BLACKOUT

Things had been difficult for Jamie since Mason's elimination. Even harder since Mason had left altogether. The future Jamie had imagined for them together began to crumble, and so did his previously unshakable belief that he'd debut with his best friend. When he'd only been eliminated, he'd hoped he'd make it back into the elite class, only to hear of his departure from the company. There seemed no coming back from that. It all left Jamie so unsure of what he was doing, where he was headed, and if he'd ever even make it without the support of his best friend. Sure, he had Suho and Chaemin, Robby and all his other friends, but none of them were Mason. None of them truly understood him the way Mason had.

For not the first time in Jamie's life, he feels a dark cloud begin to gather over his head. It's slow at first, creeping in like the drizzle of lukewarm rain in springtime, the sun still stubbornly peeking through the light rainclouds. That day, as he practises for the Scent of You performance, he'd noticed how oppressive it had begun to feel. The rain was no longer gentle and unoffending, it had a sharp, chilling bite to it that made him flinch. While he's surrounded by friends, somehow, as he peers around him at the familiar faces, he feels more alone than he ever has.

Jamie had never been very good at recognising when he was beginning to spiral, not, at least, until it was far too late. He'd wake up one day, many weeks after it began, and realise that his life had been falling down around him and he'd been standing, oblivious amongst the rubble, smiling as if it was all fine until that smile ran out and he was faced with the ruin of what he couldn't prevent. He hadn't yet noticed it, though. His gaze sits just above the steadily growing wasteland of broken dreams around his feet.

The music abruptly stops, and break time is called. A collective sigh of relief ripples across the room as the trainees disperse to prop themselves up against the walls for the next fifteen minutes, catching their breathe and sitting as still as they possibly can. Jamie turns to walk over to where he'd left his water bottle, his mind elsewhere, eyes cast only ahead of him—it's his fatal mistake. He doesn't see the rubble waiting to bring him down amongst the rest of the broken dreams.

It happens quickly.

Jamie's foot catches on something (which he'd later come to find out had been Sungho's foot), and as he falls forward, he reaches out his arms to catch his fall. He'd always wondered whether, in the seconds before tragedy, time would slow down, and he'd be able to see it all happen frame by frame. Instead, his eyes shut, anticipating a painful embrace with the floor. He isn't, however, expecting a loud snap! to echo through the room as his left hand meets the wooden floor. The pain is immediate, like a hot, incessant ache. As he lays there on the floor, eyes clamped shut, he realises someone's screaming. For a moment he wonders why, and who, until it dawns on him that it's his voice. He's the one screaming. The ache is constant, but with every minute movement, a breathtaking, shooting pain flashes through the entirety of his arm. After what could have been a mere second, or a whole five minutes, Jamie opens his eyes and finds himself lay on his back, right arm curled protectively over his very obviously crooked left one that he's holding to his chest.

Amidst frantic shouting and a blur of faces above him, Jamie can tell he's still crying out intermittently and a few tears are sliding down the sides of his face. It begins, then, to dawn on him; the reality of the situation. He'd just broken his arm, badly. So badly in fact that he doesn't need an x-ray to confirm it. This, however, isn't what makes him cry—it's the realisation that they won't let him perform tomorrow. He's under no misguided impressions that the staff will let him, with a severely broken arm, perform on stage less than 24 hours after an injury like this.

Finally, Jamie can see the rubble that had been piling up around him for a while now. He's been dragged down amongst it, and he can see it piling up, building itself up so high that it blots out the sun. There's nothing surrounding him now but the dark cloud, and the ruin of all he'd hoped to achieve. It's as if, in slow motion, he watches his entire future fade away. The debut he'd hoped to make, snatched away from him, and with it, the belief that he'll ever make it.

Jamie can't speak as his fellow trainees are shooed away and he's helped to his feet, escorted out. It's as if, with the loss of his future, his voice had abandoned him too. The thing he'd relied so heavily on had left him when he proved himself no longer a worthy vessel for it. The lump in his throat, he believes, will remain forever. A reminder of his failure.

