New Seoul; Finding Taehyung

New Seoul, South Korea, 2115

New Seoul; Finding Taehyung

PART: 2

Dae POV

The rhythm of the beat in my headphones matches my footsteps as I jog along the path next to the river. My short hair pushed out of my eyes with a white headband and I control my breath with every pounce of my feet.

"Dae! Slow down!"

Han yells at me and I pause to turn around, still jogging in place. He finally catches up to me and collapses on the ground to be extra dramatic. His bright orange athletic suit contrast with his sleek black hair and bright green eyes.

"Haneul, If you can barely run a mile, what makes you think you can dance for three hours straight? You really need to work on your stamina. What if we get chosen today?" I yell at Haneul but he rolls his eyes.

"With my dancing ability, I highly doubt it." He says and holds out his hand. I take it and help him get back on his feet.

"You shouldn't doubt your abilities like this. You're still better than the new trainees." I say and he shakes his head.

"Dae, Everyone is better than the new trainees, except that one guy, Izumi? He's surprisingly good for being fresh off the boat from Japan." Han says and I sigh while crossing my arms and looking out towards the lake. Haneul props himself up using my shoulder.

"What are you thinking about now?"

He asks but I continue staring out towards the ripples in the lake which really symbolizes my life at the moment.

"Here we are training since we were just six years old when this man who isn't even Korean comes in and after two months he gets his big break. I just don't get it." I say and Han sighs too.

"Yeah, but hey he gets four guys to debut with him. Doesn't that list come out today?" Han says but I don't even hold my breath.

"Han, there are over 700 men to choose from, do you really think we would even be considered?"

I say as more of a rhetorical question but Haneul takes it seriously as always, "Ah, out of 700 men, imagine if they pick the one who's only pretending to be a guy?" Han says and eyes me.

I look around to make sure no one heard his smart remark and jab him in the ribcage. He doubles over and apologizes.

"You can't...I'll pretend I didn't hear that,"

I say but he has a point. My voice is only unique because it's very feminine. I'm surprised no one asked questions.

Unless they all probably think I'm just a really feminine guy like Seung.

Women were taken out of K-pop in 2090 when they became far too sexualized for the traditionalist country. So in order to achieve my K-pop greatness, I had to be one with the dominant species.

It was easy for me to switch considering I've spent my entire life looking and acting like a boy that soon I forgot my real assigned gender. After a talent scout saw me as a little orphan, singing, and dancing in a plaza I realized my dreams could come true. The only person who knew was Haneul because he was my best friend since the beginning.

"Dae, you underestimate yourself and I don't like it."

Haneul awakens me from my reminiscing and startles me back into reality. Suddenly our screen watches ping at the same time and we look at the message.

"Come back to the dorms immediately? What for?"

Han complains but I start running back to the dorm.

"Hey! Dae! Wait up!"