08. Project start

"Oppa, oppa!" Sora jumps up, swinging her arms happily around Seungcheol as the older man receives her hug and twirls her around. Giggling in happiness, Sora is let back down on the ground before she skips over to Taeryung and Jisang and hugs them as well. Laughing at the younger girl's cheerfulness, Seungcheol clears his throat when he sees Hyukjin giving him an odd look. The rapper returns Hyukjin's grimace with a smirk and a salute before returning to the conversation in front of him. 

"This is so exciting," Taeryung bounces up and down along with Sora. Myunghwan raises an eyebrow at the two trainees, mumbling something about how they were generating enough energy to power up the entirety of Seoul, before walking away. Ignoring the glances some of the other, more mature trainees were giving them, Taeryung continues to twirl around with Sora as the rest of the trainees approach. 

"Someone's excited?" San teases, ruffling Sora's hair and then Taeryung's after the other boy pouts slightly from the lack of attention. "Everyone seems pretty upbeat actually." 

"For sure," Taewoo nods. "A bit nervous though," Taewoo looks over at a gently shaking Taekjin and pats him on the back not so gently. "We're going to do great though, no worries man." 

"I doubt many people are going to be watching anyways," Chihu sniffs. "They're getting Cosmos sunbaenim to MC but god knows how much that'll help. They've only gotten a couple fans at this point and I don't even know if they have MC-ing experience." 

"Okay Mr. Negativity," Junho jokes softly, causing Chihu to roll his eyes while Seungcheol and San laugh in unison. The two loud mouthed rappers share a high five while Chichu mutters something darkly. "In any case, I'm sure one or two people will watch, and we have to start somewhere right?" 

"That's right," Dohyun points at Junho and nods encouragingly. He clears his throat as Myunghwan and Hyukjin rejoin the group and smiles at them even though Myunghwan merely ignores him and Hyukjin blinks in response. "Anyways, I'm not one for big speeches–" 

"That is a big fat lie. You gave a huge speech right before we had our filming for Cosmos sunbaenim's MV," Taewoo calls out. 

"Quiet you," Dohyun glares jokingly, causing Taewoo to shrug and fling an arm over Bongjoon – who grins happily at the gesture but ends up staying as still as a rock as to not have Taewoo take his arm off. "Moving on, Sora and the girls are going to go on first but we'll be right here if you need anything – we might be able to get a couple cameos actually – but seriously, let's just have fun and do our thing. Everyone here is good enough to be in this project, and we'll work hard together to debut alright? No one's getting left behind." 

"Not even San oppa?" Sora jokes, causing the American boy to give her a hurt look. "Hey, I'm just saying that if one of us had to go..." Before Sora could finish her sentence however, San pounces on her, grappling to her to the floor in a flurry of tickles. Grinning at the scene, Seungcheol nudges Junho beside him and gives him a pointed look.

"What?" he asks as Seungcheol continues wiggling his eyebrows at him. 

"You doing good?" Seungcheol asks as Jisang jumps in to rescue Sora. "You were kind of down after the last assessment thing. You know it's not the final one right? You're going to have plenty of chances to redeem yourself." 

"I know," Junho smiles softly, nudging Seungcheol in the shoulder. "Stress is a big thing though, and it was the first assessment so I didn't really know what would happen. I think I'm more prepared now so you and your team better watch out." 

"Woah, look at you, how intimidating," Seungcheol jokes, glad that Junho seemed to have rebounded. All of the Icarus members seemed to be doing fine actually, they were all smiling and laughing just like they had been before the evaluation. The only difference though, was that there was an edge of competitiveness in the air. No one was really sure how the broadcast would work but everyone could feel that it would survival of the fittest – that is, until each trainee had gained their own fanbase.

"Alright kids, your saviors have arrived," a voice announces, and the door swings open to reveal Solbi, with the other Cosmos members trailing behind her. "Henry oppa will be here in a moment, but everyone needs to get ready. That means you lovely gentlemen need to get the out." 