He was right—they don't let him perform, and inform him that, for his own well-being, he'll be removed from the show, to give him time to recover. He'd broken both bones in his left arm, and is told he'll be in a cast for six weeks, that he shouldn't do any form of exercise at all for at least two weeks. With that, his fate is sealed, and he's sent back to the company dorms, his belongings from the Hyde Academy rooms already packed and sent back to his dorm room.

— JAMIE

Keeping: Newt - @hdtaegyeom About You - @hdhaneul

— YISEUL

It's not until they begin to practise and Taegyeom brings up Jamie's slight failings in the realm of being 'shirtless-ready' that Jamie realises he's expected to show some level of bare-chest. This fact utterly terrifies him and he's about ready to beg to switch parts with Taegyeom, who he knows would snap it up instantly. But, he doesn't want to be a quitter, and he'd never really managed to pull off sexy before, so surely he needs to try?! He can't give up before he's even given it a shot. So, he begs Taegyeom to help him try and help him make his frankly quite measly abs more prominent before the performance. He doesn't want to risk being over-dehydrated for the performance just to make his body seem more muscular, so he's going to have to just go with what he's got, which isn't a lot, if he's being honest.

It's around this time that the lack of Haneul around him really becomes far too noticeable. After crying his eyes out over his... something's elimination, he'd tried to focus all his energy on the performance, knowing he needed a distraction to stop himself from freaking out over Haneul getting eliminated. A few times he'd found himself up a little too late, sitting by the window that looks out over the mountain and wondering where Haneul is at that moment and what he's doing, if he misses Jamie as much as Jamie misses him. He misses climbing into bed with him every night—he'd been open in interviews about how hard he found it to sleep alone, and he missed sneaking off to the bathrooms, safe from any cameras, to steal kisses and whisper sweet nothings in his ear. He misses holding his hand under the covers and telling him they're going to debut together. He feels empty without Haneul beside him now.

Somehow, focusing on the performance isn't really doing enough to get his mind off it though, not when he knows Haneul would have made him feel so much better about performing even partially shirtless. If only he could talk to him, or just see him for a little while, but he's up here on this damn mountain, trapped away from the boy he... feels things for. He'd yet to really think about it—he'd been so busy, and he'd not wanted to complicate it, not when it felt so nice to simply enjoy Haneul, but it's hard to deny that things feel so different with him compared to the other people he'd been with before. Yet, admitting how he feels right now, when Haneul had just been eliminated probably isn't the best thing to do, so as usual, he shoves it down and doesn't think about labels.

Instead, he thinks about how he's going to be humiliated when he performs with an open shirt and everyone sees his pathetic excuse for abs. Sure, he's got some definition, but it's nothing compared to Taegyeom's body. He'd describe what he had as '11-abs-plus', in short, he had two definite lines of muscle, with only slight lines cutting across—nothing to write home about in his opinion. He doesn't put as much time and effort into working out as he should, really, but that's where Taegyeom's help comes in. Suddenly all his free time is filled with core workouts, trying to get the definition he needed to make this shirt-open part not seems ridiculous.

Being completely tired out from practise, then working out every day, at least helps Jamie sleep better. The first night as he'd crawled into bed beside Mason, as he always did in the dorms, he'd lain awake thinking about Haneul, until he'd buried his face in Mason's shoulder and fallen asleep to his familiar scent instead. Mason felt like home to Jamie, and he didn't even want to think about having to deal with it if one of them got eliminated and he wasn't able to be beside him every day. Maybe that was to be Jamie's downfall. His desperate need to keep his loved ones right beside him. Jamie needed his people all the time—how did he expect to debut without them when he could barely handle a survival show without them?

