Practice was progressing quite well for the boys. Their choreography was almost complete in just less than three weeks. They found it hard to continue practicing on the weekends though, with one missing member in the group as Junhwe still had to attend training, so they stopped altogether. They also have yet to find a bigger place to practice in during that time, as Hanbin's family room was too cramped for all six of them to move about (plus Hayi to videotape them) and the neighbors had kept coming over to request them to 'please turn down the music.'

It was then that Jimin and Yerin approached her during lunch period at school on Wednesday of that week.

"Unnie, have you heard of the rumors going around about you and," Jimin said, turning to look at Yerin who had her head down, "Hanbin-oppa?"

Hayi looked up from the book she was reading as she ate. The two had seated themselves in front of her, leaning close to talk to her. "Rumors? What rumors?" She asked them.

"Well, some girls have been seeing you two getting closer these days and I don't think they're liking it."

Hayi chewed on her lower lip at this. She had never been particularly close to anyone ever since she came to the school. Her family moved from Bucheon to Seoul when she finished middle school but she managed to keep in touch with her first real friends there that she never thought to exert any particular effort to make new ones at her new school. Of course, there was Jimin who she met through taking classes with the same vocal coach, but she was a year younger than her and usually hung out with Yerin when they were in school and only found time to talk to each other during lunch. And then there was Lee Chanhyuk in her class, but he showed an aloof personality in school and preferred to be alone like her, composing music with his guitar. The only times they ever get to talk was in vocal class during Saturdays. The other students gave up trying to get close to her after a while although they were still nice to her when they weren't ignoring her.

"Well, I have been present in all of their dance practices, as per Principal Yang's orders, so I've been getting to know him and the other boys more," Hayi finally said. "But I don't see what's wrong with that?"

"Well, they're guys. And thinking like girls, they must be wondering why someone like you should be hanging out with them."

"Someone like me?"

Jimin just shrugged at her.

"I heard Jennie Kim and the other girls were going to confront you about Hanbin-oppa and his group," Yerin said. "The other students are talking about how they say they're going to be forming their own dance team for the competition."

"What?" Hayi looked around the cafeteria. Jennie Kim and her clique were nowhere to be found. "They're going to form a dance team?"

"They think they'll be able to win over Hanbin-oppa's group and the group from Jungsang High and all the art schools in Seoul." 

Hayi pondered over this. Jennie Kim was another girl in her year, specifically in Class 2B. She'd lived for quite some time in the States so she'd always been confident of herself. She was tall and beautiful and she knew it. A lot of other girls in school admired her and were jealous of her at the same time. But Hayi could have never imagined her stepping up and going against Hanbin. Even though they were both popular, they'd never regarded each other before. There had never even been any rumors regarding the two. Jennie was more known to date older oppas. No one had actually ever seen Hanbin with a girl before.

Hayi noticed Jimin and Yerin staring at her as if waiting for a response. "Well, I guess that's okay? They'll both be representing Seungri High. I just hope one of them wins in the competition. Anyway, whoever wins, it will still be a first for the school right? Everybody will be talking about Seungri High for a while."

The two girls seem to take this into consideration. "You're right. It'll be interesting because we get to have a boys team and a girls team performing in the competition. Isn't that exciting?"

Hayi could only agree with them on one thing. This will definitely be an interesting year for them.

---

"Ahh, this isn't going to work," Hanbin slumped himself against the wall in frustration. They'd been trying to incorporate some acrobatic moves into the choreography after Junhwe mentioned that they are also being trained in that specific skill in dancing in JYP. Only Jinhwan seemed to display an impressive skill in gymnastics that neither Junhwe nor Hanbin could not compete. Donghyuk came a close second but it was still a ginormous feat for all of them.

They all spread themselves on the floor, fanning themselves and panting in exhaustion. Only Hayi remained seated daintily in her usual position by the piano, rewinding the last recording in her video camera. She watched their last performance up to the part where Jinhwan came crashing down Donghyuk's back, Bobby and Hanbin catching hold of him just in time.

"This is so hard!" Bobby exclaimed from his position in the middle of the room.

