(MJ POV)
"Wait, you saw that?!" she gasped.
Her audition took place over a month ago, and it wasn't meant for her to even have one in the first place, as she was already an idol who debuted under one of the Big 4. However, the CEO of KQ insisted that she did and her understanding was that she did it simply for procedural reasons.
Hongjoong saw her surprised expression "Yeah, the CEO sent me the video". Wooyoung looked at his captain, puzzled "I didn't see any video! I didn't know there was one!". Everyone agreed with Wooyoung and looked at their captain expectantly. Hongjoong smirked and added "The CEO just sent me this video yesterday with the description "look at this". I think he had already decided to sign with you from the first 5 seconds of your dancing, to be honest" he said, complimenting MJ.
The girl felt so happy at that comment, feeling proud that her hard work was being recognized. But again, a familiar feeling of self-loathing took over in a flash and that joy vanished within seconds. "Oh really? I'm so glad to hear that...you know, I think my dancing was mediocre...my condition is not what it used to be, but with practice, I'll come back to my former self", she responded.
The captain looked stunned "If that was you in a "mediocre" condition, I can't even imagine your "good" one" he said with a teasing tone. "Show us the video then!" Yunho suggested, scooting closer to Hongjoong. "Yeah, show us!" Wooyoung said excitement rising in his voice. "I want to see it too!" Seonghwa stated eagerly and pushed his way towards the captain to have a better view. Hongjoong put his phone on the ground and everyone gathered around it on the floor and looked at the screen.
"Before you press play, do you all know the movie "Step Up"?" MJ said looking towards the members. Everyone nodded yes and she further explained "Ok then, so...what I did for the audition was a solo of the final dance of the first movie. However, a partner is needed to do it properly, so it kinda felt a bit awkward when I did the choreography alone. I had to fill in and improvise some parts, like, for example when the boy lifts the girl , and those bits were the most difficult to come up with. Ok, now press play."
The video started playing and the intro of the song began. In it, MJ appeared wearing black dancing tights and shoes and a black loose top. Seonghwa pointed at the screen "Are those pointe shoes?" he said referring to the ones she wore on the video. "No no, those are modern dance shoes, they are like shocks with a rubber bottom", she replied and Seonghwa shook his head in understanding.
The video continued, showing MJ twirling and lifting her arms and legs graciously during the modern dance segment of the choreo. The boys mostly stayed silent but could not hide their enthusiasm, murmuring words like "cool" and "crazy". Suddenly, the beat changed and the screen showed the girl switching up her style and dancing to hip hop, with floor moves that were drastically different than before. The members audibly gasped. "You know breakdance too?!" Mingi exclaimed. A small giggle left her lips, loving the surprise in their faces "Well I do know some basic moves and tricks, but I couldn't possibly do them in my current condition, that's just the easy version".
The video ended and the boys looked at each other, their expressions stunned. "This is crazy...was that a human?" Jongho asked himself in a daze. "You're crazy..." Wooyoung stated matter-of-factly. "I told ya" Hongjoong smirked. "I'm still shocked, I think I have goosebumps", Yunho said rubbing his arms. "Guys no, I still have a long way to go", she responded shyly at all the praise. "She's insane..." San said seemingly looking into the void. "I felt pain just watching this..." Seonghwa said with a small laugh. "So awesome!" Yeosang exclaimed. MJ giggled at the silly comments but felt grateful that they loved her dancing. "Thank you guys, it means a lot coming from you. But I have a lot to learn and it would make me very happy if you could guide me and teach me, your performances are truly out of this world!" she exclaimed with genuine enthusiasm in her voice.
"Do you know a lot of dance genres? Because you mixed a lot in here" Yunho asked the girl, as the choreo had piqued his interest. "Hmm, I really like mixing different genres...it makes something unique and fresh in my opinion. I do know ballet, modern, and hip-hop dance. But I might also use a random move from another genre because it just matches the music. For example, I learned to do some shuffling, which might seem random, but I loved doing it, it was so much fun!" MJ responded. "Show us pleaaaase!" Wooyoung asked in a cute voice and everyone agreed enthusiastically. "Ok ok, I will try to do it for you" she agreed and stood up from the floor, heading for the computer. "Do you remember Teen Top's "Rockin"?" she asked the boys and they all nodded yes. " I learned the shuffling moves from this song's choreo, so here it goes", she said and pressed play.
The song started and she walked around the room, trying to hype up her crowd of 8 boys. Then, when the beat dropped, she started shuffling. Her feet moved quickly and it seemed as if they barely touched the ground. The boys were ecstatic, yelling things like "yeahhh", "this is crazy", and "dancing machine for real". After dancing for a minute or so, she stopped and paused the music. "See, this is why I am not in a very good condition, I just danced for a minute and I'm already dead", she spoke out of breath and half-laughing. The boys clapped for her as they stood up and patted her back. "So cool!" Seonghwa said with a bright smile on his face. "You are really cool noona!" Wooyoung exclaimed.
