Just a friendly reminder that Italics = thoughts

Your POV.

“Well let’s get started shall we?”

The 15 of you girls gathered in a circle around dance instructor Dong-Sun. “Ok girls this is how it’s going to work. Each of you are going to get a turn to dance with Ryeowook so he can get a feel for how well you are able to interact with him. Then there will be a break while he gets to watch the recordings of the performances to view them from the audience’s perspective. His teammates will also be scoring you and will most likely play a part in his decision so keep that in mind. Regardless just do it like we practiced and I’m sure you’ll be fine. Good luck ladies.”

Ryeowook shyly introduced himself and thanked you all for working so hard on his performance. He was clearly excited about the prospect of showing a new side of himself. You’d heard from your brother that although he was no longer the youngest of Super Junior he was still referred to as the eternal maknae thanks to his unending cuteness. He was positively adorable and despite him being older than you by almost 5 years he made you want to protect him, which was nearly laughable.

You watched silently as Jae-Hwa was up first. There was a certain advantage to going ahead of everyone else because his mind would be fresh, but it was silly how she though it would really make that much of a difference. Whether it was from nervousness or not it she was slightly stiff and awkward. Jae-Hwa’s cronies didn’t fare much better.

Mi-Na surprised you; however you realized that with her doll like appearance it seemed slightly off visually. She just didn’t match the look and feel of the song, which was unfortunate but sometimes that was just the way things went. Hyorin and Hara naturally excelled both being extremely y on their own. Amber ran into a similar problem as Mi-Na not having the looks to match the song. Ryeowook himself has very feminine features so when he was paired with Amber her beautiful androgynous look got washed out. All throughout her performance you couldn’t help but glance between her and Donghae. It was eerie how they looked so similar when they weren’t related in any way.

Victoria and Ailee did an amazing job as well, though not as good as Hyorin and Hara. At last it was finally your turn and you noticed Ryeowook was significantly tired. You grabbed up a bottle of water and brought it over to him.

“Ummm Ryeowook-ssi do you need a break?”

Startled by your approach he nearly jumped a foot in surprise. “Oh I’m fine. I guess when I suggested being a part of the selection process I didn’t consider that I’d have to perform the song 15 times.”

“Here have a drink.” You offered him the bottle of water and he took a grateful swig.

“Thanks. What’s your name again?”

“It’s Melody.”

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too Ryeowook-ssi.”

“You can call me oppa if you want.” He blushed furiously after making his suggestion and it made you smile.

“Ok Ryeowook-oppa. What do you say we make this last performance something to remember?” You asked brightly.

He nodded while setting the water bottle aside and then rejoining you in the center of the room.

“Music start.”

The first few measures of the song were dedicated to Ryeowook’s individual dance piece so you took the time to mentally prepare yourself. Since he was tired you wanted to make him forget about his weariness and focus on you. Pretending it was Taemin you were dancing with you approached Ryeowook in long graceful strides reaching him in a matter of moments. You slid your hand up his arm and twirled around him playfully. It was a slight deviation from the routine, but you figured that after his 14^th time of performing it he was fairly bored.

His mood steadily improved as you coaxed out his different responses. One second you would pierce him with an unforgiving stare while in the next you would lightly brush your fingertips against his hand. You were having so much fun that you didn’t even notice the song was over.

“Ahem.” Someone cleared their throat.

“Oh sorry I didn’t hear the music stop.” You quickly apologized.

“That’s quite alright Melody-ssi. Anyways this officially ends the practical portion of the contest. If you could please follow me Ryeowook-ssi we will get the projector set up and allow you some time to review their performances with your members.”

Donghae’s POV.

I followed Shindong and Eunhyuk to a nearby conference room and sat down to wait for the video feed to be set up. In all honesty I had already narrowed it down to only three girls, but I was curious as to how the other’s felt about it.

“So what do you think?” I asked.

Shindong grinned. “They were hot!”

I punched him on the arm. “Not that you idiot, I meant about the dancing.”

“Oh you’re no fun. It’s probably because you are only interested in Eunhyuk so you don’t even look at anyone else.” He teased.

“Whatever. Then I guess I’ll just as him since at least he takes me seriously.”

Shindong placed his hand on my shoulder. “I was only joking. You know how I am.”

“Unfortunately I do.” I said sarcastically causing him to laugh.

“Getting back on topic I would say there were quite a few that impressed me with their dance skills, but only a handful whose look also matched the desired image.”

