Part One
Not Your Average School Day
Park Tae Bi was just your everyday, average fourteen year old girl, with dreams to make it big in the entertainment world. Or so she liked to think. Her friends always told her to give herself more credit, and they were always pestering her to audition.
"Yah, Tae Bi-ah," Tae Bi turned in her desk towards her best friend, Eun Sung. She leaned her head on her hand, wondering what she wanted. Tae Bi glanced at Eun Sung's hands, which were holding a flyer.
"Yah, Eun Sung-ah, what's that?" She asked, pointing to the flyer. Eun Sung grinned, practically shoving the piece of paper at her. Tae Bi took it from her, quickly skimming through it.
"SHINee is doing a Valentine's Day special, and five lucky fans will get to dance with them on stage on the Fourteenth, as well as make a music video!" Eun Sung exclaimed excitedly, already knowing her friend would pass the try outs. Tae Bi looked at her skeptically, putting the paper down on her desk before crossing her arms in front of her chest.
"What's the date today?" Tae Bi asked. Eun Sung looked at the calendar on her phone.
"Today is the...Fourth. And before you ask, try outs are on the Sixth, and results are out on the Seventh. Which, if you are picked, will mean a week to practice with SHINee. Come on, Tae Bi-ah. You know you want to do this, and we both know you'd get chosen," Eun Sung pleaded, trying to convince her friend to take this once-in-a-lifetime chance. Before Tae Bi could reply, the bell rung, signaling the start of school.
"We'll continue this later, arasso?" Tae Bi nodded at Eun Sung, before both turned their attention to the teacher.
~~~~~
Tae Bi sighed as the lunch bell rang. Carefully poking her head out of the classroom door, she quickly looked left and right, searching for Eun Sung. Not seeing any sign of her, she sighed and stepped out of the room.
"YAH! PARK TAE BI!!" Tae Bi's head quickly shot around at the voice of her best friend. Eun Sung tackled her friend before she could make a run for it. "Yah, Tae Bi-ah, I need help on my English homework. It is so hard to understand Ms Kwon." Eun Sung threw her arm over Tae Bi's shoulders as the two of them walked to the cafeteria. They grabbed a table near a corner of the large room as Eun Sung took her English book out of her school bag.
"So, Eun Sung-ah, what were you having problems with?" Tae Bi asked as she took out her own book. Eun Sung huffed and started pointing to several different parts on the age they were working on that day.
"I get all of this 'noun-verb agreement' crap. What the heck is that supposed to be?" Eun Sung pouted, not really understanding the lesson. Tae Bi took her pencil and moved closer to Eun Sung to help her.
"Okay, so in this sentence, 'Chris' is the noun. Tell me what a noun is, Eun Sung-ah," Tae Bi said patiently. Eun Sung tapped her chin while she thought.
"A noun is," she began, trying to remember what their teacher had said. "a person, place or thing. So in this case, the noun would be a person, right?" Tae Bi nodded, moving her pencil to point at another word.
"Okay, so the noun is 'Chris' and the verb is this word," She said, hoping Eun Sung would read it out loud to get the hang of speaking the words.
"The verb is 'throwing'?" Eun Sung looked at Tae Bi, who nodded back to her. Suddenly, a shadow covered their books.
"A-annyeonghaseyo." They looked up to see a boy from their grade, but from another class. His black hair was highlighted white on the bangs. The two girls slightly bowed their heads towards him, acknowledging his greeting.
"Annyeong, Changjo-sshi. What can we help you with?" Tae Bi asked, seeing Eun Sung go star-struck next to her. Changjo scratched the back of his head before bowing to her.
"I couldn't help over-hearing you going over today's English lesson, and I was wondering if you could help me," he said, straightening his body while looking at her with pleading eyes. Tae Bi smiled and motioned for him to sit with them, pushing Eun Sung off of her arm. Changjo sat beside her and saw the flyer sticking halfway out of her bag. He quickly grabbed it.
"Are you going to try out?" He asked holding it out to her. She took it from his hand, looking at it thoughtfully.
"I've been trying to convince her to do it. She's had, like, seven years of training, and she's really talented too," Eun Sung said, leaning across the English books strewn across the lunch table. Changjo's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Omo, chincha!?" He saw Tae Bi give a slight nod, still in thought. "Then I will help you with your audition dance!" He exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air. Looking at the flyer again for the audition date, he squealed in excitement.
"Mwo? What are you squealing about, Changjo-sshi?" Tae Bi asked warily, startled by his sudden enthusiasm.
"I don't have any schedules tomorrow, so we can work on it after school. Be sure you go and register today though. You don't want to be some ridiculous number like, 3033, or something like that." The bell that ended lunch suddenly rang. Changjo quickly scribbled something down on a piece of paper and handed it to Tae Bi. "Text me after you register, okay?" He said before running to get to class. Tae Bi just stood there for a few seconds until Eun Sung nudged her side.
