Chapter 6

~*Jiyong’s POV*~

“Yah, you are still here? Don’t you have something better to do?” My heart nearly jumped out of my chest when YG appeared suddenly behind me.

I shot up straight with my arms glued to my sides letting go of the door. “Ah, ye--, I mean no! I’m just very interested to see how the girls are doing with the choreography, sajangnim!”

A sly smile creeps onto his face and eyes me suspiciously. “Alright, Jiyong. I understand. Has any of them in particular caught your eye since you’ve been watching?”

I blush immediately when flashes of Sandara perfecting the moves to my song come to mind. “Ah… Not really.” I lie despite knowing that YG can tell.

“Well then,” He pats my shoulder, “I guess we better go in and get started since you haven’t narrowed it down during your hour of observing.” I mentally face palm but trail in after YG not daring to look him in the eyes.

Jae Wook just finished teaching the last few counts of the routine as YG and I make it to the front of the studio.

“1 and 2 and 3, 4! Then end in a split.” Jae Wook calls out while doing a spin and feigns dropping to the ground. Immediately after, all the girls follow Jae Wook’s lead and end up in a split. Except for one. My eyes immediately focus towards the odd one out, who was still standing. Why is she standing? I study her face. Sweat drops were slipping down her smooth skin, slightly open as she breathed in and out. Her eyes darted from Jae Wook to the other girls then at the floor. As if frustrated, she bit her bottom lip. Can she not do a split…?

YG begins clapping as the girls began to stand up one by one eventually blocking my view of Sandara. “Well done, girls. More or less of you seem to be very confident in the routine. I believe it’s time to separate you into groups of four. Jae Wook.”

Jae Wook starts counting off each girl from one to five starting on the left. By the time he was done, I learn that Sandara is in the last group.

“Alright, group one, please get ready. The rest, please wait outside until your group is called.” YG grabs a chair and sits right in the middle in front of the mirror. I follow suit.

At this point of the auditions, it surprisingly becomes easier to pick out who is or is not cut out for the job. Since they were only given one time to run through the entire routine, it makes it exceedingly difficult for them but easier for us. We want the best and nothing but the best. Of course, when we actually learn new choreography, we get a week or so but why not pick the talented and experienced ones that we know can learn a piece within a day. It also becomes increasingly obvious who are the best when they are paired off with the best backup dancers in the country. Right after the group performs by themselves, the girls get to pick Youngbae, Seunghyun, Seungri, or Daesung to be their partners for the second round. Jae Wook specifically choreographed this routine so that it can be danced as a solo, but when adding a male partner with complementing moves, it makes the piece that much stronger. That way, it all depends on how the girls dance the choreography. If they nail every move, then the routine will be perfect.

As group four prepares themselves, it occurs to me that Sandara is supposed to be next. How is she going to pass this phase if she can’t even do the splits? The ending move is the most important because the male partner is supposed to spin the girl while holding onto her hands as she drops onto the floor in a perfect split, with him standing above her extended back leg. If she can’t do the splits, it won’t work. Game over. I furrow my brows as I try to concentrate on the group before me but the confusion and worry that keeps growing is distracting me. I can’t help but feel extremely nervous for her.

Finally, group four finishes their ending move with the guys and prepares to leave the room.

“Group five, please come in.”

One by one, I watch as each girl comes into the room. Finally, Sandara walks in with a smile and determination written all over her face. I am taken aback by her expression, isn’t she nervous? Why isn’t she sh*tting bricks right now? Seeing her like this makes my heart pound even more. What is this girl thinking?

“Thank you all for patiently waiting. I’m sure you all must have cooled down by now. Please be sure to warm up thoroughly before beginning.”

The girls take their time to stretch. Most of the girls were doing splits but Sandara was going through each of the major points in the entire routine. This girl is making me crazy. Why isn’t she stretching her legs! If she can’t even do the splits and tries to she’s going to really injure herself! I grit my teeth trying to suppress myself from scolding her. I continue to watch her rehearse in place until finally YG interrupts.

“Is everyone ready? We will begin now.”

All the girls nod and position themselves in the starting pose. With my eyes still on Sandara, I watch as she takes her spot and readies herself. Taking in a deep breath, she suddenly looks at me with that same strong gaze I saw her with the last time she danced. Then the music started.

My eyes never left her as I watched her move to my song. She hit every beat, every pose, every movement right on cue. But something was wrong. This didn’t look like Jae Wook’s choreography. She made it her own. She moved so comfortably that it almost convinced me that she was actually the one who choreographed this piece. Although the movements were technically the same, her personality and style shone through which changed the feeling of the piece. It made it better; unique.

