“Gather together! We have to go learn our new choreography! Leaving in 30 minutes!” Seungwoo shouted in the dorms as he woke the kids up in their respective rooms. He started with the young ones as they had their bathroom nearer to the rooms. He finished making breakfast using his 2 minute technique.

 

The adults were all using his bathroom in his room that he shares with Wooseok. He made sure Eunsang and Hyeongjun were awake before leaving them alone. Those 2 were the kids he entrusted since they have proved themselves to be well disciplined. He then went to the adult room and woke Seungyoun up, letting them know they had 10 minutes before using the bathroom.

 

He went back to his own room to wake Wooseok up, and to do their morning routine. 

 

“Wooseok-ah?” Seungwoo asked softly. “It’s time to wake up, we have to go to practice,” He ruffled his hair and smiled as he saw the eyes open.

 

“Hyung…” Wooseok muttered still in his sleep. “5 more minutes…” 

 

“The others are coming in soon, go before they find out about it, I don’t want to force you,” Seungwoo said gently as he squeezed Wooseok’s hand. 

 

Wooseok groaned a bit and forced himself to leave the bed and go to the bathroom to wash up. He saw Seungwoo waiting for him outside of the bathroom and pulled out the weight from under the bed. “Let’s see how you are today…” Seungwoo pulled out his phone. 

 

Wooseok moaned unwillingly but still stepped on the weight. 

 

“Hm,” Seungwoo mentioned softly and recorded the weight. “Not too bad,” He comforted Wooseok as he gave him a big hug as he came down from the weight. Seungwoo quickly put the weight back under the bed in hiding as they were done. “Now go out and have some breakfast before you take your meds, okay? I’ll come out in a bit,” Seungwoo smiled as he patted the younger’s back.

 

Wooseok smiled and nodded as he went out to the living room. Seungwoo sighed a bit as he heard Wooseok out of the room, he was still below his managing level. He was supposed to stay above 55kg, but he has been in between 53-54 for a few days now, and it’s getting lower by a few decimal points everyday. It is kind of worrying for the leader. 

 

He reminded himself to text Jinhyuk later to make sure to let him know about Wooseok’s situation. Jinhyuk specifically asked Seungwoo to take good care of Wooseok, knowing Wooseok will only listen to him in the group. As he began to text him, the guys started coming in. 

 

“Hyung… we’re here…” Seungyoun said as he pushed the 2 sleep 99liners into the room. 

 

“Oh,” Seungwoo quickly smiled and teased them. “Sleepyheads, quickly go clean up and get some food later! I’ll check on the kids, thanks Seungyoun!” He patted them each and nodded at Seungyoun to make sure the 2 of them properly cleaned up and didn't fall back asleep. Seungyoun winked back to let him know they are in good hands.

 

As Seungwoo walked to the kids room, he saw the 3 youngest kids already eating with Wooseok in the living room. He smiled and greeted them before going to the kids room to find Eunsang trying to wake Dongpyo up. “Eunsang-ah, go and eat, I’ll take care of this,” He smiled as he saw his son sleeping still sweetly in his bed. 

 

“Dongpyo-ah… It’s time to wake up,” Seungwo said sweetly to wake up the young boy. “Even the youngest are up, what are you doing!” He teased as he tickled the kid all around to wake him up. 

 

“AHHH! HYUNG!!” Dongpyo shouted as he felt the tickles, “I’ll get up… I’ll get up!” He finally gave in and laughed off and went into the bathroom. Seungwoo smiled and went out to the living room to make sure there was enough food for everyone. He saw Wooseok nibbling on his eggs slowly but at least he was eating, Seungwoo thought. He got a plate of food and ate as he walked back to his room to make sure they were almost done. 

 

The guys walked out slowly but they were all washed up. “Go eat, there’s eggs and rice! We’re dancing a lot today, you’ll need food!” He advised as he went to push them all out of the room. He walked to the kids room to make sure both the remaining kids were done. He saw Hyeongjun walking out already dressed. Seungwoo smiled and ruffled his hair, “Always ready for dance practices huh? Hyeongjun-ah?” He laughed as he saw the younger one laugh and run to the table to get food. He caught Dongpyo also slowly getting dressed in the bathroom and went out to the living room to put his plate in the sink as he finished. He went back to his room to get ready for the day.

