“Yah, I’ve figured something out.” Minwoo clapped his hands, attracting the attention of Eric, Dongwan, Hyesung, and Andy. Jun Jin was bouncing around excitedly next to him, a pleased smile on his face.

                Mi Young yawned from her spot at the mixer. It was a warm morning and Minwoo had scheduled the entire day for dance rehearsal, wanting to get the steps planned out for Oh! so they could start up intensive practices.

                Nothing had happened for the first hour since Minwoo had gone into the other room with Jun Jin and the other choreographers to toss around his ideas. However, now that they were back, the time for laziness was over.

                “You’ve choreographed the dance already?” Dongwan asked, grabbing Andy’s hand and hauling himself to his feet.

                “I’ve gotten the group work done, yeah. Let’s start from the chorus, okay?”

                Mi Young nodded, sitting up straight and pulling up the track, counting off for him.

                Minwoo’s dance was smooth and used a lot of body freezes and locks, as well as a cool slow motion sequence that matched well with the song’s chorus. It was different from Shinhwa’s hard-and-heavy dance style from their earlier albums, but it suited the group well. Mi Young nodded with the beat, recognizing steps that she had learned years ago.

                However, not everyone was sold on the dance.

                “Yah, Minbong you know I have trouble with popping…” Dongwan objected, attempting to stiffen his joints and looking like a puppet getting tangled in its strings.

                “We have time, I’ll teach you.” Minwoo waved a dismissive hand.

                “But what about the slow part?” Dongwan waved his arms in a poor imitation of Minwoo’s choreography.

                “You’ll be on the sides or behind someone anyways, Dongwannie-ah. Don’t worry about it.”

                “But,” Hyesung suddenly spoke up as well. “Isn’t Brand New a y dance?”

                “Of course.”

                “Then, we already have one suggestive dance… Why does this one how to be y, too?”

                Minwoo folded his arms. “Hyesung-ah, do you speak Korean?”

                Hyesung frowned. “What? Are you crazy or something?”

                “Have you read the lyrics to this song?”

                “Yah, pabo, I wrote this song with you.”

                Minwoo held his hands up, giving Hyesung the feistiest look he could manage. If he had been a girl, Mi Young was postive he would have snapped his fingers at Hyesung. Hell, knowing him, he might've done it anyways. “Then you should know; It’s an song.”

                Andy stretched, amused. “Hyung has a point.”

                “Aish,” Hyesung was disappointed. “Always with the y dances…”

                Minwoo shook his head, looking satisfied. “Any other complaints, or should we try rehearsing?”

                Dongwan and Hyesung traded wistful glances before taking their spots alongside the other members.

                “Let’s start from the chorus again.” Minwoo signaled to Mi Young, who nodded and turned up the volume.

                Mi Young watched the dance rehearsal, a mixture of enjoyment and concentration on her face. As the members slowly worked through the steps and movements, she reminisced about how she had painstakingly learned each of their parts for the sake of her audition. It had been a long effort compared to the pace of their rehearsal now, but seeing as Shinhwa was a professional group and had been learning dances for years, it didn’t surprise her that they were able to pick up the steps relatively quickly, with a few exceptions.

                “Can we try the chorus once at speed?” Minwoo asked.

                “All right,” Mi Young scrubbed back to a few beats before the chorus, giving Shinhwa a chance to find their places.

                “Majimak, ne momjit soge, ku nugudo chamul su opso,” Mi Young mouthed the lyrics, standing at her place next to the speakers and moving her arms along to the dance. “Nuggyo bwa, do sorichyobwa, ne modun kol boyeojugeso…”

                “Oh, Mi Young-ssi.”

                “Ah,” She gave a start as Lee Jong Hyun walked in. Like Shinhwa, he was much younger than she remembered and had the air of a new, inexperienced manager. Where Jong Hyun had once been her respected senior and supervisor under Shinhwa Company, they were now on level terms—something Mi Young still had to get used to. He wasn’t an executive anymore; he was Eric’s manager. “Jong Hyun-ssi.”

                “You already know the choreography better than Dongwan-ssi. That’s pretty incredible.”

                Mi Young blinked, nervous. The other managers and background dancers had walked in behind Jong Hyun and had seen her dancing as well. How would she explain how she knew so much about the choreography?

                Suddenly Eric was there, his expression calm and unconcerned. “Mi Young-ssi, weren’t you in a dancer before coming here?”

                “Eh?” Mi Young looked at him, taking the excuse he had just handed to her and running with it. “Well, I dabbled in hip-hop dancing quite a bit these past few years…” She mumbled, vaguely referring to her work with the Shinhwa in 2014.

