~Han Jae-min POV~
"Again!"
The trainer's voice cracked through the air like a whip music restarted, feet hit the floor in unison, the rhythm pounding against ribs already burning from hours of repetition.
My breath heavy under the tight bindings too tight because it has be long and my chest screamed, but my face betrayed nothing.
"Don't slip, don't falter, don't let anyone noticed." I mutter to myself.
"Han Jae-min, your angle's off!"
I gulped hard, adjusted my stance, forced precision through the haze and beside me, Do-hyun's movements were sharp, flawless. He was the kind of dancer trainers built routines around the kind of person who didn't stumble.
"Stop."
The music cut trainers barked instructions, trainees collapsed against walls, gasping for air. I bent over, clutching my knees, praying my chest wouldn't betray me.
A shadow fell across me.
"Your stamina's strange." Do-hyun's voice, low enough for only me to hear.
I straightened, forcing steadiness into my tone. "So? Everyone's tired."
"Not like that." His gaze lingered, sharp as a knife. "You look like you're suffocating."
For a second panic flared through me, did he know? Had he guessed?
I forced a laugh. "Maybe I'm just weak."
"You're not."
The certainty in his tone rattled me more than suspicion would have.
Before I could reply, Seok-jin sauntered past, sweat towel slung over his shoulder. His smirk was practiced, cruel. "Careful, Jae-min, keep gasping like that and they'll send you home before the next evaluation."
My jaw clenched.
Do-hyun stepped forward, blocking Seok-jin's path. "Worry about your own performance."
Seok-jin's smile thinned. "Funny, coming from you, always playing protector.... tell me, what's so special about him? Huh?"
The room went quiet, ears straining for the answer.
Do-hyun's eyes didn't leave Seok-jin's. "Wouldn't you like to know."
Tension snapped through the air, and the trainers called us back before it exploded.
We returned to positions, my pulse thundered, not from the dance, but from the weight of Do-hyun's words.
Later, after lights-out, I lay awake in the dorm.
Do-hyun shifted on his bunk and looking at me like his saying something inside his mind, and finally, he spoke.
"You can't keep this up forever."
My breath froze. "Keep... what up?"
His voice was calm. "Whatever it is you're hiding."
At this point I know his just teasing me to spill out anything I'm hiding but I won't fall for it.
"You talks too much, just go to sleep!" I turn to the wall my heart racing even when I'm acting tough.
..............
"Two days."
The trainer's words hit like a thunderclap. "You have two days to prepare your group stage, the lowest-ranked team will face elimination."
Groans rippled through the trainees some cursed under their breath, others looked like they'd seen a ghost.
I swallowed the rising dread because elimination wasn't an option for me not when I'd sacrificed everything just to stand here.
Do-hyun's group assignment appeared on the board and my heart skipped.
Team 3: Kang Do-hyun, Han Jae-min, Seok-jin… and two others.
Of course.
Seok-jin's grin spread slow, wolfish. "Guess we'll be working closely, Jae-min."
I bowed my head, masking the fire in my chest.
The practice room felt smaller than usual, mirrors reflecting tension sharp enough to splinter.
"Let's run it from the top," Do-hyun said, voice clipped his eyes swept the group, but lingered on me a fraction too long.
We moved, music pulsed and bodies collided.
Seok-jin's shoulder clipped mine again and again, subtle enough to pass as mistakes, deliberate enough to break rhythm.
"Reset." Do-hyun's tone cut like glass.
This time, I braced when Seok-jin shoved in, I shoved back, sharp and precise, the rhythm snapped into place and the trainer, watching from the corner, raised an eyebrow.
Do-hyun's lips curved, the barest flicker of approval but Seok-jin's eyes darkened.
Later, as sweat pooled and lungs burned, I slipped into the hall for air, the bindings constricted, every breath a battle then footsteps followed.
"You can't keep letting him bait you." Do-hyun leaned against the wall, arms crossed.
My chest tightened not just from the bindings. "What choice do I have?"
"Fight back."
"I did!"
"That wasn't fighting." His gaze burned through me. "That was just pushing back."
The words lodged in my ribs.
I wanted to shout that survival was all I had, that one misstep would destroy me but the truth tangled in my throat I couldn't spill it out.
Instead, I whispered, "Isn't pushing back enough?"
"No, not for someone like you."
My heart lurched, betraying me, I turned away quickly, before he could read the truth written on my face.
"Positions!"
The trainer's clap echoed through the practice room, we fell into formation, sweat already dripping from hours of rehearsal. Two days left before the stage evaluation, and our group was far from ready.
"Five, six, seven.... go!"
The music blasted, I moved sharp, clean, pushing through the bindings that bit into my ribs. Every step was survival, every beat, a lie.
"Wrong! Reset!"
The trainer's voice snapped like a whip, Seok-jin's smirk flickered in the mirror he was deliberately dragging, just a fraction off-tempo... but enough to throw the whole group again and again until my legs trembled and my chest threatened to split open.
During a break, I slipped to the corner, gulping water like it could drown the ache.
"Told you never to show weakness," Do-hyun murmured, suddenly beside me.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"You're not." His eyes scanned me, sharp as ever. "Something's wrong with your breathing I've seen athletes collapse from less."
I forced a smile. "Maybe I'm just out of shape."
"No." His jaw tightened. "You're hiding something, I kept saying this because it's obvious ."
My chest seized not from the bindings this time, but from the way his gaze pinned me.
Before I could answer, Seok-jin clapped me on the back, too hard to be casual. "Don't fall apart on us, Jae-min, wouldn't want you dragging Kang down."
I stiffened. "I'm not...."
Do-hyun's hand shot out, grabbing Seok-jin's wrist mid-swing, his voice was like ice. "Enough!"
The room went stilled.
Seok-jin yanked free with a scoff. "Relax, hero, it was a joke."
But the look in his eyes promised retribution, the practice resumed, harsher than before. My body screamed with every step, but stopping wasn't an option. Elimination meant exposure and exposure meant ruin.
By the end, I collapsed on the floor, sweat soaking my shirt, vision blurring and a hand appeared in front of me, it was Do-hyun's.
"Get up," he said, voice firm but his eyes... his eyes softened for just a flicker. "If you stay down now, you'll never stand again."
I hesitated, staring at his hand because taking it felt too dangerous, but not taking it felt impossible.