u so sexi haha

it was finally the original song challenges. this week and the next week were the most fun, if you asked hyunjoo. finally they were making something. they were songs people could buy. they were things they could perform for years to come. they were doing something of substance. 

he lucked out with his teams, that was for sure. team b was basically all higher kids at this point, so he knew they were people he vibed with. they could do something sick as fuck. and for the other song, he was with ilhoon and yihwa-- ilhoon, again, was a higher boy. and he didn’t know yihwa too well, but she seemed cool as fuck. and she had a nutty voice. they’d be able to make something great.

he wasn’t sure how he felt about his producers, though. JJ was so talented and basically kept Merci alive with her genius for years, so that was cool, but the unit song was made by Nathan. And sure, Nathan did cool shit for Juno, but he was the same age as him. Yeah, he was his senior, but it just felt weird. hyunjoo was just a little concerned about how that song would turn out.

the more they started to work, though, the better he felt. Nathan had come prepared with rap lyrics, so Hyunjoo didn’t even have to think on that (and after the last week, that felt like a blessing). And while Jiae wanted his input on the lyrics, she helped him and held his hand through it a lot more than Sam did. Which Hyunjoo kind of understood-- in the skill eval, it was just about you, but if he sucked in this song, he dragged down Ilhoon and Yihwa too. Either way, he was just happy he didn’t have to do it on his own again.

it was kind of a scam, really.

at least in past weeks when they were slammed with multiple performances, all of them had hard work to put in. it was fair. it was on even grounds. but with the skill evaluation, inho and hyunjoo were kind of fucked. rap wasn’t just about the flow and the skill-- it was about how you interacted with the beat too, and the lyricism. they were going to be made to write lyrics. good ones, in less than a week. and to be honest, hyunjoo was just a dancer who was taught rap because his singing was a little weak. he wasn’t ready for this.

not to mention their co-ceo was their coach for this week too. hyunjoo was really about to embarrass himself in front of sam. how was he going to get a higher debut if sam was there front and center to see just how shit he really was? he’d been joking with mirae about how they were the frontrunners of the show, but clearly that wasn’t the case-- he was convinced he was going to bomb.

on top of that, inho was a fucking prodigy. hyunjoo liked inho-- he was like a brother. but there was something that felt wrong about being show up by a fifteen year old. he just didn’t like it.

he did his best with what he had, though, and hoped that his confidence would somehow save it for him.

during rehearsal, sam’s critiques were brutal. it was almost hard to sit through. he was right, though, and hyunjoo wasn’t a quitter. he wanted to be in this stupid final lineup so fucking bad. so he stayed up all night a couple nights in a row, asking inho for all the help he could so he could salvage this stage.

“yeah, no doubt. and we have fanbases going in. and we’re good. it’s a winning combo.”

“Who do you think the girls are gonna be?” he asked pushing his hair back out of his face. “how big is the group gonna be?”

“don’t feel too bad– you got beat by the best,” mirae retorted, hands on her hips and chin high. “you put in a good effort. i almost felt threatened.”

he raised his eyebrow. she was confident. and she had the talent to back it up. it was very rarely he met someone who could play his game as well as he could. “feel threatened then, chica. i’m gonna take that #1 spot from you. just don’t be too bitter about it-- we’re going to have to be in a group together, after all. no bad blood when i beat you.”

“really cool of you to fill me in on that, hyunjoo. i was really wondering whether or not you had the opportunity to get a shower wank off. proud of you.”

“hey, i’m an open book; you ask, i answer,” he snorted. “here i thought you were interested in my life.”

her eyes slowly began to well up with tears as she looked at him, hand resting hesitantly on his chest. she loved him. she trusted him. but she was so scared that solhee was right. “i want to be with you too…and that’s what i told her… but so many people had so many nasty things to say, and i got so scared….” she whimpered

he let out a little groan, pulling her into his arms and letting his hand run through her hair. “i’m sorry. i’m so sorry. they wouldn’t be saying all that to you if i weren’t me,” he told her, kissing the top of her head. “luri, i love you-- what can i do to show you that?” he’d never said those words out loud before, to any woman, but they weren’t hollow. he meant it. he was whipped for this girl.

he was less than pleased with his ranking. 8th would have been okay last season, when there was 7 spots, but this season the stakes were higher. and the audience knew him already. this wasn’t good enough. he needed to be better. 

but this week’s song choice was what was going to do it for him. he fucking knew it. when higher had started training him as a rapper, this had been his first eval song. he knew it backwards and forwards. his group was majority higher boys, so they all knew the steps too. and while kyuyeol, bless his heart, was kind of an ass dancer, the choreography was something that they could make really cool and dynamic if they wanted to show off-- which they did. and if eli couldn’t keep up, they could just claim that they were trying to imitate kyuyeol. the mentors wouldn’t be able to question it if the guy who was in the song made that part of the choreo look bad. they could just say they were keeping it authentic.

it was such a pain in the ass! the second episode was really there to weed out the weak and boring from the head of the pack, and that was fucking obvious at this point. hyunjoo was at least grateful that when they’d given him the list of songs before he came on the show, he’d glanced at a few of them. this was so much worse than last season. 

