The Second Chance of A Suicidal Idol

Roomies (13)

"Noona, you're so pretty (I keep thinkin' 'bout you)
Noona, you're pretty (I keep dreaming 'bout you, pretty)
She's never had a taste of sincere love
Noona, you're so pretty (I keep thinkin' 'bout you)
Noona, you're pretty (I keep dreaming 'bout you, pretty)
Of a heart filled with sincere love"

Reggie, accompanied by the three others' of Team Seven finished singing well, taking into account that most of them specialized in dancing. Joon-woo watched from his seat in the audience, with Team Ten and their lacking chemistry showing like blinking neon lights in the night.

After their performance of "Just Wrong", Joon-woo knew he had gotten his point across well, through his voice at least. He had asked Teacher Nam for the permission to go higher on the already high notes, as the compensation for unequally divided parts.

He looked up to the audience of contestants, to his own roommates and Reggie mostly, and by the way they clapped their hands slowly, nodding with small smiles, Joon-woo knew the part distribution had been exaggerated well enough. Nodding and clapping was the way Ha-rin would react at award shows when watching other idols perform. And most of the time, she didn't mean a single second of it.

In silence, Team Ten re-entered the audience to find their team-set seats. They only waved to cameras as they passed, not thanking each other or congratulating each other. Joon-woo knew it would be damaging to his image, his aloof nature, but really– what could he do about a team as uncooperative as this?

He shook his head, clapping his hands as Reggie and the rest of Team Seven exited the stage.

Reggie had done well. While still a little breath-y, his improvement had shocked Joon-woo. Was Reggie a genius? He could barely hold a note before the competition and now here he was, singing and keeping up with other long-trained contestants. Joon-woo was proud and wore it on his face. He felt like a mother watching her son grow.

Not to mention the concept they used of messy work attire. Loose ties and buttoned down dress shirts. It suited Reggie well, Joon-woo thought. He imagined how happy the Reggie fangirl he had seen on Witter would be if she saw this...

The contestants of Team Six took the stage and Joon-woo thought, as they began, that Reggie had definitely done better. Maybe not his own team of Team Ten, but Reggie's Team.

It was as FYP had said, teamwork was important. Even in a challenge that promoted against it, a team getting along was very important. Team Seven got along well, hell– they even congratulated each other while walking off stage. Joon-woo's team barely even looked at each other.

He figured FYP would scold him and Team Ten and grimaced. Was it him that caused all this lack of connection? It had happened with 'Fire' just a few days before, almost a week ago. Was he just someone who wasn't meant to get along with team members? Even in Cheerleader, Ha-rin and he members were never close.

He sighed, and did his rehearsed reactions to each team. Team Six, Team Five, Four, Three, Two. They were quite boring, in Joon-woo's opinion. They hadn't messed with their songs concept or switched up any notes. They didn't have the best voices and some even voice cracked.

He hoped Team One, the team of his roommates plus Mi Yong, his friends, he supposed. He hoped they would do well, and he knew they would do well. They had it all, the looks, the chemistry, the voices, they had it all. Joon-woo ruffled at his hair, a bit jealous. Couldn't he have that?

They took the stage, taking Joon-woo's with them. Ryeo Hyun and Bo Jaesang went to the farthest microphones, Jung Hyun-Ok and Mi Yong taking the nearest. They wore futuristic clothing– streetwear in bright colors, and Joon-woo chuckled about how unfitting it was for the all stoic Ryeo Hyun.