Chapter 18

 "May the best dancer win"

Jimin sat outside the classroom, waiting for the teacher and the examiner to finish deciding his grade. He was sitting on one of the many benches in the hall while rubbing his hands together until they were all warm and sticky from his sweat. He was sure if they didn't come out soon he would pass out any minute. Luckily that didn't happen, as the door finally opened and Jimin looked up to see a big smile on his teacher's face.

"Park Jimin, please come inside." Jimin stepped inside and on his teacher's command, he sat down on the chair he had been sitting on earlier, during the exam.

"Well, Mr. Park," said Jimin's teacher, "should we start with the grade?" Jimin's patience was running out and he wished they would just blurt it out already. 

"We decided to give you an A. It really is a pleasure to overhear a student like you."

"Thank you so much," said Jimin and did a small bow.

"You are welcome," said his teacher and gave a short explanation as to why they gave him that grade.

"Now you can go and enjoy the rest of your day," finished the teacher and Jimin nodded.

"Thank you so much, Mr. Kim, I will." Jimin got up from his chair and bowed again for both his teacher and the examiner before he left the room and took in a deep breath. 

It was finally over.

But sadly enough, Jimin couldn't "enjoy" the rest of the day yet. He had to get a move on if he wanted to make it in time for the competition. He looked at his watch and was relieved to see he still had plenty of time, thanks to Hakyeon moving his spot.

While Jimin was walking to the bus stop, he decided to send a text message to Ha Na, letting her know he was on his way, and when he spotted the bus nearing the bus stop, he got a reply from her.

From: Noona🌸

Okay, there's still plenty of time so don't rush here. Get here safely, I'll be in my seat cheering you on. Hakyeon is backstage so he can help you when you get there.

Jimin couldn't hold back his smile while he entered the bus, even though he wasn't sure how happy Hakyeon was about helping him backstage.

After plopping down in a seat, he checked the route on his phone. There were a few stops from here until he reached the event hall so he had enough time to relax and take a breather.

The uncomfortable and rough bus seat felt strangely soft and resilient today, his lack of sleep probably having something to do with that. After getting home from Ha Na last night, Taehyung and Jungkook wouldn't stop bugging him until late at night, so in the end he could only start studying again in the early morning and ended up leaving for his exam without even 5 minutes of sleep. And sitting down in this strangely soft bus seat, made the lack of sleep hit him like a truck, his eyes getting heavier and heavier, slowly closing in. Maybe he could close them for just a minute? Then he would arrive at the event hall feeling much more refreshed.

When Jimin opened up his eyes he looked around in the half empty bus, did a small stretch and then looked out the window. Still waking up, he tried to recognize the surroundings, trying to figure out how close he was to his stop, but nothing seemed familiar.

Looking to his right, he found an elderly lady sitting next to him, she had probably gotten on the bus while he was still asleep.

"Excuse me, grandma," said Jimin and the elderly lady looked at him with a loving smile.

"Yes dear?" replied she.

"I am sorry to be a nuisance, but could you please tell me how far we are from this stop?" Jimin held up his phone to show the name of the bus stop he had to get off at. The lady looked at the phone, but then her smile disappeared and she looked at Jimin with a sorrowful look.

"I am sorry but it has been a while since we passed that stop."

"What?" Jimin looked at the lady in horror and in less than a millisecond, he pressed the stop button and excused himself to get off the bus. He looked around in the unfamiliar scene and then ran across the street to see when the bus going in the opposite direction would arrive. Calculating in his head and looking at the time he realized it would be too late by that.

While his body was shaking and his heart was pounding in his chest, he typed in the address in maps and looked up the fastest route by foot.

Okay Jimin, said he to himself while looking at his phone, you can do this, if you just run really fast and avoid the busy streets you can do this, you have to!

Running with all he had in him, Jimin followed the route on his phone and took every shortcut there was. He was getting closer by the minute, but that also meant the time passed by with every step he took.

Almost tripping over his own feet, he ran inside the event hall and began explaining himself to the security guard while panting and coughing.

"I am sorry young man, but I can't just let anyone go backstage once the doors are closed," said the guard.

"Yes, I know, but if you could just go out and ask for Cha Hak Yeon," pleaded Jimin.

"I am sorry, but I can do that, I-"

"Jimin!" said Hakyeon as he stuck his head out of the door, "you are late, very late! I am sorry sir, but this guy is in the competition and he as the next one on stage so could you please let him in?"

