Stay - Yang Jungwon 양 정원

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

It was a struggle sleeping that night.  Usually, especially after a long day, I could clock out pretty easily.  But today, maybe because of the nerves, I just couldn't sleep. I stared at the ceiling in the dark, contemplating if I should get up and take a walk or do something.  If I was going to stay up, I should at least be productive.

I checked the digital alarm clock that sat on the bedside between Jungwon and I's bed.  It was three in the morning. I rolled my eyes realizing I had five hours to either sleep or do something.  Throwing the blanket to the side, I grabbed a pair of socks from my bag and put on my dance shoes, throwing on one of the sponsored hoodies as I got up.

As I looked around, wondering if I should take anything to the dance room, I heard shuffling in one of the other beds.  I stood frozen as I stared at Jungwon's silhouette, waiting for him to wake up or not.  I stood there for like a minute until he turned again, facing his back to me.  I didn't want to wake anyone up.

Very quickly and quietly, I left the blue room and went to the kitchen to grab a water bottle.  Once I did, I went downstairs and decided to practice in the big room, wanting to see how it felt in there.  I turned on the lights, I could see cameras in each corner of the room.  I couldn't tell if they were on or not.  On the safer side, I waved at it, and that's when I saw the little red light.

"Are you on?" I asked the camera as if it was an actual person, "I can't sleep, so maybe dancing will help," I explained before turning to the shelf of tablets along the wall.  I was curious about the media restriction.  When I read the contract, we weren't allowed to post on any personal social media, text or call any family.  The only social media we were allowed was the pre-made ones for the I-Land page on Weverse, which hasn't even been fully explained to us.

When I opened the tablet, there were only music platforms from what I could see.  This was perfect.  I pouted as I tried to find a song I was willing to dance to.  I settled on Stray Kids 'Double Knot' as I knew the dance already.  I made sure to close the door and not have the music too loud as I set the tablet against the wall, hitting play.

It was almost like magic, how my fears and worries almost always faded away once the music started.  The muscle memory kicked in and any thoughts about tomorrow were gone.  Just like that, the three minutes were over I fell back on the floor, feeling the cool surface as I caught my breath. 

Then I noticed something in the mirror.  My eyes widened when I saw Jungwon just standing there with a big smile on his face.  I never got up so quickly, feeling embarrassed, I turned off the music and fanned myself.  I went to the door and peeked my head outside, seeing Jungwon standing in his hoodie over his pajamas. "Jungwon? Why aren't you sleeping?" I asked, taking my hair out of its ponytail.

Jungwon raised an eyebrow, "Why aren't you sleeping?"

I sighed, "Fair enough," I muttered. "Why did you come down here?" I asked, going back into the practice room where the AC was stronger. "The cameras on by the way," I warned him before sitting down against the wall and Jungwon followed me, sitting across.

"I woke up and noticed you were gone, so I came looking for you," He explained, shrugging his shoulder. "Can't sleep well?"

"Nope," I sighed, leaning my head against the wall. "I'm nervous about tomorrow," According to the instructions on the LED screens in our rooms, tomorrow morning at eight, we were to be in the lobby, ready to receive our first test.

"Why? I just saw you dancing and you were really good," Jungwon pointed out. "What were you dancing to anyways?"

"Double Knot by Stray Kids sunbaenim.  I dance to their songs a lot."