"We'll get this," Jinhwan tried to cheer them up. "It's just something that needs a lot of practice. Remember, we've all never done this before."

"You're supposed to be getting trained for this!" Bobby pointed at Junhwe.

"I am training, but that doesn't automatically make me the best at it!"

"How are you going to last at JYP then?! You'll probably get dropped before we even get to the competition."

"I still can't believe the girls are going up against us in the competition," Hanbin complained, interrupting the two.

"Jennie Kim," Bobby sat up, "I still can't believe she can dance too."

"I don't know about Jennie Kim's dancing," Hanbin said, "it's that girl in your year who's supposed to be really good at dancing that I'm worried about." He pointed at Junhwe and Donghyuk.

"Yeah, and she supposedly auditioned for JYP too," Donghyuk said, nodding.

"Auditioned. She didn't get in," Yunhyeong pointed out. "That's kind of good news isn't it?" 

"Does she know you're a trainee there?" Donghyuk asked Junhwe. Junhwe just shrugged.

"Argh," Hanbin flailed his arms in his position. "That's what complicates things even more. We already don't know what kind of choreography those girls will pull off at the competition for starters. We also have to be worried about what they know about us."

"It doesn't have to matter. We'll just nail this," Jinhwan said firmly as he stood up. "We'll just have to do our best. We'll have the time of our lives on stage when that day comes, just like we did last year. Or have you guys forgotten our original intentions when we first joined the competition?" He looked from Bobby to Hanbin.

"Yeah!" Bobby stood up, pumping his fist in response. "Imagine us? The three of us? Placing second in the nationals? The second best in the whole country? With just us three?"

"Is that supposed to cheer us up?" Yunhyeong joked.

"Bobby means that if we three were able to get to second place, who knows what all six of us will be able to do?"

"Alright, let's do this!" Bobby shouted, the adrenaline overflowing through his body.

And that's how you get Team B going, Hayi thought to herself with a smile.

---

Friday came and they just finished another intense and grueling round of practice. Jinhwan was close to perfecting his part of the acrobatic stunts but Donghyuk was still having problems. It almost came to a point where he was black and blue all over with bruises yet Hanbin still urged him on. It was the most tension they've had in the group in three weeks since Junhwe and Bobby.

"Ahhh I wanna go out and eat delicious meat!" Bobby burst out in an effort to relieve the stress in the air around them as they changed into clean shirts. "Should we go?"

"Yeah let's go!" Yunhyeong agreed in earnest. 

Hayi carefully packed up her video camera and took out the storage room keys from one of the many pockets on her bag. Everybody else seemed ready to leave when she finally sneaked a look around the room.

"Your family owns a BBQ restaurant??" Bobby was now exclaiming. He went and hugged Yunhyeong. "Seriously, I love you, Yunhyeong-hyung. You and your surprises."

"My treat, guys," Yunhyeong announced to them, earning cheers, especially from Bobby.

One by one they filed out of the room, with the last ones to be Hanbin and Hayi. "You're coming with us, right?" Hanbin asked Hayi, putting an arm around her shoulders. "You should. It'll be our way of saying thanks for always being there and watching over us."

"Um, okay," Hayi just answered. She didn't mind going out to eat with them. She had actually wanted to and she was glad Hanbin asked her. It would have been awkward for her to just quietly follow them all the way to Yunhyeong's family restaurant. It was the first time all six boys would be going out to eat together.

"Next time, I'll take you to my mom's cafe," Jinhwan said to them cheerfully. They were now walking down the street to Yunhyeong's BBQ place. Hayi had to drop by the custodian first to leave the storage room key before they left the school. 

"And what? Talk over coffee?" Bobby joked.

"There are pastries and other cold drinks and ice cream too," Jinhwan defended while everyone laughed. "It's not just a place for coffee."

"Just kidding, hyung," Bobby told him, his eyes completely disappearing over his toothy smile. "I can't believe we've known each other for almost two years and I still haven't been to your mom's cafe."

"Oh, Junhwe!"

