“The way you smile, the way you taste, you know I have an appetite for y things”

Her fingers twisted around the bass knob a bit more before she moved away from the stereo, dipping in her step as her body moved instinctively against the heavy thrum of the beat.

A soft quarter turn. Quick pop — all hips.

She moved along steadily without a break in her freestyle.

“It’s like you’ve got me hypnotized, I’m in a trance”

Having only picked back up dancing since little over a year ago and having started learning hip hop just then, she could use a little more work. But it wasn’t bad considering her lack of professional training.

She was doing better than him — or better than he did when he was a trainee, anyways.

As the song came to an end she paused the playlist on her phone and grabbed the towel out of her duffel bag, tipping the bill of her snapback up and dabbing softly at her forehead. She was sweating more out of anticipation than the minor dance routine — and then something else.

With a sigh she casually tossed the towel back onto her bag and gazed at her reflection in the mirror. The dismal fluorescent lighting paled her already fair skin and intensified the red of her sweatshirt and snapback. She stared and then proceeded to readjust the brim of her hat lower again, lower than it had been before; she didn’t need to distract herself with facial expression, only the way her body was rocked by rhythm and motion. And so she hit play and turned the bass knob again, just a little bit higher.

“Yah¹, manager-hyung said we have a really solid candidate for the MV’s female lead,” Chanyeol announced without a waver in enthusiasm as he joined the rest of EXO in the SM building.

Baekhyun took a moment to look up from his phone, tapping in the last bit of his text.

“Jagi, we’re at the SM building to go over the female lead for the MV. Are you and the SNSD-noonas going to be in today?”

“Really? They did scouting and auditions for this role, right?” Baekhyun quirked a brow and was tucking his phone back into his pocket when it vibrated.

He smiled a bit when he unlocked the screen.

“No, not today. You aren’t the lead for this MV, right? If you had been, I would have asked manager-eonni to try and arrange me to be the female lead. Then we could spend more time together. ♡ We haven’t been able to meet much lately. But hopefully I’ll see you soon~”

“—yah, are you even listening?” A hand suddenly appeared between the screen of the phone and Baekhyun’s face, waving rapidly.

Kai, who had been sitting next to Baekhyun, glanced halfheartedly down at the phone and let out a light scoff — a small huff of amusement at how predictable his hyung was. “Of course he isn’t listening. Why would he talk to you when he can talk to Taeyeon sunbae?”

Though smiling Chanyeol sighed, “This guy…”

Baekhyun grinned and draped an arm over Kai’s shoulders, “Kai. One day when you’re a man and you have a girlfriend, you’ll understand hyung’s feelings,” he lectured with the pretense of a wise sage and with his other hand, he quickly typed out a response to Taeyeon.

“You’re always my leading lady anyways ♡”

Greasy Bacon Baekhyun, per usual.

"So what were you trying to say, Chanyeol?" Baekhyun actually slipped his phone into his pocket this time and absently pinched at Kai's cheek with his arm still wound around the maknae.

Kai pushed at his hand with minimal effort, still stuck in a post-waking haze from yet another unfulfilling night of sleep.

Chanyeol removed his snapback and ran a hand through his hair with pursed lips, “I was saying, that the director and manager-hyungs seem pretty satisfied with the candidates they found from scouting this time around,” he replaced his hat, “and that you should try not to be so absorbed with your phone when we actually go to meet them.”

Baekhyun pouted and mustered up his whiny and accused, I’m-a-brat voice, “I know, I know. I still have my manners, you know.”

“It’s kind of weird that they want a newbie for this MV though, isn’t it?” Sehun slid onto the seat beside Kai and leaned onto him.

“I guess they want a fresh face.” Tao noted and rested his hand on Sehun’s head.

The eleven of them contemplated this amongst their conversations until their managers entered the building exchanging words of whatever priorities and manager-ly things it was that managers discussed before turning to the group, “Why don’t you guys go up first? She should be waiting in practice room C.”

