Intensify : A Jinhwi fanfic

Chapter 3

It was only 3 days left to their first ever performance in front of fans. They continued practising as usual. They have been spending hours and hours on perfecting their every note and every move. 

"Let's take a 15 minutes break and we'll gather back here again to practise." Leader Ha Sung Woon said. 

Everyone in the group dispersed. Some went to the washroom, some went back to their rooms to change into a new set of clothes, while Jin Young went to the corner of the practise room and sat there. Soon, he found himself burying his head into himself. Dae Hwi, who came back from the washroom saw him and walked towards him.

"You okay?" he asked

Jin Young raised his head to Dae Hwi next to him. He smiled and said, "Yea, I'm fine." but that wasn't the truth. Deep down inside, he was struggling. It wasn't easy for him though. He had low self-esteem, lack of confidence, he always felt like he was a burden to the team. 

"I know you aren't alright." Dae Hwi replied, "It just the two of us here now, just tell me whatever you want, don't keep things bottled up. It doesn't feel great." 

Jin Young stared at Dae Hwi blankly. There wasn't anyone who cared about him this way before. Not even his friends in school, not even his parents. Also, he didn't have much friends from the start. It was something he felt happy about, but also at the same time, not sure if he could confide into Dae Hwi whom he met just a few days ago. He wasn't sure. 

"Don't worry about me," he said. "If you have anything on your mind, feel free to tell me too. I will be here as a listening ear." he smiled to Dae Hwi.

Their eyes met contact again and he didn't know why his heart was beating so fast again. He quickly brush of the thought and calmed himself down.

Dae Hwi stared at him replying, "It's really tough isn't it? We do so much just to achieve what we want to do in the future. I am getting so much hate, and I really don't know what to do actually. I just want to debut to be an idol, I know it's tough. Those negative comments pulls me down even more."

"Every idol do get a certain amount of hate. Don't worry too much, you'll be fine. We will debut together." Jin Young replied with a smile, stretching out a fist bump. 

Dae Hwi smiled and fist bump him back, making Jin Young smile even wider.

15 minutes was almost up, and the team members started to come back to the practise room. "Fighting everyone!" cheered Dae Hwi, who was always so bright.

They resumed practise and soon, the trainers came in to check. They received a lot of feedbacks on how to improve. Practise after practise, their whole day was filled with nothing but practise. They had to finalise everything within 3 days. 

Each day passed faster and before they knew, it was already their turn on stage. BoA introduced them on stage and they introduced themselves further and soon, they got into position and the music started. They started off well, though they were very nervous from all the tension, with so many pairs of eyes staring at them, so many people were cheering for them. 

The stage ended, with a sense of regret that it wasn't their best performance. They were all nervous to see their results backstage. They held hands so that they could cheer each other on and yes, Dae Hwi held Jin Young's hand. It felt warm and cozy, the type of hand you would want to hold for the rest of your life. Dae Hwi thought. The screen appeared, it started showing their results. They cheered as they knew they won. Both Jin Young and Dae Hwi exchanged smiles.

The day they dreaded most came. The first ranking evaluation. 

Their team, which was Boy in luv Group 1, was actually quite safe this time round. They benefitted from winning the group battle and their ranks were all quite high, nothing near to the elimination position. Though they were quite safe at rank, they were still nervous as well, many other people might get eliminated and it was really a scary thought. 

As they knew, yes, they didn't get eliminated but they were heart broken at the many other trainees who were. Those that had the same dream of debuting as well, those that had talents but didn't have the fame and the list goes on. They ended the day with tears, putting themselves into those trainees shoes. It was such a pity that they had to be eliminated so soon. 

After that long day filled with tears, the remaining trainees returned back to their rooms to settle down and those that were eliminated had to pack up and leave by night. It was such a long day, and everyone's heart was too heavy to utter a word. Dae Hwi sat at the staircase near their room. Unsure of what to do. There were so many friends he made, and quite a number of them were leaving. He was at a state where he didn't know what to do. He hated the feeling of someone leaving him, especially because he has felt that since young. When he was really young, his father passed away, left him with his mother alone. His mother was now in LA, and he came back to Korea to pursue his dream. 

From afar, Jin Young saw Dae Hwi tearing up at the staircase and being a close friend of his, he approached Dae Hwi carefully. Jin Young sat down beside Dae Hwi without saying a word. Slowly, he put his arms around Dae Hwi who buried his face into his own hands. "Come, give me a hug." Jin Young said and before he knew, Dae Hwi was tearing up in his arms. 

"Don't cry... I know it's torturous. I know it's hard seeing people leaving. But don't cry okay?" Jin Young encouraged. "Seeing you cry makes my heart break." Jin Young thought in his head. Dae Hwi wiped his tears, trying to stop crying. It was to no avail. His tears just kept flowing down without being able to stop as he thought of his father in heaven. Using his fingers, Jin Young wiped Dae Hwi's tears and gave him a tight hug. "Im here to listen to you, once you feel like it, just speak your mind." 

Still crying a little, Dae Hwi spoke up. "Ever since young, I have lost my dad. I was really lonely with my mom and every time I thought of him, it makes me tear up..." he slowly said. "Being here made me have so many more friends. It was great talking to so many people here. But now..." he choked at his tears. "they are leaving too..." he continued after a deep breath. "I really hate how people are leaving me, so I was really sad." Dae Hwi faced Jin Young who could sympathise him. Jin Young embraced Dae Hwi in his arms. 

"It's okay! You still have us. Many hyungs are here, many friends are still here. We will make more memorable memories together. We will debut together. You can meet those hyungs still. Just give them a call and meet up with them when we have our break." Jin Young smiled. 

"I guess you're right." Dae Hwi replied, his tears coming to a stop. "Thank You."

Jin Young smiled. It wasn't really anything though. He just wanted to comfort Dae Hwi. "Now, go wash your face and go to sleep. It's a new beginning tomorrow." Jin Young said holding Dae Hwi's face. He wiped Dae Hwi's tears with his fingers again and they both got up from the stairs. Dae Hwi linked his arms with Jin Young. 

"It's really great to meet someone like you here." he smiled to Jin Young, somehow, making his heart flutter again. Jin Young didn't knew why he was feeling like this, he didn't want to care much.