Practise throughout the week doesn't go very well, thanks to Jamie's preoccupied mind and over-tiredness. Any time he's not practising, he's working out, and vice versa. He doesn't sleep enough, doesn't eat enough, and he realises towards the end of the week that he's being a hypocrite. He'd told Mason not to neglect himself last week, to get enough sleep, and yet here he is, overworking himself because he can't bear to sit down and let his brain think for too long. He'd not anticipated just how much strain this competition would put on him, and how absolutely unprepared he was for it.

But for the last couple nights before the performance, Jamie lets himself go to sleep at a sensible time, although he can't help but crawl into bed beside Mason, still unable to sleep alone. He wonders what viewers think, seeing Jamie never in his own bed, always slipping in beside a friend, cuddling up to them and burying his nose in their shoulder. Frankly, he's not sure he cares, though. There's nothing wrong in his mind with needing to fall asleep beside someone. He thinks of it like people who sleep with plushies, or hugging a pillow—he just needs to hear someone breathing beside him to feel relaxed enough to drift off.

Finally, the day of the performance arrives and Jamie's nervous. He knows the lyrics, he knows the dance, and yet he's so scared that viewers will simply laugh when they see his shirt open and his measly excuse for abs exposed for the world to see. Jamie isn't usually insecure, but as he prepares, loose shirt already half unbuttoned, he wonders if he's really the right person to be doing this, or if this will bring the group down. Perhaps they shouldn't have included it at all, or given it to Taegyeom instead. Jamie isn't tall, or broad, or muscular, he's just average. It's too late to worry about now, though, as they take their positions on stage and Jamie takes deep breaths to calm himself. He needs to make sure he's focusing on his dancing, his expressions, everything that he tends to forget when he gets too into singing his heart out. If he just focuses on doing a good job, he won't worry so much about his body—or at least he hopes so.

As the music starts, and Jamie takes one last shaky breath, he puts his mind to the task of simply performing as he'd practised, pushing his worries aside as best he can. He opens the song, and thankfully, as it's easy enough to sing, he focuses on his expression, trying to seem seductive and almost mysterious. It's hard for him, being sexy but he'd spent the entire week working on it, asking for help from the other group members, and he can only hope that his hard work shines through now.

He's able to focus on nailing the dance before his next line at the pre-chorus, and as he focuses on anything but his overly exposed body, he manages to keep on the beat this time, his movements precise, strong, and yet graceful in a way that the song requires. That pit of nervousness still sits in the very depths of his stomach, but he just hopes it won't be visible to anyone else. It's easy to lose himself in his singing as he performs the pre-chorus, relying on the strength of it to impress, over any other aspect of him in that moment.

The longer the song goes on, the more confident Jamie feels, especially as he performs the second chorus, a slight smirk sneaking into his expressions, a somewhat mischievous sensuality falling over him as he puts his all into it. He loves this song, and he wants to perform it well, and to do that he has to at least pretend he feels sexy. How can he convince anyone else if he can't even convince himself?! So, he simply pretends. There's no way someone as pretty as Haneul would want to kiss him if he wasn't at least enticing in some way, right? Grasping onto that fact, he leans into the performance even more, desperate to prove himself.

Then, as Mason performs his part, Jamie knows what's coming up. As he stands at the side of the stage while Mason raps, he unbuttons the rest of his shirt and takes a deep breath, feeling just a little nauseous. But there's no time to worry about it before he's back on, focusing on the singing, the dancing, the expressions, and not on his entirely exposed abdomen. There's not much left of the song, only one more chorus, and everything goes smoothly, before Jamie finishes out the song with the last line, putting his all into it and hoping he did a good enough job to not be eliminated. He knows it wasn't his best performance ever, that his nerves probably shone through, but he really tried so hard.

Once the performance is over, Jamie takes a second to hurriedly button his shirt back up two thirds of the way at least, knowing he'll feel so much more comfortable when he's got a little more armour protecting him from the judges. They go down the line, giving their critiques, and then they get to Jamie.

