"I don't want to go," I pouted, slowing down my walk to nearly a standstill as we approached the dance studio. "I'm already so exhausted."

"Then don't go, let's go get bubble tea instead." Luhan pouted, matching my pace.

Luhan was walking me to my dance lesson, after somehow spotting me after leaving my earlier vocal lesson. My dance class today was with the other girls, which maybe should have made me less nervous, but it was worse in a way because I feared that I definitely wouldn't match up to their level.

"Yah, aren't you supposed to be a good example and tell me that I have to go to all my classes no matter what?" I shot him a glare.

"Yeah yeah, what's the fun in that?" Luhan then frowned, changing his tone. "But seriously though, do go to all your classes and lessons. It'll be worth it."

I sighed, stopping right outside the door of the dance studio. "Okay, I'll go then."

"Aww, you're so cute," he squished me in a suffocating hug, "don't worry, we'll go get bubble tea next time."

"Whatever, bye loser." I rolled my eyes at him.

"Yah, is that how you address your bias--" I couldn't help but smile as I closed the door, cutting him off from whatever he was saying.

Walking into the dance studio, I felt self conscious already. The mirrors on the walls surrounding the studio reflected all the bright lights above head, lighting up the room completely. It has always made me feel much too exposed, and despite having practiced the choreography until my legs gave out, I still couldn't shake off the fear of failing.

The other girls were already there, spread out on the floor to start with their stretches.

"Oh hey, Yoonmi, we're just starting with stretches, so you can just join the girls over there." The dance teacher greeted, setting up what looked like a video camera, at the front of the room.

I set my stuff down at the side and then sat on the floor beside Jiwoo, at the back of the room. Gingerly stretching out my hamstrings and calf muscles, I could really feel how sore they were still, from all the dance practice I had done this week, to catch up on this choreography that the other girls had already learned long ago.

A few minutes later, we followed the dance teacher, who was at the front, and did various warm-ups.

"Okay, now we can finally start on the actual dance. You all remember where we were last time, right?"

The girls collectively nodded, a chorus of "yes" filling the room.

"Alright, then today we're going to continue polishing up the dance, making sure that everyone is in-sync and on the beat."

She the music, and we all got into our opening positions. We started in the center together, with Minnie and Miyoung taking the front, and the three of us behind them.

The dance itself wasn't too difficult, nothing like some of the complex routines that I've seen other idols do. It was mostly the synchronization and coordination that we had to work on; to make individual parts look well put together, whole.

"That wasn't bad! Not bad at all. Just some things to watch out for though; Rachel, during the second chorus, the choreography changes slightly so that it's right foot first, instead of the left. Also, try to keep your back straighter throughout; it'll make your posture look better."

We ran through the dance several more times, perfecting little things here and there each time. I broke into a sweat, desperately trying to catch my breath in the short pauses between each of the runs.

"This time it was a little better, but during the chorus, try to make sure that you guys are matching the timing of your movements up with each other, so that you're all in-sync."

Four minutes, eight minutes, twelve minutes...

More exaggerated movements here, back straighter here, left foot before right. Flick wrist faster here, flip hair over here, but not before Miyoung moves from her spot.

"Okay, now since you've all got it down, we're going to use a video camera here, so you guys can see for yourselves, from the audiences' point of view, what you need to work on. Let's see how in-sync you girls are. Remember, make your movements sharp!"

I watched as the dance teacher turned the video camera on, angling it so that it faced us, directly in the center of the room. The little blinking of the red light in the corner signalled that the recording had started, and we all got ready for the music to start again.

In front of the camera, suddenly everything got a lot scarier. Even through the other runs, I felt better knowing that there's still a chance the teacher hadn't seen my mistake, that she couldn't possibly focus on everyone at the same time. But now that it was going to be captured on camera and replayed until every little mistake was caught, the pressure of having to do well just increased tenfold.

I moved naturally to the music that had become much too familiar to my ears, feeling the rhythm and trying my best to control my movements, making them sharper, more precise. But then the second chorus came up and I started remembering the teacher's words from earlier.

Was it left or right here again? Something changes here for sure...right first, then left, or left first then right?

I panicked, as the part quickly came up, not sure what exactly it was. My mind told me one thing, but my muscle memory automatically did something else, and I ended up fumbling a bit when the second chorus came. Minnie shot me a glower as we changed spots, and that only made me more nervous for the ending of the song. The ending which I had just mastered yesterday, that I wasn't confident in yet.

