“Hyung-geun?”

“Daewon hyung?” I was going to walk over to him when Taro dragged me with him.

“Come on Marco, there’s some seats here.” I reluctantly followed him while searching for Daewon hyung before losing him in the crowd. It’s been years since I saw him again. I sat next to Taro before they announced the first mission. After the announcement, we got up and started to check out the other contestants. Maybe I could find Daewon hyung again and talk to him.

“Hello! We’re a band named MAS…” A band that was picked through the auditions started to introduce themselves and appeal to the other contestants.

“It’s going to be rough for them. No one is going to want to take them in.” Taro looked at them with pity. I couldn’t but help relate to them, I was once there in my life where no one wanted me due to my lack of skill.

“Let’s go and add them to our team.” Taro looked at me with disbelief.

“Uhh, no way dude. Plus, I think someone else has already scouted them.” I looked towards them to see Daewon hyung walk up to them and shake hands with one of the boys. I smiled, of course he would take them in. He was always like that.

[Flashback]

“Lee Hyung-geun is it?” I nodded my head. “How much do you like to dance? Are you that desperate to join our crew? I bet you don’t even want to dance, you probably just want to impress some girls or kill some time.” I stood up as my anger rose.

“No! I love to dance! I have been to many crews and they have rejected me because they said that I had bad skills and would ruin their reputation. But, I’ve heard so many great things about your crew. That no matter what, you guys are always there for each other and that you don’t only just support your star dancers but anyone in your crew!” I breathed heavily after yelling at him. How dare he evaluate me unfairly without getting to know me first!

“Hey! How dare you yell at Daewon hyung like that!” A man standing next to him yelled. I flinched and began to apologize. Instead of yelling back at me, he laughed.

“Insoo, it’s fine. I like you, you need to be tenacious if you want to part of our crew. I like your passion! You’re in.” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“Really? You don’t need me to audition?” He shook his head.

“If you have the drive then you can dance no matter your skill. Just keep up with us during practices and if you’re successful with that, I’ll consider that your audition to join us.” He ruffled my hair and walked off.

[End of flashback]

“Marco? What’re you doing?” Taro was waving his hand in front of my face. I finally came to my senses and looked at him.

“Sorry, just spacing out again.” I said sheepishly while smiling. Taro shook his head and smiled.

“It’s fine, I’ve gotten used to your weird antics anyways. Well, we decided to group up with those remaining guys over there since they seem like they’re good.” I nodded my head and followed him while looking over my shoulder to look for Daewon hyung once again, but he was gone.

We practiced hard in our groups to learn the moves to ‘My Turn’ but some of us were struggling to keep up with the pace of those who were more skilled in dancing.

“Alright let’s take a break. Those who need or want a specialized training can ask me or Hyukjin for more help.” Finally a break, the leader of our group was adamant on getting every step right and made us practice different steps multiple times. I walked outside to grab a cup of water. As I got closer, I saw Daewon hyung sitting at the resting area near the water cooler laughing with some boys from MAS.

“Daewon hyung.” He looked up at me and instantly stood up.

“Let’s go guys, I want to practice some more.” The boys stood up looking puzzled but followed him anyway. I sighed to myself and grabbed a cup of water. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I still wanted to talk to him.

“What was that about?” Ungjae grabbed a cup of water. I smiled to him.

“Nothing, I guess some old wounds don’t heal easily even if you give them time.” Ungjae gave me a puzzled look but didn't question me. I threw away my cup and walked back to the room. It’s better this way anyway, I don’t need any distractions. I need to focus on winning this competition.

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