HeartBeat (Saranghaeyo Book 2) (2 page)

              Unlike most of her past auditions, there was no set routine to be learned in a short amount of time then showcased individually or with a group. This one was much more free-form and made Leila wonder just who she was auditioning for. She couldn't explain how or why, but this time she just knew she‘d nailed this one.

              She chatted with some of the friendlier dancers. They swapped humorous stories of past auditions, gigs and their regular workaday lives as they waited another hour or so for the last dancer to leave the stage.

              A bit later they were all called back to onstage and greeted by a handsome older Asian gentleman who smiled warmly as he introduced himself.

              "My name is Jin Yung and I am the manager of T4L, the group you have all been auditioning for. We are at the start of a new chapter in our history, to bring Korean pop music to a wider audience. In order to do that, it has been decided to stage several concerts featuring American dancers. Those dancers will also appear in T4L's new English music video as well."

              Leila's eyes widened and other dancers gasped in surprise.

              "Needless to say, this opportunity will demand hard work and sacrifice. It may also require some overseas travel, so if you do not yet have a have a passport, the management will ensure that proper documentation is secured. And you need not be concerned that we will do something dastardly like hold it against your will should circumstances require your returning home."

              He paused for a moment as he unfolded a piece of paper. Leila's heart raced. This was it.

              "Very well. When your number is called please step forward. I wish you all the best of luck and please understand our decision was not made lightly as to which of you will remain."

Normally when Leila heard that same platitude, it never boded well for her, but there was true sincerity in the man's voice and she believed him.

              When he began to call out the numbers, she listened intently. Something told her this would be her time. Leila paid no attention to the looks of elation or disappointment on the faces around her.

              She was so intent chanting her inner mantra that it took a nudge from a fellow dancer for her to realize that number twenty-four, her number, had just been called. Leila looked up to find the older man silently chuckling. "Miss Twenty-Four please step forward."

              Leila numbly willed her feet to move, still in that place between shock and sheer happiness. She didn't hear the rest of the numbers being called. She didn't hear the kind apology and dismissal of the ones who hadn't been chosen. It took everything she had not to break out in a victory dance.

              She would owe Marcia free venti caramel macchiatos for the next 2 years, and each one of them would be worth it!

***

              Jin Yung disappeared momentarily which gave the remaining dancers a few moments to release their pent-up tension. Some had huge grins on their faces. Leila was still in a partial daze, almost disbelieving her good fortune.

             
Fortune hell,
her inner voice snorted.
You worked your ass off for this!!

              "Is that the group? I didn't know they were watching." A tall male dancer with green eyes and a short shock of blonde hair whispered about the five good-looking young men who now walked up onto the stage before stopping next to the manager. "Damn, they're fine." Leila had to agree, especially the one on the end who seemed to be looking everywhere but at the dancers.

              "Ladies and gentlemen, this is T4L, one of our country's most popular music groups. I'll allow each member to introduce themselves."

              The first had shockingly bright blonde hair and was dressed in skinny jeans, a button-down shirt and a blazer that looked more expensive than her entire closet combined. "I'm Kibum."

              "I'm Kwan." He had short black hair and wore a vividly colored and printed scarf wrapped artfully around his neck. On anyone else the scarf and coordinating outfit would look a hot mess, but Leila had to admit with some envy that something about the man's fashion sense made it work.

              Next was a blonde with red streaks in his hair who bright smile was infectious to all of the dancers that he bestowed it upon. "I'm Young." He said as his grin grew even wider.

              The dancer next to Leila leaned over and quipped, "He's old enough for me."

              Leila stifled a laugh.

              "I'm Kai." He wore a baseball cap that had some sort of writing on it, white t-shirt, red jacket and jeans. His smile was warm but he also seemed to be thinking about something else.

              "And I'm G.K." Leila instantly focused, as the deep voice reverberated around the room. When Leila’s eyes locked onto the owner of that voice, his wandered amongst the dancers but seemed to linger on hers a little longer than normal. He wore a gray and black cardigan, t- shirt and jeans. His tousled reddish-brown hair looked as if he'd just gotten out of bed. There was something about him that made Leila want to run her fingers through it.
Get a grip on yourself
, she chided mentally.

