Nicole's POV

     I was quite excited that I had finally found another person whom in which I connected to. Both Lee Joon and I danced, which made me feel pretty confident. After lunch that day, Lee Joon walked with me to gym, and instead of doing the mile that coach had assigned us, we jogged and talked. Lee Joon really was an amazing person. He really knew how to converse with people, even if he didn't look like it. Despite being bottom three in class, Lee Joon was very smart. Maybe he just didn't want to show it.

     It was Friday morning and I was headed to Lee Joon and I's meeting place for our dance audition together. Nothing in this world could make me turn around and head back to school. I knew I was ditching school, but it was for a good cause. Well...a good cause for me, it was. My aunt wouldn't find out, though. Unless someone told her about our absence. But, I doubt anyone would do that. 

     I was wearing a yellow v-neck t-shirt with baggy double crotched dance pants. The dance pants were gray and they fit perfectly on me. Instead of wearing proper dance shoes, I wore yellow vans and my favorite beanie cap. All I was missing was my dance partner and I could be on my way. Lee Joon didn't show up until five minutes later. The weather was getting warmer so I didn't mind waiting a few extra minutes.

     Lee Joon wore a white tank top and black basketball shorts. Lee Joon, as well, wore a beanie that matched his outfit. He had IM'ed me the night before. We exchanged email adresses at gym time when it was time to move to our next classes. A conversation that was only supposed to last until ten minutes ended up lasting until four hours. We started off talking about where we would meet, and what we would wear to look like a team. But, the conversation quickly changed to our life stories. Lee Joon told me things that he would probably never tell anybody else. He told me about how he had lost his dad when he was young, I told him about my coming to South Korea alone to achieve my dreams. Lee Joon was really working his way to the top of my friend list. And we had just met yesterday. Crazy, right?

"Nicole-ah!" Lee Joon ran up to me and smiled, he looked energized and tired at the same time. He had probably been running to meet me. "Sorry I'm late! I almost over slept. But, I ran all the way here to make it up to you."

I smiled, "Aigoo, don't apologize, Joon-ah!" I ruffled his hair playfully, "Are you ready to go?"

Lee Joon checked his watch and nodded, "Of course! Let's go!" 

     The entire walk there was peaceful and graceful. It really made me feel less nervous about the whole situation. Lee Joon stated that he, too, was nervous about the auditions. I didn't blame him. There would be tons of people here trying to audition to get into this dance class. I felt as though it would be a good experience, so I signed both Lee Joon and I up for it. Our audition times were the same, but we were auditioning at different parts of the park. I was in the first group, and so was Joon. There was a female group, and a male group. Joon and I were in group A, team 1. Meaning we went at the same time and we were the first in our groups to go.

"Annyeonghaseyo!" Lee Joon and I both bowed our heads to the assistant who was handing out number stickers. 

"Annyeong. Your names, please?" The assistant was young-looking and she looked so welcoming. She didn't look as strict as the others did, which made me feel even more comfortable.

Lee Joon spoke first, "Ah, my name is Lee Joon." The assistant handed Lee Joon his number sticker and he stuck it on the left side of his chest, bowing to her respectfully.

"I am Nicole Jung." I spoke next, even saying my own name was making my legs shake.

     She held out my number and I took it from her, bowing just as low as Lee Joon had. The assistant looked at us both and smiled warmly, motioning for us to move to our first audition spot, "Good luck. You two look confident, do well! Work hard!" She made a "fighting" fist and waved to us.

"Where do we go first?" Lee Joon and I had stopped under a tree and were examining our surroudings. 

"Not sure...here, let's take a look at these papers..." I took the papers from Lee Joon's hands and read through them carefully, smiling when I found the names. "Joon-ah, looks like you are in section 1, that is the first tent to your left. And I am in section 5, that is the second tent to my right."

Lee Joon pulled me into a hug and embraced me tightly, "Let's try our hardest, okay? Don't be nervous, you'll do fine."

     Lee Joon's cologne smelled wonderful. I loved how comforting he was being to me when I was this nervous. It made me feel so much better about the whole situation. I nodded nervously and didn't bother to hug Joon back, "N-ne..." 

"Fighting!" 

     Both I and Lee Joon waved to each other before going our seperate ways. Being by myself was not helping my nervousness fix itself. But, I was here now, and there was no turning back, so I had to stick through with it. Regardless if I was scared or not. Everyone was rehearsing in my tent, random music blasted and everyone danced freely. They looked perfect. Everyone's bodies moved godly with the beat of the music that was playing from the stereo's. I took this chance to warm up on my skills. 