"Lovely with words as always Solbi ssi," Taewoo throws a wink over his shoulder as he drags Bongjoon – who was still ecstatic at the contact between the two – out of the room before the other boy could say something stupid and invoke Ina's wrath. Jisang and Taeryung soon follow, after Taeryung throws a quick wave at Ina – who merely nods at him in response. Myunghwan raises an eyebrow at the four older girls, staring steadily when Eunhwa turns to look at him as well, before getting up and slinking away. Judging from the fact that he wasn't heading towards the other practice room, Dohyun follows him, making sure to keep him out of trouble. Taekjin awkwardly bumps into Hyukjin while trying to leave the room, causing a slightly uncomfortable tension, before Chihu pushes them forwards and the anxious air is broken. The last three, San, Seungcheol, and Junho, wave goodbye to Sora – who was attempting to fix her hair – before leaving as well. 

Settling into the other room, Chihu plops down on the ground next to Taeryung and checks the time. It was almost time for the girls' broadcast to start, and although they were lucky to not have to go first, Chihu could feel the apprehension radiating from the room next door. Laying down, the short boy decides to try and relax before their own broadcast started. Jisang seems to have the same idea, judging from the way he settles in next to Chihu, and the two younger trainees are soon peacefully dozing off as the rest of the members settle a bit farther away as to not disrupt them. 

"So what are we supposed to be doing while the girls' do their thing?" San asks, stretching absentmindedly. Other than the fact that they had been told to keep things quiet and not to disturb the broadcast, the male trainees weren't given much instruction. "The girls are lucky man, they can just go home after they're done. Meanwhile we have to stay here and wait." 

"Well it's good that they go home early instead of later at night when it's dark outside," Junho comments. 

"A lot of us stay until the early morning hours anyways though, so it doesn't really make a difference," Taewoo shrugs. "I think we're supposed to be training, but I don't know how thin these walls are. If we practice we might be too loud or whatever." 

"We could go somewhere else to practice?" Bongjoon offers, fiddling with his thumbs. He scratches himself accidentally, wincing at the sudden pain, but is relieved to find no blood. 

"We're not supposed to leave these rooms," Hyukjin replies gruffly. "In case they need us or something. Besides, I don't think the other trainees will be very welcoming to us. They've been quite stiff around us ever since the audition into these projects or whatever they're called." 

"One of them bumped into me while I was getting water the other day," Taekjin shudders at the memory. "He made me spill water on myself!" 

"Are you sure that's not just you being clumsy again Taekjin hyung," Taeryung teases. "The other day you almost knocked over the microphone stand because you tripped over your shoes – they don't even have laces." 

"It wasn't I swear!" Taekjin whines, causing some of the other trainees to laugh. "I wasn't moving!" 

"All jokes aside," Seungcheol pats Taekjin's shoulder reassuringly. "I do think there's a divide between YRT2016 and the, uh, for lack of a better word, regular trainees. I don't know if it's resentment or whatever but like Yoo-nim said, these spots are subject to change so they're probably hoping we'll slip and mess up." 

"And we can't have that happening can we?" San sings. "Because like our beloved Dohyun hyung said, we're all debuting together right?" 

"Except you," Taeryung and Seungcheol chorus together, causing San to grumble loudly and smack Seungcheol. 

"This is not going to become a thing," San declares. 

"This is totally going to become a thing," practically half of the other trainees reply. San sighs, rolling his eyes, and makes a mental note to kick Sora's sometime in the future. "Anyways, how was the filming?" Taekjin asks as the conversation lulls.

"Pretty good, Dohyun isn't here so the main character can't even talk but everyone else did pretty well," Taewoo snickers. "But we didn't mess up a lot, not even Bongjoon. We weren't really the main focus anyways, the Cosmos girls were really the ones doing their thing." 

"They were really good though, I mean, they've only released one MV so far and don't have heaps of experience but performing on a stage really changes you I think," Taeryung rambles. "Like I don't think I have that kind of charisma to be able to film a music video much less perform on stage."

"Well little buddy," Seungcheol flings an arm over Taeryung as the group quiets down – everyone no doubt thinking about how performing on a stage would even feel like. "That's why we're trainees and their idols. We'll gain our experience bit by bit, and eventually we'll be just like them you know?" 

"Imagine that," Taekjin whispers. "Trainees and idols really are different. Do you think the training in that stage between idol and trainee is different? Or is it just the same as trainee training – just more intense and with a song that actually belongs to you?" 

