06. Sword and shield

“They freaking cut the deadline,” Chihu mutters, kicking a chair angrily. It falls over, but luckily, it doesn’t fly far – or scratch the floor for that matter. Either way, Chihu was pissed. He and the rest of his team had been practicing pretty much day and night for the upcoming competition thing (he wasn’t even really sure what to call it) only to find out today that, due to time restraints, the deadline had been moved up a day. Meaning they were to present later that afternoon.

“Calm down,” Hyukjin speaks up, glaring at the rebellious teen. Everyone was stressed at this point; their performance was nowhere near completed – much less perfect. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that they’d be losing this, yet Hyukjin refused to give up. He didn’t want his first assessment in YRT2016 to end in complete failure. He, at least, was going to go down fighting.

“Calm down? We’re ing screwed,” Chihu narrows his eyes, ignoring the worried glance Taekjin sends him while the older male picks the chair off of the ground. The tall boy looks at Chihu and Hyukjin nervously and fiddles with his fingers. Junho – the mutually selected leader of Icarus – hadn’t arrived yet so there was really no one who could rein everyone in. As such, the heated discussion between the trainees only grew in tension.

“He’s right,” San throws in – just for the hell of it. San had been dead and tired of Hyukjin’s perfectionism. Nothing he could ever do was good enough for the determined . If he hit a note nicely he was doing it too loudly. If he sang softly he was off tune. Even when he rapped Hyukjin had his own little tidbits to add in and San was completely done with him. Of course, every one of the trainees knew that Hyukjin was always a little difficult when it came to music and perfection but combined with the stress of winning, San, and the other trainees, were losing their cool – although it’s not like they had a lot of it in the first place.

“Well are we just going to sit here and sulk?” Myunghwan speaks up, sipping from his milkshake in a disinterested fashion. He had snuck past Kurami this morning so the meddling receptionist couldn’t say anything about his choice in drinks, leaving Myunghwan happy and high on sugar. “Because if that’s the case I’m going home, might as well catch up on some sleep if everyone here is already set on losing.”

“We’re not going to lose,” Chihu, San, and Hyukjin chorus together, before exchanging glares.

“Then better get working,” Myunghwan rolls his eyes, throwing the lyric sheets in his hands over at the trio before looking back down at his parts. Taekjin heaves a sigh of relief at their unexpected saviour before timidly looking down at his parts. Seeing as they had a good number of trainees in their group, Junho had long ago decided that they were going to sing two songs, with the groups split five and seven. Taekjin was a part of the second group, and, as such, was a bit less nervous than Chihu, Hyukjin, and San – who were all part of the first group. Junho, who was mysteriously still absent, was also in the second group along with Taekjin, Myunghwan, and some of the other trainees. Looking around, Taekjin sighs happily when he sees that everyone was going back to work – recovering from their mental breakdown. He only hoped Junho would hurry up and get here soon.

“They moved the deadline,” Jisang says as he enters the private practice room. A bunch of heads look up, staring at him in shock before Seungcheol bursts out laughing. “Why are you laughing we have to present by today!” Jisang says, slightly miffed. While, in his opinion, they were doing quite well in terms of progress, Jisang didn’t really feel like they were ready. And, judging by the reaction of the other trainees, he wasn’t the only one who shared this sentiment.

“Chill, we got this,” Seungcheol says simply, and surprisingly, a number of younger trainees in the room relaxed. “Jisang, Sangie, come sit down,” Seungcheol waves the younger boy and he settles down next to Seungcheol. “We’ve practiced a lot right? And of course, we’re not perfect, but you see, that’s life. You’re going to have to present whether you’re ready or not, so what’s the point of stressing? The only thing you can do is keep going right?”

“I guess,” Taeryung pouts. “I still wish we could have more time though.”

“Well, time is of the essence, let’s get to practicing now!” Dohyun cheers, slapping Seungcheol on the back for the pep talk before the younger kids get up and start stretching. Although they had originally started off in a rap based direction, Dohyun soon brought up the idea of showing different talents. As such, the younger trainees were going to showcase two self-choreographed dances while Dohyun and Seungcheol sang a duet. Some of the trainees were a bit annoyed at the fact that only Dohyun and Seungcheol would be singing and rapping but now, with the stress of the deadline bearing down on them, they were happy to merely dance. After all, it was always easier to dance than to sing and rap. Dancing required certain skill yes, but it was easier to be taught how to dance than to sing and rap with the proper technique and emotion.

As the day continued, the two groups continued to practice as hard as they could. The girls were also under the same stress, and the tension in the building was borderline physical. The minute Seohyun and Kyungsoo walked out of the elevator, they could practically feel the stress radiating from the walls. Gulping nervously at the upcoming assessment, Seohyun follows Kyungsoo to one of the many staff rooms scattered around the building. While she wasn’t the one performing, she still felt anxious for all the trainees. After all, the original plan had been to give them three days to prepare. But with the sudden rescheduling of MV filming, they were forced to move everything up a day.

