“I distinctively recall you saying this wouldn’t happen again.” His voice hit like ice, making me cringe. I couldn’t even hide it as much as I tried to. With as much dignity as I could find for myself, I got up onto my feet along with Taeyang. As much as I felt horrible about showing such a slacker side to Jihoon, I felt even worse for causing my trainer so much trouble already.

“I’m sor-“ I started before I was cut off.

“We were just about to start.” Taeyang’s voice was somehow fiercer than before. His sudden assertiveness took me for surprise, so I even shot him an uneasy look. It didn’t look like it looked pretty for where this was going.

“Were you now?” I could spot the smirk on Jihoon’s face. He was obviously just as amused to find the usual quiet trainer being so forward.

“Yes, we were. I know good work ethic is ideal for any trainee, but please sunbaenim, you have to be reasonable.” He continued, eyes not wavering in the slightest. I was wearing a poker face for an expression, but on the inside, I was nearly gaping at what Taeyang was doing.

“Hn. Alright, carry on then, but I’ll stay for the hour.” Jihoon’s eyes were fully of scrutiny as he moved out of the door way and took a seat at the couch in the back of the studio. I swallowed thickly and felt my stomach do tumbles. It wasn’t because I ate and ran too soon like a few minutes ago this time, but rather how I felt like I was walking on broken glass all of a sudden. I just knew I was going to mess up.

“Let’s just go through the choreo from yesterday a couple of times and we’ll start a new one afterwards.” Taeyang said, giving me sympathetic eyes. He didn’t need to say it in words, but I could tell he was trying to give me confidence, to not freak myself out just because the chairman was watching.

He walked over to the stereo to push the play button, and once the familiar track of music began to sound against the mirrored walls, my nerves began to slowly calm down. In this mostly negative situation, I was happy enough to say that the sole positive was that dance was my home. The cue in the music was coming up and I got into position. I didn’t know how I managed but I started without any fault.

The choreography was happy and upbeat, so there was barely even enough time between each move for me to remember the uncomfortable presence in the room. I let the music dictate my body, and before I knew it, I hit the end move right on beat, finishing the whole choreography without even messing up once. A small smile unraveled on my lips before I glanced up into the mirror, first spotting Taeyang giving me a thumbs-up and then Jihoon who hadn’t moved an inch from his seat. There wasn’t even a speck of emotion to give me a clue as to how he thought I did.

My trainer must have noticed the same, so he quickly said, “once more, just for memory’s sake. Try not to forget any of these choreographies.” I nodded in agreement. He quickly pushed the back button, and the song started from the beginning again. I repeated all the moves, but this time around, I couldn’t help but let my eyes dart back to see Jihoon’s reaction every moment I got. A smile was of course too much to ask for, but I could have sworn I saw a speck of warmth and approval in his eyes as he watched.

“Concentrate on dancing, not me.” I heard the unmistakable and cold voice say half way through. I grunted quietly and just kept going, not wanting to acknowledge that I had indeed been staring at the chairman. Even with all of those distractions, I pulled through by the end and managed to finish without error once again. I could tell at the end of the song both Taeyang and I were expecting at least something from Jihoon.

“Hn, good enough.” He said no more, but didn’t make a move to get up or leave. I was just silently hoping he wouldn’t stay the whole time. The atmosphere was too tense like this; last practice with just Taeyang in the room was notably more fun.

“Alright… I guess we’ll just learn a new choreo today. Here watch me first.” Taeyang started, and we went through the same process as yesterday to learn yet another dance.