 

Wooseok and Seungyoun were quickly getting a sense of how the kids were doing since last night of recording while they ate breakfast. Most of them felt fine other than some fatigue, but all of them were pumped for the new choreography they were getting today. The 99liners, on the other hand, have shown hesitance to dance practice today as both of them still had sore ankles from their old injuries. Hangyul’s injury was a bit better, and he said it depends on how bad the practice will be, but he will tape his ankles down fully to make sure he doesn’t injure himself again. Yohan mentioned he will tape it together with Hangyul during warm up so they will be fine. Seungyoun smiled as he knew the 2 99liners were accountable and will speak up if they really can’t continue.

 

Wooseok mostly talked to Dohyon and Junho as they had the hardest time following the choreography the last time. After he made sure the other kids were good, he continued to give the two of them confidence and telling them they will be all fine and that they should change when they’re done eating.

 

The younger ones quickly finished up and dumped their plates in the sink to go change for the practice. The older ones also started going back to their rooms slowly after the kids were done and got changed. Wooseok went into the room to find Seungwoo coming out of the bathroom, fully changed. 

 

“Are the kids doing fine?” Seungwoo asked. “I don’t recall any of them having a hard time yesterday at the studio,” he added.

 

“They’re all fine, Seungyoun said the 99line will tape their ankles, so probably just keep an eye on that every once in a while. Other than that, everyone’s fine,” He smiled. 

 

Seungwoo let out a happy sigh, “That’s good, let’s hope today will be good!” He said as he sat down on his bed and started packing his bag. 

 

“How about you? I haven’t asked you. How do you feel about today?” Wooseok asked worriedly. 

 

// Throwback to yesterday //

 

“Seungwoo, do a guide for the members like the previous times. Just sing those softly for the guide when you go in,” The producer patted Seungwoo’s back as he went into the studio. Seungwoo smiled as he got into the studio before the other members. He quickly finished the guide and got to record his own parts. As usual, he had quite a lot of parts in the whole song, that’s why he had to come in a bit earlier. He wanted to make sure that the kids had something to base off from when they record. He started off pretty well, and the members started piling in slowly. The producer sent some of them off with Seungwoo’s guide to get a few versions of harmonising and getting the beats so to make the recording process easier. Seungyoun led the rappers and Wooseok got the vocal groups, they both just ran the piece a few times and finished under an hour as that’s how long it usually takes Seungwoo to nail down his parts.

 

Wooseok’s group finished first and Wooseok came back into the room to find the producer yelling at Seungwoo. He paused for a few seconds before quickly turning to find the kids still in the room, luckily. He went back and quickly improvised, “Let’s have one more version for this part. I just remembered another harmony I came up with last night with Seungwoo-hyung,” He smiled and quickly shut the door. He texted Seungyoun to let him know Seungwoo is not done, so don’t go back for another 15 minutes. Seungyoun got the text and also just worked along with the kids in the room without other people knowing what is happening in the recording studio.

 

Seungwoo was barely managing in the studio, he was struggling big time on a few parts and he didn’t know why. He kept on trying but it was not up to any sort of standards. The producer got mad and yelled at Seungwoo as he continued trying. 

 

“Let’s do the other part first, maybe you’re just not warmed up enough,” The producer said as he skipped the 1st part Seungwoo had. When they went to the second part, it was in a lower vocal range, but he still didn’t sound good. It was weird, this seldom happens. 

 

“What is wrong with you today?” The producer asked as he got slightly impatient. He counted on Seungwoo to get it quickly so he could go to the other parts after him easily. The managers who came with the other members were also in the room, and Seungwoo didn’t want any of them yelling at him. He continued to try his best, but his voice just somehow didn’t come out. 

 

“”Let’s do another part, I don’t know what’s wrong with you today. You have to nail at least 1 part, right? Or else what will the kids think later when they don’t hear your voice at all?” The producer shouted at him as he flipped the page to another verse. 

