Work Text:
Riize had recently gotten a new temporary dance instructor after the previous one had taken some time off. Everyone was quite excited to meet him as the manger had described him to be a nice and gentle man who had many years of experience.
The second they entered teh dance studio, a friendly middle aged man greeted them. He seemed nice and experienced.
“Hello boys, I’m Mr. Kim Ji Ho. You can called me Mr. Kim or Mr. Ji Ho. I can’t wait to mentor you guys. Y’all seem like very young and energetic kids!” He chirped.
They greeted him and quickly begun training. It was a vigorous song and the choreography was pretty complex however Mr. Kim made teh choreography easy to remember. The whole group liked this dance instructor a lot. Not only was he kind but also good.
“Good job boys! Take 15.”
All of them were drenched in sweat and panting as they made their made to the back of the studio to sit down and drink water.
“Shotaro? Is that your name?” Mr. Kim asked.
Shotaro nodded.
“Come here.” He gestured and Shotaro put down he water bottle and sprinted towards the man.
“You’re really good. Have you been in the industry for long?”
“Yes sir. I was in a group before this.”
“Wow! Expected. Your dance skills are impressive however you need to work on expressing your emotions in your dance better.”
Shotaro nodded as the man placed his hand on shotaros shoulder and praised him.
Shotaro then hurried back to the others. After class, Mr. Kim asked Shotaro to stay. Which Shotaro agreed.
“Taro, do you want us to stay or go home first?” Sungchan asked.
“Y’all can go first. I don’t think I’ll be long.”
“Ok.”
When the other members left, the instructors expression changed. His smile fade away.
“Shotaro, I understand that you are a skilled dancer but you are lacking emotions. Compared to the other members you are a horrible performer.”
Shotaro stared at the ground, tears prickling his eyes. “Yes sir.”
“Now let’s start from the beginning.”
Shotaro danced teh same part over again and over again until he felt like his legs were detached from his body.
“Mr. Kim, c..can I drink water.”
“Do you really think you deserve the drink?”
“I’m sorry.” Shotaro said as he got back to dancing.
At was nearing 2, he was so tired.
“Ok, that’s all for today, tomorrow same thing, stay after practice.”
He nodded. The next morning, he dreaded practice, after practice, he told the members to leave first and that he would be alright.
Once the door shut, Mr. Kim scolded, “have you forgot what you learnt last night?” He slapped Shotaro. The slap burned into Shotaro skinz
“I’m s..sorry.” Shotaros voice trembled.
“You better square up and put yourself togather.”
In Mr. Kim’s eyes, Shotaro was an insanely flawed being. He was the first one to think this. Even his previous instructors still saw the promise in him.
“Starts over!” He yelled.
It was a cycled. It felt unreal. His soles were burning and his head was spinning. But yet he continued.
That day when he went home, he cried softly into his pillow until he couldn’t anymore and fell asleep. Was he really so bad?
The next day after practice, extra practice continued. However after teh door shut instead of scolding Shotaro, Mr. Kim pushed Shotaro to the corner and started started his body.
“Can you please stop.” Shotaro desperately asked. Trying to get away.
"You feel a lot chubbier than usual," he mumbled. "Have you ever tried to lose weight fatass?"
Shotaro took a deep breath as he tried to hold back his tears.
"Don't cry boy. I'm just asking you a question," he said wiping Shotaros tears off with his thumbs.
"You know crying makes you a lot more ugly than you already are," he smirked, "I didn't even know it was possible."
Tears streamed down his face as he sniffled trying to stop himself from crying but the words burned.
After that, the man left Shotaro to cry on the dance practice floor alone.
Shotaro stood staring blankly at the mirror. He was in the middle of changing and suddenly caught a glimpse of himself. He was hideous. He was nothing compared to the rest.
Shotaro started an extreme diet the next day. He was disappointed as he looked in the mirror. The more he looked the angrier he felt.
He looked like a balloon. A balloon he wanted to pop so bad. Shotaro decided that he would have to try harder to feel satisfied. He cared a lot more about satisfying everyone but mostly Mr. Kim.
“Hyung, do you want to eat?”
“Nope. Not hungry.”
“Hyung, have you eaten?”
“Yep.”
He lied to satisfy himself and Mr. Kim.
That morning when he woke up, he felt so bad, so weak he couldn’t even get out of bed. He had barely been eating for the past three days and he had no more energy to do anything. His whole body ached and his stomach was so empty he hurt. Summoning all the strength he had left, he made it out to the living room. He gulped down some water and pain killers.
“Taro. You look quite pale. Are you feeling ok?” Sungchan asked.
Shotaro nodded weakly.
Sungchan was skeptical but nodded deciding to keep an eye on Shotaro. Sungchan thought Shotaro was sick but didn’t wnat to admit it.
That day after practice, Shotaro stayed behind as per usual and the others went home but Sungchan and Eunseok deciding to wait for Shotaro thinking it wouldn’t be a good ideas letting Shotaro go home alone while he was unwell.
They sat outside of the room and waited.
Inside the room, the music boomed against shotaros skull. “Is it too loud?” Mr Kim asked. Shotaro nodded tears falling from his eyes. Mr Kim turned the volume up. At some point, Shotaro was all curled up on the floor crying from the pain.
Finally the music stopped and vomit spilled out to shotaros mouth. Too weak to do anything, Shotaro lay on the floor sobbing while clutching his empty stomach. Mr. Kim showed no mercy.
Sungchan and Eunseok were just on the way back from the toilet when they saw Mr. Kim exiting the room. Thinking Shotaro was just packing up, they decided to go and help Shotaro pack. As they got closer, they heard sobbing sounds. Concerned, they rushed into the dance studio. Shotaro was curled up on the floor, a pool of watery vomit beside his face. Shotaro was pale and burning up.
“Shotaro was wrong?” Sungchan asked turning Shotaro away fork his vomit.
Shotaro was slipping in and out of consciousness. Sungchan quickly carried Shotaro back to the dorms and Eunseok took his bag. Sungchan did not like the weight on his back.
At the dorms, Sungchan decided it would be best not to ask about what happened and help Shotaro first. Shotaro was out of it. Thinking it would be better to help Shotaro change out of his sweaty clothes, sungchan peeled his clothes off. His heart ached at shotaros body. His rib cage was obvious visible, his stomach sunken in and he was as skinny as a twig. He called Eunseok over. Quickly, they informed their manager and teh manager arranged for a trip to the ER.
At the hospital, the doctor said that Shotaro was severely malnourished and dehydrated. They Hooked him up to IV drips and prayed for the best. The next morning Shotaro gained consciousness. When he was offered food, he would start crying and rejecting it.
“Taro, are your ok? Why aren’t you eating?” Sungchan asked.
“I’m to heavy.” His cried.
A worried face plastered across their faces.
“Taro who told you that?” The manager asked gently.
“Mr. Kim said I was a bad performer and I was too fat and ugly and he slapped me so I started dieting.” Shotaro cried.
“Oh taro. You’re perfect. You understand that extreme diets are unhealthy right?”
Shotaro nodded and apologised. “It’s ok taro. It’s not your fault. We shouldn’t have let Mr. Kim tell you such things. Next time if anything like this happens, you have to tell us ok?”
Shotaro agreed.
Later, Shotaro was given a couple of weeks to recover and rest and teh members made sure he knew that he was perfect the way he was. Mr. Kim was also legally disciplined and fired.