Part 1

“Oppa, how can you leave at such an important time? You know how important this is to me!”

The man sighed. “I know and I already apologized to you at least a hundred times now. It’s not like I wanted her parents to get into a car accident.”

Hearing that, Krystal released her grip on the guy’s arm. “Sorry...” she mumbled quietly.

“It’s okay. I know you didn’t mean anything by it.” He patted her shoulder. “Besides, you know I would never leave you in bad hands. After all, this is an important promotion for you, especially since you haven’t released an album in three years.”

Krystal nodded silently, her eyes casted towards the ground.

“Hey, cheer up. I promise you, the person replacing me is on par with me, if not better.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Oppa, but how can you be so sure? We’ve been practicing our butts off for months now and the first comeback show is a day from tomorrow. Exactly how is your replacement going to learn the choreography in a day?”

“Because this isn’t just anyone, Soojung-ah. This is someone I’ve personally taught and breed over the last fifteen years. Trust me, you guys will be fine.”

“Oppa—!” Krystal started to protest again when the door to the practice room opened.

“Ah, there’s my star pupil!” The man smiled and happily walked over to the person standing by the entrance. “And just on time.”

Krystal frowned and crossed her arms as she watched the two walk back towards her.

“Soojung, this is my replacement, Amber. Amber this is my stubborn but favorite little dongsaeng, Krystal.”

Amber politely held out her hand. “Hi, it’s nice to mee—”

“Your replacement is a GIRL, Oppa?! Are you serious?!” Krystal uncrossed her arms and stared at the man in disbelief when she realized the person standing next to him was a girl.

“Hey now, that’s not how you should be greeting someone older than you for the first time.” The man’s smile immediately turned to that of a disapproving look.

Krystal pulled back a little. “I didn’t mean it like that.” She then turned to Amber. “No offense.”

“...None taken...” Amber awkwardly smiled.

“Come on, Oppa, you know what I mean here. My title track is a love song. How am I supposed to dance a couple dance with another girl? That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Like I said, Soojung, she’s my star pupil. If anyone’s going to learn such a complicated dance choreography in a day, it’s Amber. Besides, no one will know who she is other than us and the company staff members. Don’t worry about it.”

“How can you tell me not to worry about it, Oppa?!”

“Well, would you rather dance some of those intimate moves with a male dancer you’ve never met before and whom I cannot guarantee will learn the choreography 100% or would you rather dance with Amber who is a girl, someone I trust, and will get the dance steps correct?”

“Neither!”

The man heaved a defeated sigh. “Come on, Soojung-ah, stop being so childish. Can’t you be reasonable just this once?”

“You’re the one being unreasonable, Oppa. How can you pair me up with a girl?”

“Stop acting like it’s the end of the world. If I hadn’t said her name, you probably wouldn’t have known she was a girl.”

“I would’ve eventually!”

“Fine then, you want to dance with someone else?” The man was fed up with all the complaining. “Then call over any of the company’s backup dancer and see how they do. I guarantee you they will not dance as well as Amber and that’s considering they learn all the dance steps in time.”

“I will,” Krystal says and pulls out her phone. She dials her manager’s number and walks towards the far side of the room to talk to him.

“Stubborn girl...” The man mutters and turns to Amber. “Hey, sorry bud. I called you over so early in the morning for nothing. I didn’t think she was going to be so immature about it.”

“Ah, it’s okay. I totally understand.” Amber smiled and patted the guy’s back. “I mean, if you think about it, it is kind of weird for me to be her dance partner for a love song. She’s making a valid argument so don’t be too hard on her.”

“No, she’s just being childish and unprofessional.”

“Come on, put yourself in her shoes. With the promotions officially starting soon and you pulling out at the last second due to family issues, who wouldn’t be stressed out? You said she was close to your fiancée, right? She must be worried for her parents too.”

“Yah, whose side are you on here exactly?”

“I’m just saying, I can see where she’s coming from. If dancing with a guy is more comfortable for her and will put her at ease even the slightest bit, then just let her do what she wants. You want her to have a successful promotion, don’t you?”

“Wow, since when were you so wise?” The man chuckled and ruffled Amber’s hair. “My favorite little dongsaeng is all grown up now.”

“Oh, so now I’m your favorite?” Amber pulled her head from underneath his hand.

“What are you talking about? You’ve always been my favorite dongsaeng.”

“Excuse you, but that’s not what you said just a little while ago.”

The man laughed. “What, I can’t have two favorite dongsaengs? You’re my favorite little brother and she’s my favorite little sister.” He gestured across at Krystal who was still on the phone.

“Yah, I’m a girl too.”

“But you don’t dress like one.”

“That’s cause I prefer looser, comfier and more relaxed type of clothing.”

“Okay. Okay. I know.” The man swung his arm around Amber’s shoulder and the two started heading for the door. “You know I was just kidding.”

“I know. I was kidding too.” Amber chuckled as he nudged her with his hip.

