CONNECT |Enhypen's 8th member|

Chapter Four: Evaluation

Two days later, the thirteen trainees stood in front of Rain himself. Niki had taken Heeseung's place as part number one, despite his lack of vocal training.

"I want us to speak casually to each other, so I won't speak formally to you and you can call me 'hyung' or 'oppa.' Okay?"

"Okay," they chorused. He had them start with the choreography before moving onto singing, then doing both simultaneously. Rain expressed concern for Niki's vocals and most of the I-Lander's dance skills before leaving them to discuss what they'd heard.

"I think we need to switch part one back to Heeseung."

Daisy's head snapped to Seon in incredulity.

"Are you kidding? We don't have time for that! We had a whole discussion about choosing part one and changing it, there's no time to change it back. We live with our choices."

In the end, the parts remained the same.

They continued working hard for the next few days until the night before the performance came. Daisy lay in between Sunghoon and Jay, laying on her back so she could see both of them.

"Are you nervous?" Sunghoon quietly asked both of them. Daisy nodded with a sigh. They'd sensed her stress as of late and wanted to help, but had been so busy with their own concerns they hadn't stopped to address it lately.

"Want us to distract you?" Jay asked mischievously, making her flush with a small giggle as he turned her toward him and pressed her lips to his. Sunghoon held her from behind, tracing small circles on her waist and placing a gentle kiss on her shoulder. She hummed with content.

Sunghoon eventually became impatient and flipped her to face him, making her yelp quietly as his lips connected with hers. Jay grumbled quietly before deciding to trail kisses down her neck, his hand sliding to her thigh and squeezing gently.

"Have you guys—AH!"

The three nearly had a heart attack as they turned to see Jake in the doorway, face beet red and eyes covered by his hands. "I'M SO SORRY!" he basically shouted. Jay groaned, pulling him into the room and closing the door. Sunghoon pulled the blankets over Daisy after noticing her shirt had come up a bit, and the three made themselves look slightly more presentable before facing the very flustered Aussie boy.

"It's okay, Jake. You can open your eyes."

He made eye contact with Daisy, immediately blushing yet again and averting his gaze. "I'm really sorry," he apologized yet again. The girl smiled slightly, assuring him she forgave him and nudging the others to do so as well.

"We should probably explain some things," she started, turning to Jay and Sunghoon beside her before facing Jake again. "We're in a relationship—the three of us, I mean. The only one who knows is Heeseung and now you. We're keeping it quiet because we don't want the judgement." Jake nodded, taking the information in.

"I-I think I've heard of this kind of thing before...po—polygamy?"

"Polyamory," she gently corrected, grateful he was trying to understand. "It's not something that's talked about a lot, especially in Korea. So if you could keep quiet about this, we'd really appreciate it."

"Of course," Jake nodded. "So um...is Heeseung also..."

"No," Sunghoon replied, having relaxed some. "It's just us three right now." Jake nodded awkwardly before finally leaving the room. All three collapsed onto her bed once more.

"That was unexpected," Jay sighed.

"It's probably for the best that we stopped," Daisy replied, wrapping her arms around them.

"Why? I was kinda hoping we'd continue," Sunghoon confessed, a shy yet flirty grin on his face. She flushed as he began kissing her neck lightly, Jay hopping up and locking the door.

"Now where were we?"

•
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•

The day of the performance had finally arrived. Everyone was waiting downstairs to go on stage, adorned in different outfits and hairstyles chosen by their stylists. Daisy's hair was curled into gentle waves. She wore a blue and white cropped hoodie with straight-legged blue jeans on.

She noticed Niki was especially nervous and walked over, sitting beside him. They hadn't talked much, but she sympathized with the pressure on him.

"Hey."
"Hi, Noona."

They sat in silence for a minute until Daisy sighed, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. He stiffened in surprise as she scooted closer, laying her head on him. "I'm not great at comforting people," she confessed. "Even when I can tell someone is troubled, I don't know how to fix it. So the best I can do sometimes is be there." She looked up at him, and Niki flushed at how close her face was to his.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm here for you. And I know you'll do your best."

Daisy's warm smile broke his defenses, and he shocked her by turning so he fully faced her and wrapping his arms around her waist, his head laying in the crook of her neck.

"I'm scared," he whispered. "Everyone is counting on me." Her smile switched to a frown as she rubbed his back soothingly.

"I'm sorry, Niki...I really don't know what to say. But know that just because you're part one doesn't mean our entire score depends on you. Everyone has to pull their own weight."

He nodded, pulling away from the embrace. She brushed the hair out of his eyes, cupping his cheeks. "Deep breath with me. No matter what happens out there, just do your best." Niki nodded again, offering her a small, grateful smile.

"I-Landers, please take your places." Niki stood first, offering her a hand. She made eye contact with her boys, silently asking them to let him be. Niki needed her comfort, and she wanted to give it to him without interference. They nodded, heading on stage ahead of her.

Daisy gave Niki's hand a small squeeze before they finally separated.

•
•
•

Jake.

That was the only thought on Daisy's mind as she let the stage. She walked past everyone—Jay, Sunghoon, Niki, even K—and searched everywhere for the Aussie boy.

She couldn't imagine how he felt missing his opportunity to sing. She wasn't near him in the formation, so she didn't know if he simply froze or what happened. All she knew was that when it came time, she hadn't heard his familiar voice.

Her already broken heart shattered as she found him sitting in the corner of his room, head in his hands and shoulders shaking.

"Oh Jake..."