The next morning brought an annoying wake up call. Rolling over to look at my phone, my eyes went wide as there were an explosion of texts. Upon checking the time I saw why. We were going to be late to Professor Kim’s lecture! Quickly rushing through my morning routine, I hurriedly put on a decent outfit when frantic knocking was heard from the door. With my bag slung over my shoulder, my shoes were swiftly tied before meeting everyone outside. The girls were motioning me to come faster before we broke into a sprint to school. When we reached the class we made it with barely two minutes to spare.

“Aish! That midnight job totally killed me,” Seohee whined.

“When I got home I literally passed out the moment I got into bed,” I agreed.

“At least we got some fun out of it. While we were leaving I saw a few cute guys leaving the class. Did you find anyone that melted the frozen heart of yours Hyemi?” Minah teased.

     My eyes instinctively rolled as she teased. This was nothing out of the ordinary as all the girls did this. They found it amusing that I never really had a proper crush on someone. Yeah there were cute boys but none had stuck longer than a quick glimpse. Pondering the question for a moment, the thought of the mysterious boy with the captivating smile came to mind.

“Well there was a guy who caught my eye,” I thought aloud, wondering if that really counted.

“WHAT?!” The three shrieked and I awkwardly shushed them as some classmates turned to look at us.

“He just caught my eye. You all need to chill,” I rolled my eyes.

     The professor entered, silencing the class, before the girls could answer. They grudgingly faced the professor before they got scolded but sadly Su-min’s seat was beside me.

“You have a lot of explaining to do. Even if you don’t like him, he is the first boy that has ever caught your eye,” She said with a serious look before turning to listen as the professor began his lecture.

     Later during our lunch break, I was forced to retell the events of last night. Trying to explain to them that this was nothing was like trying to explain calculus to five year olds. They weren’t listening at all so I let them believe what they want. As time went on I started to notice that the girls stopped shipping me with every other guy on the street now that I have a “crush” on someone. Taking this as a blessing I left them to their own devices, no longer rejecting their claims and even playing along with them too. What’s the harm in a small fib? Once Jiyong-sunbae introduced us to the class as helpers we were able to learn everyone’s names. The girls forced me to point out the mystery boy, Wen Junhui, and they began to comment on everything about him ranging from his looks to his dancing skills. The other boys in Chan’s group were an energetic boy named Kwon Soonyoung, although he likes to go by the stage name Hoshi, and a soft spoken boy named Xu Minghao that was nicknamed The8. Although they all had different personalities it was obvious they had good chemistry together, it was most evident when they danced.

      In the blink of an eye, a month passed and we got used to the new addition to our schedules. There was lots more excitement, and work, in the studio these days as the class was preparing for an upcoming showcase. For the showcase Su-min was recruited to help with editing music and dealing with the sound system in the auditorium, Seohee was in charge of costumes while Minah and I were there to just help with whatever the dancers needed. Lately I’ve been assisting Chan and his group which consisted of the four boys and four other girls. They’ve been needing more assistance due to the fact that the girls were continually making mistakes, making it harder for them to clean the routine. Even my frustration began to grow and I wasn’t even part of the group. It must be worse for Soonyoung since he was the choreographer and the fact that they looked as though they weren’t even trying, made his job ten times harder. After two hours of constant correcting on the girls’ side Soonyoung finally reached his limit. They were running it for what seemed to be the hundredth time and the girls made the same mistake that Soonyoung had corrected ten minutes ago. He waved his hand, signalling me to stop the music. He turned to the girls with frustration in his eyes.

“If you aren’t going to dance properly, get out.”

“We’re trying! Why are we the only ones who keep getting reprimanded? The others are making mistakes as well,” One girl whined.

“They’re messing up too but at least they don’t make it blatantly obvious. I can tell you guys didn’t even practice,” He snapped.

“What right do you have to kick us out? The performance is in two and a half weeks! You won’t find any other dancers this late into showcase prep,” Another girl snapped back.

     Deciding it was best to give them space to fix their internal affairs, since being an awkward third party in this would help no one, I tried to signal one of the boys that I’d step out. Sneaking away to the door, I finally caught Soonyoung’s attention and attempted to gesture that I would give them time, but he seemed to contemplate over something. That something ended up shocking the whole room.

“I have the right because I choreographed this piece. I’m pretty sure that Hyemi and her friends could do it a hundred times better than your half hearted performance,” He stated coldly.

“Hah! Those girls? What can they do with no dance experience. Good luck having them learn your stupid choreography in two weeks for final check in.“

“If you understand you should get out,” Minghao stepped in giving them an icy glare.

