Not Alone || Jung Jaehyun

Chapter 4 | "not good enough"

"Okay, thank you all for your outstanding performances. Truly, all of you could be on any of our teams." Taeil said with a smile. "But unfortunately that's not possible, so we will now have the captains of each team announce their offers."

All the team leader made their way onto the stage in a single file line next to Taeil.

"I'll go first. For my team, we would like to offer spots to... Kim Seungmin, Yang Jeongin, and So Xiaojun.

"Oh my god." Hyemi heard Xiaojun say from next to her. "Oh my god!"

He were in shock, pure happiness written on his face as he weren't even listening to the other singing team announcements.

"Congrats Xiaojun! So proud of you!" Hyemi said with a smile, squeezing his shoulder before turning back to the stage where Irene, the leader of Mark's team, was standing.

Hyemi gripped onto Yangyang's hand from next to her as Irene cleared her throat to announce their offers.

"Alright, for my team, we'd like to offer spots to... Seo Changbin, Han Jisung, Bang Chan, Hwang Hendery and Liu Yangyang!"

Yangyang almost screamed. The two of them having to cover their mouths to stop the sound from coming out as they hugged one another tightly.

"I can't believe it!" Yangyang whispered.

"This is insane!" Hendery replied with a nod as the other rap teams announced their offers.

It was then time for the dance team announcements. Hyemi shared a nervous smile with Yeji before turning back to the stage. Jeno wrapped his arm around her from the side, giving her a reassuring smile though she could feel the nervous tremble in his muscles. She felt Kyunghee quickly grab her hand, the two of them taking a deep breath as they waited. Seulgi's team was up first.

"For our team, we'd like to offer spots to Hwang Hyunjin, Lee Felix, Lee Minho, Na Jaemin, Lee Jeno, and Lee Hyemi."

Hyemi tensed up at the mention of her name, exchanging an excited smile with Jeno. She felt Kyunghee's grip on her hand weaken slightly, the disappointment clear on her friend's face.

"Hey, it's okay. There's still two teams, and I'd be shocked if Taeyong didn't take you." Hyemi said encouragingly to Kyunghee who just nodded nervously in response.

Taeyong then stepped up on the stage, smiling at the crowd.

"For my team, we'd like to offer spots to Lee Jeno, Park Jichang, Na Jaemin, Kang Iseul, Lee Hyemi, and Kim Kyunghee."

She quickly made eye contact with her three best friends, the four of them embracing one another in a big group hug.

"I told you everything would be okay!" Jeno exclaimed excitedly.

"Everything is going just how we planned it, we're going to be dancing together!" Jichang added, squeezing them harder.

Hyemi was all smiles as she looked back to the stage, seeing her brother send her a quick wink before stepping back for the last announcement, which just happened to be Jaehyun.

Hyemi was ready for him to say that there were no recruits for this year. His team was always at the minimum size requirement because of how selective they were. They only usually took 1 kid per year, maybe 2 is you were lucky, and they usually filled those spots with upperclassmen instead. Jaehyun had a reputation of running off all the first year recruits. When he stepped up to the middle of the stage, the whole room fell into a hush.

"Well then, to my surprise, and I'm sure your's as well, I'll be making two offers today."

Hyemi let out a gasp along with many of the other dancers in the crowd, exchanging a shocked look with Jeno.