 

Seungwoo sighed inside the room as he didn’t know what was wrong. He also got frustrated with himself and it was harder and harder for him to focus on recording. He has never had this hard of a recording session. Usually his voice just comes out.

 

Things didn’t go well even after the 4th, 5th, 6th parts he had. For 45 minutes, he didn’t even nail one part. He stood there as the producer yelled at him almost after every phrase he sang. He tried to stay calm as they gave up every line until the last part. Seungwoo tried his very best but it didn’t really work. That was when he caught Wooseok coming into the room. He prayed and prayed that Wooseok would be smart enough to get the cue to not to bring the kids in right now.

 

The producer didn’t hear Wooseok coming in, thus continued yelling at Seungwoo. “Yah! What on earth are you doing today? Huh? Either you come in unprepared or my ears just were wrong and gave you too many parts in this song!” He yelled into the microphone.

 

“I’m sorry…” Seungwoo apologized, it was probably the 100th time he apologized today. He just didn’t know what else he could do, he had been drinking a lot of water in the studio as he was tired too. He has been recording for almost 2 hours now, but the only thing he actually got done was the guide, which won’t even come out in the album. It was only for recording purposes. It had his parts in, but they were only done in tune, fulfilling the basics. It was not fine-tuned at all. There was an awkward silence when Seungwoo failed his last part for the 10th time now. Seungwoo plucked up all his courage to ask, “I think I can do the chorus now…” He almost whispered. He was fully warmed up now, and if he didn’t do it now, he would get too tired. If he had to nail one part, it would have to be the chorus, as the kids have to harmonize to it later. He can’t afford the whole recording to wreck because of him.

 

“Well, if you say so,” The producer rolled his eyes and started. Seungwoo focused extremely hard to at least hit those 3 phrases perfectly. He felt a bit better than the other things that he has done today and was a little bit more relieved as he didn’t hear a scolding immediately after his singing. “Not too bad, try to be more dynamic about the pronunciation. It’s a bit muddy in the middle,” He said. Seungwoo focused on that and finally hit the perfect phrase after 5 tries. “That was good!” The producer let out a tiny smile for the whole 2 hours. Seungwoo almost cried out of relief at that moment but he still had much to do. He looked at the time and caught that it has been around an hour since the kids have arrived. He knew he had to stop recording soon, or else the kid would hear him getting yelled at. “Let’s do the 2nd chorus too, it’s close enough,” The producer said. Seungwoo didn’t dare to disobey so he got the right page and quickly hit it like the first one. He got it in 4 tries this time, and the producer caught the noise coming from the opened door. The kids started to pile in cheerfully as Wooseok looked at Seungwoo to see if he was doing fine. Wooseok knew that was a bad recording session just by that face, but he didn’t say anything to the kids, he only briefly mentioned it through text to Seungyoun. But he probably got the hint too. 

 

“We can continue those later after the kids are done, the parts they need are already here,” The producer said as he knew he cannot yell at the leader when the kids are here. It will make the mood weird for the kids. He could yell at anyone, but not Seungwoo in front of people. It was the only request from Seungwoo when he agreed to record a guide every time for the group. “Come out, we will do the lead vocals first, Seungyoun? You wanna go now?” The producer looked to the vocalist right below Seungwoo.

 

Seungyoun nodded and went in as he met Seungwoo outside in the middle of the 2 rooms. “Get some rest hyung, it will be okay,” He said softly as he patted his back. They didn’t need much words to communicate, both of them knew their situations and it was just a bad day. Seungwoo nodded in thanks and went to the bathroom to calm himself down and to wash his face a bit. He didn’t know what went wrong in that studio. After a few minutes, he took a few deep breaths and put on a smile before going out to the studio to greet the kids. He cuddled around Dongpyo as he knew Dongpyo wouldn’t ask too many questions other than help with his own part. He was right, Dongpyo just leaned into him and laughed at times, and rarely talked as he focused on getting his part right with the rhythm. Seungwoo was amazed by the kids’ rhythm around him, but he figured the 96liners probably made it happen with the extra time they had. He was grateful for that, at least the producer would be happier after his bad recording. 

