Beautiful Pain

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"You look good." TaeHyung checked JiMin over one last time. He adjusted the boy's costume before smiling brightly. JiMin decided that an all white look fit the storyline he was trying to convey in his dance. He was becoming concerned however that the simplicity would be perceived as laziness. TaeHyung thought the boy looked rather like an angel. He felt blessed just to be in the presence of such beauty. "This looks great, JiMin."

"Okay, good." JiMin nodded his head, shaking his hands to clear some nerves. He still wasn't quite convinced. After all, how much could he trust TaeHyung's ability to know if the costume really was a good fit? The older boy liked baseball and Civil War documentaries. Then again, it was a bit late to change his outfit. He was going on within the half hour. It was the audition for Boston Ballet Theatre. He was there with countless others who competed for the same four spots that had opened for dance interns. A few people had already been eliminated in the group auditions, and now they were viewing the dancer's individual styles. JiMin had decided to combine contemporary and ballet for his individual audition. It was making him nervous to watch all the other talented dancers perform. He was no longer the best in competition. He was competing with others on his own level. The other dancers that were willing to travel anywhere dance took them. Suddenly, it was his audition time. He tried to remain calm as he stood off stage, waiting for them to announce they were ready to see him. TaeHyung had been told to wait in the lobby so that the auditions could go on uninterrupted; he would be told the results at the end of the day just like everyone else. More accurately, the older boy had been kicked out of the limited access auditions.

On the signal, JiMin moved quickly to get to his starting position on stage left. He was nervous, however, and had taken off at a faster pace than intended. When he attempted to come to a stop, his feet didn't want to. He slid on the stage, hitting his left hip off the floor harshly. The thud from the fall echoed in the auditorium, mocking JiMin as it rang through his ears. The only other sound was the small 'oof' that escaped his lips as he hit. He was shocked, to say the least. Falling was something that never happened to him during dance. Especially when he was only trying to stop.

"Are you okay, Mister Park?" One of the judges asked. JiMin laughed it off, standing up as he pretended that he didn't feel like crying on the inside. He wiped his outfit off, nodding his head.

"It's a bit more slippery than expected." He joked, moving into his starting position. "I'm okay to start now, if I may?" One of the judges nodded, pressing the play button on the stereo beside them. And JiMin began, pushing out the embarrassment and fear he had been feeling and replacing it with his character. He let the music wrap around his mind, dictating the movements he had created and memorized. His moves were delicate yet strong, precise yet smooth. When JiMin Park danced, the world easily melted away. He became the movements and the chords within the song. He told stories through motion that made others listen; he created visuals that gathered crowds. As the boy ended the display, the judges had already been drowned in his beauty. The beauty of his face, and of the strength his body had. The beauty of his ability to laugh off the mistake and continue onto such beautiful mastery of dance. There was no sound from the judges, and the boy looked up. He was unable to read their expressions.

"Mister Park, you are auditioning for the Boston Ballet Theatre." A judge spoke. "What about yourself do you think earns a position here?" JiMin wet his lips. He wasn't prepared to talk. He thought that it would only be about his ability to dance, not anything about himself personally.

"Dance is hard," JiMin started, "it requires dedication, hard work, the willingness to stay up all night to perfect just that one little part that's been giving me trouble. But more than any of the work, it's about the emotion. It's about the story and the music connecting inside of me and the ability to convey it to those around me. It's about the beauty in the artistry of movement. There's not many that adore the connection as much as I do. That's why I am worthy of a position here." The judges shared a look, writing a few things down.