"Of course, I am sorry!" said the guard, "I didn't know someone would come after the doors closed."

"That is okay, I understand," said Hakyeon, "now, Jimin, get a move on!" Jimin hurried past the guard and followed Hakyeon backstage as the cheering and the music became louder and louder.

"You can change in here, but please hurry, we don't have a lot of time," said Hakyeon and held the door open for Jimin.

"Thank you," said Jimin and went inside. after he started changing into his stage outfit, his heart rate began increasing by the minute and it became harder for him to breathe normally. It was beating much faster than it ever did during an exam.

"Jimin!" A loud knock on the door pulled Jimin out of his daze and he hurried and walked out of the room again. 

"Man, you are slow," said Hakyeon and started dragging him towards the staging area without taking even a second to notice how pale Jimin's face was.

"Alright, I will leave you now, you are the next one on stage and the last one so... good luck." Hakyeon was already about to leave when something held him back. Hakyeon looked and saw the tiny hand that was grabbing his shirt and he looked at Jimin.

"I can't do this," whispered Jimin.

"WHAT?" said Hakyeon or rather yelled out, making everyone near them, turn around, "what do you mean, you can't?"

"I just... I can't do this... I-" Jimin felt a tight grip on his shoulder that made him wince in pain and Hakyeon glared at him in burning rage.

"I am sorry, but you got to pull yourself together, man!" said Hakyeon, not diverting his eyes from Jimin even for a second, "I did not move my spot and go through all this trouble for you to just give up! Look here." Hakyeon pulled the curtain away a bit so they could see the hundreds of people in the audience, all with their eyes on the stage.

"See over there, the front row in the middle. That is Ha Na, sitting and waiting for you to go on stage. She has been talking about it all day and she is cheering for you, even more than she has ever cheered for me. So now you go in there and you show her what you have got in you!"

Hakyeon stopped talking and Jimin just looked at him without knowing what to say, but he didn't get the chance either as they both heard Jimin's name being called on stage and Hakyeon let go of his arm. Without saying anything, Jimin walked towards stage, but just before going through the curtain he turned around and he locked eyes with Hakyeon and sent him a smirk.

"See you later," signed Jimin and then disappeared on to the stage while Hakyeon just laughed at the cheesy action from Jimin.

Jimin found himself standing on the big stage with several lights shining on him, making it impossible to see the crowd, but this just made it easier for him. He stood completely still, waiting for the music to start while he focused on controlling his breathing.

And then the music started. 

Light as a feather, Jimin moved across stage, letting his body give in to the music and follow along, almost without thinking about his next move. Everything came natural. His body wasn't moving to the music, it was the music that moved his body. As he used up the entire stage, throwing himself from one side to the other, he got a quick glance at Ha Na who was looking at him, completely in awe and she sent him a big proud and happy smile. The strength Jimin got from Ha Na's smile made him put in all the effort he had.

He could do this!

The ending was approaching and the climax was near, he set off and jumped into the air whereafter he flipped and got ready to land on the floor again, but as his feet touched the floor, he felt a sharp pain in his right foot and almost lost balance for a moment. Making sure not to get out of rhythm, Jimin moved on and danced as if nothing happened while not letting neither the pain nor the frustration show on his face. Five seconds was left, one last turn, four, three, two, one.

Jimin stood on the stage while panting, the sweat dripping off of him, and the hall got filled with the sound of clapping and cheering. Jimin made a bow, letting it all sink in before he walked off stage and let himself collapse on the floor backstage, finally able to catch his breath.

"Here." Jimin looked up and saw Hakyeon handing him a bottle of water, which Jimin gladly took without question and drank over half of it in no time.

"That was quite impressive," said Hakyeon.

"Thank you," was all Jimin managed to say.

"And now we will announce the winner," said the speaker and Jimin pushed himself to stand up. He walked closer to the stage again, Hakyeon following right behind him, both of them listening carefully to hear the name of the winner.

"After carefully evaluating all the contestants, our dear judges has come to a decision. But first, we want to thank everyone who came and entertained us tonight, also, we want to thank everyone in the audience for maintaining such order and a good spirit."

Just like earlier in the day when Jimin had been waiting for his grade, his heart was racing and a hundred different thoughts ran through his mind, all too fast for Jimin to comprehend any of them.

