∞ Chap 8: TOUGH ∞

Having a small conversation requires such a courage and patience for her.

As MAMA were approaching soon, the two groups started to practice immediately after the meeting which was held three days ago. At 7 in the morning, they got together in NCT’s practice room to meet their trainer.

When two groups lined up to see the trainer, Lina was too absorbed in admiring Mark from afar and was not paying much attention to her surroundings. She accidentally stood next to Jeno. What the boy did after that, upset her. He whispered something to Jaemin who was standing next to him and dragged the boy to stand at the outer line. Jeno was clearly showing his dislike towards Lina which made her feel sorrowful.

Despite the awkward atmosphere between her and Jeno due to the incident few days ago, Lina expected the practice to go on smoothly.

The trainer was experienced one who had taught NCT Dream since their trainee years. So he knew the members’ personalities more clearly than anyone else. From the first sight, Lina found this man friendly and probably supportive. The way he greeted the girls with a warm smile and some wonderful advice before the practice, truly made her worries of meeting the scary SM trainers vanish totally.

“Okay. So now we need to pair up,” the trainer looked at all teenagers and tapped his fingers on the table, then continued, “I’ve decided the pairings for you, depending on your same positions in the group. However, since there are seven boys and four girls, each group will have different numbers of members. Okay?”

Lina was wishing for her to be paired with Mark, but after hearing the trainer, her hopes slowly disappeared. Mark was a main rapper. That means he could pair with Camilla. He was also a leader so Kathie could be his partner too. But in both situations, Lina never had a chance.

Don't lose the hopes. I’m still a lead rapper.

“First group will be Mark and Chanmi. Hope you guys can work on the rap part well.” the trainer announced and the two main rappers bowed to each other.

Camilla took a glance at Lina who was also secretly making some special signals at her. Lina made a hand gesture with two fingers, meaning “I’ll be watching you, sis.” Camilla chuckled seeing her childish gesture.

Lina suddenly remembered her role, a dancer. She looked around, trying to guess whom she could pair with. Jisung and Jaemin are great dancers too.

Wait! Someone was missing. She tiptoed to get a better view of the boy who was standing next to Jaemin.

“Shoot!” Lina cursed under her breathe.

There he was, paying complete attention to the instructor. He was another dancer, Lee Jeno. Lina panicked and nervously played with the hem of her T-shirt. She secretly prayed that Jeno wouldn’t be her partner. He hated her and didn’t want them to stand next to each other just few minutes ago. It would be a nightmare if they were paired.

“Anyhow, Jisung sunbae was the main dancer, right?” She calmed herself down.

“The dancer, Lina and...” The instructor eyed three dancers.

Hearing her name being mentioned, she tried her best to stay calm and got ready to work with whoever the trainer chooses.

“Uhm… Jisung ah, you’ll work with her. Maknae te….”

“YESSS!”

All heads turned around to see Lina cheering by herself. She made it too noticeable that even Jisung looked at her awkwardly.

“I…uhm… am really… honored to work with the senior I’ve been respecting for his dancing skills so… yeah.” Lina did nothing but laugh, trying to be confident but failed miserably. “Sorry for overeacting.” She mentally face palmed.

The guys chuckled while her sisters shot her surprising stares. Camilla whispered,

“You’ve changed your crush?”

Not minding answering the question, Lina took a deep breathe. She was more relieved than ever. But the feeling didn’t last long.

“Excuse me, but Jisung? He needs to perform his solo dance, right? His solo has hard moves that require time. I don’t think making him the main dancer in this special stage is a great idea. Since this couple is of main dancers, it also has difficult choreography.” Mark said raising his hand and asked the trainer. He truly cared about his brother’s health.

Awww! What a caring leader! Definitely boyfriend material! Lina looked at Mark in admiration.

“So, any suggestions, leader?” The trainer asked Mark and the boy looked at Jaemin.

Lina got back to reality and the feeling of anxiety emerged inside her. She deeply wished for Jaemin as her partner. The girl worriedly looked at Mark’s eyes which were directed towards Jaemin.

“Jaemin. He is a good dancer too. How about him, sir?” Mark asked his trainer.

“Hyung. I don’t have solo dances but I do have the hardest dance move in the whole performance. Do you expect a boy with a vulnerable back like me to practice the thirty continuous spinning and also the crazy choreography for this special stage? Please!” Jaemin pouted cutely at Mark, reminding him about his condition.

Mark widened his eyes when he hit realization. “Oops, sorry Nana.”

“If that’s so, Renjun, Jaemin, Haechan and Hana will be in the vocal group who will sing verse 1 whereas Jisung, Kathie and Chenle will be in the verse 2 of vocal group. All done!” The trainer proudly announced and clapped his hands.

Seeing his happy face, Lina just wanted to shout at him to let him know that she and a boy that hated her with passion were still remained. And if they were in the main dancer pair, then things still had not done yet.

Collecting all her courage, she asked the trainer, “Uhm… excuse me, what about my pair?”

The trainer looked at her, smiling, “Only you and Jeno left. There’s no one else. The Main dancer' couple. This choreography is really hard so practice well, Okay? Now let’s get started.”

Lina really wanted to curse right now but she had to dominate her anger. She bit her bottom lip and clenched her fists. God was playing with her.

“Why are you still standing here? Let's go to practice!” Jeno walked to her and said with his deep voice, when she was still battling