Josephine Swan never imagined that her stay in South Korea would lead her into K-Pop's glittering and challenging world. Each day, she encounters new hurdles and adventures that fate has in store for her and her four team members. Between gruelling...
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"Can we see it again?".
A laugh escaped me, so the next moment I put my hand over my mouth to muffle it. Still, with a smirk on my lips, I stretched out my leg and raised my arms above my head. Hands first, my torso bent towards the floor until my legs came completely off the ground and rose in the air for a few seconds in a hand splits. My front leg came back to the floor so that the body formed a bridge. The other leg remained stretched in the air as my upper body straightened to stand again.
The next moment I raised my arms again and bent my back, forming a bridge as soon as my hands touched the ground. One of my legs immediately stretched into the air while the other pushed off the ground. The hand splits ended as I brought the first leg back to the ground and straightened my upper body.
"Oh..." brought out Rosè only wordlessly, making the girls around her, including myself laugh. I put my hands on my hips and grinned from the side at Lisa, who was laughing out of breath and pointing her finger at the older member. Rosè, on the other hand, surprised by her reaction, also started laughing and tried desperately to hide her face behind her hands.
I struggled for breath and my stomach muscles twitched uncomfortably stinging.
"She's shown you those somersaults four times already..." chuckled Ji-soo to Rosè, narrowing her eyes in amusement.
"I know...but..." still amazed, Rosè tried to get a word in edgewise and waved her hand in my direction. I grinned and looked at the dark-haired Australian who was still struggling to finish her sentence.
"Don't worry. The others had a similar reaction." I said to Rosè and cast a long look at Ji-soo, who nodded in agreement. She was the only outsider besides my roommates and the children from the hospital who had seen the video of my gymnastics performance so far.
"Can you do any other figures?" asked Jennie curiously, crossing her legs cross-legged. Again, the others looked in my direction with interest, while I could only look at them awkwardly.
My gaze went to the closed laptop, which by now had been pushed to the edge of the room, the records of the choreography carelessly spread around the device. After they offered to look at what I had proposed so far, our conversation shifted from possible suggestions to demonstrations to playful dances and gymnastic exercises. We did cartwheels or rolled across the floor giggling. By now we were sitting on the other side of the room, oblivious to the dilemma of my unfinished dance.
"Well...I..." I faltered but was immediately interrupted by Ji-soo, who was fidgeting excitedly.
"How about the one...where you stretched your leg up?" she said, standing up with a giggle before lifting one of her legs, trying desperately not to lose her balance. It failed as she fell to the side.
I laughed, as did the rest of the girls.
"All right...".
Starting with my right toe, I rolled my foot on the floor and shifted my weight to my right standing leg. My arms stretched out to either side of my body as my other leg slowly came off the ground and rose higher and higher. I breathed deeply in and out and I felt my arms begin to shake at my sides. I felt the tension between my shoulder and leg and kept increasing the arabesque until I heard the girls gasp. My legs were now spread as wide as possible while my upper body was tilted forward. I held the position for a minute and then returned the leg to the floor.
"What...?".
My grey eyes turned to the girls who, except for Ji-soo, were looking at me with their mouths open. Lisa was the first to put her hands in front of her mouth, followed by the other two. Still, you could see the terror on their faces.
"But...how..." began Rosè, opening her mouth in protest, but just like last time, she couldn't get a word out. Instead, she remained silent and covered her mouth again.
"So...how did you do it?" asked Lisa curiously, standing next to me. Her brown eyes seemed focused, yet a smile graced her lips as she began to stand on one leg. She laughed as her other leg lifted and she almost fell off balance. I joined in her laughter and grasped her waist with both hands to hold her steady. She pulled her arms back and bent over.
"Ahhh..." was all she could bring herself to say.
"You have to stretch your leg, Lisa." laughed Ji-soo, while Lisa tried in vain to keep her lifted leg straight. With each greater distance from the floor, it buckled more. I tightened my grip around her waist as she began to row her arms and set down the leg that was suspended in the air.
"How is that even possible?" she laughed and I chuckled.
"Years of practice." was all I replied and Lisa groaned loudly, causing everyone in the room to laugh again.
A dainty knock sounded at the door, almost inaudible.
"Annyeonghaseyo.".
Giggling, we looked up to discover Choi standing in the doorway with her training bag. Her chin-length black hair was slightly dishevelled, while her tired-looking eyes swept around the room and finally lingered on her members. A brief spark of surprise flitted across her face before she stepped closer to the room.
"I thought you'd be home already..." she brought out softly, closing the door behind her. Her arm trembled under the weight of her gym bag, which she placed against the wall beside her the next moment.
"Oh...that was probably my fault. I distracted them with my choreography and...may have lost track of time." I said quickly as the girls were already about to launch into an explanation. Choi's dark eyes automatically went to me. Despite all her fatigue, they sparkled under the light of the room, and after a while she began to sigh, shaking her head. She turned away from me and looked at her members.