Jamie just knows that Mason debuting without him, or him debuting without Mason would break his heart. Ever since the moment they'd met, Jamie had wanted nothing more than to debut with him, his best friend. Yet he watches as Mason works himself to the bone over the fourty-eight hours they have to prepare. Jamie isn't even sure if Mason sleeps. He tries to watch out for him, but with such a short time to prepare Jamie has to spend time focusing on himself as well—he knows Mason wouldn't want him putting aside his own practise just to look out for Mason, as much as Jamie wants to. But, he's sure no one misses the way he looks over at him every now and then, concern etched into his expression.

The minutes pass by, and before Jamie knows it, he's stood on the main stage on the day of the performance, staring across at Mason and noting just how tired he looks. He's worried, and yet he has to put Mason out of his mind because in just a few seconds he's going to be fighting for his life, fighting for his spot in this competition. And fight he does. The music begins and Jamie, tucked away in the back, knows he needs to be sharp, eye-catching, command attention despite being behind the other boys. He's a good dancer, but what he really relies on is his voice, and he knows in the second half of the song he'll get to shine. Yet, being in the back bothers him, makes him feel like he's being forgotten about, pushed out of the limelight.

Yet that changes when he stands in the centre and sings. Sharp movements punctuate the lyrics, his voice strong and clear, something he can always seem to rely on. Singing comes easily to Jamie—perhaps he's one of the lucky ones, who've got innate talent. But he knows better than to grow lazy, to believe that talent can carry him above others who work hard for their skills. He needs to keep afloat, keep his head above water and fight if he wants this, and oh boy does he want it. Before landing here, among trainees, pushed on by a spur of the moment decision when he was still young, he'd not known where he'd end up, no clear ambitions sticking out to him in his head. The moment he'd stepped into a practise room, though, he'd felt at home.

Just as at home as he feels now, standing at the side of the stage belting the high notes. The nerves that had crept along in his veins before the performance are nowhere to be found. With the adlibs to focus on, Jamie can't help but notice, belatedly, that he's about half a beat off, and had been for a good few moves now. He tries his hardest not to panic, trying to pick back up, to catch up with everyone else, and not scream at himself in his head. He's a dancer too, not just a vocalist, and what had he done? He'd gotten too swept up in enjoying himself and he'd fallen short, tripped up, let himself down. He doesn't think anyone else but him and the judges noticed, but isn't that all that matters? It won't go unnoticed, but at least with his adlibs done, he can focus on really making up for his mistake, though at this point he's not sure if he can.

Then, before he knows it, he's standing in the finishing position, shoulders rising and falling as he heaves breaths. Jamie's disappointed in himself. He'd not shown his best, he'd let himself down, the people watching him down, and as he readies himself for the judges feedback, he clasps his hands behind his back and picks at the skin around his nails. When they get to Jamie, he feels his shoulder's sag, expecting the worst. But, as they speak, taking it one at a time, they compliment his voice first and foremost, starting with the positives, he supposes. He can't find it in him to enjoy it though, not when he's dreading what they'll say about his mistake. They comment on his musicality, and breath support, control and ability to mix his voice, and then, inevitably, the sigh happens.

Then, after what feels like forever, Jamie’s called into the room and he takes his seat, making a very conscious and sustained effort to stop fidgeting. He plants his feet flat on the ground and wills them not to move for the entirety of the interview. The interview begins with a review of the group’s overall performance, and instantly Jamie relaxes. It all sounds better than he’d expected to hear, and he can’t keep the smile off his face. He’d enjoyed their performance—had genuinely felt like he was having fun throughout the entire thing, and he was glad that that energy had seeped out into those watching them. The more he’d practised the song, the more he wished he could debut with it, or a song like it. The upbeat sound just felt so right for him. He was filled to the brim with energy, and to be in a group that meant he could let it out like he’d been able to during Beatbox would be truly more than he could hope for. 

