45 Hurry Hurry Hurry

Yi Fei prematurely shoved her elbow back in, swaying her dubious gaze down to the cold floor.

Was it that odd?

Ever since primary school, Yi Fei creeped out her classmates and sometimes even teachers because of this. Yi Fei didn't want to mess up in front of all these people. Sure, these pretty girls probably didn't like her anyway, who would've guessed? But she didn't really care about that, Yi Fei just didn't want to be... different.

She had a strange medical condition. That is, her joints had a tendency to pop out with slight stimulation. There were no side-effects at the moment, but her doctor said that she had a 67% chance of gaining arthritis and her skin was very fragile and soft. This meant that most, if not all, scars were permanent and a simple papercut can last a lifetime.

"Instructor Yang, is that another dance?" A girl raised her hand.

"Shh, Xiao Bao!" Another girl whispered. "This newbie is obviously some weird freak from a local circus!"

Some of the trainees started throwing Yi Fei a few disgusted, prying gazes, treating her like a funny-looking snake from a zoo. Yi Fei's shoulders drooped heavily in response, keenly feeling the strains of nasty scowls directed at her.

'What are they thinking?' Yi Fei thought, trying to amuse herself. 'That I'm offensive to even breathe the same air or some other cliche line?'

Yi Fei didn't want to admit it, but she did care. Cared about all the bruised sh*t they brew up in their minds about her. But why did she, if she's so adamant about denying it?

"Um," Instructor Yang hesitated for a second. "Yes, actually. It's bone-breaking or otherwise known as flexing. I'm sure newbie here took some classes or has some talent for dancing. Either way... Newbie!"

Yi Fei pensively steered her shaky gaze towards Instructor Yang, almost looking like a deer in headlights. Instructor Yang smiled at Yi Fei, trying to reassure her. Instructor Yang knew Yi Fei held no ill will when she popped her arms out like a pro, though it could've been interpreted as bragging.

"Good job, newbie... but don't go beyond my instructions when I'm teaching, okay?" Yang gently patted her on the shoulder. "You can do that for the monthly examinations."

Notably, there were two types of trainees: those who got accepted during open auditions and those who got accepted through other means. The latter were few and sparse, and they typically had to go through way more obstacles than the regular way of joining the entertainment company. However, there were a few outliers in this group, meaning they got in without much difficulty. This either meant exceptional talent and potential or... back doors.

For this group of people, Instructor Yang made sure to test their morality and skills on the first day. She couldn't trust the system to be fair.

The reason Instructor Yang made an exception and put Yi Fei right beside her was to do exactly this. Yi Fei joined the company suspiciously with no records or profiling at all. In addition to this, she was joined unofficially, suggesting that there was someone pulling the strings for her.

"Instructor Yang, when are our monthly exams?" Yu Yan asked.

"Next week," Instructor Yang replied. "It's a bit earlier for most of the classes this time around."

A few dramatically gasped as the whole class began to whisper to each other. They stopped focusing on the newbie for now.

"How can this happen?! This is only two weeks into October!" Hui Yin speedily mumbled to her friend.

"I don't know! I'm already ranked 35th, I'll definitely kick the bucket this time..." Ping An whispered back, worry evident in her tone.

"I can't do this!!! I already got a monthly exam for Big Wang's class this week!" Ya Qin said.

Whispers became more rushed and frequent as the girls kept stressing over the monthly examinations' sudden date change. They haven't even prepared their choreographies or songs yet! How were they supposed to do all this before Monday?

"Quiet down or else I'll make the date earlier!" Instructor Yang furiously shouted. "We still got lots to cover, so don't be dilly-dallying with your gossip. If you want to talk it out, do it after class!"

While everyone did quiet down, the anxious reflections on the long-hanging mirrors stayed.

--Later

After two and a half hours, the girls were seriously wearied down and perspiring horribly. Some of them were breathlessly exhausted on the floor while others gulped down massive amounts of water. Dance practice finally ended and they could finally relax now that it was dinnertime.

"C'mon, Yi Fei! Let's go pack up quickly, so we can eat and fill up our stomachs before the next lesson!" Yu Yan gleefully smiled as she took out a few items from her sports bag to give to Yi Fei. Yu Yan quickly passed her some water and a towel, which Yi Fei graciously thanked with a nod and a slight smile in return.

Yi Fei breathed a sigh of relief as she slowly laid down on the cold hard floor with the others, its frosty temperature cooling down her burning body. Yi Fei could feel her thin hands shaking from pure exhaustion, they were awfully cold yet sweaty. Meanwhile, her legs felt like they were being angrily squeezed and tightly pulled in all sorts of directions, inciting Yi Fei to make painful groans.

What was weirder was that her heart was beating faster every second despite the practice already being over. At first, Yi Fei thought it was just an aftereffect from working so hard, but it was almost like it came from excitement instead.

Was this... passion? It can't be.

Yi Fei stopped thinking about it. She was already done for the day with all the dancing and fumbling around. She decided to think about it over tomorrow when her head was clear and her cheeks weren't flushing pink.

"Hey, how much time do we have for dinner today?" Xiao Bao asked Yi Fei, swiping her forehead sweat with a small white towel.

"A-a-ah... I-I... do... n..." Yi Fei stammered, unmistakably troubled by her question. What was she supposed to say? She absolutely had no clue about the schedule, and her phone was stuffed deep in her bag, so she couldn't check the time.

"50 minutes, Xiao Bao! Hurry up or else you're not going to have any of your favorite yogurt that you always get every day," Yu Yan speedily came in, replying to Xiao Bao for her. "It's already 6:40 p.m.!"

"Oh no! My yogurt...!" Xiao Bao ran out the door with her arms clumsily flailing around.

Yi Fei silently thanked Yu Yan in her heart. But... did she say... six... 6:40?! Yi Fei was already supposed to be home at this hour!

'Sh*t! Yi Fan is going to call Dad if I don't hurry home!' Yi Fei hastily thought in her head, grabbing her backpack and running out the door in a similar fashion to Xiao Bao's.

Formalities were for later! Yi Fei didn't have time for byes!