Battle of The Bands

The Seungmin Problem

Chapter 9

The Seungmin Problem

     To be honest, while I told Chan I’d keep an eye on Seungmin, I actually haven’t seen him since the end of our performance. Right after we finished he went straight to the restroom. I’ve been trying to text and call him but he won’t answer anything. He won’t even respond to the rest of the group, kind of concerning. I’m worried something happened to him because I haven’t seen him at school. If he’s not here today I’ll have to go check his house, basically the worst case scenario. We need him in the group but if he’s not here then.. I don’t know. He’s the strongest vocalist besides Jisung so he’s pretty important to the team. I’m just worried he’s still upset about whatever happened between him and Jisung. Or even worse The Dazzlings found out and went out of their way to get rid of him. Oh god just thinking about it has me worried out of my mind. I just hope he’s okay..

     “All students please report to the auditorium for the round two results!” A voice on the P.A system says. Right, I almost forgot. I made my way to the auditorium, meeting up with 3racha. Unfortunately, Seungmin isn’t here. Either he just didn’t feel like showing up or he’s not here again. “No Seungmin?” Changbin asks, glancing over at Jisung who seems anxious. “I guess not,” I responded. Chan sighs and crosses his arms. "Let's just hope we made it.” “Today we will announce the eight groups who will be advancing to the third round!” The principal says, their face expressionless. “First, The Dazzlings!” Of course they’re advancing. They could perform a garbage song and everyone would eat it up. For some reason, only Minho and Hyunjin go up on the stage. Felix is missing.. That can only mean they’re up to something. “You seeing what I’m seeing?” I whisper to Chan. “Felix isn’t there.” “Mhm. “That can’t be a coincidence that Felix and Seungmin are both missing, right?” “Oh god I don’t even want to think about what that could mean..” “Sorry, sorry. I’m just curious.” Six more names later and it was time for the last group to be announced. The groups you would expect to advance, advanced. “And finally, the last group to advance to the third round, Stray Kids!” They really saved us for last again, wow. Me and 3racha went up on the stage. I couldn’t help but look over at a very pissed Minho. I guess he didn’t expect us to advance again. To be honest, neither did we. the principal says their last remarks and dismisses the crowd, blah, blah. As soon as I got the opportunity I went over to the razzle dazzles.

     “Didn’t expect us to advance I’m guessing?” I say, giving them a smug smirk. “Shut it, human. Don’t think you’ve won because you’re going into the semifinals. We’ll make sure you’re eliminated,” Minho says, a large scowl on his face. “Sure you will. I don’t doubt you have more tricks up your sleeves.” “Tricks? What tricks? We’d never pull any tricks.” ‘oh shut up already. You did something to Jisung didn’t you? There’s no way he stayed under the spell for so long.” “Hmm? Maybe your voice just wasn’t strong enough to break it? Ever thought of that?” “Yeah, I have. It makes no sense though.” “Fine, now that he’s no longer under the spell I’ll admit I personally controlled him for a little bit. Can you blame me? Your little group is in the way of us getting what we want.” “Funny because it’s the same way for us.” “Your group is doomed, I hope you know that. Stray Kids was destined to fail the second you all first performed. Us sirens will rule this world.” “Yeah, right, whatever helps you sleep at night.” “I will personally kill you. In fact, once we get our original forms back you’re the first person I’ll kill.” “Get in line, there’s already people who want me dead.” Hyunjin cracks a smile and does his best to contain his laughter, earning him a punch from Minho. “Alright, I’ll be serious now, in fact, I’ll get straight to the point,” I say, getting Minho and Hyunjin’s full attention.

     “You sent Felix to do something, right? Like, perhaps.. Mess with Seungmin? It can’t be a coincidence that those two aren’t here.” I initially expected Minho to get pissy and yell at me but he just laughed. “You really think Felix is with Seungmin? Felix has no business with that thing. It’s none of your business what they’re doing after all.” “So what you’re saying is he’s with Seungmin?” Minho sighs. “I’ll let you in on a secret, okay? You know how in your mythology sirens killed male sailors? We’re similar, except we kill men in general. How we ended up in masculine bodies when we were sent here is a mystery to us all. But do not associate us with the men that we target.” “So basically.. Are you trying to tell me your pronouns?” “Pronouns? What are those?” Minho asks, genuinely confused. “I think Felix told us at one point,” Hyunjin says, also confused. “Whatever, just don’t refer to us as men, we don’t want to be associated with those lowly creatures.” “Alright? So like do I say they/them or..?” “I.. I’m not sure actually.. I need to ask Felix about that when he gets back.. But anyways!” Minho snaps out of their? It’s? I dunno, I’ll variate between the two I guess. But yeah, Miho snaps out of their confused state, becoming pissy again. “Wait, genuine question, if you target men then what about women?” “Women? Well we don’t target them but if they’re in our way we’ll just get them to kill themselves.” “Oh..” “Why does it matter to you? I already told you, you’re the first person we’ll kill when we take over this world.” “Yeah, yeah, whatever. Try me one more time and it’s on sight, though.” “On sight?” Minho asks, turning to Hyunjin who shrugs their shoulders. “What I’m saying is; I’ll beat your ass.” Minho bursts out into laughter. “Sure you will.” I decided I didn’t want to pursue them further so I just rolled my eyes and walked off.