Chapter Text
The door of the bus opened as they finally arrived at the location of the show. Everyone was so excited as they each went out of the door, excited yet scared of the next four months to come.
Each and every person here came with high hopes that they can turn their dreams into a reality, and Xiaowen's just not sure if he can keep up, but he follows his friends as they walk along.
"Look! They even have our pictures!"
"Wow this is a really long picture. And we look so tall!"
"Hey look! We're here all the way in front. Come on, let's take pictures!"
The contestants all crowd around a big photo display near the entrance of the gym that they were instructed to go to the moment they arrived at the show. Xiaowen and his five friends gradually made their way nearer to the big photo of all the contestants that were accepted into the reality tv show, Chuang 2019.
Zhiguang approached the photo and laughed, “Is this even life size? It's like Zhan-ge got even taller!"
"Unfair! Zhan-ge donate some of your height to us!", shouted Zhao Lei.
Xiao Zhan stood beside his picture, laughing, "I look like a giant! Take a picture of us!"
Xiaowen laughs upon hearing his friends. They were almost like family for him, guiding him and accompanying him on the journey to become idols. They all dote on him as if he's their little brother, even though Zhiguang and Zhao Lei were younger than him.
He honestly wouldn't know what to do without them.
"But you gotta admit, I look at least two meters tall here!" Xiao Zhan said while he posed beside his picture.
The friends all laugh as they take pictures, looking for themselves in the big photo display of the contestants.
After taking a lot of photos, all the contestants made their way inside the gym, where they were guided to sit on stools which each had their names. Luckily the friends' seats were all near each other.
"Wenwen! Here's your seat! Good thing we'll sit beside each other." Zhang Linghe said.
Xiaowen took his seat beside the other boy. "Thanks Linghe-ge. What else do we need to do?"
Just as Linghe was about to answer, some of the contestants started shouting as a woman appeared on the stage and started to talk through a microphone.
"It's Xuan Lu!"
"It's really her??"
Xuan Lu smiles at the crowd. “Hello to all of the students of Chuang 2019. Good morning, I’m Xuan Lu. I’d first like to congratulate everyone for winning among countless candidates, and for coming to our program.”
The crowd of students clapped. Xiaowen clapped along as well. He was honestly so lost so far, it’s a good thing he has friends within the program. At least he won’t navigate this blindly alone.
“Meanwhile, I need to tell you all that your examination has just begun.”
Xiaowen swallowed a lump that formed in his throat. The initiator was literally just introducing herself, but he was already so nervous.
“In this profession, the only secret to let you survive is to get more recognition by your ability and character. So that’s why everyone here will be given a rigorous test. Only the last 11 persons who can stay here until the end will be the winner of Chuang 2019.”
Xiaowen knows this, he’s read up on it before. Only the top 11 students get to debut as a group in the end, and there’s over 99 people right now inside the gym. He has only about 0.11% of debuting in the end. Logically speaking, a normal person would quit right away. Why work so hard, only to have a big chance of failing in the end? But Xiaowen and his friends were different, they were brave. They were courageous. They wanted to grasp their dreams into their own hands.
"Before you guys enter the camp, we have prepared a gift for all of you. I ask all of the contestants to please face to their right".
"What do you think they give us?" Whispers could be heard from the students.
As the curtains fell, tan coats with matching black trousers were seen by everyone. There were a total of 99 gift boxes with matching name tags for everyone in the camp which contained their uniforms, uniforms made specifically for them.
"These are our gifts for all the contestants.”
Voices of shock and delight could be heard everywhere.
"However, everyone must change into their clothes within 10 minutes, starting now".
Huh?
Xiaowen was shocked at the sudden instructions. Everyone started pushing each other to get their boxes immediately so that they could change.
Linghe grabbed his arm before he could even process what was happening.
"Xiaowen! Let's get our clothes!"
Xiaowen nodded even though he was pretty sure Linghe wouldn't see it. Linghe moved his hand so that he and the shorter boy were holding hands, guiding him to the stage with a small smile.
As they approached the stage with the uniforms, most of the contestants were pushing and pulling each other, eager to get their clothes immediately.
Xiaowen, having just realized that Linghe was holding his hand, immediately let go, his face reddening.
Xiaowen pouted, "I-I can find my own clothes! I'm not a kid, Ge!" He stomped off in search of his clothes, hiding his blushing face.