     Once the next song started to play, I, without hesitation started to dance to the music. The way my body swayed to the beat was relaxing. I was no longer nervous, I was rather confident that I could make it. A little bit into the music, everyone's eye's were on me. I was in the spotlight, and I wasn't going to stop now. I constantly moved my feet and spun around, turning my moves from ballet to hip hop immediately. Everyone looked so amazed amd amused by my moves. It made me feel so good about this audition.

     The music stopped, and so did I. Everyone bursted out in cheers and roars across my whole tent. Everyone clapped for me and cheered for me. They praised me telling me "Good job!" and "Good luck on your audition!". Everyone was so nice. I bowed to everyone that had seen me dance.

"Welcome to the annual Academy of Art and Dance audition 2012!" Claps sounded around the room as we all took a seat along the back wall of the tent, our main focus on the assistant that had greeted everyone at the gates.  "How is everyone feeling today?" Again, the room bursted into cheers and roars of giggling and laughter. "That's good to hear! In just three minutes, we will be calling our first applicant. So, please be prepared. Our first applicant is Jung Nicole, with Kim Miyoung on deck."

     At the sound of my name my legs didn't even shake. This was all a breeze for me. I was all too prepared for this. After all, all I had to do was freestyle to an unknown beat. I'm a dancer, how hard was that? I stood up and went to the center floor, stretching and preparing myself for my audition. Once I got up, everyone clapped and smiled at me, bidding me good luck for the third time today.

After three minutes, it was showtime. "Nicole Jung. Please step to the "x" in the center on the floor."

     I confidently stood up and walked to the "x" on the center of the floor. I shook myself up a little bit and did a few last minute strecthes. I flashed the judges a sweet smile and confidently stood straight up, awaiting for the music to start playing.

"Please make your introduction." The assistant told me.

I nodded and turned to the camera that sat on a stool in front of the judges booth. "Annyeonghaseyo, Nicole Jung imnida. I was born and raised in Los Angeles, California, but I have come to South Korea to fufill my dream of becoming a dancer. Kamsahapnida." With that, I bowed and not to much later, the music started playing.

     Once the music started playing, everything around me blurred out. I could no longer see the faces of the people who had once been sitting along the back wall; I could no longer see the stern faces of the three judges sitting at the front table. It was only me, in a dark room by myself, dancing. My feet easily and swiftly moved with the flow of the music and I was enjoying this all too much. I loved this feeling. I was soon snapped out of my fantasy when the music stopped playing and the lights (in my head) turned back on.

The judges were smiling brightly at me, one of them even clapped, and so did the audience behind me. "That was a great way to start the auditions, Ms. Jung. Thank you for coming, your results will be emailed to you as soon as possible."

I bowed to the judges and the crowd behind me, grabbed my grading papers from the judges and quickly exited the tent, smiling and laughing as I ran to Joon who was waiting by the gates to greet me. I quickly ran to him and gave him a nice, tight squeeze. "Joon-ah! How did you do?"

Joon's face was sweaty, but he still gave me a bright smile and a laugh, "All three judges gave me applause at the end of my audition. I think I made it in! How do you think you did?"

I nodded and stepped back awkwardly and smiled a little, "Same here! Before it was time to start the auditions, we had time to practice freestyling our dance moves, and once I was done rehearsing, everyone gave me a great round of applause. Do you think we will get chosen?"

Joon ruffled my hair, "Of course we'll get chosen. From the looks of the judges that I had, and the sound of yours, we definitely have made it in. Worry no longer, the hard part is over. Let's relax now. How about some ice cream? It's on me!"

I smiled and nodded, "I'd like that! Thank you for coming with me today. You don't understand how much I appreciate you being here with me. I mean, you even skipped school to come here today. And...we just met yesterday. I value your friendship a lot. Please take good care of me!" I bowed twice to Joon.

He flashed me a killer smile and shook his head while he laughed, "I'm only a month older than you, you can drop the honorifics, you know."

"Ah, ara, ara. I just thought I should speak respectfully towards my sunbae." 

"This isn't America, Nicole-ah. You don't always have to be respectful to your elders here. What kind of ice cream do you like?"

"Arasseo, gomawoyo." I smiled at the ground and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear, "I like Ba-neel-lah." I faked a Korean accent and Joon flicked me softly on my head.

"Yah~ Babo! We do not speak like that." He laughed, "And, I want Ba-neel-lah, too. Like Nicole-ah."

     I gave Joon a little push and we began walking to the ice cream parlor that was straight ahead. Not once did we even speak about school. We knew that if we went back now, we would definitely get caught, and we weren't going to take that risk. So, that day, Joon and I hung out together. We went to get ice cream, and he showed me around the city of Seoul as much as he could. We hung at the park and played like little kids. I was really starting to feel comfortable around Joon. Faster than I had started feeling comfortable around Jonghyun. I liked the feeling. I wanted to keep becomming comfortable around Joon as well...