 

Wooseok tried to get Seungwoo’s attention to see if he was doing fine but he knew Seungwoo was trying his best to ignore his glare. Seungwoo felt the glare and didn’t want to address anything yet, so he sent him a text. 

 

“Thanks.” - S

“Hyung, you don’t have to say this. You okay?” - W

 

Seungwoo started typing but stopped as he caught the manager looking around. He didn’t want to piss off anyone else. He just slowly put his phone away and just focused on listening to Seungyoun’s recording. As usual, he did a great job, even doing some adlibs around areas that Seungwoo was supposed to try during his recording. He smiled as he heard that the other main vocal of the group was such a rock for the team. Seungyoun was done after 45 minutes, and the other vocalists went in simultaneously to finish their parts quickly. Thanks to those extra 15-20 minutes, everyone got their parts quicker than usual, and the missing parts of Seungwoo became more and more obvious as there should only be Dohyon’s rap left.

 

“Was it that bad? I only heard 2 phrases. Anyways, I know you got it. Don’t worry about it.” - W

 

“Hyung, why didn’t I hear your part when I recorded?” Dongpyo asked when he came out. Dongpyo was the second to last to record before Dohyon. Seungwoo smiled and just hugged him to his lap. “Uh, hyung was discussing recording the parts again later, that’s why,” He smiled and came up with a reason. Dongpyo took it and played around with the other 02liners as they all were done with recording. The mood was pretty happy as they all finished successfully. They talked about how excited they were about the dance for tomorrow, and just random discussions. Seungwoo looked at them with a fatherly smile before a manager came in and told him to go out. He nodded and went out with a serious expression as he knew it was the manager that brought him to the studio this morning.

 

“What’s wrong with you?” He asked angrily.

 

“I’m sorry…” Seungwoo lowered his head. 

 

“Get it right later. The producer is only here for 2 more hours. From the looks of it, I don’t even know if you’ll finish your parts by today,” The manager said. “I’ll get some of the kids home to finish their homework and you get this figured out!” He yelled at him before leaving alone in the corner. 

 

Seungwoo just sighed as he calmed himself done and went to the other rooms to warm up again. Wooseok came out of the bathroom and saw the angry manager going back to the recording studio. He looked around to find a tall figure entering a practice room, he peeked and it was Seungwoo. 

 

“Hyung!” He said as he went into the room.

 

“Oh… Wooseok-ah…” He said awkwardly while smiling. “What…” He didn’t even get to finish his sentence.

 

“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

 

“Yeah, I’m all good, don’t worry. I’ll just record after Dohyon’s done... Which might actually be now!” Seungwoo quickly excused himself as he quickly scurried back to the studio. Wooseok sighed in the room as the older escaped again and just ignored him. He went in and sat next to Yohan. Yohan sensed that something was bothering the leader as he also didn’t hear Seungwoo during his parts. They were supposed to sing in sequence like a conversation but the part was only as a guide. “Something’s wrong, right?” He whispered to Wooseok.

 

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine. He can sing,” Wooseok comforted the younger. Yohan nodded. From the times he has been recording with Seungwoo, he always delivered. He will figure something out later.

 

After 15 minutes, Dohyon was done. “Good job!” The producer said to Dohyon as he speedily finished recording. The members all clapped as Dohyon really did a great job at this recording session. “Good job you guys!” The producer said as he turned and clapped to all the members. “Thank you so much! I will send the full version to you before tomorrow morning so you can have it for the dance practice!” They all clapped and cheered.

 

The managers started to come in and get the younger kids out, “We will go to your schools to pick up homework and go back to the dorms to finish your homeworks! After that, hyung line can go with the other manager in the small car! 99line, do you want to come with us in the 2 big vans? It will be less packed,” The main manager asked. 