Linghe smiled at him fondly, before he turned around and started to look for his own set.
After finding their clothes and changing (all within the time limit, thank god), all the contestants made their way back to their stools. The show organized for parents of some contestants to be there to give their children inspiring messages, as well as their last goodbyes for a long while. This camp will last for four months, so naturally, most of them would miss their parents and their family.
However, this was not the case for Xiaowen and his friends, since their parents live quite far. This made them sad, but the journey in the music and idol industry was a tough one. One should be prepared to make sacrifices in order to reach their goals and realize their dreams.
With that, they all took their belongings and left the venue, leaving behind their parents, their comfort zones, and the safety, security, and stability of their lives outside the entertainment industry.
The contestants make their way to the dorm provided by the show, receiving blankets and pillows on their way. The building that was going to serve as their dorm was really big, spanning quite a few blocks.
Huasen smiled excitedly, "The dorm looks so big! I can't wait to see how big the rooms are!" They all ran to the building, excited to see the place where they will stay at for four months.
As they opened the doors, they were surprised to see only one big and long room, with numerous beds inside.
Huasen started counting the beds inside, "One, two......ten.....twenty...How many beds are here??"
A staff member approached the contestants, explaining their living quarters to them. "This will be the room where contestants will be staying and sleeping in. You will all be staying together in one room."
Everyone was surprised. They thought that with the budget, they would be getting individual rooms, or at least shared rooms with their label mates.
The staff continued talking, "VIP Rooms will be provided for those in the Top 11 of the rankings, which will start once the first official ranking has been announced to all of you. So for now, everyone will be staying here. You may all now start picking your place to stay in. There will be a time limit of 10 minutes to pick and set up your bed with the blankets provided earlier, starting now."
What is with this show and time limits?! Can't everyone just relax, it's just deciding where we'll sleep!
Everyone started running around, looking for a suitable place to stay in. Some people opted to stay near the windows, so that they can have a nice view of the scenery outside. Some on the other hand, opted for the beds nearest to the aisle, so that they wouldn't have to walk so far to have access to the facilities of the dorm.
Xiaowen and his friends eventually settled on a spot in the middle, now scrambling to prepare their beds and fix their bed covers and blankets.
"Linghe-ge! Fix my bed covers for me! I don't know how to set this up!" Xiaowen shouted from the top bunk.
Linghe was already busy setting up the covers for the Zhiguang, clearly used to being ordered around by his younger friends.
Zhao Lei joined Xiaowen,
"Linghe-ge! Do mine too!!"
"Linghe-ge!! Me too, me too!!" Huasen cackled, lying down on his bed.
"Wait! WAIT! There's only 10 minutes, try setting up on your own. And Huasen, you're older than me! What do you mean with Linghe-ge! Set up your own bed!"
They all panicked, but were clearly laughing and enjoying the mayhem.
"Linghe-ge! Ge!....ZHANG LINGHE!" Xiaowen started shouting and pouting.
"Okay, okay, I'll set up your bed Xiaowen. Just stop shouting." Though he was clearly exasperated a while ago, he easily gave in when Xiaowen asked.
"Ehhhh~ You didn't want to help us, but you're okay with helping Xiaowen? Where's the justice in that, Linghe-ge?" Huasen raised his eyebrows, his face showing a teasing expression.
Linghe threw his pillow at his face.
When everyone was done setting up their beds, they all sat or laid down on their beds, clearly exhausted.
Another staff member went near and readied their megaphone.
What do they want now? Xiaowen internally groaned.
"All contestants need to give their phones to us for safekeeping."
"Ehhh??" All the contestants shouted, not wanting to part with their only source of entertainment in a life of living in near proximity with nearly a hundred other boys their age.
"Chuang is a place for everyone to garner knowledge on how to be an idol. It is a place for one to hone their skills for the entertainment and showbiz world. Your phones will only be a distraction for your journey." the staff said.
The contestants started lining up so that they could give away their phones, some clearly not wanting to part with their devices.
After they all gave away their phones, there was a weird atmosphere in the dorm. It was as if they didn't know what to do anymore. Some contestants started playing games or just goofing around in general.
People like Linghe who were accustomed to taking care of others started exploring the dorm, familiarizing themselves with where the facilities are. "This place is pretty complete, and has a really high budget too. There are locker rooms, decent bathrooms, a kitchen and a dining area on the third floor, and a gym."
