SELF - PORTRAIT [ EXO SUHO ]

Prologue

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"Class is over, everybody. You may go to your respective homes now. It has gotten pretty late already." She said in a rather loud voice, clapping her hands a few times indicated the group of the teenagers their dismissal.

The teens waved their byes to her before walking out of the dance studio, chatting along the way with their friends, and when all of them left, a tired sigh released from her mouth.

Today was probably the most exhausting day for her as she had been teaching the juniors the dance routine — that she had made a few days back — from lunchtime, and that too, without having any one bite of her packed lunch.

It was such a hectic life that she couldn't help but despise a little. Maybe more than just a little. Dancing was her passion but, overworking was clearly not.

Looking at her own reflection in the mirror in front of her scared her to the pit of her stomach. She literally looked like a walking corpse with dark circles under her eyes — because of the lack of necessary sleep — , sickly pale skin and droopy eyes which looked like they would shut in any moment. She obviously didn't like the look even a bit. While staring at the ghost of her reflection, she realised that she had to take her leave as well. She also had to go her house.

Breaking the eye contact with her own reflection, she grabbed her things and the key of the practice room and left after locking it.

The ride to her house wasn't a pleasant one. Her poor stomach which had been starving since the moment she stepped on the bus, kept producing weird noises. Probably asking for some healthy nutrients.

Reaching her house, — which was basically an apartment in a not too fancy building — she unlocked it and was met with sudden wave of loneliness.

There was no one to welcome her back. Even a mere presence of someone was enough for her but, unfortunately, she couldn't afford it. She had always wondered how it felt to have someone waiting for you after a busy day. Sadly, she could only wonder.

Shaking her head to snap herself to reality, she freshened herself up and changed into some comfortable clothes.

When her soup was boiling, she heard her phone ring, sound coming from the small living room of her flat. She went there to accept the call before it could get missed.

Grabbing her phone in a hast movement, she found out that it was a call from an unsaved number, and that too, a foreign one. She wondered who could the caller be. She let the mobile ring for two more times before sliding her thumb across the screen — accepting the call.

She didn't say anything, choosing to stay silent. After all, she was not the one who made the call, right?

After a second or two, she heard a high pitched voice which she recognised of a girl's.

"Am I talking to Miss Aeri Ahuja?" The person on the other side of the call initiated the conversation in English. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, thinking how did the girl know her name. She didn't even have much friends, only one of them was foreign but they had their numbers saved. She had never given her phone number to anyone aside from her friends and the juniors she teaches dance.

With her eyebrows meeting in the middle of the forehead, she politely replied, "Yes, may I know who you are?"

The girl cleared her throat before saying, "Ma'am, are you interested in a job offer?"

Setting aside the annoyance she felt from the way her question got ignored, she more focused on what the girl had actually said.

A job? I already have one, though..

"Um, I might need time to think about it though. What kind of job you're offering, If you don't mind me asking.."

"We are hiring a choreographer under our company, an entertainment company in that."

A choreographer..

It was her dream to become a choreographer. Unfortunately, she never got hired in any company out there. Not like she never tried, she had actually applied in more than five companies, but luck was never on her side. She was one such unfortunate person. Since the time she had opened her own dance studio, she had not tried her bad luck any further. Her current income was enough for her, she was making a good living out of it. She never wanted more, she was that 'I'm good with whatever I have' person, so she stopped herself from applying for a choreographer job. It has been four years since she had started her dance classes, and four years since she had stopped applying to work under a company.

But now that such opportunity — her dream job — has walked its way to her, she couldn't possibly ignore it, right? She didn't have a heart to do that. She needed to think about her decision thoroughly.

She was just going to reply but the girl beat her to it.

"Ma'am, are you there? Actually, we have been trying to contact you through e-mails, but there was no response. This offer is only available for a limited amount if time. Hence, we would like to know if you want to accept this job, so that we can proceed to next steps."

She suddenly felt nervous as she didn't want to lose this opportunity. No, she just couldn't. She would have to re-think about her decision before making it final. She also felt heck of a confused.

Someone has been trying to contact me..?

"I-i haven't been really active this past week. I'm afraid I may have not checked your e-mails. I apologise for that—"

"—It's alright, ma'am. I'm guessing you'd need some time to think about this, right?"

Her shoulders slumped in relief. She was glad and thankful that she still got time to think even after obliviously ignoring their tries to come in contact with her. She would surely have missed this amazing job offer if she hadn't accepted this call on time. She often misses calls because of the vibrate function in her phone. Thank goodness she got reminded to change the setting on the way to her house.

Now that she had taken knowledge about this offer, she would have to think twice before coming to a final decision. If she made a wrong choice, she would surely regret it to the rest of her life.

"Yeah, right. Thanks for being understanding."

"No need to thank, ma'am. It's our job to be understandable."

The lady seemed nice because of the way she talked to her.

"So, is there any particular time you'll be free for a short call like this, tomorrow? I guess one day-time is enough for you to think of a decision.."

She nodded her head before replying, "It's fine with me. About the call, I'll get free after seven in the eve."

"Perfect, and I apologise in advance if this call caused any inconvenience. Hope you have a wonderful day, ma'am."

There was one thing she wanted to know since the starting of the call and that was, "Um, I just wanted to know about which company you're talking.."

She heard a gasp from the other side, "I'm really sorry for forgetting 'bout that, I really am."

She let out a fake short laugh to not make the talk awkward.

"It's fine, now may I know which company is it?"

"Yes, why not, it is known as SM international entertainment company."

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English is not my first language, please correct me wherever my grammar is wrong.