~2^nd Floor, Cube Entertainment~

As soon as Eunsae stepped into the dance studio, she immediately dropped her bags at one corner and started stretching. She didn’t get her morning dose of dancing, so she decided to do a few routines before meeting her new boss.

“Oh! Hello there.” Eunsae jumped as she heard gasps.

She looked to the mirror, only to see 5 beautiful girls, none other than 4 Minute, dressed in gym attire, probably wanting to dance too. She stood up and dusted herself before walking over to the girls.

“Hi. I’m Eunsae. I’m your new dance instructor.” Eunsae introduced herself.

“Erm… I think you’re in the wrong studio.” One of the girls with short brown hair, that Eunsae recognize as Jiyoon, said. “You must be the new instructor for B2ST.”

“Oh really? I’m sorry then.” Eunsae bowed and quickly gathered her things. “I wasn’t told who I’m coaching.”

“That’s cool.” Another with long wavy brown hair, Hyuna, Eunsae recognized, spoke up. “Since we’re all co-workers now, why not drop by our studio for a chat.”

“Sounds great.” Eunsae smiled. “Do you mind telling me where B2ST’s dance studio is?”

“It’s down the hall.” A man emerged from the doorway, earning screams from 4 Minute.

“Jiyong Oppa!” 4 Minute screamed in unison, clearly annoyed at his sudden appearance.

“Sorry girls.” Jiyong, B2ST’s manager, smiled sheepishly. “Come on, Eunsae. Let’s have a chat on the way there.”

Eunsae chuckled, quickly following the man.

‘This is one interesting dude.’ Eunsae smiled slightly.

~3^rd Floor, Cube Entertainment~

As quietly as he could, Dongwoon sneaked into the dance studio, intending to surprise the dancer. With every step he took, he was counting down in his heart.

3…

2…

1…

“I can see you there, Dongwoon.” Dongwoon pouted at his failed attempt to scare his victim.

“No fair! I never got to scare G.NA noona. Not even once!” Dongwoon pouted even more when G.NA shot him a teasing look.

“Dongwoon ah, this is a dance studio.” G.NA sighed and placed her hand on his shoulder. “As in there are mirrors everywhere.”

“Oh right.” Dongwoon scratched his not-so-itchy head upon realizing his stupidity. “Noona! I met someone today! She’s so pretty!”

“Oh? Who is it THIS time?” G.NA stared teasingly at him. “Are you saying you’re head over heels for her today and then you’ll come to me the next saying that you’ve fallen out of love because you found out she either has a boyfriend or is simply not interested AGAIN?

“Noona…” Dongwoon whined. “It’s not my fault, ok? I can’t help but fall for girls that are already taken or uninterested ones.”

“That’s what you say everytime you meet a girl.” The female soloist rolled her eyes. “Just try not to get heartbroken again this time.”

“I won’t! I promise!” Dongwoon smiled goofily. “Oh, what time is it?”

“I think it’s…” She looked at her watch. “2 minutes to 1.”

“What?!” Dongwoon quickly bolted out the door, mumbling a quick goodbye.

~2^nd Floor, Cube Entertainment~

“Thank you for willing to join us, Eunsae sshi.” Jiyong smiled politely. “It was quite short notice when our previous instructor migrated to Taiwan.”

“It’s my honor actually.” Eunsae returned the smile. “I never imagined I’d get the opportunity to coach such big stars.”

“Well I hope the boys won’t give you much of a hassle.” Jiyong chuckled. “They’re not bad once you get to know them.”

“Oh I’m sure of it.” Eunsae laughed along.

Truth was, she was hella nervous. It was her first time coaching idol stars. Well, minus the mini dance lessons she had with Micky Yoochun and Hero Jaejoong of TVXQ. That doesn’t count because he’s much like family to her. Ok back to topic! Not only is she coaching these idol stars, she’s choreographing their dance too! What happens if the boss doesn’t like it? What happens if the fans hate it? What happens if it defames them? All those unanswered questions throbbing in her head are killing her! Then again, she signed up for it the moment she agreed to work there.

