Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
01/17/1993.
29.
Monkey (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 9, 2021 18:27:12 GMT -8
Josh and Taehoon had tried for a few weeks to set up a time for Taehoon to start showing him the basics of some of the latin dances. Josh was a solid pop dancer and picked things up from a variety of styles quickly, but Yuseong had never used latin dance elements in their dances before, and so it was something where he'd be starting a whole new type of isolations, and Taehoon wanted to give him a chance to get comfortable. With Taehoon's schedule being hectic preparing for his solo along with several ongoing schedules. Taehoon had mentioned that one of the members of J.B.N., Elena, the one added at the last minute, actually had a better grounding in latin dances than he did though, and was someone that Taehoon wanted to get to help show Josh the basics at least.
Josh decided that with Taehoon's hectic schedule, and since the girls were in between promotion cycles, he'd just track Elena down and ask for her help. He figured that the worst that could happen is that he had to wrangle schedules with her for a little bit, but it would be easier than trying to squeeze seeing Taehoon for more than fifteen minutes at a time when they weren't literally asleep out of their schedules. He was glad that at least a few of those schedules were shared because it meant that he was at least seeing his boyfriend.
He wandered down to the practice studios, already dressed for dance, wondering if he'd get lucky and just be able to catch Elena that day. Hopefully she'd be interested in helping him out.
Elena Moon
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Dreams Ent Trainee.
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Single.
04/13/2005.
17.
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Authored by Velexa.
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 10, 2021 7:23:07 GMT -8
Elena was in one of the smaller dance studios trying to work on something she'd seen Seojin doing the other day but she couldn't seem to get it. She'd been too distracted by Seojin as a person. She knew she'd clearly been watching her body, but apparently not in a way that allowed her to mimic her dance moves.
She sighed and laid on her back in the middle of the studio, defeated. She covered her face with her hands and gently scolded herself in Spanish for being such a lech. She decided a change of pace was in order. She scrolled through her watch to change the song and decided on a Shakira playlist. Latin music always made her feel better even if it made her a little homesick.
Feeling the music start to sink into her bones she got up and started swaying gently. She closed her eyes and just let the music dictate her movements, feeling her earlier shame and frustration melt away as the music took over. When the next song came on, she opened her eyes and began a solo samba routine. She wished she'd worn heels and the proper clothes to make the dance look complete, but she focused on how her body felt and how she could turn the moves into more sensual motions. She also made sure to choreograph her face to match the feel of the music and the story her body was telling.
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
01/17/1993.
29.
Monkey (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 11, 2021 23:12:41 GMT -8
Josh started peeking into occupied studios, waving to Tai in the first one, but not interrupting whatever the kid was working on. In the second one he tried, he spotted Elena dancing to something that he recognized but couldn't place in the general style that Taehoon had been talking about. He saw what Taehoon meant, she really did know what she was doing.
He watched, waiting for her song to finish, and not wanting to interrupt, but as the song came to a close, he applauded politely and said in English, loud enough to be heard over the music, but hopefully not loud enough to startle, "Hi Elena, sorry to interrupt, but I was actually looking for you. Taehoon was right that you're very good at that, and I see why he was recommending going to you for help with Latin styles."
He paused, trying to gauge her reaction then added before he could back out and be embarrassed at himself, "I was actually looking for you to ask if I could potentially get help with some of the basics of some Latin styles, just like, a crash course. Taehoon's been trying to find time that we could coordinate schedules, but it's been hectic."
He watched her with a small smile, trying to convey that he wouldn't be bothered at all if she said that she was busy, but he hoped that she would say yes. He didn't want to hold things back when Taehoon actually had the time to start working on choreography together.
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Dreams Ent Trainee.
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 12, 2021 6:58:45 GMT -8
Elena looked over at the applause and smiled politely. "Thank you. I love to dance though I'm not very technically sound," she used her watch to turn the music down.
She wracked her brain for a name for the person in front of her, "we've met, right? At our showcase? I'm really bad with names." she was a little embarrassed because this person obviously knew her but she couldn't place them let alone this Taehoon person they were talking about.
"Latin style..." she muttered to herself. "Oh!" she remembered the Yuseong member she'd been helping with samba and Latin dances, "Mr. Plausible Deniability sent you." She closed her eyes, annoyed with herself for saying that out loud. She knew she was bothered by Mr. PD, she really couldn't remember his name, and had meant to do a better job at hiding that since everyone else seemed to like him.
"Come in," she motioned him into the dance studio, "I'm happy to help any way I can."
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
01/17/1993.
29.