The two eventually bid their goodbyes at the door with Amber promising to be on call until the end of tomorrow in case Krystal changes her mind.

~~~

“No, stop! Stop! That’s no good! How many times do I have to tell you it’s a five step dance here? You can’t be missing something as simple as this, Sungyeol!”

The guy named Sungyeol bowed his head apologetically and muttered a soft, “Sorry,” in response.

“Again!”

The three ended up staying at the dance studio practicing late into the night but still nowhere near perfect. Krystal was exhausted and the only available backup dancer that was provided for her wasn’t any better, if not worse. He was panting heavily and sweating profusely, his skinny legs looking like they were going to give out any minute.

“Oppa, let’s call it day. Let’s start fresh tomorrow.” Krystal looked over at the worn out guy and pitied him. She was starting to regret not giving Amber a chance, especially considering they haven’t progressed very far into the song with this Sungyeol guy.

“Fine.” The man exhaled and ran his fingers through his hair. He then looked down at Sungyeol sternly. “We only have tomorrow left to practice. You better get your act together.” He then left the studio.

“You okay?” Krystal asked after a few minutes of complete silence in the room.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Sorry I couldn’t get that part today. I’ll work harder tomorrow.”

“Don’t let him get to you. He can be a real jerk sometimes.” Krystal felt the least she could do for putting him in this situation was offer some comforting words.

“No, I should be doing better.” Sungyeol reached down to his right ankle and started to massage it.

Krystal noticed the pained face. “Are you okay? Did you hurt your ankle?”

Sungyeol looked up and immediately shook his head. “Ah, no. I’m fine. Just tired, that’s all.”

Although he tried to act like nothing was wrong, Krystal caught the slight limping as he left the studio.

She sighed and pulled out her phone.

~~~

“Oh...What’s going on?”

The surprised voice made everyone stop what they were doing.

“Sungyeol? What are you doing here?” Krystal stepped back from the person in front of her as she wiped the sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. “Did you not get my message?”

“Message? What message?” Sungyeol took out his phone and studied the screen for a moment before looking back up at everyone. “So I’m being kicked out?”

“You’re ankle’s not well, Sungyeol,” Krystal replied.

“My ankle’s fine.” Sungyeol lifted up his leg to show them.

“I called and asked my manager last night. He said you broke your ankle a while back and even though you’ve fully recovered, the doctor says no strenuous activities for a few months longer. You should’ve told us.”

“But I’m fine,” Sungyeol argued.

After a bit more arguing and explaining, Sungyeol eventually receded and went back home to rest.

“Alright then, let’s get back to work you two. We only have today left to practice and everything needs to be perfect by the end of the day. From the beginning.”

Amber and Krystal took their positions and waited for the music to start before letting their bodies move to the beat.

~~~

“Okay. Good! Let’s take a five minute break and run through it one last time before we call it a day.”

The door opened and closed as the dance instructor let himself out.

“Ugh!” Krystal fell backwards onto the floor with arms and legs sprawled out lifelessly.

“Here.” Amber, who has better stamina than the girl, stopped next to her and held out a bottle of water.

Krystal cracked open an eye and eventually reached up to take the bottle. “Thanks,” she muttered and slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position. She took several huge gulps before capping the bottle and placing it next to her.

“Um...” Amber scratched her head awkwardly, trying to think of how to start a conversation with Krystal since they were the only two in the room at the moment.

“So when did you first start taking an interest in dancing? Oppa mentioned you’ve been dancing with him for fifteen years now. That’s a long time.”

“I’ve been dancing since I was ten. Of course at that age, I wasn’t any good but I’ve kept at it till now. I met Yunho at the dance class my parents signed me up for. He was only sixteen at the time but was crazy good it was insane. I wanted to be just like him.”

“Is that why you...” Krystal didn’t know how to ask her question so she ended up just gesturing at her own hair and clothes.

Amber chuckled when she understood what Krystal was implying, finding her actions cute. “Ah, no. It’s not because of him that I dress like this. I was always tomboyish since I was young. I actually had long hair up till high school but eventually got it cut off because I was always dancing and practicing. Having short hair was easier to handle.”

“I see...” Krystal nodded her head. “I’ve always wanted to try your concept for an album promotion.”

“My concept?” Amber laughed. “What’s my concept?”

“You know,” Krystal pointed at her hair again. “The whole short hair and tomboy look. I think it’d be interesting. Total transformation. I bet the fans would be shocked.”

“That they would. But I wouldn’t recommend you do that.”

“Why not?”

“Well, you look very pretty the way you are now and I think it’d be a real shame if you cut off that beautiful hair of yours.” Amber answered honestly. She has seen a lot of Krystal’s ads around the city and always thought the girl was extremely beautiful.

The unexpected yet straightforward comment made Krystal blush in embarrassment. This was their second meeting and Amber’s frank comment made her feel shy for some reason even though it shouldn’t because they were both girls.

“Though I guess someone like you would also look good with short hair...” Amber spoke to no one in particular. “But long hair definitely suits you better...”

Krystal took a drink from the bottled water, hoping it would hide her pink cheeks. When that didn’t work, she pushed herself off the ground and pretended to stretch.

Amber, who was clueless, thought the break was over so she got up to do a quick stretch as well. She hopped a few times in place before casually strolling over to toss the towel hanging around her neck on the couch near the wall.

Right around then, Yunho walked back into the room.

“Alright guys. Break’s over. Let’s finish this and get you two home to get some well deserved rest.”

Amber nodded and lightly jogged back towards Krystal to get into position. “Ready?” She asked.

“Ready.” Krystal reached up and placed her hands on Amber’s shoulder as the music started.

-----

End of Part 1.