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finally it was the skill portion, and it was the part where he felt like he could especially show his growth. he had always been a good dancer, what with being in playback before he became a trainee, but he’d been working hard since ip2 to improve, and he personally felt like he’d made a lot of progress.

when he learns he’s working with mirae, he’s excited. she’s been a frontrunner the entire time, and of all the dancers on the show, she’s probably the only one on his level-- and that’s including hyunjoo. if anyone was going to put on a great performance with him, it would be her. and they had yein of all people to choreograph. it was like they were handing the win right to them

he immediately could tell why mirae was top of the game-- the moment they started practicing, he was pushing him. he’d never practiced so hard for so long in his life, and that was saying something. this girl was more than intense. he kind of (not really) was reevaluating making the final group if she was going to be in it, and be like this all the time.

when it’s time to perform, he and mirae are first, and he’s a little disappointed by that. he kind of wanted to be the grand finale, but whatever. the practice pays off, and they don’t skip a beat. the coaches even go out of their way to praise him on the growth they see in him-- it makes him feel like its all worth it.

considering his shit show the week prior, minsuk was happy about this week. it was back to songs he was good at, and he was thrilled. and they had a huge advantage, which was good-- mirae was first place in a landslide, and minsuk wanted to close that gap. realistically, she couldn’t take a slot from him, but he still wanted to be #1. or at the very least, he wanted hyunjoo to be. 

they all got the parts they wanted, and ilhoon (and hyunjoo??? surprisingly??) took care of eli, so minsuk could focus on his performance. not that he didn’t care about eli, but......he had his own shit to worry about, after the precious week. 

whoever came up with idol project challenges was high. there was no way a sober person thought this was a good idea. they had to learn nine fucking songs. it was like mnet wanted to see how many children they could get to pass out. 

when he got the list of songs, he took inventory. bang bang bang and love me right were songs he already knew well, and he knew the basics of devil. i am the best was iconic and everyone knew it (not that it was hard). electric shock and lady were easy. that only left lion heart and breakthrough to really learn. he still hated this episode concept, but it was something at least. plus, he was in a group with ilhoon and inho, so he could bounce off them pretty easily. the other kids lagged behind, but minsuk didn’t care about them. they could go off and mess up on their own time if they wanted to. minsuk was going to show off and look good.

and then fucking production was shut down. really, minsuk didn’t expect them to come back at all, not practicing in the absence. or, well, he practiced pirate king. but mostly just because he liked the song, and had been planning on using it as a future eval. when the show came back, he wasn’t ready. not really. but he wasn’t going to let anyone know that-- never let them see you sweat, right?

their first song was lady, and it could be worse. it was not really a song for minsuk, but it was better than lion heart at least. and less girly than electric shock, so minsuk counted himself lucky. as the center and performer of the chorus, he felt like he stood out.

the next day, they got breakthrough. and really, minsuk didn’t have anything against girl group songs. he really didn’t. but the fact that two out of three of theirs turned out to be songs that he didn’t know as well because they were gg songs kind of annoyed him. at least the choreography was somewhat challenging-- he goes as hard as he can, even though he’s not so thrilled about it.

the final day, they get another girl group song, and minsuk was sick and tired of it. that showed through in his performance. it was easy, so he did it, but the coaches called him out, and they were right-- his heart wasn’t in it.

he’d been nervous for ip2, and while he was sure he’d get more nervous as time went on, the audition episode was nothing. he’d done this before, and he’d auditioned for plenty of companies at this point. not to mention the crop of trainees that were being sent this time around-- last time it’d been him, hyunjoo, and a couple of duds. this time, higher sent their big guns. their group would be debuting soon, after all, and what better promotion than to send higher’s best 5 new prospects as a teaser.

the song higher chose was an easy one-- it had been one the group of twelve had been practicing for, like, a year at this point and used in a couple of evaluations. all that really needed to happen was some positioning changes, but with the chemistry they had, and the amount of training behind them, that wasn’t much of anything.

Eli narrowed their eyes a bit. “They aired all the auditions, even Liberty’s. It wasn’t that bad. It wasn’t the best, but like… using a Journey song to dance to was stupid,“ Eli retorted. "I mean… they’re not having us do Love Shake, I think that’s already preserving some dignity. Besides, we all agreed to come - obviously I can’t speak for everyone else, but I think that shows we’re interested in trying, at least.”

“not the auditions-- there were some rehearsals that got fully cut,” he insisted. “i was there for them-- i’d know if they were missing, and they were. and like...you have to admit that some of the performances were doctored so that other trainees would get more screen time to cover up mistakes. it happened-- there were whole dispatch articles calling it out.” he got that this kid wanted to do well, and he hoped eli would, but their company didn’t have a great history. that wasn’t really debatable.  he held up his hands in surrender. “listen, good luck, okay? no one’s hoping history repeats itself. we all mean well.”

“yeah, that makes sense. i think all of you are real contenders!” hoa answered enthusiastically. “this is your second time on the show, too– that’s gotta give you an edge…”

“i hope so. if i’m here for the second time and i lose, that’s gonna be fucking humiliating. like.... pull me out of the new higher group bad.”

“you’re both cut from the same cloth, even if he’s a little worse,” hayi answered him, smiling slightly. “you can do what you want. doesn’t mean anything will come of it.”

“he’s got a long-term serious girlfriend, now, so the cloth can’t be that bad,” he insisted. “i don’t want anything to come of it, hayi. i just really need you to know how pretty your smile is.”

“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?”

“it’s only like...four or six, right? didn’t they say it first episode?” minsuk asked. “mirae is totally going to be one. then like.... i dunno. hope?”

“We’d need a challenge, wouldn’t we? Where’s the drama if we succeed right from the jump?” Eli asked. “If we succeed at it, we’re exceeding expectations of Liberty trainees – and if we fail, well, they gave it a go they’ll say. It’s a net positive either way.”

“i guess. however you need to frame it,” minsuk answered. “i do hope you guys do good. it’s not fun for anyone when trainees on the show crash and burn. last season, it like....was painful. so painful that they cut it from broadcast. i just like...thought that after that happened, liberty would like...preserve the dignity of some of their trainees a lil more, you know? not you specifically or anything but some of your company-mates are strictly musicians. sending them seems like just a sus call.”

“i mean, we did that whole g-project thing last year,” hoa pointed out. “we’re all pretty used to working with each other for public performances. and very nice is a song we’ve practiced before. i think we are in a good place. what about you guys?”

“we’re in a great place, honestly,” minsuk answered. “all five of us are debuting together after the show, you know? it’s imminent. and we’ve been practicing together for years. not to mention it was a legacy song. i almost feel a little bad at how much it was kind of rigged in our favor.”

“minsuk, stop,” hayi said, smiling and rolling her eyes. “i’m not stupid, you know. you don’t have to do all that to disguise that you’re hitting on me. female idols talk…”

“i don’t think you’re stupid-- i meant it,” minsuk insisted. “i don’t know what you’re talking about-- you must have be confused with hyunjoo. but... does that mean i have permission to actually hit on you, then?”

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

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

“A little… Still my bad, though. He seems like a pretty nice guy otherwise.”

“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 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.”

The sentiment was repeated by a few others, but there was something that really rubbed them the wrong way about the other seemingly faking sympathy. But they wouldn’t let them know that. “I’m thinking of it as them setting up an underdog scenario.”

“come on-- there’s a difference between an underdog, and a group of people who don’t know how to dance or pick up choreography trying to do a burnout routine, which is some of the harder choreo in this era of kpop,” minsuk pointed out.