Chapter 9

The next day, I had learned a few dances, and I was hyped up. I was singing and dancing as I prepared myself. I took my stuff and went to join others in the van; turns out Anurak was just like me, dancing and singing non-stop. "Who died and made you guys artists and dancers?" Ayesha said, looking at the both of us as we drove to the studio. "Michael Jackson," Anurak and I said at the same time, we laughed while looking at each other. "I give up," Ayesha said with her hands in the air. "What about down?" we both said again, "You guys should stop with the twinning; it's creepy," Ayesha said.

"The only thing creepy is your face, girl," I said, doing a light dance.

We got to the studio, and as we got off the van, I played Suited by Shekinah. "Can I have this dance?" I asked Anurak, and he held my hand, and we danced together while heading towards the studio. Ayesha decided to record us. We got into the studio while dancing to the song, "See, I just really miss you, yeah, And I'm forever in tune to you, Somehow I just stay glued to you, I wanna, gotta get away, No, not forever, just a little break, I can't find myself or place, I don't ever wanna go too far away, So we play husband and wife, You take the keys to my life, I know we're just a little too young, yeah, And having just a little too much fun, baby," I sang along with the song.

We then got tired and just laughed looking at each other as we danced without even practicing, and it turned out okay, "I guess you are heading somewhere," Our director said. I squeaked in fear and held my chest; I turned and looked behind me, "Mr. McQueen, you are here, and with many many … many guests," I said, scanning the studio which was filled with people wearing T-shirts and jerseys written Crew and some other people, including the dance choreographer we met and our producer. My eyes caught sight of some guys standing by the corner looking our way. They looked familiar, but I wasn't quite sure; I was wearing my mask, "What's the occasion today?" I asked, still looking at the gang. "Oh, Mr. Martins and persons, you are already here, morning," she said, bowing her head towards everyone. "What a pleasant surprise, director. I see you brought some guests from your quest and also some precious jewels," Anurak said, walking closer to the gang; he bowed, greeting everyone.

As soon as he got there and they started talking, it then clicked into my mind who they were, "OH MY GOD, NO freaking ways!!" I said, walking towards them. "Hi," I said as I also bowed, greeting everyone. I got to them, and they didn't seem to recognize me with the mask on, "You guys look more adorable and handsome in person," I said, holding my cheeks in adoration.

"Wait, I know you from somewhere… you are Anashe!" one of them said. "Yeonjun! Hi!" I said excited as we hugged. "Sorry, I didn't text you; I got so busy," I said. "Oh, I understand; we were also busy. How are you?"

"I am good; how are you?" I asked. "Good," he said with his thumbs up.

"Hi Yeonjun!" Ayesha said, waving happily.

"Hi, Ms. Ayesha," he said, waving too.

"You guys know each other?" Anurak asked.

"Yeah, we met the other day and you didn't believe me,huh now who is dreaming ," I said sticking my tongue out at him while he rolled his eyes. The others looked a little confused.

I removed my mask and pushed my hair back, "Hah, sorry about that. How are you all?" I asked.

"No ways," one of them said as he held the other's arm, "It is Anashe… Anashe is in front of me," he added. He was shying away, and all of a sudden started blushing; the others were surprised and too dumbfounded, "Don't shy away; I should be the one shying away. I am meeting thee TXT… like you guys are icons out there, and it's a pleasure to meet you guys in person… I am really excited and happy, " I said.

They introduced themselves officially,

"Hi, I'm SOOBIN. And I'm the leader of TOMORROW X TOGETHER."

"Hi guys, I'm YEONJUN. I'm the eldest."

"Hi, I'm BEOMGYU, and I'm the energizer of the group."

"Hello guys, I'm TAEHYUN. And I want to be your sweetheart."

"Hi, I'm HUENINGKAI. And I'm the cutie of the group!"

"Hi, my name is Anashe, and it's a pleasure to meet you all," I said, bowing too.

"Hey, my name is Anurak Wang, and it's an honour to meet you," Anurak said, bowing too.

