March 15th 2014

Glitter blasted through the stereo for what felt to be the 100^th time that day, 11 members of the group that would soon be known as Acid Teochii frantically trying to keep up with the fast beat of the song. The song clicked off, a defeated sigh echoing around the practice room from their manager.

“Come on guys, you’re killing me here. We’re running out of time. Your debut is right around the corner, you’re going to have to perform live. No lip syncing, full dances, completely live. You’re our first group to debut in a while, come on, you guys can’t mess this up.” Namjoon tried to encourage, but the atmosphere in the room only got lower as doom seeped into their blood and into their hearts.

Myung sighed, quickly standing up and clapping. “Come on, Namjoon-hyung is right! This is our big break, we’re finally going to debut, so let’s get it perfect! We’re getting there, don’t worry, we’re getting better! We just need more practice, then we’ll be ready. Don’t get down on yourselves. After this, Vann-hyung will buy us all cake to celebrate our hard work, hmm?” He grinned while rubbing his eye a little. Namjoon’s higher ups had told Myung that glasses weren’t good for his idol image, so he was currently getting used to contacts… while he was sweating and dancing, they were getting really irritated.

“…Wait what?” Vann quickly looked up from where he was staring at the floor, trying to catch his breath. It had been a long day.

“You’ll buy us all cake after this, right hyung…?” Myung repeated, looking up at the older male with large puppy dog eyes.

Vann sighed. “Fine, fine. I’ll buy cake after practice if we can get it right.”

“Great! Okay guys, we should take a 15 minute break then come back and try it again, alright? Awesome!” With that said, Myung hurried off to the outer corridor, probably to get some water bottles for them all while Namjoon hurried after him.

Sherlock, however, wasn’t convinced by the prep talk as he slid to the floor, allowing his eyes to slide closed with exhaustion. His chest heaved, struggling to get air into battered lungs. Setting his cane beside him, Sherlock let his head fall back against the wall. He wasn’t cut out for this, not at all. Being unable to see anything but a blur of very dull colours made learning the dances so hard, he needed so much more help getting the movements right… he felt like such a burden to the rest of the group.

He heard the other members shuffling around, chatting amongst themselves. They’d lived together in the dorm for about 2 weeks now, so were beginning to get to know each other better, they were beginning to make bridges and form friendships within the group…

“Gah, crap!”

Sherlock almost jumped out of his skin as a body fell in front of him, the end of his cane stabbing into his stomach as it was knocked.

“For crying out loud, Sherlock, will you just move that thing?! It’s getting in everyone’s way! You’re getting in everyone’s way! I don’t know how you even got into the company let alone into a group!” The whole room had gone dead silent, Hyo’s heavily Chinese accented Korean seeming to bounce off the walls and echo all around the quiet, blind boy.

“H-Hyo-hyun-”

“No, don’t you dare call me hyung.” Hyo cut him off, staring down at the younger boy with malice in his eyes. “You’re holding us all back. You shouldn’t be here at all. If it wasn’t for us all worrying about you, us all trying to make sure you’re getting your steps right and aren’t going to fall off stage or bump into us, we’d be able to focus more and we wouldn’t keep messing up. This is your entire fault, Kim Bon-hwa. You’re a burden to us all.” Hyo stood there, still glaring down at Sherlock while panting slightly, fists clenched at his sides. The entire room was silent, Myung and Namjoon having just walked back in with an armful of cold water bottles each. All eyes were on Sherlock.

Slowly, he reached over, grabbing his cane and using it to help him stand up. He bowed low, keeping his milky eyes on the floor. “Excuse me, Hyo-ssi.” Was all Sherlock said before hurrying out of the practice room, carefully pushing the others away if they tried to stop him.

Out in the hallway, Sherlock couldn’t stop the tears from beginning to flow as he let out a scream, smashing his fist against the wall in anger. He was too busy trying to stop the tears, regret and stress from bubbling up inside him to hear the door slowly open, soft footfalls coming up to meet where Sherlock had slumped himself against the wall.

“Sherlock-ah, are you okay?” Cho asked, gently placing her hand on his shoulder.

Sherlock jumped from the sudden contact, whipping around to face her with wide eyes. “Cho-noona?” He hiccupped in return, quickly wiping his eyes on his jumper sleeve and biting his lower lip to stop any more embarrassing sobs escaping.

“Yeah, it’s me. Are you okay? I’m sure Hyo didn’t mean it, he’s just stressed, that’s all…”

“I-I know but,” he hiccupped again, mentally cursing himself for appearing so weak. “Everything he said was true anyway. I’m holding you all back. Why ACE thought I would be any good as an idol is beyond me, I’m blind! How will I learn dances quick enough? How will I make my way across the stage and find my spot during performances? I’m not cut out for his, noona, I can’t do it. I should just leave.”

“Don’t even say that, Bon-hwa. You can’t leave before we’ve even properly begun. Hyo didn’t mean what he said, you’re trying your hardest and none of us blame you. Nothing he said is true. But Sherlock-ah… you have to do this, just think about what an amazing idol you’ll be? Out there, on stage, against all the odds? Think about disabled kids all over the world, whether they be blind, deaf, in a wheelchair, anything… they’ll be looking up to you. An idol with a disability yet still able to perform and be independent. You’re going to be a role model for all these people around the globe, so don’t let Hyo getting his in a twist stop you from doing that. We’re all tired, stressed and feeling defeated… but that’s half the battle over with. We’re getting ready to debut. We can do this.”

Sherlock lowered his gaze to the floor, willing back the tears that were still flooding and took a deep breath, trying to figure out what to say to his friend.

“…thanks, Cho-noona,” He settled on, his body relaxing a little as she placed her hands on his shoulders again. She was much shorter than him, yet still managed to ground him in reality and be a comforting force. “Do you really think I’ll make a good idol?”

“I’m positive. Now, let’s get back in there and get this dance routine down, okay?” She smiled, before taking the cane from Sherlock’s hand and taking the now empty hand in her small one, slowly pulling him back into the dance room.

“-could you?! Hyo, we’re meant to be working together, we’re a team, you can’t just chew someone out like that!” Myung’s face was almost red as he paced back and forth, hands tangled in his wild blue hair. “I’m trying my hardest to be a leader, to be happy and keep everyone optimistic, and you’re making it so hard!”

“Myung, calm down.” Vann warned, placing a large hand on Myung’s back.

He sighed, trying to slow his heart rate, before turning towards the door as it opened. “Cho-noona, Sherlock-hyung, are you two okay?”

Sherlock gave a small smile, nodding in response while Cho placed his cane down and helped him get into position.

“Myung-ssi, please, don’t be angry at Hyo, I know he didn’t mean it.”

Hyo quickly looked up at Sherlock’s words, his own eyes slightly teary with shame at the way he’d treated his co-worker and the way the leader had been so angry at him for it. “Sherlock?” He called in a small voice. “I’m sorry.”

Sherlock just smirked at him, little dimples forming in his cheeks. “Don’t worry about it. Now, let’s get practicing, I want to get this right!”

Namjoon smiled at Cho and Sherlock, before walking over to the front of the room and hovering his hand over the play button. “Ready? 1, 2, 3, go…”

The music began playing for the 101^st time.