CHAPTER 6: IDOL DANCE BATTLE

“Ah!!” Rio jolted from her bed and got the CD Gdragon gave her from her bag. She smiled at it. “Tomorrow, I’ll listen to you tomorrow, okay? So stay put!” She said as she placed it on her bedside table and went off to dreamland.

--

Gross. Rio scrunched up her nose. She didn’t get to bathe or brush her teeth last night. She was so tired. She lazily dragged herself out of bed, went to the bathroom, threw on a hoodie, leggings and a pair of rubber shoes and after eating breakfast, prepared to leave.

--

Rio braced herself as she entered the practice room.

“Ya!!! There she is!” Rio covered her ears as soon as she could. Manager Kim was unusually energetic today.

“Manage---“ She stilled and after a few seconds of looking at her manager, she burst into fits of laughter. “What are you wearing?!?!”

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fKesjY3zJq8/TXVTMb18EzI/AAAAAAAAPJI/g0WNi3X8q9c/s320/training.png

“Ya! Why are you laughing at your manager like that?! This brat!” He made to mess up her hair but the door to the practice room opened. The two stopped their physical warfare when Daesung and Seungri entered the room.

“Oh! Oppa! What are you doing here?” She asked to no one in particular.

They grinned at her and pushed her to sit in front of the monitor. They plugged a disk in and clicked on at least 10 videos.

Rio sat in front of the monitor, cringing. “What is this?” She asked the three.

She just watched major shaking videos and performances from dance groups and other idol groups. Kara’s Mister, SISTAR’s loving U and How Dare You, BESTie’s pitapat, Girl’s Day’s Female President and Expect, Rainbow’s Tell me Tell me, 4minute’s Is it Poppin?, Dal Shabet’s Be Ambitious

“Oppa, you’re so weird! Why do you have this?!” She hit Seungri and accused him.

“Ya!!! Kim-hyungnim wanted us to help teach you how to dance like a girl!” He said, shouting back at her.

She looked at him blankly. “Why would I?” She looked at her manager. “Is there something you’re not telling me?” She was afraid of the answer but braced herself. Please don’t say her image will change to a dance idol!

…

Anything but that!

…

Wait, she wanted to take it back…

“WHAT?!?! OPPA WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME???” Rio was having a mental break down and she was panicking. “Oppa, Im not a dancer, seriously…” She covered her face.

“Think of it as an exposure!” Mr. Kim defended.

“But—Idol Star Dance Battle???”

“You should be thankful you have a schedule!” Seungri shouted at her naggingly.

She sighed. He was right. She should welcome this opportunity. “You’re right, I’m sorry.” She admitted as she bowed and apologized to the three men in the room. “It’s just that, I don’t know how to dance that well—I don’t want to embarrass myself or YG.”

The room was silent until Daesung spoke.

 “Wanna watch again?” He grinned and held the USB up.

“I don’t… I don’t have to do those right?” She asked, sweat forming on her forehead.

“Do you want to win?” Seungri asked, his serious expression telling of his desire to win. She nodded.

“But let’s try a different approach. Please?” She begged them for a couple of minutes. The three nodded and Daesung called up Taeyang.

A few moments later, Taeyang appeared and started teaching the dance moves to Chris Brown’s Turn Up The Music. He warmed up and then started dancing for her to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSjUBx-bUlk

After his dance ended, Rio’s eyes were as big as saucers. She stuttered, “O-oppa…” She began. “How can I even do that?!”

He chuckled and shook his head.

“Aish, you’re only showing off aren’t you?” She pouted and Seungri, Daehyun and Manager Kim started laughing.

“Alright, I’ll teach you something a bit simpler.” She nodded and got up from the floor. Rio caught up with him quite well. She might not consider herself the best dancer, but she trained to have at least a presentable dancing form.

--- A week later:

Rio entered the MBC building clutching her school backpack and breathing deeply. She was quite early today so she took her time calming herself down. The make up crew went ahead of her while Manager Kim parked the car.

 “Ah! That’s right---“ She said as she took her phone out and texted Minah. “I—am—here—already! Where—are—you?” She mumbled as she typed the words on her phone. “Send!”

Who did Minah say was coming again? She thought to herself.

“B1A4,  GNa, Teen Top, Kara, Miss A, 4Minute, f(x), T-ARA N4, SISTAR, Secret, Infinite, Beast, BtoB and…” She looked up and saw the BAP members going inside the building. She blushed and shook her head. She buried her face into her hair and texted frantically. This is all because Minah and Juniel had to ask her!

Manager Kim… Quickly park the car and come! SOS SOS!!! She texted.

She sighed and pretended not to notice them. She didn’t know why she had the urge to do so, but she just looked at the elevator.

“Oh, annyeong-haseyo.” It was the lead vocalist, Youngjae. She turned to him. She always found him quite pretty—like an cartoon or anime character.

“Annyeong haseyo, sunbae-nim!” She bowed and smiled at them, trying her best to be as natural as possible. They kept exchanging bows awkwardly before Yongguk let out a deep chuckle and stopped.

“Are you here for the dance battle as well?” Youngjae asked.

“Neh. I’m a bit nervous.” She chuckled. “I’m not a very good dancer.”

“Eyy, stop being so modest!” Himchan commented and she shook her head.

“No! I really—“ She stopped and lowered her voice. “—.” She murmured, but it was still audible to the six boys beside her. They burst out laughing.

“You’re so honest, really.” Himchan commented as he caught his breath and patted her back.

“I’m looking forward to your performance. Your dancing is always the best.” She said excitedly.

“Jonguppie prepared a bit of hip hop-b-boy today.” Youngjae commented. Jong up raised his arms in a pose of victory.

“Yah! That’s supposed to be a secret.” Daehyun scolded and her eyes, although she tried really hard to avoid it, went immediately to him. She wasn’t a fan girl, but she really reaaaally liked his voice, which is what attracted her to him every time she saw them perform. She had this as the reason why her heart wouldn’t stop beating so fast.

She brought her point finger to her lips, “Shh?” She started. “It’s okay, I’ll keep it a secret.” Daehyun looked at her for a moment and chuckled, finding her adorable.

Finally, the elevator doors opened and to everyone’s surprise, Rio’s make up artist pulled her in quickly.

“You were here!” The make up unnie let out a sigh of relief. “You still haven’t had your make-up done!”

Rio blushed. She forgot she had no make-up on. “Mianhe, unnie. I forgot.” She smiled sheepishly.

“Oh!” Himchan said as he stepped in front of Rio, surprising her. “She’s right, you’re not wearing any make-up?” He asked, as if surprised by her bare face. Jongup, being the band-wagoner that he was, copied his hyung and agreed. Zelo shyly peeked at her face and nodded.

“Noona, I thought you already put on some make up.” Jong up commented absent-mindedly.

Rio covered her face. “Look away, look away.” She complained. She was usually alright with showing her bare face—she wasn’t that much of a celebrity yet, so she didn’t mind, but having people