got7 ; 2jae | rewind ↺

chapter 26 | why don't you know

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it was past eight in the evening when they left the building; with exhausted bodies and drained minds, dragging their bags on their shoulders with a defeating march.

it was already dimming dark, the clouds scurrying to hide through the innocent rain that wasn't as forgiving. it built the tension between the shuffling boys that tagged at the back of the line, their heads hanging too low to reassure.

silence overtook the bus once everyone was seated, only a clinging of seatbelts and murmur of sighs in the air.

a staff came in to count them, making sure not to forget anyone behind as she called her list.

without misfortunes she sat down, and instead, jyp stood by the bus driver's side — his face unreadable as he had his arms crossed. "well done everybody," he announced, "i'm really proud of our company today. i heard only good things about my trainees related to the workshops and master classes given. i hope everyone received a good experience and had a fun day."

he was either greeted back with small nods or avoidance of eye contact.

"—now on a personal note, i wanted to talk to you about your stage performances as we drive back. since you'll be too tired by the end of our journey and most likely forget until monday so listen up," he managed a little laugh to break the tension.

"firstly, our little group — jihyo, nayeon, jeongyeon and minyoung. you didn't make me regret picking the four of you out of such a variety of female trainees. you had very stable vocals for such a difficult range of singing. your dance moves were synchronised too, though we all know they were of a lower level than your average work. but overall, great stage."

the girls smiled between themselves, holding hands in victory as they shared quiet giggles.

"—onwards, our 5live band. i can already see cnblue shaking," there was a chorus of soft laughs, "but honestly, probably one of your best performances. very neat, emotional and powerful. keep it up."

the boys high-fived each other and an echo of handshakes was heard.

then there was a pause in jyp's compliments, "—so got7."

he eyed every member, keeping shut as he saw their short glances and pale faces.

"—well, it was my first time seeing the seven of you outside of the practice studio and you really did well. mark and jackson, your tricks just killed the staff," he applauded the two boys with a chuckle, "and jinyoung and jaebum showed a really good side of themselves even with the prejudice that you've debuted before. bambam didn't forget the words, and youngjae didn't forget the moves. yugyeom just shined. so what can i say? it was a very successful performance."

there was a series of relieved sighs and faint smiles. but jyp wasn't done.

"now jaebum," he turned to the boy with a face like no other, "explain how and why your team showed up late to stage orientation."

silence overtook in an instant, drowning jaebum's words as he stumbled an apology. "it was an accident, i was the one at fault and i swear it will never ever happen again."

"well it better not, because that was already your second strike and you really let me down. no one could believe that it was a pair of my trainees turning up late to such an important time. it was your responsibility as a leader and you didn't fulfil these expectations."

jaebum only hung his head down and dropped his gaze, behind him — youngjae's pleading eyes tried to interrupt and explain.

"—but enough of this, i don't want to remember this until i die. i see you are suffering enough from your lack of actions so i'll leave it at that. i wanted to end this on a happy note, saying that everyone did truly well performing today. thank you for your hard work. we should arrive back in under an hour so rest a bit and then sleep everything off back at your dorms."

a round of applauses sounded with mutters of gratitude, and then it died out into a humming of snores. and silent whimpers.

jinyoung sat beside jaebum to calm him down, but the older boy shut everyone off and stared at the city lights behind the window.

jackson and bambam were lightly napping, their necks at angles that would ache the next day.

and, mark and yugyeom sat at the very back. trying to stop youngjae from creating a chaos of hysterics and calming him down with promises that he'll explain everything to everyone later. just not now.

youngjae brimmed with tears in his eyes, falling in apologies as he curled himseld up. yugyeom patted his back lightly and mark wiped his tears from then on, just wishing for the younger boy to stop.

jinyoung watched the three boys with sadness, with that he looked to his side, jabeum was clutching onto his sleeves, trying not to cry.

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was this emotional enough or

written: august 18, 2017
published: september 10, 2017

니카 ✿