「ㅤFOURTH PAGE。

「ㅤ게임제로。 story begins !!
page FOUR
“you're saying i'm not the leader? why not?”
 
junhoo sighs in resignation at the hostile teenager who'd just entered the dormitory with his tattered luggage. he tries to find a place where he can stare at, and conveniently ignore any other questions, but the apartment is so clean and bare that junhoo can only stare at the pureness of the whitewashed walls.
 
“jiwoong, i told you. the decision isn't up to me.”
 
“but the team always makes the experienced ones the leader. i trained for eight years, and you know that very well.”
 
junhoo's gums already hurt from gritting his teeth too hard, and it takes all the discipline and endurance in the world to stop himself from launching at jiwoong for the double-meaning remark. 
 
“what, cat got your tongue?” that smirk, again.
 
“jang jiwoong, i'm your manager. the contract disallows you from disobeying what i say; the contract states it clearly.” junhoo stops short of patting himself on the back for sounding so professional, but he's sure the boy must have caught his shaky tone when he finished the sentence. 
 
junhoo doesn't even wait until jiwoong comes up with a smart reply; he's already entered the first bedroom on the left to check on one of the newer trainees who had just made his way into the accommodation.

lee seonha makes it a point to look intimidating when the new trainee trots into the dormitory. it's ironic, how he seems like the leader, when in fact he's one of the three youngest members in the group. 
 
he recognises the newbie at once, and seonha finds it hard to believe that one half of the notorious duo in the company has come to join the debuting frenzy. seonha had prepared to greet his roommate with crudeness, but now he decides to stare at his palms while the other trainee unpacks his items into the cupboard. 
 
“left drawer's mine,” seonha manages to say. it's as if the trainee hadn't expected him to talk; he freezes at the abrupt speech, but blurts out, “okay,” before he shuffles his clothes, careful not to touch whatever that belonged to seonha. 
 
“i've never met you before,” seonha murmurs after hongseok had finished shifting his items around, and the former notices the vague stink of tobacco when hongseok sits on the bed on his right.
 
“i rap.”
 
those words alone made everything clear to seonha, the deep voice, that stack of notebooks that were placed carefully on the desk, and the tattoos and piercings — seonha always associated multiple piercings with people of dynamic personalities. 
 
seonha takes an immediate liking to na hongseok, despite having met him for less than two hours. they were similar in various ways, with an obvious preference for silence, and very direct in their speech. he almost thinks he can form a friendly bond with the rapper, provided he doesn't step on his toes before they even manage to have a proper conversation. 
 
there's one other bed in the room that hongseok and seonha share, but seonha isn't very enthusiastic about the person who would fill up that void. all he wishes is that the other half of the pair of rebellious kids wouldn't come and wreck havoc.
 
jiwoong is online.
jiwoong  i already hate this place.
 
oh, why? you just moved in?  dahyun
 
jiwoong  yeah, and guess who i met? my
eternal nemesis.
 
whoops, small world. i heard he's your manager.
good luck. :-)  dahyun
 
jiwoong  it !!! he's pushing his luck around
and ordering me around
it won't be that bad, trust me!  dahyun
 
welps, i have to go! there's a schedule i
have to run for.  dahyun
dahyun is offline.
 
LAYOUT BY HEEBUMDAE
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nephesh
#1
Happy belated Christmas and happy anniversary for this fic!
Meowrr
#2
Chapter 17: This is so sad omg, whoever that is I felt compelled to hug the air out of him atm ;w; ♡
nephesh
#3
Chapter 17: it feels like jiwoong to me. maybe the extremely long training time and then his pale skin description. i could be wrong though. poor kid has a long way to go.
hiikyoung
#4
Chapter 17: Poor guy. This one seems less "traumatic", but it feels very real. Who hasn't experienced this feeling?

I'm going to guess...Hajun or Dongha?
hiikyoung
#5
...not crazy, right? There was a layout change? O_o;;
nephesh
#6
Chapter 16: i managed to gain access earlier so why not lmao anyways.
Hajun... /hugs/ like what hiikyoung said, there's definitely a minor (major?) grudge and it fits jiwoong's personality and eight-year background right. he doesn't want to mess up a lot, but in return it goes to people who aren't supposedly blamed to. but hey, you can't hold bad feelings for days and expecting yourself not guilty, right? i can see both of them getting closer from that on, because you need some kind of bait to gain something. sacrifices. the house analogy; the happiest are also the saddest? but i know hajun's not afraid of getting hurt, it's just that his supports are very lacking (from the team itself; one man for themselves), so that's good for him.
moving on; i... love the details you'd given to seonha in this chapter. his health, the food, the insults, and all... makes me happy, really. and for the first time, it's a very calm ending (but don't tell me this is a 'good before the storm' thing, okay?! XD) that actually sets contrasts to the argument between the older members. this being added with the fact that both of them are very secretive. People fight like they bond, i guess. the group definitely is catching up with each other, closer in a sense of interaction. baby steps, but it's there. thank you, again, for your updates!
hiikyoung
#7
Chapter 16: Jiwoong...Jiwoong, Jiwoong, Jiwoong.../shakes head/ It's an interesting dynamic. They're both lead dancers and sub vocals. Though arguably on paper, you might consider Jiwoong the more talented since he's a bit of a triple threat and a visual. However, poor Hajun. Trying to keep that colorful, happy front must be tough (nice imagery btw). You have to wonder if Jiwoong's lashing out is due to his feeling of inadequacies (I highly suspect so). Not being a leader, being the second youngest but also being the longest trainee...wow, this part focused more on Hajun, and yet I'm getting more insight into Jiwoong. Kekeke. Anyhow! Hajun is going to be one of those characters who eventually snaps, huh? Please no...#protectHajun2016.

It's nice to see Yimin opening up to someone outside of Soohyun. I wonder what they fought about? What's interesting is it's Yimin and Seonha. And yet this doesn't surprise me. Both so quiet, with so many secrets. I can imagine they have an understanding between each other. It's wonderful to see them happy though. So much of this story so far doesn't show happiness: only sadness and hardship (not complaining! :D ). That ending was remarkably cute though. Yay~! I hope this opens them up to the others eventually. I think these boys are too much of 'islands unto themselves' than a team.

Thank you for the update. You do it so consistently. :)
nephesh
#8
Chapter 16: its 1.30 am already but thank you! i'll get the full comment in 18 hours.
hiikyoung
#9
Yassss...

I'll give you a proper comment once I get to my laptop!!
curiously
#10
Chapter 15: i get so excited when i see your updates jfc you have no idea i hope it's not jiwoong's excerpt
but as far as i know, he's the only one with a sibling unless yimin has some too... but somebody's
dad died and he was informed so so so much later. that makes me so sad and upset. like, isn't it
also the eldest child's duty in korea to help take care of the funeral process and whatnot? okay maybe
i'm getting carried away but it's always the child who holds their parent's picture during the funeral
march. WHY DIDN'T THEY LET HIM KNOOOOW. i'm talking to myself at this point but i know it was probably
so he can focus on his debut and training. but still mf. good lord i need a doctor to control the emotions i feel inside.