There was a murmur of lazy and and cheerful “yes, manager-hyung’s” as they shuffled for the stairs.

The third floor of the SM building reverberated ever so slightly with more bass than usual, and the vibrations only increased as they passed the first two practice rooms.

“I guess our female lead is a bass junkie?” Chen pointed out with a chuckle.

“Maybe she’s the type who’s into raves.” Baekhyun mimed a “rave dance,” fist pumping and body swaying and the Chensing Machine promptly joined in all of his Chensing Machine glory.

The rest of them laughed or smirked at the Beagle Line antics before Luhan hushed them as they approached practice room C’s door, “Shh, she’s probably practicing. Let’s just go in quietly.”

The way practice room C was structured was that the door was on the left corner of the room and only the far right third of the room on the opposing wall was lined with large mirrors. The stereo system was just to the left of the mirrored part of the wall and several chairs sat in disarray steps away from the door.

They moved into the room quietly as to not distract the girl, Xiumin, Tao, and Kai the only ones to occupy chairs while everyone else took their places standing behind and beside the sitting line.

“Come here, come here, let me move your body baby, give it-give it to me, baby give it to me…”

As 2PM’s “Electricity” came to an end the girl pulled her low and messy side bun out of its elastic, perfectly charcoal-colored hair falling straight and ending mid-back.

She wore a crewneck sweatshirt in a bold red with a hem that fitted back against her body and rode up ever so subtly whenever she brought her arms up, matched with Soffee-styled shorts with fabric made to look like grey, washed out denim; she had a BEAT BREAK, snapback in an equally shocking red and a black pair of trendy wedged converse.

Style: on point.

There was a creeping inclination at the back of several pairs of eyes to check her out. (Not that they had seen anything short of pretty faces or nice bodies in such an industry, but for someone basically off the streets, seeming pretty above average was impressive.)

The Korean version of “The Star” began to play and she tossed her hair tie to the side without so much as a second thought. She rolled her shoulders slowly —  smooth practiced motions as Chanyeol’s voice echoed through the speakers.

“Can I tell you a story of season…? Come on”

She took no notice of the eleven other people in the room with her — which was admirable; a dancer fully dedicated to her dance was good. EXO watched attentively, making note of the fluidity of some motions and the lacking in others.

“Every night, you know you always look so fine”

Her body slowed as Kris’ rap came on, legs spreading to shoulder width as her hips rotated in a long, drawn out circle, followed by an abrupt rise and fall of her shoulders.

Then—

“You're just like a rockstar, you know how fine you are”

She brought her legs back together abruptly, one hand settling on her hip as her other forearm swiped upward over her head and knocked her snapback off.

Baekhyun’s jaw dropped in time with the hat and Chanyeol’s eyes widened in recognition.

Kwon Soyu.

For such a long time Baekhyun didn’t even remember her face, no matter how much he willed his memory to recall it — didn’t even remember that she had been dancer. But seeing her now brought back the image of her at full force — the last Baekhyun had seen her over a year ago. Before she undertook anonymity and dipped out beyond his (and even Chanyeol’s) contact.

The Soyu who gave herself entirely to the rhythm was an entirely different being yet kindled such alikeness to Baekhyun’s memory; the big dark eyes that were dollish yet not overly so, the round nose and her lips — softly defined had just enough plumpness to suit anyone’s taste.

Then he fell upon the realization that the reason he failed to recognize her right away was partially due to her hair.

Baekhyun hadn’t known a Soyu with anything but slightly past-shoulder-length hair the color of chocolate and full blunt bangs, fringe that almost covered her eyes — which had all been replaced by long black tresses and side swept bangs that covered only two-thirds the expanse of her forehead; it made her look more mature, maybe sophisticated, even.