"So, as you know, Cynthia Owens goes to Korea to start her professional dancing career. As Korea is said to be offering such offers for new dancers, after she goes viral internationally, she has a chance to earn a big project that will open many more doors for her… In Korea, she meets a man who has the same passion as her, and they have to work together in order for them to succeed… they need to learn to love in order for them to unlock the rhythm love follows. But let's focus on the Korean scene, Cynthia meets Joseph on a train; they cross paths but do not talk to each other, they meet again at the auditions for main dancers for the biggest concert in Seoul. They both audition, and after some days are chosen… they are then informed that they need to open the concert and close it off together as a duo, and it needs to be grand. At the end of the concert, they need to learn from each other and help each other in order for their grand performance to be a success. In the process, they don't realize that the minute they learned to trust each other, love led them, and they followed the rhythm of love unknowingly. After performing, they think it's the end, but they are now internet sensations, and they earn more projects together. But as they dance, they start to lose the spark they had at the beginning. They also don't realize that they need love to lead them, and the only way is to learn to love and be loved by the most important people in their lives, and they should listen to the rhythm of love… to be a good dancer, you need to learn to love your dance routine, fall in love with the choreography, and let the rhythms, beats, and the music to immerse itself inside of you… the rhythm of love is the rhythm that you follow when you fall in love with the things around you." Our producer says; we are all sitting in a circle while she is in the middle explaining what we will be focusing on.

"So we will spend about 3 weeks learning some dance moves in order for us to shoot the scenes… it is not going to be easy, but we need to push and work hard and smart in order to reach our goal… so more people will join us… Anurak and Anashe, you need to learn the dance moves you will dance at your audition… we also need to film the opening scene here in Korea because that's where your journey begins. Then you also need to learn the dance moves you need to perform at the end and beginning of the concert… Anashe, you will need to learn some dance moves you will perform, Anurak the same… then TXT, you will also learn the dance move of what you will perform during the concert, and we will film you guys conversing with everyone before and after the concert, so we have a lot of work to do.You will not be doing your official dance practise and other practises here but for today we need a clip of some behind the scenes and you will be needed today but after today we might call you in sometimes or go to where you are(Referring to TXT) .Today we will finally set everything, and tomorrow we will start the dance practice not officially but a little something to fix your rusty selves. Pull your socks up, tie your shoe laces, and get ready for the race you are about to run," Our director said.

"The concert… how will we shoot because according to the script, the concert scene should be around 15 minutes long? Now they have to do the whole dance routine only to film a 15-minute thing?" Anurak asked.

"Well, the good news is that … the concert is a real thing that is going to happen right here in Seoul… the biggest concert where almost all the K-pop artists you know will perform their one best song… people are already buying tickets, and in less than 2 hours, all tickets will be sold," Ayesha replied, smiling.

"No ways, no ways, no freaking way," I said, checking my phone as it is the hottest topic on all social media platforms.

I am shocked and dumbfounded, "We will also film during the concert, so we need to have everything set because we can't retake and the concert is a big thing so we can't afford to make mistakes. So you need to make sure that everything is perfect and practice hard and, most importantly, have fun," TXT's manager said.

We had about 5 dance choreographers and more staff members who would help with the filming, makeup, and styling but most of them were here for formalities. We spent the day reading our scripts and being guided on how things were supposed to go… we talked with TXT casually as they were a bit shy. We discussed the choreography, and they still told Anurak and me that we had to think of an epic dance move that we would add to the grand closing.

Couple of days later, we got to the studio, and we worked on the dance. The choreographers were all willing to help; they already knew the dance moves, but they now had to teach us. Anurak and I watched them dance twice, and they started teaching us step by step, and our director and producer would pitch in on how we had to show our facial expressions and if the choreography needed to be improved or not. They would also assist us to help us on how we had to do the dance moves as we were practicing.The previous day we were reading our scripts and discussing some scenes and stuff,we had to do like some mini acting here and there and also the office space had been completed so our director was at the office setting things right with his PA while also being on a video call with us.

We were told we would be expecting some guests today and they would also be present for a behind the scenes footage .Apparently if we get a decent amount of celebrities involved from Korea we could attract the korean population into watching the movie .We shouldn't overuse them or underuse them and in the same way we could promote some upcoming idols to our fan population. Our director either has some serious connections or there is something he is not telling us.

