Friendly reminder Italics=thoughts

For this chapter Purple=English

Your POV

“Owwww!”

“Well if you would sit still for a moment and relax you’d quit running into things.” Hara chastised after about the 7^th time you’d managed to stub your toe.

Ignoring her warning you resumed your pacing. “I can’t help it. I’m super nervous and when I get like this I can’t stop moving.”

Hara threw her hands up in the air. “I give up. Ailee you say something.”

Ailee rolled her eyes and physically stood in your path forcing you to either go around her or stop walking.

“C’mon Ailee you’ve seen me like this before and know that there is no way for me to settle down until after the performance is over and done with. I’m not sure I should even do it. I think Kyuhyun was wrong.”

 “Stop acting like a baby!” She said in English.

The switch away from Korean was enough to cause you to momentarily pause and unknowingly you responded back in the same language.

“Why should I? You know I can’t do it! I should tell Dong-Sun sunsangnim to switch me out.” You tried to step around Ailee only to have her block you at every turn. It resulted in a sort of stalemate where both of you refused to budge from your current spot.

“Please Ailee you can’t expect me to willingly get up on that stage and make a fool of myself. I can’t even recognize my own face in the mirror with these dang things in. How in the heck am I supposed to maneuver my way through all the complicated dances and stage changes?” You pleaded hoping she’d have mercy on you.

“You will get up on that stage tonight and perform.” She ordered.

“I will not!”

“Yes you will.”

“No I won’t.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“YES!”

Shaking your head back and forth you repeatedly voiced your denial. “NoNoNONONO absolutely not.”

“Honestly you are being so selfish right now. Do you know how badly all of us wanted that solo? And here you are practically throwing it away like it’s nothing. Prove Jae-Hwa wrong. You can do this.” She said quietly.

Her unswerving belief in your ability slowly began to crack thru your defenses.

“But what if I fail?” You asked meekly.

“Then that’s what happens.” She answered simply. “But at least you didn’t go down without a fight.”

“Gee thanks…”

“Listen you know the detail of every routine backwards and forwards without even having to think about it. I bet you could even do them in your sleep if you wanted. Don’t let the boundaries of the stage frighten you. Pretend they aren’t even there. We won’t let you fall. I pinky swear.”

Just like when you were kids at music camp you hooked fingers and looked into each other’s eyes making a silent promise to be one another’s strength. Of course Hara and everyone else weren’t about to be left out and they quickly jumped up from their seats to join in. Knowing you had such good friends at your back helped to ease some of the tension in your shoulders.

It was only a short while till the curtain would open but they remained huddled around you, a physical showing of their support.

"Hey next time you guys fight can you please do it in Korean so the rest of us can understand?" Hara asked.

Confused you turned to look at Ailee. "Were we speaking English just now?"

"You mean you didn't realize?"

You nodded causing Ailee to burst into a fit of laughter.

"Oh my god HAHA sun you are honestly HAHA so clueless sometimes." She choked out between giggles.

Slighlty irritated you pouted, which only succeeded in making her laugh harder. Thankfully the audio system kicked on cutting her off.

~5 minute warning~

“Well you ready?” Hara asked you.

“Do I have a choice?”

“No.” Ailee answered for you before grabbing your hand and dragging you towards the stage.

It felt surreal as you stared out at the now packed arena, which only hours before had stood empty. Camera flashes went off every few seconds creating a sort of strobe light effect that did nothing to help your already suffering vision. You could feel the beginning of a headache forming as your eyes strained to make sense of the chaotic stage.

The intoxicating beats of ‘Opera’ blared through the speakers causing the crowd to erupt and your own heartbeat to spike. Wiping your sweaty palms on your leggings you tried your best to get your breathing under control.

This is it. There is no going back now. As soon as I step foot on the stage I have to see it thru to the end.

Just before you walked onto the stage Jae-Hwa slid up beside you.

“Good luck out there tonight...break a leg.” She crooned into your ear.

That’s it there is no freaking way I’m going to fail now, if only to wipe that stupid smirk of Jae-Hwa’s face.

Straightening your shoulders you zoned everything out but the music. Letting it be your guide you strode out onto the narrow catwalk with as much confidence as you could muster while doing your best not to fall. You stumbled slightly only twice, which by your reckoning was pretty good. Once you were in the correct location you were able to let go of some of your worry and actually feel what was going on around you.