 

“I’ll go with the van, I want to go to pick up some tape for my ankle before I go back,” Yohan said as he stood up with the kids. Hangyul shrugged and just followed him as he had nothing better to do. The kids all waved at the hyungs in the room and left for school. The manager assigned came in as the kids were leaving, as if to make sure to have the kids believe they were leaving right after them. As he saw them all getting into the elevator, he just sat down in the corner to wait until Seungwoo was actually done. 

 

“Seungwoo-ah?” The producer immediately switched tones as the kids left. Seungyoun was a bit surprised to hear the tone but since Wooseok already heard it just now, he was a bit better. Both of them stayed quiet and left Seungwoo to deal with it, they gave air fighting gestures and Seungwoo just softly nodded before he went into the studio. 

 

“Let’s start from the start and see what happens. Worst case I’ll just stay overnight with you,” The producer said. “I’ll play from the beginning and you just hear the others and come in as you should,” He ordered. 

 

“Neh hyung,” Seungwoo nodded nervously inside the studio. 

 

Both the 96liners have never seen Seungwoo this nervous before, and were scared for him too. The music started before they could even react to anything, so they just watched silently behind the producer.

 

Seungwoo continued to make the same mistakes as he did in the first try, and both of them definitely were not happy about that. Seungwoo sighed after that part, and of no surprise, the producer stopped the music too.

 

“What’s with you?” He yelled. “Same thing!” He scolded. “All the kids did so well, did you see? Seriously, get a grip and get yourself together!” 

 

“Sorry…” Seungwoo whispered as he adjusted the headphones to not get deaf from the scoldings. He was frustrated too, but he didn’t know what was going with him. Usually, he can do it once he put his mind to it, he got it even yesterday when he practised! There was no reason for him to fail now!

 

“Again,” The producer ordered. They repeated the same phrase for 30 minutes and with more yelling and apologizing, Seungwoo was feeling worse and worse. His voice was tired and he knew his mentality was about to break. He usually could hold on through hard times, but this was too frustrating for him, he knew he could do it, but why was he not making it?

 

The 96line sat there in shock and just didn’t know why Seungwoo was not in the mood. They were both sitting on needles as they heard his voice, and the immediate scoldings that came after. After another hour, Seungwoo finally got the first part up to standard. But he had 5 more to go. At this rate, Seungwoo is going to sleep in this studio tonight. 

 

“You guys are going back, I’ll come back with him later. You guys make sure the kids finish their homework and go to bed early for tomorrow’s early practice. We want them in the best condition for tomorrow,” The manager said.

 

“But… Seungwoo-hyung…” Seungyoun started. 

 

“He’ll just continue recording, I’ll bring him back when he is done. It’s already 9, you guys need to rest too,” The managers pulled them out and left Seungwoo alone in the studio.

 

Seungwoo sighed as he saw everyone left, this means just harsher criticisms from the producer, and he deserved it. From the performance he is giving right now, anyone had the right to yell at him like a piece of trash, even he would himself. He drank some more water and threw the empty bottle on the floor. The floor was filled with empty bottles now, from how much Seungwoo was singing. 

 

“Get your brain to ing work, okay? What the hell is this quality that you’re giving me? I just wanted you to be more dynamic and punch each phrase more! The ad libs are not even well prepared, I don’t even know what comment I can give you. Do it again!” The producer yelled. Basically throughout the whole night, the producer had the same attitude. Seungwoo tried his very best to not get discouraged but it was hard, he was holding back a lot of complaints but he just wanted to be done, quickly, as soon as he can. 

 

At 2, the producer was also super tired. But they were only one part away from done. Seungwoo got motivated by that and focused on getting his voice right. He almost made it at 2:15, but it was lost almost right after. Both of them were frustrated, and the producer didn’t even bother scolding him anymore. It was as if he gave up on Seungwoo. Although it was less scolding, it didn’t feel good at all. But honestly, Seungwoo could care less right now, he just wanted to be done. Dance practice is at 5, the latest he could sing is until 3:30. There was no way a song could finish polishing and rendering in under 1.5 hours, he needs to be fast. Not to mention he has to sleep too!

