“Come on, put your soul into it,” Kim Hyoyeon, instructed.  

The lead female dancer her hips from side to side, looking flawless all the while she did so.  The music boomed through the speakers, each beat signaling a different move in the routine Hyoyeon made.  Seulgi watched closely, imitating Hyoyeon as best as she could.  Seulgi was by no means a horrible dancer, but she wasn’t the natural that Hyoyeon was.  

Seulgi her hips from side to side and then bounced lightly on her feet, moving her hands in sharp motions, to the beat of the music.  Each movement was one right after another and flowed smoothly enough that the dance could be fast paced.  She could feel stares boring into her from the other side of the gym, where the boys were supposed to be practicing.  

If she didn’t know any better, she could swear their level of dancing rivaled popular idol groups.  The boys were on point, with their level of energy and precision.  She’d learned very quickly Oh Sehun led the dance team strictly.  This club took dancing seriously, and a few of them even had aspirations to be idols, which explained a lot.

She was glad she had something to contribute to the dance team.  When she’d arrived, Oh Sehun had glared at her in disapproval, which was when Seulgi realized that he was under the impression that she couldn’t dance.  After Hyoyeon had broken down the moves for her, step by step, Seulgi was able to prove herself in front of all the girls and a few of the guys that had come to watch.  She didn’t know why they had been so amazed in the first place.  She wouldn’t have joined the club if she was bad at dancing.

“That’s it, Seulgi,” Hyoyeon said, nodding at her in approval.  “I think you’ll be ready for our first competition.”

“The team competes?  I thought we just perform at football and basketball games and stuff like that,” Seulgi blinked in confusion.

Hyoyeon chuckled.  “Yeah, we do that because the principal asks for more tasteful performances to balance out what the cheerleaders do.  But competing with other dance teams in the school district is our main priority.”

Seulgi took in this information with a smile.  She’d never competed for anything before and she found the idea rather exciting.  However, her smile dropped when she realized that most of these competitions would be after school.  She had chores to do after school everyday because that’s what her parents expected from her.  If Seulgi were to go to competitions, she would have to tell her parents, so that they wouldn’t expect chores from her immediately after she came home.  

“Awesome, when is the competition?” Seulgi asked.

“Next Friday, here at the gym, right after the last period ends,” Hyoyeon said.  “Make sure to practice on your own time, as well.”

Seulgi breathed a sigh of relief, glad it wasn’t this Friday, since she was hanging out with her friends.  She grabbed her things and walked back into the locker room for a quick shower.  The rest of the girls were all sweaty and worn out as well.  After Seulgi had gotten dressed and dried, she made a move to leave.  

A hand tapped her still aching shoulder, stopping her.  “Seulgi, we’re all going out to eat tonight.  Do you want to join us?”

It was Min, a girl on the team.  Seulgi knew it would be best to accept the offer, but she couldn’t.  She had to get home.  So she shook her head and gave Min a polite smile.  Hyuna came up to them and threw an arm around Min’s shoulder.

“That would be fun.  I’ll be there, Seulgi, just in case you’re not comfortable with someone you don’t know,” Hyuna offered.

“I’m sorry, but my parents are expecting me to get home.  I have to do all the chores everyday since my mom works two jobs and she gets tired.  Maybe next time?” Seulgi said, hoping Min wouldn’t be too offended.

Thankfully Min nodded, in understanding.  “Girl, I get you.  I always have to do all the chores because my brother never does his share.  Next time you better come, though.”

Seulgi agreed, though she didn’t know if she’d be able to.  Her life flowed from a a day to day basis, rather than having a whole week planned in advance.  Everything depended on her father, who she didn’t know how to tell that she’d joined a dance team.  Her father had moments of lucidity before he came home and began to drink.  She could face him then and say something.

It wouldn’t be that much of an issue if she told him it was for college applications.  Seulgi was only a sophomore as of now, but if she didn’t start her extracurriculars, then it would be too late.  Most people joined one right from freshman year to form strong bonds of friendship.  Her friends had definitely done that.  Seungwan was on the yearbook staff, Sooyoung was on the tennis team, and Joohyun had a job at the local bakery after school.

Now that Seulgi had found something,