Chapter 6

The silver plastic coins dotting his vest shined as they caught the light in the mirror’s reflection. “Close your eyes, Dongwoo,” said one of the coordination noonas who was bent over Dongwoo’s face, applying his stage makeup. After a moment, the noona backed up, checking Dongwoo in the mirror. “Alright, you’re good to go,” she said.

Dongwoo stood and looked around at his surroundings. There was still a bit of time before they were due to perform for an MBC studio benefit concert. A few of the members were still being beautified. Myungsoo half lay on a small sofa on one side, taking a brief nap, while Sungjong sat beside him munching on a snack. Dongwoo took a seat in a comfortable chair beside the two. He pulled out a piece of hard candy and checked its flavor before putting it in his mouth. Grape flavored. His mind raced back to the fansigning event a week or so ago, when he handed a piece of the same flavored candy to Yeseul.

“Hey Dongwoo hyung!” called Hoya, coming back from a hall that led out of the preparation area into some stages. Dongwoo looked up with an inquiring look.

“We have some time right? There’s a National Jazz-hip-hop Dance team practicing their performance in an empty stage over there!! Let’s go watch! They look amazing!” Hoya cried, excitement filling his face. He was already half dragging Dongwoo away. “Sungjong, you should come too!” Hoya indicated at Sungjong, who shook his head with a mouthful of munchies.

The two boys arrived in the brightly lit, small stage. A group of around twenty men and women wearing gold and white costumes were stretching and warming up. Hoya dragged Dongwoo closer to the stage, and they stood a few feet away to the side, their backs to a wall.

One of the men on stage, wearing an especially fancy, glittering gold vest, which shined a hundred times more brightly than Dongwoo’s stage outfit, moved to the head of the group and clapped his hands, signaling them to get into position for a run-through. Their starting position was already an impressive eye-catcher. Glittering gold and white figures lay stretched out on the floor while an outer rim of more figures circled them with graceful poses of their own. A steady, classical melody began, accompanied by the slow ascension of the figures on the floor in pairs. One girl at the very center of the stage rose by lowering her head down her back then flipping her whole body flawlessly up in a handstand. She landed just as gracefully and curtsied, smile flashing. All of a sudden the roar of saxophones and the burst of cymbals threw the performers on the stage into a fit of movements. There were so many various actions occurring at the same time in every section of the stage, it was hard to concentrate on any specific point.

However, as Dongwoo watched, his eyes were drawn back again and again toward the graceful girl who still dominated the center of the stage, swing dancing hand in hand with a man. The playful sound of a single saxophone held a long fermata note with which the dancers came to a halt one by one. The graceful girl took center stage again. A steady, funky drum beat began to play. The girl swung into action with a series of perfectly coordinated movements that flowed and danced with the music. It was impossible to take even one eye off of her. She fell effortlessly onto the floor on her knees and slid, popping back up in a standing position where she quickly began to twirl.

I know that move. Dongwoo thought. He stared intensely at the girl. She was incredible, easily one of the best dancers he had ever seen.

“She’s amazing,” said Hoya softly beside him.

The rest of the dancers joined in, and the music became louder and louder and louder. Their movements burst with the music and then swayed gently off. Dongwoo gaped in awe at the perfectness of their choreography. All of the members of Infinite had always taken pride in the way they were continuously complimented on their perfect dance synchronization, but their own routines seemed like child’s play compared to the dancers on stage. A small section of his mind, however, wandered at the strange familiarity of the solo girl. At the end of the song, all of the performers had paired up and were tapping jazz, finishing with the girls all being lifted faultlessly up, their gold and white outfits sparkling in the near light.

Dongwoo and Hoya both clapped vigorously as the dancers bowed. A few other people who had been watching also applauded the group generously. Dongwoo focused his attention on the girl. She was wearing an outfit with less gold than the rest of the dancers. Her low neckline dress contained small traces of gold lines as did her skirt, while on her waist, a rumble of thin, white sashes wrapped around and then hung loosely about her. She turned toward Dongwoo, and their eyes met. Surprise immediately registered and shown on her face. It was her! Dongwoo paced forward, not taking his eyes off of her. Yeseul, as beautiful as she had been at the fansigning event, cheeks a bit flushed from the routine. She edged forward slowly. He had reached the stage. Now they could see each other very clearly.

“Dongwoo! I can’t believe it’s you!” Yeseul cried, bending her neck to look at him more closely. She came to the edge of the stage. Dongwoo extended a hand to her, and taking it, she jumped off. Upon her landing, she immediately threw her arms around him and enveloped him in a warm, heart-wrenching hug. Dongwoo’s heart beat seemed to have lost any sensibility and was going haywire. Feeling her so close to him, time seemed to have frozen in place. Then, she pulled back, full smile flashing in front of him. “Dongwoo, Dongwoo! I just have to keep saying it, to assure myself this is reality!!” Yeseul exclaimed.

Complete thoughts failed to form in Dongwoo’s head. A relinquishing laugh, full of shock, excitement, and utter disbelief, escaped his lips. He then kept laughing until tears collected in his eyes. The warm and crazy feeling inside him was unmistakably the imminent pleasure of pure joy. The joy of having Yeseul in front of him once again. He wanted to scream. He wanted to holler and jump. He wanted to…...