                “In America, right?” Andy was there too, glancing coolly at Eric as he filled in the rest of the story. “Minwoo-hyung said earlier that you showed him some moves to incorporate into the dance.”

                “Oh, did he?” Mi Young scratched the back of her neck, a little sheepish. “Well, I didn’t do too much…”

                What a tale. How easy was it for Shinhwa to come up with lies like this? The offhandedness of it all was almost unnerving.

                Minwoo gave her a cute smile and a thumbs up from his spot.

                “Wow, Mi Young-ssi. You’ve had a lot of experience with stuff like this, then. No wonder Eric-ssi wanted to get you hired so badly.” Jong Hyun, apparently, was completely convinced.

                “Ahaha, thanks.” Mi Young dipped her head down shyly. She blinked as Andy weaved past her and left the room, placing a hand on her shoulder to get by. Before she was able to ask where the maknae where he was going, Minwoo cut her off.

                “Yah, Dongwannie-ah!” He abruptly exclaimed, turning back towards the mirrors. “What the hell are you doing!?”

                “I’m,” Dongwan flailed his arms around wildly, a grin on his face. He looked like a lopsided bird trying to fly. “Trying… To learn this…”

                “Aigoo, don’t be stupid. You’re going to hit me…” Hyesung ducked under Dongwan’s ridiculous flapping, humming sections of the song to himself and attempting to be serious with the choreography. Despite his intense determination and Jun Jin next to him, talking him through the moves, the main vocalist still looked awkward trying to move in slow motion.

                “Hyung, you,” Jun Jin covered his mouth politely, trying to give Hyesung pointers but ending up laughing in spite of himself. “I think you’re overdoing the motions a bit.”

                “S-shut up…”

                “I want to discuss the choreography for the background dancers… Jin-ah, can you lead them okay here?” Minwoo tapped the baby bird on the shoulder.

                “I got it, Hyung.” Jun Jin grinned, giving the older member a nudge back.

                “Let’s go,” Minwoo grabbed Mi Young’s arm.

                “Wait, me too?” Mi Young offered little resistance as she was practically dragged out. “Ah, okay…”

                “Bye bye,” Dongwan, Eric, and Hyesung all waved at the retreating duo.

                Minwoo didn’t say anything as they walked down towards the other practice room. As they stepped in and Minwoo shut the door, Mi Young noticed Andy already sitting in the corner of the room.

                “Andy-ssi?” Mi Young asked, confused.

                “Minwoo-hyung wants to talk to you freely about certain things, so I’m just making sure no one comes by,” Andy shrugged, pointing his index fingers up and holding them at the top of his head like antennae. “I’m basically radar, y’know? My ability is useful like that.”

                “I see…”

                Minwoo was stretching in the middle of the dance area, eyeing her carefully. “Mi Young-ssi, how much of the dance do you know?”

                Mi Young frowned, trying to gauge how much she could tell him. “Uh…”

                Andy laughed. “Hyung, she knows things you haven’t even choreographed yet.”

                Minwoo whistled. “And you still remember it all?”

                “Yeah, most of it.”

                The older member pushed out his lower lip, wondering where to start. “Well, I had an idea for the female dancers, especially for a short dance with my solo in the beginning.”

                Mi Young nodded, the racy moves at the start of the song appearing in her mind. “Okay, so what were you thinking of doing?” From his spot beside the door, Andy raised an eyebrow, interested in the images flashing by in her thoughts.

                Minwoo described the dance, using hand motions and positioning to help himself along. Mi Young watched him, keeping her expression carefully passive but noticing that the movements were familiar.

                “I think… I think that’s how I want it to go.” Minwoo looked a little confused.

                “Why don’t we dance it out and see how it looks for you?” Mi Young folded her arms, resigning herself to dancing. As much as she was embarrassed to be so close and personal with him, they weren’t going to get anywhere unless they tried the steps.

                “Okay,” Minwoo sighed, relieved. It was obvious that he was banking on her saying that. “Andy-ah, can you…?”

                “Yeah hyung,” Andy waved a hand, already walking towards the speakers.

                Mi Young stood off to the side—where Minwoo’s partner would be—and as the music started, she moved with him. Minwoo’s hands and actions were unsteady, hesitant, but she kept up with him, making sure he had time to react to her movements. Despite having only discussed the first few beats, both of them continued dancing well past that point, with Minwoo’s expression changing from intensely concentrated to fascinated.

                “Oh,” Minwoo’s eyes widened in exhilaration once they stopped. “That’s exactly how…”

                Andy looked impressed. “You’re a really good dancer, Mi Young-ssi…”

                “That’s how I wanted it to look… How…?” Minwoo bounced a few times, exuberant. “So, the dance was just like this in your time, too?”