Yet that however kicks the smile off his face and reminds him where he is and what he’s here for. He nods, expression now much more serious as he listens intently. But, then the question is posed to him and Jamie stumbles over his thoughts for a moment, not expecting to be asked to speak. “Uh- I had a lot of fun with the performance, actually. It felt like a song that needed… genuine pep to get the energy across to the audience. But… there’s always room for improvement.” Jamie knows he’s nowhere near perfect, but he likes to think that that song had been the perfect fit for him to really show off what he’s good at. 

The individual results, however, leave Jamie stunned, mouth slightly open for a second, before he clamps it shut and swallows thickly, unsure of how he’s allowed to react. It’s hard not to smile, though he tries hard to bite it back, when his voice is complimented. If there’s one thing Jamie’s confident in, and proud of, it’s his voice. He’s put so much into honing his vocal abilities in the last two and half years, and it seems to be paying off. But then, they start talking about the survival show, and the pressure now on his shoulders. It’s good to know they think his efforts aren’t going to waste, but now, with eyes so focused on him, he can feel his stomach twist into nervous knots. 

We’re aware of your audition to Kiss Studios… Jamie feels just a tad feint at that, as if they’re about to scold him for disloyalty. But, the more he listens, the more clear it is that they’ll accept whatever decision he decides to make, and he’s almost certain that, through this conversation, and the assurance that they believe he’s doing well, he has potential, that he just needs to keep working hard, he’d made up his mind to stay at Wonder. His dream isn’t just to debut, he wants to debut with his best friend. He wants to debut with Mason, and if he decides not to stay at Wonder and partake in the survival show, then he’ll not debut with him. He’d known that auditioning may lead to him not debuting with Mason, but then he’d not been sure of his future at Wonder—if the higher ups there even saw potential in him. Now, though, he’s ready to fight to the death for a chance to debut with his best friend, as they’d always promised each other they would.

The anticipated evaluations marked a crucial moment to your character’s idol progression. Team A, B, and C, were slotted for the very first day of evaluations between over 30+ qualified trainees. With training reverting back to normal, your character, James Han, will receive an e-mail from Hydra Staff with the date and time for their formal interview. Dress code is business casual, and the interview place will take place in the Office Section of the building, led by Talent Consultant Jang Hei-ran and her team. They’ll be the ones relaying individual scores, remarks from personnel (CEOs, instructors, etc.), and as previously stated, providing next step strategies. It’s a hallmark moment that, admittedly, the company believes your character is ready for. The meeting will presumably last for half a hour or more, pending on dialogue.

𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐌 𝐀 will hear great remarks about the group’s teamwork, best overall within the six qualifying teams. “We were delighted to see a combined effort, the seven of you fit extremely well together. You were tasked with an upbeat hip-hop inspired track, and it was a uh, new genre our in-house producers were testing out. And there was a perfect synergy.” The compliment draws on and seems to be gearing towards that inevitable ‘but.’ “However, the overall mood should’ve been stronger in a lot of areas.” Heiran nods in agreement to her assistant’s words, having a few thoughts of her own and cuts in. “The team got us excited for the performance, and it showed you all were excited. How do you remember the performance?” The woman’s voice was pointed, yet her curled grin made her look pleasant at face value. A dichotomy between genuinely curiosity to know the trainee’s point of view, and accusatory, goading a response that could be neither right or wrong. “Hmm, let’s move forward to your independent results.”  

“The first impression we received was your energy level was very high, you were a secret weapon / component to your group. Vetted judges were especially pleased by the smoothness/consistency of your vocal range.” Heiran seems to conclude her thoughts by leaning back into her chair, so her assistant stepped in, “Your results means many things; first, being your eligibility for the upcoming survival show and personal vouch for your attendance. Wonder Nation believes in your potential within this project. We will comment on honing your skillset, the pressure will double now knowing the strengths of your vocal abilities; make sure to show your best sides. Now,” they flip over a few papers to the trainee’s Global Audition notes. “We are aware of your audition to Kiss Studios, and we’re not here to sway your choices. We want to assure you that you’ll be able to choose wisely between the two — however, we’ll need a final answer in a week from today. You can contact our Consultant Team for any and all inquiries. We sincerely wish you the best luck.”

