𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

nineteen ♬

"Seokmin,"

"You can't get away from me."

Her slender hand reached out and grabbed his collar. He struggled in her grip, thrashing himself away from her but to no avail. The world around them darkened, blackness filling the space.

"I will always find you."

She pulled him closer, spitting the words viciously on his face.

"No no no," he panicked. "Stop doing this, please I'm begging you."

Maniacal laughter rung out from her soft lips, summoning fear to the boy.

"I will never stop, Seokmin."

"Because you are mine."

Seokmin awoke abruptly, heavily panting as he wiped his sweat soaked hair out of his face. The pillow was stained with tears, and his eyes were still wet from crying. He stood up from his bed and quietly put on his jacket. Soonyoung stirred in his sleep, almost waking up from the noise yet didn't. Seokmin exited the room, closing the door silently behind him.

The cold air felt freezing against Seokmin's tender, fragile skin. The silence which surrounded him was both chilling and lonely, but anything was better than falling back asleep. He'd come to the rooftop, the same place he'd come before when he'd had his previous episodes at the beginning of his trainee days. It was unbelievable that it was happening again; the nightmares. He'd thought he was past that, but seeing her again must've triggered something.

He could've confided in Soonyoung right now, or even Jeonghan, Mingyu, Seungkwan and Vernon. He could tell Seungcheol that he isn't feeling his best, so he doesn't do the performance test. He could study with Jun and Minghao or game with Wonwoo and Dino to distract him from his thoughts, to take his mind off of it. Better yet, he could spend his time in the studio with Jihoon producing songs, or sing duets with Joshua to forget about it all.

There were so many things he could've done, should've done - but he didn't. Because he thought his burden was too big to share. Instead, he bottled everything up and swore that he'd never say anything to anyone. He couldn't let his sparkling façade that he'd created crack. He was their mood maker. He lifted their spirits and made them laugh. If he couldn't do that anymore, what would they think of him then?

He took a deep breath before going back inside. It was going to be a long day ahead of him.

Chae-ri POV

The first day of filming finished fast. A new day arose, the first challenge awaiting us.

Cliques had formed quickly, the two ringleaders being none other than Kang Paris and Lee Joo. The twins and Kae-soo were gathered by the coffee table alongside Joo. Na-young, Sunni and On-ja were on the opposite end of the room engaged with whatever Paris was saying. I decided to head over to Joo's crowd, mainly because I was a little afraid of Paris. Cameras were set up all over the place not missing a single view. I wonder what part of this will air on TV.

"Chae-ri was it?"

Joo nodded her head at me as I sat down next to Rae-ha. Or maybe it was Rae-seo? I couldn't remember which was which, only that they wore different tracksuits. And even then I had forgotten.

"Yeah that's me."

"We were just speaking about what we think the challenge will be today," Kae-soo said.

"I think it's going to be about singing," one of the twins said, playing with zipper of her jacket.

"Really?" The other tilted their head at them. "I was thinking it would be something to help us get to know each other better. You know, like the games Two Truths One Lie or Just Five Things."

"I've heard of Two Truths One Lie," Joo started. "But what is Just Five Things?"

Kae-soo and I agreed with Joo, never having heard of the game before.

Rae-ha and Rae-seo both shared a shocked look before turning to face us again.

"You've never played Just Five Things before?" The one in the orange tracksuit uttered. "It's like a classic. We used to play it in school all the time."

"There's basically a question asking you to choose five things to answer. Like what's your five favourite foods?"

"Ahhhh I see," I replied, feeling stupid at how easy that was to work out.

"I'll start!" Kae-soo exclaimed excitedly. "Joo unnie, who is your five favourite rappers?"

Joo thought deeply for a moment before answering.

"I'd have to say CL, Zico, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem and....Rap Monster."

After saying the last name, Joo's cheeks went as red as her hair. I'd never seen someone blush so hard before, other than Soonyoung when he's drunk two bottles of soju.

"No way..." Rae-ha gasped. "You have a crush on Namjoon?"

"Shut up," Joo gave the girl a stern look, to which she laughed because her cheeks remained bright red. "Anyways since you're talking, I'll choose you next. Rae-ha, what's your five most hated foods?"

"Probably Samgyeopsal, Sundae, Galbi, Bossam and Bulgogi," She replied, earning horrified faces from Kae-soo, Joo and I. "Basically anything containing meat."

"Are you sure you're even Korean?" Kae-soo interrogated jokingly. "How can you not like meat?"

"She has Alpha-gal syndrome," Rae-soo answered. "Making her allergic to all red meat."

"Got bitten by a tick when I was younger," Rae-ha continued. "I'm used to not eating meat so it's not a big deal. I thought about including it in my contestant information page to get sympathy votes but the staff said not to. Something about morals and keeping it fair?"

"Oh I'm sorry," I said. She giggled at my apology in confusion.

"Why are you sorry?" She chuckled. "Were you the tick that bit me all those years ago?"

The five of us laughed together. Rae-ha then directed her question to me.

"Who's your five best friends?"

The question caught me off guard. I never thought about who my friends were, let alone who my best friends were. All throughout my school years I kept my head down and got on with what I needed to do, no time to have friends. I suppose now it's different though, being a trainee with all the others. But who did I consider my best friends? I couldn't possibly choose.

"Uh..." I hesitated. "I think maybe Jeonghan, Seungkwan, Mingyu, Vernon and....Seokmin."

I don't know how loud I was talking, but I swear in the corner of my eye I saw Paris' head perk up when I mentioned Seokmin's name. It was quick and subtle, but I noticed.

"No girls?" Rae-soo cut in. "Damn, Chae-ri got a whole fan club for herself."

She winked suggestively at me and I shook my head.

"Not like that," I said. "They're trainees at my company."

"What I'm hearing is that you've got a line of suitors waiting for you back at home," Rae-ha said, exhibiting the same childishness as her sister. Before I could say anything further, Jae-suk appeared with his microphone in hand. A camera began filming him as he spoke, panning away from us.

"Hello folks and welcome back to Hidden Gems!" His voice rang out. "In today's episode, we begin the challenges. First up, we are going to play a little game I like to call Note Battle. Yes that's right, it's a singing challenge!"

"Called it," Rae-ha grumbled, before staff led us away to the staging area.