              All the while her eyes traitorously roamed down his lean body grazing over firm thighs covered in denim. Leila's perusal was interrupted by Jin Yung's voice.

              "You are to report here tomorrow at eight AM. There are dance studios located on the premises and signs will be posted. You are free to leave now, but if you would like to remain and speak with the members or myself we are more than happy to do so."

              Most of the dancers turned to leave. Only Leila and three others chose to stay. Leila's feet found themselves involuntarily moving toward G.K. and the one who had introduced himself as Kai.

             
Oh my god!
G.K. panicked mentally, as he watched number twenty-four approach. He fought down the urge to run away, and forced himself to stand his ground. When she stopped in front of him G.K.'s mind went blank.

             
How is it possible that, she's even prettier up close!

              She had large, slightly slanted, pools of chocolate for eyes. The singer cringed,
did he actually just describe her eyes as chocolate pools?
He couldn't figure out which bothered him more, the fact that he'd thought it or the fact that's exactly what they reminded him of. She had full two toned lips that he had the irresistible urge to kiss. She was the same height as him, if only an inch shorter. At 5'10 he knew he wasn't the tallest and sometimes found himself coming up too short for non-Asian women’s tastes, but right now he was thinking how perfectly number twenty-four would fit in his arms.

              G.K. stood there looking at her looking at him when he heard a throat clear loudly in his ear. He looked sheepishly at an amused Kai then at her again.

              He extended his hand. "Uh hi, I'm...I'm..." and at that moment completely forgot his name.

              "G.K.," his cousin supplied barely suppressing a laugh.

              "Oh yeah, um, I'm G.K.," he swallowed lamely.

              She smiled shyly and he nearly forgot to breathe.

              "I'm Leila," she said in a smoky voice that made G.K. suddenly want to throw her over his shoulder and carry her away. She accepted his outstretched hand and the contact sent a jolt of electricity right through him.

Chapter Two

              That same jolt surged through Leila as well.

              He really was cute, she thought. Deep brown eyes surrounded by long dark lashes, a straight aquiline nose and a wide lush mouth made up his youthfully handsome face. Her eyes drifted to the skin exposed above his shirt and sweater to his neck, spotting a set of twin moles and immediately she thought of tracing them with her tongue.

              She cleared her suddenly dry throat, realizing her hand was still gripped in his and he didn't seem in much of a hurry to let go.

              "It is a pleasure to meet you Leila." The combination of his accented voice sliding over her name, and the warm pearly white smile that followed his words turned her knees to Jell-O.

             
Oh damn! I'm in trouble.

              "It’s nice meeting you too." She flashed him a smile before walking away to speak with Jin Yung. All the while, Leila felt G.K.'s eyes upon her.

***

              Another subway ride and Leila was home. The entire time she had had a grin plastered to her face, a grin she was certain made a few other riders wonder what drugs she was on. Not that she could blame them this was New York after all, she probably would have been thinking the same thing.  When she arrived, Leila found her roommate camped out on the couch watching HGTV.

              "You know as much as we pay for cable, why don't you ask if they can just let you have just this channel. You wouldn't even miss the other sixty-four."

              "I already asked them." Marcia threw her a glance as Leila slid her duffle bag to the floor and plopped down next to her on then blue leather sofa. "They told me that they don't have single channel cable plans."

              Leila laughed as she snagged the pint of Ben and Jerry’s Brownie Cheesecake ice cream out of Marcia’s hands.

              "Hey give that back!"

              Leila shook her head as she spooned a few bites of the decadent dessert into her mouth. "I thought you were on a diet for Fiddler On The Roof."

              Marcia shrugged. "The play is kaput. It couldn't get enough funding if you can believe that, and so it is...no more." The exaggerated Italian accent made them both giggle.

              They passed the ice cream between them but Leila could see the curiosity was killing her friend.

              "So, how was your audition?" Marcia asked as she held the spoon in her hands and would not let go until she got an answer.

              Leila played it off nonchalantly. "It went okay. I got the job!"

              Marcia's eyes practically bugged out of their sockets as she jumped right off the couch.

"Oh my god Leila, that's so great! I knew you'd nail it! Why didn't you tell me sooner, we could have met up to celebrate or something!" The woman was practically dancing and her enthusiasm was infectious.