“You guys ready?” Henry asks, walking into the room with a cup of coffee in one hand. He raises an eyebrow at the two trainee managers as they nod before sitting down across from them. “Okay, so you guys weren’t here when I picked the trainees for YRT2016 so I’m going to give you a run down. You can’t let yourself get attached while doing assessments. I know we’ve all spent a lot of time with these trainees – the perks of being a small company – and we know their personalities pretty well, but you can’t let that sway your decision. For example, if a trainee is sensitive, don’t let them pass or mark them easier just because they’ll cry if they don’t make it. Life is hard, idol life especially – that’s practically the motto Hyeri ssi has installed in this company – so we have to do our best to prepare them for it.”

“What if they break down?” Seohyun asks timidly. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt, they’re just kids after all. Teenagers trying to achieve their dream.”

“And they know just as well as we do that dreams aren’t always achievable,” Kyungsoo sighs. “That’s why they’re trying their hardest even though they know that they might not make it even after they debut. They’re kids sure, and they haven’t even debuted yet, but there’s something about being exposed to the entertainment world that forces you to mature.”

“Anyways, we have Kurami if things do get too serious,” Henry cuts in. “She’ll be there for the assessments. Afterwards, we’re to report the results to Hyeri ssi and then Xiuxin will start preparing the winning team for the MV filming.”

“Got it,” Kyungsoo nods while Seohyun makes a soft noise of affirmation as well. “Let’s get this over with then.” The three staff members walk towards the YRT2016 room, knocking on the door to warn the trainees inside. As they walk in, the two trainee groups who had been working there quiet down. “We’re going to start the assessment now,” Kyungsoo announces. The trainees nod, anxiousness and excitement evident in their eyes as they clear their areas. Henry goes out of the room to inform the other two groups while Seohyun settles down in the front of the room and goes over her notes.

Soon enough, every one of the trainees was gathered in the room and Kurami arrived shortly after. The Japanese worker sits down next to Seohyun, accepting a folder full of files graciously, before going to analyze all of the trainees silently and subtly. Henry is the last to sit down in his spot in the front, but as he does, the group of young adults immediately turn to look at the four adults.

“Alright kids, it’s time to present. To keep things fair, you weren’t allowed to ask or talk to any of the staff members for help – meaning we have no idea what you’re going to do. When it’s your time to present, have one or two members come up and explain what you’re going to do before starting okay?” Henry calls out and the trainees nod. “Oh yeah, one more thing. Your performances will be filmed and uploaded onto YRT2016’s YouTube channel. This way, even if you don’t win, you’ll get some sort of exposure. Don’t worry though; we’re not filming them today.” Henry adds when he sees the shocked expressions of a couple trainees.

“So we’ll start with Project Icarus. Projects Hedera and Omega may leave to practice in order to eliminate the amount of space being used up,” Kyungsoo orders and the female trainees leave the room. Sora looks back at her friends, shooting them a quick heart and a whispered, ‘fighting!’ before following Mirae out of the room.

“It isn’t fair how they get extra time to practice,” Chihu mutters angrily as the other members of his project get up to prepare.

“They get like ten extra minutes, chill,” San rolls his eyes as Junho – who had been late helping a little girl get her cat out of a tree that morning – moved to the front of the room.

“So we’re going to split into two groups,” Junho announces to the judges as s get into their places. “The first group has five trainees and will be singing a song composed by Hyukjin ssi. The second group will be covering Infinite sunbaenim’s Shower.” Bowing, Junho goes to stand by Taekjin as Chihu, Hyukjin, and San grab microphones and stand at the front of the room next to the other trainees. The music starts, and five trainees begin to sing as the ballad type music flows through the room. (Woozi – Chihu, Jeonghan – San, DK – Hyukjin, the other members are random trainees)

After the performance, the five trainees bow and walk off the stage. Kyungsoo nods, making a couple notes, before Seohyun waves the next group over. Taekjin and Junho walk into the middle of the room along with the other five trainees and bow as well. Starting to sing as well, the song soon finishes with no major mishaps and the members of Project Icarus gather off to one side. (Sungyu – Junho, Woohyun – Myunghwan, Sungjong – Taekjin, other members are random trainees)

“That was good,” Kyungsoo starts, looking at the trainees. “But a bit lack luster. You chose two good songs to show off your vocals, which was a great decision seeing as you’re a bit more vocally talented then the other group, but it was a bit plain. Your vocals were nice but they didn’t shine through, it might be because of lack of experience or stress, but your emotions didn’t convey through the song.”

