7: Dance
It's Complicated.Regular - Korean | Bold - English | Italicized - Chinese
Narrator's POV
"-no, you're getting this wrong. You have move your arms more in front, not to the side" Jungho sighed as he scolded Chaerin. She glared at him "bwoh, move it to the front"
"I am" she hissed changing her arm position. After getting through with the rest of the routine, they looked at it through the video that they recorded "you're such a perfectionist, it doesn't make a difference"
"yes it does, you're just too blind to see it" he crossed his arms "dashi, tomorrow's the presentation in class"
"we're fine" she rolled her eyes standing up "don't be talking to me about being blind when I can see"
"yah, where are you going?!" Jungho shouted
"home" Chaerin said getting her backpack "you'll need some relax time too if you want to be perfect. If you practice 24/7, you'll pass out tomorrow."
"yah-"
"bye" the girl waved exiting the school practice room. She checked her phone, 7 pm. She cursed, was she really practicing that long? Chaerin rushed back to the hotel, she had a anatomy quiz tomorrow and had to prepare a song for vocal class and now she had to spend most of the night/early morning preparing. It was about 9 pm when she received a call from Jooyoung "yeobosayo?"
"hey, what song are you gonna sing for vocals tomorrow?" he asked
"molla, I just started browsing" Chaerin said
"just now? It's like 9" Jooyoung said
"I got home at 7, Jeon Jungho kept me at school for 4 hours, practicing for our dance tomorrow" Chaerin groaned "ugh so annoying!"
"I feel for you Rinnie" Jooyoung said
"thanks" she said "what song are you gonna sing?"
"do you know R3L? he's a solo under Highlights Ent" Jooyoung said "I'm singing one of his songs"
"ahh" Chaerin said "I don't know what song I should sing"
"lemme help" he said "hm..are you a good singer usually?"
"molla, I haven't really sung outside of the shower" she said
"sing something right now" he said coolly
"sing what?" Chaerin asked "I'm drawing a blank"
"sing one of appa's songs" Jooyoung said
"fine" she mumbled taking in a breath before singing the chorus of 'Forever Young'
"wah charae" he complimented when she was done
"chincha?" she asked
"you have a nice voice Rinnie" Jooyoung said "you'd suit something like a ballad. Sing a ballad tomorrow"
"okay, I'll think about it" Chaerin said "I'm gonna go Joojoo, see you at the place"
"bye-ing" he said before hanging up. The girl went and searched her music for any ballads, stopping when she saw a Chinese title - 爱的独白. She smiled and looked up the instrumental, her nainai would always sing this song to her when she was little. Chaerin remembered asking Jackson about this song before, knowing he came from China. He said that it was a song to comfort those who were affected by a terrible earthquake there. Jackson also told her the artist, but she forgot until now.
"Zhang Liyin...爱的独白" Chaerin said and pursed her lips "Okay. Agape it is"
***
She had vocal class before dance, obviously, and the girl was feeling nervous.
"gwenchana?" Jooyoung asked patting her arm
"I'm nervous" Chaerin said sheepishly "Joojoo-ya, I've never sang in front of people before."
"so you have stage fright?" he asked
"ani, it's just that this is my first time revealing my singing skills. Even my family's never heard me sing...actually only Nathan has" she said
"well then this is a good time for you to show it Rinnie-ya" Jooyoung smiled patting her head
"I'm not a dog" she stared at him
"of course" he said pinching her cheek "oochoochoo, do good uri sekki"
"do you want me to bite you?" Chaerin scoffed
"arasso arasso, I'll stop" Jooyoung laughed "just don't think of the people, think of the music and of yourself when you're singin. You'll do fine"
"okay" she nodded breathing out
"yah, you never told me what song you'd sing" he said
"Agape, by Zhang Liyin." Chaerin said and he stared at her confused "it's a Chinese song"
"you can sing in Chinese?" he asked surprised
"I'm fluent in Mandarin" Chaerin chuckled "wae?"
