The morning of the class I peeled myself off of Joshua. He looked so at ease and restful that I tried my hardest to climb over him without waking him. Still, he stirred. I went back to the guest room to change. I stuffed some extra clothes into my backpack and headed downstairs.

Joshua’s mom caught me. “I made breakfast, come eat,” she said.

I tried to refuse, telling her I normally didn't eat much breakfast anyway. That only seemed to upset her.

“No wonder you’re so skinny! Eat a little! Where’s Joshua?”

“Sleeping,” I said. “I tired him out yesterday so I felt bad about asking him to drive me to the festival. I can catch a ride with the other girls.”

“He has been tired a lot since he was struck by lightning,” she admitted.

I felt guilty. I knew he was tired because of me. Not only from making sure I didn’t have another terror last night, but also when he was always tired before going on a break because of my hectic schedule.

“Well, I won’t let you go without actually seeing you eat something. And I’ll also pack you a lunch.”

I sat down and ate a couple waffles, doused in butter and syrup. She’d also prepared a bowl of fruit salad and an orange and strawberry milkshake. It was probably more calories than I'd had for breakfast in a long time, but I justified that I’d be burning a lot more today.

I messaged the girls with Joshua’s address and when the driver arrived, I was sent on my way with a cutely packed lunch and a tight hug.

Kyla was sipping on a smoothie, and Sungyeon was staring out the window for most of the ride. I took a selfie of the three of us and sent it to Vernon. He sent back a heart emoji and a sticker that said “Good luck!”

The festival was crowded and I honestly had trouble finding up from down once we were immersed in the sea of people. The three of us held hands to not lose each other.

“Hey,” I asked someone with an event lanyard hanging from her neck, “I’m going to be teaching a class. Where do I sign in?”

She pointed me out to a desk and we turned there. I was given a lanyard of my own that wrote “Instructor” and Kyla and Sungyeon were given pins that read “Instructor’s Troupe".

We then were directed to a small room (maybe room was a little forgiving, it was pretty much the size of a fitting cabin) where we could get dressed and leave our stuff. We all had matching shirts, the long black ones that Orange Caramel wore in the MV. Underneath, we all wore shorts just short enough not to show under the shirts. Kyla had her hair in pigtails, while Sungyeon twisted hers into a pair of space buns. I kept mine in a half-up half-down do.

“Let’s go through it a few times?” I suggested.

We found a spot just outside our designated cabin to practice the dance.

We still had a few hours until it was time for us to teach, so we walked around to see if any class seemed fun to do in the meantime. We found a hip hop workshop that looked super cool, so we sauntered into that.

Hearts pumping and full of adrenaline, we left that class when it was done and found one on traditional Turkish folk dancing by a troupe that had apparently travelled all the way from Canada. It was exhilarating, especially as the dancers explained every dance move as part of a story, and how the whole dance would tell the entire story.

It was about half an hour to our class when that class was over. We headed over to the stage that our class was to be held on and checked in. They already knew that we really just needed one hands-free microphone and a speaker with an aux cord. As we set up, some people started forming our audience.

When the clock started counting down to the start of our class, we had amassed a decent crowd and were ready to begin. I introduced myself first. “Hello, my name is Alice, I’m a choreographer based in Seoul, South Korea. Joining me today are Kyla and Shannon, two very talented young ladies currently training to debut soon in a K-Pop group under Pledis Entertainment, so I really hope you’ll keep an eye peeled for that!”

I clapped my hands together. “With a show of applause, how many people here have ever heard of K-Pop?” Most of the crowd cheered. “How many of you have heard of the legendary group Orange Caramel?” Again, a lot of people cheered. “Today my friends up here and I will be teaching you guys the full choreography for Orange Caramel’s song ‘My Copycat’! Fun fact, Kyla and Shannon were actually backup dancers for the music video!”

The crowd cheered again.

“Let’s get started!”

