Lesson Two

Oh Sehun's first month in SM Entertainment as a trainee was not much of a fruitful one at all.

For starters, he could not get the dance right. For some reason, no matter how many times Sehun tried it out, it never came off as smooth as it should have; he always ended up looking like a robot.

Initially, when he first joined the class, he was coping fine, but then came this and he started lagging behind. He remembered gaping in awe when Jongin hyung (three months older than him) did the whole dance perfectly on his first try, with added grace and fluidity. There was still a long way before he could even dare to reach his standards. First of all, he had to overcome this dance, and the chances of that was seemingly bleak to him as of now.

And for that, Sehun was feeling rather bitter about it.

He wasn't a bad dancer actually, otherwise he wouldn't have made it into SM in the first place. But he felt like something was holding him back - he just couldn't pinpoint what it was.

In any case, Sehun was faring badly and he would be kicked out of the training system if he did not make any improvements. His dance instructor had made it very clearly to him the other time they had met.

He slumped on the ground and felt disheartened. After practicing so hard for two whole years, this was all he could do? Something so small and seemingly insignificant shouldn't have stopped him, but it did. It felt like all his efforts had gone down the drain.

His dance instructor had previously tried helping him. Just remember how I do it, and then you do it with more emotions, he had said. But Sehun couldn't do both at a time; when he tried recalling the dance moves, he forgot to give emotions. When he tried doing it with emotions, he forgot what the move was supposed to look like.

He spent so much time in the practice room, but even through the hours of sweat, the dance still looked as stiff and robotic as ever.

Sehun felt pathetic. It was even worse when Jongin hyung walked past the room and looked at him with the pitiful face.

Maybe trainee life wasn't for him after all. If he couldn't even do this, imagine the large amount of trouble that would come his way in the future...

Sehun heard the door crack open, the hinges squeaking. He turned his head, thinking that it must have been his dance instructor, coming to check on his progress. Sadly, he had nothing more to offer.

But it wasn't his dance instructor. It was Soojung, the girl whom he first (and last) met one month ago, on his first day.

She was the last person he expected to see now.

"Oh? Sehun oppa!" She looked genuinely surprised, but still gave him a friendly wave. "I haven't seen you in a month! How's training so far?"

Not so good, Sehun grimaced inwardly. He gave her a feeble smile and replied, "Ah, I guess it's fine... Is it your slot now? Am I taking it up?"

He hurriedly stood up, but Soojung quickly shook her head. "Oh no, you aren't! It's just that it's lunch time now, so no one usually uses this room at this time, so I thought that I'd get some more practice, but since you were here first, just take it!"

She grinned. "Actually, I want to see you practice! You must be good! Everyone who gets into SM is definitely good!"

Sehun bit his lips. Everyone who gets into SM is definitely good, her words echo in his mind. Maybe that applied to everyone but him, since he couldn't even dance.

He stared at the ground. "Well... Actually, I'm having trouble with my dance, so I don't think you should see-"

"Come on! It's okay! That's why you're practicing right? Just dance, I really want to see it! If possible, I can help you spot out your mistakes!" she told him excitedly.

Sehun hesitated at first, but agreed, although somewhat nervously. He didn't want to ruin his image even further in front of her. Soojung had already seen him being pathetic before.

He took a deep breath before turning on the music. Through the corner of his eyes, he saw Soojung sitting on the ground, legs crossed, looking at him expectantly. He hoped she didn't mind how lousy his dancing was.

When the music started, Sehun knitted his eyebrows and concentrated on his dance moves, making sure they came out precise and accurate. With all the twists, popping, and body waves, he tried to put in emotions. The song was a bit of heavy metal, so he tried immersing himself in the serious mood. He managed to pull off the look while dancing, so he considered this an improvement.

Sehun looked up when the music stopped. He saw Soojung deep in thought. She tapped her forehead, and then smiled. She stood up (in Sehun's perspective, jump) and pointed a finger at him.

"You're lacking emotions."

He couldn't believe that even she knew what was wrong with him. Was it that obvious?

"It's like... you're showing it, but only on the surface. Your heart doesn't feel that way, and so your whole dance just comes off as stoney." she explained.

Sehun looked at the ground, unable to face her. "It's not like I want to be that way... But I can only focus on either the dance or the emotions. With both, I just look like a headless chicken."

Soojung smiled. "Aha! That means you're focusing too much on either. I know how that feels. But just relax. When you dance, do it with your soul. Don't think about how perfect and precise your moves should be, don't think about what types what emotions and vibes you should give off. Because when you truly dance, you dance with your heart, and naturally, you'll be able to do both without any problem!"

She looked at her watch and gasped softly. "I have to go now, sorry! Next class starts soon!" Bowing a full ninety degrees to him, she quickly ran out of the room, leaving Sehun alone with his own thoughts.

She had made it sound so easy. But was it possible for Sehun to do that? He had never tried it before.

He had not much of a choice, so he decided to give it a shot.

When Sehun's dance instructor came in for his daily check that afternoon, he got a shock, seeing Sehun's improvement. He complimented Sehun and told him to work harder from on.

Sehun finally understood how Jongin hyung had danced so effortlessly. Learning how to dance properly might have been the biggest accomplishment of his training so far, but to him, his biggest takeaway that day was learning how to dance with his soul, his heart, and emotion.

If he kept it up, he might actually be able to reach Jongin hyung's standard of dancing soon.

~~~

[A/N] Hello, AFF seems to be back to normal but my stats are still gone :/ Ah nevermind. Here's the reposted chapter! :)

Also, I changed the font because I think this looks better :)

And if you like, please check out my YoonKai oneshot, Not Too Young :) Follow me on tumblr too! ^^

I'll update in a few days, so see you! :D