Chapter Text
5 ყᥱᥲrs ᥲg᥆…
Practicing for their first ever official test since becoming I-LANDERs was nerve-wracking to say the least. They were all gathered into the practice room and Sunghoon was dancing off to the side.
He wasn't going all out like Heeseung and Ni-ki were but he was getting the moves down first while watching the two. Ni-ki was great, dancing to all the parts while Sunghoon still had yet to truly figure it out.
“Why are you so good?” Sunghoon asked Ni-ki out loud, in awe as he watched the boy dance excitedly under the bright LED lights. He knew Ni-ki was pretty good but he didn't know it took him only a few minutes to get the entirety of it down.
He knew from the beginning that the young boy was a dance prodigy since he was three, dancing in his father's dance studio back in Japan with his sisters. Dance looked to be something Ni-ki really enjoys.
“Youre a dance genius, Ni-ki. Seriously.” Sunghoon continued to compliment and the Japanese boy was eating it up. A big smile on his face, cheeks pink as he ended his little show-off dance with others watching.
After their little praise moment, they all moved to sit in a circle to go over who gets what part in the song, Into The I-LAND.
“The most important thing is the choreography, details as individuals, and high notes.” Heeseung said as he looked at everyone, Sunghoon nodded slowly, leaning back on his hands.
Seon was sitting across from Heeseung and explained his worries on performing as a team during the chorus and who was gonna be the center as they all sang and danced together.
Sunghoon chewed on his bottom lip and looked at Heeseung as he nodded, listening to his concerns.
“So let's do voluntary auditions and we all could judge.” Sunghoon's heart dropped to his ass at the thought of dancing alone in front of everyone as they critiqued whether he was good enough.
All he had to say was thank god scent creams got delivered the other day and became a requirement. Sunghoon was stressed out and he was worried no one would focus with his scent stinking the place.
“I think we should make a decision on everything today, we don't have that long until we have to perform.” Heeseung said. “We could learn everything for two days, then rally on the rest for the rest of the days.”
“We have to put it all together, though.”
“If we don't do it my way, the next few days are gonna go really fast.” Heeseung said and everyone agreed.
Then, after a couple moments of awkward silence, Heeseung spoke again. “Who wants to do part one?” Silence, no one said anything or raised their hands.
Daniel gave a countdown, trying to give people a chance to think but still, no one. “Are there any recommendations on who you guys think should do the first part?” Heeseung asked and
Sunghoon looked at Ni-ki who kept his head down, like he wanted to but wasn't sure yet. Sunghoon raised a hand and gestured to Heeseung.
“I recommend you.” Sunghoon said with a shy smile and felt his heart flutter when Heeseung looked at him with a smile wider on his face. He was so handsome.
He shot some finger guns as the boys around them all giggled at his antics and Heeseung's face became softer compared to what it was. “What's the reason?” His voice was playful yet soft.
“Because you dance and sing so well. Everybody agrees.” It made sense that Heeseung should do it, despite everybody having potential, Heeseung trained the longest and was the most stable and admired.
Heeseung tried to stop the smile on his face but couldn't, Sunghoon let out a laugh with the others but after a little, Heeseung suggested Youngbin would be fit for it.
Everybody was still on Sunghoon’s side with Heeseung being the right choice, not noticing how Ni-ki seemed to be upset with everybody's choices.
Without much arguments, Heeseung ends with the most votes for part one and Sunghoon claps to congratulate, ready to see him shine on stage.
The air was tense for the next ten minutes as everyone continued to vote and sing for the parts they wanted and Sunghoon was increasingly getting nervous as he watched Jay raise his hand for each part and get shut down each time.
He also felt disappointed too seeing how he increasingly got more frustrated and upset no matter who Sunghoon voted for.
In the end, Geonu got part two, Jungwon got Part three, K got four, Seon got five, Daniel got six, and through a brief moment of surprise, he earned a spot as the seventh part. He celebrated with claps but also felt sad for Jay still, his buddy he did the intro test with.
But when Jay blew up because he didn't earn the part, Sunghoon's face dropped and he went pale. Everyone seemed alarmed, knowing Jay continuously aimlessly raised his hand and no one voted for him.
