“That’s going to be you soon.” Kai says as they stand at the edges of the crowd.

They’re at Stage Twenty, the bottom of the lot set around town. All newbies start out on this stage, then depending on how well they do, they get promoted to another stage up. If they don’t, then they simply try again. Three times with no promoting and you’re out, sent back to train. If you’re lucky, your master will decide to keep you and train you himself. But no one forgets the ones who don’t make it. You’d be rest assured no future if you botch up on the simplest stage ever; Stage Twenty. In any case, this is the stage that Sehun will be performing on first, and so when Kai tells him they are off to go see it, he doesn’t object. It’s good to get a sense of what the crowd would be seeing, anyway. ‘Get a sense of what to expect,’ Kai had said as they drove downtown, the wind whistling through Sehun’s ears from winded down windows.  

Get a sense indeed.

- : -

It’s an outdoor stage.

The audience can choose to sit or stand, on chairs or on the lush green grass. It’s one of the less formal places, and not many choose to come here, since it’s the newbie grounds. It’s mainly the ones who are not as well off as others who come here to watch — admission is free here at Stage Twenty, and many people can’t resist the chance to come, place bets on who will move forward, and on who will sink.

It’s a collection of puppets, puppeteers, and gamblers.

Sehun and his master watch in silence for a bit.

They watch the puppet up on stage. He has a wide smile on his face, and it’s clear what his concept is. Comical and bright. He is like a breath of fresh air blowing across the stage, setting smiles upon the unwilling faces of the audience. It’s a smart choice, Sehun thinks. A very smart choice indeed. It’ll make everyone like him, make the judges like him and want to put him forward.

The puppeteer is out of sight. Most likely on the side of the stage, sending him instructions through a headset or some other form of communication. Sure there were some who still liked to use the old-fashioned strings, but not many used them these days, preferring to use more modern devices.

He watches as the puppet sings a particularly high note, neck veins visible even from a distance. His eyes are closed in concentration. Once he finishes the note, he opens them again, flashes a bright smile at the audience and continues on.

Kai is the one to speak first. “You’re aiming for Stage Ten at least.”

From Stage Twenty, jumping to Stage Ten?

Sehun’s tongue flicks out unconsciously. He his lips. It’s a challenge, and he doesn’t mind a challenge.

“What if I don’t make it?”

Kai smirks.

“A punishment, of course.”

Sehun resolves to do his best. Not like he wouldn’t have anyway.

At the end of the night, the results are announced.

Bright Smile High Note guy makes it to Stage Fifteen, his master accepting the money handed to him with an impossibly wider grin.

Sehun wonders how much better he has to be, and shudders at the thought.

Yep, he’d have to do his best.

- : -

Sehun does a killer first performance.

Rhythmic base guitar thumping out of the speakers and taking over his senses, there on the stage he lets loose. He twists his body, his legs, his arms, moves his body through all sorts of complicated-looking sequences. He turns his left leg in, right foot out, waits… there! A sharp jab with his right arm, hand open and reaching out, before he brings his body back in, a jump backwards and he continues on, listening to the directions Kai feeds him through his black headpiece, placed out of sight beneath his perfectly styled locks.  

“Do a backflip in ten, freestyle until it’s time.” Kai murmurs with the same tone he uses in punishments.

How interesting that both are situations in which he’ll command Sehun to do something. At least this time, Sehun is willing to comply.

He lets his body jerk mindlessly in time to the beat until it’s time, and precisely as Kai says “Now!”, he jumps up, letting his body flip backwards and landing perfectly, immediately spinning off into a new series of movements, as per Kai’s instructions. 

“Song incorporated soon.” Kai says, and Sehun mentally prepares himself. Voice is not his strongest point, he knows that, but he’s gone through training and is confident in himself. He may not be as flawless as Bright Smile High Note guy, but he’s more than decent and that’s more than enough for his debut performance tonight.

“Six… five… four…” Kai counts him in, and Sehun begins preparing himself. He monitors his breathing, makes sure to take in more air.

“And sing.”

Sehun does, ever the faithful puppet. Once finished, staring out at the shocked, silent audience, he briefly wonders how many gamblers have lost their dough. He finds he doesn’t care. 

At the end of the night, he finds that he’s made it to Stage Ten.

