Chapter 275: Meeting BTZ (3)
When Jaywalk walked into the practice room, he saw the contestants, some of whom were vibrating with nervous, excited energy at the thought of being able to dance and promote themselves alongside a person many of them admired, staring at him in expectation while they completed their stretches and positioned themselves.
Like any dance class, there was a visible segregation by skill level, with those at the front of the room being contestants with whom Jaywalk rarely interacted, since they usually had dance class with Kim Young-woo, and those in the back were his and Selena’s remaining students.
Looking at the various young and handsome faces, Jaywalk had to admit that he had a bitter feeling.
As someone who had worked his way up from being a self-taught street dancer and made it to some of the world’s biggest dance stages, and even opened up his own studio, he was proud of himself and the work he had put in, and knew that by all definitions of a dancer, he had ’made it’.
However, the saying that comparison was the thief of joy was very accurate.
Seeing the constant comparisons being made online between him and Kim Young-woo, who was the only other male dance trainer, and having everything from the quality of the choreography they created for the contestants to the improvement and mentorship they provided, nitpicked to the nth degree, with him always marked as second best, made Jaywalk feel a bit depressed.
Especially because out of the three dance trainers, he was the one who had the most contestants he taught eliminated, while those taught by Kim Young-woo and Selena continued to excel and rise in the ranks.
He was honestly in a funk, and every time he checked online, he was being torn apart for being a bad mentor, for having mediocre relationships with the contestants, and for barely helping them improve, which constantly brought his mood down, and since he had no one to talk to or share his burdens with, his mood continued to get darker and darker.
And now, of the 30 contestants remaining, only 2 remained from the classes he had taught.
Jaywalks glanced from the only Indian boy stretching alone at the back of the room to the young boy with striking features that were almost hidden by an oversized fur hat.
He was a contestant often mentioned these days, and if you searched Pop Star Academy, more than likely his name would come up first.
Ariel Matisse.
A boy who didn’t even know you needed separate shoes to enter a dance studio and had initially started as one of the worst dancers, but had improved to a decent level and even had moments where he shone brightly and captured the eyes of everyone on stage.
And as controversial as he was, he was also the contestant most likely to debut from the remaining two f-ranked initially individuals.
As the competition was coming to a close, each trainer wanted to make sure to leave their mark and form a good relationship with contestants before they gained more fame than they would have in the future based on the current trajectory of the show and the public’s response.
While it was a bit too late to build close interpersonal connections with other contestants taught by the other dance trainers, Jaywalk wanted his relationship with the final two F-rank contestants to get closer so that he could at least get a mention from them when things were over.
Meeting those striking green eyes that squinted sleepily, Jaywalk tried to smile kindly and build rapport, but Ariel immediately looked away, causing the smile on Jaywalk’s face to fade.
It wasn’t the first time his efforts had been rebuffed.
He turned to smile at Vishal, but no matter how much he looked, the other boy just kept fiddling with his glasses and didn’t look up.
Well.
It seemed that today would be another rough day, but he wouldn’t give up, especially with the bet that had taken place among the dance trainers on whose students would be able to remember the choreography to the most songs for this challenge.
Although he had minimal hope and had no choice but to bet on his own students, both Ariel and Vishal somehow always pulled through when it was time to perform, so hopefully, they wouldn’t end up in last place.
Not feeling confident at all, but knowing that he had to do what he had to do, with an authoritative clap, Jaywalk got the attention of all the contestants.
"Alright, let’s get started. I’ll run through all the choreography of all the songs so you guys can mentally make a list of the songs you would be interested in learning. After that, we’ll spend a maximum of 10 minutes to learn the 15-30 seconds of choreography. After that, we’ll give you 30 minutes to review and decide which songs you want to be recorded, pair up, and then we’ll start filming."
- What?
- No way!
- 10 minutes to learn the choreography?
- You’ve got to be joking!
Hearing complaints in English and other languages, Jaywalk scanned the contestants’ faces and, naturally, those who had been training with Kim Young-woo seemed more confident, while of the students in his own class, one was whispering to himself while staring into the air, while the other had a determined yet slightly hopeless expression on his face.
As expected.
After doing some light stretches, Jaywalk turned on the music medley, which had all the songs they would be learning today, and danced the various choreographies for 10 minutes straight without stopping.
From hip-hop style dances to playful, bouncy choreography and everything in between, Jaywalk perfectly displayed the various types of choreography from various groups, and when he finished, he forcefully controlled his breathing so he wouldn’t be too out of breath in front of the cameras while receiving the round of applause from the contestants.
Clap clap clap clap.
- wow
- A professional is really a professional after all
- That was crazy
- We’re supposed to learn that? I’m cooked.
Although they were mumbling to themselves, Jaywalk watched the calculations taking place on the contestants’ faces.
Those who were dancers and likely kept up with the different dance challenge trend looked a bit more at ease, especially when they saw easier bits of choreography.
While he was dancing, Jaywalk had even noticed a few of them vaguely following along.
The rest of the contestants were staring blankly ahead, like they had given up hope.
"I’ve shown you guys everything we’ll be learning today, so let’s get right into it. The first song we’ll be learning is Maestro by Nebu1a. As you can see, it’s a very energetic hip-hop style with intense footwork, so please pay attention. Let’s get started."
Ignoring the shocked faces of the contestants, Jaywalk restarted the song and began going through the intense choreography, in a quick manner, as the music played.
