OPEN YOUR EYES (BLIND I) - MUSIQ SERIES PART 2

14. WORKING WITH SOOJIN AND MINJI'S TRUTH

"Up, and up, and swing to the side. Leg up, leg up, cross, cross, slide..." Heejin muttered as she prepared the dance for her song. "No, damnit!"

With Nari still missing practice most days, Heejin was left alone working on both the song and the dance, and she had a lot of trouble with the latter one as it was the first time she ever did tutting, and she was not too sure about what she was doing. She sent Nari the song and whichever parts of the dance she created, and she always agreed with everything, so she simply continued working on her own.

"Let's take a break, Heejin," she told herself stopping the music and sitting down on the couch in the practice room.

Although she was used to working on her own for the songs, it was the first time she had ever done so for the dances. Even when she first joined the company she used to dance with Minji, so she had never had to work on a dance evaluation by herself. She had also refused the CEO's offer of becoming a soloist to be in a group, so it felt even more discouraging to see that Nari was not as involved in the process as she hoped she would be.

"May I come in?" Lee Soojin, the CEO, asked her as she opened the door.

"Oh, Lee Soojin. Hello," Heejin said, quickly standing up to bow politely. "Please, come in."

"We've just finished a meeting and we were talking about you," Soojin admitted. "Sit down, please. Let's speak comfortably."

Nodding, Heejin sat back down and Soojin joined her, stretching as she told her about how they had been especially interested yet worried about how Heejin was doing with her task.

"Where's Nari, anyway?" Soojin asked her. "I saw her this morning."

"I do not know. She did not come to today's rehearsal. Well, or any of the others for that matter," Heejin admitted, regretting it immediately after. "I should not have said that."

"No, no. You definitely should. What's up? Why isn't she coming?" Soojin asked her genuinely worried.

"I really do not know why. She tells me she has things to do or that she just cannot make it. I let it slide because it technically is my evaluation as I was the one who dragged her into it," Heejin told her. "I am sure there must be a reason."

"Even if you were the one who indirectly chose the concept and your partner, it doesn't mean this evaluation isn't for her too," Soojin told her. "I get why you are doing this because I was once like you and I completely understand it, but I want you to see that you don't need to take over all the responsibility. This is a task for both of you and, as of right now, there is no way we can evaluate Nari the same way as you. It's not the same to work on a song and a dance from scratch than learning one someone has already made."

"It is all right, seriously," Heejin told her. "Nari has always worked hard on all the evaluations, so there surely must be a reason why."

"Then ask her about it, okay? And as soon as you know tell me, because if not I'll be the one talking to her," Soojin told her seriously. "Now, let me at least help you out in some way. I've been wanting to drop by for a while now, but I've been very busy."

"Do not worry, teacher Kang Jiwon has been helping me out immensely," Heejin assured her as they stood up. "I am sorry if I mess it up. I have been practicing hard, but there is only so much I can do. I am trying my best."

"Let's see it. I'll help you out with whatever I can," Soojin assured her.

Nodding, Heejin approached the laptop to play the song again. She had already recorded the demo and was waiting for Nari to record the final version, so she had to work with the demo when creating the dance.