Behind The Mask

~ 1 ~

SONG

- la belle femme : hunny -

YEONJUN POV

"Where is Kai, 형(hyung)?" Taehyun said, as he stretched his calves against the dance practice room floor. Rehearsal for our new comeback started five minutes ago and our youngest member still wasn't here.

"I don't know, I texted him, but he's been M-I-A," Soobin spoke with irritation in his voice. As our leader he always becomes stressed when a member isn't on time. Generally it's me, but today it's Kai and he's always on time. 

"English is so hard you guys," Beomgyu said as he leaned against the wall stretching his shoulder. "It's so easy for Kai and Yeonjun, but I'm over here seriously struggling. I was trying to order my coffee this morning downstairs and even the baristas started talking to me in English. They wouldn't respond to my Korean! And I don't think they even speak English fluently! It was so annoying."

"Yunsan 선생(seonsaengnim) is pretty strict, I bet he told them too, but I guess how else are we going to learn?" I said, mentioning our English teacher with a chuckle.

"형(hyung)! We'll learn during our 3 hour daily English classes!" Beomgyu continued to complain as he tossed his hands up in the air and grabbed a calf roller.

As the other members continued to chat and stretch among themselves I went to grab some water. The practice room had become stuffy from waiting so long and I had already been to the gym prior this morning so I was already tired. A nice tall glass of cold water sounded amazing. As I was filling my water bottle at the fountain, suddenly a wave of stress came over me.

For our new comeback our concept is different than usual. Our team wanted to show a new side of us to attract a more diverse audience. So instead of our usual dark or cute concepts, this comeback is Retro following our senior group BTS's Dynamite comeback and will make us look more mature. Although all five members were fond of the new exciting visuals we'd be bringing to the table, I'm still worried. What if people don't like it and we disappoint our fans? What if we disappoint our team and the company? All our and their hard work will go to waste. I keep trying to tell myself that just means we have to work extra hard to impress this time, and we have been. Soobin and I have been going to the gym together daily and I know the other members have been taking other advanced dance courses. To be honest, we all have gotten incredibly toned. We all have been taking numerous vocal lessons as well as daily English classes to improve our language skills for international fans.

Still, we all feel unsatisfied. With the spread of Covid 19 over Korea, we aren't allowed to go anywhere outside the company without strict permission. We can't see many people either. Both for our own safety, but also because we are still attending award shows and dance stages, we can't take the risk of getting some of our family sick. Hell, we don't even see anyones face anymore. The only faces I've seen without a mask in real life in 8 months have been the other members. There's been nothing better to do then focus on our image and careers while cooped up in this company building. Yet, I guess there comes a time where even looking and sounding good becomes unfulfilling. I can feel the low energy whenever all five of us are in the practice room. The monotony of everyday takes a toll and we all have just become so bored. We need something to spice up this place. Something new and exciting. Something to fill my thoughts.

And as I dragged myself back to the practice room, bladder full from downing my water bottle, I could hear the slight chatter of our members.

Kai must have arrived, I can hear him laughing. Along with someone else. A feminine giggle came from the same direction down the hall. Who is that? It's not our vocal coach, she's like 60 years old. Is it trainees? No, they aren't letting anyone outside our cohort see us because of the virus. Is it Bahiyyih? Why would she be here?