It stood out to him that she was donning such a vibrant color — let alone color at all — when just a year prior she was a sloth who only wore black, white, and every shade in between. Yet she had even put on some weight and was noticeably more toned, and being able to see that was a surprise in itself, she had always kept herself well-covered in sweaters, cardigans, hoodies, big t-shirts, and pants in one form or another.

And she kept dancing. Until “The Star” ended, a shocked Chanyeol glanced countlessly at an infinitely more incredulous Baekhyun. At that point, their managers had entered the room and were watching as well; no one else indicated any signs of recognition. Not that it came as any surprise considering that few times Soyu had attended any events she had dressed and done her makeup to blend in with the rest of the coordi-eonnis. Even during EXO’s trainee days, the select occasions she met any of the members were few and brief, save for Chanyeol. (Gotta know your best friend’s girl, right?)

Soyu’s body had hardly stopped moving when firstly the managers applauded and EXO followed (except for Baekhyun, who had to be nudged by Xiumin) and she jumped just slightly, turning with wide eyes and looking as if she had been caught in the midst of a heinous crime. She promptly rushed to pause her playlist before the next track came on and lowered the bass back to it’s regular level.

She stepped before her audience, “Ah, hello. I’m sorry, I didn’t hear or see anyone come in.” She bowed.

Still as soft spoken as ever.

“That’s alright, it’s good to see that you’re working hard,” one of the managers spoke and turned to the 11 idols, “Everyone, this is Kwon Soyu, she undoubtedly showed more potential than most of the other candidates we scouted. Please greet her.”

EXO bowed back to her in a murmur of “hello’s,” Baekhyun looking a little more stiff than everyone else.

“Where did you scout her from?” Chanyeol asked. He looked as if he wanted to say something else. Or a lot of something else.

Soyu had been reaching for the towel in her bag when she turned back, mouth opened tentatively, just barely agape as her eyes leisurely trailed from Chanyeol to the managers.

They smiled and beckoned for her to speak for herself.

She appeared to ponder for a moment while she idly dabbed her her neck. Her tongue s between her lips for a single second before she cleared .

“The studio I dance at was doing a flash mob in Hongdae and Im Hyunkyun-ssi² pulled me aside after the performance to inform me that SM was looking for a new face to be cast in an MV,” she nodded at one of the managers, “so… I kind of ended up here?” She nervously tugged at her bangs.

Old habits really do die hard.

As if suddenly remembering herself, Soyu let her hand fall back to her side.

The managers nodded, “Well, now that that’s taken care of. Please show us the dance you were asked to prepare.”

She blinked twice and she appeared almost perplexed for a moment, like no one had warned her about preparing anything.

Oh god, have her eyelashes always been that long?

“Ah, of course.” She ironed her expression back out and turned back to the stereo and tapped at her phone in search for the song. Before hitting play she cast a sideways glance at her onlookers and hesitantly turned the bass back up by a small notch.

“Girl, I can’t explain what I feel”

Everyone seemed pleasantly surprised as EXO-K’s “What is Love” sounded through the speakers and even more pleasantly surprised as they watched awkward, quiet Soyu morph back into unfaltering dancer Soyu through the music. It was a mix between the contemporary that Baekhyun vaguely remembered her knowing and popping hip-hop choreography.

“I lost my mind the moment I saw you—” turned sideways, one foot sliding several feet in front of her as if readying for splits, hands slowly sliding up the sides of her face and through her hair “—except you, everything gets in—” a series of popping “—slow motion” morphing instantaneously into a smooth, liquid-like body roll.

Her popping-rocking definitely lacked precision, though it wasn’t bad, but the fluidity in her body rolls and waves — she spoke and was perfectly fluent in contemporary. Every slow, gliding motion was seamless and evenly timed.

Who is this girl again?

“All the guys in the world are jealous of me, they must be jealous to death of me, for having you”

For whatever reason, Baekhyun felt a small sting as Kyungsoo’s voice sang throughout the practice room.

