Boy's Planet added contestant: Bae Sangwon

The recording and dorm chaos

this feels like a filler sorry kinda maybe depends how it goes

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Over the remaining days the trainees were taken to a recording booth to record the audio for the song. Also during that time, the YueHuas plus Sangwon and Sung Hanbin met up in empty studios to practice together.

Normally during these sessions Sangwon would wait for people to approach him if they needed help. It's the introvert in him. But from listening to conversations he learned some things about his fellow trainees. Like how rich Ricky actually is, Ollie was a child model in China and Sungbin has a little sister who's a rock climber.

When Yunseo said he was Twice's Nayeon's cousin Sangwon was tempted to talk about being related to Irene but decided not to. He listened to stories about their lives while occasionally chiming in when called out.

Sangwon pondered if he should talk about his psychosis and warn them should he experience an episode so severe that he hurts himself or others. It would be good to prepare some people but was he going to be ostracised? Sungbin shared that he wanted to be a therapist when he was younger, he would probably be understanding right? But also burdening them with this knowledge was scary and Sangwon didn't trust any of them enough.

The practice sessions continued like this and soon enough it was D day.

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The trainees were in the recording venue getting ready for the performance. All of them were wearing something adjacent to school uniforms with K group in the blue version and G group in the pink.

Sangwon was seated next to Gyuvin and Yujin, reassuring them that they would be okay during the recording.

"You've worked hard and improved over the past couple days. Trust yourself, you'll be fine." Sangwon said. Over the remaining days he had gotten acquainted with them.

"Alright hyung, thank you for all the help too."

The hairstylist tied Sangwon's hair into a ponytail and left two sections of hair to frame his face. The makeup was kept minimal as the concept of the song was bright.

They joined the rest of the trainees at the stage and got to their spots. While waiting for everyone else, Sangwon looked around to find the cameras recording them. He had a feeling that his fancam would be the most important and he should focus on that. The other moving cameras were for the overall filming so if they went near him he would look at them too, ensuring some kind of screen time. Maybe.

Seo Won was next to him and started talking to release the nerves.

"First stage of the show! I've already debuted but this just feels different. How many people are gonna watch this?" they were all either to himself or rhetorical questions so Sangwon didn't answer.

Sangwon marked the steps of the song with the rest of the time he had. The performance only required them to dance which Sangwon figured as all of them singing at the same time would be disturbing to hear. He'd have to show his vocals some other time.

Finally everyone was ready and the recording started. Since Sangwon was a K group all star he had the privilege of performing the whole time. He made sure that his movements were precise but not rushed.

The performance went by without a hitch. For his ending fairy he did a simple finger heart and smiled at the camera. After waiting for everyone to finish their fairies, they went off the stage and chatter immediately set in.

"There's so much adrenaline going through me right now." he's pretty sure that was Cha Woongi talking. He wasn't wrong; there was so much adrenaline coursing through Sangwon's veins that it made his hands shaky.

The man of the hour Sung Hanbin was swarmed by questions from the others. Sangwon was glad that wasn't him and slid away to a changing room to get back into his day clothes.

He changed quickly and wiped his makeup off before boarding one of the buses. He was one of the first ones on there and chose a seat near the window. The performance and the build up towards it was draining and he just wanted to dose off.

The bus was filled quickly and Ollie sat next to Sangwon. Ollie was still energised and began asking Sangwon questions.

"How was performing so high up? I couldn't even perform on the stage... I wish I never got sick." Sangwon was weak for the younger ones so he entertained the questions.

"Nerve wracking but exhilarating. And really the stars aren't as important as you think, it's your popularity in the show." he tried to reassure.

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The bus reached the camp and the trainees got out to get ready for bed. Some of them anyways. The rest were talking and singing and playing games. Sangwon wanted to sleep but with all the noise he wasn't able to. He decided to ask around for earplugs and witnessed many interesting scenes.

There was the karaoke room with like ten people inside. Sangwon didn't bother with that room. There was Bak Doha being admired for his body, Sangwon left awkwardly after seeing the others touching. At G group's side Keita was teaching others some Korean and thankfully someone had earplugs to spare.

Right as he was opening his door, Seo Won found him.

"Hey, write your number down so we can keep in touch over the break." Sangwon was tired so he wrote his number down silently and entered the room.

Sangwon returned to his room and curled up under the blankets, ready to sleep after the draining day.

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authors note

little shorter chapter at 900 words

i adore ollie i'm so sad he's gone

published: 29 April 2023

as always, thank you for reading :)