              "Because I still think I'm dreaming and that I'm on my way back to Georgia." Suddenly the enormity of what had happened finally caught up to her and she joined her friend as they did a happy dance around the living room.

              Still laughing the two collapsed back onto the sofa, ice cream forgotten for the moment.

              Leila gave her friend a huge hug.

              "Sweetie if it wasn't for you I wouldn't have even known about the audition. I owe you free coffee for the next few years!

              "Well I couldn't let the best roomie I've ever had just slink back to the Peach state now could I," Marcia chuckled as her mock-drawl made Leila wrinkle her nose. "So tell me everything. How many people auditioned, who you're working for, and most importantly was there anyone there that was cute? Give me all the dirty details." The woman couldn't seem to keep still which made Leila laugh.

              When she finally caught her breath she answered, "I honestly don't remember how many dancers there were. I just know I was number twenty-four. I think I'll be a backup dancer for some Korean boy band. T4L or something like that. I was planning to Google them when I got home."

              "Google, schmoogle," Marcia said with a wave of her hand. "What you need to answer is whether there were any hotties in the room?”

              Leila's mind immediately thought of G.K. and it must have shown on her face because Marcia hooted.

              "Oh snap, there must be! You should see the look on your face!"

              "Look? What look? There is no look." Leila knew her protestations sounded lame.

              Marcia was as persistent as an eager puppy with a pair of shoes they weren't supposed to have. "Oh yes there is. Someone there has put an 'oh my god he's so sexy I want to rip his clothes off and dip him in chocolate' look on your face."

              Leila looked at her roommate as if the woman had lost her mind. Or maybe she had.

"Marcia...I don't even know where to start, what the heck is the...I can't even repeat it." Marcia smiled broadly "Of course you can't because you know it’s true." Leila only shook her head at her friend, without saying anything. Marcia waited patiently an expectant look on her face; Leila could take no more after a good 2 minutes.

She sighed. "Okay fine, there's this guy named G.K. I'm not saying I’m attracted to him really, but could be described as kinda cute."

              "Guys with initials are always sexy."

              "How old are you again?"

              Marcia ignored the jibe. "Oh my god Leila it’s so true. Think about it. LL Cool J, T.I., and I'm not gonna lie when I was like fifteen I had it bad for JC Chasez from N’Sync."

              Leila laughed hard at that. "Okay, okay, I get it. Initials are cute."

              "So you like this guy."

              Leila fidgeted. "I don't know, maybe. I mean he's attractive, but I don't know. I haven't really liked anyone in so long. Not to mention, technically I'd be working for him and, well, that could cause a lot of drama. I just want to dance, that's all."

              Marcia brushed off Leila's misgivings. "If he likes you I say go for it. Have your cake and the hot man too." Leila just shook her head. "Maybe you should be an advice columnist." She stretched and yawned. "I'm gonna head to bed. It's almost nine and I've got an early start time tomorrow. I still need to shower and call my mom."

              "Well sweet dreams
chiquita
," she called out as Leila headed to her bedroom.

              Her room was only separated from the rest of the space by removable panels, but it offered both her and Marcia some privacy without disrupting the open airy feel of the loft.

Another upside was that it had two bathrooms which was perfect for two showbiz hopefuls who tended to have different schedules.

              When Leila had first seen the space she'd been amazed. Having heard about the notoriously small living quarters in New York she'd been expecting to constantly run into a kitchen table or something.

              Leila grabbed her pajamas before heading to the bathroom where she quickly stepped into the shower, happy to wash away the grime from her audition off her body. As she lathered under the hot water she thought of G.K., wondering what he was doing now. She shook her head as she ran her fingers through her short black hair.

He's not thinking about you, she chided herself, so you definitely need to stop thinking about him.

***

              But G.K.
was
thinking about Leila.

              He hadn't been able to
stop
thinking about her. He'd thought about her on the ride from the theatre, all throughout dinner and on the ride back to their hotel. He knew he had been uncharacteristically quiet, and knew it probably didn't go unnoticed.

