“So far we’ve had Hoya get hurt, Taemin get cut, and there still hasn’t been any word regarding Dongwoo. As far as I’m concerned, someone is targeting my dancers. I’m calling this whole thing off. Try again next year.”

There was a split second of silence before the four remaining boys started complaining. Stop now? There was no way in hell they were doing that. Besides, they’d come this far.

“Why are you punishing us?” SeungRi said. “Obviously they did something to piss someone off.”

“Something has happened to every one of my best dancers. Using your logic, one of you standing in front of me is behind all this.”

“Us?” SeungRi asked incredulously. “Why would we do that? It could be one of your boys. Did you think of that? They feel threatened that one of us is going to take their spot so they’re systematically getting rid of us.”

“You little bastard! You really think-”

“Throwing blame around isn’t going to help anything,” B-Bomb said calmly. “We should stop before someone says something they shouldn’t.”

Both SunKi and SeungRi glared at each other, but opted to stay quiet as B-Bomb continued to speak.

“Now I agree that it is suspicious, but I, for one, have no intentions of quitting now. It’s too late to go to another company and I’ve put in the work. I’m not afraid. I always said I would make it in this profession or die trying…I guess the cosmos are taking my words literally.”

U-Kwon suddenly remembered Min’s words. If he got through the next round of eliminations then he would get to dance with her. There was no chance he was letting that opportunity pass him by. “I’m still down. I’ve made it this far and the finish line is in sight.”

“You two are crazy,” SeungRi said, “but I can’t let the two of you have all the glory.”

“What are we doing next?” Jongup asked. They all knew that was as big a declaration as they were going to get from him.

SunKi sighed. He had a feeling that things were only going to get worse, but he couldn’t deny the boys in front of them. If they had that much passion for the occupation he had, he wasn’t going to be the one to crush their dreams. With a lot of reservations, he nodded.

“Fine. Since you’re going to be hardheaded, we’ll go straight to the last test. You’ve been working in groups and partners for the past few weeks. Now you’ll have three tasks. The first is to choreograph your own routine. Show me every good point you have-your hardest tricks, your best footwork-whatever it is, I want to see it.

“Secondly, you’re going to choreograph for each other. Jongup for B-Bomb, B-Bomb for SeungRi, SeungRi for U-Kwon, and U-Kwon for Jongup. You’ve seen each other dance. Make your other person shine. This is about how good you can make them look.

“Your final test involves a few…special guests.” SunKi clapped his hands and four girls entered the room. “This is Minzy, Hyuna, Jia, and Min. They’ll be your partners for the week. Since I’m a gentleman,” he said with a chuckle, “I’ll let the ladies pick their partners.”

U-Kwon couldn’t help but smile widely when Min made her way to him. She winked as she wrapped herself around his arm and waited for the rest of SunKi’s instructions.

“The girls know what to do. I’ll be seeing you around.”

*******

“So after this, you wanna go somewhere fun?”

U-Kwon looked up from tying his shoe and raised an eyebrow at Min. “What do you mean?”

“There’s this club I usually go to with the other girls, but I think I’d have more fun if I go with you.”

“You asking me out?”

She smiled at him. “Only if you say yes.”

“Of course I say yes, but first, what is this task that SunKi has for us?”

“You haven’t guessed yet? We’re doing a y couple dance.”

“You’re kidding, right?” U-Kwon asked.

“Nope. “

“Well that changes things.”

“You scared?”

“Do I have a reason to be?” Where this confidence was coming from was beyond him, but U-Kwon was enjoying flirting with Min, even for this little bit of time.

“We’ll see. Let’s just pick our music for now.”

Deciding on the music took longer than they thought but even though it was early, they both agreed to call it quits in order to get ready for their date that night. When he got home, U-Kwon was surprised to already see SeungRi and B-Bomb there.

“What happened with you guys?” he asked.

“Hyuna’s kinda pushy,” B-Bomb said, “but I like her.”

“Yeah, Minzy’s cool too. She’s really flexible too, if uh, you know what I mean.”

“You’re such a sleaze,” U-Kwon said.

“She did a bunch of floorwork just to give me a demonstration,” SeungRi defended. “She practically threw herself at me. How could I say no?”

U-Kwon rolled his eyes. “Well I have a date.”

“Say what?”

“Min asked me out to this club later.”

“Looks like our little Kitty has finally grown up.”

“Shut up Seunghyun.”

“Hey, you want anything to drink?” B-Bomb got up and headed towards the kitchen. Both SeungRi and U-Kwon answered positively. A few moments later, B-Bomb returned, three glasses in hand. When he sat down, the conversation turned towards the morning’s drama.

“Do you really think someone’s out to get us?” U-Kwon asked. “If so, who do you think it is?”

“I think it’s you,” B-Bomb said seriously.

“Me?” U-Kwon croaked out.

“You know Kitty doesn’t have it in him to hurt anyone. Still, what’s your reasoning?”

“Well, both Hoya and Dongwoo were his partners and they had bad things happen to them…by the way, whatever happened to Dongwoo?”

“I don’t know but I think SunKi put out a missing persons report on him,” SeungRi said. “What about Taemin? He was my partner and he got jacked up. I shudder just thinking about.”

“That was to throw everyone off his trail.”

At this point U-Kwon was close to tears. “You guys…I’m right here! H-how could you say that?”

“Oh Kitty don’t get upset. We were just playing around.”

“Yeah,” B-Bomb said. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

“It’s kind of creepy though. All those points were valid. What if someone’s trying to set me up?”

“Set you up? Why would someone want to set you up?” SeungRi asked.

“Maybe they heard me and SunKi talking the other day. I mean, Hoya really was an accident. Things didn’t get creepy until SunKi pretty much guaranteed I had a spot in the company.”

“What?” the other boys exclaimed in unison. They listened with wide eyes as U-Kwon recalled this conversation with the man in charge of their fate.

B-Bomb silently got up to refill the drinks while SeungRi started talking.

“Congrats man. I told you. I told you you were better than us but you refused to believe me.”

“Don’t say stuff like that Seunghyun. Besides, he said it’s still a chance I could get cut if I mess up, even just a little.”

U-Kwon reached for his drink immediately when B-Bomb came back. He felt embarrassed that SeungRi was gushing and embarrassment made his mouth dry. He gulped down half the drink before setting the glass down on the table.

“You’re not going to mess up,” B-Bomb assured his friend. “You’re too good for that.”

“Maybe…maybe you’re right.”

“I know I’m right. You should have more confidence YuKwon. By the way,” he added, “shouldn’t you be getting ready for your date?”

“Oh yeah!” U-Kwon jumped up but fell right back down, clutching his head.

“What’s wrong?”

“My head…I just got really dizzy.” He let out a few breaths threw his mouth before groaning in pain. “Whoa...”

“Kitty, you’re starting to scare me.”

“Can one of you bring me a bucket?” U-Kwon asked calmly. As soon as B-Bomb retrieved the one they used for the mop, U-Kwon emptied his guts into it. “I think I’m going to go to bed now,” he said weakly.

“What about Min?” SeungRi asked.

U-Kwon was so dizzy he didn’t even know where to turn to address his friend. “I’ll make it up to her in the morning.”

B-Bomb and SeungRi helped their friend to his bed, setting a glass of water on the bedside table and making sure to leave the door to both his room and the bathroom cracked open just in case of an emergency. U-Kwon lay in bed, hoping the sudden vertigo would pass by morning. More than anything, he regretted having to stand Min up. He spent the rest of the night praying alternately to get well quickly and not have to deal with an angry woman in the morning.