his group could have been better. three of his teammates didn’t speak korean very well, and eli was from liberty, which meant the kid was coming in half-blind. and maybe the season prior, he’d be livid and claim that the show was rigging it against him, but he’d done a lot of growing in the past year, believe it or not. they could still kick ass. they just had to go about it differently. and he’d have to be the one to do it-- no one else in the group really could. 

the first thing to do was to change the choreography. some of the songs were fine, but most of them were too complicated for the team he was given. trying to learn all of those was a recipe for disaster, but this was idol project. if you weren’t crashing and burning, you were essentially safe. the first night, he stayed up all night watching the performances and figuring out how he could cut corners-- eliminate excessive movement, simplify the more complicated moves, put himself center for the harder parts.... and sure, he was exhausted when they started rehearsing, but he was glad he did it. it was so much easier to help his team with the new shit he came up with. maybe he needed to look into being a choreographer or something.

plus, if he was the leader, he got to pick his parts for every song, so that was totally a bonus.

the hiatus was disgusting and honestly, kicked any momentum hyunjoo thought he had out the door. higher continued on with regular training, but it felt like a fever dream. especially with how much work he’d put into the arrangements. he never put work into anything, and now he almost had nothing to show for it. thank god they were brought back.

when it’s time for performances, he’s not sure if his group is ready, but there’s not much more they can do to prepare, especially with the break. on day one, they get assigned lion heart, and hyunjoo is in two minds about it; on the downside, he personally wasn’t  suited to the song at all. his voice was deep, his dance style was too powerful and sharp... it was a mess. he could do it, but he wasn’t comfortable at all. but on the upside, it would be good for his team. the choreography (especially after he simplified some of the positioning) was easy enough, and it allowed the others to show off their vocals, which he figured was good for eli specifically. it would set them off hot, they’d be happy, and be more likely to perform well. and by the end, he wasn’t thrilled with his own performance, but he thought overall, they were okay.

the next day, he’s more excited about the song. it’s definitely more in his wheelhouse, and something that he knows he can make sexy and engaging (it’s what he’s best at, after all). mirae would be tough competition-- she seemed to be this season’s eunsung. and his team would fall behind a little, he was sure. but they got day one. day two was hyunjoo’s. besides, the team four vocalist was shy. she was a good singer, but she didn’t fit the tone of the song at all. that was something in eli’s favor, at least.

it probably should have been intimidating come back to the show again. sure, he knew the game, but that meant he had more pressure to do well. there was so much farther he could fall. but, love it or hate it, hyunjoo’s confidence was unwavering, and that wasn’t going to change now. he fully intended on being in that final group. winning would be nice too, but the final group was where he belonged. 

and the first episode was the perfect place to kickstart the momentum. he had the experience onstage. he had that time-crunch experience too. he knew how to do it, and how to talk in front of the cameras. except it wasn’t a top-ten scenario. it was the audition. it was easy. 

fighter was a song he’d done a thousand times at this point. if you were a higher trainee, you performed legacy songs in evals-- it was how it worked. and this particular one had great vocals, good rap, and good choreo, so trainers picked it a lot. hyunjoo snapped up adonis’ part when they were figuring it all out. sam was a better rapper, and hyunjoo was a little concerned about inho showing him up, but hyunjoo figured that the kid was a better rapper anyway. he’d let inho have his moment, and show his charisma off to make up for it. 

“oh, god. i assume…. taking care of yourself, for lack of a better term, is hard in that context too, huh?” she laughed

“i mean... the bathrooms don’t have cameras, at the very least. i can make do,” he scoffed, rolling  his eyes and suppressing laughter.

“it was a joke that none of us made it. it had to have been rigged. and if we don’t make it this season either, it’s definitely rigged.”

“oh, we’re both making it. we have to be. we know how to play the game now, obviously.”

“aight– lets do this, then. but if we don’t both make it, no hard feelings,” minsuk replied. “there are less spots this season. last season no higher boys made it to the final group. we need to have an alliance to make sure one of us gets there, kay? because then our real group will be better off too.”

“deal. one of us has to make it. for the good of our whole company. the way last season shook out, people might have gotten the idea that higher has nothing to offer, but that’s wrong.”

“it wouldn’t be a waste– i like shopping! and i like giving people presents!” she insisted with a pout, wrapping her arms around one of his. “okay! i didn’t know you had a car! i mean, i guess you needed one to get here but…that’s so cool! i don’t even know how to drive…”

“my brother bought it when i was thirteen and i helped him fix it up. when he got a better car, he gave this one to me,” hyunjoo explained. “that’s not a big deal, though-- you’re rich and famous! you have people who can drive you around! like me-- let’s get moving.”

“why when you debut– i can take you shopping now! it’ll be a gift,” luri answered excitedly. she’d never gone shopping for a guy before– it sounded so exciting. “ a bit of both! i wear most of it, but there are a couple pieces that are just there as keepsakes. i just wanted to have them and look at them…” she hummed, pulling the coat he picked out off it’s hanger and shrugging it on. “good choice– you have great taste. shall we get going, then?”

“yeah, i don’t want you to waste your money though, babygirl. i’m no gold digger,” he answered, tucking her hair behind her ear and helping her get into the jacket. “yeah, let’s go-- it’s a bit of a drive, and i’d rather get on the road now so we don’t run into fuckin traffic in gangnam.”