Jaemin was smiling widely.
He hadn't been this happy in a very long time.
He wanted to get better in both singing and dancing.
Because being able to improve in something that you love, dearly, is simply one of the highest degrees of happiness one can obtain. He felt like he was on cloud nine at the moment, and keep in mind, he only went trough an average improvement, neither big nor small. But that already made him feel so amazing.
But the only thing he currently cared about, was dancing.
He went all out.
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After a few minutes, the music stopped.
Jaemin just collapsed right on the spot.
He was exhausted, his forehead was covered in sweat and his breath was heavily ragged. His muscles were burning and his throat felt dry.
But he started laughing.
That feeling he just experienced, that was what he was longing for. It was one of the things he desperately desired.
Achieving his goal.
He was on his way there. He just needed to keep on going, and never stop until he succeeds.
"Yo, little brat, you okay?"
The instructor was looking at him with burning eyes. He quickly passed him a water bottle. He didn't seem suprised, it actually looked like he was looking at himself in the mirror.
"Yeah, thanks hyung."
"I know what you're going through, I experienced the same thing."
Jaemin looked suprised, his instructor was very good in dancing, disgustingly so. How could he ever be as bad as him? How would he know the feeling of improving at such a fast rate?
"I've danced my whole life, my ambition to be a dancer was already set in stone as soon as I was born."
"But I wasn't that good. It took me more than 25 years to get where I am today. And you, you will probably be on the same level as me in two years, maybe even less."
He looked a bit depressed, but proud at the same time.
So he was the same as him...
To never give up.
They looked at eachother, seemingly understanding each others feelings.
They talked about his life story, eventually losing their sense of time. They looked like relatives that hadn't seen each other for decades.
And then, the door of the studio opened up, accompanied along with multiple girly voices.
"Seonsang-nim!"
The students came in. They were all around sixteen or fifteen years of age. Jaemin was one of the younger ones who danced here at the studio.
Jaemin looked at the time, with the watch that his mother gave him. It was already ten minutes past the time of when the studio is supposed to open. Time truly went by quickly.
"Time flies eh, Jaemin."
"Mm"
It looked a little... weird, if somebody else would see this scene from a different perspective. Which is probably why the girls had an expression of shock on their face.
He and the instructor were staring at each other quite intimately, like some melodrama, even while their age difference was huge, they looked like a gay couple. And they were both lying on the floor.
"Oppa, you're here already?" The girl with long black hair, and a small face spoke up first, she was the closest with him. Her name was Park Hwa-young. She tried ating cute, saying oppa, even though she was older than him. She saw the scene, but she didn't mind it.
"I decided I'd train a little earlier today, ahjumma." He jokingly used the term to refer to an old lady.
She smiled at him playfully, and a bit irritated. The other girls were trying their hardest to hold in their laughter.
He and the intstructor both quickly got up.
Jaemin quickly fixed his hair and clothing, since it was still messy from the extreme dancing and went towards the instructor's office to regain his stamina. The instructor quickly explained everything to the girls and went on to teach them the new routines.
Jeamin wasn't going to join.
He had to rest, and then display all his abilities once again, in front of the scout. He should be at his absolute physical peak
He should come in about an hour.
So he waited, and waited.....
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"Aahh, I can't take this anymore!"
He couldn't sit still, he kept walking back and forth in the office. No matter how much willpower he had, he just couldn't help but be nervous. He had anticipated this moment too much, so being calm in this situation was impossible for him.
He could only helplessly look at the door, while sometimes switching his gaze to the people who were dancing. To confirm that he got his routines right.
'Rrrrriiiiiiiinngggggg'
It was break time, for everyone.
The instructor explained some mistakes some students made, and came into the office.
He saw Jaemin there, basically shaking due to nervosity.
"Jaemin, I believe in you. I'll do a good word to the scout, not that I have to, honestly. That's how good you are. You are a perfect fit for an idol, so you don't have to be this nervous."
"Thanks hyung, by the way, how did you know that a scout from JYP was coming here, you aren't supposed to know right?"
"Ah, we have a Kakaotalk group of all the dance academies' instructors in this area, and this academy is the last to be scouted by every agency that came before, so we receive this information from them.
So that's the case, he had wondered why he knew.
"Jaemin, try to not look at the scout that much, I'll get in trouble if he finds out that I told you, since you aren't supposed to know that."
"I will."
He had calmed down a little bit, but he was still nervous.
"You know that routine I taught you earlier right?" said the instructor.
"Yeah, it looks the best."
"Can you dance it?"
"Of course, It's a pretty hard routine, but I can dance it pretty easily.
It was the most complicated routine he knew. And the others didn't know this routine.
There was no way he wouldn't get noticed in the group.
They both got out and Jaemin started lightly practicing his special routine again. He had to save his stamina for later, so he couldn't dance too hard.
'Krrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr' (Door opening sound)
A man dressed in full black came in.
Jaemin saw him inmediately
He was it, he had to be the recruiter.
The other students didn't notice him, they were still heavily focussing on their dancing.
The instructor shot him a glance, and went up to the man.
They talked for a bit, while in the mean time walking to the seats where the parents of the students usually sat. The instructor had a bit of a weird expression on his face, while the man was smiling.
What did this mean?
The scout eventually sat down, and the instructor went to the dance floor.
"Everyone line up!"
He himself, and his fellow dancers quickly lined up.
"We're going to learn a new routine today! Min-jae will demonstrate it for you all, since he knows it already."
The students all looked at him.
Hwa-young even winked at him.
He though, was utterly shocked.
He hadn't thought the instructor would do this. He was just supposed to stand out from the group a little bit, not this much. His appearance already stood out from this group, his dancing also stood out, but this way he was just...
He was just special.
So that's why he asked if he got that routine down.
"He's really sly, he should have told me ."
But this was actually the best way to get noticed. And the instructor had granted him this opportunity, so he had to make use of it.
"But you will first all dance the routine that we practiced the last two weeks, individually!"
So he also gave all his other students that chance, to let the scout easily see who's better or not.
But he actually has two chances. One more than the others.
That's an incredible advantage.
"Hwa-young, you go first."
She walked up to the dance floor.
The music turned on, and she started dancing.
She did the routine pretty well, just not nearly as good as him. Her dancing lacked that aura of a professional. She just demonstrated the moves plainly, without much feeling in it. Her moves were just a little bit above average.
The scout started writing things down.
Was it good? Or bad?
He didn't know.
"Jae-hwa next!"
"Hyun-shik next!"
"In-su next!"
This went on.
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He was the only one left.
Everyone was just so-so. It may sound arrogant, which it probably is, but it's true. Only Hwa-young was a bit better. The scout wrote something down everytime someone went up, so he couldn't discern who passed his standards or not.
"Min-jae next!"
So it was finally his turn.
"Let's rock."