                “Well,” Mi Young scratched her head. “Yeah, that’s how you choreographed it in my time.”

                “Wah,” Minwoo was as hyper as a kid on Christmas. “That’s so cool! How does the rest of the dance look?”

                “Yah, I can’t tell you that. You have to figure it out on your own.” Mi Young shot back. “I don’t want to mess with time more than I already have; if you start choreographing differently than what I know, then I’m not going to change that.”

                “Hmm, okay…” Minwoo didn’t look too disappointed; he was still overly excited about how the dance was turning out. “I really like how that looks. Andy-ah, what do you think?”

                “I think Hyesung-hyung is going to kill you for making the dance too provocative.” Andy said honestly.

                Minwoo clapped once, thrilled. “Perfect!”

                Mi Young and Andy exchanged exasperated looks before laughing.

                “Okay,” The shortest member rolled his shoulders. “Now for the rest of it…”

                By the time Minwoo, Andy, and Mi Young had returned to the larger practice room, the other four had already learned the most of the group dancing. Minwoo was happy with how much progress they had made and was excited to move on.

                “Mi Young-ssi, can you help demonstrate?”

                The young woman nodded reluctantly; she felt shy about dancing in front of not only the Shinhwa members but also the other staff and background dancers. Minwoo gave her an encouraging nod before cueing the music to start.

                Mi Young took a deep breath, closing her eyes and just following the beat, her movements precise and well-defined. Minwoo—fully immersed in keeping up with his own choreography—wasn’t shy at all and Mi Young resisted the urge to make a face whenever they were extremely close.

                “There’s one section,” Minwoo talked through the moves as he made them. “Here, where I think just a freestyle where we get close to the women will do well.”

                Mi Young kept dancing, her hand lightly on Minwoo’s shoulder as he continued talking, both completely ignoring the fact that they were practically grinding against one another. “And once the rap section starts,” She stepped behind him, heading towards where the back of the stage would be. “The male background dancers can step in behind Eric-hyung, but I’ll talk more about that later.”

                As Mi Young walked back onto the dance floor for the last chorus, she could hear Hyesung muttering curses under his breath and she almost burst out laughing, knowing how displeased he was with the results of the overly y choreography. She chanced a glance at the other Shinhwa members, wondering how they felt about Minwoo’s routine.

                She met Andy’s gaze first and she saw that his eyes were glittering in amusement as he watched Hyesung slowly receding farther and farther into his t-shirt. On his other side, Jun Jin was watching the dance intently, his hands occasionally twitching as he mimed the older dancer’s steps and moves. Dongwan was focused as well, looking troubled as he worried about his own limited dancing abilities, while Eric just seemed placid and bored.

                Minwoo leaned back as she pushed at his shoulder and strode off towards the side of the dance floor, ending the choreography as he mouthed out the last line of the song. The second oldest Shinhwa member had a cheeky smile on his face as he turned back to the others.

                “I hate you…” Hyesung mumbled immediately, not even giving waiting for Minwoo to ask a question.

                “Oh, it’s not that bad.” Minwoo rolled his eyes, sassy as ever.

                “That’s what you say,” Dongwan shot back.

                “My concept was a like in a dance club.” Minwoo disregarded the complaints, instead addressing the other dancers. “Lots of hip hop, but also very close and personal.”

                “Well, you’ve got the ‘close and personal’ down, that’s for sure.” Mi Young offered, resting her hands on her knees.  “But I think it works well since it leaves a lot of room for moving around and gives each of the members time at the center of the stage.”

                There was a murmur of general agreement and Minwoo beamed at her, thrilled that she had stepped in to defend his work.

                “So, should we start working on it?” Eric hauled himself to his feet, stretching his back and snagging Hyesung’s shirt sleeve between his fingers before the main vocalist could slink out of the room and flee the rehearsal. Hyesung pouted and shook the leader’s hand off, crestfallen by the infallible logic Mi Young had presented and Minwoo’s willpower and determination.

                “Sure, let’s go…”

[Hello all!! Hope you’ve all had a wonderful weekend. This chapter was actually not something I had wanted to keep in the story, but after seeing M’s preview for the ‘Taxi’ MV, I couldn’t help but throw in some of Minwoo’s charismatic sass and publish this for everyone’s enjoyment. Can we just talk about how he managed to screw up by bias list for a terrifying 40 seconds? And don’t even get me STARTED on Jun Jin’s cameo… His face was just spectacular. XD

I hope Minwoo was in character... I feel like writing his character is the most difficult. Well, I guess practice makes perfect, ne?

The next few weeks will be busy for me, but hopefully I’ll be able to get another chapter in a few days, so please look forward to it! :D Have a wonderful week and stay warm (if you’re stuck in the snow like I am, that is).]