AMBER EYES (rewrite)

15 | damage control

Monday. We're having another joint practice but unlike before, we aren't practicing the collective routine. Today, we're allowed to practice for the Friday evaluation.

My group consists of Kai, Ryker and Rhea. They're all way better than my first group, and I feel sorry for the group which has Remi as a member. Even personality wise, our group is chill and isn't stressing out about the outcome. Putting it in Kai's words, we'll just get what we deserve and that there's no point in staying for extra hours to practice.

This is the first time I've met them since Saturday, as Sunday was the day we decided that we didn't need to meet. Now, we're all in one corner of the main hall. I'm sitting against the mirrored wall, Kai's standing next to me, Ryker's drinking water while scrolling through his phone while Rhea is literally lying on the floor with her eyes closed.

"Hey," Ryker says, kicking Rhea, "Move it."

Rhea's eyes open and rest on Ryker. Her expression morphs into something like annoyance. "I'm resting my leg, jeez."

He rolls his eyes and kicks her again, making her roll away a bit. "You don't need to rest your leg anymore. It's alright."

"If you kick me again, I'll cut your leg off," she snaps at him. Ryker's lips tug upwards in a grin as he scoots forward and kicks her again and she attempts to get a hold on his foot but she couldn't and ends up pouting while he laughs. "Fuck off."

"You can't even light a fuckin' match and you're scared of knives. You're going to cut my legs off? Yeah, right."

"Shut up." She rolls her eyes.

Kai clears his throat and all of us look at him. "What was our theme again?"

"Skyline of Seoul," Rhea says with a yawn. "What kind of a theme is that?" She huffs, slowly sitting up and shifting backwards so that she can lean against the wall as well. Kai slumps down too, looking at everyone around the hall who's practicing.

"Isn't Seoul like the," Ryker pauses, his face showing that he's thinking about something, "Capital of Japan?"

I snort and so do the others and he looks at us. Looking at his expression makes me realise that he's actually not kidding. "Seoul is in South Korea," Kai laughs. "The Capital of Japan is Tokyo. You really that dumb?"

He rubs the back of his name and smiles sheepishly. "I was just kidding."

"Sure you were," Rhea says to him and he glares at her. I've no idea how long these two have been talking for but it seems like they've known each other for years.

"I think you need geography classes," Kai comments and nudges me. "Hey, first ranker. Tutor this guy right here please."

"Me? Tutor a guy who doesn't know Korea's capital? Yeah, no, I'll pass."

Rhea laughs. "See that? You're unwanted."

"No, I'm not unwanted at all. You're the one who's unwanted. No one likes you. They like me," he snaps and Rhea scoffs.

"Do they, though?" she asks him. Ryker looks to Kai and me, who exchange looks and avoid looking at him, giving him the answer he needs. "See? They don't either. And I've heard if you impress Kai or Harley, then you can impress anyone. You've already made a terrible impression on them by not knowing basic geography."

"Shut up," he mutters. He turns to us again. "Can you guys see that I'm sad? Show me some sympathy, please, or I'll die. I want to be loved too."

Kai and I look at each other and he smiles, shifting his gaze to Ryker and leaning towards him and patting his head. "Good dog, don't worry. I love you."