The Gayest Idol

The mysterious encounter

I stared at A Yeon suspiciously. "Uh, sure," I said. She didn't usually ask if I wanted to go eat out with her.., but whatever. We went to the coffee shop a few blocks away from the studio. A Yeon ordered our drinks and came back to sit at our seat. "Hey, is Mark really in the hospital?" she asked, leaning towards me. We both had our face masks on, so I decided to speak freely. "No," I said. A Yeon laid back into her seat. "Why?" I asked. She shrugged. "How're the rest doing?" she said, watching outside of the window. I fiddled with my watch. "They're okay," I said.
"Yeah."
"Yeah.."
"Why were you chasing me?"
"I wanted to ask you something.."
"Me?" A Yeon cried, pointing to herself. I slowly nodded. We were really close, so I hoped she wouldn't judge me too hard. I leaned towards her, and she did the same. "You know the trainee pre stage event?" I asked. A Yeon nodded. "Can you disqualify an auditioner?" A Yeon slid back from her seat, and gasped. "Why would.." she started, when the coffee plate buzzed. A Yeon stood up and grabbed it. "I'll be back," she said, and scurried to the register. I sat at the table. I wonder why he asked me to do this, I thought. It was the text I had gotten right after I texted Rae Hwa. Jae Ho texted me, 'I can't be a trainee no more. But I don't wanna be a trainee, help me drop out,' I wasn't sure what it all meant, but I had ideas. Since A Yeon was going to judge one half of the pre stage, A Yeon could just disqualify him then. A Yeon walked up to me, with two cups in her hand. She handed me one, and set hers on the table. "Youngjae, why do I have to disqualify someone?" she asked. I sighed, and showed her the text. "A friend texted me this," I said. A Yeon stared at the text strangely, then just nodded. We spent the rest of our coffee time, talking about our training.

I was standing in the middle of a street. It was night. A street light lit where I was standing. I had a feeling I was going home, but I just kept going the wrong direction. I continued walking. I stopped. Jae Ho was laying in front of me. He was weeping over a body on the floor. I walked over. It was the face of a familiar man. I stopped, and backed up.

"Youngjae!" JB screamed. I felt someone smack my back. I was sweating and had no blankets on. JB sat on my left. He smacked me. "Young-" he yelled again. I got up from the bed. "Geez, don't kick the blankets," he groaned. JB snatched the blankets, and went back to sleep. That was a weird dream, I thought. I grabbed my phone, and decided to text Jae Ho. 'Why cant you be a trainee?' I sent. Then I got up. I needed to go train the trainees. It was my job to prepare them for the pre stage. I slung a sweater over my head, and put a snap back on my head. I wore it as a cap, and put my face mask on. I walked out of the apartment. I jumped back, as I saw Jae Ho sleep against the wall. He looked dirty and wet. He was wearing the same clothes from the time we ran away. Has he been on the run? I thought. "Jae Ho," I whispered, crouching beside him. Jae Ho looked at me. Damn. I forgot we both kissed. I pressed my lips, and looked at him. He stared tiredly at me. "Youngjae.. I want to kill myself," he wheezed. I stared at him, stunned. Jae Ho didn't look sick, but more like exhausted. Jae Ho hurled himself to a standing position. "Here..Thanks.. I'll tell you everything tomorrow," he said. He dropped a wallet on the floor, and took a step on the stair case. I opened the wallet. Bam! Bam! (LOL See what I did there) I scurried to the stair case. Jae Ho was at the bottom. "Haha, I fell," he laughed. I stared at him. He's gone crazy, I thought. Jae Ho stood up, and waddled around my apartment building. I snatched the purse, and scrambled down the stairs. He was my friend, I thought. I don't just ditch him. I quickly turned the corner of my apartment. Jae Ho was looking at something. I stared at the clock. Damn It! If I didn't head to the studio, I would be late for training. I snatched Jae Ho, and threw him into a taxi with me. "Where ya goin'" The driver asked. "JYP Building," I gasped, as Jae Ho tried to scurry out of the car. He elbowed me in the face, as the car started driving. "Ah!" I gripped my nose. Jae Ho turned to face me. "You okay?" he said, prying my hands from my face. I took my hands out, and showed him my normal face, and clean hands. "Dick," he cursed at me. I secretly smirked, and stared out the window."You need to stay strong," I said. Jae Ho glared at me. "Strong?" he said. I nodded. "You trained so much to get here, at least try for the pre stage thing," I insisted. Jae Ho sighed, and shrugged.

We headed to the studio entrance. It was an average day, so I wasn't cold or anything. Jae Ho looked at me, when we got to the entrance. "Take out your staff card," he insisted. I shoved my hands in my pockets, and looked around. "U-Uh I think I left it at home..," I said. Jae Ho gritted his teeth. He slipped his hands into his pocket. "Don't loo-" he ordered. Then Rae Hwa walked up to us. "Did you forget your key?" she asked Jae Ho sweetly. UGH. Did she just ignore me? I thought. Jae Ho snorted, and Rae Hwa pulled her staff card out. "Here," she said, still in a sweet tone. She swiftly tapped it into the scanner, and Jae Ho opened the door for Rae Hwa. As she entered, I saw Jae Ho smirk. Then at the last minute, Rae Hwa tripped. "My bad," he spat, literally walking over her. I slid past her and followed Jae Ho. What was that about?