Rather than the usual step-by-step instruction that broke the dance down into chunks, he summarized the general movements and demonstrated the intricate footwork while explaining.
It would be up to the contestant’s own personal skill and understanding to follow along.
And as expected, the contestants with years of dance training kept up decently, and those without-
Jaywalks peeked at Vishal, who was trying and failing to keep up, and then at Ariel, who was moving in his usual lackadaisical manner and missing half the steps and not following through completely.
As expected, it was foolish to depend on him.
Regardless of the contestant’s wishes that time move more slowly, 10 minutes passed in a flash, and despite their groans, Jaywalk moved on to the next song, which was much easier.
"The next song is JellyJelly by Dozen. Let’s get right into it."
- 5 more minutes on the previous song, please
- even just one more run through
- Jaywalk, have mercy!!!
"Nope, we gotta keep moving. If it’s hard, then don’t waste your time on it; just try to learn something within your skill level. That’s why we have all types of songs."
With the sounds of groans and begging each time the music ended, almost 4 hours of practice passed like that, and by the end of it, the contestants had collapsed on the floor with shaking legs as they filled out the form that was being passed around on which challenges they would be dancing to.
Since everyone wanted to have the opportunity to dance with Shin Ji-yong, even the most cautious contestant had put their name down for a good number of songs.
Jaywalk read over the sheet, mentally creating pairs with similar skill levels before noticing an anomaly.
Looking up, he glanced at the contestant who looked as if he were about to fall asleep.
"Contestant Ariel?"
"Yawnnnn- yes."
Ari quickly blinked and sat up straight.
"I see you wrote your name down for every challenge. Was that a mistake?"
"No, that was intentional."
Seeing Ari blink at him as if it were obvious and offer no explanation, Jaywalk held back his immediate urge to scold him and put on his mentor cap.
"I understand the urge to do well for this opportunity, but you have to think according to your skillset because if you mess up, it’s not just you that will be affected, it will be other contestants and the staff members as well, because their time will be wasted."
"I understand that, but it’s fine. I don’t plan on messing it up," Ari replied honestly.
Seeing that his words weren’t getting through the baseless confidence, Jaywalk tried persuasion once more.
"I see that you and Mathew are close and maybe you’re trying to be like your friend, but you need to understand that right now, the two of you are on two very separate skill levels. Mathew can sign up to do every song because he probably memorized it. You-"
"Are not Mathew. I get it. That’s why I wrote my own name down and not Mathews." Ari interrupted before continuing, "And no offense, I don’t see you criticizing others for how many songs they signed up to dance."
"Other people got through the choreography of some songs in practice. You didn’t."
"Okay. And who’s to say I can’t get through it just because I didn’t do so in practice?"
"...."
As Jaywalk stared at him silently before getting an angry look in his eyes, Ari softened his tone, "Look. Everyone has 2 chances to do a challenge, and I’m really not going to mess it up. I don’t know what to say to get you to believe that, but I don’t think it’s fair of you to stop me from trying, do you?"
"I also don’t think it’s fair to other contestants to repeatedly do a challenge with someone who will probably mess it up."
"I told you, I’m not going to mess it up. And I’m not going to waste anybody’s time."
"As your trainer, I think I know the level of your dance skill better than anyone here."
"I highly doubt that. No offense." At the snide-sounding sentence, Jaywalk almost lost his cool, but the person he was speaking to either didn’t notice or didn’t care.
"I’m confident, I won’t mess up. You’re confident I will. We’re at a standstill, so how do you want me to prove that I’m capable of doing the choreography?"
"Stand up and run through it perfectly from beginning to end," Jaywalk replied coldly.
"Well...I don’t mind doing it, but it seems tiring. Even you, a professional, were slightly out of breath doing it? What do I get if I succeed? Are you going to make me do it twice with other contestants? That’s not fair to me."
"Why don’t you just pair the two people who signed up for every song together and let them do it. And as an extra prize for contestant Ariel, if he’s successful, how about an extra dance challenge with me? You can pick the song. Same to the person who pairs up with you."
Ari glanced from the Jaywalk to Shin Ji-yong, who had quietly entered the room at some point, butted in before giving the idol a mischievous smile.
"Any song?"
"Yep. Any song, any challenge."
"Deal. No take-backs."
"Ah...you seem really confident? As far as I know, Mathew is one of the best dancers here. You’re confident that you can keep up with him and not mess up?" The handsome idol seemed surprised to see Ari truly standing on business.
"Confident? Yeah, I guess I am. As for you, remember your words and don’t run away like a chicken. Any song. Promise." Ari pointed at Shin Ji-yong, who stared at him incredulously before bursting out laughing.
"I promise. Wow. This is a first for me. Kids these days are really bold. Is this American or European style?"
- Oh my days!
- What is wrong with him?
- I can’t believe he’s talking to Ji-yong sunbae-nim like that.
Rolling up his sleeves and cracking his neck amidst the murmurs, Ari glanced at Mathew, whose face had turned pasty from nerves during Ari’s back and forth with the trainer, and then paled even more as he spoke casually to Shin Ji-yong, as if he were a kid in his class and not someone 10 years his senior and more successful in the industry he was trying to enter.
"Shall we begin? Oh, Mathew, please take it easy on me."
With his long legs shaking like a deer, Mathew gulped before standing up shakily next to Ari.
As the two of them got into position while waiting for the staff member to prep the phone camera, Mathew could only whisper.
"Social anxiety is really afraid of you."