 

At 2:45, he finally got the hang of it, and after 3 tries, he was finally done. He almost fainted due to fatigue and just fell to the high chair that was in the corner of the room as he heard the whole version of the song. He was satisfied with the song and thanked the producer before going into the same room with him. He yawned quite a bit as he went back in. 

 

“Thanks hyung… I’m sorry for all the troubles I made…” Seungwoo bowed as he went into the room. 

 

The producer nodded, “Just go, I’ll finish here by myself and send it to your manager. You better get a hold of yourself and focus tomorrow. At this rate, you’ll barely get an hour of sleep, and knowing you, you probably won’t even do that to cook breakfast and stuff. Just go, I’ll take care of things here,” The producer said as he turned around and told him to leave. 

 

Seungwoo nodded and went out of the building in his hoodie and masks to call a taxi. The manager texted to taxi back as they got the message that he wasn’t going to end anytime soon a few hours ago. He saw a lot of messages from the guys and decided to look over them later, he didn’t want to do anything except to have some alone time. He got off a few streets away from the dormitories to avoid fans, and went in through a backdoor. By the time he got back to the dormitories, it was already 3:15. He quietly went into the house to find it pitch black and he just tip-toed into his room. Wooseok was already deep asleep but he left a note on the table. 

 

“I don’t know when you’ll be back, but I figured you’ll want me to sleep so at least one of us has energy tomorrow. I left some soup and rice in the warmer so you can eat it when you’re back. Don’t worry about waking me up with your shower, you know I am a deep sleeper. See you tomorrow,” - W

 

Seungwoo smiled at the message and went out to the kitchen to see the food left for him. He gobbled a few mouthfuls as he realized that he hadn't eaten the whole day yesterday. After he finished eating, he went back to the room and just briefly wiped himself and set an alarm at 3:55. It was then when he realized he was only sleeping for 30 minutes. He sighed but he knew he had no choice, he brought it to himself. He basically fell asleep immediately when his head touched his pillow.

 

Seungwoo’s alarm rang and he just got up quickly to shower for 5 minutes before he went to wake everyone up. He quickly showered and went to the kitchen to heat up the pans and dumped the rice into the microwave to start breakfast. As the kids were waking up, he basically mastered the 2 minute breakfast making skill. He quickly scrambled the eggs and had a pan ready for those who were coming out soon. He started the next pan and just left it there on low heat as he was sure someone was going to eat the second pan if he wasn’t there to switch it off. He got back to his own room and did his whole routine.

 

// End of Flashback //

 

“I’m fine, don’t worry about me,” Seungwoo reassured Wooseok as he packed some energy bars and tape in his bag. He has to wrap his knee tightly every practice session to lower the risks of pain.

 

“What time did you come back last night?” Wooseok asked. “Don’t lie, you know I can check with hyung,” He threatened.

 

“Around 3,” Seungwoo replied softly.

 

“Hyung!” Wooseok almost screamed in frustration. “And you cooked breakfast and woke us up without even telling me? I could have done all of those and you could have gotten a bit more sleep!” He screamed in a whisper manner. 

 

“Wooseok-ah, it doesn’t matter, just get ready for practice. We will be late if you continue to lecture me,” Seungwoo put it off and took his bag out to the living room, leaving Wooseok hanging in the room. 

 

“5 minutes!” Seungwoo shouted in his almost cracked voice. He went to the kitchen and quickly made himself 2 bottles of hot ginger tea to soothe his vocal cords during the car ride and the session. The kids started scrambling out with their practice bags and they got into their respective vans. The 11 of them were divided into 2 big vans, with Seungyoun and Seungwoo separated. This was to help lead the kids better with the oldest 2 members in contact with each other. Wooseok was in Seungyoun’s car to help support him, both of them acting as leader of the van.

 

Seungwoo put on headphones and quickly fell asleep for the 30 minute ride. The kids behind were all joking around but didn’t dare to wake Seungwoo up as they knew he woke up earlier than them to cook and wake them up. It was usual for Seungwoo to not interact a lot in the morning, but anytime after that, he jokes around together. The other van had another vibe, with both Seungyoun and Wooseok playing around with the youngest 3 kids in the group. When they got to the company, they came out and got greeted by fans who knew their schedules. They greeted them with a smile and they went into the company with the help of the managers. 