Xiao Zhan chuckled, "High budget, but can't even afford to give us rooms?"
"Zhan-ge, we just have to get into the Top 11 so that we can get our own rooms!" Zhiguang cheered.
Zhao Lei snorted, "Easier said than done."
Xiao Zhan looked over the whole group with hard eyes, "But this is what we came here for right? We're here to reach the top. Even if we end up at the bottom after the class assignments, we will climb our way up to the top!"
The group of friends nodded, determined to prove to the world that they have what it takes to debut, to form the boyband of their dreams, to bring smiles and joy to their audience, and to provide a good life for their parents and family.
All the students start turning in for the night, getting ready for the first set of performances to determine their class in the camp tomorrow morning.
The students were grouped according to their companies, and were made to enter a room one group at a time.
The room was like an amphitheater, having seats at different levels behind a central table with five chairs, clearly reserved for the mentors and the initiator of the camp.
The rows of seats were arranged and labeled by class. The B class was colored yellow and located on the right side of the room, while the C class was colored purple, located nearest the bottom of the stairs on the left side. The A class was colored blue and located in the middle, directly behind the seats meant for the mentors. It was the smallest bench, only reserved for the 11 students which were deemed as "A class" by the mentors of the camp. The F class was colored gray and located at the top of the rows of seats, having the most space out of all the classes.
Each group started picking out their classes. Many were eager to pick A at first, until the staff told them of the rule of the A class in Chuang.
"If you choose A class initially, but the mentors do not deem you worthy of A class, you will immediately fall to the F class."
This made numerous students choose C or B class instead, which were technically the safer options out of all of the classes.
Once Xiaowen and his friends entered, there were already numerous seats filled up.
A student spoke up, "If you pick A, but the instructors don't think you're worthy, you'll immediately fall to F class!"
"You guys can go here to B class! A safer option." another student spoke.
Xiao Zhan walked straight up the stairs. "Come on, you know where to go."
They all walked towards the bench of the A class, ignoring the stares and whispers of the other students.
"We decided that we'll aim for the top! So naturally, A class is where we'll be. Zhao Lei, Zhiguang, Huasen, Linghe, Xiaowen - eh? Where's Xiaowen??" Xiao Zhan was doing a head count of his friends, but was shocked to see that Xiaowen was not there with them.
Linghe turned around and found Xiaowen sitting on the F class bench.
Linghe scrunched his face. Knowing Xiaowen, the boy was obviously not confident that he deserved to be in the A class.
Linghe spoke softly to the other boy, "Xiaowen, come here. Stay with us over here." He reached out his hand.
Xiaowen widened his eyes and looked down. "Ge, I don't think I can pass and survive in the A class today..."
I don't think I'll ever be able to pass the A class actually.
A voice broke through his thoughts. "Wenwen, come here. If you decide to stay there in F, I'll move there with you too. Is that okay with you?" Linghe said.
Xiaowen pouted, annoyed with what Linghe was doing. "Linghe-ge, that's unfair! Of course you deserve A class!"
"Then come here! Come on." He reached out his hand again.
Xiaowen sighed, standing up and walking down a few steps to the A bench.
He still hesitated before sitting down. "I just think this is too much for me, don't you think?" Xiaowen said, making gestures with his hands, showing how nervous he is in the inside.
"Come on, sit down. If you go over there, I'll have to stay beside you too, you know. I thought you loved me, Xiaowen?"
Xiaowen blushed and stuttered, "HUH? W-when did I say that? Anyways, here you go!" the boy sat down, "I'm here now, happy?" Xiaowen folded his arms, pouting. It's not that he didn't want to stay with his friends, he just genuinely thought that he didn't deserve to be here, that he wouldn't make it.
He felt a warm hand on top of his head. "Don't worry, Xiaowen. You deserve to be here, I'll remind you every day if I have to." Linghe whispered to his ear, patting his head.
Xiaowen's blush deepened. "Linghe-ge, stop doing that. I get it." The smaller boy removed the hand on his head and moved a bit farther, looking down to hide his face.
Linghe laughed at the younger boy and ruffled his hair, to the annoyance of the younger one.
As most of the students started picking their perceived classes, a few familiar faces started to show up in the venue.
