Kapitel 42: Roomies (18)

On screen, Reggie's team entered the stage. The camera had awkwardly edited Reggie to be some sort of secret weapon. Cutting his dialogue during practices off, shadowing his appearance, and not even teasing his dance in the little pre-performance clips.

Reggie watched the screen intently at this editing, touch tucked under his tooth with his mouth wide into a smile. "They're really setting me up here." Reggie admired curiously.

Reggie's mother approached her son with a large smile, "'Cause you're a good dancer." She praised as if no one was watching. Then, turning to the group. "Ah– Have I told you all about how Reggie started dancing?"

Reggie's face suddenly got red and his eyes wide, "Ma!" He cried, nodded his head vigorously at her as if to drive her away from speaking.

Joon-woo tilted his head, non-verbally curious. Mi Yong, however, verbalized such: "Ehh? Now you gotta tell us!" He said, sitting up from Jung Hyun-Ok's lap with an eager expression.

Reggie paled, "Ah, no! Ma…" He whined, shooting Mi Yong a glare.

Reggie's mom smiled wide at Mi Yong's eagerness to get dirt on Reggie and sighed, "Before you go, remind me to tell you…" She loudly whispered into Mi Yong's ear.

Mi Yong cheered, sending a teasing finger Reggie's way.

They turned their attention back to the TV. Where Reggie's team at the time, Team Five, began to move to loud music. And not even a few seconds later, they included about three different reactions to Reggie's sharp and precise starting moves.

It then cut to an interview scene.

"How did it feel to practice with a Park Youngsoo and secret weapon Reggie?"

The interviewer asked off screen. The contestant scratched at his cheek, Joon-woo recognized as one of the people that had been eliminated.

"Seeing them made me think– "I must try harder!"

They cut to another interview of another, not yet eliminated contestant.

"They're really on another level, Park Youngsoo and Reggie."

Joon-woo smiled a bit, as at this time, Reggie was ranked 39th and Park Youngsoo was in 5th. Reggie also seemed to be a bit flustered by the praise, as if he hadn't realized it.

"You're a really great dancer…" Bo Jaesang muttered unconsciously as he watched the dancing on screen. "One day you have to give us a lesson, you know…"

Joon-woo could only nod along, because wasn't Reggie a genius? His movements were sharp and outshined the others. Whether he meant it or not, Reggie stood out the most in Joon-woo's biased eyes.

"Maybe I will." Reggie replied half-heartedly. He was focused onto the screen.

As Team Five's performance came to an end, Park Youngsoo stood in the center. The group was left a bit speechless, as the editing had only enhanced the performance further. It was well-deserving of the first place it got.

"Reggie, what did you do in America?" Jung Hyun-Ok inquired as various contestant audience interviews played on screen.

"I was in many dance groups…" Reggie vaguely replied.

Joon-woo peaked up at the reveal. Dance groups? Many? "Like the ones that dance in the streets?" He asked, referencing the various K-Pop cover groups he had seen all over the internet.

Reggie shook his head, then paused. "I mean, I've done the random dance challenges. But usually I only danced with my studio…" He explained, "But– I think we should watch now–" He began to get a little flustered at the attention, waving everyone off to the face of the TV.

On it were various clips of Ryeo Hyun and Bo Jaesang's groups. Bo Jaesang tugged at Ryeo Hyun's side excitedly.

–+–

Joon-woo watched the screen with intent eyes. Because no way, no f*cking way did he think the Producer10 editors would show this in full flesh.

Team Four, who was Ryeo Hyun and Bo Jaesang's team for the first round, had editing as plain as could be. There was no drama within the team, not much chemistry, and the producers had clearly found it boring, not even giving them a montage of them practicing.

Team Two, then Team Three were edited as if the contestants on the team were basically non existent if you weren't the leader. The only presence Jung Hyun-Ok's team, Team Two, had, was when the producers felt it necessary to include some made up rivalry between Mi Yong and Jung Hyun-Ok.

And as Team One's introduction came about, all Joon-woo was disconnect.

There were practice room clips drawn out to be more. It highlighted their practice days, how most members left as soon as they were allowed to and showed only their talks that revolved around practice.

