You and Henry are back at the SM building a little earlier than expected. It's about a quarter till 4pm. 

The coordinators in front of you are consulting with the costume managers. 

One of the coordinators turns to you. "So, you are both the backup dancer and the rapper, correct?" 

You nod. "네 [Ne]."

The coordinator clicks her tongue. "That makes things a little tricky. Usually Amber comes in later and she doesn't wear the same clothes as the backup dancers. We're going to have to come up with something that allows you to blend in with the backup dancers but also makes you stand out a bit when you rap." 

Henry butts in, "She's a girl though."

You chuckle. "Brilliant observation, Henry-ah," you say sarcastically. "What's that got to do with anything?"

Henry continues, "What I mean is, won't she stand out enough being the only girl onstage?"

The cordi shakes her head. "아니요 [Aniyo]. Not if she's wearing a baseball cap, an oversized shirt, and loose shorts like the rest of the guys on stage." 

"But if I don't, won't I stand too much when I'm just doing the dancing?" you jump in, worried that all the attention will be on you, instead of Henry. 

One of the costume crew approaches. "What if we give her one of the small shirts and take it in so that it will be fitted? Keep the loose shorts and just give her a different color baseball cap?"

The cordi nods. "That could work." She gestures with her hand. "Follow me." She takes you to a dressing room, with a couple members of the costume crew in tow as well. They get to work on measuring you and then sewing the shirt to fit you. 

After a whirlwind of tape measures, needles, fabric, and busy hands, you are finally ready. You stare back at your reflection in the mirror. You are wearing comfy sneakers and long socks that almost reach your knees. A blue and red stripe line the top of each sock. The men's loose black shorts reach just a couple inches above your knees. The blue and black sport-style jersey is now fitted to your shape.  The last thing is the white and silver studded baseball cap on your head.

A grin slowly forms across your face. You are actually going to be on stage...

****

At the TV studio, the makeup artists finally finish their job of making you look good. "There, now you just have to get your mic set up," says one of the women. She gestures to one of the men nearby. "See him. He'll get you all set up."

"감사 [Kamsa]," you say with a bow as you get up from your seat and head over to the man who is busy testing the mics. "Excuse me, sir," you begin. 

"Oh, there you are!" he interjects, handing you two mics and some mic tape. "These are for you and Henry. Turn them on when you put them on. The sound crew knows when to connect you with the main sound circuit, so don't worry about that. I have to go check on some sound equipment." He hurries off, obviously pressed for time by the way his words just flew out of his mouth. 

You glance around, trying to find Henry. You spot him a little distance away, talking with his backup dancers. The only differences between you and the other backup dancers are the shirts and hats. Theirs are all black.

Henry turns away from them and spots you. His eyes light up and he hurries over to you. "Hey, Jaehwa!" He is wearing a similar outfit to the rest, but it differs in several ways. His shorts are blue denim instead of the black jersey material. His shirt is white and over that is a blue letterman's jacket with a red 'H' imprinted on the left side. His red baseball cap is turned to the side.

"Hey," you respond back. "I have our mics."

"Cool," he replies as you hand him his. He fumbles around with it, trying to attach the box part to the back of his pants with one hand and holding the wire and the mic itself in the other.

You shake your head. "Here. Let me help you with that. Hold this." You hand him your mic as you take his in yours.  You get behind him and attach the clip to his pants. "Are you going to be wearing the jacket during the rest of the show?" you ask him.

"Probably not. It'll probably be too hot," he responds.

"Then they'll want that wire hidden," you mutter. 

"Oh, yeah. I didn't think about it. Don't worry, I'll just wear the jacket," he replies quickly.

"But this is a variety show, isn't it?" you ask.

"네 [Ne]."

"And you might have to do some random things? Like jumping jacks or dancing or running around while trying to balance a tub of ice cream on your head?"

Henry chuckles. "Pretty much."

You let out a breath. "Well then, you can't wear this jacket the entire time. Pardon me," you say, reaching up underneath the back of his jacket and shirt and holding the mic wire. You can feel Henry tense up a little as you string the wire up through the top of his shirt. "I had to do this for theatre when I was on sound crew," you say, trying to make this situation a little less awkward for him.

"You did?" he asks as you use your other hand to grab the mic from the top of the shirt. 

"네 [Ne]." You string the wire up over his ear and place it against his cheek. "Hold that there," you instruct him. He takes a hand and places his fingers against the wire. You tear off a piece of the mic tape and place it over the wire, attaching the mic to him. "There," you respond, hoping that wasn't too awkward for him.

"Thanks," he replies. "I just can never do it myself, usually Donghae or Ryeowook help me."

You take your mic from his hand and put it on yourself fairly quickly.

Henry continues, "Back when Hangeng was around, he used to help me out too."

"Do you miss him?" you ask.

Henry nods. "네 [Ne]. We all do, still."

"I wonder how he's doing," you say.

Henry gives you a smile. "Both him and Kibum are living their dreams, in one way or another." His face suddenly turns to a frown. "That doesn't look right."

"What?"

He nods to your hat. "It's not right." He takes if off your head for a moment and then turns it a different direction. He places it back on your head. It is now to the side, the way you prefer. He grins. "Ready to finally go on stage, Jaehwa-ah?"

****

You hear the host on stage, welcoming the audience. From backstage you can see a little pool of light where the host is being lit up by a single spot light. Henry, you, and the rest of the backup dancers wait for your cue to get on stage into your starting positions.

Henry and you glance at each other at the same moment. 

You hold up a fist and mouth, "Henry hwaiting!"

Henry grins and does similarly, mouthing the words, "Jaehwa hwaiting!"

"...and we have a very special guest tonight. Audience, would you like to hear SM's own Henry?"

That's your cue. As the show audience erupts in shouts, Henry, you, and one of the backup dancers hurry onto the stage, hiding in the shadows of the unlit part of the stage. 

You crouch into your position on the floor. Henry stands between you and the other dancer who is also crouched down.

The spotlight disappears from the stage as the host leaves the area. 

Your heart beats faster and your adrenaline starts pumping. You let out a soft breath to steady your nerves.

You are finally on stage.

The music begins and the lights come on. You and the other backup dancer rise from your positions and begin the dance as Henry begins to sing and dance as well.

"서로 함께일 때면/ 눈빛만 봐도 알아 알아 알아/ Uh uh/ 집으로 돌아오면..."

Two more back up dancers enter the stage, joining the crew. You and the others change positio