The Old Ghosts Resurface
Namhun closed his eyes tightly once more, trying to ignore the old scar that had just resurfaced.
“What are you talking about? Sunnight Ddummeori is supposed to be a girl, right?”
But the dance team leader’s eyes were still flickering with doubt.
He had met Namhun during his b-boy days.
That was why the face felt so familiar.
Still, the person he knew as Sunnight Ddummeori had been a girl.
Short height, petite features, always wandering around in oversized hoodies.
“What the hell…?”
It was pure cognitive dissonance.
They were in a tight spot right now, though.
Namhun had no choice but to admit the old trauma.
“Yes… Sunnight Ddummeori is me.”
The dance team leader’s jaw dropped.
“What…? No way, that’s really her?”
Wonhyung couldn’t hold back any longer and burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
“Kihihihi!”
* * *
The dancers glanced at the leader with uneasy eyes while watching Namhun guide Jin Seryeon.
“Team leader, can we just stay like this?”
“What? We’d have to stick to him in this cramped room and dance?”
“We’re the dancers here. You can’t just watch us like that.”
“Yeah. I feel like we should just stay put like this. We’ve already been paid a decent amount.”
“Shouldn’t we at least voice our opinion…?”
The leader of the dance team ‘Sherlock,’ Cha Seok-woo, looked far more relaxed than the others.
“You guys don’t know who she is, that’s why you’re panicking.”
“Who is she?”
“Sunnight Ddummeori.”
“…Sunnight Ddummeori? What the heck is that?”
Namhun, who had been teaching Jin Seryeon, jolted at the name.
“Hey! Keep it down. I’m already running out of time.”
Cha Seok-woo scanned his team once.
They were all veterans with seven or eight years of dance experience, and over a decade of performing. Their pride was huge.
It wasn’t strange that someone who looked like he didn’t know the dance would step out of line here.
“Ah, sorry. We’ll go out and match it again.”
“Sure.”
“Wonhyung hyung, can you watch for me? Check if there’s any line problem.”
“Yeah, don’t worry about it.”
Wonhyung was still focused on Namhun and Seryeon, waving his hand without even looking their way.
‘He’s not worried at all, huh?’
Cha Seok-woo grinned and led the team outside.
* * *
“To put it simply, this girl is better at dancing than I am.”
“…What?”
Everyone’s eyes widened at the bomb from the leader.
“You guys know Wonhyung hyung used to be an idol, right?”
“Yes, of course.”
“That group’s main vocalist and main dancer was her.”
Everyone was shocked.
“Not Minsoo hyung?”
“Minsoo oppa wasn’t the main dancer?”
Jo Wonhyung was one of the pioneers who brought underground dance into Korea.
But compared to real skill, he couldn’t be called the absolute best.
Among the top dancers of his era, it had been Woo Minsoo from Evil Spirits.
Even now he was still active, running his dance academy, and several Sherlock team members had studied under him.
“With that much career under his belt, he might be absolutely better at dancing… but his limbs are too long. The lines of his movement would be different even if he dances the same step.”
“Really? He doesn’t look like he’d dance well.”
“Yeah, I don’t know about now… but back then he was no joke. He’d only been dancing for six months when he joined the group. Yet he could do anything. He learned insanely fast.”
“How is that even possible?”
“It’s just talent. You can think of him as a genius at arts and sports beyond common sense. Turns out he was a top vocal prospect in Korea and won an international violin competition.”
Everyone’s mouths fell open.
“Why did someone like that end up on the streets?”
“Who knows? Anyway, his looks were like that, so Wonhyung hyung recruited him no matter what. Our groove was different. His English was great too, so he translated for the American soldiers during dance battles.”
“That’s insane.”
“Oh, you know Creole dance?”
“The dance that was all over variety shows twelve years ago?”
“Yeah. He learned it from the soldiers and spread it.”
Creole dance had been a massive hit on variety shows, so no one had been unaware of it.
“Really? Then why didn’t anyone recognize him? It was that famous.”
“Right now he has short hair and is tall, so he looks manly. But back then his hair was long, down to his shoulders. He tied it up in a ponytail while dancing. With the loose hip-hop fashion, everyone thought he was a girl.”
“Ah… now that you mention it, I can see why.”
“But that was a long time ago, right?”
“Yeah. This dance is completely different from the one on TV now.”
Cha Seok-woo understood the team’s worry.
Even if Namhun had been an idol’s main dancer ten years ago, that was ancient history.
“If this was idol dance, it would be a problem. But it’s not. The point dance for ‘Saljjakhung!’ was made by her, I heard.”
“For real?”
The Sherlock team members were stunned.
They had all assumed Wonhyung, who had danced in his youth, would have created it.
“I thought someone else made it because that’s what I heard… but I asked the songwriter just now and it turns out it was her. The original title was ‘Woman Who Only Sees You.’”
The team members’ faces darkened at the original title.
“What?! It’s true?”
“Wow, we almost got in big trouble.”
“So. The title ‘Saljjakhung!’ was also given by her. That’s why it was put in the song credits.”
“I would have put it in myself.”
“It would have failed if we had.”