This tasks is for James Han! Formal Interviews traditionally go over more overview notes (skillset critique), and the extended trainee contract to highlight the need for discrepancy. Your character is now a Debut Candidate under 𝐖𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 and will have access on to the backdoor entrance of the company building, allowed mostly for artists and staff. In order to complete the Debut Preparation Task, players will have to:

SOLO: Write a complete thread (300+ words) about your character’s second interview. Take into account the fact the results, potential debut news, feelings about meeting fellow contestants, potential label changes, and having to be on their best behavior. The interview will be between your character and two Hydra personnel in a private training studio located on the lower floors of Hydra’s main building. Earn 25 POINTSto increase any skill on their point page or choose to collect.

Mason would want Jamie would go for this though, and they'll be friend no matter whether they're in a group together or not, but he can't help but think that maybe he shouldn't do this. His heart hurts at the mere thought of not debuting with Mason. But, deep down he knows he has to, because he can't put his future on hold for anyone, not even his best friend, as much as he wishes he could. So, he goes about choosing the song he's going to perform, and yet it takes a lot longer than he'd anticipated it would because he can't decide whether he should just sing, or sing and dance, and if he's doing both, how can he do it well enough to showcase how good he is at both?

Eventually, he lands on a song he thinks he can pull off both vocally and dance-wise. Practising it, however, leaves him drained day in and day out. He's not only learning this on his own, but he's got the evaluation to practise, and his solo lessons to take for vocal practise and the variety of other skills he needs to know to be an idol. He finds himself, one evening, sitting on the practise room floor with his head in his hands wondering if he's even cut out for this. His voice might be good, but he's exhausted, and he's so close to just giving up. His whole body hurts, and he's got a headache, and he just wants to cry with frustration because he can't get one of the dance moves to look just right. He's thinking of asking someone for help, but then he worries that no one will because they're all up against each other in this.

Yet, each time he ends up like that, on the floor feeling like this is the end for him, he inevitably gets back up and carries on. It's a constant battle with skills, self-belief, tiredness and sheer willpower, and Jamie feels, sometimes, like someone's taken the plug out and every drop of each inside him is flushed away within seconds. At night he'll crawl into someone's bed, usually Mason's or Niel's, and he'll pass out with his nose pressed into the junction where their neck meets their shoulder, wishing he could just stay there forever, but every morning he has to drag himself out of bed again, back to feeling inadequate as he glares at his reflection in the practise room mirror.

Finally, he's ready to record the audition video though, having planned it all out, perfected the performance, and prayed to whatever god might be out there that he manages to do well. He begins, standing in front of the camera that's set up on a tripod in front of him, by introducing himself. He'd written it all out first, so he didn't forget anything, and goes through everything he'd put down.

"My names Jamie Han, I'm nineteen, and I've been a trainee for almost two and a half years. I was born and raised in San Diego, Californa, and I'm a super good skateboarder. My dream is to become the next best main vocal in kpop!" Maybe it's a little wild to declare his dream as something so high and currently out of his reach, but it's true, he wants to be the best (the very best, like no one ever was). Then, with the remote in his pocket, he presses play on on the speakers across the room to start up his music, getting into his starting position, tying a long piece of fabric around his wrists, and taking a deep, slow breath to prepare himself.

The song is a little out of his usual comfort zone, but then he'd been really trying to branch out a bit recently, go for a more mature vibe sometimes—he didn't want to be stuck in a box of only doing one thing, that wouldn't help him debut. He needed to be versatile, and so he'd picked a song he really liked, and frankly wanted to pull of badly. So, he'd been trying to see himself as able to be sexy recently, and as he worked into the night on his own, he'd gradually began to feel it—that he could do this.

