Chapter 7

~*Dara’s POV*~

Silence fills the room once again when the music stops and the only thing that I can hear is our breathing. I turn my face to meet Youngbae’s, our faces only inches apart and we are still in the same promiscuous position. I try to move my leg down and pull away but his grip is keeping me still. The longer we stayed in this position, the more conscious I got and couldn’t stop from blushing.

“Um… Dong Youngbae-ssi…” I say quietly as I look into his eyes. It seemed blank and distant, as if it was in some kind of trance. Finally, I see the light of recognition in his eyes. They grow wide and immediately, he lets go. I stumble back from the suddenness but just quickly recovered and turned to face the front. Then I see that all eyes were on us, even G-Dragon who seemed to be at a loss for words. My face flushed even more red and I immediately looked down to avoid everyone’s stares.

Finally, President YG breaks the silence, “Great job everyone. That was quite a performance. You’ve all worked very hard. Now, we will work on the decisions for phase three. Once decisions have been made, we will start right away so please make sure to eat an early dinner now. Of course, the cafeteria will provide a free meal for all of you so feel free to eat there. That is all.”

We all bow and thank President YG before exiting the dance studio. When I turn around to leave, I see Youngbae still just standing there with his head lowered. I push away any worrying thoughts and simply walk past him.

Once I reached outside the dance studio, I take out my phone to text Sulli an update. However, Sohee, who was waiting against the wall, stops me in my tracks.

“Unnie,” She says with a serious face. “Can we talk?”

~*Jiyong’s POV*~

“Yah, Youngbae-ah. Snap out of it.” I say while shaking his shoulders as he continued to just stand there.

“Hey! What’s wrong with you?” I ask slightly irritated that he wasn’t responding to me. Out of all the years I’ve known him, this was the first time I’ve seen him like this, like he was completely defeated.

“She changed the choreography.” He said softly. Is that what this is all about?
“Yes, Youngbae-ah, we saw. She changed the choreo, why are you acting like this?”

He raised his head and looked into my eyes, “She changed the choreography and she made ME dance the way SHE wanted me to dance.” He said in disbelief.

“I don’t know what happened.” He continued, “Here I was, dreading dancing with such a shallow-minded girl that only cared about dancing with you, AGAIN. Then the next thing I knew, I no longer knew what was real, I forgot where I was, and just moved the way I wanted to move… with her. By the end of it, I just… didn’t want to let her go.”

Hearing him say that made me feel uneasy but I shook the feeling away to focus on what was most important. The fact that, the Dong Youngbae, the well-known master of dance, was made to move and dance by Park Sandara, a dancer for only five years.

“She is definitely no ordinary dancer. She not only has a great sense of movement and flow, but she also has a great skill in acting whether she knows it or not. Youngbae, do not be mistaken; she did not “out-dance” you. She used her talent in dance and acting, to respond to your movements, she complemented you both movement-wise and the feelings you were trying to portray during the routine. So much that it confused you on what was real but responded to her anyways. She made you act, not dance.” YG said. His arms crossed in front of his chest as he just stared straight in front of him as if he was replaying Sandara and Youngbae’s performance.

There was some silence to let the idea sink into our minds. “So what does this mean for her?” I asked.

“It’s simple. She stands out too much. She is a backup dancer, not the main star.” YG closed his eyes and sighed, “If we were to hire her, she’d take away too much attention from you.”

“But the only reason why she stood out so much compared to the rest was because she not only has exceptional skills and creativity, but also she changed the choreo.” Jae Wook protested.

“Yes, she changed the choreography. That is also another reason why she shouldn’t be picked. We need someone who will listen to what they are told. What happens if she wants to change the choreography in the future despite what you or I envisioned?” YG responded still with his eyes closed but furrowed his eyebrows.

“Then I’d listen.” Jae Wook stated, “Don’t tell me you didn’t see what she did to that routine.” He waited for YG to respond but got nothing so he continued. “The first run, she captured the feeling of the song and the routine and portrayed that perfectly through her movements. A strong, confident, y woman, wouldn’t show off by ending in a simple split. The second run with Youngbae, now that she has a man, she’s not only confident and y but also playful and flirty. A woman like that wouldn’t let a man stand above her at the end. A woman like that would make her move and put each other on the same level.” He let this information sink into our mind although it was something that we all knew. “The choreography was perfect. But she made it beyond perfect. She made it unforgettable.”

~*Dara’s POV*~

“You know that there is only one spot as GD oppa’s backup dancer, right?” Sohee asked me seriously, her arms still folded in front of her.

“Yes…?” I asked confused on why she was asking me such a silly question.

“Then why are you trying so hard to beat me?”

Eh?

“What? Sohee… I’m not trying to bea—“

“Yes you are!” Sohee yelled cutting me off.

Shocked by her sudden outburst, all I could do was just watch as she cried and made incoherent sentences saying something along the lines of me ‘stealing the spotlight’.

“I-I was… trying so hard… to get GD… oppa’s attention. It was the first… time we were in the same room! I wanted him to look… at me. But all he did was watch YOU.” She began to wail, straight to her ugly cry.

I slowly stepped closer to her and rubbed her back. I don’t understand where this is all coming from… I don’t remember him ever looking at me.

“Sohee-ah…” I cooed, “Remember, I’m not as good of a dancer as you, so why are you worried! Please don’t be like this, I’m not trying to take your spot.”

“Then why are you still here?” She blinked through her tears to look at me.

“I…” I honestly didn’t know how to answer her. Through phase one, it was for Sohee. Through phase two, it was to prove my talent to Dong Youngbae. If I pass onto phase three, what am I still doing it for? Before my mind can come to an answer, Sohee beats me to it.

“Is it GD oppa? Do you… like him?”

Like G-Dragon? He is my idol, someone that I look up to and want to acknowledge my talent. I think back to the moments during my performance when we’ve exchanged looks. I always found my eyes traveling back to him, to see his reaction, what he might be thinking when watching me dance. Does he notice the feelings I have when dancing? Does he think I’m talented? Is there even a chance he sees a similarity between our dancing styles? Does he find me praiseworthy?

But other than that, it is nothing more. It’s admiration. Like or love is different from admiration… right?

I smile and ruffle the top of her head, “Yah, you are so silly. He’s your husband-to-be remember?”

She takes a while before putting on a wide grin and embracing me. I returned the hug as we stood there in silence.

“Unnie,” Sohee said softly not letting me go, “Can you promise me something?”

“Of course, what is it?”

“Promise me that you will reject their offer if you are picked as the new backup dancer...” She trailed off.

“Sohee-ah, they won’t. They haven’t even made the cuts for phase three yet.”

“Just promise me!” She hugged me tighter, almost squeezing all the air out of my lungs.

After a few long seconds, I answer her, “I promise.”

“Good.” She let me go and took a step back wiping away her tears. Finally, she gave me a smile and stuck her tongue out at me, “And yes, I do remember! GD oppa will be my husband, no matter what!” And with that, she skipped down the hall happily towards the cafeteria.

I almost didn’t notice the slight pinch in my heart.

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

Sorry it took me so long to update >< I had work and class all day :(

I don't know how much I'll be able to put up tonight... I'm still working on Chapter 8 but have TONS of homework to take care of first.

BUT I'll try my best for all of you!!

Thank you to all of those who commented and subscribed! It really means a lot to me <3 

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