7 + 10 =

Weaker Apart

Years ago, before the bankruptcy... before Seventeen...

There was a group of 27 trainees: 15 male, 12 female. And not all of them were guaranteed to debut.

Every month, they were evaluated according to the following categories: Singing, Dancing, Rapping, and Weight Loss.

This was the standard for idol life. Be as perfect as you can be. But, not everyone was ready for it.

"Welcome to Pletus Entertainment young man, the boys are already in the practice room getting ready for next month's evaluation!" The front desk woman greeted so cheerily. It was a little unnerving, in fact.

A small boy passes by her, shaking with fear. This was going to be his first time meeting all the trainees. As he steps and steps closer to the door with sign 'Practice Room' above it, his mind races with irrational thoughts.

What if they laugh at me? What if they scream because I'm so ugly?

Finally, he's standing right in front of the door and bracing himself. After what seems to be forever, he grabs unto the door handle and swings it open. "Hello there, my name is Jeon Wonwoo!" He introduces himself, formally bowing.

Jeon Wonwoo was an outcast. He auditioned in a little later than the others. Only after turning 13 a month ago, was he randomly scouted off the streets. His parents were hesitant at first, but then they told him he had one shot to do this and sent him into Pletus with low expectations. All Wonwoo ever remembers was awkwardly performing to "Lies" by Bigbang. He got accepted.

Now, he's standing in a room cramped with a bunch of boys. Half of them lying down listening to music, the other half practicing in front of a mirror.

"Oh hi," A boy in front of him lamely remarks. "Uh.. S.Coups the new trainee arrived!"

"Ugh! Another one!?" Someone on the floor groaned. Wonwoo couldn't tell who since there were multiple of them on top of each other.

"I'm Seungkwan." The boy says but doesn't pull out a hand to shake or anything. Just stares at Wonwoo expecting a response.

Wonwoo awkwardly smiles and quips, "Oh! Nice to meet-" "Yeah bah-bye." Seungkwan interrupts and then walks off. "Ay yo DK are those new shoes???" He calls out to the other side of the room.

What - What did I do? Wonwoo thought as he watches that boy start laughing with someone else.

Looking around, no one really bothers to introduce themselves back to him. They seemed to continue doing what they did before he arrived. It felt like they were avoiding him. Wonwoo figures they were too tired to care and gave them the benefit of the doubt.

He lazily sat down against a wall and watched the other members practice their songs. All he was told to do that day was pick out a song for his evaluation, and so, he scrolled through a given ipod and chose "Love The Way You Lie" by Rihanna and Eminem.

Hours passed, and he got a chance to hear everyone sing or rap. Seungkwan and DK were singing a familiar OST and they were really good actually! A guy named Hoshi was trying to nail the moonwalk, he almost got it. S.Coups eventually got up and started rapping his part of "Knock Out" by GD & TOP. Wonwoo loved Bigbang and it seemed like the other part wasn't taken by someone, so he thought it was perfect timing to approach him.

"Hey, it's me, Wonwoo!" He shyly announced behind S.Coups. The latter paused his music and turned to apologize, "Sorry I like practicing without my earbuds! You're the newbie, right?"

Wonwoo nodded yes. "Oh.. well I'm Seungcheol, but peeps call me S.Coups!" S.Coups grinned. He had such a cool aura to him that Wonwoo couldn't help but stare in admiration. "Um... you okay my dude?"

Wonwoo jolted in shock. "YES. Yes! Yes." He straightened up his posture. S.Coups was only weirded out by this even more and turned back to the mirror. "Alright peace. Imma keep practicing.."

"Wait!" Wonwoo reached out to him. "I like that song! I, um, I notice you're doing GDragon's part. Well, if you don't mind, I can do the other rap as well. I know the lyrics by heart!" He felt so proud he was able to get that out.

But S.Coups just looked back and had a strange expression on his face. "Ah... uh... sorry mate but I already have a partner, he's just not here today. Sick and all." And just like that, he turned back on his music and kept on practicing.

If he was being honest, Wonwoo felt a little... disappointed. Okay no, he wanted to cry right now. Nonetheless, he held it in for the rest of the day.

It's just the first day, it'll get better. He had told himself over and over. He ate his food alone in the practice room, and then went to sleep in his assigned dorm.

"That bed's mine and Minghao's," A long-haired boy Jeonghan pointed out. It was a small room and there were only 2 bunk beds. "Mingyu sleeps up top, you're at the bottom. Mingyu's not here. Any more questions? No? Okay good night!" The boy sassily hurried off.

"Do not wake me up or I will bite you," Minghao warned before climbing up to his spot.

Wonwoo gulped. The Chinese trainees seemed to be extra feisty. But Minghao and, what was his name, Jun were close at the hip all day, and that was something he desperately wanted.

Tomorrow will be better. Tomorrow will be better. He repeated to himself, pulling the sheets over him in bed. Eventually, he lulled off into sleep.

Tomorrow wasn't much better.

Wonwoo woke up late as usual and arrived to the practice room in a rush. Once he opened the door, however, everyone was gathered around someone in the center.

"Are you feeling good?"

"Where'd you get that from?"

"Do your classmates know you're a trainee?"

In the middle, was a tan boy flashing his teeth at the onlookers surrounding him. On closer inspection, he had very sharp canines that made him look almost wolf-like. Yeah, that's probably Kim Mingyu.

"Nah, no one knows and I like it that way. That way, I can really impress my crush when I finally debut!" Mingyu boasted. He received a couple of teasing "oooh"s for this, but before they could have any fun, an adult man suddenly barged into the room.

"HEY! NO PLAYING AROUND. YOU BETTER BE PRACTICING NON-STOP FOR THIS NEXT EVAL, HUH? LAST TIME, SOME OF YOU EMBARRASSED THE HELL OUT OF ME!" He rudely shouted. "Oh, and don't forget what the CEO said last time.. At least one of you is getting CUT." The door was slammed shut and everyone hastily departed to do their usual routine.

Cut? Wonwoo was worried. After all, he just got here! No no no. What would Mom and Dad think if they see me come back after just 1 month?

He pressed play on his ipod and started practicing for the first time. The day felt like a century in that room, but it was all he was gonna know for a while. He sweated learning the dance moves for their group performance. And for his solo, he wrote the lyrics front to back, and then backwards!

When he went to the dorms that night, he almost went to sleep in the top bunk. "Sorry, um, Mingyu, I forgot this was your bed. I'm Wonwoo by the way," He forgot to introduce himself after that scary lecture this morning. Mingyu only gave a small "Mm" and plopped himself up there. The wood under his bed started creaking.

Er, this boy is on the heavier side. Wonwoo glanced up and down to his bottom bunk. I don't know if I want to sleep under him. That whole night, he prayed he wasn't getting crushed.

"Wonyoung, don't you know I'm an idol?" Wonwoo heard Mingyu whisper once in his sleep. "🎶I'm so sorry but I love you, da geojitmal🎶"

Oh, brother. This was hell.