Backwards bend, a graceful swoop in an 180° arc from right to left.

With the end of the song, the group applauded (though once again, Baekhyun needed a little help in remembering how to clap) and the managers nodded, smiling in approval.

“Strong candidate indeed.” The managers discussed amongst themselves once again, “if you’re still up for the part, we’ll go speak with the director right away.”

Soyu, chest heaving slightly, gave a look of bewilderment and it took her a second to process what was happening. “Ah…? Oh, of course! Thank you,” she bowed a full ninety degrees, “...thank you.”

Above elation, above pride, there was relief.

Manager Im placed a hand on Suho’s shoulder, “Why don’t you all get to know Soyu for now then? You’ll be working together anyways.” He left it at that and exited the room with the other managers.

As EXO was left in the room with Soyu, Suho opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when she lowered her water bottle from her lips,

“It’s alright. I know who you all are,” she smiled softly, “I’m Kwon Soyu. It’s a honor to be able to work with you all.” She bowed again.

“But we should formally introduce ourselves.” Suho returned her smile and then led into their usual introductions.

Chanyeol had greeted her with a grin and curious eyes; he was ready to explode into a plethora of questions and comments but didn’t even know where to begin whereas Baekhyun had simply said hello with as little familiarity, confusion, and awkwardness as he could.

As Sehun concluded introductions, he cocked his head to the side inquisitively, “Are you really a new face? I feel like we’ve met before.”

Soyu laughed and flashed a cheshire smile, “Was that supposed to be a pickup line?”

Sehun’s jaw drooped a little and he stuttered out a “ah, n-no, that’s not what I meant” and mumbled in his defense.

Baekhyun almost choked on his own spit in his disbelief. Soyu? Flirtatious jokes? That in itself was supposed to be a joke, right?

“Ah, I was only kidding,” there was reassurance and an air of lightheartedness in her laughter, “but, maybe? I have a common face, maybe I just look like your fans.”

She wasn’t extraordinarily beautiful, but she was also pretty enough to be more than just a “common face.”

“Really?” Sehun cocked his head again and shrugged.

Several other members silently felt that same vague tinge of familiarity when they looked at Soyu.

Minutes passed, conversations carried on. Baekhyun put forth his best effort to give half his attention when Luhan or Sehun spoke to him. Chanyeol nudged him occasionally, but Soyu acted so naturally as if they were strangers that Baekhyun began to wonder if he had the right person afterall.

Eventually, Chanyeol pulled Soyu to the side as Chen finished his chat with her.

“Where have you been? You completely disappeared for a year — not even, I haven’t heard from you in more than a year. Did you move? Change your number? You didn’t close your SNS, either,” he threw one question out after another, voice laced with frustration and excitement and relief.

Soyu blinked at him like he was delusional, like she had been around all along and cut him off by placing her hand on his arm. She exhaled deeply, “Hello, oppa.” She smiled.

A smile filled with nostalgia and lingering with just a hint of melancholy.

Chanyeol let out an exasperated sigh in a dramatic and impatient fashion, “Yah~,” he whined, “don’t just ‘hello, oppa’ me.” In all his childish glory he pouted down at her.

He certainly hasn’t changed at all.

Her brows furrowed a bit and from halfway across the room, Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice how much she resemebled a puppy the way she was staring pleadingly up at Chanyeol. (At the same time she looked like a loving mother who was desperate and tired and only hoping her fool of a son would wisen up and shush.)

Baekhyun tugged at his sleeves and refrained from frowning, unable to make out anything Soyu was saying.

“Meet me at the café by my place later? I’ll tell you whatever you wanna know, but for now let’s act as if we just met, okay?” She didn’t have a right to put off Chanyeol like this when she had already been doing so for more than a year. But in her lack of right she also lacked choice.

He reluctantly agreed, but not before grabbing her wrists and gently lulling her arms from side to side, lips still firmly set in a pout.