“Just made it.” Kai says.

There’s a small tone of disappointment in his voice. It seems he was looking forward to the punishment. Too bad that Sehun’s the type to bend rather than break.

- : -

It takes only one performance per stage for Sehun to rise up to Stage Five. He’s now referred to by many as the ‘Ultimate Dance Machine’ due to his ability to continuously improve and impress with his dancing. Not just his dancing, either; his singing too has drastically improved, though Sehun knows that he still wouldn’t stand a chance against Bright Smile High Note guy if it came down to a sing-off. Thankfully though, he hasn’t been in competitions with the other… yet. Now that he has reached Stage Five, the competitions start.

For each stage, only the top three placers will move up.

So really, Sehun has no choice but to keep improving.

And so he does.

- : -

He clears Stage Two with first place.

Second place goes to a rather unique pair. The puppet has dark rings under his eyes and snagged second place with his rapping and impressive moves with a likeness to kung fu. The master seems to have a permanently stern expression, but oddly enough it softens whenever he looks at his puppet.

Sehun can’t decide what emotion it is that’s being shown.

He glances at his own master.

Kai is relishing in the newfound fame. Of course it’s the master who gets all credit for the puppet’s hard work. Sehun’s only a tool in his game, unneeded for anything other than serving his master. Anything other than that and it is none of his business; he would simply be an eyesore. But that’s okay, Sehun is used to it. He wouldn’t expect any less. While Sehun waits patiently off to the side, Kai is talked to by men and women alike. “Come to my house for dinner.” they say, reaching out their accessorised hands and placing them on his shoulder, his arms, even his waist. The daring ones place their hands on the behind of his designer jeans. They reach to smack each other away, focusing only on being the object of the Great Kai’s attention and coveting his affection.

Sehun doesn’t understand why anyone would want his master that badly. Drunk in the prospect of second-hand fame, he supposes.

Tired of waiting, he decides to make his way to the car first.

He passes by a man with a baby cute face (‘Adorable’ would be the word to describe it, but he gets enough of that word from the girls his master hangs around.) and a mess of light sandy-coloured hair. The man – who really looks more like a young boy, but Sehun’s intuition is telling him otherwise – is dressed simply and comfortably, in a white t-shirt and artfully worn-out jeans. He’s standing next to another man—one with eyes so wide they make him appear to be perpetually surprised. Sehun can’t help but to think they look a bit like a funny pair, before putting the pieces together and realising that one is a puppet, the other a master. He can’t work out who is who though, for honestly, they both look like fish out of water in this environment.

It seems like he’s not the only one who noticed the two either. Kai looks up with the hint of a smile on his face, fading mirth of some good joke most likely. He sweeps his eyes carelessly around the area, but does a double take when he lays eyes on the two that Sehun had just noticed.

A hard look comes into his eyes, and he mutters something to the people he’s with.

Having spent a lot of time with the man, Sehun finds that he’s able to lip-read what his master is saying.

“Sorry, something came up,” his voice is probably smooth, apologetic. “I need to excuse myself for now, but let’s talk again another time.”

He makes his way out of the crowd, searching.

Who is he looking for? Sehun can’t help but to wonder. It’s a stupid question, all things considered. Kai is too arrogant to willingly bother with many of the others around here, so it should come as no surprise when Kai’s eyes find his and he makes his way over.

“Sehun.” He says once he reaches him. His eyes flick up and off to the side, towards the pair Sehun had seen before. Kai reaches into his pocket, and pulls out a set of keys that jingle noisily with each movement.

“Go wait in the car. I have some business to attend to.” It’s not a request but a command, and the puppet has no choice but to comply. Taking the keys carefully, he sets off, glancing back once more.

Kai is making his way towards the other two, an openly hostile look on his face.

Author's Stage -

Hello.

I know I've said this to many of you already via wall post, but I am going to say it again - thank you so so much for subscribing and showing interest in my story! I know my writing is not the best and there are most probably countless authors out there who are much more interesting writers than I, but thank you all the same for deciding to take a look at this story.

In any case, does anyone care to guess who the no-name puppets and masters are? It's quite obvious, especially the second place winners of Stage Two.

That's all for today. As always, comments are appreciated, as is constructive criticism!