Weakness (Zuodeng)

Seven

“Wow they want Zhixin on the cover of Cosmopolitan,” Ji told Jiaxin as they walked to their rooms that evening.

“Wow really? That’s awesome. He’s already so popular even though he’s just a trainee.” Jiaxin replied as he arrived to the door of his room. The two friends gave each other a short farewell as each of them retreated to their rooms.

Jiaxin was surprised to see that Zuo was still in bed. He didn’t leave the room even once, not even going out to have some food.

“Zuo,” Jiaxin found himself speaking. “We have practice tomorrow, you’re gonna have to eat if you want to perform well. It’s your first day, you can’t afford to not look competent.”

Zuo didn’t reply, but Jiaxin could tell he was awake.

“Zuo,” he continued.

“I’m not hungry!” he finally answered in an unfriendly tone. “Just leave me alone.”

Jiaxin sat down on his bed. “I don’t want to pry in your business but this is important, you’re my roommate. You worked hard to get here, don’t be put down by whatever happens. Friends come and friends go, it’s how life works.”

Zuo wanted to sit up and explain that it wasn’t just his friend, and that the reason he came to TF Entertainment in the first place was because of this “friend”. So it hurt him terribly and made him feel like leaving the place. He should have listened to his parents when they asked him if he was sure he really wanted to become an idol. He said “yes” with all his heart, but if he could turn back time, he wouldn’t have said that.

He wanted to express all this to someone, but he couldn’t find a way to do it. So instead, he didn’t reply to Jiaxin again. Jiaxin decided not to speak anymore, he lied down on his bed and decided to sleep.

#

“Wake up boys! It’s 5am!” John, who usually took care of the trainees, announced as he opened each of their doors. The boys groaned, and even though they had been doing this for a long time, it still felt irritating to wake up that early.

Zuo had heard the announcement, but he wasn’t willing to get out of bed. He hadn’t gotten any rest because it was so hard to sleep when he was emotional and crying.

“Zuo,” Jiaxin said to him.  “Wake up we have to go for practice.”

Zuo once again did not reply.

“I know you’ve been skipping eating but you can’t skip practice, you’ll get in trouble.” Jiaxin got off his bed and went into the ensuite bathroom.

He cleaned his face and was going to shower after practice, and once he returned to his room, he was surprised to see Zuo still in bed.

“Zuo I mean it, get up.” Jiaxin repeated, but he didn’t budge.

Finally giving up, Jiaxin pulled the door handle and decided to walk out. He wasn’t going to be late for practice because someone decided not to wake up.

The boys made their way to the practice room, just a few minutes before 5:30. They were supposed to start their dance practice which would end around 6 am. Most of them were still tired, but they tried to stretch to shake off the weariness.

Their dance teacher walked in. She was a haughty woman who was known for her lack of tolerance and seriousness. Nobody knew her real name, but she went by the nickname Honey.

She looked at each of the boys without even offering them a greeting. “Are you ready for today? Let’s go over what we were working on yesterday.”

“Yes ma’am.” the boys all answered.

“Wait a minute, why are there only 11 of you? Isn’t there supposed to be a new trainee? Making you twelve?” Honey asked the boys.
They looked at each other, and nobody said anything.

“Who’s his roommate?” she asked them.

“Jiaxin.” they answered lowly.

“So you left your friend sleeping?” she asked him spitefully. “Why would you do that? Isn’t it your responsibility as his roommate to teach him how things go around here?”

“I tried.” Jiaxin answered with a shaky voice. “But he…”

The door slowly opened, and Zuo walked in nervously. He had probably been dragged out of his room by John.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” he apologized.

“You two are in trouble.” Honey stated.