Yuehua trainees started to enter, stopping initially at the entrance of the room, wondering which class to sit in. After a few whispers amongst themselves, they decide to go to class A.
As they got closer, Xiao Zhan saw a familiar face.
"Wang Yibo!" Xiao Zhan waved, smiling at the other boy.
Yibo walked closer to the other boy, extending his hand.
"Zhan-ge! I haven't seen you for a long time."
Xiao Zhan shook his hand and pulled his arm, hugging the younger boy briefly before letting go. "Me too! How's your parents? Is everyone doing okay? I haven't been over in forever!"
Yibo smiled sadly, "Ge, you know I wouldn't really know right? I haven't been home in over 3 years."
Xiao Zhan's smile fell slightly, "Oh right, you still haven't gone home? I bet your mom misses you so much."
"I'll go home once I have conquered this camp."
Xiao Zhan nodded, "Okay, I understand."
Yibo nodded back and stared at the other boy for a while, closing and opening his mouth, hesitating in speaking. After a few seconds, he sighed before asking a question. "Have you seen Zhuocheng-ge?"
Xiao Zhan shook his head, "Not yet, but I think he's about to come in any minute now."
Yibo smiled, and nodded to Xiao Zhan's other friends in a silent greeting. Everyone quietly greeted each other before Yibo and his label mates sat down a couple of seats from them.
Huasen inched closer to Xiao Zhan, "I haven't seen Yibo in forever, is he doing okay?"
"I want to say yes but, I haven't really heard much from him as well. Hopefully I get to talk to him more in camp."
Huasen smiled, "That's good. It'd be good for him to talk to more people. He seems really tense lately."
Xiao Zhan was about to reply when Huasen suddenly froze. He suddenly ducked, as if trying to hide from someone.
Xiao Zhan raised his eyebrows, wondering what the hell his friend was doing. “Did you suddenly remember all the embarrassing things you’ve done in your life? What are you doing?”
“Shh! Ge! Keep quiet!” Huasen hurriedly shushed him, which earned him a deadpan look from the elder.
Xiao Zhan was utterly confused. He didn’t see anyone to hide from.
A deep voice suddenly cut into his thoughts. “Hello? Are you from Wajijiwa?”
Xiao Zhan raised his head at the voice, finding two young boys staring at him from across the bench. The boy asking was slim and tall, almost like a model.
The other boy perked up at these words. “I didn’t know you’re this popular, Xuning. You can just suddenly come up to a trainee from another company and strike a conversation huh, and Xiao Zhan of all people.”
Xuning groaned. “Zhuocheng-ge, another word and I’ll transfer to another group.”
Zhuocheng laughed apologetically. “All right all right I’m sorry!”
Xiao Zhan recognized the boy who was laughing from anywhere. He was Wang Zhuocheng, his childhood friend from his hometown in Chongqing. Along with Wang Yibo, the three used to be glued to the hip and hung out everywhere each and every day when they were still children. This earned them the nickname “Chongqing Trio”.
"Zhuocheng!" Xiao Zhan smiled and waved.
Zhuocheng smiled back, glad to see his childhood friend, "Zhan-ge! It's good to see you."
Zhuocheng turned his head around, clearly looking for a person, "Where's Yibo? Is he not with you?"
Xiao Zhan shrugged and pointed to the end of the A bench, "Wang-laoshi is over there with his label mates. He greeted us briefly and sat there and hasn't talked to me since."
Zhuocheng sighed, "I tried texting him last night. All I got was a 'See you tomorrow, Ge.' He didn't even answer any of my other questions."
Before the two could continue their conversation, Xuning hurriedly spoke again.
“Huasen?”
All eyes were suddenly on the young boy who was still hiding.
At the call of his name, he straightened his back and turned his head in the opposite direction, clearly intending on ignoring the other boy.
“Huasen?” Xuning tried calling again gently. “How have you been?”
Seeing as the other boy didn’t even spare a glance at him, Xuning sighed. “I’ll join A class then.” He then made a move to sit down beside Xiao Zhan on the bench.
Huasen suddenly panicked. “I-It’s already full here.”
Xuning raised his eyebrows. “I thought there’s no limit per bench? That trainees can undergo battles to earn their places? You can even get kicked out of a class, right?”
Huasen stammered again. “Yeah, b-but – “
“Xuning let’s go. Our group already decided on B.”
