Chapter 3

 

He's waiting for us outside the locker rooms but the pest that is Hajun is once again standing beside him and talking him up a storm. Like us, he's also freshly showered, platinum blond hair slicked back and donning his uniforms. Thankfully, I didn't have to tell Geon-ho. 

 "Hey, Jju!" He calls out, striding ahead of us in a rush. Juhoon attempts to break away from Hajun, but he pulls him back, rather aggressively to his side. 

He stumbles and almost falls on Hajun but I'm quick, my instincts kick in and I beat Geon-ho. I get to Juhoon's side in seconds to steady him. Fast enough to hear Juhoon's low but stern voice. Cold but at the same time, in a tone made to diffuse a tense situation. 

 "I appreciate you looking out for me, man. But I know these guys and I already promised them that I'll check them out first before I consider any other group." He shakes Hajun's hold on him then starts rubbing his arm. 

I swear to God if he hurts him, I'll punch his motherfucking face. 

Hajun looks at me with hostility. Realizing he has no choice but to let Juhoon go, he smiles at him flirtatiously. "Okay, but promise to call me, yeah? I'll text you the next time we have a practice so you can check us out. I'll even pick you up." 

The smile he gives him is fake as fuck. Only we know the extent of what he'll do to trap another trainee into joining his team. We've been witnesses to the horror stories he put his members through and no matter how many times he's been reported, nothing ever gets done. Because the company he belongs to does not have too many prospects, they tolerate his bad behaviour. His excuse was always about exacting discipline and guidance, but we've seen trainees in varying degrees of pain in his hands, physical and emotional. We even filmed him once and sent it to their manager, but it went nowhere. So yeah, he's the biggest bad news in the academy. And the reason why he hates us so much is that we're always trying to dissuade any trainees he had his eyes on. 

 I feel James and Sean stand behind me, we surround Juhoon. 

 "Are you ready to go?" I ask him. I must be losing my mind, because I reach out to his arm where he was rubbing it earlier and turn it this way and that, checking to see if it was bruised. His arm is as unblemished as his face, dainty wrist that looks as delicate as a child's. When I look up, I find him looking back at me. 

Geon-ho clears his throat. "We should go," he says. 

Carefully, I let go of Juhoon's arm and threw Hajun a dirty look, then, I whisper,

"Be careful. I realized your manager doesn't care about how you treat people around here but one day, even they can't save you." 

He snorts, "I'm not scared of you and your crew, man. You're the one who should be careful," he turns his gaze behind me, meeting everyone's eyes with his, then in a louder tone, "one injury is all it takes, you know. Have you all forgotten what happened to Shin-jun?" He smirks, and that was all I can handle today. 

I surge forward, trying to reach the bastard, but Juhoon pulls me back. "Let's go, man. It's not worth it." He drags me away from Hajun, but I don't look away. The smirk is still plastered on his face. 

"Ugh, I hate that guy," Sean comments. 

"Yeah, he's the worst," Geon-ho agrees. "What time are your parents picking you up, Jju?"

 "Oh, they cancelled," Juhoon replies, his hand still on my arm. "My dad has a work emergency thing so, I'm just going to bus it home. I wanted to let you know before I leave but that guy was waiting for me outside the locker rooms and I couldn't avoid him." 

He glances at Geon-ho, "Is he always that intense?" 

"Martin? Yes," he laughs. I slap the back of his head. "Ow, man. Chill, geez. I'm kidding, and yes, Jju. Hajun is a walking red flag."

"Yup, it's best if you stay away from that guy. We don't actually know why he hasn't been kicked out of the program considering how many trainees he's victimized." James pipes in. "Stick with us, we got you." He winks. 

"So, uhm you can let go now," Juhoon eyes my hand furtively, then adds, "also, who's Shin-jun?"

I sigh. "Another story for another day, but hey, since you're free, want to come hang out with us for a bit? We can probably ask our driver to drop you off at home after." 

He chews on the corner of his lip, contemplating. "Okay, so don't take this the wrong way, but aside from Geon-ho, I don't really know any of you." He laughs uncomfortably. "And I don't really know Geon-ho that much, for that matter. He just kind of introduced himself to me one day and he's been following me around since." 

Hand on his heart, Geon-ho laughs. "Aww, Jju. I'm hurt!" 

"Whatever man, we've spoken like ten words to each other between the two of us and besides that fact that I only know you from your IG accounts, not sure if I should go with you."

"What?! What do you mean? You follow us on Insta? Why didn't you tell me." He proceeds to pull out his phone, likely to go on Insta to follow Juhoon.

"Done!" He says gleefully. "See? We're Instagram official, no worries!"

"I saw you guys busking at Hongdae. Though, 'busking' may not be the right word. Because, heck, it was like a freaking concert you guys put on. My friends and I enjoyed it, you're all unbelievably good. So, I started following you all since then." 