When part eight came to a vote, Jay didn't look up or raise his hand for a few seconds and everyone was looking at each other to see who would raise their hand, and then… Jay raised his once again.
His hat was pulled down, Ipad in his face. After the male sang the part, votes were back up. Sunghoon immediately raised his hand with five other people. Jay got the vote.
Sunghoon's shoulders eased and a smile was on his face seeing Jay's own small smile. Good. That's good.
All parts were assigned.
They all stood in the practice room and in light of successfully giving out parts, there was a dance battle. It was random, but the smiles and laughs from everyone were needed.
He was happy sitting beside Heeseung, enjoying the small amount of warmth he got when the small crew came stalking towards him.
His eyes widened slightly as he pointed to himself, “i-i can't do freestyle-” he stuttered out but they wouldn't give up.
He got up anyway and started a small dance, he was embarrassed but made the most of it and the reactions hyped him up. Heeseung watched him from his place on the floor, a soft smile on his face as he whispered out a ‘cute.’
The happy atmosphere disappears as nervous tension forms once again shortly after their individual dances for their parts. Everyone looked upset and frustrated.
Sitting on the floor, everyone voiced their concerns on what Heeseung made them do, claiming they all felt humiliated and embarrassed which confused Sunghoon because the auditions were voluntary. You could choose to do it which was why Sunghoon and Ni-ki did without.
He looked at Heeseung as he played with his hands, nodding to the words of the I-LANDERs, noticing how he seemed to be getting upset and suggested that he wouldn't be the best fit.
Ni-ki was eventually given part one instead and Heeseung sat behind the group, out of the spotlight as he stared off into the distance.
Sunghoon didn't enjoy how upset he looked. He wanted to go up there and sit at his side, hug him, make him smile again but he stayed put.
Eventually they all separated, Sunghoon was busy congratulating Ni-ki on finally earning the part he wanted, so he didn't notice Heeseung was gone.
He started heading back to the bedrooms and noticed Heeseung wasn't anywhere to be seen, so he walked to the shared bedroom he had with Heeseung and Seon.
“Where's Heeseung Hyung?” He asked Seon as soon as the door opened, "I think he's alone on the first floor.” Sunghoon's thick eyebrows furrowed. “Is he practicing?” Seon shook his head “just there?” Seon nodded, “he said he wanted to be alone.”
Sunghoon closed the door behind him as he stepped inside, in his thoughts as he walked to the bed. He didn't like knowing Heeseung was alone or upset, it was normal to feel that way for your role model, right?
Heeseung went from having the most important part as the center to the tenth part leaving him with one line. Sunghoon would be upset too.
Still, Sunghoon ignored Heeseung's wishes and walked to the first floor, the door faintly closing behind him as he descended down the steps to where Heeseung sat.
“Hyung.” Sunghoon called out as he walked to Heeseung, he didn't say anything but he offered his presence in silence and rested his head on his shoulder. Heeseung just sighed and let his shoulders relax, his head on Sunghoon's. Strike one.
An alarm sounded in the lobby as all twelve gathered in the lobby and soon piled into the gate when the voice instructed them to. Taken to another area in the building, right where they first started.
Standing some feet away was a silhouette, watching them step onto the illuminated stage to reveal himself as Rain. All the boys shared astonished looks and excitement as Rain explained he'd be in charge of the test.
Although happy to work alongside him, Sunghoon was nervous about being trained by Korea's most famous singer and songwriter. He was an exceptional singer and dancer, it felt scary.
They were all told to dance and they did. Nobody fell behind and the energy stayed throughout the entire performance. Rain said nothing about it as he rushed them into singing each part they had voted for. It was awkward.
Things were happening so quickly, Sunghoon didn't even have a chance to breathe as they were forced back into dancing and singing.
Things were alright until Ni-ki sang off-key, everyone grimaced at it and it was like everything went to hell after that.
Wavering voices, voice cracks, too high, too low. Rain remained stoic and Sunghoon felt that was the worst.
When they finished, they all stood in a line and Rain remained calm, addressing that Ni-ki was off-key and just needed to fix it better. Sunghoon was a little relieved that the man didn't scream at them for the lack of proper singing.