~~~~~~~
After the bell rang to end the day, Eun Sung quickly grabbed Tae Bi and began to drag to the main entrance of the school. Tae Bi stopped her by grabbing the hand that was holding onto her arm.
"Yah, yah, YAH!!!! Hwang Eun Sung, are you trying to rip my arm off before I can even try out!?" Tae Bi yelled as she rubbed her arm. Eun Sung pouted, bouncing in place before her friend.
"Mianhae, Tae Bi-ah, I just wanted us to get there before a huge line formed," Eun Sung grabbed her hand and the two girls quickly ran the two blocks to the SM building. It was during times like these that Tae Bi was in very good shape from her dancing, and that Eun Sung was also pretty athletic.
Arriving at the building, they walked up to the receptionist and asked her where they were supposed to go to register for the SHINee Valentine's Day special performance. The receptionist smiled, and asked if they were both wanting to register.
"Aniyo, just my friend. I'm just here to support her, and make sure she actually does it," Eun Sung answered her with a bubbly smile. The receptionist nodded, and handed Tae Bi a large tan envelope.
"You can fill that out and bring it back, or go to our lounge and fill it out there. Here's a pen if you need it," she said, pointing in the direction of the building's lounge. Tae Bi and Eun Sung bowed before quickly walking to find a seat. The two girls didn't notice five guys sitting over by the corner.
~~~
"Omo! Hyung, what do we do? They are clearly here to register for that special performance thing we have to do," the youngest of them spoke quietly, frantically staring at the two girls as they filled out the registration form. The boy in the middle crossed his arms.
"Yah! Maknae, don't worry, our disguises are genius, they will never recognize us. Don't you agree, Minho-yah?" He spoke confidently, looking at the boy that sat in between him and the maknae. Minho didn't answer. The other four boys followed the direction he was looking at, to find the girl with the pen in her hand staring straight into his eyes. They momentarily began to panic when they saw her turn to her friend and whisper something in her ear, but relaxed when they stood up and quickly walked away from them.
"What the heck was that about?" The boy sitting second from the left said. The others shrug, standing up to meet their manager that just walked in.
~~~
"This is all I have to fill out? This isn't a very hard application," Tae Bi spoke as they sat down. She saw a group of boys out of the corner of her eyes sitting across the room. They looked slightly suspicious to her, and she tried to ignore them. She quickly finished the form with help from Eun Sung, and she looked up after stretching her arms out. She noted that the boys were fervently whispering amongst themselves while watching her and Eun Sung. Unknowingly, she made eye contact with the tallest one, and after a few seconds, she quickly looked away. She turned to Eun Sung and stared at her.
"What' up, Tae Bi-ah?" Eun Sung asked, confused at her friend's behavior. Tae Bi quickly looked at the boys with her eyes, not moving her head. Eun Sung took a small glance at them before looking back at Tae Bi, quirking her eyebrow.
"They've been watching us the whole time we've been here, and they've been whispering amongst themselves. I say we get the heck out of here as fast as possible," she whispered, secretly texting Changjo behind their schoolbags, away from the boys' sight. Eun Sung looked at her phone, slowly putting their things together as Tae Bi got a reply from him. "Okay, Changjo explained the situation to his group mates, and they're going to drop by and pick us up. Is that okay?" Eun Sung nodded as the two girls quickly left the room.
"Omo, that means I get to meet Chunji Oppa!" Eun Sung squealed, pushing on her cheeks with her hands. Tae Bi laughed at her antics, handing the envelope to the receptionist and bidding her good bye. They walked out of the building and saw a black van with a sign hanging on the window with their names on it. They started to walk towards it, when Tae Bi got this creepy feeling on her back. She looked behind her, meeting eyes with the tall boy from the lounge as his group made their way outside with an older man joining them. Soon, the other boys saw the two girls, at the same that Eun Sung looked behind them. Both girls shrieked and ran towards the van, launching themselves inside as soon as Changjo had opened the door. They sat beside him and slammed the door shut.
"Ppalli! Kaja, my mom is going to kill me if I'm late for dinner!" Eun Sung exclaimed, watching the group of boys stare at the van in interest. The driver nodded, and drove off after Eun Sung told him her address. Introductions were soon made, along with explanations. Tae Bi got off with Eun Sung at her house, since she stays over there most of the time anyways, and the two waved goodbye to their new friends as they drove off.
"So, Tae Bi-ah, what do you want to do until dinner is ready?" Eun Sung asked as they walked through the front door. Tae Bi shrugged as she collapsed on the couch. Eun Sung tiredly sat next to her. "It's been a very long day, hasn't it?" Tae Bi nodded.
"Indeed it has been, Eun Sung-ah," Tae Bi replied, as Eun Sung's mother popped her head in the living room to announce that dinner was ready.