"Oh that, yeah. That was fun even though it was so cold my balls almost froze." Literally no filter on this kid. I feel the need to slap the back of his head again. 

Jju looks at me directly and says, "Man, when you get into your flow state, you're unstoppable. That was amazing." 

Red crawls up my neck, smoke billowing around my head. I'm thoroughly embarrassed.  And I hate that people can tell because my face goes beet-red. "Oh, uhm. Thanks." I mumble, scratching the back of my head.  

Sean picks that time to insert himself in between us, shoving me out of the way in the process.

"Man, shut up. You're not doing us any favours by scaring Jju away." He puts his arm around Juhoon's shoulders then steers him ahead and away from me. "Sorry about Geon-ho, he was raised as a house pet, so he's a little uncultured. But yeah, come hang with us. We're just going back to the dorm, order some jjajangmyeon and chicken, play video games, you know, typical teenager shit, very low key." 

"I resent that, also, I'm telling my eomma you said that!" 

Sean swats him away, arm still on Juhoon's shoulders while I watch them, seething. 

Idiots. I swear. 

James sidles up beside me and in a low tone he asks, "are you okay? You seem a little...bothered."

I snort. "Understatement," then with a sigh, I add, "I don't know man, there's something about this kid, I can feel it."

"Like what though? You haven't even heard him sing a full song and you still don't know if he can dance. So how do you know?"

"Instinct." I stop walking and he stops with me. "The same way I chose each one of you."

"Right, but you know us from the jump. We were all trainees. And correct me if I'm wrong, but despite his very public-facing childhood as a model, he seems like the type who'd rather not be in that arena anymore. He seems very reserved based on how he constantly chooses to be alone."

We start walking again. 

 "I know, but I really think I can convince him." I said, watching the three exit out the doors. "And when I do convince him, he'll need some intense training -- singing camps, studio time and some time with you for dance." 

 "And you'll be okay with that?" 

 "With what?"

 He nods towards Juhoon's direction. "Him spending time with me. Alone."

I make a face at him. "Why do you think that would bother me?" I ask, indignant. 

He just laughs at me. "Man, I see you flinch every time somebody else puts their hands on Jju. Or smiles at him...or breathe around him for that matter. You're sunk."

I push him away from me. "Shut up. You're starting to sound like the idiot twins." I roll my eyes and walk towards the doors, completely ignoring James' mocking laugh behind me. 

Outside, the three are waiting by the van. 

My phone pings with a text message from managernim. 

                                 All good. CD already has it handled.

I guess Juhoon was right. That the company already had their sights on him. Sometimes, I wonder how far reaching their influence is, and how far they would go to find talents. I've seen kids as young as ten take freestyle dance classes in the academy and man, can those kids move. Geon-ho's & Sean's have similar beginnings. They started young, hunted randomly and made to audition in the company. 

Geon-ho's first encounter with the casting director was when he was waiting for the bus, kinda creepy, to be honest. But at the time, he was training towards becoming an Olympian. Sean was recruited while he was at a fair or something. Also, at a very young age. 

Me? I was encouraged by my sister who was a huge fan of popular groups back in the day. If my dad was my inspiration for punk and alternative rock music, my sister was my biggest influence for Kpop. But I didn't start off as a performer. 

I was a young composer who started making music - classical in Middle Grade but I knew my love for music was expansive, so I asked my dad for a basic MPC equipment that set him back about KRW 500k back in 2018. I still have that same board in my old bedroom. I have a few songs under my belt that I produced for other groups that are currently making me some royalty money. But when I tried to pay my dad back for it, he refused and said making my dreams come true was repayment enough for him. My parents, my sister are cool people. I owe them a lot. 

I can see Juhoon getting overwhelmed by the second. The twins are jostling each other like two kids who just found a new playmate, competing for his attention and wanting to be chosen. Every time one tries to put his arm around Juhoon's shoulders, the other swats it away. 

I roll my eyes. James accused me of having a supposed 'thing' with Jju, in the meantime, the twins are posing a real problem right here and now. Juhoon looks anxious. I look behind me and meet James' eyes.

"Are you seeing this?" I say, pointing at the scene with the twins. "Tell me again who's posing a real problem between the three of us?"

He laughs. "That's just normal twin behavior. Your reactions towards anyone who breathes around Jju, however, are bordering on jealousy."

I shake my head. "Man, you barely saw me interact with Jju, what about my reactions you've seen screams jealousy to you?"

"First of all, what the hell was that back there?' I offer him no response and wait for him to continue. "You, checking his arm as if he was your child and you're making sure he wasn't hurt. Also, you almost got into a tussle with Hajun, which, by the way, has never happened before and he's been a jerkoff since day one. I've never seen you become so aggressive so fast. So, what gives?" 

He stands with both arms crossed across his chest, impatiently waiting for my response. I look away, a little embarrassed. Come to think of it, none of my actions in the last ten minutes made sense, even to me. I don't know how to explain it. 