"daebak" he said "I thought you just knew Korean and English"
"ani, I'm part Taiwanese, my nainai and yeye - in this case, halmeoni and halbae - taught me Mandarin since I was a baby" she said casually "they did that to all my siblings"
"wah" Jooyoung said
"why does everyone find that fascinating? Even my friends in LA thought it was cool too" Chaerin said
"ani, I'm just saying, fluent in 3 languages is pretty impressive" he said
"okay class, now that the bell rang, we're going to immediately start with the vocal performances" the teacher said "who wants to go first?"
No one raised their hand
"no volunteers? Park Jooyoung. Ka" the teacher said. Chaerin nudged the boy's side, stifling her laughter as he muttered a curse under his breath. The boy made his way to the front of the class and started singing to Ooh Ooh
The girls in the class squealed as he started rapping, Chaerin on the other hand, smirked at his hidden skill. Jooyoung told her himself that he can sing and dance, but he's not one for rapping. And look here he is slaying the track with the lyrics.
"how'd I do?" Jooyoung asked innocently taking his seat next to Chaerin
"you can rap" she chuckled giving him a high-five. After what seemed like forever
"Chaerin Tuan, you're up" the teacher said writing something down. Jooyoung lightly punched her arm for good luck. The girl stood up and walked towards the front.
[Starts at 3:08, but if you wanna see EXO, starts at 2:50]
After singing, Chaerin realized that the class was silent, they didn't even clap - rude as . She turned to the teacher, who was also staring at her. Awkwardly, she made her way back to Jooyoung
"stop staring at me" she whispered. He opened his mouth to say something, but another student beat him to it.
"how'd you know my imo's song?" he said, the class looking at him
"deh?" Chaerin asked
"the song you just sang, my imo sang it" the boy said
"your imo's Zhang Liyin?" she doubted and he nodded
"Byun Taehyun, sit down" the teacher said clearing "Chaerin, you sang really well, it made me speechless"
"literally" Chaerin said quietly
"tell me dear, what song was that?" the teacher asked
"it's called 爱的独白, in English it's called Agape" Chaerin said
"what's it about?" the teacher asked
"it's a song to comfort those who were affected by an earthquake in China 20 years ago or so" Chaerin answered
"and why did you pick this song?" the teacher asked
"uh, my nainai always sang it to me when I was little, singing it reminded me of home" she said. She eyed Ahreum and her crew from her peripheral vision, they were whispering and Chaerin didn't even need to be smart to know that they were talking behind her back.
***
After class, Chaerin was approached by that guy again.
"it's you again" she said "Taehyun right?"
"yup, Byun Taehyun" he held his hand out
"Chaerin Tuan. hey...aren't you in my dance class too?" Chaerin asked
"oh, I think so" he nodded "you're Jooyoung's cousin, right?"
"more or less" she nodded "nice to meet you. The song you sang in class with the piano was really good, I got chills"
"you got chills? I got chills. Man, no one's sang imo's song that well since imo herself" Taehyun said
"thanks" she smiled at the compliment "what was your song called?"
"My Turn To Cry by my appa's old group, EXO" Taehyun said
"old?" Chaerin asked "what do you mean old?"
"ah, they disbanded a few years ago" he said, hand on his nape "but appa still talks to them"
"wasn't EXO like huge?" Chaerin asked "I mean, I'm not really that into old K-pop, I only know as much as my appa's group and company, GOT7 and JYP"
"mm, I may be a bit biased, but EXO lead the Hallyu wave during the second decade." Taehyun said "GOT7's really popular too. Their tricking, woah!"
"my appa taught me his tricking, it's so hard" she laughed
"chincha? can you show me?" Taehyun asked
"not here" Chaerin said
"well duh" he smiled
"you know...you look just like your appa, well from the pictures I remember seeing of EXO" Chaerin said
"I get that a lot" Taehyun giggled
"I'm gonna steal my cousin from you Taehyun-ah" Jooyoung said swooping in and putting an arm around Chaerin.
"you got it, Park Joo" Taehyun winked slapping the boy on the back "see you at dance"
"bye" Chaerin waved.
"look at you making friends" Jooyoung pinched her cheek
"he approached me first" she chuckled "probably because I sang his imo's song. Is he a friend of yours?"
"mm, we've been classmates since we were small" he answered "Taehyun's an idiot, a good-looking talented idiot"
"you seem close" Chaerin said
"mm, I'm close with him, his sister, and his two cousins" Jooyoung said "before you came here, I always hung out with them."
