“Are we seriously doing this?”

Yugyeom glared at Bambam who was putting on some final touches to Yugyeom’s makeup.

“We can’t leave Lisa’s team to go out there short on team members!” Bambam argued, powdering his tall friend’s nose.

“They are just short on ONE person, not TWO.” Yugyeom grimaced, putting on some chapstick, “Is it necessary to throw me under the bus with you too?”

“Look, you are primping yourself up even without my interference, meaning you want to do this,” Bambam retorted, pointing to Yugyeom’s chapstick motion, “Plus, an extra person will make any awkward I do less obvious. And, think about how you will impress Yerin…?”

That last line seemed to have sealed the deal for Yugyeom. But he still looked a bit concerned. “But it’s been a year since you have danced. Are you up for this? Did you tell Lisa your freestyle thing last year was just a dare Jackson gave you to annoy Jimin on stage when she was singing a ballad?”

“Shhh…she doesn’t need to have more things to worry about,” Bambam hushed his friend, “Not to mention, I know the choreography of Ten’s part by heart.”

I fought my way back to the assembly hall and found Yerin, Jimin, Jinyoung, Jaebum, Jackson, Jungyeon and Tzuyu seating near each other.
I furrowed my eyebrows as I saw Jinyoung and Jaebum.

“I thought you two were performing after the YG SM high school dance…?”

“Oh, we pulled out of the competition a while ago,” Jaebum noted, “Because this guy wants to watch the talent show with his girlfriend.”

Jinyoung shrugged at the comment and clasped the hands of Jimin sweetly. Jackson shuddered at the PDA.

“So, who is performing in place of you guys now…you needed a replacement to pull out…?”

Before Jaebum or Jinyoung could answer my question, two familiar faces graced the stage.

“Bambam!?” Jackson gasped.

Bambam nodded to the control booth members that he was ready.

The music came on and his body naturally knew what to do.
He had watched Ten do this with Lisa a gazillion times in his head at this point.
Plus, having danced with Lisa for most of his childhood, his body remembers.

Lisa must have felt the same way, a slight smile creeping on her face as she spun around him.

This felt like back then….

…a fragment of a memory flashed in Bambam’s mind. He was saying something to Lisa after a dance competition in Thailand…

However, he had no time to explore that memory more as he had to quickly transition into the intense footwork in the choreography. Was he getting closer to the promise Lisa and later his sister Baby mentioned to him about…?

The beat of the song dropped. Bambam winked at Yugyeom to take over Ten’s original dance solo part.
“Go get Yerin with those moves!” the Thai boy mouthed.

Yugyeom took a deep breath and slid into the spotlight.
He was going to do it just like how he did it at home whenever a Chris Brown song popped up on Spotify. He moved his shoulders to the rhythm of the track and let his legs move free. Next thing, he knew he has dropped low to the dance floor.

“DAMN SON!” Bambam exclaimed as quietly as he could, trying to hold back his shock as he looked at a somewhat stunned Lisa beside him and a completely red and blushing Yerin in the audience, “I told you to go get Yerin, not go get yourself a restraining order from her father!”

But the crowd seemed to love Yugyeom’s suggestive moves and went wild.

“THAT’S MY BOY!!!” screamed Jackson while Jaebum and Jinyoung cheered on.

Yugyeom seemed to enjoy the attention for once unlike his usual shy self, spinning back up from the floor and shuffling back into the dance formation for one final group dance break.

The group got into formation with some collective body rolls and then ended with a dip of the dance partner for those with one while the solo Yugyeom simply bowed. The audience cheered but all Bambam could notice was how close his face was to Lisa’s in this move…god dammit Ten was doing this for two months?!

“That was…” Jimin finally broke the silence with the two words.
“…a lot,” Yerin finished the sentence, still stunned, “to take in…”

Jackson wiped fake tears as he grinned, “My boys are all grown up.”

Jungyeon peered at Jackson, “Well, what about you then?”

Jimin laughed at Jungyeon’s comment, “He won’t be growing up.”

“I’m also grown up, in that department,” Jackson groaned back as the girls all collectively rolled their eyes remembering his self-proclamation of being wild and y.

I piped up to stop the bickering, “Hey guys, it’s Jihyo, Momo and Mina’s stage soon.”

“No,” Jaebum interrupted, “Did you not hear me just now? Youngjae is replacing us and he is going first.”

Youngjae made his way on stage, microphone in hand.
“Hi, everyone! I am Choi Youngjae who is running for student president!”

Cheers could be heard from some areas in the crowd, showing his popularity.

“I was going to be doing a solo replacing my friends Jinyoung and Jaebum but surprise! I will actually be doing a duet.”

My friends and I looked at each other. Who could be singing with Youngjae?

Suddenly, the stage lights dimmed and another familiar face joined Youngjae on stage.

Jungyeon grunted silently, “I. KNEW. IT.”