…of new beginnings

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                “That’s it for today, thanks for taking this class” Gun Young said, looking over at his students. My sweat was dripping hard, soaking the loose tank top that I donned on over the tight fitting racers I had on. My eyes are hurting coz of the sweat trickling down my face, my body letting out heat, but a smile was plastered on my lips.

                I’m dead tired and I know that I’ll be sore all over but my heart was beating from satisfaction. Satisfaction from finally being able to do something that I love to do. Satisfaction of being able to dance again.  Yes. Dancing is more than my passion; it’s a way of life for me. It was one of the things that I naturally had to let go, during the time that I had to struggle. When the things that I hold dear had to take second place from the demand to earn money and help out with the expenses. With my grades not being good enough for me to finish that semester and the family being forced out of the house coz of our inability to pay off some debts, I was forced to step out for my family. To let go of a few precious people and along with them my love for music and dance. 

                 Now that I can finally do what I want maybe I can go back to meet them again. I thought, but quickly dismissed it again. Wishful thinking. Of course they won’t welcome me back that easily, if ever they do, I practically walked out of their lives. Sighing, I shook my head to clear it of unnecessary thoughts. I’m starting to live the life that I want and for now that’s all that should matter.

                Grabbing my gym bag, I took out my towel and drinking bottle, before taking out my hand phone. I looked towards the mirror, to check on the people still inside the room. A few of the students are inside the room, packing their bags, while others are obviously still waiting for Gun Young who was talking on the phone. A couple of boys walked towards me and I gave them a smile thru the mirror before turning towards them. One of them bowed and the other just smiled.

                “Thanks for attending this class, Did you enjoy the lesson?” I asked the one who bowed but smiled for both of them.

                “Yeah we did, you guys are awesome” said the guy with the shy smile, eyes aglimmer.

                “Miss Jereh, do you have other classes?” said the other guy. Both looked up expectantly.

                “Well yeah, I have advanced hiphop and contemporary dance classes.” I told them, suppressing the smile that’s trying to peek out on my lips. I have new fanboys.

                Gun Young waved at me from across the room, which I returned with a nod and the two boys said goodbye after asking for the details of my other classes. I walked towards Gun Young and handed him the water bottle before I wiped myself with the towel. I sweat a lot for a girl almost to a point where my clothes would end up looking see-through ,thus the layered clothing.

                “Jereh, I have a new job for you” he began, taking a swig from the bottle. “That is if you still can take on a new dance assignment.” He continued then let it hang, obviously waiting for me to react.

                “Hmm, i think I can still manage” I told him, leaving the towel on my head. My dance classes are scheduled every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday, and are concentrated on the morning until late afternoon. I also train with the other dance instructors to learn new techniques but that usually happens once a month and it doesn’t start until 9 pm. Every once in a while Gun Young would take me as an extra dancer for some television program but it’s not regular so I pretty much have the rest of the week.

                “Good, this one is big and you might be able to accept those TV gigs that I give you, but I’m telling you this will be awesome. And I’m pretty sure that you’ll enjoy it once you know who we’ll be working with” he said, smirking at me.

                “So i’ll still be working with you then?” I told him, pouting while shaking my head. “So what’s the project boss? “ I asked him, tugging on the loose tank top to let the sweat dry some more. Gun Young passed me the water bottle and I took a drink from it.

                “You’ll find out later. We’re going there directly so take a quick shower”, he told me before pushing me towards the locker rooms. I slipped away and ran back to my bag, and then I run off towards the same direction but not before turning to him and sticking my tongue out. We’ve become pretty comfortable with each other ever since he gave me this job a month ago. He’s basically my life saver. He gave me a new job and a new home.

                After being a professional dancer to some of the famous pop groups here in Korea, he decided to open his own dance school to help teach and train people who wants to venture into dancing. At first, I was hesitant of my own skills but after some coaxing on his part and the fact that I need a new job, I decided to take it on. After a few days, my landlady told me that the owner of the apartment decided to leave the country and they are selling the building. Upon learning that I could be homeless, Gun Young offered to rent out the spare bedroom in their house for half of the rent of my old unit.