The first thing you noticed was that the crowd noise was deafening. It was similar to the feeling of being underwater, a sort of pressure that ebbed and flowed with the tide of the cheers.

No wonder they told us to wear earplugs…

The second thing you noticed was the myriad of colors from the various light sticks and neon signs. To your distorted vision they blended together to make a sort of abstract water color painting that was simply beautiful. The best part was that unlike paintings you might find in an art gallery, this one was alive and constantly changing. It moved and flashed as the fans partied along with Super Junior never once remaining the same.

Unfortunately you couldn’t appreciate it for very long before the change in songs signaled the next dance segment. Going on memory only you counted out the steps out in your head as you made your way to the next location, stopping at the place you thought was correct. You felt a slight tug on your right hand, which was Hara’s way of saying scoot over. Deliberately you twirled your way over a few places hoping that anyone who noticed would think it was just a part of the choreography.

As time went on you lost yourself more and more to the moment. Every song pulled your further into yourself to the point where you no longer cared whether anyone was watching. Time seemed to fly and before you knew it you were changing into your costume for Ryeowook’s solo stage.

“How are you doing out there?” Victoria asked in her slightly accented Korean.

“Uh I think I’m managing ok, though now that I’ve stopped moving my headache has come back with a vengeance.”

“Have you taken something for it?”

You shook your head while zipping up your high heeled boots. “Nah I think the only way I’m truly going to be rid of it is when I’m able to take these contacts out. Looking thru a warped bubble all day has been slightly disorienting.”

“Yea I can see how that might be.”

Standing up you smiled in her general direction. “Anyways thanks for looking out for me. All I have to do now is not fall on my face for the next 3 minutes and 17 seconds and I’ll be home free.”

“Good luck.”

You nodded in thanks before trudging back towards the main stage. Your high heels clicked with every step you took mirroring the sound of your own pounding heartbeat. Reaching the edge of the stage you found your place in line and turned your attention to the audience. They were super hyped up over seeing the new y side of their eternal maknae. You were genuinely happy for him that he got to show a different side of himself. All the members of Super Junior were now grown men, far from the little boys they were when they first started.

Your silent musings were cut short by the audio cue to enter. Mentally replaying the routine in your head you did your best to seductively walk onto the stage. Lucky for you Ryeowook was quite short when compared to the back-up dancers making it easier for you to distinguish him. You approached him with long efficient strides and reached up for his face. You were supposed to turn the side of his cheek towards you in a way that said ‘look at me’; unfortunately you misjudged the distance and threaded your fingers in his hair instead.

OhcrapOhcrapOhcrap…just go with it Melody. Nobody has to know you messed up.

Yanking on his hair as gently as you could you pulled his face towards yours before twirling away. A moment later you made contact again as Ryeowook slid his hand up your leg. The trading of physical touches went on for a little while longer before it was time for the couch act. You straddled his legs being careful not to step on him as you twisted your hips across his vision. Everything was going well so far when all of a sudden you went to climb off the cushion and your gait faltered.  The floor appeared to roll and pitch unevenly to your tired eyes. Without thinking you quickly grabbed onto Ryeowook’s shoulder for support.

Make it look natural…

After successfully making it back to the floor you let your hand slide down from his shoulder towards his abs. It was a slight deviation from the choreography, but not by much. Ryeowook understood what you were going for and went along with it. Once your hand reached his waist he captured it in his own and led you down the stairs like a princess. You were so thankful he caught on that you wanted to kiss him right then and there. The stairs were much easier to traverse with someone to anchor you making what could’ve been the hardest part of the routine a cake walk.

The rest of the song went fantastic as soon as you reached the safety of the outer stage. There was no more need to worry about falling flat on your face anymore; all you had to do was dance. You gyrated your hips one last time before the music ended and the platform was lowered. Breathing hard you hugged the nearest person in celebration.

“ThankyouThankyouThankyou!” You babbled in pure joy to no one in particular.

You felt an awkward pat on your back. “Uh your welcome?”

Squinting up into the face of your current squeeze toy you were able to recognize him as one of the other male dancers. Normally you would’ve immediately dropped your hands and apologized, but you were in too good of mood. Instead you just hugged him tighter before jumping up to give everyone else one as well.

Silently your heart soared.

I did it!

A/N: Wow I can't believe how far we've come. Let me know what you think so far :) Comments help me to write better and faster, which I'm sure all of you can appreciate. Hope everyone's week is going great so far. -Sarah