     Soonyoung was a patient person so to see him blow up like that meant they pushed him into a position where he had no other choice, he must feel so bad. Although I don’t know him well as a person, my observations over the past month told me that he always tried his best to be positive but is the hardworking leader to take the blame upon himself for his group’s mistakes… and it seems as though my observation was correct. Once the girls left, the boys crowded around Soonyoung to make sure he was okay. I took this as a chance and quietly left the room to let them sort out this situation.

     Upon informing the girls about the incident while we were packing up, they were shocked but none of them were against the idea. We were all actually very supportive of it, if that’s what they truly wanted. While exiting the building, a voice called out to us making us stop in our tracks.

“Hyemi-sunbae! Wait!” Chan called out.

“I am so sorry that Hoshi-hyung put you guys on the spot like that but could you do us this favor and help us out?” Chan apologized, bowing and everything.

“‘It’s fine really there is no need to bow and all that stuff,” I stated, stopping the boy.

“I'm fine with it. I'm always down for putting an arrogant girl in her place,” Minah replied with a smirk.

“It seems like fun so I'm in,” Seohee said excitedly.

“I'll join only if Su-min joins,” I stated, leaving no room for Su-min to refuse me.

“How can I say no when this situation is already like this?” Su-min sighed. I could see Chan’s face light up instantly but before he could reply, he was cut off.

“This is my problem and I am sorry for bringing you guys into this but if you are willing to help I would really appreciate it. This is your last chance to back out now though. I won't be easy on you guys,” Soonyoung said with his eyes full of determination. He had probably put a lot of thought into this.

“I wouldn’t expect any less. We never back down from a challenge,” I said with a smile.

“Then I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” Soonyoung replied, returning the smile.

     On the way home the girls and I talked about this exciting turn of events. The girls obviously didn’t miss the chance to tease me about how I’m “only doing this to get closer to Jun” for the first 5 minutes. After the teasing calmed down, I explained what I knew of the dance. It was a group dance that broke of into pair solos in different sections of the song. The style was upbeat and fun with a hip-hop twist. We continued discussing until we reached the street that divided our ways home. We said our goodbyes feeling the light excitement in the air in anticipation for the next day. Upon entering the apartment, I couldn't help think back to middle school while going through my nightly routine. Although everyone thinks we have no dancing experience we actually all met because of dance.

     Su-min and I have been childhood friends since diapers and we’ve been through everything together. It was our second year of high school and we’ve been dancing at the local studio near the school for over three years now. It was mainly ballet and contemporary but we loved it. One night we stayed after hours to perfect a difficult move we learned earlier in class when we heard a loud thud from the room next to us. We went to investigate and found two girls had snuck in through the window.

“What are you doing at this studio?” Su-min curtly asked.

“Wah! We got caught!” the shorter girl squeaked.

“Well you can stay here as long as you aren't trying to steal anything,” I stated, earning me a smack in the arm from Su-min.

“Oh no! We aren’t trying to do that. We just wanted to use the studio for a bit to practice for an upcoming performance,” The other girl explained.

“I presume it isn’t ballet or you wouldn't be sneaking through the window at such a late time,” Su-min said.

“No way. That stuff is too up tight. We do hip-hop but we haven’t found a proper place to practice yet, so we kind of just sneak in here from time to time?” The shorter girl answered meekly.

“Well, I’m Hyemi and this is Su-min. What’s your guys’ names?”

“I’m Seohee and she is Minah,” The shorter girl replied.

“Since we’re here why don’t you showcase what you’ve been working on in exchange for keeping your secret?” I offered playfully.

“Deal,” Minah said with a smirk.

     Minah gave me her ipod and I hooked it up to the speaker for them as they got into position. I pushed play and we watched Seohee and Minah break into swift yet fluid movements that were powerful but blended well with the music. Once they were finished they urged Su-min and I to perform something as well. We exchanged glances and with a shrug got up to perform a contemporary piece we did at the last recital. As we went through the motions, they were fluid yet precise. Each move we did complemented one another and we ended the dance with a triple turn pirouette. Seohee and Minah were left in awe.

“OMG how could you turn so many times?” Seohee gaped.

“We only just nailed it last month but how could you guys looks so cool when you do hip hop? Whenever I try I look like a stick trying to dance,” I said with a pout.

“You just have to loosen up,” Minah said with a laugh.

     Somehow we all ended up teaching each other how to do the other’s dances. By the time the security guard came to tell us we couldn’t stay any longer, it felt as though we knew those two for years although it was the first time we met. As we all left, we exchanged numbers and continued to hang out the rest of high school.

     The excitement grew as my body ached to dance again. Shortly after meeting Minah and Seohee my parents got divorced and mother no longer found a need to keep me in ballet. Instead it was replaced with cram school and college prep classes. Thinking back to all the good times when I danced, slowly the memories lulled me to sleep.