PRODUCE 101 | c.s + j.wy

IV

"Mmh... I'm not sure, honestly." Being a kpop idol? He never wondered about that. He never attended dance lessons, he wasn't even the best singer ever ("Oh, come on, your teacher said she never met such a fast learner student!")... The only thing that could motivate him, was staying with Yeosang. He was the very first person he could feel related to. He could throw himself under a train for him, seriously.

"Look, think about it. You can come with me at the audition, then, if they choose you, you can still reconsider the idee. You're not forced to accept the contract and everything."

San couldn't hold that dreamy stare for long, Yeosang seemed way too excited about that thing. He loved dancing more than anything else. He loved it the way my father wanted me to love Taekwondo. I wish there was something in my life worth the fight for doing it.

"Fine, but don't be sad when they'll reject me. You're the idol one, not me!"

___ • ___

Actually, both the boys got picked, and started the training together.

Regardless his expectations, San found himself as a good dancer, too. The physical preparation he had thanks to martial arts helped him a lot, he already knew how to control his body, he just had to get confident with doing it on music.

Yeosang would never said it out loud, but San was getting even better than him. He was good at everything and seemed to get better without too much struggle. He didn't even want to come at first! He became pretty jealous about all the compliments he kept getting from the tutors, while he kept struggling with sing and rap sessions (he was supposed to be also a rapper but really, he was incapable of doing it at all; he just wanted to focus on dance to be honest).

After not more than six months of training, their manager introduced the topic of Produce101, that famous survival show from M-Net.

"You're all going to join it. It's a very important occasion, do not waste it.
Do your best to be in the first 30 places. People will start to follow you since then, so, even if you can't manage to debut, you'll have a solid fanbase to rely on in the future.

San, I've this feeling that you may be one of the most popular ones.
Try to make yourself stand out: diy your hair and remember to show everyone your charisma at dance lessons. They will instantly notice you and remember all the potential you got.

Yeosang, keep working on your singing. You're a great dancer, despite everything, but it's not enough.
I don't think you can get to debut this time, but it'll be a very good chance to improve your skills. Don't waste it, ok?"

After a couple of weeks, the pair was packing all the needed, in order to leave for the "campus" of the program. San, as usual, didn't seem interested at all. Or, actually, he was, but he didn't like to feel all that pressure. His interest in dancing and performing had grown a lot during his training period.
Just the way he took everything easily made his attitude to be calm even this time. This kind of pissed Yeosang off a little bit.

"Look, I know you're good at everything and everyone is going to love you, but, please, don't underrate it. It's an important chance we're getting. For me, it's important."

"Yeo, you know you're good, too. I don't want to be the star of this program. We're getting it together, ok? I don't want to debut without you. If I'm here, it's all thanks to you. I'll help you whenever you need."

"I don't need your help, San. We train together with the same tutors, I know what I have to do to improve. You just can do everything without struggling, ok, good for you, but I need to work on things. So, just try to be friends and don't distract me from the competition, ok?"

San didn't like the direction their friendship was heading. He had never wanted the kpop-idol-thing to put he against his friend, but he couldn't help to feel a bit stressed about it.
It was true that everything was easy for him, but he still cared about it. He had this look ok "I don't care because I'm already good", but he also struggled on practicing the same way the others do. Why couldn't Yeosang see it?

That night, he couldn't sleep well. He didn't want to attend that fucking program if this meant to fuck his whole life.
He already lost a great time of his childhood to compete with others, he just wanted to feel good now, good at doing something he loved.

The following day, he just did the absolute minimum at the first dance class, but his bright pink hair (the manager forced him to dye it) and his general attitude didn't go unnoticed.

That's why, at the end of the class, he basically ran away from everyone, hoping they could forget him and his said "talent". He didn't want to hear a single compliment, he didn't want to feel the superstar of that group. That's why he left Yeosang and the others there, in the studio, hoping for him to make friends, get along and, hopefully, make him more confident about himself.

He started to wonder about facing this whole experience alone, living the competition as just a way to improve, without letting it ruin his life and his friendship, again. He cared too much to let it happen. And yes, he probably cared more about Yeosang than about being an idol, even if he had discovered to really feel at ease doing it.

He was thinking about this while stepping into his following lesson, which was singing.
He just hoped to meet the most powerful main vocalist of Korean history, since he know he was good even at it, but he didn't know how to hide his great talent this time.

Please, korean Freddie Mercury, be in this room today.

[*dobok is the uniform worn by people who practise Taekwondo ]

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ok the introduction is officially over! i can't wait to publish the next chapters fdighfihg i hope you're enjoying this kind of story!

Plus today we got the first win with Fireworks 😭 I'm so proud of our guys, they deserve the world