              This was a brand new sensation for G.K. Not even Chunhei, their ex-personal assistant whom he'd once thought himself almost in love with, had had his thoughts in such a jumble. He didn't know what it was about the beautiful dancer that made him want to...keep her. It made no sense and it was starting to upset him. She was technically his employee and technically that meant hands-off but “technically” wasn't factoring into the equation.

              "How did you know you were in love with Noel?" G.K. suddenly asked Kai once they arrived inside of their shared hotel room.

              Kai looked at his cousin, surprise on his face. "What?"

              G.K. asked slowly. "When did you know that you were in love with Noel?"

              Kai regarded his cousin quizzically as he slid out of his leather jacket and hung it on the back of a chair. "Well...I mean, the moment I met her I knew something was different."

              Sounds familiar, G.K. thought.

              "It's hard to describe really. One day I saw her at the restaurant and somehow I knew she was my other half." Kai smiled sheepishly as if trying to explain quantum physics to a goldfish.

              "When I'm with her I feel complete. I'm on top of the world and nothing can bring me down."

              The explanation seemed to confuse G.K. even more.

              "Is this about number twenty-four, Leila?"

              G.K. didn't say a word, but Kai grinned hugely. “I knew it! I've never seen you so preoccupied before. Are you going to ask her out?"

              Since his fiasco with Chunhei and the break with his father, their former manager, G.K. hadn't been himself. Kai wanted nothing more than to see his cousin happy again.

              G.K. sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. "I want to, but I don't know how. I don't even know if I should." He let out a frustrated breath. "You know how it is back in Korea. And I don't want Leila thinking she has to sleep with me in order to have a job. I want her to know that I like her and want to get to know her better.” G.K. sat down with a sheepish expression on his face, “You know I've never had a girlfriend and when I get around a woman I like all I do is act like an idiot."

              Kai placed his arm around his cousin. "When any man is around a lady he really likes he acts like a fool. It’s a cardinal rule," He finished with a smile.

              But G.K. wasn't buying it. "I wouldn't even know how to approach her. She's so gorgeous. She probably wouldn't even want a guy like me."

              Kai lightly smacked him on the head. "With that kind of thinking she won't. You just have to be natural, be yourself. Besides I got the feeling she liked you too."

              A look of chagrin fell across G.K.'s face. "I feel so foolish. I should be giving you advice since I'm the oldest."

              Kai raised an eyebrow. "You're barely a year older than me. I hardly consider you to be my senior."

              As the two made ready for bed and another early day tomorrow, Kai reassured his cousin. "Don't worry G.K. it'll be fine." He clicked off the light.

              G.K. lay awake, staring at the ceiling. Be myself? Right.

***

              Leila was up bright and early at seven. Marcia was seldom up before ten and she chuckled quietly when the young woman let out one particularly loud snore that reverberated throughout the loft.

             
Good luck to the guy who ends up sleeping next to that one
, Leila grinned as she grabbed her travel mug of coffee and duffle bag before she dashed out the door.

              The train ride and short walk to the theater was much quicker than anticipated which was a good thing. She arrived at the theater over thirty minutes early. As promised, there were signs placed outside and in the hallways, pointing towards one of the large dance studios.

              Leila took in a deep breath when she stepped into the room. There was a certain smell that always hovered in dance studios; she didn't know whether it was the polish from the wood floors, the glass cleaner from the large mirrors, or even lingering sweat from previous dancers, but the fragrance was distinctive and always made her feel at home.

              She went into a corner of the room and quickly removed her sweatpants and shirt to reveal well-loved yet still serviceable yoga-style capris and t-shirt. She sat on the floor to remove her sneakers and put on her dance shoes when she heard the door to the studio open.               She looked up at the raucous male voices chatting animatedly in Korean. They looked different today she noticed. Instead of the previous day's fashionable clothes, the guys were in basketball shorts and t-shirts with messy, tousled hair as if they'd just rolled out of bed. Kwan and Kai's hair stuck out all over their heads in no particular fashion. Young and Boom had their. Longer hair pulled into messy buns with fly away hairs running rampant. It was G.K.'s hair however that she found adorable. His messy hair had been partially pulled into a small ponytail that stuck out from the top of his head ridiculously. On any other man she would have had a, what is he thinking moment. On G.K., it only managed to endear him to her that much more.