Passing Period (1)

"Who's that?" Mi Yong cooed over Reggie's shoulder. 

On Reggie's phone, he was scrolling through various instagram feeds. He quickly retracted his screen from view, flustered. 

"Was that Joon-woo?" Mi Yong asked, spot on because it was partly Joon-woo.

Reggie hummed, "It's a list of the top ten prettiest male idols of 2024… voted by fans…" He slowly brought the phone back into view, scrolling through the rankings for Mi Yong's approval. 

Many different idols with a similar formula of face came into view.

Justin of DoubleHit, Hanbin of DRAGONZ, Hai of BB Boys, Woobin of RIZEE, and Joon-woo were all featured in that order. Mi Yong nodded, both of their eyes avoiding the first comment saying, they all look like girls ☠️. 

"Were you checking them out?" Mi Yong asked after a small moment of admiration of the visuals in front of their eyes. 

Reggie flinched, hard. 

"No, Hyung–" Reggie groaned, trying to play off the fear in his eyes. "I don't swing that way." He said, hands up in an 'X' shape. 

Mi Yong raised an eyebrow, "Don't get so offended, Reggie, it is not the 1990s anymore but 2025." He spoke with a frown. 

Reggie nodded slowly, surprised with how… okay Mi Yong was with the idea of homosexuality. It was never taken too well from Reggie's sight. Sure teenage girls ate it up when they saw their favorite idols or characters act in couple-like ways, but the true existence of homosexuality was still shunned. Even the Korean youth still exhibited anti-gay behaviors, if not to mention being an idol on top of all of it. 

If Reggie was ever found out for real, he could kiss his career with ASCEND, with Joon-woo goodbye. 

"Yes, hyung." Reggie replied, trying to not seem too lost in his thoughts. 

If Mi Yong seemed to be okay with homosexuality, does that mean Jung Hyun-Ok or Ryeo Hyun were also okay with it? Was it safe for Reggie to be what he hid around his bandmates? He clenched his fists in a moment of weakness. 

That… was a scary thought. Homophobia was in the walls of every Korean's mind, American, even. Reggie had seen and heard of the worst treatment of gay people throughout the world. The murders, sexual assaults, the beatings. 

There were times he wished that he was straight, because he hated faking attraction for the girls all his friends and his bandmates would agree upon as hot. He hated playing the role of someone he wasn't. He hated the idea of his future because he knew he couldn't live out his truths like someone straight could. Gay people couldn't get married here in Korea. In Asia, only Thailand had legalized it along with America. Reggie wouldn't wish homosexuality on anyone. 

He looked in front of him, his reflection in the hairdresser's mirror. There were foils trapping his dead bleached hair. He wore no make-up and knew better than to trace over his face with his hands. It was a hassle for the make-up artists to cover up blemishes. 

Mi Yong had been ushered away to get his hair back to its natural black. That apparently fit the 'sexy' concept more than his pink hair. Reggie supposed he himself was able to keep his blond hair because he had a naturally more sexy look in general. Mi Yong was on the cuter side, Jung Hyun-Ok on the prettier side, and Joon-woo a nice mix of both. Ryeo Hyun and Baek Du-Ho also were naturally sexy, so perhaps they could wear dyed hair in a sexy concept well. 

On the hair dresser's couch, Joon-woo was quietly snoring away. Only Reggie knew the younger snored, as you had to be close enough to hear it. Reggie was often the only one that could wake his sleep deprived roommate. He would often find his BGP partner drawing or practicing or just staring oddly into space instead of sleeping after a long schedule. 

Reggie admired his bandmates' features from afar, thinking back to the Instagram post. Joon-woo was pretty. He was also cute, and acted well enough into the BGP, that he had mastered the mannerisms of a female idol. It was like he was a natural. Joon-woo was smart despite his lack of solid education, he was mature and knew more than Mi Yong sometimes how to deal with certain idol situations. Joon-woo, though Reggie had admitted to the other already, was the picture perfect mentor despite his younger status. 

Joon-woo, as if feeling Reggie's eyes, went a little red, "Hyung, why are you looking so intently over here?" The younger asked, wiping sleepy eyes. 

Reggie pinched himself under the hairdresser coverup. Why was he always getting caught? 

"I'm not, Jo-ah, don't worry." Reggie insisted. 

Joon-woo hummed sleepy, wiping his eyes and sitting up, "Jo-ah? That's a new nickname…" 

Reggie shrugged, "I don't want to call you Joon-ah like everyone else." He replied. 

Joon-woo listlessly hummed, lying back down on the couch with his brown colored hair lying unevenly onto the cushions. He turned his front towards the backing of the couch as if to make his expression unreadable.

"Jo-ah?" Reggie asked, peaking at Joon-woo's back from the mirror's reflection.

Joon-woo was silent for a moment, "Only call me that on camera."

Reggie was stunned silent for a moment. Wasn't that a bit cold? He pondered for a moment, eyes catching the security cameras blinking the corner of each room. Any of the footage could be used for their youtube reality show. It came out weekly, the cameras littered everywhere the cause. 

Reggie frowned, "There's always a camera…" He insisted under his breath.

–+–

Emily Choi tapped play on a video of choreo on her laptop. The projector projected a video of six dancers moving sensually along to a beat ASCEND had heard a few days prior. She looked to the obviously surprised group lying helplessly after an intense warmup on the practice room floor. 

What stood out to her, were the fact there were duo moments within the choreography that seemed suspiciously suited for a shorter and taller person… She sighed, looking at the two youngest members of ASCEND, Joon-woo and Reggie. 

Joon-woo looked so uncomfortable, as if knowing his fate. While Reggie seemed to not realize what part was made for him at all. The other members of ASCEND were, in Emily's opinion, old enough to dance to this song properly, but the two youngest? She couldn't imagine the two being so… intimate in dance moves, it didn't feel right to her. 

The video came to a slow end, the duo of dancers in the video ending up side by side in the center, a seductive ending fairy for them and only them. She sighed, slightly disliking her job at the moment. The cameras blinked at her, the group waiting at her feet. She coughed up her pride and huffed. 

"Uh… As the video implied. Yong-ssi and Du-Ho-ssi will be the dancers that start here on the right, Hyun-ok-ssi and Hyun-ssi to the left, and… Reggie and Joon-woo in the center…" She began, taping down spots on the floor for each to stand on. 

"As it's very clear, the nature of this dance leaves a lot for the eyes to dwell on, so please do not worry if you find this harder to grasp." She prefaced, not wanting either of the youngest to lose their confidence. "Let's– hmmm, begin…" She spoke with a 'hwaiting' fist.

–+–

"Joon-woo-ssi, watch your step here. It's two three four one. Okay? Two three four one." 

"Aish… Joon-woo… There's not enough momentum in this movement."

"Du-ho-ssi, your legs are too close together here. I know it's a bit uncomfortable but please bear with me…" 

"The legs, Joon-woo! Please watch them. Imagine there is a chair in between them." 

"Reggie-ssi, can you assist your bandmates?" 

"Hyun-ok-ssi, you too? I need more [umph] in this movement."

"Joon-woo… I think you know what I will say…"

The clock ticked on after hours. Their schedule had been drastically reduced in favor of comeback preparations and more reliable eyes watching over their conditions. 

Even Emily was sweating from giving so many examples, looking onto the group of exhausted boys before her, she could only sigh in defeat. 

"Get some rest, boy, we will continue tomorrow." She instructed, cracking open a bottle of water.