And then it begins, from his knees, to his feet, the dance all in the sharp movements contrasting against the slow, perfectly angled ones, and his voice slow and calm, building up until he stands and bites the fabric tie off his wrists and tosses it across the room, eyes locked on the camera as he shows off his voice, then goes into the chorus. It all passes by quickly, and yet he's got laser focus on the small things he needs to do; his expressions, head movements, hand positions, perfect body angles, and the breath support needed to get through both singing and dancing at the same time. It's not easy, and he'd been building his stamina up over the last two years to be able to get to where he is now. He just hopes it's enough.

Then, before he knows it, it's over, and his chest is heaving as he stands in the center of the room, arms out and shoulders rising and falling, the only sound in the room now the sound of his heavy breath. After a moment he lifts his head, straightens his shoulders, and through his heavy breaths he thanks whoever will be watching, bowing and smiling, then switches the camera off with the remote in his other pocket. He could pick apart his performance, go over the recording over and over, but he realises he has to know when to step back and let it be what it is, and he needs to just let it be now. He'd done his best—frankly better than he'd ever done before, and he's satisfied, at least for now. Who knows how he'll feel that night when he lays awake and ponders if he twisted his wrist enough at that one point in the song, or if his voice sounded weak on the high notes.

Working alongside the other boys had brought them together even more so than they had been before, though Jamie knew, at the end of the day, they were all rivals when it came to debuting. Yet, somehow, Jamie could never look at a few of the boys that way. Taegyeom, he could see being his rival; another vocalist, someone who's just as good as Jamie, who's frankly more handsome than him, taller than him. Taegyeom really did make up for the things Jamie lacked, even if it wasn't in vocals. But with Mason... Jamie could never, and would never see Mason as a rival. He is, and always will be, Jamie's best friend. No one besides Robby knows Jamie the way Mason does, and if he knows he can rely on anyone, he can rely on Mason.

Then, there's Haneul, who frankly Jamie see's as a distraction sometimes. Not in a bad way, and certainly not because of anything he does, it's just Jamie's brain that's at fault there. He can't look at Haneul and not blush sometimes, can't see him smile and not bite back one of his own. So, to put it simply, training had, at times, been difficult for more reasons than the choreography was hard. But, they'd made it here, and as they stand, ready to perform, Jamie looks around at them all and breaks into a grin. Hwan had led then well, Jamie had tried to keep their spirits up the whole time, and finally it's time to show just how good they can be. Because they can be incredible—Jamie's certain of it.

Thank god Hwan starts off the song, his energy carrying them into it, and Jamie, with his back partially to those watching, shoots a smile at the other boys, before they all begin to dance. Then, it's a rush of movement and strong singing. Jamie had practised singing while jogging on the spot to try and keep his voice as stable as possible while moving, had lay on the floor and belted the lyrics to the sky, had done cartwheels while singing scales, and done a handstand while singing the hardest part, just to over-prepare. He never knew when an evaluation could be a way to pick people for the next debut group, and this could be it, so he had to prove he was ready.

Jamie has one line in the start of the song, before the first chorus, but that doesn't matter when he's trying to show that not only is he a good singer, he's a good dancer too. He's a performer, and this is what he was born to do, so he's going to make people take notice. As he's in the center for the first time during the chorus he beams and cheekily winks to the people watching, reminding himself that this should be fun. If he isn't having fun, how can he expect anyone watching to have fun? His energy, he learnt long ago, can be contagious, and so that's why he likes to think he's the mood-maker of the group, always ready to cheer the other boys on and make them forget their worries and feel the music.

Before Jamie knows it, the songs coming to an end, and he picks his energy up just a little bit more, hoping that it will spread throughout the group members, wanting to lift them up, fill them with excitement and hope that this will be the best performance out of all the trainee eval groups. Then, it's over, as quickly is it began, and Jamie's chest is heaving, head spinning, but mouth drawn wide in a bright smile, as though he'd just had the time of his life. No matter how scary it had seemed before it began, he realised he forgot about all that when the music started and his muscle memory kicked in and he could just enjoy it.