next gen’s over. done and gone-- which means half of his friends are released from mnet’s clutches so he can actually see them again. the catch is that some are going to be signed. which is a whole other type of dungeon that stevie knows will take up most, if not all of their time.
so naturally, the moment he can monopolize saea’s time, he does. as he rides up to the skatepark on board, he’s got one of those little party streamer horn things in his mouth, and once he rolls up close enough to saea, he blow it at her, the little think honking out annoyingly as he grins around it.
“congrats on your epic win.” he braces one foot on the ground as he comes to a stop, plucking the little party toy out of his mouth. “and you signing your life away.” he tacks on cheekily, reaching out to wrap an arm around her shoulders in a brief hug. he makes a sharp inhale, and then croaks out in a trembling, watery voice (that sounds more like laughter than anything else), “i’m gonna miss you~” he fake sobs. “remember me when you’re famous.”
gikwang found himself stuck, a little unsure of what to do. who could blame him? for the most part, gikwang had been minding his business, paying no attention to what was happening around him. his earphones were in and he was planned on cutting through the park to take a little time off his trip to the gym. on the way, he had passed a girl, someone. just standing there. it was a little odd, it played in the back of his mind. enough that he couldn’t help but turn around and peek, she was still standing there.
and then, he was a little worried, back tracking a bit. he was a safe distance away. he wondered if he should get a little closer but at the same, this it was just a tad too scary at night. “hey!” he didn’t mind calling rather loudly, “are you okay? do you need help?” because no one would be that perfectly still right? he found himself inching closer, pulling his phone out to turn on the flashlight. “can you hear me?” and did he need to call the police. that was the biggest question.
perhaps during the prior mission noel had almost forgotten this was a survival show. there wasn’t anyone that had gotten kicked yet, and probably lucky for noel because he hadn’t managed to place above the bottom two. it was just for fun in the beginning, but slowly the male was beginning to take it more and more seriously. he hadn’t been dancing for long, and singing and rapping was something that he hadn’t even considered. he most likely managed to get in based on luck, and if he didn’t improve soon he would probably be eliminated very soon. this time around though, if he failed it didn’t just affect him, but now he had teammates too. it was all a bit stressing, the male who could barely dance having to learn a new dance so quickly.
and not all of his time could be spent on the dance for the next mission, because apparently they were performing my turn on mcountdown now. he’s staying late behind, having said goodbye to his teammates, he figured maybe he should practice my turn a bit more, after all, his last performance of my turn ranked him in the bottom two. saea ( @besaea ) is staying late behind too, so the two have ended up in the same practice room. he goes over some moves slowly, counting the steps, then he turns his head and looks at saea “so how is it going with your team during this mission?”.
a starter for @besaea !!
( i just wanna dance on my own )
the group that’s currently dancing is really good. really good; yuji’s a little impressed. dancing’s been a bit of a struggle to her, an activity that requires a lot more practice for her to be good at. seeing them perform it so smoothly, so intricately-- with details and teamwork that yuji can’t help but be floored by.
she watches a little of the performance before she wanders down to the convenience store a little away, purchasing enough cold drinks for the entire team of dancers; by the time she makes it back, they’re either taking a break or finishing up. the crowd has thinned a bit, though there are a few like her, dawdling about. adjusting the bag on her arm, she slowly makes her way towards one of the crew-- a small smile sliding on her face on instinct.
“hi. you guys dance really well.” shifting, yuji holds out the bag of drinks. “figured you all might need to cool down a bit-- it’s nothing too exciting. they’re just cold.” her smile widens a bit.
yuji feels like she has improved a little with dancing. at the very least she's a lot better than she was a year ago. that's progress-- progress she's proud of. though this evaluation makes her a little bit more aware of skill level, compared to her teammates. it forces yuji to drop a few more hours into dancing so she can keep up-- and that's okay. she's fine with that, especially if it helps the evaluation performance.
what she doesn't like is their song choice's dance level is a bit harder than yuji's used to. and it's a bit frustrating to her. she saves face with her teammates, but in the walls of sr media-- she doesn't hesitate to scowl at her reflection in the mirror. shoulders drooping with a sigh, she rakes a hand through her hair, and directs her attention to the saea.
"hey, do you like bxy?" she asks, turning around to face the other. she's not too familiar with their discography, much less their catalogue of performances and dance. "i need another set of eyes. i feel like i'm at my breaking point."
a starter for @besaea !!
( all this effort to make it look effortless )
with the finale of next gen up, it becomes a waiting game. each morning is spent scanning over the familiar faces of her training group to see any new ones. she’s unnecessarily tense about it-- but change is happening and yuji has to be ready for it. even though she knows all of them, some way or another-- the appearance of them instills a sort of prickly feel in her that won’t go away until the wait is over.
and she doesn’t wait long at all. the new additions faces are some of the first she sees in the morning-- but she waits until long into the day to garner up the courage to approach. when her mind is more awake, her thoughts more in order; when there’s a bit of a moment to breathe between lessons. approaching sarang is easy enough, comfortable and familiar.
the girls are a little more difficult for her-- just in the nature of the training atmosphere and yuji’s overthinking mind of a potential debut on the rise. but in the end, yuji decides to go with saea first. comes up to her slowly in the lull of things and holds an extra water bottle out to her, reminiscent of the first time they met. “isn’t this a small world,” she muses, offering a small smile when their eyes meet. “hi. congrats on your contract.”
next gen episode three / dance mission: salute w. sarang, matty, saea.
with the m-countdown performance out of the way, all that’s left is the next mission. free time is spent practicing and learning-- no goofing off! or at least minorly. lots of time getting it down, time spent worrying over matty and his shoulder. time spent getting to know sarang. time spent hanging out with saea and preparing to slay the stage. time and hours fly by, days gone by-- and their approaching hours upon the final performance.
stevie’s nervous. not as nervous as he was for the m-countdown performance, for sure-- but nerves still tugs at his gut. this is the start of stakes, of eliminations. it’s make it or break it-- and even if he doesn’t make it through the end, he’s at least got to show some improvement. for his own pride. his own dignity. something.
the outfits they choose are nice. they fit the theme of the song and the vibe of their dance. they’ve peaked at the set and it looks cool. everything is set up and ready and all that’s left is the performance, seeing the judges and hoping they don’t get the axe afterwards.
it’s the first time he’s not smiling when they make it in front of the judges. swallows and keeps his expression blank-- it’s not too hard, either. all things considered, his gut is doing major flips in response of nerves. even as they settle into position, lights on and music beginning to start, stevie stares forward. all or nothing.
muscle memory kicks in when the sirens come through. limbs popping in time with the beat and the bass-- to match how harsh the melody hits at times. he likes the strength of this dance, how it goes from harsh and aggressive to sensual and smooth during the switch ups. he keeps his expression strong and focused when the beat hits with a bam and softens it when the melody comes in. part of him holds his breath when they get to the part where matty had fallen in practice, but the seconds are ticking and they’re moving and stevie’s quick to go with it.
stevie’s most excited to do the drop-- falling into a near split when the bridge comes in, and keeps his expression on the camera. softens his features and goes with the feel of tune, corner of his mouth quirking up in a shy little smirk as they move through the move, then onto the next person.
up and to the next part. energy is buzzing in his ears as they move. the dance break at the end is high energy, his body moving and popping and hitting the beats as harshly as they come through. his heart hammers with it, ringing in his ears all the way up until the end.
once his hand lifts to his head in the ending salute, his chest is heaving. but he stares forward, waiting as the cameras stare down at them. slowly, the corner of his mouth slips into a small smile, even as he keeps his focus on the cameras and where the judges are.
