*WHY DIDN'T I CHOOSE SET DESIGN AND STAGE BUILDING AS MY ELECTIVE AGAIN THIS YEAR? THIS IS NOT GOOD, NOT GOOD AT ALL* you thought to yourself

Mark finished his freestyle dance just in time as the bell rung signalling the start of dance class. Everyone shifted back into their respective studios as the teachers Ms. Park Kahi,  Mr. Lee Minwoo (M), and Mr. Jung Yunho walked in. 

"Hello everyone, I am your dance instructor, Ms. Park Kahi and this my colleague Mr. Lee Minwoo, head of the Dance department and Mr. Jung Yunho" 

"We would like to welcome you all back to school and we are excited to begin this new semester and to see your improvements over the summer and your unique individual colours" she said. 

You were beginning to panic and my palms grew sweaty. Still standing in the far corner of the studio, you froze with fear and anxiety barely listening to the teachers' introductions. You've heard rumours about the high expectations of Ms. Park Kahi and Mr. Jung Yunho but after seeing the skills and abilities of your classmates, you wanted to disappear or at the very least, wake up from this bad dream. 

You knew that the next hour and a half would be the longest class in your life. 

"Okay everyone, today we will be conducting a combined co-ed class with the 2nd and 3rd year students" said Mr. Yunho

"Please listen carefully as we will be going through the attendance list and seperating you into two groups, A with Ms. Kahi and B with myself" he continued

You were still in your own zone when Ms. Kahi was going through the attendance until you saw everybody move to their respective sides of the studio. You quickly snapped out of it and joined the closest group to you, group A with Ms. Kahi.

"Gather around everyone! Since it is a new school year and there are some new faces, I want to evaluate your skill level to know where we should begin and the choreography style that would suit this group best." 

"Let's break off into groups of 5 and come up with a short routine, 1 minute long at most to break the ice and to familiarize yourself with your peers" "You have 30 minutes, show me what you are capable of" 

*OH NO. I DON'T KNOW ANYONE IN THIS CLASS. WHERE SHOULD I GO? SHOULD I JUST RANDOMLY ASK SOMEONE TO JOIN THEIR GROUP? WHAT IF I SCREW UP? WHAT DO I DO?* these thoughts ran into your head within seconds and before you knew it, everyone was already standing in small clusters and you were still alone. 

"Hey! You there! What are you doing standing there all alone?" asked Ms. Kahi with a smile 

"Uhh..right..I should join a group and get working...but I..I don't know where to go" you replied 

"Hmm..you must be a new student in this class, I haven't seen you before. What grade are you in?" she asked 

"Oh that's right, I'm Kwon Aerin, 2nd year student in the academic stream. Nice to meet you" you responded as you bowed

"Ahh I see, well Kwon Aerin, you must not know very many people in this class. This is exactly why I wanted to do this activity!" "Why don't you join this group over here with JB, the Dance department's student representative" "He'll be able to familiarize you with the others" she gestured. 

"Oh.. yes, okay thank you" you bowed as you quickly walked towards the group. 

"JB! This is Kwon Aerin, a new student to the dance program. Do you mind letting her join your group?" Ms. Kahi asked. 

"Not at all, welcome to the program!" JB responded with enthusiasm. 

He was tall with silvery blonde, almost white hair, not to mention, he was very handsome. You recognized him as he was the representative from the dance department at Student Council but this was your first time speaking to him. You were already nervous but you felt even more pressure to be in his group as it was obvious that he was a great dancer and well, you were not.

"Hello, thank you for allowing me to join your group. My name is Kwon Aerin, 2nd year student in the academics stream" you said in formal speech as you bowed.

"Sorry for the intrusion"

Your face was starting to heat up, and your limbs felt weak like a bowl of jelly.

"Hi, I'm JB, 3rd year dance student, nice to meet you!" he replied.

"We only had 4 members, so it was actually a relief that you could join us"  

"This is Jr, 3rd year dance student and my close friend" he pointed to a tall dark-haired boy with a baby face. 

"And this is Mark, also a 3rd year dance student" 

"Hello, nice to meet you both, please take take of me" you said in a quiet voice, intimidated by both their good looks and distinct aura around them. 

There was a girl in the group as well thankfully and she seemed to be the same age as you, to your relief. 

"Hello Aerin, I'm E-Young, 2nd year student in instrumental music" said the petite girl with blonde wavy hair, fair skin, and a cute smile. 

