Make Me/Maia - Week Two

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## Carter's Week Two

Usually, getting into the top 10 of almost anything is good. But to Carter, his standing at sixth was a disappointment, more so for his parents. He should know, the only thing his father told him during their phone call that night was how they expected Carter to do better and that he should do better next time and hanging up before Carter could let out a word. All he wanted was to hear supporting and proud words from them, but apparently it's nothing but wishful thinking. He didn't call them back and swallowed down the tears that threatened to fall until the morning after.

Soon enough, the second task was given and practices started up once again. Carter sort of regrets his solitary life as a trainee since it has evidently made it harder for him to work in teams. He guesses it was because he was hoping to debut as a soloist and, in a way, sort of surpass his father. The new groupings were fortunately not that hard to get used to since he'd worked with Rose and Sulgi before. He only needs to adapt to Angel and Jax, which was a smaller and thankfully easier change compared to the previous task.

As he did with the previous task, he observed first how the others worked, get a feel of their work aura and try and adapt to it. He did solitary practices well into the night, studied the choreography well, and memorised everything to the last note. The only thing that was driving him forward was the reminder that his parents were monitoring his progress and were expecting him to do better than last time. The small child inside of him still craved the approval he never got, so he worked himself to the bone. One bright ray in his misery was, of course, his close friend/de facto sister Kai. The latter had given him a surprise visit shortly after their performance, which gave him a ridiculous amount of relief.

Eclipse wasn't a group he would listen to regularly, which means Everybody was but a passing song in his Spotify playlist until now. During the duration of the task's practices, Everybody dominated his Recently Played playlist. He played it on loop, familiarising himself with the lines and the notes, especially his parts.

Throughout the practice period, he tries his best to be a team player. Silent as he may be, he does give effort to be more familiar with his teammates and be less of a burden. Carter used up all of his free time for extra practice to make himself do better, not only trying to familiarise every last note and step, but perfecting them. He isn't satisfied until he feels he had mastered something, which leads to long, long nights. During real practices, Carter tries to not let his weariness show and instead show what he had worked hard on.

It was one of those long nights when Carter had an epiphany, or rather a string of them.Everything he has done, from auditioning at Prism to joining this contest that challenged his natural state as a wallflower, stepping too far out of his comfort zone far too many times for his liking, was all for his parents. He was aware he craved his parents' approval and praise, but he never realised to what extent. This lead to a long conversation with Kai at 1 am with Kai ending the call with the words "Do it for yourself. Use protection."

Though the last two were just a touch of Kai's, well, *Kai-ness*, the first four really did get Carter thinking. He tried it out, doing things without thinking if his parents would approve but instead thinking of himself, of how he wanted himself to improve. It was hard and he would sometimes catch his thoughts turning towards his parents more often than not. But if one observes Carter as a third person, one would see a slight change in his dynamic, seeming less stiff and more... free... in a word.

Practices became a lot more easier since he restrained himself from imagining his parents' scrutinising eyes on him. He loved dancing, he always has, but he never got the chance to show it, no thanks to his parents. Make Me has given him a chance to

WIP

## Sapphire's Week Two

When it was revealed she landed the top 2 spot, Sapphire almost wept then and there. She never expected to do that well, nor did she expect to even get in the top 10. Her words were nigh incomprehensible when she phoned her brother Teddy, their parents, and Vesha, an excited mix of English and Korean expressing her happiness (pun intended). Third time really was the charm, and she wanted to do even better in the next task.

Being the only Alpha trainee in the group made it quite intimidating for her. This was a huge leap from the all-Alpha team from last task, from a group of familiar faces to a group of complete strangers. Intimidating as it was, Sapphire tried her best to connect with her new teammates and made sure to be sincere about it. She did the same thing she did during the first task; she invited them for meals, extra practice and the like. She believes this would help create a connection between the members and hopefully make it easier for them to work together. Hopefully she wasn't being an annoyance to her teammates.

Their song for the second task was Black Swan's Happiness, also known as Sapphire's jam. Sapphire loved all of Black Swan, but she unfortunately got the lines she was most unfamiliar with. Jinnie had gotten the ones Sapphire wanted, but of course not everything you want you could get, so Sapphire just has to make do with it.

Sapphire was wholly familiar with the song and the choreography, the only problem was working with the new teammates. Though she encouraged extra practice within the team, practice with all of them were new waters. They were awkward at first but they all did their best, Sapphire especially. She wanted to show to the rest that even within a new environment, she can still finish the task with grace.

As practices went on, the team became more accustomed with each other, a fact that lead to smoother practices and more unison between the members. Though this made Sapphire super happy, the exhaustion of having to stay so *peppy* and *brightly friendly* was catching up to her. If one would look closely, there was a tiny drag in her movements, as if she's turning sluggish due to the amount of socialisation she has to do. However, Sapphire doesn't let it drag her down.

In all honesty, Sapphire not only agreed to joining Make Me as another shot at debuting but also as a chance to introduce herself to new environments in order to improve her, ah, socialisation problems. It was working, yes, but it was still so exhausting for her having to face even more people than she usually does. She finds comfort with regular calls with her parents, Teddy, and Vesha, but she knows she has to tough this out on her own so she tries her best to not rely on the mentioned people too much. She is an independent young lady and she wants to show it.

WIP