"Nora! , Nora! "
Nora slowly turned to Freya, her voice filled with excitement.
"I passed, Freya," she said, her eyes lighting up.
Freya furrowed her brows, her tone sharp with confusion.
"What do you mean you passed? Passed what?"
Nora's smile widened as she did a tiny, joyful dance.
"The audition I got in!" she beamed. "I actually got it. I can't believe it!"
At the word audition, Alva's head snapped toward them,
"Wait… what audition are you talking about?" she asked, her voice laced with curiosity.
"So Carlos gave me..."
"You sneaky thing you met up with Carlos! , tell me every single thing that happened and don't leave anything behind" Alva interrupted.
Nora took a deep breath while rolling her eyes "Nothing happened, we met by coincidence, he gave me an audition leaflet, said i should try it out and we said our goodbyes okay"
"So boring, he didn't invite you for a drink or dinner or something? " Alva asked with curiosity.
"Nop, he was with Tim and others"
Alva mouthed an ohh.
Freya sat up on her bed "So what's the audition about? "
Nora stood up from the bed walking to the little walk-in closet "They needed some backup dancers for a concert in Oslo, i should dress up, i have to get to the first meeting now, i'm late already, i didn't check for the list yesternight". Nora brushed her hands through her hair looking at the clothes, confused at what to wear "Oh God i don't want to be under dressed neither do i want to be over dressed, i should just dress simple right"
"Just dress like a dancer okay" Freya replied.
Nora walked in the large dance studio wearing a blue button-up shirt, white baggy sweatpants and a face cap.
Everyone looked towards her, Nora frowned, clearly blaming her self for being late. Most of them were seated on the floor waiting for the lead performer.
A young man walked towards her with a tablet"Hi I'm Dominic, may i know your name please ?"
"i'm Nora Andersen"
The man scrolled through the tablet "You are welcome Miss Andersen, Congratulations on passing the audition "
"Thank you" Nora said giving him a light smile.
"Nora!"
Nora looked up and spotted Tim walking toward her, a warm grin on his face.
"How are you?" he asked, his eyes bright. "Congratulations! Carlos said you'd be here I almost didn't believe him. I mean, I've never actually seen you dance."
Nora's smile grew, "Well, you will today," she said proudly.
"Hello everyone, i profusely apologize for coming late" Nora heard a clear and sweet voice behind her. She immediately turned towards the voice. She saw a tall and handsome figure.
Wait, Tan boys?
That's Seo Joon of Tan boys!!
, Nora let out a silent scream in her head, panic rising like a wave. How could she have missed this? In her excitement, she hadn't even glanced at the tour details no dates, no headliners. All she had wanted was to step on stage, to dance.
But Seo Joon. Of the Tan Boys.
A sudden hush fell over the room as everyone stood, all eyes turning toward Seo Joon as he stepped forward.
"I'm Min Seo Joon, nice to meet you all, i look forward to working with y'all". Seo Joon walked towards Tim and Nora as they both were closest to the door.
"Nice to see you again Tim". Seo Joon said to Tim while giving him a handshake.
"Same here Joon" Tim replied with a light chuckle.
As Tim was a known dancer, Nora wasn't surprised they knew each other. Seo Joon turned towards Nora with hands out for a hand shake.
"I'm.." Nora cleared her throat as she couldn't get her herself to speak again. "I'm Nora" She nervously shook his hand, she was definitely never gonna wash her hands again.
"Nice to meet you Nora" Seo Joon replied as he moved to each person in the studio to get an introduction.
After the brief introductions, everyone was given a few minutes to warm up before the rehearsal began.
Nora found a spot and started stretching, but her mind was anything but calm. Seo joon was the last person she expected to see today. And he was in the room. Watching. Moving. Breathing the same air.
She tried to avoid looking his way, but the knowledge of his presence pressed down on her like a weight. She wasn't prepared for this not today.
Her muscles tensed despite the warm-up. This was supposed to be her moment to ease in, to feel the floor and let the nerves melt away. But with Seo Joon in the room, it felt more like an audition than a rehearsal.
Still, she closed her eyes for a second and inhaled deeply. Just dance, Nora. Block it all out.