“But, I have one concern. Being good at just dancing and singing won't help you pass this round. This stage has six stages that lifts and moves. The pieces will all be moving freely.” Rain said as the members all watched the stages move around, numbers flashing on them where everyone with parts would stand.
“We will have the test on this moving stage, the formation on the moving stages must be executed successfully and properly in this test.”
With anxiety lingering heavier in their chests, they were all back at square one deciding who would be the best as the center. Everyone talked about Ni-ki like he wasn't even there and the boy didn't say a word.
Sunghoon was stuck just watching him, feeling bad for the boy who was clearly trying his best and just needed more practice.
“We really don't have time to debate about this right now.” Jungwon said as he looked at everyone, anxiety rolling off the boy in waves even if he couldnt smell it.
“I personally think Heeseung Hyung should do it.”
“Ni-ki, can you do part one?” Seon asked the young boy quietly. Wanting to ask his thoughts before anything. Ni-ki just kept his head down and said nothing. “I can help you with everything if you need me to.”
“In my opinion for the team to get a good score, I think it's right for Heeseung Hyung to have part one.” Geonu said while Heeseung just listened.
“It might be good to change, I don't want it, personally, but if it's for the best then I think we should.” Youngbin added quietly. Sunghoon was sitting next to Ni-ki and placed a hand on his knee, squeezing it gently as if to say ‘I'm here.’
“I also wanted to tell you that the only reason why I took the tenth part is because I wanted all of us to do well without me being the center. That's why I gave up part one.” Heeseung said after the three boys shared their thoughts.
“If the situation calls for me to take part one again, I can do it, but only if he says so. If Ni-ki doesn't want to do it, I won't. He wanted this more than I did.” Heeseung said and looked at the second youngest.
Time was crunching as the clock continued to tick down. Seven more hours left until they are expected to perform and all of them spent hours dancing and dancing and dancing.
They repeated the songs over and over again until they were in sync, over and over until they got their parts down. Sunghoon danced with sore arms and legs. Nobody was laughing or smiling now.
Ni-ki continued dancing to the only part he ever knew and practiced for, part one, while Heeseung watched Ni-ki from outside the practice room. They didn't have time to change. Heeseung made his decision.
They can't mess this up.
The air was a lot more tense than before. Heeseung couldn't smell it but he could feel it. It weighed everyone down in the practice room while the timer counted down at five minutes.
They were all dressed in blue and white, squeezing in more dancing and singing before they officially got started. The more time passed, the more nervous Heeseung got.
At some point, he stopped to watch everyone practice, watch Ni-ki who walked around singing his part repeatedly, and Sunghoon who was stable from the beginning was practicing too.
Jay who struggled getting a part in the song, Jake, Jungwon, Geonu, all of them.
They all walked out of the gate and onto the stage with the weight of the biggest people watching them. All of them were ready, nervous but determined to prove their worth in I-LAND even if some will be eliminated.
They all got into formation on the stage, standing on their parts with Ni-ki as the center and when the music started, they danced.
They all sat in their seats back at the lobby, anxiously awaiting for some type of announcement. The fluctuating beep sounded and then the voice.
“Here are the test results.” The voice said and everybody looked up at the screen to their side.
Everyone was quite nervous, including Heeseung who tried to look at everyone to distract himself. Wavering eyes taking in their reactions. He looked at Ni-ki who looked scared the most, the poor kid. Most of the pressure was on him.
“First, here's the elimination table.. The average of all individual scores is the team's score and the number of dropouts will be decided.”
“The individual score is announced randomly and you'll decide whom to eliminate.”
“Now from the signal song test, the individual score and team score will be revealed.”They all watched the screen with lumps in their throats.
Forty-seven
Seventy
Forty
Sixty six
Sixty one
Fifty eight
Forty six
Seventy five
Fifty nine
Sixty seven.
Fifty seven
Sixty five
The scores were all low except one as they waited for the teams score. Heeseung looked at the score board and the red-lit circle while he waited for the score to settle before it finally did. Fifty-nine.
“According to the test results, I-LANDERs have survived. Please eliminate six I-LANDERs.”The automated voice said and everyone immediately looked at each other.
Heeseung couldn't breathe, or maybe he was, he couldn't tell but he felt close to breaking.