Treasure From The Stars

Chapter 28

"Could you elaborate?"

"Our first mission is to dance to It's Time by Gemini, but do we have to follow and copy the whole choreo? Or can we add and change the choreo throughout the song?"

He pursed his lips. "There is no rule that you can nott, however, I advise that you leave the sharp-skill-choreo alone."

"Of course, it's the main skill of our first mission."

"Would that be all?"

Yumi thought for a second, "Do I tell the other team about this?"

He tapped his chin as he debated in his head. "What do you think? Should you play harder or smarter?"

"They didn't ask like we did."

He smiled, "Working smarter is a better route to success."

✩☽☆☾✩

"Team SmartChoreo," Mr. Ki, the most strict choreographer at OceanGold Entertainment, spoke into his mic. He glanced at each trainee in our team. "Who changed the "wave effect" choreo at the bridge dance break?"

It was a hesitant move, but I slowly raised my hand. "I... did."

"Mmm..." He looked over something that was in front of him. "You did a good job."

My eyes widened, not realizing what I had heard was real. I bowed down, "Thank you."

He smiled. "I liked how you changed the choreography so that it's as cool as the original, but also creates something new with double the amount of meaning."

I bowed down again, whispering a "Thank you," into the mic.

"Could you show us again?"

I turned to the rest of us and they nodded.

As the lights dimmed and the stage lights were turned on, we formed a circle. Lena and Hyerim crouched down in the front, Hyeji and Joy stood in a high lunge position on each side, and Remi and Sunny stood in the back. I stood in the middle.

Everyone except me put their right hand on top of their left and kept their arms straight, in front of them. They connected each other's elbows while I raised my arms, creating a 90° angle with them.

The music turned on.

The sound of melodic instruments filled the room. Everyone, except me, began moving their arms in a "wave" motion. Making the outer outlining of the circle seem to be moving like churning water.

As the tick-tocking sound came alive, I began moving my arms at the exact same time as the ticks and the tocks.

All of a sudden, the magical "rewinding" sound began to play. I swirled my arms the other way like the hands of a clock when the time is rewinded.

As a CLANG burst erupted in the music, we all spaced out with a dramatic jump.

We stood still for a moment, waiting for the tick tock sound of a clock. When we heard it, we began to sway from one position to another, slowly crouching down with each one, until we laid down on the ground.

The regular whitish lights turned on and we all got up.

I heard Mr. Ki tell Nam PD-nim how it looked so perfect and that it would've fit perfectly in the real song.

"Yumi," Nam PD-nim started. "You came into my office a couple days ago and asked about the whole "Can I change the choreo?" and this is more than I expected. What gave you the idea?"

Do I be truthful? I asked myself. I hadn't told him about Yujun yet. "Well, after Instructor Jung recommended that we change the leader for this mission and after Remi and I talked, I was looking out the penthouse and thinking. I was watching the sun slowly sink and I kind of wondered what it would be like to rewind that scene and watch the sun set again and again. The song is called It's Time, it's about how time goes forwards and what it'd be like when it rewinds. Instead of keeping the original series of waves, I thought why not make it more meaningful and change it to a clock. I was sure that if this was allowed, our team could maybe get a boost for our score."

"But when you think about it," he started, "It is based on your personal scores. That's how your team score is calculated."

"Well, yes. But, it requires our own skill to do well and create that magical scene together."

He nodded, "Good... good."

Mr. Ki picked up his mic, "Then. Please, reveal Team SmartChoreo's scores."

"The scores," a robotic voice began. "Yumi, 94. Remi, 92. Hyeji, 93. Lena, 89. Joy, 83. Sunny, 88. And Hyerim 86," the voice read as the scores appeared on the screen.

Nam PD-nim grabbed his mic, "Team SuperNatural, please come onto the stage."

They walked over and stood next to us.

He continued, "If SmartChoreo's score is higher than SuperNatural's team score of 86, Minnie will be eliminated today. If SmartChoreo's score does not pass SuperNatural, Joy will be eliminated."

"Please," Mr. Ki spoke, "Reveal Team SmartChoreo's score."

The robotic voice spoke again, "The team score is... 89."

I covered my mouth with my hand. Honestly, it was kind of obvious. I bit my lip as I turned over to look at the other team. I watched as Minnie tried to hold back her frown and tears.

"Minnie." Nam PD-nim sadly smiled. "You did well today. You've been working hard and you never have let down anyone. However, compared to your teammates, you just received a low score. But it's okay, you're still young, and so I believe you have a chance of debuting soon."

"Thank you," Minnie bowed.

I wasn't close with her, but it kind of stinged to know that she was eliminated.

✩☽☆☾✩

I closed my eyes. It was past 3 in the morning and I wasn't sleeping. After another 30 minutes of tossing and turning, I got out of bed. I plugged in my earphones into my phone and walked out to the backyard.

It was mostly dark outside. The moon was halfway down and small streaks of light were smeared across the sky.

"Why is insomnia getting the best of me?" I asked myself. I stretched my body. First my neck, then my arms, and then my legs. "I wonder if Yuri Unnie is still awake..." I exited out of the music app and went to call my sister.

The phone rang a few times before she picked up. "What's my sister doing this late?"

I smiled at hearing my sister's voice. "What is my sister doing this early?"

She chuckled. "Seriously, though. What are you doing awake? Shouldn't you be sleeping? Getting your rest for tomorrow and all."

"Insomnia," I explained it in one word.

I heard her sigh. "You're thinking about Yujun lately, aren't you?"

"Mmm... Right. I forgot I frequently go through sleepless nights when I'm thinking about Yujun." I tapped the stone bench that I sat on. "Maybe I should go visit him once the survival show ends."

"Will you have time?"

"I'll make time."

"Yumi-ah..."

"Hm?" A moment of silence. "What's wrong, Unnie?"

"No, nevermind. It's not important."