Smiling smugly, he leaned back against the wall feeling relaxed as he heard the discordant jumps in Renn’s scratching. Jay was tempted to laugh out loud as he heard a passage that was almost impossible to improvise on- he knew she was doing it on purpose. For them. The gravity of tonight’s schedule was starting to inch up on him, slowly clawing at his legs and arms. For the first time in a long while 2PM was going to dance for a reason other than just for the sake of dancing. All of tonight’s proceeds were going to the hospital bill, and so everything had to go according to plan.

Jay could tell Chansung was feeling the pressure with the way the youngest was fidgeting with the fruit in his hands. For some reason, it had been customary for Chansung to eat a banana before they performed, Jay didn’t think too much of the act as it did calm the maknae down. However it also revealed a lot about him, which was not a good thing should competition sniff it out.

“Relax,” Nichkhun muttered, snatching the banana away and setting it on top of Wooyoung’s bag by Jay’s feet.

Chansung scowled at the Thai, but he didn’t speak, instead he turned to Junho who was sitting on the floor next to him. “What number are we again?”

“Last,” Junsu answered him, emerging from the hole on the wall that led to the outside pit. “Renn looks good out there, who did she come in with tonight? I’m surprised no one’s assaulted her yet.”

“You were supposed to scout the competition, not Renn,” Jay said flatly, glaring.

“Mai’s probably doing it,” Junho said from the floor. “She always does anyway.”

Wooyoung took a step forward to confirm his statement, leaning forward to get a good look at the dance floor, the crowd circled around it. Just as Junho had predicted, Mai was leaning against Renn’s table, her head bobbing lightly to the heavy bass as she scanned through the dancers, both performing and waiting on the sidelines. Seulong stood by her, his attention also on the dancers on the floor, but he occasionally scanned the crowd to make sure no one was getting maimed. It was because of his presence that allowed the small area by the turntables to remain free of unnecessary objects and people.

The cheers escalated as Beast ended their routine and Renn lowered the volume so that Kwon could verbally finish them off, and allude toward the collector coming around for the dance crew’s earning. Mai saw Changmin going around with a cloth bag as onlookers eagerly donated to show their support. She leaned forward and off the table to get a better look when someone brushed past her, and she sent a sidelong glance at the female group that was gathering in the pit for their turn. The girl who had bumped into her without apologizing turned to stare as her group members did a quick stretch before assuming their positions. Mai returned the gaze evenly, not that she knew why this girl was giving her cut eye, but Mai never backed down from a staring contest, even with a stranger. It was the girl who looked away first, as Changmin had finished and Renn had turned the music back up, ready for the next crew’s performance.

Kwon gave them a quick introduction, and Mai watched the seven girl team start their dance, and she detected a Timbaland remixed beat for their track. They were like any normal dance crew, but as girls they definitely brought a sassy flavour to their style of dance, and Mai could tell that some of the dancers had done other forms of dance by the way they had integrated pieces into their choreography. At the final down beat the crowd erupted in cheers as the girls kept their last moves for a few more seconds before moving to nod and wave to the crowd.

Someone bumped her shoulder, and Mai turned to see Jay standing beside her, the rest of 2PM hanging around behind him, ready for their turn.

“You never came to update us on the competition,” Jay commented aloud as Changmin once again went around for collection.

“Did I have to?” Mai replied as she watched the girls leave. “Did I really need to? Honestly?” she asked as she turned to look him in the eye.

Jay smirked as he nudged Taecyeon, who was standing behind him, for the group to enter the dance pit. As confident as he was, it was always nice to have Mai’s reassurance. The two had worked together as dance instructors long enough for him to trust her judgement- it all depended on their performance now.

Jay caught Renn’s eye as they moved to their positions, and the DJ gave him a small nod before turning back to her table. The wiry electro beat pounded into the pit as a rhythmic assault on the senses and the crowd shushed, watching 2PM’s slow body pops aligned to the beat and escalated into more pronounced and punctuated movements. The crowd responded in full force, screaming and cheering, as 2PM fell into their hard choreography. Changmin was swamped, even before 2PM was finished, as the crowd showed their support for the last crew of the night, and Kwon played along with volume level as he hyped up the next event happening next week.

It was late when the crowd finally dispersed, and the only people who remained were the dance crews who had yet received their earnings for the night, and various other individuals who helped with clean up.

“You guys did well,” Nichkhun said to one of the girls as they all waited for Changmin to come around. Only half of the boys were waiting with him, and they were already in a quiet conversation when he came and joined them.

“Thanks, you too,” she replied with almost indifference. Her friend looked over, and Nichkhun quickly smiled, catching her eye. She sent a tiny smile back before looking down and continuing her conversation with her friend. The girls got their turn first, and they had left by the time 2PM had counted their earnings.

“Damn we did good. This isn’t the most we’ve ever accumulated for one performance, but we did good.”

“Is it enough?” Taecyeon asked Jay, peering over his shoulder.

“Should be, this covers the cost of-”

“It’s not,” Chansung said quietly, but everyone heard him. The area was almost empty save for several select individuals. The boys looked over at their maknae, and Chansung was forced to continue. “The doctors want to run some more tests on Gran. They asked the last time she was in the hospital, but I said no since I couldn’t cover the bill, but now that she’s in there again, and I...” he trailed off as he kept his gaze fixed on the ground.

“Chansung-ah, why didn’t you tell us earlier?” Junho asked, leaning over as he tried to look at the maknae.

Chansung shrugged as Jay spoke up. “We just have to another gig right? Or a few more, how much are we missing?”

