Qiang gets a little help from Seventeen ft. Changmin
"I'm so excited!" Changmin said as him and Qiang hopped out of the car to head into Pledis's building. Qiang smiled and wrapped an arm around the younger boys shoulders. "Don't be weird. They're still my friends."
Changmin rolled his eyes and the two walked in. They were both tired and stressed. With Road To Kingdom taking off, they'd been busier than ever. They had been winning stages consistently and they always strived for bigger and better the next round.
This round was becoming challenging though. It was getting harder to top off the elaborate stunts that they had pulled off and more dangerous to. While they wanted to do their best and give the fans a stage they'd never forget; they also needed to stay uninjured while doing it.
Thus, Qiang had decided to call up his friends in Seventeen for them to come and ask for advice. They had a group with similar amount of members, their choreography was just as complicated as the stuff The Boyz had been doing and they had years of experience.
"Donghyun-ah!" A screech let out and Qiang was dropping his bag to catch a pouncing Hoshi. Qiang pushed him off and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "Hi, hyung. This is my groupmate, Changmin. He's a fan." Changmin bowed politely, his cheeks slightly red.
Hoshi laughed and told the two to lighten up or he wasn't helping anymore. He led them to elevator and upstairs to a practice room where Woozi, Jun and Minghao were waiting.
Changmin smiled a little when he saw Qiang's face light up at the two members from China. While they were talking to animatedly in Mandarin—he couldn't keep up—he could tell that Qiang was already losing a large amount of stress.
Sitting down, the members of Seventeen asked how everything was going with the competition and the two told them as honestly as they could. It was hard, fun, exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time.
"We've been doing so many things that we're at a loss what to do for this next round. We want to make it different but still keep it powerful. That's why I brought Changmin-ah," Qiang nodded towards him, "He's our best dancer."
"Show us what you've got so far," Hoshi said, face already evening out into concentration. He liked to goof around and laugh and have fun, but when it came time to practice and work, he was probably the most serious out of anyone Qiang knew.
Qiang and Changmin showed them what they could as just a duo and Changmin showed them all a video of practice a few days earlier. Minghao hummed, chewing his bottom lip.
"How about at this part," he stood up and mimicked the move, "make it partners." He pulled Jun to his feet and as if the two had the same mind, they did the exact same thing. It was the same move but it seemed to come together more when they did it together.
Hoshi hummed and nodded in approval. "We can't do the stunts here, but for the big one, try and change it up like this." He positioned everyone in the room around where Sunwoo would be doing the stunt on stage and arranged them differently.
"It doesn't take away from his movements and what's going on, but it ties it together nicely without making it seem like there's ten of you and one of him." After a few more tips and some advice, Woozi had surprised them with some food.
Changmin was quietly eating with Minghao against the wall in a corner while the rest were all talking and laughing in the middle of the floor. Changmin was smiling to himself as he ate, every-so-often glancing at how happy and lighter Qiang looked.
"I know it's been rough," Minghao said quietly. Changmin nodded and offered a smile. "It has, but that's how all survival shows are. As long as we do our best, that's all that matters." Minghao chuckled. "Wise words from a rookie," he winked and Changmin chuckled.
"You can tell how close you all were when he was training here," Changmin said quietly, glancing back over at the other boys. "Mm, yeah. We were all close. It was really, really hard when Donghyun wasn't put into our debut group. No one was happy about it. It was harder when he decided to leave."
"He really cares about you all. He said you were the ones who made him feel like he had a home here. Sometimes I don't think we really do that for him." Minghao patted Changmin's shoulder and gave him a friendly smile.
"If he didn't feel like home with you, he wouldn't stay. I promise you. I know him well enough. He's happy—really happy. He's just a little—dry?" Changmin threw his head back in laughter. "Maybe a little more than a little."
By the time they left, they felt more confident about their upcoming stage and the changes that had been made. Qiang felt like a huge weight had been lifted and he could tell Changmin felt the same. They were tired, but in a good way.
What Qiang didn't know was that Changmin and Minghao's quiet conversation about him was going to make it into the next episode.
It made the fans go crazy.
