prove it • stray kids

25 | (ir)replaceable

riley smith

[korean]

Sitting at the edge of the practice room, I stare at myself in the mirror on the wall farthest from me. I spent more time practicing my dance and vocals these days to catch up to Suwei and Nyla, but I don't think I am making much progress. At this rate, PDnim will soon see me as a hinderance in the group's success.

The last time I needed to improve on my vocal skills, GOT7 was there to help. With that thought in mind, I decide to text a somewhat inactive chat Suwei, Nyla, and I have with GOT7.

groupchat:
DAB MASTER BAM

riley smith
we should really change this chat's name

bambam
you don't like it? :(

riley smith
sorry bamx2. i just think that felix might become the new dab master

bambam
its ok

bambam
ive matured from dabbing now

bambam
i am a grown individual

kim yugyeom
yeah right

wang jackson
^^^

bambam
:(((

im jaebum
how's the song coming along?

nyla asher
i think its okay

suwei lin
its great nyla, don't worry

mark tuan
i wanna hear itttttt

park jinyoung
me too

im jaebum
same here

suwei lin
we'll show you once we get the dance down

choi youngjae
yayyyy :)

riley smith
anyway

riley smith
is any of GOT7 available to help me with singing or dancing?

kim yugyeom
im free. i'll meet you in the practice room

riley smith
thank you so much

kim yugyeom
no problem

Yugyeom makes it to the practice room I'm in and asks what I need help with. I show him a practice video from when I was rehearsing with Suwei and Nyla.

"I think my dance is weak at this whole section, and I am supposed to sing this short verse, but I am not confident in how I sing."

He nods, signaling that he understands my concerns, "But isn't your dancing okay? Like isn't Nyla the weak one in dancing?"

"She was at first," I confirm, "But she practiced really hard during our last mission since we did not have to prepare as much, and now I think she is better than me."

Yugyeom places his hand on my shoulder, "No worries. We can work on both singing and dancing. What do you want to start with?"

I think a bit before replying, "Dancing. I still don't have the choreography in that one section completely memorized."

He agrees with my decision and watches that section in the practice video over and over again to see where I could use help. With his help, I'm able to improve on most of the moves in that part of the song, but there's this one move that I am really struggling with.

"Maybe we should take a break. You need to drink water and clear your mind a bit to be at your best for learning that part," Yugyeom suggests.

I shake my head in disagreement, "I'm too far behind. I can't rest, or I'll fall even more behind."

"Riley, what are you talking about?" he questions and continues, "You're not far behind them at all."

I groan and lean against the wall, "Yes I am, Yugyeom. Suwei and Nyla are doing so much work. They make the choreography and the songs and still have time to practice and better themselves. I don't do anything for the team, yet I still can't improve by practicing."

Yugyeom sits down next to me and places his hand on my knee in comfort, "That's not true, Riley. You write lyrics for the team, and you're their rapper."

"That doesn't mean much," I tell the older boy, "Nyla writes most of the lyrics since they are her songs, and she is just as good as me at rapping. Suwei is also getting increasingly better at rapping."

"So what? You're still their main rapper, and you work just as hard as them. You're a trio."

I sigh, "I'm completely replaceable."

The minute of silence makes me assume that Yugyeom agrees with my statement, though he finally speaks up and proves my conclusion wrong.

"I used to think that about myself too," he starts, catching my attention, "After all, Jackson and Mark are incredible rappers, Jinyoung is an amazing dancer, and Youngjae and Jaebum have wonderful vocals. Bambam is full of talents too, and he also felt like the maknae, so I didn't even think I could fill an age related role like that."

Tilting my head in confusion, I tell the older boy, "But you're such an incredible dancer, and you're great and singing and rapping too. Plus, they love you as the maknae."

Yugyeom laughs a bit, "Jinyoung wants to kill me sometimes, but other than that, maybe so. That's just the thing though, Riley. The second I said that I felt useless in the group, you thought of reasons why I'm not. I think the same of you."

I play with my fingers, absorbing his words.

"To me, your team, and the other people around you, you're a hard-working, determined rapper and lyric writer. You're irreplaceable, Riley."

I can't help but smile lightly at his words. Seeing my reaction, Yugyeom laughs again and embraces me in a half-hug.