fluid: haobin

1

"woah."

hanbin stares at the building in front of him, a large white building with the name "fluid studio" written in black cursive. the windows gave him a peek inside, and there were already several students inside, either in the waiting area or going into the rooms.

"alright, go in and give a good impression," the male tells himself as he breathes before opening the door.

"hi, can i help you with anything?" a friendly face says behind the front desk.

"uh, yes. i'm a new dance instructor and this is my first day," hanbin grabs his neck as he tries to not look nervous.

"could i have your name?" 

"sung hanbin."

"mhm...yep, your name is here! by the way, i'm kim taerae, nice to meet you."

"nice to meet you as well," they both shake hands together. "will i be meeting the manager here?"

"no, if you go past this door and down the hallway, there's going to be a door that has a large white star on it," the other motions to the right. "the manager is expecting you so just knock and he'll let you in."

"alright, thank you!" hanbin bows before heading the said direction.

right as he opens it, his eyes are immediately met with so many sights. on the right, a large window looked into a large dance studio, where he can see some students stretching and others warming up to what he recognized as "kick it" by nct 127. he smiles, the nctzen in him happy when hearing the song.

to his left, a stretch of doors were all closed but through the small glass panes, he could see others practicing their vocals. some even had a teacher inside with more than one student inside.

as hanbin walks to the end, he sees the mentioned door and on the sign, it read "manager", indicating he's at the right place. hesitatingly, he knocks and waits.

"come in!"

and so he does, only to be met with a familiar face.

"matthew?"

"hi, hanbin hyung!" the younger waves from his seat. "glad to see me?"

"of course i am!" he gives him a side hug before sitting in the second empty chair next to the other. "what're you doing here?"

"hao hyung asked me to come today for you! he said since i'm the one who introduced you to here, then i should also be here for the interview part!"

"what interview?!" hanbin exclaims, his hands going to his hair as he tries to calm down. "he didn't mention anything like that in the email! i don't have anything prepared!"

"no no no, calm down. not like an "interview-interview", just some questions on your experience and it's just a way for him to see your potential and character. sorry, i probably should've worded it better."

"ok, that's better," the korean relaxes. "so...how're you and jiwoong hyung?"

"we're kinda busy with the house and everything but we finally have the mortgage contract set up. it's just a matter of discussion and then we can sign."

"i can't believe you're gonna get married so soon," the older stares at the younger's ring finger, which had a silver band with a small engraving of a heart.

"we didn't think it'd happen this fast either, but woongie hyung mentioned he had been wanting to propose for a while."

"ugh you two are so disgusting," hanbin throws a face at his friend, earning him a slap to the shoulder.

the door opens, revealing a panting male carrying a stack of folders and his head is down as he tries to catch his breath. but once he lifts up to show his face, hanbin became the one who might need to take the moment to catch his own breath.

.

.

.

"sung hanbin-ssi, thank you for showing interest in this position. and thanks again matthew, for at least finding a replacement before you leave," zhang hao gives a smile to both.

"i'm sorry but i never got your name," hanbin mentions once the manager had finished his sentence.

"oh i'm sorry. i'm zhang hao, the manager of fluid studio," he extends a hand out, which the dancer happily takes.

"hyung, i'm sorry but jiwoong hyung is here to pick me up," matthew shows his phone and gives a sheepish smile. "i know i said i could stay but our realtor asked to meet earlier today."

"i'll email you all the details later then. see you around matthew!" the chinese waves back.

and with matthew leaving, that left hao and hanbin alone. together.

"so sung hanbin-ssi, i was able to look over your resume before you came in," hao takes out a folder and clicks a pen. "a simple introduction to start?"

"i'm sung hanbin, and i've been dancing for about 15 years. my specialty is in waacking and voguing but i have experience in other styles as well."

"what experience do you have as a dancer?"

"i've been in a couple of crews. i've been with my latest one for 3 years and won last year's international waacking showcase. i was also able to be a lead backup dancer for a singer this year during their world tour."

"what experience do you have as an instructor?"

"i've held workshops since 6 years ago but i've never held a formal instructing position. this is the first time i'm applying for one."

zhang hao nods as he makes some notes on a stick note. he then looks up and examines hanbin's appearance. he's always been proud of his ability to read people and he's read plenty of psychology books to know about body movement and posture as well as facial expressions.

but nothing. he didn't see anything bad from him, only confidence but no cockiness or arrogance. his smile seemed genuine, only a little bit of nervousness.

"ok, i just want to see an evaluation of your skills. nothing bad, just some freestyling and having you do the choreography of our dance crew."

hanbin nods, confidence flooding through his veins. he could do this.

and he could do it perfectly.

.

.

.

"he's good," taerae whispers to him from the side. "like really, really good."

"i know, matthew gave me a good suggestion," zhang hao stops the song, making the dancer halt his movements. "ok, this tablet has a video of the dance crew and there's a person labeled with a star. i'll give you a limit of 15 minutes to practice and you can call me whenever you're ready."

the korean nods, taking the electronic and clicks play. he knows the song, "uptown funk" by bruno mars, and his foot starts to tap to the beat.

the dancer he was following was wearing a black hood and hat, making it hard to distinguish him from the others if it wasn't for the star. however, hanbin noticed that once the camera zoomed out, the star person was wearing the same shoes as him.

black vans with tie-die sides.

on the other side, zhang hao couldn't help but steal a couple of glances at the newcomer. something about him intrigued the male, and he didn't know if it was a good or bad thing.

"hao, one of my students canceled so i'm gonna leave early!" taerae sticks his head into the quiet studio, his voice echoing through the space.

"bye taerae!" hao says back, giving a wave.

"and good luck hanbin-ssi," taerae sticks a thumb out, hanbin returning his own accompanied by his smile.

hao looks at his smartwatch, the stopwatch function showing. 4 minutes and 43 seconds have passed and hanbin hasn't given him the signal. actually...scratch that.

"zhang hao-ssi, i'm ready!"