Thump. Thump. Thump.

Her heart raced violently as if it wanted to jump out of her chest. Beads of sweat began tracing down her forehead as her anxiety level rose higher and higher. She began to shift uncomfortably within the crowd as she felt people’s bodies up against her back, their voices harsh against her ear. She played with the hem of her shirt impatiently, standing on her tiptoes to get a better glance.

“They’re up, they’re up!” screeched a girl from the front of the room, squealing with glee.

Chaos ensued instantly. People from the back began shoving aggressively, trying their best to reach the front, further increasing her irritation. The results of the dancing auditions were finally posted on the wall and people were squirming with fervor to see if they made the final cut or not.

She didn’t want to get her hopes, but she was almost sure that her name was on the list. She had over ten years of dancing experience under her belt, so she was almost confident in her abilities, but there was always doubt gloomily hovering over her. She had realized over the course of her life that the feeling of disappointment was one of the worst emotions in the world, so she always made sure to keep her expectations low.

After a few minutes of pushing, she weaseled her way towards the list, feeling partly excited and partly apprehensive, her palms sweaty from nervousness.

“Come on...Park Daphne, Park Daphne, Park Daphne,” she prayed quietly to myself as she felt pressure on her back as others shoved continuously, only increasing her anxiety. She never worked well under pressure.

“Yah, hurry up!” a person yelled distantly behind her, increasing her uneasiness. She began fumbling and becoming flustered, losing her place down the list quite a few times.

“Kwon Yoon Gi, Lee Mi Young, Oh Bong Cha...”

“Yah! We want to know too!”

She rolled her eyes, and quickly scanned the list again, picking up where she last left off. “Oh Jae Hee...Oh Min Hyun...Park Cho Yeon...Park So Young?!”

The thumping inside her chest slowed down and eventually fell, sinking down to her gut. She couldn’t believe it...she didn’t make it? She knew that she shouldn’t have set her hopes so high.

“, what the hell!” she thought to herself. “I thought I totally nailed the auditions.”


She turned away slightly, defeated, ready to take her walk of shame back to her apartment, but for some reason, she had a thin thread of hope hanging loosely in her hands. Surely there was a mistake. Surely she was on that list.

“Ughhhh!” others madly exclaimed as they saw her turn her back around once more to face the list, her head coming into their view again. “Hurry up!”

She began reading the list again with extreme caution, trying her best to keep her cool and to muffle the background noises.

“Oh Jae Hee...Oh Min Hyun...Park Cho Yeon...Park Daphne...wait a minute. Park Daphne? Park...Daphne?!” she whispered to herself, a smile tugging at her lips.

The despondent heart that laid in the pit of her stomach suddenly regained composure, hopping back onto her chest and began thumping quickly again. She carefully read the list once, twice, thrice more. It was clear as day: she made it!

She continued to smile broadly and brought herself out of the restless crowd, cheering as she made her way towards the door.

“Finally! That only took forever and a half.”

“Yah, if it weren’t for you guys I would’ve read the list accurately on the first try!” she retorted, trying her best to sound angry but happiness was the only feeling she could express. No one in the crowd turned around to respond, for they were all too focused on the list to even bother. She scowled slightly but she was not going to allow a few irrelevant people ruin her jubilance.

“A back up dancer?” Daphne’s best friend, Scarlett, questioned, raising her eyebrow curiously as she laid lazily on the couch, flipping through the TV channels mindlessly.

Scarlett and Daphne knew each other since elementary school back in America. They were inseparable and it was Scarlett that thought of the idea of studying abroad in Korea to get back in touch with Daphne’s “roots”. Daphne suspected that Scarlett only wanted to come to Korea so she could see some of the eye candy here, using Daphne as a translator, but Daphne agreed nonetheless, realizing that no harm would come out of it.

“What’s wrong with that?” she pondered, slightly frowning. Judging from Scarlett’s reaction, Daphne knew Scarlett wasn’t very interested.

“What are you dancing for? You never told me of going to some audition,” Scarlett acknowledged, narrowing her piercing blue eyes at Daphne. “I’m your best friend!”


“I didn’t want to jinx it!” Daphne defended herself, cowering in fear from Scarlett’s glare. “Anyway, it’s for some music company called Cube Entertainment. Don’t really know much about it. Sounds promising, don’t you think?”

Scarlett laid there, thinking. “I thought you were going to be a doctor or some business like that? What’s up with this? I mean, we’re here to study, Daphne!”


“Hey, you wanted to study here too, missy. And I just want to see how this works out, you know? I love dancing and I danced for at least half of my lifetime, so why not do something with it?”

“Sounds dangerous, Daphne...you’re gonna juggle this and school at the same time? You won’t even have time to sleep!”

“Don’t you worry your pretty little head, Miss Prewett,” Daphne said, plopping herself on the couch next to Scarlett as Daphne ruffled Scarlett’s mangled, blonde hair that made her resemble a lion. “I can totally handle it.”

“You say that now...”

There was no doubt in Daphne’s mind that she could handle this. No doubt at all.

A/N: Hi, everyone! This is my first fan fiction here and I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. ^^. I haven't written fanfiction in a while so I hope it didn't disappoint. TT. Sorry the story is starting out so slow but I promise it'll get better. I'll be updating frequently!