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They were happy and excited.
Happy because they got to perform together and excited because they had a chance to show YG their talent. That they're good enough to debut.
❇
When Mashiho was the only one from Treasure J who got in Treasure 6 and he had to left behind his members, he was sad. He was the only Japanese and he felt like he's alone. He, of course spoke Korean but he still stuttered whenever he had to speak with somebody. But with Junkyu, it was different. Almost everybody could speak in Japanese but only Junkyu had the ability to make him relaxed and not feel tense.
This is one of the reason why Mashiho wanted to be paired with Junkyu. So he hoped.
He hoped to see Junkyu walking up to him and tell him, he was the one he choose. And that's what exactly happened. He couldn't do anything, he just said thank you at least three times and at that moment nobody could wash the smile off his face.
❇
The song they chose was good. It was powerful and party-like so they even could dance to it.
They chose to sing but with that energetic song they could spice up the performance a little bit with a choreography. It was good, their choreographer was satisfied too but Mashiho wasn't. He felt a little empty, like something is missing. So he suggested to put a backflip in it to make it more interesting.
Although they were already dancing while singing, somehow the backflip was successful and Mashiho and Junkyu couldn't be happier. The result was fantastic.
Or at least it was fantastic while they were just practicing.
❇
It was time.
Junkyu and Mashiho went on stage to practice for the last time before the battle. Everything was fine until the backflip came. When Mashiho fell down on his knees Junkyu immediately reached for him. Mashiho just waved him off and said it was nothing. They tried again but Mashiho fell down again now on his butt. They didn't know what happened. It was a shock for the both of them. Everything was fine until now. Because now, everything was a disaster and they only had a few hours until the battle.
Junkyu was helping Mashiho to stand up when their choreographer called them off the stage.
"You can't do this," said their choreographer. "It's too dangerous. Mashiho, it's for your your own safety."
Mashiho was so shocked, he couldn't even say anything. His teacher also said that with the falling down it's not cool and he will just hurt himself. That's when Mashiho started to cry. He was desperate and didn't know what to do.
"If we don't make the backflip then can we win?" he asked in Japanese while still crying. "Can we win if I don't make the backflip?"
Like Mashiho, Junkyu was hopeless too. He just stared at nothing.
"You can't do the backflip. We just have to complement the backflip's place with some dance move," said the choreographer. Junkyu nodded while Mashiho tried to calm down.
After they discussed what they'll do, Junkyu lead Mashiho away to a quieter place. He hugged him and slowly started to pet Mashiho's back while murmuring sweet nothings to his ear.
❇
After their opponents' performance, they went on stage and stood still. When the MC asked Mashiho whose vote did he want he said YG's. But unfortunately he picked the wrong card. It was the audience's vote. Mashiho knew. He knew the audience didn't chose them. He just knew. And he was right. Right.
They lost the battle and lost the chance to be in Treasure 6.
He didn't want to cry but after he went off stage he couldn't stop the tears falling down on his face.
'I was right,' he thought. 'Without the backflip we didn't even have a chance.'
He leaned on the wall next to him and just cried. He didn't care about the cameras around him, he just wanted to release the stress. He felt hands around himself. Hands which squeezed him to a body. He looked up and saw Junkyu, smiling at him softly but he could still saw the sadness in his eyes. He hugged him back and continued to cry.
"It's my fault," he said. "It was because of me." Hearing this, Junkyu was taken aback. He moved back a little just to see Mashiho's face. He wiped off the tears from his face with the back of his hand and kissed his forehead. That's when the staff knew, they had to leave them alone. When everybody left, Junkyu took Mashiho's face in his palms and looked into his eyes.
"It wasn't your fault. We done what we could do and it was good. We didn't make any mistakes." Mashiho was silent but at least he wasn't crying anymore. "We will be okay. Maybe we're going back to be trainee's but if we continue to work hard, we'll be in Treasure 6 again in no time." The Japanese just nodded and snuggled closer into the hug. Junkyu smiled and kissed Mashiho's forehead one more time before he took his hand and headed back with a sniffing male on his side to the others.
Little did they know, Yedam was also crying in the backstage for them. Like he always does for the boys he loves.