 

Seungwoo hid behind his mask and thanks to his long hair, basically the fans only see in between his eyes and nose, which was handy as his eyes basically is swallowed by his dark circles. They all went into the practice room and began warming up. All the kids were stretching while Seungwoo went to the bathroom to tape his knee up. He took his roll of tape and went to the bathroom as he would have to take his pants off to do so. He finished wrapping it, with the ability to still bend his knee properly. He went back in and stretched with the others and just waited for the teacher to come in. He made sure the 99line was well taped for the practice for the time being. Wooseok saw all of that, and decided not to say anything as he knew nothing would change the older’s mind to be the leader now.

 

The teacher came in and started teaching the new dance. It was definitely a very furious and fast dance, which was hard to understand. However, since the teacher was here only for 3 days, they had to finish learning it within 2 days. They have to get the basics to be ready for the polishing day on the last day. It was a struggle for some members who are less trained, but it wasn’t impossible. It might be hard, but they always make it through with hard work. 

 

Seungwoo kept looking at the 99liners to make sure they were holding up well with their ankle. There was a lot of jumping in the song and it is hard on their legs. He paid attention to other members to how their progress was, and as usual, the older members were doing fine with remembering the moves since all of them trained for more than 5 years now except for Yohan. They’ve been in the business and knew what it takes to be on the top. Yohan was coming through successfully, and so are most of the kids. The two that were barely following were Dohyon and Junho, which wasn’t surprising. They were those who trained for the least, and the hyungs usually stay behind and practice anyways. When the teacher left, they recorded and looked through where they needed help. They ate their bars or snacks as they watched and decided with their groups for the day. Seungwoo handed a bar to Wooseok behind other people’s back to make sure he had some sort of food in his stomach. Wooseok nodded and started taking small bites.

 

After they were done, Seungwoo broke into groups with Dohyon and Junho to help them learn the moves. The other broke into groups with Seungyoun and Hangyul to remember the sequence better and start polishing in small groups. After a few more hours, they broke for dinner and usually groups break after dinner. Everyone stays behind as they like to get everything polished. 

 

They called for jokbal for dinner at 8 as Dohyon wanted it, and they all ate it quickly as they wanted to be home as soon as possible. Wooseok ate some and quickly went back to practice again with Yohan. They were known to get the dance moves quickly and that they usually stick together during practice. Seungwoo looked at Wooseok’s plate to see he only had only a few pieces of vegetables and a piece of meat. He sighed but he kept some food back for later, with hopes that he would at least eat a bit more. People started to be done with eating and Seungwoo started cleaning up the scene. Seungwoo already got everything memorized, as usual. He just stays behind to help around people who need help. 

 

Everyone got back into practice mode and by midnight, those who were ready to leave started packing for the dorms. For these sessions, there were 3 cars ready, the 2 original vans and a small car for the latest group. The vans leave with an hour apart and the last car waits for the remaining. The first van left with 6 members: Yohan, Hangyul, Hyeongjun, Dongpyo, Wooseok and Minhee. They left at 12:30.

 

The remaining 5 members were in two groups mostly, Seungyoun with Eunsang, Seungwoo with Dohyon and Junho. The first 2 mainly memorize the formation and main lines. They were the last few to say they wanted to leave, thus they just stayed to wait for the next van. The latter 3 were still in the part of learning to piece everything together without errors. Seungwoo was patient with them, as he was originally a trainee without any skills too. He longed for someone to teach him, and he knew everyone would prefer someone who knows it next to them rather than being left alone. Especially if the teachers were going to scold them when they don’t remember stuff from the day before.

 

Eunsang went packing first as Seungyoun went over to help Seungwoo with the 2 younger ones. Seungyoun wanted to stay with them as he knows that Seungwoo was already super tired. Seungwoo denied it and he was very stubborn about stuff like this. Seungyoun sighed and he saw Eunsang waiting for him to board the car with him.