~~~~~Skip to Next Day, After School~~~~~
"Okay, Tae Bi-sshi, what kind of dance were you wanting to audtion with?" Changjo asked as they sat in the middle of the floor. They were currently in Teen Top's practice room, since the group wasn't using it at the moment. Tae Bi watched as Eun Sung chatted with Ricky, off to the side, before returning her attention to Changjo.
"Well, since the performance is supposed to be a Valentine's Day special, I think we should go with choreography that's smooth and y, but not overly ty and provacative. Something a little more, I don't know, intimate? I'm not sure," Tae Bi said while closing her eyes, trying to envision the type of dance she would do.
"Ah, yeah, I think I know where you're going with it. Sounds like a good idea, since probably about eighty percent of the auditioners will most likely look like they're trying to get into SHINee's pants," Changjo replied, showing a mischeivous grin on his face.
"Okay, now we just need to figure out which song will fit perfectly," Tae Bi said and she and Changjo started to look through the cds on the floor.
"Yah! Hyung, will you and Eun Sung-sshi come and help us look for a song?" Changjo called to the other two people in the room. They both quickly ran over and the four looked through the cds together.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
They decided on using the song With or Without U, by 2AM. Since the audtion had to be a maximum of a minute and thirty seconds, they all agreed that this song would be perfect. The song opened with twenty seconds of piano, and the two dancers decided to begin with simple, yet elegant, ballet moves. When the piano ended, and the electronic beats poured out of the stereo system, Tae Bi quickly switched to a more modern form of ballet (A/N: A bit like how Joon danced in Star Dance Battle, but not as...expressive.). Changjo followed her lead, taking over whenever he sensed her hesitating. Soon, they had choreographed the entire dance.
Ricky and Eun Sung started clapping enthusiastically, amazed at their friends' professionalism.
"Yah, Park Tae Bi! You'll pass this audition for sure!" Eun Sung called out. Tae Bi grinned back at her, wiping the sweat from her forehead.
~~~~~~~~~~Skip to Audition~~~~~~~~~~
"Number 246, please enter the audition room now." A voice called over some sort of intercom system. Tae Bi took a deep breath in, standing up from her seat beside Eun Sung and Changjo. She gave a small wave to them as she walked towards the door. It opened before she touched the handle, revealing a smiling lady that Tae Bi recognized as the receptionist from the other day. Giving her a slight bow, Tae Bi walked further into the room, looking around at the decorations. Finally, she looked at the judges table, and was surprised to find seven people sitting there. The first man on the left was someone, probably from high up in the company, that Tae Bi did not know. The others were SHINee themselves and their manager. Tae Bi gave the judges a 90 degree bow, before straightening up.
"Number 246, name Park Tae Bi, age fourteen. Currently attending Chuncheon Middle School. Miss Park," the man Tae Bi did not recognize spoke, looking at a file before him.
"Ne," Tae Bi responded, nodding her head at him. He looked up from the paper, pushing his glasses further up his nose as he studied her.
"Miss Park," He repeated slowly. "Why did you decide to audtion here today?" Seven pairs of eyes all looked at her curiously.
"Well, first off, my best friend insisted I should do this. I guess, if it wasn't for her, I'd be blowing away this opportunity to become a renowned dancer," Tae Bi started off. "Dancing is my oxygen, my life, everything. The day comes that I stop dancing, is the day I die." She looked determinedly at the man on the end, who nodded with smile.
"Okay, Miss Park. It says here on your application that you've had seven years of training. What types of dance have you learned?"
"Ballet, Ballroom, Tango, and even Hip Hop. I also do a lot of freestyling," She answered confidently. This time, she received nods of approval from not only that man, but SHINee's manager and even Taemin as well.
"Your audition piece is using 2AM's song, With or Without U, correct?" He asked, not expecting an answer. "Begin when you're ready."
Tae Bi flipped her hand, cuing the music. She let her mind empty as she went through the dance routine she had choreographed alongside Changjo.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Tae Bi slowly walked out of the room towards her friends. Immediately catching sight of her, the two quickly walked up to her, wanting to know how she did.
"I think I did okay, but I was sooo nervous! SHINee were the judges, along with their manager and some other guy from the company that I didn't know." Tae Bi told the two bouncing teenagers. Changjo grabbed her arms lightly.
"And what about the results?" He asked excitedly. Tae Bi laughed as she removed his hands from her. Eun Sung clutched onto his arm.
"If I make it, they'll call me tomorrow after school," She said, giggling at her friends' cuteness. "Aigoo, if you two act any cuter, I'll explode." They quickly seperated, a blush appearing on Changjo's cheeks. Eun Sung suddenly threw her hands in the air.
"Let's go get ice cream to celebrate!"
~~~~~End of Part One~~~~~~
Comments