Bobby and Yunhyeong stopped on their tracks in front of the group as they looked over at Junhwe who was walking between Jinhwan and Donghyuk with his head down. He looked up as Hayi and Hanbin also stopped behind them, wondering what it was about.

"BamBam," Junhwe nodded, going up to a boy and a girl couple who were looking at them. The boy was shorter than Junhwe, around Yunhyeong's height, and he was looking up at Junhwe with a smile on his face. He was holding his hand out to him, which Junhwe took, pulling him into a chest bump while giving him a pat on his back.

"These must be your friends," the boy, BamBam, gestured towards Hanbin and the others.

"Guys, this is BamBam," Junhwe faced them, one hand in his pocket and the other pointing to the boy. "I've known him since middle school." Junhwe gave them a look that Hayi guessed must mean BamBam was a fellow JYP trainee.

"Hi," BamBam gave them a friendly wave which the boys returned with nods of their heads. Junhwe turned to him to introduce each one of them, even Hayi.

BamBam then gestured to the tall girl beside him with bangs and long dark hair framing her small face. She'd been silently regarding them the whole time. "Lalice," BamBam introduced. "But you must know her already because she goes to your school?"

"Ah yes, you're from Class 1D, right?" It was Donghyuk who answered.

Lalice nodded and smiled at them, returning her gaze to Junhwe who was standing there, facing her.

"This is great that we've all met one another. And coincidentally too, here on the street," BamBam continued. "Since we'll all be seeing each other again on the Seoul dance competition."

Hayi suddenly sensed the air tensing up.

"You with Yoogyeom, Mark and Jackson?" Junhwe said.

"Yes, representing Kirin Art School. I guess it's safe to say that JYP gives us his full support," BamBam grinned. He let that bit sink in before continuing, "I believe Lalice here will be part of the girls’ team from your school?"

"Well, since you've announced it out here in the open," Lalice said. "Although our lineup isn't final yet."

"Oh, but the competition is around two months away?"

"Let's not discuss this any longer, shall we, BamBam?" Lalice looked at him with a kind of edge in her face. Hayi immediately felt intimidated by the younger girl.

BamBam laughed. "Chill. This is nothing but a friendly competition. May the best group win," he winked at all of them.

There was a moment of silence until--"Well, it was nice meeting you, BamBam. And you too, Lalice," Bobby finally spoke up. "I guess we'll see you at school. If you'll excuse us, we're kind of hungry so...”

"Ah, of course, of course," BamBam jumped to the side holding out his hands to the street in front of them. "Nice bumping into you too. See you around, Junhwe."

They all nodded at each other as they walked past, with BamBam and Lalice heading towards the other direction.

---

"So it's pretty much confirmed that it's JYP's trainees who go to Kirin huh," Bobby said as they sat around a table in Yunhyeong's family restaurant. The surface was covered with leafy greens, rice, several side dishes and sliced pork meat waiting to be cooked on the grill at the center.

"Well, there are other regular students and also some from other companies," Junhwe said. "But yeah, mostly those who get accepted into JYP come from Kirin Art School. It's a school known to be co-founded by JYP so it's pretty much given."

"But why didn't you know your fellow trainees there were joining the competition?" Bobby asked him.

Junhwe shrugged. "They just didn't mention anything about it. I mean they knew about me joining when I told our trainors about it."

"You said you knew that guy BamBam since middle school," Hanbin said. "Are you childhood friends or something?" 

"Not really," Junhwe answered, focused on the piece of lettuce wrap he was making. "We just kind of share that 'trainee bond' or something like that, if you know what I mean."

"How long have you been a trainee at JYP by the way?" It was Donghyuk's turn to ask.

"I started auditioning in 6th grade but I was finally accepted right when I started my final year in middle school." 

It was getting obvious that Junhwe wasn't in the mood to answer personal questions but they just kept coming. "But why didn't you decide to go to Kirin Art School?" Jinhwan asked him. "You must have been guaranteed entrance since you were already a trainee."

"There can be a lot of reasons a person chooses to do some things," Junhwe just answered. Everybody raised their eyebrows at his vague answer, looking from him to each other. Junhwe just continued to busy himself with his food.

