"Have you all finished writing your rap verses?" Sehun asked as the leader of the team.
"I'm done!" C-Jay exclaimed. "We can finally practice our dance."
"How about you, June?" Sehun asked.
C-Jay answered for the blank-eyed trainee. "Oh, he didn't even write anything. The lyrics are already written for him."
"Oh, that's good," Sehun exclaimed. "Let me teach you the dance then."
June sighed and stood up, thinking that he couldn't do anything at the moment.
He'd never written a rap verse before, and he still wasn't familiar with the beat, rhythm, and overall vibe of the song.
Maybe dancing to it would give him some inspiration.
Sehun, being the Main Dancer, started teaching them the dance.
It was simple enough. 'Skateboard Ride' was definitely more complicated with its big and fast movements. Yet somehow, this song felt more difficult to dance to.
The moves were on the more sensual side…with the beat being heavily R&B. The rap parts, too, didn't have fast movements as they focused more on "vibing" with the song.
June clicked his tongue. It had uncomplicated steps, but movements like these really needed one to be skilled in dancing.
It was easy to execute, but it was also easy to look bad while executing it.
Exhibit A: During the first part, they're acting like their hands are tied, and they're doing three full-body waves.
June glanced at C-Jay and saw his stiff body wriggling to the beat.
He looked like a leech being sprinkled with salt.
The original members looked decent while doing it, with Sehun looking the most graceful.
However, the two new members were in the same situation as C-Jay.
It seemed like dancing wasn't their forte either.
"Damn, this is easy to follow!" C-Jay exclaimed proudly, causing June to let out a small sigh.
Let's not burst his bubble for now.
On the positive side, June felt the upgrade in his dance aspect. It seemed as if his body was easier to work with, and movements like waves, pops, and transition changes were natural to do. June just found it hard to embody the song.
It felt like he was part of a strip club or something.
"The chorus moves repeat twice, and for the last chorus, it goes like this," Sehun demonstrated, going down to the floor and doing a grind.
"Wooh, sexy!" C-Jay exclaimed while the others looked at the move shyly.
June, on the other hand, looked at him with horror. What the hell was that?
"I still can't get used to it even until now," Jakob, the 18-year-old boy, shyly said.
"I don't think I can do it," Haesoo said, already shaking in his shoes.
Sehun gave him an encouraging smile. "Don't worry. I'll teach you slowly. If it becomes too much, you can tell me, and I'll simplify it for you."
Damn, this kid is really kind. Was he a disciple in his past life?
It somehow made June sort of ashamed of complaining since they were all doing their best.
"First things first, feel the music. Let it flow through you and take over your body. It's quite a sexy beat, so you should internalize it. Loosen your lower body, but make sure it's still controlled. Use your upper body strength to hoist you up."
"Like a push-up?" June asked.
"Exactly!" Sehun exclaimed. "Like a push-up. However, instead of stiffening your body and going down altogether. Think of it like a body wave on the floor."
He demonstrated it again, and June quickly followed. He did it one more time until he felt the other's gazes on him.
"Holy!" C-Jay shouted, clinging to him. "That was so sexy, bro! How did you do that?"
June pushed him away and clicked his tongue. "I just listened to him," June said, pointing to Sehun. "He's a good teacher."
Sehun beamed, feeling touched by his compliment. "Let me teach you again."
***
This kid, Sehun, is definitely a good kid.
June could see that he really wants to become an idol.
He's also very patient while teaching the other members, despite them fucking up over and over again.
It was already around midnight, and they had just finished getting all of the choreography down.
It wasn't perfect, but at least everyone was familiar with the song now.
"I don't think I've practiced this much in my entire life," C-Jay exclaimed. "All the other teams I joined went to bed before 10 p.m"
"We can't help it," Sehun smiled. "We have the most new members, and even during the interim evaluation, we were scolded because of lack of preparation. We didn't even get to prepare a team name by that time. It made me realize how lacking I was as the leader."
Jakob pouted. "You weren't lacking at all. It's our problem, too. We couldn't keep up with our current skills."
"Yeah," Seokhwa agreed. "I like how our team was progressing, though. We already got all the dance moves down!"
"Well, of course," C-Jay said. "I'm the lucky charm of this team!"
June shook his head in disbelief. C-Jay has definitely improved a lot, and when they were dancing a while ago, he had gone up to a C+. However, it can't be denied that his movements were still a bit stiff.
"Then do we have a team name now?" June asked.
"Yeah," Sehun smiled. "We just established it a while ago before you came."
"What is it?"
"It's Aglet," C-Jay responded.
June didn't react for a second.
What the hell did he just say?
"Uglet?" June asked with a frown.
The members chuckled. "It's Aglet. A-G-L-E-T," C-Jay spelled it out. "Aren't you familiar with that word?"
"No," June said, causing the others to gasp and look at him weirdly.
June couldn't believe what was happening. Why were they acting like he's the weird one here?
Who wants to be named as an "Aglet?"
"What even is that?"
Jakob disappointedly shook his head. "You don't watch Phineas and Ferb?"
"Penis and Burp?" June asked.
"Oh my goodness!" Sehun exclaimed, covering June's mouth. "I think it's safe to say that he doesn't know."
C-Jay cracked up as he pointed at June. "You—you're really an old man. You don't even know that cartoon?"
Cartoons?
June wanted to watch them when he was younger.
But they never had a TV.
Then, in the orphanage, the other kids didn't like it when he watched with them.
Before he even knew it, he became a teenager without a childhood.
Mei Ling would probably know about it.
June tried his very best to give her a normal childhood while he lost his.
"I never got the opportunity to," June muttered. "But it sounds stupid," he said, quickly masking his wistfulness.
"Should we change it?" Sehun asked, looking a bit guilty.
June sighed. "What does it even mean?"
Sehun bit his lip. "It sounds pretty childish, but I think it embodies the transformative power of small details. Just as an aglet, the tiny but crucial plastic or metal tip at the end of a shoelace, holds together the entire lace, our team's strength lies in our ability to rise despite being deemed useless. I guess it's pretty stupid. Should we just scrap it?"
They all looked at June with wide, inquiring eyes.
He clicked his tongue and redirected his gaze to the floor.
"Team Aglet it is, then."