"It's probably different at other companies," Hyukjin shrugs. "But I know at Yunrae, for Cosmos at least, the girls worked a lot with the staff members to complete their song, choreography, and concept before they debuted. Then there was the actual practicing of said song." 

"Apparently they met up with Xiuxin ssi a lot to work on their personas and they got classes on how to act as idols and what to do if something goes wrong on stage," Junho pipes up. "I always thought the classes they make us take were really weird but it helps in the end I guess?" 

"Yes, because having to take a book club class every second week will help me become an idol," Seungcheol rolls his eyes. His response solicitates a round of laughter from the group while Junho hits him in the shoulder. 

"Hey, where are Dohyun hyung and Myunghwan hyung?" Bongjoon asks a brief period of time later. By now, Taeryung had joined Chihu and Jisang in their napping pile while Hyukjin and Junho had wandered off to play quietly with the guitar across the room. 

"I think I saw them slink out of the training room when Solbi ssi and the others walked in," Taekjin responds. 

"Myunghwan is probably avoiding having to hang out with us again and Dohyun hyung is keeping an eye on him," Seungcheol shrugs. "What I want to know is if they'll be back in time and if I can take their screen time if they're not." Dodging the swipe from San, Seungcheol and the others continue their conversation quietly. After a while however, they disperse to do their own things, San and Taekjin joining Junho and Hyukjin in the corner with the instruments while Seungcheol pulls his phone out and scrolls through his feed. 

Awkwardly sitting by himself, Bongjoon gets up and decides – or rather is forced by the calling of nature – to go to the washroom. Stepping outside of the door, Bongjoon takes the long way, walking around the girls' practice rooms before entering the maze of hallways that made up Yunrae's trainee levels. Navigating them somewhat efficiently, Bongjoon finds the closest washroom and quickly enters. After doing his business, Bongjoon stares at his reflection while washing his hands and is surprised to see two other trainees enter the bathroom. 

"Look who it is," one of them shickers, frowning when they recognize Bongjoon. Shrinking slightly at the harsh tone in their voice, Bongjoon takes a deep breath and tries to smile at them in greeting. Nodding quickly, the countryside boy sidesteps around them in an attempt to leave the bathroom only to be blocked by one of the two trainees. 

"What? You're not even going to say hello?" the boy steps forwards, face scrunching into a dissatisfied expression as they look at Bongjoon. "Look at this face, so awkward and ugly, I totally deserved that spot on YRT2016 more than this little did." 

"For sure," the other trainee scoffs. "All he knows how to do is shriek into the microphone. How did someone like you get into the debut lineup huh? Oh wait, you're not even debuting. None of us are, because this company everything is going to go to . Cosmos is a flop, the new boy group will probably never rise from the shadows of the bigger companies, and everyone here is an idiot chasing after smoke." 

"T-that's not true!" Bongjoon speaks up. He flinches when the taller trainee glares at him but steels his resolve nonetheless. "We're all here just trying to do the thing we love the most, even if we don't get super famous, I'm fine with that, we're fine with that. Getting out there and making music, performing is what we want to do and Yunrae is letting us do that. And Cosmos sunbaenim isn't a flop! Their debut song did really well!" 

"For a rookie group coming from a no-name company that is," the first boy sighs. "Listen Mr. Dreams Are Everything, let me tell you something. The world? Completely unfair. What you're doing right now? Insignificant. You'll debut, fail, and then go crawling home to wherever hole you came from. Just like the rest of us and 90% of the other Kpop groups who have tried to debut and failed. Now get out of my way I can't even stand to look at you." Pushing forwards, the boy shoves Bongjoon to the ground. Tearing up from the physical aggression, Bongjoon holds back his tears in order to spit one, very surprising, statement back at the two trainees. 

"Then why are you here? Stop taking up space for someone else and leave!" Bongjoon exclaims, clenching his fists in anger. He wasn't one to get worked up, most of the time Bongjoon let himself get pushed around because the boy wasn't strong enough to even stand on his own two feet, but to insult the one thing Bongjoon loved the most – that is, music and his dream – was something Bongjoon wasn't going to let slide. Cowering after his sudden burst of strength leaves him, Bongjoon curls into a ball as the other trainee lets out a curse. Flinching at the harsh words coming from his mouth, Bongjoon anticipates the incoming assault – only to find that it never comes. 