"I don't know how to explain it, James," I say exactly what was on my mind. "I'm just as baffled as you are. All I know is that I'm fighting two kinds of feelings: I either want to squish the ever loving fuck out of him or ignore him altogether. Because, what the fuck?" I pull at my hair out of frustration. "The second option is a little difficult to do because the dude is like a homing beacon for me. As soon as he enters the room, I'm way too aware that he's there." I huff out a breath. "But listen, I promise you that it will not affect the dynamics of the team should he choose to join us. I will try my hardest to behave and find his place with us." 

Juhoon is laughing now, the silent, intermittent laugh that sounds like a string of hiccups. If there's one thing the twins are good at is that no matter how childish and idiotic they may seem, they possess this uncanny ability to make someone feel at ease. 

"Right, and what happens when he moves in with us?" James, ever the looking-ahead thinker asks. 

"Fuck," I curse. "I didn't think of that." The three turn their attention to us, all smiles and giggly. "Anyway, I'll try to treat him like the twins, if that makes you feel any better." I say, hiding the right hand behind me with my fingers crossed. "Let's go, before those two further scare Jju away."

We walk towards the black van, all tinted windows and inconspicuous. The doors are open, ready to seat all four of us - five if Juhoon agrees to hang with us. 

Speaking of, he walks to the back of the van, phone on his ear. 

I nod to the twins, "So? Are we five tonight?" 

"Shhh, he's calling his mom." Sean hushes me. "Where are we going, though? Dorm or studio?"

Juhoon comes around the corner. "Okay, I'm in. But I have to be home by 8, since it's a school night," he looks at me then. "Just give me your address, my mom wants it, even though she has my location at all times." He rolls his eyes, small smile playing on his lips. 

"Sure," I tap his phone with mine, exchanging numbers instantly. Makes me a little giddy that I have his information now. When we both hear the ping that our QR codes synced up, I save his info under "Jju", then send him our address. 

"Shall we?" I say, addressing everyone. 

James opens the passenger door at the front, while the twins jostle each other for the back seats. I turn to Jju and gesture for him to go before me. He nods and gets in the van; I follow then press the button to close the door. 

I turn to everyone. "Dorm or company?"

"The dorm is a mess, we wouldn't want to traumatize Jju like that, at least, not just yet." James says from the front seat. "Let's head over to the company," then he pulls down the visor mirror to look at all of us. "In the meantime, start thinking about food."

We all groan, except for Jju. Food is like the worst topic to bring up in our group. We can't decide what to eat to save our life. Individually, we all know what to eat. But together, it's the source of argument every time. I stopped deciding for the group, because the last time I ordered for everyone, it was hours and hours of non-stop complaining. 

"Not Martin!" The twins echo each other. 

"Let's ask Jju instead," I suggest, while giving them the stink-eye. 

"Oh, that's a lot of pressure. I don't really care. I'm good with anything." 

We all groan again. Jju eyes jump back and forth from me to the guys, confused as hell. "What?" He asks. 

"It's an ongoing battle between us. We can never decide what to eat. Except breakfast."

Sean's head pops in between the backrest of our seats. "We have McDonald's every morning," he declares proudly. 

I push his head back and out of the way. "Fried chicken, rice, ramyeon?" 

"Yes!" They all say. 

"Wow, a first time for everything, I guess." I say, chuckling, then I turn to Juhoon. "Is that okay with you?"

"Oh, of course. Yes, I'm good." He settles in his seat, then turns his attention to me. "Hey, which address did you give me? Your dorm or your company?"

He hands me his phone again; my contact is already saved. 

I laugh. My contact picture is a giraffe, and the name is simply, MJE. I guess he knows a little about me, which makes sense considering he follows us on Instagram our solo posts are filed under our initials. I bet if I scroll through his contacts, it will show everyone under their initials. But as I try to do just that, he abruptly reaches out and tries to yank the phone from me. 

I'm faster though and the only way he'll get his phone back is if he literally crawls onto my lap. I don't think we're friendly enough for him to do that. 

His eyes squint adorably in mirth and his nose kind of scrunches. "Bruh," he says. 

 "Martin, give him back his phone!" James orders with an exasperated sigh. He's still watching us from the rear-view mirror. "What the hell is wrong with you?" 

I ignore James and continue to stare him down, smiling like the Grinch. "Whatchu gonna do, Jju?" 

He settles in his seat again, then he pulls out the book he was reading earlier. "Whatever, man," he says, shaking his head. "Just give it back to me when you're done snooping." 

"Yes!" I yell, victorious. One of the quickest ways to get to know a person is to snoop through their phone. Photo albums, social media, their notes app...  I'm so excited that I'm practically vibrating. 

I smile even widely. 

This is better than new music from my favourite artists. 

Even better than winning our first music show award.

I can't wait.