"You're hiding something from us," Jinhwan simply said.

"I am not," Junhwe finally looked up at them. "Seriously, I feel like I'm being investigated by the CIA here or something. I have nothing to hide. I've already told you a lot of things you shouldn't know in the first place." 

"Well, anyway," Hanbin said loudly. "I guess it's good to know a little bit of something about the competition. Now we just have to be more careful about revealing anything about our choreography.

"That Lalice girl is something, isn't she?" Yunhyeong said. "Didn't you know about her, Junhwe?"

"I forgot that she auditioned for JYP and that she was in our year," Junhwe admitted. "She's definitely a good dancer. She and BamBam are. They know each other because their families both come from Thailand but they've been raised in Korea for most of their lives."

"I wonder why she didn't get accepted," Yunhyeong pondered while the other boys returned to their food. 

"She said their lineup wasn't final," Hanbin recalled. "What? Are they doing some kind of audition-type thing with the girls in school?"

All the boys immediately turned to look at Hayi.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that?"

"We just realized you're a girl," Bobby answered.

"Oh no," Hayi's started getting bigger. "Thank you for finally noticing, but I hope you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, no."

"Come on," Hanbin said. "A couple of dance moves isn't going to hurt. Please?"

Even the way Hanbin was now blinking oh-so-cutely at her would never get her to dance in front of Jennie Kim and all the other girls in school. "I think they'd immediately know what I'm up to after seeing me dance, since I think it's already quite known in school now how close I am to you guys."

"Do you know any friends that can dance?" It was Junhwe who asked.

Hayi stared at him and was about to ask him if he knew how antisocial she was supposed to be in school when she suddenly remembered something. "Oh," her lips formed into a perfect round. She pointed at Donghyuk. "I think I remember Baek Yerin saying she was in a dance class with you before."

"Yerin?" Donghyuk was surprised at first but then seemed to wrinkle his nose at the thought. "Oh, Yerin, yeah. It was back in elementary school. She was the one who always couldn't tell left from right during dancing," he started to laugh, "I used to so much about it back then--" Bobby clapped a hand on his back as he and the others joined in laughter "--I don't know about her dancing now though."

"I remember her saying you weren't all that good back then!" Hayi pointed out.

"We were kids back then!" Donghyuk answered, making all the others laugh even more.

"Well that's good," Hanbin finally said. "Maybe you can ask her to audition for the dance team."

"I can try," Hayi said amidst chuckles. "She might get all shy about it."

"Alright, alright," Hanbin knocked on the table with his spoon. "First order of business, 'get to know thy enemy.'"

"Yeah, whoooo," the boys cheered as they also rapped on the table.

"But aren't you guys kind of cheating though," Hayi said matter-of-factly.

"What do you call cheating?" Bobby replied. "Like Hanbin said, it's getting to know our competition. We're not just going to go through this blindly when we can open our eyes and see who or what's going against us."

"You're not exactly opening your eyes and seeing for yourselves though," Hayi countered. "And besides, I thought you said you didn't care about anybody or anything else? I thought this was all about having fun and doing your best?"

"I think I preferred it when she was just being all quiet," Bobby turned to Hanbin.

"This is what makes it fun," Hanbin said. "Getting to know who will be matching up against us, knowing their strengths and highlighting their weaknesses with our own strengths. We get to know ourselves too in the process." Hanbin began looking at his teammates. "And if you 'know thy enemy and know yourself; in a hundred battles, you will never be defeated.'" He started to quote.

"'When you are ignorant of the enemy but know yourself, your chances of winning or losing are equal." The others tried to follow but it was mostly Donghyuk. "If ignorant both of your enemy and of yourself, you are sure to be defeated in every battle."

"Sun Tzu huh?" Donghyuk smiled at Hanbin.

Hayi also smiled. I guess in both war and dance, there can be an art too, she thought.

*Disclaimer: Quote was directly taken from the Internet. It may or may not be the full or correct quotation. Sun Tzu is said to be a Chinese general and author of the book on military strategy, The Art of War.