“The choices of songs were good however,” Seohyun speaks up, not wanting things to end on a bad note. “Most people tend to think that ballad type songs are the only way to go in terms of showing off singing talents but you switched it up with both a slower and poppy type song.” Nodding at the criticism, the boys hurry to sit back down while Project Gladius stand up. Seungcheol and Dohyun stare at each other for a couple minute before Dohyun sighs, having lost the staring contest, and went up to the front.

“We’re going to show three performances. Two self-choreographed dances, and a duet,” Dohyun says simply before backing up. Replacing him were Taeryung, Bongjoon, Taewoo, and Jisang. The four bowed to the judges before getting into their places and dancing. (yellow shirt – Jisang, grey sweatshirt – Bongjoon, black and white shirt – Taeryung, grey sweatpants – Taewoo)

Cheering at the end of the performance, Seungcheol high fives Jisang while Dohyun pats Taeryung on the head as they come off. They’re replaced by some of the other trainees in Project Gladius, who immediately go through their routine. Soon afterwards, Seungcheol and Dohyun walk in front of the judges with microphones in their hands.

“We’re going to be singing an arranged version of Dynamic Duo’s Guilty,” Seungcheol announces before the music starts and the two get serious. They start off with Dohyun’s adlibs, with Seungcheol sneaking in some teasing in here and there, making the performance a bit more light hearted than the original. (Seungcheol – Seungcheol (ha!), Woozi – Dohyun)

“Nice,” Seohyun starts, smiling at the group. “You guys all did a very good job in putting your own twist on the songs and dances you made. It was a treat, especially that you decided to change things up and have a hand in choreography and arranging the songs yourself.”

“You also seemed a lot less nervous than the last group,” Henry states. “Especially the dance teams, your emotions were quite evident in the way you moved and the dance was a joy to watch – the little solo parts were very fun and entertaining.”“I would’ve liked if you were a bit more serious with the duo however,” Kyungsoo eyes Seungcheol. “The song is supposed to be more sombre yet you made it too upbeat in terms of mood. It took away from the song and didn’t let me get fully immersed.” Nodding at the criticism, the team sits back down next to Project Icarus and wait as the judges talk amongst themselves.

“You guys did good,” Taekjin offers, patting Bongjoon on the head. “The dance was really fun to watch.”

“The song wasn’t that badly arranged either,” Hyukjin scoffs, and Dohyun smiles at Seungcheol at the awkward compliment. “Although if it was me I wouldn’t have changed the introduction the way you did.” Rolling his eyes, Seungcheol lets out a laugh and swings an arm around Hyukjin anyways – much to the other’s disgust.

“Your first song was really good,” Jisang offers the disgruntled vocalist.

“It’s not finished yet,” Hyukjin replies in lieu of a thanks. “I just thought it would match this time around.”

“Well then I can’t wait to hear the finished product,” Jisang smiles.

“Okay guys, listen up!” Kyungsoo recalls everyone’s attention. “We’ve decided that the winner of this round is Project Gladius,” Kyungsoo pauses as Dohyun lets out an excited whoop and Taeryung jumps in joy. “Don’t take this as a loss though, as you’ll all be getting exposure sooner or later. Project Gladius, you are to report to Xiuxin upstairs for a concept meeting. Project Icarus is to practice whatever you wish – I’d recommend cleaning up the acts you put on today for filming. You’re dismissed.”

“We did it!” Taeryung cheers as the adults leave. Bongjoon smiles widely while Jisang gives him a hug. Seungcheol and Dohyun fist bump while Taewoo lets out a loud laugh. “This is awesome.”

“Don’t be so happy,” San shoots at them, punching Seungcheol lightly on the shoulder. “We’re definitely going to win next time.”

“For sure, bring it on!” Seungcheol replies before he’s dragged away by Dohyun. The winning group leaves the room, set on going upstairs to see Xiuxin – leaving the rest of the trainees standing there slightly dejected. As soon as the other boys left, the mood lowered considerably. While they were happy that their friends got a chance to show their faces to the public, they still lost and it .

“Let’s get going, they’re going to use this room soon for the girls,” Junho says quietly, and the boys nod, following him out of the room. “Let’s have a couple minutes for a break before we come back and practice okay?” Junho suggests and the rest of the trainees disperse soon enough.

Sighing, Junho finds an abandoned vocal room and sits down on the floor. Looking up at the dark ceiling, the older boy sighs in frustration. He hadn’t managed to control his team, San and Hyukjin had been at each other’s throats the entire time and Chihu and Myunghwan were joint in their distaste of everything and anything suggested. He should have been able to get everyone to work, to get them all to tolerate each other at least, but he didn’t. And because of that, half of their time spent ‘practicing’ was really wasted in useless arguments. Curling up into a ball, Junho cries silently, trying not to let too many tears out. He had to stand tall as Project Icarus’s leader in ten minutes; he wasn’t allowed to be sad. After all, if your team leader transformed into a moping, weeping mess after one loss, how could he ever be expected to make it as an idol?