Xuning frowned, annoyed that Huasen wouldn’t even look at him in the eyes. He sighed and nodded, making a turn towards the B bench. Before he actually moved, he tried speaking one more time. “Huasen, let’s talk later, okay?”
Seeing as the latter made no response, finding the other side of the bench really interesting, Xuning sighed again and then made his way to the B bench.
Xiao Zhan was about to settle back into his seat before suddenly remembering something, "Zhuocheng, why'd you sit down on the B bench?"
Zhuocheng turned his head towards him, "Because it's the safer decision." He said as if it's the most obvious thing.
“Oh…okay then.”
After the whole exchange between them, Xiao Zhan smirked at Huasen.
“What’s up with that? You didn’t tell me you have a boyfriend!” Xiao Zhan whispered to the other, snickering.
Huasen rolled his eyes. “In what part of the conversation did you get that from? Don’t worry about him, just ignore him. He’s no one.”
Xiao Zhan continued to tease. “Are you sure? He was ready to drop everything to join you in A class you know. He sounds so sweet!”
Huasen just ignored him, clearly having nothing more to add to the conversation.
Xiao Zhan sighed. “You know you can talk to me about anything, okay? This seems like it’ll be a problem for you.”
Huasen pouted at the older boy’s words.
“Okay, ge.” He whispered softly.
They all waited as more students came inside the room and chose which class to sit in.
Xiao Zhan was getting really nervous. The goal was for the six of them to stay in the A class after the evaluations. He knows they practiced so much, but he can't help worrying over their fates and the verdict which will be handed down by the mentors later.
He rested his chin on his hands, which he placed on his thighs, trying to calm himself down. There were fewer students coming in, which meant that they'll start evaluations soon.
"-ge?"
Xiao Zhan thought he heard a soft voice, thinking he was imagining things.
"Zhan-ge?"
Xiao Zhan snapped back to reality, and turned his face to look at the source of the voice. The voice came from a timid young boy. He looked at the name tag on the other boy, which read "Yubin".
"Hello Zhan-ge! It's nice to meet you!" The boy called Yubin said to him.
Xiao Zhan, who was incredibly nervous, managed to nod and smile at him, while turning back and facing front. He was feeling anxious, wanting for all the students to enter already so that they could start the first round of evaluations.
After greeting, Yubin looked down sadly, and sat down on the A bench with his other friends.
As all of the students settle in their chosen classes, Xuan Lu finally makes an appearance again. She begins introducing the mentors as they enter the room.
The mentors this year consisted of Wang Yizhou, Yang Yang, Luhan, and Liu Haikuan.
As all of the mentors settled down, they began calling students to start the evaluations. They will start with evaluating those in the A class.
Xiaowen's nerves started getting to him. He kept on fidgeting with his hands, willing himself to calm down.
God, I've worked so hard for this. Please please give this to me. Please help me and my friends pass into A class.
"Next will be Yuehua entertainment. Please make your way to the stage now."
Yibo and his label mates stood up and made their way down to the stage. They lined up and began introducing themselves.
When it was Yibo's turn, his expression completely changed, turning more cheerful and happy compared to earlier.
"I'm Wang Yibo! Now that I’ve arrived here in Chuang, I won’t ever leave!”
The crowd of students all formed an o shape with their mouths, astonished at the boy’s courage. The group positioned themselves and got ready. Once the music played, they started dancing and singing.
They were actually doing really well. It was obvious how long they practiced and honed their dancing and singing skills for this performance.
Things were going well until halfway through the song, Yibo started losing his timing, clearly not in sync with his team mates anymore.
Xiao Zhan was surprised, Yibo usually performed really well, even under really stressful situations.
When the group finished, everyone applauded. The mentors started giving their comments and rankings to the students.
"Wang Yibo, you yourself have superior dancing skills and can also sing quite well, but you are clearly distracted today."
Yibo nodded, looking down at the floor. He clenched his fists, face filled with regret.
"Wang Yibo, F class."
Yibo nodded again and bowed to the mentors, respecting their decision. Yibo walked straight to the back, sitting down in the F class bench, not sparing Xiao Zhan a single glance.
Xiao Zhan was about to stand up and comfort him when Xuan Lu spoke up again.
"Next, Wajijiwa students, please make your way to the stage now."
Xiao Zhan sighed, turned back and gestured to his friends to go down to the stage.