"Good job everyone, now let's review the footage together. I noticed something interesting there, in the middle."

We gathered together to watch it, and I was dreading the part where I had messed up so badly.

"Yoonmi, what happened there?" The dancer teacher turned to ask me, also bringing along four other pairs of eyes.

"I-I'm sorry, I just got really nervous. It won't happen again." I bowed deeply, embarrassed at having made such a stupid mistake in the first place.

"It better not, Yoonmi." I could tell from the tone of her voice that she was disappointed. "Okay, let's run it from the top again with the camera, until you guys get it right."

We all got back in our positions, none of the girls acknowledging what had happened, except for Minnie who shot me another glare, which I was already used to, by now.

Practice went on and on. A couple of times, we were so close to getting it perfect, but maybe one of us just slightly stepped earlier than the beat. Or there were other issues like our coordination wasn't looking very good.

Several hours went by in silence, with only the sound of the music, and our dance teacher's comments filling the room.
 

Our next schedule was also together, in the recording studio. After finishing those extra hours of dance practice together, we got a short break to cool off but soon that heated sweat had soon turned into a cold chill, making me shiver despite wrapping a sweater around myself.

Today our other group lesson was to experience the recording process and actually record the song that we had split last time. I followed the girls into the room. It was big for a recording studio, but a small space for everyone to cram into all at once. There were keyboards, computers, and other cool gadgets on half of the room, and the other half was the actual soundproof room where songs are recorded. 

I sat on the couch right outside the recording room, reading and rereading over my Korean lyric pronunciations that I had labelled on the page. Shivering, I zipped up my sweater to the top and crossed my arms, trying to stay warm.

First up was Miyoung with her rap at the beginning of the song. I watched her go in as she smirked at us, oozing with confidence. She put the headphones on and listened to the producer's directions, then soon started her rap. She was indeed very good, her rhythm probably right on par with the song as she gestured with her hands. 

I warmed up my vocals, ready to sing the small part that I had in the song. It was merely a couple of lines here and there, but I wanted to make sure to do it well. I watched as Hyojin went into the recording room, then came out quickly, without too much advice from the producer for her part in the chorus. She smiled at me and gestured that it was my turn next.

I stood up quickly, not wanting to make the producer wait, but unexpectedly, the world went black as the ground wavered beneath my feet, and I bumped into Miyoung who was sitting near me. 

"Sorry," I said, as I caught myself and walked into the recording room. My head was still spinning slightly, but I didn't worry since I should be in and out of the recording room really quickly, with what small part I had.

Greeting the producer, I dipped my head with respect before going into the recording room. I walked over to the center of the soundproof room, where there was a music stand for my lyrics, the microphone, and the headphones. My head started to spin again, annoyingly, but I ignored it and focused on coming in at the right time.

The familiar song started from the beginning as I read over my lyrics one last time to make sure that my Korean pronunciations were okay. I started singing, beginning from the lower notes of the verse. The melody dipped then rose towards the end of the phrase, and then waited for my next part to come up. 

Suddenly, the ground tilted sharply again, like there was an earthquake. I stumbled slightly, just as my part came up.

The second phrase was nearly the same as the first, except ending on the tonic chord instead, to prepare for the bit that comes before the chorus. I sang with my best, desperate to get away from here so I could sit down again. As it was only a practice run for the recording, the producer soon gave me the okay sign, so I quickly left the recording room. 

I told the teacher that I'd be going to the washroom, and stumbled out of the studio. The spinning world around me had turned into more of a translucent patch of darkness, almost obstructing my vision. I leaned against the wall, willing for the ground to be solid under my feet again. Cold sweat was dripping down the sides of my forehead as I felt my burning forehead.

Just as the washroom came into sight, the ground abruptly tilted, and I think I must've fallen, but it was difficult to tell.

What was happening to me?

The hallway became a messy blur whirling around me. It seemed to change in length, bending and making weird shapes.

"Rachel? Rachel, are you alright?" A voice asked frantically, but somehow it sounded hazy, far away in the distance.

I might have tried saying something but the lights seemed to be flickering a lot. I vaguely remember seeing a comforting face before everything went black. 

Ooh I wonder who it is~
A few chapters left until some of my favourite scenes ;)
Anyway thank y'all so much for the support <3 you guys make school bearable haha