She bowed and thanked everyone but hearing that word, she turned and looked at him in disbelief. "Am I already...a noona?" she said, a puzzled expression written all over her face. Hongjoong smacked Wooyoung on his arm "Yah, Wooyoung, be respectful." he scolded the younger one. Wooyoung bowed quickly "I'm so sorry, it just slipped!" he apologised in a hurry. MJ smiled, a small warm feeling starting to flicker inside her chest. "No, it's totally ok! Don't scold him, captain...I want all of us to be comfortable around each other! If noona was the first thing that came to your mind, then it means it was sincere, I really appreciate it Wooyoung!" she responded smiling at him. Jongho looked at her, raising an eyebrow "But you are still talking to us formally, even though we are younger..." he stated.
Speaking formally was almost like second nature to MJ, as she was afraid that Koreans might perceive her as rude, but also that was what her previous company taught her, to be formal with everyone because she was a foreigner. She didn't want to insult anyone by speaking informally, so it just stuck with her. However, seeing the maknae's adorable pout, she couldn't ignore his statement. "Well, I will stop using it if you all stop using it with me too." she simply stated.
The boys looked over at her, curiosity in their eyes. "Don't look at me like that! You know I'm not from here, so the whole Korean age thing is not something that I really understand. I mean, of course, you should be respectful to your elders, your teachers, your employers, and strangers, but it just feels weird if someone a year younger than me is treating me like an "elder". Like, what are our differences? I'm as dumb as you are, I have no wisdom or supremacy over you." she said, looking at their faces for any kind of reaction.
(English speech)
Mingi was the one that spoke first "Oh, so like Western style! Yo, what's up my man?". Everyone laughed at the tall boy's goofiness. "Yo, bro wassup! Also, back home in Greece when I was working, almost everyone talked to me informally, seniors, juniors, employers, even the customers, only a few were formal and polite. So yeah, it feels weird for me to talk formally to my friends" she further explained. "I understand what you mean" Hongjoong said with his hand on his chin as if he was analyzing what she said. "I really like it" Seonghwa said informally. "Ayyy Seonghwa good job" MJ praised him and high fived him. "Thank you noona!" Wooyoung followed up informally as well. "Nice Wooyoung-i!" she smiled at the boy and high fived him as well. "What the fuck is this..." San said whispering loud enough for her to hear it. She turned to look at the boy, her face a mixture of surprise and hurt upon hearing his words, but San had already averted his gaze, his back turned towards her and seemingly walking away.
Before this could escalate any further, Yunho suddenly yelled "I'm so hungry! Who's hungry?". She felt her stomach growling loudly. "I certainly am! Let's go eat some lunch!" MJ suggested. "Yeah, I'm hungry too!" Jongho quickly agreed. "Let's all go to the restaurant around the corner then, shall we?" Hongjoong looked around to see if everyone agreed. "Yeah, it really has some good food! But, MJ, can you handle spicy food?" Mingi said, a bit of worry evident in his voice. "Yeah, I think I can handle some spiciness" she reassured him. "Let's gooo!" Wooyoung shouted excitedly.
Arriving at the restaurant, MJ settled for whatever the boys suggested on the menu, finding it easier to just try a little bit of everything. While having a good time eating and chatting, getting to know each other more, she felt a knot forming in her stomach, along with a dark feeling inside her head. Starting to dissociate from the ongoing conversations, she abruptly stood up. "I'm going to the bathroom" she announced and left quickly from the table, as tears had already started to form in her eyes. Thankfully, the women's bathroom was empty and she went inside the furthest stall.
"I hope I don't screw things up with them...they seem like really nice guys - well, maybe except San - but I don't want to get too attached, that's when all the shitty things happen..." she thought to herself and the tears started rolling down her cheeks. She cried, covering her mouth to not make any noise, the hot tears wetting her hands. "Why are you crying you dumb fuck?! Nothing is wrong, you were having a good time...Did that guy mess with your head, why are you acting like this now..." she scolded herself as she tried to suppress her crying and her feelings with logic. "You are having a good time with your nice co-workers, nothing wrong with that...you will keep your distance from them and nothing will happen. Nothing can happen". She wiped her tears and went outside the stall, towards the washbasins. Looking at herself in the mirror, she mouthed "You're pathetic" feeling the words stab her as if she deserved them. Washing her hands and face carefully, she took a few deep breaths and forced a smile on her face.
Walking back to the table, MJ sat at her seat next to Yeosang and opposite San. Yeosang kept eating and she felt relieved, thinking that no one would notice her post-crying puffy eyes. Little did she know though, that San was staring at her and the moment she lifted her head from her food, their eyes met. Quickly looking away, she pretended to take a sip from her drink and continued eating.
"I hope he didn't see anything..."
A/N
:)