"don't the other GOT7 samchuns have kids?" she asked
"of course they do, they're either older or younger than us. You and me are the only ones with the same age" he said "besides, they go to different schools"
"ahh" Chaerin nodded "I'm learning now"
"yah, by the way, you never told me that you could speak Chinese, what are you?" he asked
"what do you mean? I can speak English, Korean, and Mandarin fluently. What's wrong with that for a Korean-Taiwanese-American?" Chaerin asked
"wah are you boasting?" Jooyoung asked
"aniyo, I'm stating truth, sekki-ya" she said pushing his head
"oh there he is" Jooyoung hissed "the devil"
"is Taehyun friends with him?" Chaerin asked
"Taehyun doesn't hate him as much as I do, but he's not particularly friends either" Jooyoung said as he neared them
"do you mind me taking my dance partner? We need to practice before class and it's your free period" Jungho said
"bwoyah, did you memorize my schedule or something?" Chaerin scoffed
"kaja" Jungho said grabbing her hand
"shireo, I'm gonna work on my anatomy" she said
"we're going to dance" he said again
"yah, Chaerin said she doesn't want to dance. off" Jooyoung said
"this is for school, Park Jooyoug" Jungho said tugging roughly on Chaerin's wrist. She huffed, trying to control her temper as Jungho dragged her to the practice room. Chaerin cursed at him in English "do you have your dance outfit?"
"of course I do" she said sharply taking the clothes out of her bag
***
Class soon followed after the free period. The students raved on with their last minute preparing, even when the teacher came.
"hey Chaerin" Taehyun smiled coming up to the two with another girl "this is my cousin, Mei"
"annyeonghaseyo, Taehyunie said that you can speak Chinese?" Mei asked and Chaerin nodded "I'm half Korean and half Chinese"
"cool" she smiled
"oh, class is starting. Let's talk later Chaerin" Mei nodded her head
"okay" Chaerin shrugged. Song saem started talking and the dances started. Chaerin and Jungho went last with their little performances, ending it of course with some martial arts
"good job guys, you'll get your next assignment on Monday. You'll also get paired with different partners so don't get attached every week. You worked hard, dismissed. Have a nice weekend, you survived your first week" Song saem said "Chaerin, Jungho, come talk with me for a few minutes"
"Chaerin-ah, let's hang out oh?" Taehyun smiled at her
"sure" she nodded "wait for me?"
"you got it" Mei smiled. Chaerin and Jungho walked up to Song saem, who was on her phone.
"what's up saem?" Jungho asked "did we do something?"
"ani, I just want to tell you that I'm assigning you two as permanent partners" she said casually
"deh?" Chaerin asked "waeyo?"
"As a teacher and a choreographer, I see very well how you two have chemistry" Song saem said
"we have chemistry?" Chaerin asked
"you might not see it now, but as time goes on, you'll see good you two work together" she said "whether you two are friends or not, both of you as partners are an undeniably powerful force and I want to keep it that way"
"but what if we are better partnered up with other people?" Jungho asked
"I don't see that" Song saem said "I shouldn't have biases as a teacher, but you two are the best dancers in this class. Chaerin, you are the missing talent that completes Jungho's dance skills and as his teacher for 3 years, I know that Jungho takes his dancing very seriously"
"Deh, I seemed to notice when we were practicing" Chaerin eyed him menacingly, he rolled his eyes.
"I heard from your biology teacher that you're career choices are a doctor and an idol" Song saem said "if you decide to be an idol, Jungho can help you improve tremendously to the standards here. You're good Chaerin, but if I'm correct, dancing is your main?"
"deh" she nodded
"you'll still need help. Jungho's already in training and he can help you" Song saem said "so you two are permanent partners, I'll be giving you harder themes and I'll be looking for things more specific, okay?"
"okay" the two bowed and she dismissed them.
"yah" Jungho grabbed her shoulder as they exited the room "if I'm going to have to deal with you every week as my partner, then we need an agreement about practice times"
"kay" Chaerin said shrugging his hand off before finding Taehyun and Mei at the main lobby
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