章 98: Debut Prep (5)
Nervously ASCEND stood in a larger-looking practice room. Mr. Jeong, many other trainees, a few higher-ups, and a scale were extra editions to ASCEND's usual just six.
It was a weigh-in day. It was the day a company's trainees, separated by gender, were to weigh-in. Oftentimes, even in Ha-rin's time, the people to do the weighing and screech their criticisms at hungry trainees, weren't even medical professionals. Even Joon-woo was nervous on days like these, though his nerves were clearly shared and even less than most of the other trainees.
Out of ASCEND, Jung Hyun-Ok and Joon-woo had the strictest diets and it showed in their easy exhaustion. But for weigh-ins, Ryeo Hyun was the biggest victim.
He was a man of muscle, even pushed by the company to work to keep them. But muscles added weight and weight was poison.
He was visibly nervous, Ryeo Hyun, even after Mi Yong had offered his hand of support. And what didn't help is that the other trainees knew ASCEND well. Not personally, but they weren't exactly unpopular to the public…
In fact, Producer10 season two had a viewership rating of almost twenty-five percent. That was about three times the first season. They had thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands, awaiting their debut. Perhaps that's why some looked at them with admiration, some jealousy. Joon-woo was similar in age to a lot of the trainees, gaining the most admirable looks.
A younger trainee, maybe 14, stepped up the scale with a forced blank face. He looked up with scrunched eyes to the ceiling as the scale went up, and up, and up…
67.5kg.
He stepped off the scale almost on the verge of tears.
"Why do you eat like you don't want to debut?" One of the higher-up's asked, her weight about double of the said trainees.
The trainee just clasped his hands and looked towards the floor. He was a perfectly healthy weight, the trainee, but the shorter one was, the harder it was to maintain the standard weight. This trainee seemed to be around Joon-woo's height.
"In your records from last time I said I wanted you down to 60kg. Is that so hard to do?" The higher-up continued.
'Yes, that's quite difficult' rang on the tongues of every trainee.
The higher-up sighed, "By next time I want you to weigh 60kg, no excuses."
The trainee nodded quickly, taking a walk of shame out of the practice room. The air was filled with a familiar tension. Joon-woo sighed. Jung Hyun-Ok was next.
Jung Hyun-Ok and his calm demeanor wasn't cracked, but between the exhaustion of debut preparations and a lack of food, Joon-woo imagined he must be a little nauseous.
"Jung Hyun-Ok… Set to debut in two weeks… goal weight 59kg…" The higher-up read from a sheet in front of her. "Step on the scale."
Jung Hyun-Ok abided. He displayed a rare type of confidence as the number on the scale went up. Joon-woo noted the admiration on the other trainee's faces with pride.
The higher-up's face was serious as she watched the number rise, but her expression ever-so-slightly softened when they slowed down and down.
58.7kg.
"Good. Maintain this weight until next time." She instructed, brushing the clearly relieved Jung Hyun-Ok off.
Jung Hyun-Ok sent the shortening line of trainees a small encouraging thumbs up as he left. Some trainees verbally expressed their admiration which brought a smile to all of the remaining ASCEND.
Joon-woo sighed as he watched the next trainee step up to be weighed.
–+–
51kg.
Joon-woo sighed in relief as he stumbled off the scale. He knew it was probably really underweight for both his height and age, but he paid no mind. In K-Pop standards, it was perfect.
He was basically the last trainee that had to go, a good two behind him in line. Ryeo Hyun had been just a kilogram over what was requested of him, much to everyone's surprise. He was a solid 72kg, and with his muscle, was quite impressive.
All of ASCEND were outside the practice room, chatting to some of the trainees that had dared to approach.
Mi Yong smiled widely when he saw Joon-woo stumble out. He raised his hand high to wave over the small crowd of trainees.
"Joon-ah!" He called loudly, drawing attention to Joon-woo's way.
Joon-woo wanted to hit Mi Yong with an anti-image force when eyes fell onto him. All of ASCEND had gotten a good amount of attention the moment they walked in.
