devil) euigeon, but he's kang (the upgraded version?) daniel.

we use woojin a lot as the way to connect with each other. woojin would be standing in the middle with the both of us holding his hand from each side, treating him like a child, at least when he's still looking like it. with woojin, we'd talk absurd things because the kid always has something in his mind. however, my topic with daniel only circulates around the important things. we both plan ways to get more food for the lower ranked trainees during lunch time, brainstorming for the sake of our friends. he also constantly comes to me whenever he's confused about the choreography.

"um, hyung." his voice calling me 'hyung' feels inexplicably satisfying, it's like listening to an old favorite song that you haven't listened to again for a long time. "i have something to ask."

i arch an eyebrow. "yes?"

"it's about the choreo."

"ah, ok."

"i still have trouble doing the bridge part."

i have to guide him by putting my hands on his waist, just like what i'd do to other trainees who ask for help. he flinches a little sometimes, but he doesn't say anything. he follows my instructions diligently, all that done without any conversations unrelated with the lessons or the program in general. we kept the relationship professional, as reaching for a more intimate relation might cause a lot of trouble for both our past and our future.

though, i do find it quite strange for him to keep asking me to teach him the bridge, as he already seems to be an  expert of the whole choreography. i wouldn't bother it that much, i still got enough time to spare.

the process of choosing the center for it's me is honestly not something i'd like to discuss of. it's mainly because us a-ranked trainees either did really well – leaving a satisfied grin on boa's face – or did helplessly horrible, leaving a memory that we'd rather not remember unless we want to go through a wave of overwhelming cringe.

daniel and i.. found ourselves in the second option.

don't even remind me of daniel's performance though; it's something that even he finds impossible to watch without cringing in embarrassment. i won't say that my performance was good either, so that is also something i wouldn't pry into.

out of all that bad news, at least little woojin (and big woojin, apparently) did really well. but out of question, the center position is undeniably taken by lee daehwi, the dedicated activist of a class.

i was gratefully honored to participate in the recording of the studio version of the theme song, an achievement i quite take pride of. daehwi sticks along with me like glue during the recording, constantly going on about how he's scared of the producer that keeps scolding him. i won't blame him though, they really expect too much of a talented young boy who they might've forgotten has feelings too.

we go through the shooting of the music video after a few more practices. then we were left in the camp for another few weeks before we proceed to our first mission.

those few weeks is just a blur to me. mnet had no intentions on keeping us in, they just didn't want any of us to spoil anything or listen to anything the netizens have been spawning about us. they say they've done it to keep us from going through negative comments of ourselves, though i believe they've done that only to keep us from trouble. that doesn't mean we didn't do fun stuff during that much of free time; of course we had our moments of rebellion by escaping the dorm once in a while.. a story i rather talk about later.

the last night of freedom is clouded with feelings of excitement and anxiousness. me and my dormmates plan to sleep earlier tonight, as we don't want to exhaust ourselves for our first day. we said our goodbyes, knowing that we won't be dormmates anymore by the next night. however, i had trouble sleeping, and i couldn't even bring myself to sleep with the help of counting sheep. i end up staring at the ceiling of the bed above me that is currently occupied by yoon jisung.

he doesn't seem to be sleeping either. a fading light could be seen in his direction from my position.

"hyung." i call out quietly.

he does not answer.

"yoon jisung-ssi, i know you're still awake."

the response i receive is the notification alert for kakaotalk.

i squint my eyes. "what in the-"

"you say anything and i swear to god i'll throw you down the han river." jisung threatens, he bobs his head to my bunker.

i raise my hands. "chill, i ain't a blabbermouth."

"i know you aren't." he returns to whatever he's doing with his phone that apparently isn't allowed to be brought to mnet's shooting sites but hey, we all don't care at this point.

i obviously don't want him to take all the fun. i stand up and get myself to the second foundation, positioning myself beside jisung. jisung arches off an unwelcoming glare, but i sweep it all off.

