Hyoyeon felt giddy with excitement as she stood in the bright sunlight; the impressive Elite Dance School building looming over her. It was a modern piece of architecture with shiny solar panelled windows that seemed to extend upwards forever – ‘how many floors must there be!’

 It made her feel tiny, inconspicuous and truth be told – absolutely petrified. All she had done was perform at the local community center; she had no clue what it was going to be like in a professional lesson.

‘What if people laugh at my free style? What if I can’t keep up? What if .. ’

the what ifs were endless… but in the end, the anticipation, the curiosity, the desire to learn won over and she took steady steps into the building.

Her class was on the 15^th floor but Hyoyeon had an hour to kill having been too jittery to sleep in, so she decided to loiter around the main lobby first. Since it was still early in the morning there weren’t too many people around. The receptionist checked her registration forms and after a few minutes gave her permission to enter. A few young kids ran past her in a rush – probably here for class before school – and she marvelled at their dedication. She would’ve liked that too, she thought wistfully..

The clock chimed striking 7 o’clock and realizing she might be in the way of more students Hyoyeon turned the corner into what looked like a wide but secluded hallway. The smell of varnish filled her nose and the floor squeaked when struck by her brand new sneakers (a gift from her beloved aunt and uncle). A glance at the plaque on the wall told her this was the Dance School’s hall of fame and the shiny light that seemed to bounce off the walls were actually trophies.

A childish giddiness overtook Hyoyeon as it sank in that she was amidst  highly skilled dancers. Of course, she wouldn’t have heard all their names but just a look at the labels – competitions in America, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Germany .. pretty much every continent – told her that they were some of the best.

Hyoyeon clenched her fist resolutely. She was going to work hard and learn as much as possible in these two months. ‘Fighting!’

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She passed by rows and rows of trophies accompanied by glossy black and white pictures but gradually they turned into color. ‘Ah they’re in numerical order..so that means the newest winners are at the end.’

She hurried her footsteps excitedly.

The brochure had said that their dance teachers would be the winners of past competitions. Hyoyeon took the leaflets out of her shoulder bag and read through her ‘class information’ as she continued walking.

Intro to Hip Hop and Street Dance

Teacher: Eunhyuk

Lastest accomplishments: 2010

 1^st place at the International Street Jam, Osaka Japan and

Gold medal at World Underground Dance Festival, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

‘Wow’, she whistled softly and came to a halt in front of the said trophy and medal. There were pictures accompanying them but the dancer had a hat pulled over his face in one and the other had him doing a handstand.

She felt oddly disappointed but got over it quickly realising there was only half an hour left until the first class began.

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The rest of the time went by in a flash since Hyoyeon ended up getting lost and eventually made it to class 2 minutes before it started; panting heavily.

‘Stupid Kim Hyoyeon. Stupid Stupid girl!’ she chanted in annoyance at herself, while moving with her head down, through the sea of classmates who were warming up in the middle of the big studio room.

She took her spot by the far corner and set her things down, still slightly out of breath.

“Don’t worry. Oppa is usually running late!”

A friendly girl with big eyes and cheekbones to die for was smiling at her, a bottle of water in hand.

Hyoyeon gave her a flustered smile while pushing her water bottle back, “Thank you but I can’t take your bottle.”

The girl smiled even wider as she studied Hyoyeon with curious eyes, “You worry too much, has anyone ever told you that?”

“I’m sorry?”

The girl stood up – ‘wow she is tall!’ – and pointed to the other end of the room. “There’s a refrigerator there with lots more water bottles and lucky me, being Oppa’s favourite dongseng, have free access to it. So here take this one.” The tall girl shot her another playful grin, “You look like you need it!” before heading in that direction.

Hyoyeon hesitated just a second more before uncapping the bottle and downing half of it in one shot. ‘How could I forget my water? urgh.. What am I doing here? I am so unprepared for this!’

“HEY!” The tall girl was back by her side, “You’re not offended by my frankness, are you?”

Hyoyeon gave her a genuine smile, “not at all.”

Her companion nodded with approval. “I thought so! As soon as I saw you, I knew we’d be friends. I’m Choi Sooyoung.”

“I’m Kim Hyoyeon.”

“Nice to meet you, Yeonie. I can call you that right? It’s cute! And you can call me Youngie!”

Hyoyeon giggled. This girl was so funny – she was glad they were going to be friends.

Sooyoung held out her arm, “Let’s warm up. Oppa should be here any minute now!”

Hyoyeon tried to follow along with what Sooyoung was doing. She wasn’t sure if there was a wrong and right way to warm up. But things were going smoothly so far.

“Hey Sooyoung.. I mean Youngie”

“Yep?”

“Is our dance teacher your oppa?” She was just curious. Would he also be tall like Sooyoung?

“Yes and no.” At Hyoyeon’s puzzled expression, she elaborated, “Not my real oppa but he’s good friends with my real oppa so we’ve known each other forever. Went to the same school and stuff.”

“Oh I see. That’s cool!”

“Yep.. oh here he is!”

The door opened and a man in a baggy sweatshirt, cap and facemask entered. Hyoyeon rose on her tiptoes peering with interest, as did many other people in the room. This was the beginners class after all.

“Hi everyone! I’m sorry I’m late. Just give me 2 seconds and we’ll get started right away.”

Something in Hyoyeon’s mind buzzed… she knew that voice from somewhere.

In the next moment, the man had taken off his sweatshirt and mask and turned around..

Hyoyeon let out a gasp.

“Hyukjae!”

Sooyoung jerked her head towards her, “You know oppa?”

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thankyou for all the comments *im grinning like gummy Hyukjae smile* :) but it's a little boring. sorry! the next one will follow shortly. let the HyoHyuk moments begin