“Exactly. The title alone changes the whole image.”
“When you think about it, at least half the basic choreography is basically hers.”
The basic choreography for ‘Saljjakhung!’ was built around the point dance ‘Cat Paw Teasing Dance.’
“If what hyung said is true… if this song blows up, Namhun will have a huge share.”
“Yeah. It’s like being the decisive assist in soccer.”
Plus, right now Namhun was about to score a goal in extra time.
* * *
“How is it? Is this okay?”
Watching him teach Jin Seryeon, she felt a strange feeling in her chest.
Namhun wasn’t from a dance major. He was from a vocal music department.
In other words, he was a complete amateur when it came to dance.
Yet he talked about dance moves with incredible knowledge.
“This move, you could even do it while sleeping, right?”
“Y-yes… But oppa, why do you know so much about dance?”
“Huh? I had a lot of friends from the dance department. I watched them practice a lot.”
Jin Seryeon unconsciously bit her lip.
If her friends were from the dance department, they had to be girls, right?
She wasn’t the type to approach people first.
“Ah… I see. I didn’t know because I went to a different school.”
“Yeah. Anyway, next time like this.”
Namhun pulled Jin Seryeon’s position a little forward.
So that the dancers wouldn’t get in her way.
And he started simplifying the difficult moves based on dance fundamentals.
When the work was done, the choreography had been completely reorganized into moves Jin Seryeon already knew.
She could memorize them all after just a few rehearsals.
“Good, well done. Now close your eyes and try it. Sing the song too. Since you’re only moving left and right, it shouldn’t be hard.”
Wonhyung, watching Jin Seryeon’s movements, muttered to himself.
“…What? Already done?”
“Yes. Now call the Sherlock team in. Let’s all match it together.”
“Got it.”
Wonhyung called the team, and they poured into the room.
Soon the MR was playing and a light rehearsal began in the waiting room.
【Performance – Jin Seryeon Has Recovered Stability】
【Condition – 78】
With no troublesome points, Jin Seryeon’s vocals were steady, and her left-right movements didn’t clash with the group.
‘Good. Her condition has returned.’
The Sherlock team felt a strange emotion at the sudden 180-degree change in Jin Seryeon.
Just a moment ago she had been making mistakes nonstop.
After one cup of coffee, she was a completely different person.
“For now, I changed the choreography. It’s a bit more static than before.”
【Additional Performance Score – +3.1】
Namhun, who saw the performance score dip slightly, asked. The leader answered.
“Um. Not much unfamiliar feeling. Since Seryeon’s movements have decreased, we can just make our actions bigger than before.”
“That’s easy.”
Kang Seongdae’s expression brightened at the promising situation.
“Yeah, not hard at all. Just match it a few times.”
While they adjusted and rehearsed, the rehearsal time arrived.
“Miss Jin Seryeon, rehearsal time~!”
* * *
Standing on stage, Jin Seryeon felt her heart racing.
‘…Will it be okay?’
Honestly, time had flown by so fast she didn’t even know what was what.
She had only memorized the new moves and practiced, so it felt like rehearsal time had just arrived.
Looking down at the stage, she saw fans sitting there unlike before.
“Who is that?”
Who is that?
I’m older than you, you know.
“Ballad singer?”
“Dancer? Must be a dance singer.”
Most of the fans were middle and high school students.
Raw reactions poured in from all sides.
“Rehearsal is about to start. Please stay quiet~!”
The staff, unable to stand it any longer, asked for silence.
“What?”
“They said stay quiet. Kkukkk.”
The fans’ irritated expressions came into view.
Jin Seryeon automatically crouched.
‘The reaction is more serious than I thought.’
She looked to the side on impulse.
Kang Seongdae, Jo Wonhyung, and Jang Namhun were standing there.
For some reason, only Namhun stood out brightly in Jin Seryeon’s eyes.
When their eyes met, Namhun raised his hand to his mouth.
— Seryeon-ah, cheer up.
Jin Seryeon read his lips and let out a long sigh.
She didn’t want him calling her by her old name.
But maybe because of that, memories came rushing back.
Back then Namhun had stood like this, cheering for her.
Everyone else was sitting, but he had stood up alone.
Since she was weak-willed, Jin Seryeon had always been dependent.
Even before, when people gathered she would hide behind Namhun.
So…
Even when standing on stage, her heart felt at ease with Namhun there.
Now, just like back then, the tension was slowly melting away.
At that moment, MC Satoshi’s announcement began.
[Next is a rookie trot singer. Not some old-fashioned trot, but a sophisticated trot! Let’s hear the passionate, energetic rookie Jin Seryeon’s ‘Saljjakhung!’]
Suddenly, a scream erupted from one side.
“Unnie, you’re so pretty!”
“Jin Seryeon! Jin Seryeon!”
Jin Seryeon and the surrounding fans were all startled by the sudden cheer.
Namhun checked their faces and grinned.
“See? I told you I’d earn the ice cream cost.”
Wonhyung’s expression twisted.
‘Is it really because of the canned coffee and ice cream?’
Who gave it was more important, wasn’t it?
The thought kept looping in Wonhyung’s head.