As Xiaowen walked down, he could feel his hands becoming clammy. He'll never be prepared for this. He felt an arm on his shoulder and looked up, seeing Linghe staring at him with a comforting smile.
Xiaowen managed to form a small smile and nodded back at the older boy. This was his routine with his Linghe-ge (yes he calls him his Linghe-ge). Once one would smile, the other would smile back and nod. It was a simple yet very meaningful gesture, which showed that they have each other’s backs no matter what.
The group of friends lined up and introduced themselves.
"Hello! We are the Wajijiwa students!" They all bowed at the same time, exuding an air of confidence.
Everyone clapped as they got into position. Once the music started, they all danced and sang to perfection. Every move, every detail done flawlessly and perfectly. Ximen Youth was a very upbeat and intense song, something that Xiaowen really struggled with at first.
They were in sync and performed really well, as seen by the fact that the audience was really excited and shocked by their performance.
Once their routine was over, they stayed in their positions, panting. Everyone was really impressed by their routine.
Xuan Lu asked them to introduce themselves one by one. When it came to Xiaowen's turn, everyone started laughing.
Xiaowen smiled cheerily, "About earlier, I can explain! I went to the F bench first by mistake! I chose A class along with my group and think I deserve to be here with everyone."
Xiaowen was feeling really good about this. He didn't make a mistake this time. He hopes all of them will get in.
Xiao Zhan, Zhao Lei, Huasen, and Zhiguang all got into A class.
The other students were really shocked. "Wow! Four A students in a row!"
"It's Linghe's turn, it's gonna be 5 students now, no 6! All of them are clearly A class!"
Xuan Lu got her microphone and announced the next results, "Zhang Linghe, F class."
Huh?
Everyone was so shocked at what Xuan Lu said.
Xuan Lu hurriedly explained the decision, "Your group has attracted a lot of attention. Except Xiaowen, all of you have already debuted before. Because of this, the standards are higher for all of you."
Linghe bit his lips and nodded. "Okay, I understand."
Xiaowen still couldn't process what was happening when the mentors turned to him.
Haikuan spoke to him, "Xiaowen, why do you think you deserve to be in A class?"
Xiaowen panicked and hurried to answer, "I know I've only been dancing for 2 months but-! I-I have been practicing so much and I think I performed well today with my group." Xiaowen's hands were shaking.
Haikuan continued talking, "You've only been dancing for 2 months, but you already think you deserve to be in the A class?"
Xiaowen was speechless.
I'll get into A class right? I worked so hard for this and there wasn't anything wrong earlier.
Xuan Lu raised her microphone, "Xiaowen, F class."
Of course. I didn't make it.
Xiaowen bowed, "Okay laoshi, I understand."
I never make it anyway.
"Xiaowen, after our deliberation, we decided you are B class. But since you chose A class, you will automatically be placed in F class. Please work hard, okay? Jiayou!" Xuan Lu said with a small smile.
Xiaowen nodded. He was trying to stop himself from crying until Linghe spoke out loud.
"Don't worry, Wenwen! I told you we'll be in F class together right? I'll continue to teach you how to dance, okay?" Linghe smiled at him from across the line.
Xiaowen smiled at the older boy. Linghe-ge always knew what to tell him. He never failed to comfort him and make him feel better, even when he was at the brink of falling apart.
They were prepared to go back to their seats when a hand was suddenly raised in the air.
"Then, I'd like to accompany them in F class, please!"
Everyone was shocked. Volunteering to go into F class? This was unheard of!
It turns out it was Huasen who raised his hand. He held his hand high up in the air with a determined look on his face.
From the stands, Xuning facepalmed, disappointed but not surprised at his (former, Xuning almost forgot) best friend's actions.
"You think this is a joke?" It was Haikuan who spoke.
Linghe whispered to Huasen, "What are you doing? Cut the crap."
"Are you making fun of the mentors' decision?" Haikuan asked again.
Huasen quickly shook his head.
Linghe raised his microphone, "No laoshi, we will respect your decision. We are very sorry". Linghe bowed down to the judges.
Huasen blinked away his tears, "Sorry laoshi, we respect your decision."
Haikuan sighed. "Listen boys, I admire your sense of friendship and brotherhood. But do you know what you need to do in this situation? You need to hone your skills and improve yourself, even if that means being in separate classes from your friends. If you let yourself and your progress be impeded just so you could accompany them to F class, that's not really fair to yourself, isn't it?"
