Last Chance [Jung Hoseok]

Chapter 3

Jisoo POV

"Aish, Ms. Cha that hurts," I groan. We have been doing exercises for my leg for the past hour and now she is stretching me out.

"Nothing good comes without a little pain."

"But this is a lot of pain," I laugh.

"Do you want me to stop?" she questions, already knowing my answer.

"No," I admit. I need to get better.

It has already been a month. I am walking without crutches most of the time now, but I am still in a lot of pain and my leg doesn't move quite like it should.

"Then quit complaining and let me finish," she laughs with me.

We laugh a lot during the therapy, even though nothing about my situation is funny. It helps take some of the pain away.

*****

Another month goes by and my body still aches, both from pain and from missing dance.

"Ms. Cha, can I come with you to practice today?"

"What? Why? You are not well enough to dance... Your doctor says you can't," she says regretfully.

"I just want to watch. I miss it. Please," I beg. She lets out a sigh, but nods. I move to follow her out the door as quickly as I can with my bad leg.

At the studio, I sit in the back corner and try not to cry as I watch other girls do what I so badly want to do. As the practice comes to an end, Ms. Cha says a few announcements.

"You all know of Create 101 right?" Everyone in the room nods their head at the mention of the popular Idol survival show.

"The have auditions for their next season coming up soon. If you are interested, you should fill out the application and submit an audition tape before April 1st. That gives you two months to prepare. Since we aren't an official agency, you would have to enter as an independent trainee."

"We aren't singers though. We probably wouldn't make it into the final group," one girl speaks up.

"I thought of that. But the show has two stages. They start with dance and then if you aren't eliminated you move onto vocal and rap. I think it would be good exposure for you guys. If you do well in the dance stage, a big dance agency may notice you. While I love teaching you all, you have too much talent to waste in my tiny studio."

"Awe Ms. Cha, you are so sweet," the students all say together.

"I just want what is best for you all. If you need help with audition pieces, I would be happy to work with you individually. Just let me know. Now go home and get some rest."

*****

As I lay in bed that night, I can't stop thinking about Create 101. If I hadn't been injured, I would be so excited right now. Instead, I am just sad.

But the more I think about it, the more I don't care about my injury. Yoongi from BTS got into a car accident when he was a trainee, but he kept going. So why can't I?

I have been getting better over the last two months, and I have two more months to get back in shape. It'll hurt a lot, but I've realized that giving up dance hurts more. With a newfound determination, I finally close my eyes and go to sleep.

*****

Over the next two months, I have been practicing every second of the day when Ms. Cha is not home. I can't let her find out that I plan to audition. I know she will stop me.

In the beginning, I was starting to have hope as I saw my skills return, but everything was taking so long and my movements looked awkward and painful.

I let out an exasperated sigh as I rewatch the video of myself trying some choreo that I used to do. It looks... bad. I will never get in to Create 101 with this, but I have run out of time.

I feel like I could be ready by the time the show starts filming in May, but auditions are due now. I throw my fist against the wall in frustration. What do I do? Do I give up now, after all of the pain and hard work? I can't. I won't.

I watch the video of me doing the same choreo but from before the accident. It's flawless. Why won't my body move like that anymore? It is close but the textures are still off.

Time. I just need more time. As I watch the video again, an idea starts to form. I run with it before my conscious kicks in and I change my mind.

I hit submit and then throw myself down on the couch to think about what I just did. I submitted the video from before my leg was broken as my audition segment... Technically it isn't cheating, but it's definitely not honest either.

Guilt and worry start to bubble up in my chest but I shake it off. I will practice even harder over this next month to make sure that I dance like that by the time the show starts. Then there won't be any problem, right?

**plot set up is almost done, pls be patient