"if this bed breaks–"

"the staff will be suspecting something stranger? yeah, i thought of that too." i interrupt swiftly, my attention getting pushed over by the content of jisung's phone.

jisung leers. "i'm not like you–"

"gay? yeah, i thought so." i glance at jisung before laughing. "relax, i'm not trying to get with you right now. i just needed entertainment."

"you know that could have a different meaning. choose the right words before speaking unless you want to scare someone away."

i know jisung means no harm, though. he's been the most supportive of who i am even before i dated daniel, so it's usual for us to have these kind of jokes.

turns out jisung has been scrolling through naver with the 'produce 101 season 2' web search, reading each and every article. i cuddle along with him on his side, reading them with him under the fleecy blanket.

i wheeze. "this is exactly why mnet lock us all up in here. to keep us away from these kind of articles."

"like i care." jisung bites the tip of his finger. "we all know moonbok is going to get a lot of attention, but park jihoon is undeniably popular too."

"i expected it." i grin in satisfaction because of my right prediction. "the kid has potentials. no one here thought of him greatly, but i know he's going to do good."

"you're doing great too."

"yeah, that's–" i pause. "wait what?"

"yeah. netizens have a personal poll of who took their attention before mnet releases the official voting procession, and you have yourself in the 4th position."

i look at him in disbelief, before shaking my head. "it's probably just because of my company. i'll fall from the ranks once they get to know me, it's not like i'm something special or anything."

jisung smirks. "ong seongwoo. you and your lies."

"how about you?" i proceed to the next topic, feeling uncomfortable to talk about myself. "what rank are you?"

"50-ish."

"ah." i shift awkwardly.

"daniel got 32nd." jisung shrugs. "well basically that's 8 times your rank, but i guess it's pretty good as he's the highest for the mmo trainees."

"okay. that's nice." i answer shortly as i don't know what other response i could give for that information. i'm honestly surprised of how far he's gotten from me, but i believe he'll gain his popularity quickly. he's kang daniel, for god's sake.

jisung sighs. "i know what you're going to say after this. 'you'd do better later,' 'they haven't seen your true self,' those usual shenanigans you say to comfort me."

"not exactly." i tilt my head. "i was actually about to say good luck, but what you said works too."

"it's a lie to say that i'm not jealous of you, really." jisung turns off his phone and lets out a defying breath. "you're just so.. perfect. at everything."

"you're overreacting."

"you know, at this point, i wouldn't have any problems dating you–"

"hyung stop." i whine.

"of course i can't. you're euigeon's." he responds cooly, his eyes gazing at the blank ceiling.

i scoff. "was."

jisung gets up to get on a sitting position. "i have a tiny question."

"hm?"

"what daniel did at the bar when we bailed out of the dorms.."

"yeah?"

"you've never given your comment about that."

i arch an eyebrow. "what did daniel do at the bar?"

jisung looks surprised. "wait, you don't remember anything?"

"nothing peculiar." which is true, as all that i remember doing when we bailed out of the dorms a week ago was taking a couple of drinks (with the legal aged trainees, of course) while trying so hard not to laugh at kenta's unfunny dad jokes that only comes out once he sips a bit of alcohol.

jisung mumbles something behind his breath, but i couldn't hear what he said. i look at him waveringly. "what?"

"nevermind." he responds.

"you're weird."

"i know."

after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling as we both have nothing else to say, i proceed to return back to bed before the producers suspect something strange. "get some rest, hyung. sorry to bother you."

"that's aight." jisung says as he slips himself back into his blanket. "you also get yourself some sleep. tomorrow's going to be a long day."

i nod and get back down to my bunker. i wrap myself with my blanket and close my eyes, the thought of what might've happened at the bar lingers at the back of my head.

—

this chapter is too rushed, i'm so sorry -.-
what happened at the bar? that question will be answered at the next chapter :D
if you have time, please do check out my new story 'etiquette', starring exo chanyeol, rv irene, and a lots of other sm artists.
hope you enjoyed this long chapter and feel free to leave a comment or two ^^

— yuehwa