youngblood {hot blood dance crew}

⚜ 3 ⚜

[Pic is Cao Yu (left) and Jackson Wang (right).]

Xuxi and I practiced some of the moves together while the others chatted. The great thing about being in a group was that you didn't have to depend only on yourself. If I'd asked, any one of the members would have helped me practice. Xuxi was special because he and I understood each other on another level. When we danced, we were able to move as a single entity. We became one flow instead of two. It was exhilarating and comfortable and it always panned out in the most amazing way.

"Wu Jia Wu: FengZheng and TengZai enter the Luhan and Jackson Wang Team."

"There was a map when we were coming in." Bingbing looked worried at the announcement. "That's all the way in the back... they must've passed us or come in through the side."

"Don't worry," Fen assured her. "They can't skip out on a whole section."

"Can't they?" I mumbled quietly.

Xuxi shot me a look and I gave him a smile. He knew me better than that, though. We were both the youngest ones in our team. Fen and Justin were well off on their own and were only with the company because it was more convenient to wait out their contracts than try to get out. Bingbing was from a rich family, so dancing didn't affect her livelihood at all. Qian was somewhat in the same situation as us, but the company was getting her ready to debut as a performer in a few years. She had been singing along with dancing for as long as I'd been with them, and even as a trainee had managed to grab a few headlines during our competitions.

Xuxi and I had always performed with the group and hadn't been given much opportunity for individual attention. We were desperate today.

Announcement after announcement sounded and no one came. I supposed that William and Victoria had gone into the "city" an hour after Jackson and Luhan because they didn't have as many combined votes after the performances. We had been waiting three hours already with nothing to look forward to except the audition that we couldn't get over with.

At hour four, one of the Caster members jumped down from their huge stage and jogged over to our platform. I thought he looked vaguely familiar until I recognized the weird fish on his nametag. He came up to me and I stopped practicing to acknowledge him.

"You alright?" he asks me for the second time that night, handing me an unopened Pepsi (a sponsor of the show).

"No," I reply honestly. I took it and said thanks before gesturing at my teammates. The boys were sprawled out on the floor while Qian and Bingbing were playing some version of Pat-a-Cake that I didn't recognize.

"You will be," he promised, though I didn't see how he could be so confident. Even so, I agree.

"Yeah, probably." I drink a bit of the Pepsi and turn to him. "So... is your stage name Fish or something?"

He laughs. "Close. My name is Cao Yu."

I nearly spat out the Pepsi. His name sounded just like "Grass Fish," so that explained the name tag. The fact that the showrunners went all the way with it was surprising.

"That's... I love it." I smile at the ground, not meeting his eyes because I feel so awkward talking to Grass Fish boy. "What's your specialty?"

"Popping. Want to see?"

My eyes light up and the smile I send his way is bright and genuine. "I used to do that! It's been a little over a year, but I look forward to seeing you perform."

"Used to?" He looks puzzled. "No one just stops doing something they love or something they're good at. Unless you weren't good?" His smile is light and teasing.