𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 ˢᵛᵗ

thirty three ♬

"No no no! The foot positioning is all wrong! It needs to be 30 degrees to the right," Soonyoung shrieked, visibly agitated. "And your left arm needs to make a sharp, full extension. Here, let me show you."

For the one hundredth time, he blocked the movements of the routine again. The last six days had been excruciatingly eye opening, and with one more night left and only minimal improvements, I began dreading the worst.

The music played and I danced the whole routine, no mistakes. I checked to see Soonyoung's reaction - he seemed mildly unimpressed.

"Looking at you now," He put forth, carefully examining me. "And comparing you to where you started with, I only have three words to say to you - bye bye Chae-ri."

"Yah! You think this is a joke?" I complained as he broke his serious character and burst out laughing.

"It looks fine Chae-ri," He reassured me. "But that's the problem - it's only fine. It feels as though there is something missing."

"Like what?" I asked, scanning the room for my water bottle. When I found it, it was empty.

"Passion? Energy? Vivacity? It's hard to say," Soonyoung scrunched his face, attempting to draw out an answer. "All I know is that the routine feels incomplete at the moment."

"Great," I sarcastically exhaled, wiping the sweat from my forehead.

There was eleven hours left until I had to perform for Yoona. Time was running out fast, and I started to lose hope.

Maybe this might be it. Maybe I'm not cut out to be an idol after all.

"What made you want to become an idol in the first place? Soonyoung curiously questioned.

"Why does that matter?" I responded.

"I think that if you figure out your reasons for being here, then it could help you discover whatever is missing from this dance," He smiled, plucking his hoodie up from the floor. "This is where it ends, comrade. No matter what happens tomorrow, just know that you did everything that you could - and I'm proud of you."

"Thank you Soonyoung," I said, and watched as he exited the dance practice room.

Dejected, I decided to fill up my water bottle since I was most definitely going to be spending the night practicing this dance until it's perfect. On my way back, Mingyu appeared and beamed brightly my way.

"Mingyu-yah," I sighed, shaking my head at him. "I'm convinced that my time has come to an end. Goodbye, since this will be my last night here."

His smile dropped immediately.

"Don't say things like that!" He pouted, lightly knocking my shoulder as he sulked. "Everyone has faith in you - we know you can impress Yoona."

"If you say so," I replied absentmindedly.

I leaned against the wall staring aimlessly into the space in front of me, which concerned Mingyu.

"You've done more than enough to prove yourself," He tried to reassure. "Plus, you haven't been here nearly as long as any of the other trainees."

"She said that if they debuted me, I'd be the laughing stock - that the fans would reduce me to nothing because that's how terrible I am," I scoffed, reliving the pain of her comments. "Don't you get it? There's no way for me to come back from this."

"It's upsetting to hear you put yourself down so please don't," Mingyu seemed somewhat distressed and panicked. "I think you're great-"

"The only reason you think that is because you're my friend," I dismissed his statement, and he looked hurt. "And because you're obviously a much better dancer than I am, so you're trying to make me feel better."