Finally, nervousness started to kick in my stomach again. It was in the last few counts of the routine and the ending was closing in quick. I watched as she spun around perfectly… the split! She positioned her split and went down swiftly with the rest of the girls but just stopped just a foot above the ground. She slid her front leg slowly around until it met the back one and with her weight on her knees and hands. Right on the last beat of the song, she whipped her long black hair backwards letting it fall freely framing her face and stared straight towards the front with a sly smile, while on her knees.

I probably looked idiotic but I just couldn’t bring my jaw back up. So I just let it hang there in silence. No one clapped as everyone just stared at what we just witnessed. Sandara relaxed and returned to her feet before bowing. The other girls soon followed suit, still recovering from the shock Park Sandara gave all of us. She changed the choreography.

I turned to look at YG, and saw the same face that I was probably still making. This girl, she shocked everyone. Finally, YG recovered and cleared his throat.

“Uhm, yes. Well then… Good job, everyone. Now please return to your spots and think which of the male backup dancers you want to be partnered with.”

Now, mouth closed, but still in complete shock, I watch as Sandara returned to her original spot. Completely unfazed by what she just did, her eyes move to the door where the guys enter from the separate dance studio. I watch her eyes searching each of their faces before stopping on Youngbae and never leaving. A small smile forms on her lips.

Suddenly, anger fills me. What is this girl thinking?! She can still smile after completely sabotaging her own audition? No one changes the set choreography! That is probably the worst thing you could do when auditioning as a backup dancer! She was doing so well, she got all the moves, hit all the right counts then threw it all down the drain by doing her own choreography? It wasn’t even a cool trick! Sure, she hit the ending count perfectly and look damn good, but anyone could do that!

“Miss Park,” YG starts, interrupting my ranting, “Who would you like to pick as your partner?”

She doesn’t even take a second to think, “Dong Youngbae-ssi.”

I see Youngbae was a bit taken aback by her choice but walks over and stands next to her, clearly unhappy.

For some reason, this makes me even more annoyed. Why’d she pick Youngbae so quickly? Because he’s the best dancer? Does she think his experience can make up for what she did? I grumpily mumble to myself at the thought of her getting cut. She’s done for. It’s game over.

Once every one was partnered up, they were given time to talk and introduce themselves to each other, just enough to get comfortable. I notice Seungri being his usually flirty self, Daesung as friendly as always, and Seunghyun being as awkward as ever. When I look at the last pair, there is tension surrounding them. They don’t bother to say a word to each other; they don’t even look at each other. These two… what is going on between them? I’ve never seen Youngbae act like this before. If anything, he was always the friendly one, picking on and teasing the girls. Why does he seem to dislike Sandara so much? I turn my attention to Sandara who is clearly fuming mad but determined… about what?

“Please get into your positions, we will start the music in 5.” YG says. Both Sandara and Youngbae get into position, without saying a word. As I hear the music start, I want to immediately cover my eyes to not watch the disaster that is about to unfold. But much to my surprise, the complete opposite happens.

The transformation on both Youngbae and Sandara’s expressions was instant once they started the choreography. Youngbae appeared to be completely captivated by the goddess in front of him, whereas Sandara became a flirty, y but playful woman. Complete opposites of how they were acting just a few minutes ago. This kind of professionalism is to be expected out of Youngbae since he’s been in this business for the majority of his life, but Sandara… the way she looks at him, the playfulness, how close she dares to get to him, if I didn’t know any better, I could’ve sworn I was seeing two couples in a night club.

Although she is doing the exact same choreography as the first time, it’s different again. She’s moving her body differently so the feeling she is putting out is also different. The last round, she was y, confident, as if she was trying to charm someone. Now… now that she has someone, she’s playful, flirty, and responding to his wants. To her, it’s a different scenario, a different song and a different dance.

The final counts start closing in and I could feel myself hold my breath. If this is a completely different dance for her, what will the ending be this time?

She spins perfectly as Youngbae takes both of her hands into his and she swiftly lowers into an almost split, just like before, stops just above the ground but this time swings her back leg around to meet her front one. Still holding onto Youngbae’s hands, she tucked her legs in and allowed the momentum from the swing of her leg to make her spin on her lower back before being yanked up by Youngbae’s strength and into his arms. His, right arm automatically moves around her waist, holding her tight as his left hand grabs hold of her raised leg that wrapped itself around his waist. She has one hand on his chest, gripping onto his shirt and the other was tangled in his hair. On the final beat, she whips her head towards the front with the same sly smile and winks.

My heart skips a beat. Who is this girl?

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

Hope this makes up for the short chapter!

I discovered through this chapter how hard it is to describe dance moves -.- 

Or maybe that's just my problem. Anyways, I hope it makes sense and is fun to read :)

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