Looking down at the pictures in front of me I had to agree. They were all pretty good dancers, which was obvious when you think about how they are candidates for SM's new girl group. But only some of them were able to pull off the y vibe Ryeowook wanted.

“What do you think Eunhyuk?” Shindong asked.

“I’d have to say for the most part I agree though we have to wait and see how Ryeowook feels.”

Just then Ryeowook walked in with Instructor Dong-Sun, the CEO’s secretary, and the PD for the show. Of course there were a few cameramen filming as well.

“Well Ryeowook-ssi how are you feeling about the whole thing so far?” The PD asked going into interview mode.

“It was a lot of hard work, but I want to make sure my individual showcase is perfect for the tour. There is such a different feeling when I stand up onstage by myself than when I’m with my members and I need it to be as amazing as possible.”

“That is very understandable.” She said amicably. “Were there any girls specifically that stood out to you?”

He blushed under her intense stare. “Yes there were a few; however they all were impressive in some way.”

“You don’t have to be so kind Ryeowook-ssi this is a competition for them after all.”

I really don’t like this chick. She was clearly making Wookie uncomfortable to try and get a more interesting episode.

“I-I wasn’t trying to be nice. I truly think they all danced very well.”

“It’s ok I guess that is just your personality. How about you Donghae-ssi , was there anyone that caught your eye?”

“I think that Ryeowook has a lot of good dancers to choose from and I can only do my best to help select one that fits best with him.”

Her smile faded clearly annoyed with my diplomatic answer. “I see. We might as well get started with the screening process then. Secretary?”

“Rather than waste time watching all 15 performances again I think it would be best if you select only a couple to judge more closely. It will save time and make it easier to process by having less information in front of you. If you have any questions I’m sure your members will help you out with their own opinion of each dancer.”

I waited as Ryeowook selected 4 clips to view and was satisfied that the 3 girls I liked were a part of it. Wookie was clearly getting better at judging a good performance. When the clips finished he twirled his chair back around to face us.

“I’d like to ask your opinion for each of the girls I selected before I make my final decision.”

I stared down at the 4 portfolios in front of me. First up was a girl by the name of Goo-Hara. I recognized her from audition week.

“I thought she was very y but she didn’t interact with you as much as I would’ve liked to see.” I said truthfully.

“I agree with Donghae, though she exuded confidence in her movements she was too timid in her contact with you.” Eunhyuk added.

“Ok how about the next girl Hyorin?” He asked.

“She certainly has the look you are going for and her dance skills were very impressive. Some of her movements though were almost too powerful.” I critiqued.

“How did you feel while dancing with her?” Shindong asked.

Ryeowook paused for a moment while he thought. “At first I really liked it. She was y and graceful without being too pushy, but towards the end her aura was almost overwhelming. It made me feel pressured like she was trying too hard to ‘act’ y instead of just being y if that makes sense.”

“No that makes perfect sense. So then how about the next girl…” I looked down at the third picture. “Victoria.”

“In all honesty I wasn’t quite sure about her so I included her in order to watch her performance one more time, but now I can say for certainty that she isn’t what I’m looking for. She seems too level headed and calculates her moves before she does them.” Ryeowook confessed.

“Ok then the last girl Melody-ssi.” Immediately I remembered seeing her during audition week with Hara. She was the one that captured Taemin’s attention that didn’t even get to do her individual dance trial.

Ryeowook’s whole body posture changed when he looked at her file folder. “At first I didn’t even feel like dancing during the last round. I was exhausted from dancing it 14 times already and she was able to pick up on that even offering me a break and a bottle of water.”

“I noticed that.” I spoke up. “You seemed to relax so much afterwards.”

He nodded. “I did and when she danced I felt my entire mood change. She could’ve just ignored my tiredness and simply danced as usual, but instead she tuned herself in to my emotional state. When my thoughts wandered she would give me a hard stare as if chastising me and when I got too serious she would lean in for a playful touch. It was like she could read my thoughts with just a small glance and control my actions with a single touch.”

“Sounds like you’ve already made your decision.” I said.

Closing her file folder he leaned back in his chair. “Yes I suppose I have.”

A/N: This is for all you faithful readers whose comments make me want to update as fast as possible. I just wanted to also let you know that I am going to a wedding this weekend and have finals next week so I'm going to be very busy. The good news is though that summer break is just around the corner so I will have plenty of time in the coming months to write. As always let me know what you think. :) -Sarah