"Hello, nice to meet you" you replied as you bowed and shook their hands. 

"Okay so should we get started?" said JB.

"What do you all want to dance to? Hip-hop?" 

"Hyung, be honest,  I know you want to dance to a girl group song! Show the class your y moves" replied Jr with a smile on his face

Mark and Jr high-fived each other and started laughing as JB gave them a light punch on the arm. 

"Well what do you girls want to do?" asked Mark

"I'm fine with anything, but I definitely think we should go with something upbeat and energetic!" replied E-Young 

"What do you think Aerin?" she asked 

"Well...I.I..you guys pick." "I'm not a very good dancer, soo..I really shouldn't call the shots around here" you said with your eyes on the floor. 

"Okay then how about Hands Up from 2pm or Beautiful Night from Beast?" suggested Jr. 

"Not bad! Let's do a vote unless anyone else has other suggestions?" said JB

"So those in favour of Hands Up raise your hands" 

The vote was split 50/50 and it was up to you to vote and make the majority rule.

"So Aerin, what do you think?" asked JB 

"Oh..I..uhm..I like the idea of Hands Up from 2pm" you responded nervously, unsure of how this was going to work out but you figured that this song had a relaxed club feel and so you could do some random moves if you messed up. 

"Well 2pm it is!" said Jr with enthusiasm. 

For the next 20 mins, JB choreographed some moves for your group to do in unison and allowed the ending to be freestyle, highlighting Mark's tricking skills. You haven't properly learned choreography or danced in a studio since middle school when you stopped taking dance lessons. You felt extremely awkward and stiff. You tried your best to follow the steps sequence and to get your timing and position correct but you lacked the "swag" or "groove" that the art students had. You weren't used to being so outgoing and thus you looked more like a robot perfectionist than a dancer having a good time with your friends.

Mark noticed this and stopped practicing his acrobatic moves with JB and Jr. He walked over to you as you stood alone in front of the mirror repeatingly practicing the choreography. You didn't notice him coming towards you as you zoned out completely focusing on the routine in your mind and trying your best to execute it physically. 

"Hey! Practicing hard over here I see" Mark said 

You stumbled backwards a bit, surprised by the sudden voice and person beside you. 

"Oh! You scared me, I didn't even notice you standing there." you said, wide-eyed 

"I haven't danced properly in a few years so I'm rusty and well, I don't want to mess up the whole team's performance" 

He smiled and let out a light laugh. 

"You're doing pretty well for an academic student" he teased

"I'm sure you've got the moves down, you should work on the flow and letting your personal style come out" "It's not a dance assessment, it's just an ice-breaker. It's supposed to be fun you know?" he said with a laugh

For the remaining 10 or so minutes, he helped you ease into the choreography and you felt more comfortable, almost as if you could have fun. He gave you tips on facial expression and poses to do, making you feel more confident that you wouldn't mess up. He gave you the assurance you needed and words of encouragement which made you feel less out of place in the brightly-lit studio. 

Each group performed their routines ranging from R&B, pop, and hip-hop. It was finally your group's turn to perform and you were so nervous that you began to shake unconsciously. Seeing this, Mark put his hand on your shoulder in an attempt to calm you down. You flinched at the sudden contact and whipped your head around to see who it was. Seeing your exagerrated reaction to his simple gesture, he let out a laugh and teased you for being so skittish. 

The performance went off without any major mistakes besides the fact that you were obviously the worst dancer in the group and clumsy with the dance moves, you breathed a sigh of relief. The bell rang and it was time for 5th period, which signalled the last period- closer to being able to go home. 

"Good job guys!" said E-Young cheerfully high-fiving all of the group 

"We did a pretty good job including our little nerd over here" teased Mark giving you a light pat on the back 

Your face turned red with embarassment and you let out a small laugh. 

"I told you I'm not very good...." you replied with a shy smile

You all parted ways to your respective classes and exchanged goodbyes. You quickly got dressed in the girls changeroom and headed off to your last period history class. Time flew by as you loved history and learning about ancient civilizations and different cultures. Although this was definitely not how you envisioned your first day back at school, you didn't hate it. At 3:30, class was over and you left the school grounds with strange tingly feeling in your stomach. It was a new sensation, something you have never felt before, something you could not easily describe but oddly enough, it made you happy. You quickly shook off the feeling and began to walk to your usual meet-up spot with Sera, in front of your favourite bakery cafe just as you've always done since you were little kids.