Dance King

Shaken Confidence

Song of the Chapter: "instagram" by Dean

San played with his phone in his hands as they drove through Seoul to get to the company. He had been filming all day and it was time for them to return to the practice room for him to work on his dance moves more.

Today, it was a different dance teacher. Two different dance teachers had been assigned to San, alternating days that he was in the dance room so that he could actually improve on his dancing.

It had been said in the comments and on the tongues of recent fans that San's dancing needed improvement, which had triggered this.

However, this was a new dance teacher. Someone he hadn't met yet. This person was going to take up every shred of his free time to help him improve and San was already exhausted from the day.

Stopping in front of the entrance, San's manager took the idol inside and maneuvered the tired boy into one of the practice rooms.

While he was tired, San noticed something oddly familiar about one of the rooms.

A black door with a silver handle and frosted glass next to the door frame. It was a private room...

The door opened and San's tired eyes were met with the energetic ones from Mr. Jung.

He felt himself grow hot under the scrutinizing gaze and he glanced at his manager in slight fear. How could this be his teacher? Just the other day, he was so angry at him for even being there, what changed?

"San, this is Jung Wooyoung, the youngest teacher here at these studios and by far the best. He will be your newest teacher," his manager introduced him, sensing how tense the air was between the two of them.

"But...what about the other two?"

"Oh, one of them got a better deal, so Mr. Jung will be replacing him. You'll see Mr. Jung every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday," the manager answered.

San had no choice but to solemnly nod his head and the manager turned to go to the waiting room, where he would be scheduling San's life for the next couple of weeks while he was on a conference call with other employees from the agency.

At the closing of the door, San found himself looking at the floor nervously. He didn't think that he would see the dancer again, that's why he left the money for him. Now, he was scared that Mr. Jung would tear him apart in the silence and his manager would never know.

"San," Mr. Jung spoke, walking towards the idol, who kept his gaze downwards.

The dancer pulled out the folded bill that San had left him and tucked it into the pocket of San's jacket. "I told you, I don't want your money."

San tried to not seem intimidated but he was terrified of what Mr. Jung might do. The company was very lax on the teachers and the last few that he had were...less than humane to him. They thought he believed that he was better than them, so they had to constantly be the dominating ones in the room, even when he was dancing.

"Yes sir," San spoke, his voice less than excited.

Mr. Jung looked at San with raised eyebrows and he took the idol by his wrist, pulling him with the least amount of force he could towards the middle of the room. San followed like there was a gun pressed into his back, his spine straight and his movements quick but less than precise.

When Mr. Jung stopped, San bumped into him and quickly had to step back.

The teacher chose to let that go and sat down on the wood floor, taking San with him. They sat cross-legged in the middle of the room and Mr. Jung straightened his back as he waited for San to look at him.

Which didn't happen.

Where was this kid's confidence? Mr. Jung had been around so many idols before, all of which were confident and happy but San seemed to be one of the most closed off idols Korea had ever seen.

"Hey, San? Can you look up for me?" Mr. Jung asked, his tone soft. He felt like he was talking to a child.

However, the idol obeyed instantly and apologized, waiting for further instructions.

Mr. Jung clicked his tongue and looked at San with annoyance.

"Hey, do you have any idea how to dance?"

"Um...maybe? That...depends," San replied nervously, his back hunching a bit and he started to play with the ends of his jacket.

"San, hey," Mr. Jung sighed, reaching forward and putting his hands on top of the idol's, "Don't do that. You'll fray the jacket."

San released the jacket from his grasps and instead, fisted his hands and waited.

"Look, it doesn't matter what I think right now," Mr. Jung spoke, "Dancing is an art form, something we are never satisfied with. But I want to know if you think you can dance."

Had Mr. Jung watched the videos of San dancing? Yes, he had. He usually did when it came to teaching idols so that he would know where he should start. In San's case, he knew that San had the potential in him to become a great dancer but what he was lacking overall was confidence.

"So, do you think you can dance?" Mr. Jung questioned, raising his eyebrow at him.

San swallowed and glanced at himself in the mirror. He regretted it almost instantly as he saw how he looked like he was a cornered child, crying with his shoulders sagged and his hair being used to curtain his face.

Biting his cheek for a moment, San replied, "No."

Mr. Jung nodded and sat back. Oh, he's got a lot of work to do. He needed to build this kid's confidence before he could do anything else.

"That's okay. I've had no one come to me for help that leaves thinking they can't dance. Don't worry," Mr. Jung spoke, trying to lighten the mood.

That failed, however, when San seemed to give him a look that told him, Just wait.

He needed something new.

Mr. Jung grabbed his phone and sat back down, asking, "Let's get to know each other a little, okay? Who's your favorite artists?"

San seemed to brighten up a bit and replied, "Dean and Zion T. They...their vocals are beautiful. They're so good at being artists."

He even smiled. Mr. Jung had never been so glad to see a smile in his entire life.

Then, for that moment in time, the teacher set aside his own worry about others and turned on "instagram", placing his phone on the floor and dancing along to the song.

To him, it felt great to dance to a song that was slower, to let his music float away with the sad lyrics. But to San, it was like watching a fine masterpiece that belonged in the Parisian museum. Mr. Jung was a wonderful dancer, a handsome male, and the way that he danced to the song was not only passionate but there were some parts that were mildly erotic about it.

It was a hypnotizing dance.

When he finished, San clapped for him and complimented him profusely on his performance and on his ability to dance.

"Thank you," Mr. Jung smiled, "You'll soon be dancing to Dean's songs as well."

San's smile faltered for a moment before he replied, "I...don't think that would be a good idea. I'm supposed to dance to my songs."

"On stage, you are," Mr. Jung said, "But dancing is supposed to be fun! You're supposed to enjoy it! If you want to dance to Dean's songs, you can learn! If you want, you can even come up with dance moves as well, it's just a matter of being confident in yourself."

San's face seemed to brighten up and his eyes twinkled slightly. For the first time since Mr. Jung had told him to be quiet, he seemed genuinely excited.