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[only within quotation marks, aka dialogue] korean, english
as expected, elliott didn't get up on time even though he had set six alarm clocks at ten minute intervals, starting at 5:50 a.m and going on until 6:50 a.m.
it wasn't the waking up part that was difficult, what was hard was convincing his body to move out of bed. the room wasn't even cold, but it was common for elliott's brain to get its priorities wrong.
his thought process once he was conscious went something like this:
i should get myself out of bed, i really should. ugh, i have no motovation. but i should, i know i'll feel better after i do it . . . but it'll take so much energy. okay, just sit up. just do it. why isn't my body moving though? i shouldn't have to try and convince myself for this long. others don't have so much difficulty . . .
the annoying voice going you're such a loser - who has to spend so much time just doing this much? in his head really wasn't helping or making things easier, either.
he finally managed to gain control of his body at five past seven, and dragged himself to the bathroom attached to his room. he brushed his teeth before stepping into the shower, which he only allowed himself to stay in for a few minutes - just long enough to get clean.
then he got dressed, which was so much easier because if there was one thing he was good at, it was assembling an outfit. it wasn't a surprise, really, as he had grown up with three very fashionable older sisters and a mother who was a model and fashion designer.
after settling into a casual, cozy kind of look, he left the room with his phone in his hand and his hair still damp. he didn't have the energy to blow-dry it, despite having gotten around eight hours of sleep. he was completely, permanently drained those days.
"morning," greeted christopher as he walked out of his own room which was right across from elliott's. his eyes lingered a second too long on the taller boy's dark, glistening locks, but elliott didn't comment.
"hey. do you remember where the food will be?"
"um, i think i can find it?" responded the aussie and the two began down the hallway and to where christopher assumed the dining room was.
he guessed wrong. they ended up in what looked to be a gaming area, with consoles everywhere as well as beanbags and a large screen mounted on a wall.
"ooh, we have to come back here sometime," noted elliott and christopher nodded in agreement before they set off again.
they ended up at ten other rooms before finally stumbling into the correct destination, where all the others had gathered already; elliott's bandmates eating without a care in the world while the stray kids members seemed to have been waiting for their leader.
"what took you so long?" asked zane as he used his foot to pull out the chair next to him for elliott to sit in, "didn't the smell of waffles lead you?"
"waffles?"
"with hash browns," added akira as he swallowed a mouthful, and nothing else had to be said for elliott to take a seat and pile his plate.
just as he began eating, jeong and sungho walked in with the camera crew in tow. elliott knew they had been recording the boys through the cameras in the walls since before this, but he smiled at the lenses anyways.
"once you guys finish eating, we'll take you to the compound for today's challenge," sungho told them as jeong whispered something to one of the men carrying the large fuzzy set microphone.
"and," she turned around, "clip these onto your shirt collars, okay?" she held out a box inside which were small sound catching devices that operated by sending the noises they caught to the computer they were connected to through bluetooth.
jae, who had finished eating, stood up and took the container from jeong and firstly clipped one on his clothes, before taking three and moving to each of his bandmates in turn and doing the same for them while they continued stuffing their faces.
"fanks," spoke elliott as he continued chewing, his cheeks comically expanded. across from him, jisung didn't look much different as he ate in the same fashion.
"don't talk with your mouth full, you'll choke," scolded jae as he finished with the maknae and moved on to zane, who more than happily let him do all the work as he sipped his coffee.
elliott also forced down the brew even though it made his taste buds want to die. he didn't want to go about seeming unsatisfied from the very first week, which was when the food would be served by the chefs. after that, the boys were left to fend for themselves when they weren't doing the challenges.
after breakfast, at around 8 o'clock, the boys were led by jeong and sungho outside, where a bowl with a lid covering it, a plastic bag filled with rectangular items and lots of shirts were placed atop a foldable table.
"first of all," dictated sungho, "all from the right wing, wear the blue shirts on that table. left wing team, wear the yellow. today's challenge was left up to the fans to decide after we held a poll on the internet last night!"
"we gave five choices, but two of them won after tying with thirty-percent of the votes each," smirked jeong, "both games are pretty similar, and very simple. quite popular, too."
"it's guaranteed you boys have heard of it before," sungho continued building up the suspense, and an idea began forming in the back of elliott's mind about what it could be. in all honesty, if his guess turned out to be correct, he wouldn't have been too unhappy.
"these two games are . . ."
everyone held a collective breath as jeong trailed off, and then the two hosts shouted together:
