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“I knew you’d fall back so I prepared to catch you.” Tablo whispered. “Such a gentleman, right?”

 

Hyunjae ignored Tablo’s comment and gave him a betrayed look.

 

“You knew about this?”

 

Tablo shrugged. “Youngmin did too, you know. It's not my fault he decided to keep it a surprise.”

 

Hyunjae sighed and turned to stare at the dance teacher again. It was him. It really was him.

 

She walked towards him slowly and smiled. For a second, she thought she saw Tyler nod at her question but she shook the thought off. How could he have heard her say that when she said it so quietly? Noticing that the eyes of the rest of the trainees were glued onto the both of them, she spoke formally just like she would have if it were any other teacher.

 

“Annyeonghaseyo. Cheon Lee Hyunjae imnida.”

 

She bowed 45 degrees and everyone stared at her like she was crazy. Some of them even whispered the number “90, 90!” repetitively, but Hyunjae ignored them as well. Sure, she said she was going to act like Tyler was any other teacher, but this, in the end, was Tyler Kim and she didn't want to lose her pride by bowing 90 degrees to someone like him.

 

“Sorry for being late. I won’t do it again.” She added.

 

Tyler gave her a small judging look for her boldness and Hyunjae returned the look with an amused one, catching the sparkle in his eyes.

 

He must be feeling the same way I am about seeing each other here. He’s always got that spark in his eyes when he wants to dance.

 

“I heard you were a really strict teacher, Kim.” She said lightly. "Is it true?"

 

She heard a wide range of gasps chorus throughout the room and heard Tablo struggle to keep his laughter intact. This was Tyler Kim and Hyunjae they were talking about here. The bestest of friends were having a fake conversation in front of everyone else and it was the most entertaining show Tablo could ask for. Hyunjae had informed Tablo about Tyler Kim just a while ago and Tablo already felt like he was best friends with the guy. He loved Tyler's witty remarks, his dancing, and especially the soft side of him that he revealed to Hyunjae. Anyone who was nice to Hyunjae was automatically Tablo's friend. Hyunjae, on the other hand, somewhat knew Youngmin wouldn’t get her in trouble for being late, but she didn’t know Youngmin would sign her up for such a surprise. After all, she had planned to never be able to see Tyler Kim again after leaving.

 

 

 

Tyler Kim was a boy she became exceptionally close friends with at a small dance group she joined after leaving SM.  The group was just a meeting once every week to do dance offs and practice choreography. Each of the members were exceptionally talented in dancing and every meeting was an exciting one. During break and hang out time, she would always talk to Tyler about how she lived at SM and what her life was like. Tyler was the second person after Tablo that knew the most about her. However, since she lived back and forth between Guangzhou and Seoul, she had to leave the group when she flew back to Guangzhou. The leader of that group, Tyler Kim, was the member she was closest to within the two years she had been there. It almost came to the point in which Tyler and Hyunjae could almost read each other’s minds (without powers, mind you).

 

Tyler just gave Hyunjae a smile and replied.

 

“It looks like you want a punishment for being late?”

 

Several giggles erupted from the oblivious trainee girls in the class and Tyler turned to give them a look.

 

“Do you want the punishment too?” Tyler asked loudly, frightening the wits out of them.

 

“Sorry, Teacher Kim.” They chorused, shrinking away.

 

The other groups of girls, however, apparently were charmed by Tyler's scolding and their eyes glittered with hearts. Hyunjae fought the urge to scoff at them and Tyler turned to look at her.

 

“Didn’t know you were that scary, Ty.” Hyunjae said, this time as quiet, maybe even quieter than the first time she spoke.

 

She watched as Tyler flinched at the words and bit his lip.

 

Did Youngmin give him a power too? It seems like it has to do with hearing since he can hear me even though I'm barely speaking...

 

“You up for the punishment?” Tyler interrupted her thoughts, irritated to find that Hyunjae seemed to catch on to his power. "It's gonna be extra intense this time since you called me Kim instead of Teacher Kim. It's not like we're in the States or something, Jae."

 

“You called me Jae too, so we're even.” Hyunjae winked, jumping up and down, pumped up for the challenge. "Bring it on~!"

 

She stretched her arms and legs quickly and did a couple of simple moves that even though the trainees knew how to do, Hyunjae made it look as if it were the most complicated thing in the world. Tyler rubbed his temples in annoyance, wondering why he even started this with a trainee that was almost at the same dance level as him. However, Tyler knew he had the advantage ever since Youngmin granted him the power of sound not too long ago. It enabled him to match the beats much faster than before and he was able to see the sound waves coming from the speaker whenever he wanted to, letting him start a dance with what seemed like a sound track in front of his eyes. The skill actually improved Tyler's dancing and was extremely useful when he was desperate for a win. Hyunjae gave him a look when she was done warming up.

 

“Why does it seem like I’m at a disadvantage here? I feel like your power is going to bring me downhill...” Hyunjae muttered as quietly as she could, giving Tyler a discontented look.

 

“You are at quite a disadvantage actually,” Tyler said out loud, answering her question to everyone else's confusion. He started to stretch. “You prepared?”

 

“Not sure,” Hyunjae joked. “I think I need 10 minutes to compose myself since you’re so scary.”

 

Tyler gave her an "Are you serious" look as some of the boy trainees began to set Hyunjae as their idol.

 

“Jeez, I was just kidding, okay? Calm down, you look like you’re about to kill me or something.”

 

In the back, Seungyeon joined the class of trainees and watched as Hyunjae and Tyler fought out their verbal battle.

 

Is she really going to be okay? This is Tyler Kim we’re talking about here...He’s been nicknamed Tiger Kim amongst all of us...the only quality we all like about him is the fact that he’s good looking! And...well...he's not a bad dancer either. He's pretty amazing actually. Like, Jay Park?

 

Hyunjae turned to give Seungyeon an OK sign with her hands. She seemed to be sending her a message. It’s okay. I’ll be fine, just watch.

 

Seungyeon seemed to get it and gave her a nod and a hwaiting. Hyunjae grinned. The other trainees, however, were gossipping about something totally different compared to Seungyeon though. Rather than worrying for Hyunjae, they were wondering why Hyunjae looked like she was close friends with Tyler. How come she wasn’t scared of him? How come he didn’t already attack her with his harsh words and punishments?

 

The whole situation got even weirder when the practice room door swung open and the person everyone least expected to see, strolled inside. Everyone fought to struggle to their feet and immediately bowed 90 degrees to the new guest. The CEO himself was visiting the practice room when it wasn't even time for monthly evaulations yet?

 

“Annyeonghaseyo, sajangnim!” They all chorused.

 

Tyler, Hyunjae, and Tablo all gave 45 degree bows and Youngmin nodded back. Hyunjae made eye contact with Youngmin quickly and sent him a message. Are you seriously going to be watching us? She saw him nod and give her a smile. She wanted so badly to shoo Youngmin out of the room but seeing that she was in front of a class of oblivious students, she refrained herself from doing so.

 

“How are you guys doing today?” He asked, almost the same question as Tablo when he first joined in.

 

“Hyunjae-ssi and Teacher Kim are going to have a dance battle!” One of the trainees called out.

 

Youngmin chuckled. “Is this the punishment we’re talking about here?”

 

He turned to face Hyunjae and Tyler.

 

“Neh, sajangnim.” Tyler replied.

 

“Mind if I stay and watch? This sounds interesting."

 

Hyunjae continued to make "no" signs at Tyler and kept on whispering, "Don't let him!!" but Tyler just smiled.

 

 

 

Consider this retribution, Hyunjae heard as she stared at Tyler. She jumped a bit as she heard it.

 

Oh my god, I hate Tyler's power already. Did he just tell me that without even moving his lips? Yah, do his powers have something to do with frequencies and wave lengths or something? Anything related to science should just have nothing to do with me. Honestly.

 

 

 

Youngmin laughed out loud as he heard a string of harsh dialogue come from Hyunjae's mind. She was so fun to tease. Youngmin turned to Tyler and asked again.

 

 

 

"So can I watch?"

 

 

 

Tyler grinned.

 

 

 

"Why not?”

 

 

 

Tyler spun around and shota a wink at Hyunjae. She glared at him in return.

 

 

 

"Screw retribution." Hyunjae muttered beneath her breath, making sure it was just enough for Tyler to hear.

 

~*~

A/N:

This is just the second half of the previous chapter; for all those who received the new chapter notification but already updated on the previous chapter, I am SO SORRY -- I decided to split it into two chapters....I promise I'll update around Thanksgiving break next week, legit. For all the new readers, what do you think about the new character, Tyler Kim? ;)