But more importantly, what’s she going to say when she meets her childhood friend? Lee Kikwang. Her first love who had left her in a crying mess 5 years ago.

‘I wonder if he changed.’ Eunsae thought to herself.

“And here we a- OH MY GOD!” Jiyong suddenly screamed, causing Eunsae to jump a little. “You lazy hogs!”

“Wha-” Eunsae peeped into the dance studio, only to see 5 boys sleeping soundly on the floor.

“One, two, three, four, five…” The manager counted. “Wait, where’s Dongwoon?”

“Sorry I’m late, hyung!” Dongwoon emerged next to Jiyong, right on time. “Oh hey, Eunsae! What’re you doing here?”

Eunsae didn’t reply. She just smiled and nod at him.

“Well, at least one’s awake.” Jiyong sighed while nudging the sleeping members with his leg. “Wake up you pigs!”

“Mmm…” All of them moaned before waking up one by one, greeting Jiyong with a soft hyung.

Slowly, they all stood up to stretch, some rubbing their sleepy eyes, some still half asleep on another’s shoulder. But eventually, they became fully awake when manager Jiyong screamed loudly.

“Great! Now that I have all your attention, I’d like you to meet your new dance instructor.” Jiyong stepped aside to introduce Eunsae, who was standing between him and Dongwoon. “Jung Eunsae.”

“Woah! You’re our new instructor?” Dongwoon stared at Eunsae, clearly surprised by the news. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

“Wait, how did you know her, Dongwoon?” Doojoon asked while the rest of them stare intensely at the maknae, especially Kikwang.

Kikwang’s stare was filled with both curiousity, and some jealousy with just a pinch of resentment. Oh yes he was well aware that his new dance instructor is his childhood friend, the one he, regretfully, abandoned at the train station half a decade ago. Oh how he wants to just pull her into his arms and whisper countless sorry’s and I love you’s to her. But he knows he can’t do it. Instead, he kept himself composed, hoping that the members, or even Eunsae, wouldn’t notice his uneasiness.

“What’s with the stare??” The foreign looking boy hid behind his manager. “We just met in the elevator earlier today!”

“Oh!” They all sighed in relief. “We thought she’s your girlfriend or something.”

“Girlfriend?” Dongwoon looked at his bandmates, clearly weirded out by their statement. “If I had one, you know that you guys will be the first to know.”

“True.” Junhyung nodded.

“Okay! So Eunsae, please introduce yourself.” Manager Jiyong pushed her forward a little.

“Erm… My name is Eunsae.” Eunsae started, to which the boys greeted back with a Hi!. “I’ve been dancing since I was 5 years old. And-”

“How old are you?” Yoseob cut her off.

“Erm… I’m 20 this year.” Eunsae answered, slightly taken aback by the sudden question.

“Woah! You’re younger than all of us!” All of them gasped, well except for Kikwang but no one noticed.

“So… Eunsae, you have a boyfriend?” Hyunseung looked at her suggestively, earning a nervous laugh from her.

“Ok you brats! Stop interrogating your new instructor.” Jiyong turned to Eunsae. “I give you the full authority to punish these brats anytime they goof off.”

“Oh. Thanks…?” Eunsae laughed when she heard B2ST groan.

“I’ll leave you to them now.” Jiyong smiled at Eunsae. “Behave, you brats!”

“Why does he keep calling us brats??” Hyunseung pouted, after manager Jiyong left. “We’re not that bad!”

“I’m sure you’re not.” Eunsae smiled, to which Hyunseung grinned from ear to ear like an idiot. “Well! Let’s get started, shall we?”

Eunsae started them off with a few basic steps after the stretches, just to see their skills. After the one hour worth of dancing, Eunsae came to a conclusion.

