Here's the next part. I had this finished ages ago, but I just wanted to have a two chapter buffer in case I ran out of time to type more later. That being said, I haven't actually finished the 11th chapter yet... I'm really sorry _
Disclaimer: I do not own Prince of Tennis. I haven't even bought the manga. Why? I'm poor. Sorry.
Chapter 10: 1, 2, Step
"Hey guys," David greeted casually in Korean as he walked into the room. "I uh, brought a friend."
"A friend? As in a girlfriend?" I blushed and bowed nervously to them. I wanted to retort badly, but I curbed the desire and greeted them in plain Korean.
"Guys, relax. This is Suzuki Akina, a friend from my dance school." Each of them greeted me with a smile, and I, deeply nervous, began to talk to David in English, realizing it was rude of me to do so.
"Can you tell them I'm not your girlfriend?" I could understand every fourth word of the fast paced conversation, but I wanted no misunderstandings to exist between me and David's friends. David quickly explained to me what he had said, and turned to the others.
"What are we doing right now?" Since we were late, and the members were just hanging around, not only was I confused, but David as well.
They shrugged. "Nothing really. Dance practice was pushed back an hour, so we're not doing much." Grace-san probably did it to give us some time to get to know each other, I thought to myself. I sat down next to the members and smiled shyly at them.
"Okay, should we play a game or something then?" David suggested. "Since we're singers, too, let's play a singing game." Of course, the singer would pick a singing game. I agreed readily enough, glad to sing whenever I had the chance.
"What kind of game though? No making up melodies because that's difficult. And this is fun, too, so we shouldn't have to try too hard," one boy complained.
"Well, everyone knows that Japanese animation, XYZ's theme song, right? Let's use that, and make up new lyrics!" I rather enjoyed this idea and agreed. We played along, having fun, and gradually I felt the boys relax and trust me more.
After an hour, the choreographer had not come, so I assumed he was running late and looked pointedly at David. I was, after all, here for a reason, and to waste time would be pointless and actually detrimental to Pentagon's success.
"Please show me your dance," I asked politely. David laughed and turned to the rest of the group.
"Akina's a genius at dancing, so she's going to help us out a bit." One boy, Woojung, frowned.
"Boys and girls have different dancing styles. How is she going to be able to follow along?" While it was true that boys tended to have more complex choreography, I wasn't trained in any particular style, and actually preferred the intense boyband dances. Also, there were all the dances that I had to learn under Shou's name… I shook my head slightly to get the thoughts out of my head. I didn't actually blame Woojung for doubting me, but I was slightly bothered by it.
I surveyed all of them, but focused on Woojung, the one who had scoffed at my talent. He didn't really have more complex choreography, and his movements were precise, albeit stiff. David was holding up well for someone who had only ever taken singing classes, but I reasoned that he attended some sort of boot camp when he arrived in Korea. The other boys were fine, but not the best. Now I understood why Grace had told me to wear cargo pants and a T-shirt. As the music ended, the boys walked over as if expecting praise, but instead I wanted to ask them a few questions.
"Where is your choreographer?" I asked David, and he scratched his head.
"That guy? Well, he comes in every now in then…" I looked at him incredulously. This was the one of the largest entertainment companies in Korea, and yet they still employed a slacker choreographer who wouldn't perfect their dance? What kind of person was he anyway?
A cough from the doorway startled all of us, and I turned my head to look. "Sensei!" It was my hip-hop instructor from Japan! That explained a lot; it was just like him to slack off. I scowled. "Sensei, don't smoke inside the building." He laughed raucously and dropped the cigarette, crushing it with his shoe. However, before I could reprimand him, he moved over and sat down.
"You understand, right? Why these boys have no hope of being popular from their debut. They refuse to understand all of my explanations, and keep insisting on seeing it for themselves." He sighed heavily. "I'm too old to show them the dances anymore."
"Sensei," I interjected, "You are only 32." He ignored this and went on with his lament.
"I do not want to do this. They aren't receptive to the fact that it is their laziness that brings them from their full potential."
"Sensei! Those people have worked very hard. How can you just say that about them?" He glared at me and switched to Korean.
"I saw your performance just now. Let's start with the eight-count." The boys obligingly got into position, and David turned around to point to a video camera on the table.
"Akina, could you record us? Sometimes that helps." I grabbed the camera and sat down on the floor, more than happy to record. At first, the camera fluttered between David and Woojung, but soon turned to another boy. Compared to Woojung, his movements were more fluid, so I found myself enjoying the dance more. As the song finished again, I caught a smile on my face, and turned to ask David about him before Sensei interrupted.
"Akina, do you know the dance yet?" I shook my head, and he pointed to Woojung. "Teach it to her." I protested valiantly, but Sensei was adamant.
"I'll do each part for you and then you copy, alright?" I nodded, and opened my eyes wide. "Alright, let's go." He moved slowly, making sure that I understood each move in a set before repeating the set at normal speed. As we moved, Sensei stood by and shouted at us.
"This song is about heartbreak and moving on. Stop being so stiff Akina, are you paralyzed by your breakup or are you empowered by it?" Sensei really lacked tact or even good word choice. I grit my teeth however, and continued moving.
"How about she gets the dance first, and then fixes it?" Woojung was irritated too from the interruption of his thought process.
"No! The more times you repeat something, the more it becomes engrained in your head. If you remember it as stiff and unforgiving, then you shall dance in a stiff and unforgiving manner. It is extremely difficult to change a habit. That's why the initial learning process is so important." Sensei's grainy smoker's voice rasped at us until I glared at him.
"Wakaru!" I knew that already! I shot a glare at my teacher. I replayed the parts I had already learned and relaxed, adding fluidity and flare at the same time. Yes, it was a hip-hop song, but pop and locking was completely different from being stiff and unmoving. After twenty minutes, Woojung and I had blocked out the entire dance, and though it was still far from perfect, Sensei stopped us.
"Great. Now set it to the music, and dance to it." I exhaled and stared at the giant mirror wall. David calmly pressed play, and I began to dance.
Perhaps it was the fact that I rather enjoyed the heavily pulsing dance beat. Maybe it was the fact that by this time I had entirely forgotten the presence of anyone but my annoyingly loud teacher, who continued to criticize my movements. I gradually tuned him out, too, and soon I was moving in time to the music.
My one great quality is that I am diligent. I had worked hard on perfecting the art of learning these dances because I wanted to be good at it. I did love the feeling of the beat drumming in my body, and that movement stirred happiness within me. When I completed the dance, I stopped and took a deep breath, reorienting myself with the surroundings and then clutching the bar on the mirror for support. I glanced at my sensei, who seemed conflicted.
"There is still so much I could improve with that dance…" he began to mutter to himself, before he caught himself and turned back to the real topic of worry. "…but it's more important that you all noticed her movement! See the way she pivoted; it was clean and yet flowed with the dance, not broke it up further. Her arm movements mimic a swan, which is actually far too elegant for this dance… Theoretically, a happy medium between the stiff robotics you are performing and her water like fluidity would be the best." Although I knew my dance instructor was of Japanese ethnicity, he spoke Korean so much better than I had ever heard him speak in Japanese. The words flowed off his tongue and I could barely understand.
"Alright. Let's try it again, but slower." Sensei seemed to be more patient with them than he usually was to me. "I want you guys to go in two groups, and the other people follow and comment on what they can do better." I watched eagerly at this part. Because my lessons were always individual, I had not been in a group dance session in a long time. I was told not to dance, but watch closely.
"Well first, I have a few comments from the first time I watched you guys. David, you need to stop worrying about getting the moves right because you know them. Woojung-ssi needs to relax a bit…"