Opening his eyes tentatively, Bongjoon is met with the sight of Myunghwan and Dohyun in front of him. Myunghwan is standing, in a very unimpressed manner, above the trainee who had moved to punch him. Said boy was now on the ground while his friend had fled the minute Dohyun had pulled Myunghwan into the bathroom. Whimpering slightly when the other trainee stood up, Dohyun immediately left Myunghwan and practically flew to Bongjoon's side. Touching his face gently, Dohyun confirmed that there was nothing other than a little external bleeding before gripping Bongjoon in a hug. 

"Safety in numbers huh? You guys just flock together like cattle don't you?" the trainee spits, face scrunching in pain as he assesses the damage Myunghwan's fist had done to him. 

"Says the person who was harassing a helpless individual with the help of his friend, not so tough now that you're by yourself hm?" Myunghwan replies, scoffing at the slight fear which flutters it's way across the trainee's face. "Oh but I bet you're so tough, after all, whose else would confront people in the washroom? You must be some kind of king or something no?" Wincing at the harsh words coming from Myunghwan, Dohyun immediately stands up to do what's he was best at – damage control. 

"Alright kids, let's settle down now," Dohyun starts in that calming voice of his – the one he had developed over years of having to settle down tense and stressed trainees. "What you did was wrong, no argument there," Dohyun looks down at the trainee, abusing his senior status to the max, but it works. Said boy looks down at his toes, like his mind had finally caught up to what his body had done, and at least he had the decency to look somewhat remorseful. "But that doesn't mean what we did was right either," Dohyun glances at Myunghwan, who merely shrugs and scoffs when the other trainee glares at him. "You too Bongjoon, verbal slander can be, at times, the exact same as a punch to the face," Dohyun continues, watching as Bongjoon sniffles sadly but nods nonetheless. "Now I don't expect you all to apologize and be friends, but I do think you should accept and understand that what you've done is wrong. Alright?" 

"Yes hyung," the three boys chorus. Dohyun nods, watching as the other trainee stands up, stares at the three of them, before fleeing the room. Dohyun peeks his head out to see him running down the hall, but luckily, there was no one else in the area. 

"Do you think h-he'll tell on us?" Bongjoon asks, still visibly shaken. Dohyun walks back to the awkward boy, wrapping his arms around him, and pats his back comfortingly. Myunghwan stands off to the side, staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror and inspecting himself for any injuries or blemishes. 

"Probably not, if he does he'll get in trouble too. And since he instigated the fight, he'll get in more trouble than we will," Dohyun replies thoughtfully. "Anyways, let's get you cleaned up and then we can start the broadcast. After all, he might not think it's worth it, but we have a dream to achieve and this is the first step." Nodding, Dohyun and (begrundingly) Myunghwan help Bongjoon get cleaned up before the three of them walk back to the training room. 

"That took an abnormally long time," Seungcheol observes, looking up at the three trainees when they walk into the room. Myunghwan shrugs, choosing to ignore most of the room's inhabitants to sit down next to a still slumbering Chihu and Jisang. He pokes at their feet every couple of minutes, watching to see how far he could go before they woke up, while Dohyun and Bongjoon settle down next to the other trainees. 

"Ran to a little trouble, it's taken care of now though," Dohyun replies, arm still wrapped around Bongjoon. "The girls should be almost finished right?" 

"Apparently they peaked at 50 viewers," Taewoo comments, whistling lowly. "It's not a lot but it's a start, a lot more than I thought we'd have to be honest." 

"Well let's hope they stay around for us then," San snorts. "Although who wouldn't stay around for something as amazing as me?" 

"I'm leaving," Taeryung announces, getting up in a joking manner – only to have San grunt and pull him down. "Kidding hyung," Taeryung smiles cheekily, poking San's cheek before leaning into the other's embrace. "I do hope we'll do a good job though." 

"We'll do a great one," San replies. "Doesn't Sora always say we're amusing to watch?" 

"She says that in an insulting way hyung," Myunghwan mutters from the side, but although he says it loud enough for everyone to hear, San decides to conveniently ignore him. 

"Exactly!" he says after (apparently) no one answers him. "We got this. Now let's go wake up Jisang and Chihu so they won't be unbearably grumpy during filming."