Chapter One
Dream On, Dancer Darling
breathe in.. breathe out.. it's just one audition..
But, it's not just one audition. It's the most important audition of my entire dancing career and I've been dancing for 18 out of my 25 years of life.
My name is Soo Ming. Silly name to all you American readers, so I prefer to go by Nani. I'm half French, half Korean. My dad, who's French, met my mother, who's South Korean, while studying art in Korea. I currently live in Paris, France. I left home at 18 to follow my career as a professional dancer and I've had a pretty impressive track record. I mainly dance for Korean pop groups, seeing as I am Korean and that's all I really listen to. I've danced for 2NE1 and Exo, but that's it. Plus, I have no boyfriend and no real friends, so I don't really have much besides dance.
One other thing: I speak French, Korean, and English. Pretty impressive right? ;) No, but I'm typing in English, so it's easily read. You're welcome!
Today, I was sitting outside of a casting office, waiting for my audition. I am waiting to audition as lead choreographer for the Korean pop group, Super Junior. For those curious, Ryeowook is my bias. I feel like I'm about to start crying in my seat, I'm so nervous. I'm a huge supporter of the group and last month, they announced their world-wide search for a new choreographer. I jumped on the idea and started to scream when I read 'Paris, France' was on their list. I have no idea what to even expect when I get in there, but life's about enjoying the suspense, no?
"Nani? You're up," said a lovely blonde woman in a smart suit. She wore a stressed frown and carried a brown clipboard. Her enthusiasm didn't really help my butterflies in my stomach. I laced up my tap shoes quickly and walked into the dance studio where they were holding the auditions. There was a long wall, covered by a mirror. In front of said mirror sat 4 men in suits and 1 in a t-shirt and hat. I instantly recognized the man in the hat; he was Siwon, a member of Super Junior. The other 4 men I didn't know, but they wore the same expression the woman did. Siwon, however, smiled at me and gave me a tip of his head when my eyes met his. I kept throwing glances his way whenever I could. He was incredibly attractive, especially in person. All the posters of him on my wall never did him justice. To be honest, though, I'm not too sure why he's here. I'm not complaining though.
"Hello," I said confidently, standing on the huge red X drawn on the dance floor. "My name is Soo Ming, but you can call me Nani, if you'd like." I finally got a smile from the 4 men and they all tipped their heads, like Siwon had done earlier.
"Hello Nani, we're representatives from SM Entertainment and that down there is Choi Siwon. However, we think you know who he is," said the fattest man of the bunch. After I introduced myself, I felt so much more relaxed and eased. Thank god for that.
"Are you ready to begin auditioning?" asked a taller and skinner man whose nametag read 'Vincent'. I nodded and stepped back a little, taking off my jacket and throwing it to the corner of the room."Would you like to audition with Mr. Simple or No Other?" Vincent asked, sliding through songs on his IPhone. I thought for a moment; both very good songs to show off my dancing skills. I finally decided on Mr. Simple.
The music started to play and I heard Leeteuk's 'Hey, I'm Mr. Simple' play over the speakers. Here we go, Nani. Remember everything you've done to get here. Good luck. The very second I heard the first fast-paced beat, I burst into my choreography I'd created for this song. I swayed my hips and flung my arms into the air with amazing accuracy to the song. Not going to lie, this was the best time I've ever performed. I heard Ryeowook's golden voice begin to sing and I smiled as I danced. Remember, Nani. If you ace this audition, you get to meet your idols. Plus, you can finally meet Ryeowook. As I reinforced myself, I felt my dance get better and get better. The song slowed to a stop and I struck an ending pose, which was basically me, crossing my arms like an idiot. I was breathing heavily like I'd just given birth and I had the biggest smile on my face. I did it, I successfully auditioned for Super Junior and I didn't even mess up once. I felt so proud of myself; I definitely needed to treat myself to an iced coffee after I get out of here. The 4 men and Siwon all clapped for me and I saw smiles light up their faces. That just made me feel so much better.
"That was excellent!" said the fat man. Everyone else mumbled in agreement. They all wrote something down on the clipboard they held in their lap.
"Now, Nani. If you do get this gig and we aren't saying that you will, would you be open to choreographing Super Junior-M as well? Zhou Mi and Henry would love to meet you. Plus, their dancing needs tune up as well," said a tall man with a weird nose. Siwon laughed to himself in agreement.
"I'd love to do that. I love both Zhou Mi and Henry. They seem lovely." I kept trying to tell myself to not get my hopes up. I bet they say that to all their auditionees. I'm not special, don't get too cocky.
"Good," said the weird-nosed man.
"One last thing," Vincent started. "We need to see how well you work with these guys, which is why we've brought along Siwon here." Siwon stood and took off his hat, soon ing the top button of his shirt.
"Do you mind if I take this off? I tend to dance better shirtless," he asked me, shooting me some sort of flirty eye wink that I guess was supposed to get me to say yes. I rolled my eyes.
"Doesn't matter to me." He tore his shirt open and walked forward, joining me on the dance floor.
"Ready to dance?" Siwon asked.
"Born ready." He smiled.
"Stop flirting Choi or I'll have you sent out," joked the fat man. "We'd like you to dance to a Super Junior-M song, so would you like Super Girl or Perfection?" I looked over to Siwon and he mouthed 'Super Girl'.
"Super Girl, I think," I said. My breathing came down to normal and I was now preparing to dance to one of my favorite Suju songs with a shirtless Siwon. While Vincent was scrolling through his phone, Siwon tapped my shoulder.
"You really did an amazing job, the guys loved you. You might be a better dancer than Eunhyuk or Donghae, but don't tell them that." I laughed a little and I could feel my face heat up. He's trying to throw you off. Don't fall for the shirtless Siwon!
Vincent pressed play and the song began to play. Siwon was now my dancing puppet and I could do whatever I chose with him. I first started off putting both of his hands on my hips and I grinded up against him. I could tell he wasn't exactly expecting it and to be honest, neither was I. I was going with it and I was just dancing along with the music. I made Super Girl my own, turning it into a flirty dance number. I even threw in a tiny Mr. Simple hand shake, just for effect.
By the time the song was over, I wasn't breathing as heavily, but Siwon sure was.
"Damn," he mumbled, his chest moving up and down at a rapid pace. I smiled and tapped his shoulder.
"That was great. Thanks for letting me dance with you." I held out my hand as a friendly gesture, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me into a hug.
"You were the most amazing dancer I've seen yet. You're definitely getting this gig." His words kept repeating in my ear, even hours after I'd left the studio.
You were the most amazing dancer I've seen yet...you're definitely getting this gig...definately getting this gig....definitely.
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