Joon-woo awkwardly waved with a curt nod at the trainees near and chatting to ASCEND. And as Joon-woo stood next to Reggie, one of the trainees opened his mouth.
Joon-woo noted that the boy, similar to him, was on the prettier side and also seemed to be the youngest of the bunch. Sadly, like most, the boy was just slightly taller than Joon-woo.
"Sunbae-nim…" The boy shyly began. "Uh…" There was a wave of red across his face.
Joon-woo then recalled that the boy had been lectured for being a kilo over.
"How… How do you balance school and trainee life?" He asked after a beat of silence.
Joon-woo paused. School? He couldn't remember the last time he stepped foot in a school. He hadn't done it was Joon-woo and almost got expelled from middle school as Ha-rin due to poor attendance.
He pursed his lips. He hadn't really told his groupmates much about his school circumstances, though while the show was airing he would've been in school if he was a normal student. With that he figured they knew he either graduated early or dropped out.
"Hmm… Well… Honestly?" How could he word this? Many trainees watched him with curious eyes. "I dropped out."
A wave of 'ahhs' rang through the group. Hell– even his own group mates were intrigued by the answer.
"But if I have one regret, it's not finishing school." He continued, "So I recommend trying, especially if you go to an art school." He advised. The art schools were lenient to trainees and often treated their trainee life as an extra project. It was a school most idols and trainees went to.
The boy in front of him nodded, his eyes slightly lighting up.
"Subae-nim didn't go to an art school?" He asked.
Joon-woo nodded, recalling Kite giving him a debrief on Joon-woo's past. He went to a normal highschool and middle school apparently.
One of the trainees behind the pretty one leaned on the pretty one's shoulders. "See, he's similar to you, Hanbinnie!" He joked.
Joon-woo then realized, didn't most trainees go to art school? He turned to his groupmates and asked: "Hyungs, did you guys go to art school?"
They all nodded in their own respective ways.
"...and you all are graduates?"
They nodded again.
"Oh," Joon-woo replied, turning to the curious trainees with a shrug. "Graduating is good." And he meant it.
–+–
During the recording of their music video, Joon-woo felt his groupmate's eyes on him like hawks. He was used to Reggie staring, but not the others'. Was it because of the whole school conversation?
The music video shooting itself was fun. Today was the last day of shooting and it was mostly extra shots for dramatic effect while editing. The make-up and costumes and even the set were nothing new for the group as they had been shooting it for almost two weeks now.
The set was bright with summer vibes littering every shot. Their outfits, though K-Pop styled, were also brightly themed. Though Joon-woo found himself unable to escape the skirts fully, as one of his five outfits required a long maxi-skirt again.
As Mr. Jeong escorted the exhausted ASCEND to the van, Joon-woo finally acknowledged a glance, feeling a pair of eyes on him. It was Baek Du-Ho's, oddly enough.
"Aish… Why are you guys being weird today?" Joon-woo asked, voice lowered so as not to raise concern.
Mi Yong shrugged, "You dropped out."
Joon-woo shook his head, "A lot of idols do."
"No but…" Mi Yong paused, unsure of how to say it. "I know I at least thought you graduated early."
Joon-woo raised an eyebrow. He was not book smart. If you asked him to name all the countries in Asia or point out a flag he would be as clueless as can be. He only knew English from his life as Ha-rin.
"Did you all think that?" Joon-woo asked, looking around.
He was faced with another row of, albeit more awkward nods.
"Oh. Well don't think that anymore." He shrugged.
He hoped that would be the end of it.
–+–
It wasn't the end of it.
Mi Yong stood proud at the door of the dorm with fried chicken and a wide smile.
"I've decided that we don't know each other well enough!" Mi Yong exclaimed and Joon-woo couldn't help but feel partly at fault.
Mi Yong pointed to the kitchen island table, gesturing to the others' to sit. "We're gonna do the most, bestest, awesome, informative icebreakers to ever exist!"
Joon-woo couldn't help but gulp at that reveal.
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