Upon arriving in the practice room the day after eliminations, the first person I notice is Woodam, whose eyes are completely red and puffy.

              “Hey, Woodam?” I mutter, sliding next to him cautiously. “Are you… okay? I know you’re sad about Jinyoung leaving. I am too.”

              “Just look at my eyes. I was crying all night! I’m an emotional man, okay?” Woodam moans, before quieting down. “I had no idea you and Jinyoung were so close too.”

              “Well, you probably know him better than I do.” After all, Jinyoung and Woodam were from the same company. “So… we’re in the same group now. I have possibly the best vocalist on the whole show on my team.”

              At that comment, Woodam cracks a tiny smile. “I wouldn’t say I’m the best vocalist. I’ll just take care of all the high notes. Anyways, this might be my last performance…”

              I want to reassure Woodam that it won’t be his last performance, but thinking about his statement, he’s probably right. After Jinyoung’s departure, he’s the only one from his company left, and Korea’s voters probably wouldn’t want him to debut without his labelmates. “It could be all of our last performances. Then all the more reason to make this stage as fun as possible!” I think back to Mansae, where all of us were having fun despite it being some of our last stages on the show.

              “You’re right.” Woodam admits. “After all, Showtime is supposed to be a fun song.”

              “Let’s start practicing first and listen to what our team has to say.”

              “Hey, we should video call Jinyoung. I’m sure you miss seeing his face as much as I do,” Woodam suggests after practice one day.

              Ring! Ring! I wait in nervousness while Woodam attempts to get hold of Jinyoung. I wonder how Jinyoung will react seeing me for the first time after his elimination. Is he still traumatized by it? Is he going to cry? But thankfully, he greets us with his normal cheeky grin as soon as he picks up.

              “Yooooo hyung! I miss you so much! You really cried a lot because of me, didn’t you?” Jinyoung teases Woodam, who’s getting all teary again. “Looks like you and Alyssa are getting close without me, huh?”

              “We’re part of the same team this time!” I interject. “We miss you too! What have you been up to?”

              “Eh, not much, just chilling with the rest of the HF boys. Honestly, I need all the relaxation I can get,” he shrugs, turning his phone camera to show off his dorm, with a few other boys sitting on the bunk beds. Upon being reminded of home, Woodam’s lip starts to tremble, but I massage his back to prevent him from entering a full breakdown. “Aww hyung, uljima! You’ll be seeing us real soon. In fact, I’ll be coming for your guys’ performance. Can’t miss it!” He winks, and Woodam reluctantly smiles.  

 “Have you seen Eunbi around?” I ask Jinyoung. Now that I think about it, I should video call Eunbi if I have time.

“Not really, but I’m hanging out at the mall with her tomorrow. I’ll tell her you said hi. Anyways, I’m going to sleep now. You guys better impress me with your next performance. Hwaiting!”

Woo Jinyoung is #1 on Mix Nine and I didn't think it would come to this for one of my main characters. 

Congrats Jinyoung ~