‘Doojoon, Hyunseung, and Junhung. Average dancers. Not slow at picking up dances, not really fast either.’ Eunsae mentally noted as she watched the boys go over her planned-on-the-spot routine.

“Dongwoon! You’re doing it wrongly! It’s like this!” Yoseob rushed over to correct Dongwoon’s wrong move.

‘Yoseob. Very fast learner. Able to pick up moves very quickly.’ Eunsae nodded to herself. ‘Dongwoon on the other hand… Needs to loosen up. Extra lessons.’

“Kikwang, is it like this?” Junhyung attempted to do a wave, followed by a failed chest pop.

“No. You’re too stiff.” Kikwang grabbed Junhyung’s shoulder. “Loosen up a bit, hyung.”

‘Kikwang… Still the same great dancer as he was.’ Eunsae sighed as her eyes bored into her childhood friend’s back. ‘Oppa, you definitely made it to fame.’

For a brief moment, Kikwang’s eyes met Eunsae’s when he turned towards her. Even if it was just for less than a second, Kikwang saw the pain and confusion in her eyes. He wanted so badly to explain everything to her, but he just couldn’t bring himself too. Not after breaking all contact with her 5 years ago. He quickly broke eye contact, masked his sadness, and went back to teaching his hyung the routine.

When their eyes met, Eunsae’s heart did a flip. Overjoyed that she got to stare at the pair of eyes belonging to the person she longed for. Even so, she was still confused as to why he left without saying goodbye, or why he broke off all contact with her. All the pain she felt the day she got left at the train station came back to her. Reminding her of how he ignored her when she begged him not to go. As soon as he turned away, Eunsae shook her head a little, trying to remove those painful memories from her head.

“Songsaengnim.” Doojoon called out. “Are you okay?”

“Aah… I’m fine.” Eunsae chuckled a little. “Please call me Eunsae. Songsaengnim makes me sound so old.”

“Alright then.” Doojoon nodded. “Eunsae, what do we do next?”

“Hmm…” Eunsae thought for a moment. “Well I just needed to evaluate you all before I start the real training. You all are done for the day, I guess.”

“Sweet! Bye!” Yoseob was the first to leave, followed by a pissed of Doojoon, who bowed before chasing after Yoseob, and laughing Junhyung and Hyunseung.

“Well… See you tomorrow then, Eunsae.” Dongwoon waved, making his way out the door too.

Eunsae sighed a little as she plopped onto the floor, next to her belongings. She gasped upon realizing that Kikwang hasn’t left the studio yet. She looked up, only to see him staring at the door. This would be one of the times she wished she could read minds. From her level, she couldn’t even look at his face properly.

“Kikwang.” She called softly.

“Hmm?” Kikwang snapped his head to her direction. “Yes, songsaengnim.”

For a second, Eunsae felt a pang in her heart when she heard Kikwang’s response. She quickly masked it by taking a sip from her bottle.

“Aren’t you going home?” Eunsae stood up, her bag casually swung over her shoulders.

“Erm… No. I think I’ll stay here and dance some more.” Kikwang said softly, finding any possible ways to avoid eye contact.

“Oh. I see.” Eunsae admired the floor. “Well. Goodbye then.”

“Bye.” Kikwang mumbled, not even looking at her.

As she felt tears started gathering at her eyes, Eunsae quickly bolted out of the studio, and out of the building. She just couldn’t take it. After 5 years of not seeing her first love, and then suddenly seeing him right in front of her, and all he could say was… Bye.

‘What was that, oppa?’ Eunsae kept her head low to shield the tears pouring out of her eyes from the public. ‘Did you not miss me? After all these years, all you could say to me was bye??’

Unbeknownst to her, the said guy back in the studio was looking into the mirror, wondering what had he done. Only a guy who’s blind and/or deaf wouldn’t know that Eunsae was crying when she ran out. And he is neither.

‘I’m sorry, Eunsae ah.’ Kikwang the music, and began dancing, hoping to dance his sorrows away.