***

I woke up to the other side of my bed empty. Did she go back to her room? I checked my phone and leapt up at the time, almost tripping over my own sheets. “Alice! We’re late!” I yelled towards the wall that separated the rooms. I knocked on her door, but when I didn’t hear a response, I opened it.

She wasn’t in her bed, either.

Mom came out of her own room. “Jisoo? What’s the matter?”

“We’re late to the festival and I can’t find Alice.”

She snickered. “Alice left already. She got the trainees’ driver to swing by and get her.”

“Oh.” I instantly calmed down, but then something else settled in. “Why didn’t she wake me?”

“She said she felt bad about tiring you so much.” She walked over and ruffled my hair. “Look at my boy caring for his friend. You hungry? Want breakfast?”

I slowly nodded, wishing I’d been the one to take Alice to the festival so that I could watch her class.

I ate my waffles in silence, tapping into Alice’s head to at least get a feel for how she was doing.

She was just getting started, working on getting the crowd hyped up.

Establish positions, I suggested.

She jumped. ‘You scared me!’

Good morning to you, too. Establish positions.

‘Don’t tell me how to teach my own class.’

Come on, I’m trying to help you. You are so good at dancing, you forget that some people just aren't. Establish positions.

She groaned, but kept her smile for the crowd. “Alright, we’re going to have six positions. So the line the three of us are right now, let’s call that 1, 2, and 3.” She took a step backwards, and the other two followed. “And these are 5, 4, and 6.”

‘Happy?’ she asked me.

Very. Thank you.

After she got through the first bit of the choreo, I chimed in again. Hey, don’t be surprised, but I’m about to try something.

‘Wha- Ouch!’

I winced as I stretched my right leg in a way that my body instinctively tried to get me to stop doing, but I pushed forward anyway, deliberately causing a cramp. It seemed to have worked. Cool. Now you have no choice but to explain the dance with your words.

‘Did you have to go to this measure?’

Yeah.

‘I hate you,’ she seethed in her head. Out loud, she explained, “I’m sorry, I’ve got a cramp in my leg. No worries, the show goes on!”

Satisfied, I pulled myself out of her head and back into my own world. I wrapped up breakfast and went back upstairs and took a shower.

I noticed my phone’s LED light flashing, and saw I had a text. « Hey Josh, can I talk to you? » It was Jinhee.

« Is this a talk we have to have in person, or can we do it over the phone? » I wrote back.

« It can happen on the phone, but on a call, not through text. »

I didn't write back, simply called her. “Hey, what’s up?” I greeted as soon as she picked up.

“When you said you were over me yesterday does that mean you and Alice are--"

“Can I remind you she’s in my head?” I hissed.

“Right. Sorry. You got the question. Just answer it then.”

“We’re not… How can I say this? We’ve been on a few dates, and I like her, but…”

“But… me?” she asked.

I laughed. “You narcissist. No, actually. It’ll surprise you to know that you’re not the only obstacle in my dating life. My occupation is.”

“Management doesn’t want it?”

“No, she doesn’t want it. She’s dated an idol before and is wary of repeating the debacle.”

“Oh.” She was silent for a bit, but I could hear her clattering around on the other end. “Well I’m glad I’m not a thing anymore. And can I tell you something?”

“Yeah?”

“Dating as an idol is as hard as you make it. If you really want it, you can make it work.”

It was my turn to mute up. “Is that a general second person, or are you proclaiming your trust in me not to mess this up?” I asked finally.

“Ha!” she snorted. “You? Mess up a relationship? What? In which universe?”

I rolled my eyes. “Okay, I get it.”

She sighed. “Jokes aside, if you, Joshua Hong, are serious in your intentions, you can make it work. But you need to prove it to her first.”

“How do I do that?”

Not long after my chat with Jinhee, I was staring at the wall aimlessly when Simon headbutted my door open to let himself in.

“Simon, how do I convince a girl that I’m over my first love when I’m not really over my first love?”

Simon tilted his head.

I sighed. “I know, boy. I don’t know either.”

***