Amanda.

"A boyfriend?" Sherry asked. She was clearly flustered when Marcel had suddenly asked if she had a boyfriend. Was he interested in her? Or was he looking for a scoop or blackmail material?

Marcel gave her a strange look, he really wanted to know what was going on in her head for her to be making such an interesting expression.

<Was my question weird? Don't people normally date? How far back in time am I really?> Marcel bombarded Avian with questions.

[People date in this century, it is actually very normal, celebrities, however, can not be open about it and most of them do it in secret] Avian explained.

<How annoying> Marcel commented.

[It is especially harder for idols like Sherry since their fanbase is very young. So they aren't exactly rational] Avian continued to explain.

<Oh~>

[It's even worse for males. Their fans tend to be a bit more extreme when compared to their female counterparts]

<Well that does it for me. Now I'm completely certain that I will not pursue that career path> Marcel said to Avian.

[Were you planning on dating?] Avian asked curiously.

<I'll know when it happens. I can't afford to date even if I want to. I'm broke> Marcel answered and tuned Avian off as he refocused on Sherry.

"Is there a problem? It's okay if you don't have a boyfriend right now. You've at least dated before right?" Marcel asked trying to spare her whatever anxiety she was having about the topic.

"Umm, I-"

"I don't have any ulterior motives. I'm asking because I want to help you to bring out emotions that would only be familiar to someone who has had some experience with dating" Marcel said trying to reassure her.

Sherry finally nodded after some hesitation. She had dated someone when she was a trainee but from the moment she debuted, she never wanted to risk it.

It could potentially ruin her career so she steered clear from the dating scene, at least for now when their group still did not have a strong foothold in the entertainment scene.

"That's a relief. Now I want you to channel those feelings you had then. Not while you were dating, but that phase where you were getting to know each other and were flirting with each other" Marcel said without an ounce of hesitation.

He watched as Sherry's face turned into an interesting shade of red and had to stop himself from laughing. He really wondered if she was assertive at all in relationships if she got shy so easily.

After living for thirty-five years, if she acted shy her partners would think she was being pretentious. Especially with how the scene worked then.

"That's what you need to channel, although you'll need to look bolder, seeing as your lyrics are quite suggestive. If you were shy then, then throw your shyness away. You need to seduce me" Marcel said with a straight face.

Although Sherry knew that was the essence of the concept they were going for, she still felt embarrassed when she heard Marcel say it with such a straight face.

"Do you have a girlfriend?" Sherry asked out of the blue making Marcel flustered by the sudden question. Where was this coming from?

"Uh, no?" Marcel answered slightly puzzled but did not ask why she asked in the first place. He didn't even linger on the topic at all.

"Let's try it. Remember. Try to seduce me" Marcel said as he stood up and offered his hand to Sherry who took it and stood up as well.

When they stood in the centre of the practice room facing each other, Sherry couldn't help but feel nervous once more.

"Why don't we try it with something simple rather than the actual choreography?" Marcel said and slightly raised her hand as his hand rested on her lower back. There was no music so he turned with her in the practice room without any music to accompany them.

"Sherry?" Marcel called in askance when he saw she was not doing anything.

"How am I supposed to do this?" Sherry asked nervously.

"It's the little things that form the big picture. Your body language should show what you want, don't you think?" Marcel asked and pulled her closer, closing the gap between them.

"The look in your eyes needs to convey the message you want to deliver. If you want me, you have to show it in your eyes" Marcel said and twirled her around before they faced each other.

"You look like a frightened rabbit" Marcel commented in good humour, making her laugh.

"Relax and dance, this is not an exam, and don't forget your goal," Marcel said and smiled at her. After a couple of minutes, Marcel chuckled once more when he saw how serious she was being.

"Aren't you too serious? It'll only look unnatural if you are. Try smiling flirtatiously-" Marcel stopped talking when he saw her face redden once more.

He had never thought someone could have such a hard time getting in character. He immediately stopped moving and silently looked at Sherry.

"Is it that bad? Should I just give up?" Sherry asked feeling a bit sorry for the first time.

"Why are you so shy around me?" Marcel asked.

[Is that a rhetorical question?] Avian asked throwing Marcel off for a second. His question made Sherry's face turn even redder.

"Forget it. From now on, you aren't Sherry. Okay? Since Sherry is obviously too shy. You are Amanda, that's your character, okay? Try being Amanda, don't try to make Amanda Sherry. Alright?" Marcel asked and was only satisfied when Sherry nodded.

"Good, let's try again," Marcel said.

<Can I charge extra for the acting lessons?> Marcel asked Avian.

[You could, but wouldn't that be too shameless?] Avian asked and Marcel kept quiet about his frustration.

This time, Sherry seemed to have digested what Marcel had been telling her, even Marcel raised his brows in surprise.

She became bold, her touch would linger a second too long, her body would brush against his seemingly accidentally, or she would stand too close. Marcel wanted to shed tears. He wanted to shed tears of joy.

<I must be an amazing teacher. Look at her> Marcel said and spun her around, their eyes meeting whenever she faced him during the spin.

[Or she's just a great student] Avian suggested and was ignored by Marcel.

"I guess Amanda works for you," Marcel said after stopping and watched helplessly as Sherry blushed once more. She could swear that she had never blushed as much as she did that day.

"Well, now we should just wait for Ben and Rain to come back so we can show them your progress. We still have ten minutes, you should rest" Marcel said thoughtfully.

Honestly, Sherry was glad that they did not practise with the choreography otherwise she would have already collapsed from exhaustion.