It highlighted Mi Yong's troubled expression as he watched the team that was supposed to be leading. It highlighted the silence that engulfed the room whenever there was no practice to be had.

The scene cut to an interview clip.

"Who have you gotten close with on Team One?"

"Ehh… No one in particular…"

The room had gone silent at the mood the editors had set. Joon-woo sent worried eyes to Mi Yong, as did others'.

Mi Yong sighed, looking away from the screen, "Ahh, that's really embarrassing…" He groaned, leaning into the couch.

"It's not embarrassing, don't say that." Jung Hyun-Ok scolded, trying to slip his arm around Mi Yong's shoulder.

Mi Yong waved Jung Hyun-Ok off and stood, "I really need a beer…" He looked to Reggie, "Do you have any drinks?"

Reggie pursed his lips, "Um, I think?

The two scattered to the kitchen, leaving the rest to watch the screen with a bit of distress. Well, that's what Joon-woo was feeling anyway. He was mainly watching to see if his bad dancing was highlighted in any parts. But he was yet to see it clearly.

He could tell, he could tell that he was lagging behind through the short practice clips with slightly slower movements. But it wasn't so noticeable that anyone that wasn't him could see.

Instead, the scene panned to a rather interesting one.

It was Mi Yong, as he sat just outside the practice room with his face covered.

"Hah… This is…"

Mi Yong was squatted, his pink hair being pulled by his hand as a stress relief. The clip before was the group being scolded by their instructor.

"Really, can I do this?"

Joon-woo's eyes widened a bit at the sight. He hadn't noticed Mi Yong struggling at the time, and felt his gut turn.

"You guys were really a mess, huh?" Ryeo Hyun hummed.

Joon-woo nodded in reply, the thought saddened him, but it was true. "We were."

Mi Yong and Reggie re-entered and Mi Yong held a can of beer in his hands, clearly a bit relieved with the drink in hand.

He flopped next to Jung Hyun-Ok, pressing the tab and letting the fizz pass through. He took a large sip and sighed.

"Not too much, Yong-ssi…" Jung Hyun-Ok scolded.

"Don't worry, don't worry." Mi Yong replied, looking back to the screen.

Jung Hyun-Ok, Joon-woo noticed, kept his eyes on the drink in Mi Yong's hand.

On screen, their god-awful performance began.

It included crowd reactions, including Misa's frown upon viewing the teams lacking looks. Watching it now, Joon-woo saw the flaws. He saw how the various efforts of dancing were so clear to anyone's eye. How his own movements were quite slow, slow enough that the average idol or dancer could spot.

"How many hours of practice have you had for this?"

The interviewer asked.

"I think 8 hours?"

Joon-woo grimaced at such, did they really need to include that? Mi Yong took another large swig from his drink.

And as the dancing continued, reactions playing, the small shocked noises as faults, FYP's drooping frown, Joon-woo wanted it to end. But by this point, Team One had gotten the most screen time.

And as the song came to an end, the slow claps came and all Joon-woo felt was a bit disappointed. Hell– the trainers looked disappointed, some contestants.

Then the criticisms.

"Contestant Mi Yong, leader of Team One. You've debuted once before, and this is what you have to show for your leadership?"

"Team One, all of you seem to lack connection. Did you even practice together? It seemed everyone was trying to shine…"

"Yes, while a lack of connection was noticeable, you all danced well. No one was too slow or too fast, facial expressions… lacked for the most part."

Joon-woo curled himself further into a ball. He knew what was coming.

"And I would like to highlight Contestant Park Joon-woo. You've done well in improving your dance, Joon-woo and your facial expressions stood out…"

The screen caught it all. It caught Joon-woo's anxious expression, his shaky hands, and how Mi Yong patted him on the back at the words. It caught the varying expressions from the others' in Team One.

"You did do really great on that stage, though…" Reggie reassured.

And as they began to exit the stage, faces down and the mood dimmed. It included too much, too much to erase the events that happened right after. The fight, the yelling, the hit. Joon-woo leaning back, he almost wanted a drink, too.

He just hoped, begging that it wouldn't be included. Because it was embarrassing, it was so embarrassing. He looked, probably, weak when he fell, weak and pitiful like he always had. He watched the screen with a certain anxiety.