"And now, without further ado, let us announce the winner," said the speaker and felt the anticipation in the hall rise, "the winner is a person who surprised us, not only with his beautiful and mesmerizing dance, but also by showing perfection in even the smallest things. Let us all give a round of applause for... CHA HAK YEON!"

Jimin's heart sunk all the way down to his stomach and he looked at Hakyeon who couldn't seem to hide his happy and relieved smile. He looked at Jimin and somehow didn't know if he was allowed to smile or even be happy, but Jimin laid his hand on Hakyeon's shoulder and sent him a smile.

"I might not have seen your dance, but I am sure you deserve it," said Jimin, "now go bask in your glory!"

"I will," said Hakyeon and then ran to the stage where the cheers only became louder when he appeared.

Jimin walked away from all the noise and found a chair where he could sit down and drink the rest of his water.

"Excuse me, Park Jimin?" Jimin looked up and saw a tall man in a black suit standing in front of him.

"Yes sir!" said Jimin and got up from his chair, but the man was still towering over him.

"My name is Lee Min Seok, I am a talent scout from ABC Entertainment and I want to say, that was some very impressive dancing skills you showed us there. Are you signed up with any entertainment company at the moment?"

"No, I am actually not a professional dancer, I am a college student," said Jimin, rubbing his neck.

"In that case, I really think you should consider joining our company. We could use someone with a passion like yours."

"I am sorry but-"

"Here, take my card and just... think about it." Before Jimin could even say anything, he found himself standing alone with a business card in his hand and a very confused look on his face. He looked at the card and read the words over and over again, trying to understand what had happened.

Jimin was startled when a hand started waving in front of his face and he lifted his eyes from the card and saw Ha Na looking at him with the biggest smile, Namjoon standing behind her.

"Congratulations!" signed Ha Na and Jimin looked at her, even more confused.

"I didn't win, Hakyeon did," said Jimin and tried to support with a few signs.

"We saw what happened just now," said Namjoon from behind, "looks like someone got scouted."

"Oh that?" said Jimin, "I don't really know what happened there... he gave me his card and then left."

"I think that means you got scouted," said Namjoon.

"What is going on over here?" said Hakyeon who was walking over with a gold medal around his neck and a bouquet of flowers in his hand.

"Hakyeon, congratulations!" yelled Namjoon and ran over to hug Hakyeon.

"Alright if you are going to be like this every time I win, then I am going to stop inviting you," said Hakyeon and pushed Namjoon away.

"I know you love me," said Namjoon with a wink, but was then pushed away by Ha Na who also gave Hakyeon a big hug.

"Congratulations," signed Ha Na, "Jung Hwa told me to give you a big hug if you won, she is sorry she couldn't be here today."

"That is okay," signed Hakyeon, "she has been to so many of my competitions, I know she supports me."

Jimin was standing in the background, not being able to follow the conversation and feeling a bit out of place, so he started considering if he should just leave quietly.

"Congratulations on getting scouted," shouted Hakyeon just as Jimin was about to walk away, "come on over here, let me see the card."

"Okay," said Jimin and walked over to the rest of them.

"Wait! Why are you walking so weird?" said Hakyeon.

"What do you mean?" said Jimin.

"Here, hold this," said Hakyeon and gave the flowers to Ha Na, who didn't understand anything. Hakyeon squatted down and carefully touched Jimin's right ankle, which made Jimin pull his leg away from him.

"See, something is clearly wrong," said Hakyeon.

"I am sure it is nothing," said Jimin, "I just landed wrong when I did the last flip."

"You what? And you haven't got your leg checked?"

"I didn't think-"

"You are a dancer! Your body is the most important thing for you, how could you be so stupid?" Ha Na gently put her hand on Hakyeon's arm when she felt his temper getting the better of him.

"Namjoon, did you come in your parents' car?" asked Hakyeon.

"I did, why?"

"Then let us go," said Hakyeon and pulled Jimin with him.

"Wait, where are we going?" asked Jimin.

"The hospital!"

Hello everyone!

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I always find it difficult to describe whenever someone is dancing, singing or doing something else like this. I want to write it in a way so the reader can imagine everything inside their head. I hope I was able to do that.

I also hope you understand why Hakyeon won the contest, it was just the only realistic outcome in my opinion.

Please leave a comment down below and let me know your thoughts on this chapter and this story overall! Take good care of yourself and stay safe.

Love, Annalise~