Chapter 2

Once inside, I looked around to see any signs of Sohee but failed. I guess she’s inside already? I then notice a sign with an arrow pointing down a hallway, [G-Dragon’s Backup Dancer Auditions. Registration Desk]. I quickly make my way towards the hallway and turned the corner only to be shocked out of my mind. There was a huge line of girls waiting along the right wall and another line of girls in front of what I suppose is the registration desk. “Aish Sohee… Where are you…” I walk to the register line and wait while keeping an eye out for her until I realized I’m already at the front. I give them my name and watch as they check me off the list and hand me a sticker with the number ‘21’ printed on it. 21? “There are only 21 people here so far?” I asked.

“Nope, you are just #21 for the third group today.” The woman responded smiling, not reacting to my gaping mouth.

I smiled shyly at her and bowed my head, “Ah… heh heh, I see. Thank you very much.”

I felt a little dizzy while calculating in my head the amount of people that must be here. It shouldn’t be that surprising that so many girls would want to be G-Dragon’s backup dancer, but it’s still mind-boggling. And out of all these girls, only one will be picked…Will Sohee really be able to out shine all these girls here? I gasped and shook my head vigorously, how can I doubt Sohee like that! Of course she’ll make it! There’s no way she won’t! I began looking around for her once more but there was still no sign. Suddenly, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I turn to see a very cute girl behind me smiling, “Hi~ my name is Sulli.”

“Ah! Hello, my name is Sandara, but you can just call me Dara!” I smiled back at her, slightly caught off guard by her friendliness.

“Nice to meet you! Is everything alright? You seem to be fidgeting quite a lot.”

I laugh awkwardly, “Oh haha, yes everything is fine. I was just looking for my cousin who is also auditioning.”

She nodded and looked around at all the girls, “Oh I see. Yeah, it must be hard to find anyone in this crowd.”

I smiled as I continued to look around for her.

“If you want, I could save your spot for you while you go and find her! Looking at the line, I’m sure that it won’t be your turn for another… 40 minutes?”

“Really?” I looked ahead of me at the line and then back at Sulli’s smiling face, “That would be really great actually if you really don’t mind!”

Sulli put up her hands and shook her head, “Don’t worry! I don’t mind at all. If you want, we can exchange phone numbers so I can let you know when it’s getting close to your turn.”

I nodded my head enthusiastically and grabbed my phone. After exchanging numbers, I bowed my head and thanked her before running off.

My eyes searched the line for Sohee but once again had no luck. This line seems to go on forever. Finally, I seemed to have reached the head of the line that stopped at a tinted door with a sign, [Please speak quietly. Auditions are being held]. Is she already in there auditioning? I listened more intently to see if I could hear any signs that it was her in there when I heard the song that she has been practicing to the last few months; her favorite G-Dragon song, ‘Ma Girl’. The chances of two girls having the same song were very likely but I think it was safe to assume that it was her. I whispered only loud enough for me to hear, “Fighting, Sohee!” and made my way back to my place in line with Sulli.

“Park Sandara, #21!” I jumped a little as I turned away from Sulli to face the man standing behind me with a clipboard. “Are you Miss Park Sandara?” He said while looking me up and down.

“Yes, I am.”

“Great. You are next to audition so please do whatever you need to get ready before hand.” He gestured towards the tinted door I saw earlier. It didn’t process until then that we were already at the front of the line.

“Ah, yes. Thank you.” I said to him before turning towards Sulli who also made the same realization.

“Wow, that was quick…” She said while nervously playing with her fingers. I was feeling the exact same way.

“Yeah…” was all I could manage to say. My fear and nerves began to creep on me again but I tried to shake it off by taking deep breaths.

“Don’t worry, Dara. You are going to do great!” Sulli said while squeezing my arm reassuringly.

I smiled at her gratefully. I’m glad that I was able to meet Sulli during this short period of time. The time really flew by quickly while talking to her and helped calm me down a bit. She was also really knowledgeable on how these auditions usually work out. We are apparently only in phase one, which is solo audition and they pick and choose a small few to move on to phase two, group auditions where you are given a set choreography to perform. After more cuts are made, the last and most important phase is the one-on-one choreography with the solo artist or group, in this case, G-Dragon. This is to see whether or not you can work well with them on stage both physically and visually. Thank god I’m not getting that far.