The surprise guests were the Kpop group PENTAGON .

"Tentastic! Hello, we are Pentagon!"

"Hi, I'm Hui."

"Hi guys, Hongseok."

"Hi, I'm Yanan."

"Hi guys, Shinwon."

"Hi, I am Kino."

"Hi, I am Jinho."

"Hi guys, Yeo One."

"Hello Yuto."

"Hi, I'm Wooseok."

We greeted each other; everyone was excited, and we were helping each other with the dance moves.

"You know what's funny?" Ayesha said as she stood next to me.

"What?"

"That most of this whole recruiting of idols isn;t the most crucial part of the movie they will appear for like a minute or two and yes making them appear in the right manner and right way will require a lot of editing and thinking from our director and producer and team but you and Anurak are the essence of this movie ...Your acting and display of scenes...your chemistry on the camera and your emotions in this movie will glue everything out, you guys balance the whole thing in this movie and the last scene of the movie with the concert thing is actually a gift from the director to his daughter in a way," Ayesha said.

"How so?" I asked.

"His daughter is ill and she adores the korean music industry and she apparently told our director that she wishes that her dad worked with some of the artists but she knew it wasn't possible as he was a movie director and not in anyway a music director or something but the director promised that he would grant her wish and this is him doing it ...it's not only for his daughter but for all the kids out there," Ayesha said looking at me softly.

"He is so kind ,trying to show those kids and his kids that nothing is impossible and encourage them to have faith in their dreams and ideas no matter how insane they could seem,except for insane (crazy) obsessed-not okay upstairs- ideas ," i said .

"I think his message also is meant for someone i know," Ayesha said eyeing me and walking away to get back to her work.

During our lunch break, we sat forming a circle, and we got to know more about each other, and eventually, TXT warmed up to me and other people. We were laughing and chatting; tomorrow it would be Anurak and me in the studio preparing for our first film shoot, and we would also practice our audition dance routine.

"Beomgyu, what a nice name… what does it mean?" I asked Beomgyu as he was standing next to me as we watched Anurak learn his dance moves.

"Thank you… it means energizing bear. What about yours?" he asked, blushing a little.

"No wonder you say you are the energizer of the group. Well, mine means Lord is with you… Long hair suits you… you really are killing the long hair," I added, smiling at him.

"You are complimenting me a lot; thank you… long hair also suits you," he said.

"I don't think so; wait until you see me with a bob… short hair," I said. I walked to my bag and took my phone; I showed him pictures of me in short hair, he couldn't believe it. "You really do look good in short hair," he said, seeming amused. The other group members came to see what Beomgyu was looking at, and they all had the same reaction.

"People say I look good in short hair, but I like long hair because when it comes to styling, I don't run out of ideas, and I effortlessly style my hair… with short hair, I need to find the right style that suits my face shape," I add, handing them my phone so that they could pass it around and see it properly. The cameraman who was filming the behind-the-scenes came towards us; I asked for the camera from him, and he handed it to me. I walked around filming everyone, "So, Mr. Hueningkai, how do you feel to be part of the biggest concert in Seoul that will be happening in a month's time?" I asked.

"Happy… excited, very happy," he said.

"Anything you want to say to MOA?" I ask him.

"Stay healthy and happy."

"Thank you, Mr. Hueningkai; MOAs will definitely love your message," I said with a thumbs up.

I walked to everyone, and they were giving their messages; I handed the camera to Yeonjun and Wooseok to film the rest as I had to go and practice. The two groups then were discussing with their managers which song they would perform at the concert that their fandom really liked and was very memorable. At around 19:00, we all decided to wrap things up and rest. My body ached, and I was very tired and hungry. As we were driving back to the hotel, we passed by a restaurant and ordered food to eat. I got home, took a shower, and ate my food. I chatted with my friends and family, checked my email and social accounts, and my fans were asking me where I disappeared to… To assure them that I was still breathing, I asked them to share what they did all day on the Q&A on my Instagram status.

The next day, Anurak and I were practicing for the first shoot with the help of our director and producer; we ended up spending the whole day discussing the script and how the movie will turn out.