 

“We’ll take the car. You guys can have the van later, it will be less crowded and you guys can rest better,” Seungyoun said to the remaining 3 members. 

 

“Thanks hyung!” The kids yelled back in sweat. Seungwoo smiled and nodded. 

 

Seungwoo continued helping the kids and he felt his tape around his knees start to unravel due to the sweat. He stopped for a few seconds to test his knee and it felt fine as he made sure to tie a few more layers. He continued to dance with them and help demonstrate different sequences of moves. The two of them followed along and got through a few trials with minimal error. Seungwoo looked at his phone to realize it is already 3 in the morning.

 

“It’s already 3! You guys need to go to bed! Let’s go, you guys already got the majority of the sequence,” Seungwoo said as he went to the bags. The 2 followed suit and started packing and went to the van that Seungyoun left them. 

 

Seungwoo told the driver to start the car and he just made sure the 2 kids were still doing fine. “Tired?” He asked with a smile.

 

“A bit, but hyung should be more tired,” Junho said.

 

“I’m just hungry…” Dohyon said. 

 

“As always, Dohyon hahaha,” Seungwoo said as he pulled out the jokbal he saved from dinner. “Here’s food, eat up,” He said as he gave him the box of leftovers. 

 

Both kids quickly dived in. “Feeling confident for tomorrow?” Seungwoo asked gently.

 

“I think it will be fine, as we can see other people too. Just in case we forget any moves,” Dohyon started confidently but added the latter part. 

 

“I think you guys know it better than you think, we can go through it again during warm up tomorrow, how about that?” Seungwoo asked.

 

“That’d be great!” They both said with their mouths stuffed with food. 

 

Seungwoo just thought they were cute, especially with their hair already soaked in sweat. “Tomorrow’s at 6:30, instead of 5,” He said as he looked at his phone and smiled. “Sounds like we can get more sleep than usual!” 

 

The van cheered as they almost got back to the dorms. 

 

“Go shower and stay quiet! People might be already sleeping,” Seungwoo smiled as he ruffled both of their hair and let them go settle down themselves. He turned after the hallway to his room to find that it was still lit up. Wooseok is still up? He hesitated a bit to open the door.

 

He opened the door slowly to find Seungyoun and Wooseok talking in the room. “Oh, hello… Didn’t know you guys were still up,” He said as he put down his bag.

 

“Well, you don’t see us saying the same thing to you,” Seungyoun said. “Wooseok said you only got max an hour of sleep last night. Why didn’t you let me take over the kids just now? You could have slept a bit more!” He scolded lightly.

 

“It’s fine, they’re used to me teaching them anyways. Also, I don’t mind doing it,” Seungwoo said.

 

“Just go shower and sleep hyung, we can talk about this another time,” Seungyoun gave up arguing, knowing that would take up the older’s rest time. “Tomorrow, I’ll cook and wake people up. Don’t you even dare do that. I’ll take away your phone,” He said as he took his phone away and left the room.

 

“Yah! Cho Seungyoun! What the hell…” Seungwoo almost shouted as he realised it’s the middle of the night, and he couldn’t risk waking other people up. 

 

“Just go shower hyung,” Wooseok muttered as he switched off the lights and had Seungwoo go shower. 

 

Seungwoo didn’t really have a choice so he just went to shower quickly. He took off his clothes and quickly unravelled the loosened knee tapings. He showered and made sure to take some painkillers before going out to the kitchen to get ice to ice his knee. It all sounds familiar to Wooseok as he heard Seungwoo coming back with ice.

 

“Good night, hyung,” He said as he knew Seungwoo doesn’t have his phone to scroll at night anymore.

 

“Good night to you too,” Seungwoo said as he felt really off without a phone next to him. 

 

“I have an alarm at 5:45 just in case Seungyoun forgets to wake us up. But I trust him, he will. Don’t worry and just go to bed,” Wooseok said as if he read Seungwoo’s mind.

 

“Uh… Yeah… Okay… goodnight,” Seungwoo said weirdly and just admitted defeat before going to bed.

 

Wooseok chuckled at this flustered Seungwoo before falling asleep himself too.