A sudden voice calls me that brought me out of my imagination of dying a thousand deaths if I had to dance with G-Dragon.

“Unnie!” Sohee appears next to us before she wraps her arms around my neck while giggly happily. “You stayed!”

“Of course I did silly. Who else is going to comfort you when you don’t get the part.” I teased while ruffling her hair.

“Aish!” She pouted and stomped her fit a bit before a smile resurfaced again. “You don’t know anything! My audition went perfectly!” She lifted her nose in the air.

“Omo! Really?? That’s great!! What did they say? What was it like??” I asked while grabbing her shoulders.

She began to explain how there were only three judges present: the YG President, YG’s main choreographer, and one of G-Dragon’s backup dancers. A huge weight lifted off my shoulders knowing that G-Dragon wasn’t there.

“That’s strange, I really thought G-Dragon would be present at the auditions…” Sulli chirped in reminding me that Sulli was standing behind me this whole time. After quick introductions, Sohee continued, “Yeah, I was surprised that he wasn’t there either. I guess he won’t show up until the final phase.”

At first I was surprised that Sohee knew there was more than the solo auditions but then it occurred to me that maybe she didn’t expect me to get past even the first phase.

“Park Sandara, #21. We are ready for you, please enter the room.” The clipboard man stepped aside and opened the door for me. I nodded at him before turning to Sohee and Sulli and giving them each a hug.

“Unnie! Relax, and don’t worry. Just have fun with it! I’ll be waiting for you afterwards!” Sohee gave me a thumbs up and a wink.

“Good luck Dara! Fighting! I’ll see you at phase two!” Sulli cheered happily not noticing that Sohee was eyeing her on the side.

“Thanks you two! I’ll see you both soon!” I smiled before I turned to face the open door and walked right in. Let’s do this! Fighting Dara!

“Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Park Sandara #21 and I am auditioning for the spot of G-Dragon’s backup dancer.” I spoke firmly while bowing in front of the three men sitting before me.

“Hello Miss Park, thank you for joining us today. My name is Yang Hyun Suk, YG President. This is Lee Jae Wook YG’s in house choreographer, and Dong Youngbae, G-Dragon’s top backup dancer.” He said with a slight smile on his face while gesturing the two men sitting on either side of him. Jae Wook looked at me from head to toe before slightly smiling and nodding. Youngbae, however, just stared straight into my eyes, as if searching for something. His gaze began to make me feel nervous again so I quickly diverted my eyes back to President YG.

“So Miss Park, first tell us a little about your experience and background.”

I nodded and began to tell them how I started dancing five years ago at a dance studio near my home. I mentioned that at first I was hesitant and unconfident in my skills but as soon as I heard the music, it just became so natural and made me able to express myself in ways I couldn’t before. I explained how after two years of taking classes, I found a part time job at a fairly well known dance studio and taught intermediate and expert dance classes. “Because my style is a little bit different from most, choreographing and teaching others was something that I loved doing. I enjoyed coming up with different ways to move to one piece of the same music. It let my mind grow creatively.” While explaining, I scanned each of their faces. Both President YG and Jae Wook were nodding and smiling at my personal story, but Youngbae was still giving me that same blank stare, searching my eyes. What is he looking for? Getting uncomfortable once again, I decided to quickly finish my answer. “Dancing is not just an activity, a job, or a hobby for me. Dancing is a language to me. Like I’ve always believed: those who don’t feel the music from within do not understand dance.” After saying this, a small smile catches my eye to the left of President YG. So, Mr. Dong Youngbae’s face can change.

Suddenly, I hear a slow clap coming from behind me. I turn to look at the door from which I entered the dance studio but it was closed and not a person was in sight. Then a voice came from the other corner.

“Spoken like a true dancer. I like her already.”

Oh god.

*BlueNote*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

So going to leave you there for tonight! But I'm sure you all know who it is.

Good night!

*If you are confused about layout/weird details that seem wrong+right at the same time, please read the story description!*