Chansung finally looked up and shot a glance at Wooyoung before turning to their leader. “We need more for Wooyoungie-”

“Don’t pull me into this,” Wooyoung interrupted, glaring at the youngest.

“What’s he talking about?” Nichkhun asked, turning around to face him.

“Noth-”

“Wooyoung’s sis needs the cash,” Chansung answered as he interrupted Wooyoung again.

“I’ll just take another job-”

It was Junsu who cut him off this time, putting a hand on the younger boy’s shoulder. “You have a day job and a side job, plus this. What else do you think you can fit in?”

Wooyoung stared at his hyungs before he sighed in defeat and shoved his hands in his jean pockets.

“You guys heard about the competition?” The group turned around to see Jinwoon bouncing from Renn’s stand approach them, holding a jacket that was slung over his back. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear that you guys are tight on cash.”

“What competition?” Jay asked.

“A dance competition, hosted by MNet. Auditions are happening in two weeks. There’s a huge money prize plus touring for the crew that wins.” Jinwoon pulled out a folded sheet of paper out of his pocket and gave it to Taecyeon. “Anyway, I’m out. Have a good night.”

The boys nodded as Jinwoon left, and Taecyeon unfolded the paper and scanned the details. “It’s happening the end of next month, the winning team gets a chance to tour all over Korea then a chance at an Asian tour and the cash prize...” Taecyeon’s eyes widened. “Would be more than enough, is my guess.”

“Then we should do it,” Junho said automatically as he eyed the taller boy.

“There’s a slight problem,” Taecyeon replied, furrowing his brows. “Eight is the minimum number of members required in the crew, and the routine must include pair dancing plus the integration of a few other dance forms, a lot more dance forms.”

“Mai, and Mai.” The boys looked at Jay oddly as he continued, “With Mai makes us eight, and she’s done ballroom and jazz dance before so-”

“I’ve done what?” Mai and Renn approached them, the latter looking slightly annoyed as she fixed the hair that had indented because of the headphones she had had on earlier. Taecyeon handed Mai the ad, and her eyes quickly scanned it before she nudged her friend and showed her the paper. “So you guys are thinking to just add me so that you could fulfill the requirements?”

The boys stumbled for an answer that wouldn’t seem rude, and Renn snorted out loud, bringing their attention to her. “Who’s gonna cross-dress?”

“What?” they chorused in shock.

Renn laughed again as Mai shook her head. “I think Khun’s the only one here that can pull off dressing in drag,” Renn replied, nodding in the Thai’s direction.

“There’s more than one pair required for the pair dancing,” Mai explained, slightly annoyed. “You need to incorporate multiple pairs in the routine, and it needs to be done at least twice.”

The members glared at Taecyeon who held up his hands in his defence. “I didn’t finish reading.”

“Yeah well now this plan has run into a big red stop sign. What now?” Wooyoung commented bitterly as he looked around.

“We can join another group,” Nichkhun suggested. s gave him odd looks as he continued, “Not a lot of crews can fill those requirements as is, so I’m guessing that the teams competing will probably be recruiting extra people too.”

“Is there a max Taec?” Junsu asked.

“Twenty.”

“You’re not suggesting Closed Formation, are you Khun-hyung?” Chansung asked, leaning forward to look at his hyung who he remembered had been talking with some of the girls not too long ago.

Nichkhun merely shrugged. “I’m just saying. They have the same number of members as us, and they’re pretty good, aren’t they?”

Nichkhun directed his question to Mai in particular, and she scoffed. “They’re unorganized, their moves lack in power and their transitions aren’t smooth. Their choreography needs heavy work and whoever mixes their music needs a harsh lesson and preferably a beating from Renn.”

Jay laughed, and the others gave him a strange look. “Which means they’re pretty good.” Mai rolled her eyes as Jay explained, “Mai didn’t suggest they quit dancing, or that they die in a hole, so they must have done something right.”

“So what do we do? We don’t even know them,” Junho said, worried.

“Junsu-hyung, didn’t you say one of their members went to school with you?” Taecyeon asked, bringing the older boy’s attention back to the group.

“Hm? Yeah, but it was more friend of a friend.”

“But it’s a start right?” Junho put in, looking at his hyungs for confirmation. “We can do this, all we have to do is make sure we fill the requirements and we’re good. I mean, we’re really doing this right?”

“If you’re the only link we have now, we need to go with it,” Jay told him. “Your dongsaengs need this.”

Everyone waited for his response, and Taecyeon’s gaze moved to the ground before he looked over at his hyung as well. Junsu gave a sigh of defeat as he reluctantly pulled out his phone. “I don’t have her number, but I know someone who does,” he told them hesitantly as he fiddled with his phone before putting it to his ear, the others going silent as he waited for someone to pick up.

“Hey. Candace? How are you?”

[A/N]: It's been forever, yes? Anyway, static here reporting. We've been busy...obviously. So sorry for the wait. BUT the fic is still very much alive. The girls will all be revealed in the next chapter. We've just been trying to lay out the grounds for the guys to take in the girls in their crew, make things realistic as much as we could. Things are going to start slow, we're trying to develop everyone as much as we can.

One more thing, for the crew, since it's 14+ people in total, we'll be dividing everyone into an in-group and an out-group, plus some reserves on the side. Note, however, that the "chosen" ones do not make them permanent members of the crew. Things are going to change depending on the dynamics of the people involved. Do watch out if your character pops in, also, just because your character is in now, doesn't mean she will be later. It's all in the little details. <3

And just for scenery purposes, our underground pit is similar to the scenario in Beast's Beautiful MV, if you'd like to see how it works =)