Do I deserve It?

"5 6 7 8"

The stomping on the ground echoed back to us in the practice room. As we danced to the song as if our lives were dependent on it we heard Mikyong repeating one of her catchphrases - again. We stopped our track and started from the beginning.

We have been practicing for the past 4 hours nonstop at this point, with most of us ready to fall apart. Mikyong must have finally noticed our twisted expression and the stained sweat marks on our clothes in the mirror.

"5-minute break and back to practicing," she sternly said.

Chae Mikyung - a cool-headed girl, at times being cold towards others, with one of the kindest hearts out there. After all, there was a reason for her having a leadership role in our group. Without her, I believe, things would collapse quite easily.

All of us were too exhausted to do anything besides sit down and sip on refreshing water. That didn't stop our Kyungsoon to try and lighten all of us.

"I have a feeling our group will kill it on this month's evaluation. Look at all of you! You guys are killing it," she clenched her fist in a squat positing like she was going to karate punch someone.

As the girls filled our practice room with chatter and laughter my body signaled me I have drunk too much water for my own good.

"I have to go to the toilet, I'll be quick."

After notifying my members I rushed to the restroom to not hold back practice time from the others. It didn't matter though, if I were late the girls would continue practicing. The only one at loss would be me since I am cutting down my own practice time and I couldn't let that happen.

Coming back from the restroom I heard people coming along the hallway from the other end. When I looked up to see who it was they were non-other than the Pentagon members - Kino, Shinwon, and Yuto.

"Good evening," I greeted my seniors, and when they greeted me back warmly. My eyes immediately landed on Kino sunbaenim.

"How are you? Are you practicing hard?" Shinwon sunbaenim earnestly asked me.

"I have been doing great and yes, me and the other trainees are practicing hard. Thank you for asking. I hope you guys are good too," I answered back as best as I could. I could talk decently in Korean to my fellow trainees but when it came to my seniors and my teachers I always wanted to be extra careful. I didn't want to make any mistakes in front of them.

Kino answered with a simple "That's good," and continued "The three of us are doing great".

OMG Kino is talking to me. HE JUST ANSWERED MY QUESTION. I think they are saying something. Y/N! FOCUS!

I couldn't hear anything they had said after Kino sunbaenim answered me. When we finished our short conversation they went down the corridor to wherever they were going. The only thing I saw was Kino sunbaenim waving at me and a gentle smile that warmed up my heart. It didn't matter that I was a CUBE trainee when Pentagon's Kino was still my ult bias.

My daydreaming didn't last long as I rushed back to the practice room. I realized too much time has passed because I stopped to talk with my company seniors. When I got there the girls had already ended their break as I suspected. I quickly apologized and rushed into my position to continue our practice. I didn't have the luxury to slack off. I had to be the best of the best to survive. It was either kill or be killed in this so-called battle arena that we called practice room.

When we finished our practice, what seemed like torture from the pits of hell, it was already past midnight. We have been practicing for 7 hours at this point. All of us were tired, trying to desperately catch our breath in this humid practice room that reeked of our sweat.