Huasen continued nodding. "Thank you, laoshi. We understand."
The Wajijiwa students bowed, and made their way back to the stands.
Xuan Lu lifted her microphone again, "Next, students from Huace" please make your way to the stage.
As Xuning stood up, Huasen was beside him, about to enter the bench.
Xuning sighed, "You always have to speak your mind at any time and place, don't you?"
Huasen frowned and glared at him, "At least I didn’t leave my team mates behind.” Huasen muttered the words so softly that Xuning almost didn’t hear it.
“Besides, I don’t really care. You’re not in A so I’m happy here.” Huasen huffed and sat down on the A bench.
Xuning frowned, staring at him a bit longer then went down with Zhuocheng and their other label mates to the stage.
Xiaowen and Linghe made their way up to the F class bench. Xiaowen slumped into his seat, looking down at his fingers. Curling and uncurling them, fidgeting again.
Linghe sighed, he knew this was one of the possibilities, but it was still hard to process.
"Xiaowen" Linghe approached carefully, "It's okay, I'm here. We'll get through this together. Being in F class isn't the end of the world."
He held the younger boy's hands, stopping him from fidgeting.
"I'm sorry, Linghe-ge."
Linghe sighed again. It seemed to be the only thing he's been doing today.
"Xiaowen, why are you saying sorry?"
Xiaowen continued to look down at his lap, "...my fault.." Xiaowen was mumbling, his voice very soft.
Linghe couldn't hear what he was saying, "What did you say?"
A tear fell from Xiaowen's eyes, "It's my fault....I wasted your effort in teaching me those 2 months. Every spare time we had, you'd take your time to teach me the routine. Even in the dorm earlier before going here, you kept on helping me with some parts of the dance that were too hard for me. I'm sorry Linghe-ge. If you didn't have to teach me all this time, you could've practiced more by yourself and you could've made it to A class with the rest of them."
Xiaowen continued to cry quietly, wiping his eyes every now and then.
Linghe's eyes softened. He held his hands tighter and shook his head, "It's not your fault. We both did our very best today, and I'm proud of both of us, of all of us."
Xiaowen wiped his tears, breathing in deeply.
Linghe continued, rubbing circles on Xiaowen's hands to calm him down, "It's just a class. Everyone has equal chances of debuting, no matter what class we are in."
Xiaowen smiled, looking up at Linghe. He nodded, "Thank you, Ge."
"Guess you'll be stuck with me for four months." Linghe chuckled.
Xiaowen finally laughed, cheeks reddening, "I'll annoy you every single day, Ge! You'll never get rid of me!"
I must have done something really great in my past life to deserve you now.
The two lightly laughed, settling into their seats as they continued to watch the evaluations of the other students.
"Zhan-ge! This is unfair!" Huasen was speaking up again.
They all knew that out of all of them, Linghe deserved to be in A class the most. He was the leader of their previous group, minus Xiao Zhan, who was a solo artist before. Linghe worked hard, and provided all of them with guidance and advice. He was always there as a big brother for all of them, taking care of them well.
Zhao Lei and Zhiguang hung their heads low, still saddened at what happened to their friends.
Xiao Zhan clapped his hands, "What are you guys sad about? We said we'd all be A class, but do you remember? I said that if we won't be, we'll still climb our way to the top of the camp. No matter which class we end up in, we'll still debut together, okay?"
The three younger boys nodded. Though they still can't accept the results, they can't do anything about it anymore. It would be up to Linghe and Xiaowen themselves on whether they'll debut or not.
The first evaluations finally ended. Some of them got demoted to B class, as there were some more deserving candidates for A class. Xiao Zhan was shocked to see that the quiet kid who greeted him earlier, also made it to A class as well.
Zhao Lei and Huasen, to his great annoyance, got demoted to B class, while Zhiguang and Xiao Zhan stayed in A class.
Xuning and Zhuocheng both passed B class, while Yibo was in F class along with Linghe and Xiaowen.
As the evaluations ended, all the students made their way back to the dorms, turning in for the night. They had a week full of classes ahead, to develop their skills in preparation for the first live performance.
Xiaowen slept that night with a light heart. Although he ended up in F class, it’s okay. At least he still had Linghe with him.
Please give me strength to survive this camp .