Five: Soohyo - The Skinny on Aquamarine
 

Wednesday, April 24th 2013 -- Jellyfish Entertainment Dance Studio
Seoul, South Korea
 

"1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8!" The group of twelve girls counted out loud as they ran through the steps of their latest dance. Saeyeon always made them count out loud for the full duration of the dance - said it would help keep them in time and help their lung capacity so they could sing and dance at the same time later.

Since becoming a trainee, Long Soohyo, always felt like she was counting. Counting out dance steps, counting the handful of hours of sleep she'd get to have each evening, counting the calories she ate, and counting down the days. See, her parents gave her a deadline - four years from the day she entered Jellyfish was all she had to debut before they would pull her from the trainee program and force her to pursue an education in a field they find more suitable. She had 704 days left.

Soohyo counted as she moved to the front of their dance formation, a smile gracing her lips. She had been dancing since she was five. At first, it was her mother's way of getting her to become active and help her lose all of her stubborn baby fat, but it grew to be her passion. She dared to say she was one of the best dancers in the group of trainees and was confident in her moves.

"Very good, Soohyo," said Saeyeon as Soohyo moved further back in the formation, as another girl moved to shine in the front and center position. "Keep it sharp everyone! Chaebin, foget keeping it sharp, just worry about keeping it together!"

The girls finished the dance in a straight line, each of them panting heavily and sweating.

Saeyeon looked at each girl, regarding them carefully before smiling. "It's good to see such improvement from everyone. I see you're all very determined to debut. Keep up the good work. Take ten minutes and we'll start again from the top, this time with the music."

Soohyo let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the floor, her legs, draped in baggy black sweatpants, stretched out in front of her. Two other girls, Kyungah and Wooram, sat next to her and began stretching to keep their muscles from cramping after such a long, intense practice session. The other trainees sat around or stood and stretched as well. Chaebin instantly started running through the dance again, but a bit slower, trying to fix whatever she had messed up.

Then there was a knock on the practice room door.

"Come in," said Saeyeon, eyeing the door with a raised eyebrow.

"Happy Wednesday!" Hongbin and Hyuk barged through the door, trailed by the other four members of VIXX. Taekwoon silently carried a large cloth grocery bag.

"Oppa!" Taeksoo ran from her spot and rushed to hug her older brother, who frowned when he realized just how sweaty his little sister was.

"Annyeonghaseyo, G12!" Jaehwan said, cheerfully. "We have the day off and just wanted to stop by to say hi and give you guys a little mid-week pick-me-up... if that's okay with you, Instructor-nim." He look at Saeyeon nervously.

"It's ice cream!" Hyuk happily announced.

Saeyeon rolled her eyes. "They've been working hard... I suppose a short ice cream break is in order."

The girls all cheered and gathered around as the members of VIXX passed out ice cream and plastic spoons for them to eat it with, chatting loudly and happily with each other and with the boys.

Soohyo stood behind a bit. She debated whether or not she should even be eating the ice cream in the first place. To this day, she still worried about her weight, especially now that she was preparing for the chance to debut and in the idol world, image was everything. She already felt like the biggest trainee in the room. Plus, wouldn't ice cream just cramp up their stomachs when they started dancing again?

"Do you want one, Soohyo?" Hakyeon asked.

Soohyo frowned, her head tilted to the side a bit as she rushed to make her decision.

Hakyeon gave her a devious smile. "It's bubble gum flavored," he , waving the cup of ice cream in front of her. "Taeksoo tells me that bubble gum is your favorite."

Soohyo looked over at the girl with short blonde hair who still stood close to VIXX's mysterious main vocalist. She noticed Soohyo and waved at her, smiling. Soohyo took the cup, bowing slightly.

"Thank you," she said, probably more formal that necessary and Hakyeon smiled.

"No need to thank me," he said. "Just keep working hard." He patted her on the shoulder before making his way over to Taeksoo, pulling the girl into a tight hug, causing her to giggle.

Soohyo thought the made a cute couple. She opened her ice cream and took a large spoonful of it into , the cold, sugary taste lifting her mood. Bubblegum was definitely her favorite.

She felt someone tap her on the shoulder and she turned and saw Kyungah hungrily eyeing her ice cream; her own cup was already empty. If there was one thing Kyungah was good at besides dancing and rapping, it was eating. "Are you going to finish that?" the older dancer asked.

"Yes," Soohyo answered, her head held high. She scooped up another spoonful of the pink dessert. "Yes I am."

Author's Note

Congratulations to Clo/cantthinkofname and Long Soohyo (*insert Sooyoung/Hyoyeon shipper giggles here*), lead dancer and vocalist of Blue!