                I looked at the woman standing at the corner of the training room, who was busily talking to someone on the phone. She looked up after a while and gave a “thumbs up” and a smile before engaging on the conversation again.

                Sigh. The window on the other side of the room looks inviting, so I walked towards it and stared at the horizon, letting my mind marvel at the sight. Being alone even for a couple of minutes is something that I don’t enjoy, because it makes me deal with confusing emotions. That’s exactly the reason why I came here with Rino today.

                This morning we had a meeting with the managers and Mr. Lee Soo Man, regarding our plans about DBSK. Ever since we got back as a group, the company gave us freedom to decide about our group but of course we need to consult with them and let them know about our plans.

                It was agreed that we need to come up with a new direction and style for the group since we are now more mature. With maturity comes deeper emotions and so the hyungdeul agreed that a ier, mature yet friendly image is what the group needs at this time. Of course I agreed with them, and suggested that we come up with a new style of dance and choreography that should go with this new image. They all agreed, and had Rino come over to discuss the style with them. After five hours of discussion, we have agreed to showcase this new image thru a new album promoted over a series of mini concerts. As much as possible we should lessen our TV appearances and leave the TV promotion to the new groups. They suggested that we all take additional acting, dance and song writing lessons to help with the new album. After the meeting Junsu hyung asked Jae hyung to drive him off to their home, because Yoochun hyung seems to be in a weird mood these days. (He goes on about weird girls prowling the streets of Seoul). Yunho hyung on the other hand was busy with contacting foreign producers for our world tour, which was already planned for the end of the year. Actually it was his and Jae-hyung’s job, but since Jae-Hyung is also the director and creative consultant for the world tour he can’t do much with regards to marketing the event.

                Somebody tapped me on the shoulder, calling me back from my memories. She pointed one of her fingers downward telling me to look down, and I saw a small group of girls looking up expectantly at the window towards me. When they noticed me looking at them, they waved up. Letting out a smile I raised my hand in a wave before stepping away from the window.

                “He’s on his way now” Rino said, walking towards one of the benches inside the training hall. “He said he’s got a new apprentice who can help us with the new choreographies.”

                “Wow, are you getting old that you need help from new choreographers?”I said, teasing the dance director. Rino Nakasone is not only the in-house choreographer of SM Entertainment, she’s now the Dance director for all the artist that SM handles. Over years, she had trained new dancers and choreographers including the old dancers of DBSK. Every now and again she still choreographs for the different groups but usually, she just lets the other choreographers like Gun Young and Jae Won do the job.

                “He said Jeremiah is a visionary. The kind of choreographer who listens to music and interprets the story into a dance. “She said clearly ignoring my comment. “We need someone like that to help you guys, ”

                Jeremiah? So he’s a guy? I thought to myself. Maybe he could help me with those techniques that Gun Young and Jae Won are often pointing out to me.

                Just then footsteps are heard from the hallway, leading towards the open door. Gun Young comes inside and waves at someone, when a group of girls came rushing towards him pushing him inside the training hall. There were about six or seven of them trying to get past Gun young but the security was fast and they stopped the girls from entering. Gun Young who was still at the door was gesturing for someone to come inside, But the fan girls just stood their ground and wouldn’t let "Jeremiah" pass through. Just then one of the girls tried to squeeze in from behind. She smiled at Gun Young and then looked towards our direction.

               I was looking intently at her, and when our eyes met she quickly made a move. She slipped under the guards arms and made a run towards us. I stood up to greet her and tell her to go back. She was intently looking at me as she slowed her pace and stopped a second away from before smiling. I smiled back and stepped towards her, I saw her raise her arms up towards me and then I felt it touching my arm. Touching my arm and pushing me to the side. She pushed me aside? I thought, confusion clearly written on my face,while I turned around and saw her smiling at Rino.