Monkey (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 12, 2021 10:29:58 GMT -8
Josh was slightly startled by Elena's confusion, but he also remembered that Seojin had mentioned Elena being bad at names a few times at company meetings in passing. He said, "I'm Josh, Joshua Kim Jaesoo, Yuseong's leader. We've met a few times, though I'm not down here as often as some of the other members when it's not Yuseong's training time."
Then what she'd called Taehoon hit him, and Josh nearly doubled over in laughter. He managed to choke out through his laughing, "Oh my god, he told me about that conversation, and that he showed you the lyrics, but man, yeah, that's Taehoon. Honestly if it were just him, he'd probably give fewer shits about it, but he's both protective and thinks about those sorts of details, which I appreciate."
Josh managed to pull himself together and smiles at her. He said, "I'm honestly just looking for a crash course in basics in Latin styles, and I guess a little bit of Taehoon said Samba was what he was working on I think. I have no grounding in the style, so you've got leagues of it on me. I appreciate the help for sure. But like, if I'm around and you need help on a dance thing for pop styles, I'll do my best. I'm not Taehoon or Seojin or Tai or Felix, but I get by pretty well and have a lot of training in this style."
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 12, 2021 19:34:38 GMT -8
Elena put her hands up in mock defense, "woah, that is way too many names and I'm Spanish, I have twelve names on a good day. Josh-oppa, I'll try to remember that, but I can barely remember Mr. PD's name and I'm pretty sure you just said it."
She nodded along at his assessment of his own skills. "Can I see what you're working with?" she asked, turning up the music again. "Be warned, I will jump in randomly."
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
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01/17/1993.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 14, 2021 21:46:08 GMT -8
Josh smiled indulgently and said, "Taehoon is who I'm doing the duet with. Sorry, I'll try to focus on the discussion at hand."
He thought for a moment and said, "I honestly am starting from scratch basically with Latin dance. I've seen some of it done, and I might be able to imitate something if that's what you want me to try, but I've really only studied pop dance and some hip hop styles, but like filtered through the lens of pop dance. I did some ballet when I was a kid, but that's not super helpful here."
He picked up new styles quickly, but this was uncharted territory. He added thoughtfully, "I know from what Taehoon has said there are basic commonly used steps in a lot of the Latin styles, things that you string together a lot when you're dancing them. Maybe going over a few of those for something would be a good starting place and then seeing what I can do with them?"
He wasn't sure if that made sense in the context of these styles. It had been a while since he'd tried something so wholly new to him in the realm of dance, and usually, he learned from Taehoon, who understood how he learned dance almost better than Josh did himself.
He added, "I'm used to people jumping in to show me things in dance though. Taehoon knows that sometimes someone just needs to move my like hand or foot or whatever to the right place or I'll never figure it out."
Somehow saying that in front of someone he was pretty sure knew made him blush slightly, but he tried his best to stay focused on the task at hand. It wasn't like Taehoon showing him how to do a dance move right was a new thing or a flirtation. Taehoon did that with all the members.
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04/13/2005.
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 16, 2021 12:24:19 GMT -8
“And I thought I talked a lot,” Elena said to herself in Spanish. “Are you nervous? Because you’re talking a lot.” She turned the music down a bit.
“Sorry, that was rude. Let me rephrase my earlier request. I don’t need you to dance in a Latin style, I just need you to dance to the music. I want to see how what you’re hearing in the music translates into dance moves. Then I’ll know what beats your hearing and what rhythms you’re feeling,” she tried to explain.
“For example, Seojin-unnie usually has to step in and clean up my dance moves because they have a lot of extra flourishes and I take my time because I’m not used to crisp and clean. Plus I always seem to find beats that apparently aren’t there.” She realized she was talking a lot now. She also took note of how far she was from him and the fact that she hadn’t hugged him. Was she losing her normal self? Or did she just apply her annoyance at Mr. PD to Josh-oppa?
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
01/17/1993.
29.
Monkey (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
Offline.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 19, 2021 15:16:51 GMT -8
Josh smiled sheepishly at her and rubbed the back of his neck before chewing momentarily on his sleeve, catching himself doing it, and less than subtly stopping the habit. He sighed and said, "Sorry, I'm a little nervous about, well, about learning something dance from someone I don't usually work on dance with, and also just," he waved his hand a little vaguely and said, "Other things with the duet."
He nodded to her explanation and said, "I'm not always the best at freestyle dancing, but sure, I can try that."
It wasn't really how he was used to learning or thinking about dance, generally starting to learn by imitating or having Taehoon show him choreography. He was a fairly good dancer from a technical standpoint, but he certainly wasn't a dancer by position, and he'd never gotten the chance to do things like dance socially.
He stretched a little bit, making sure that he was warm enough to actually dance and then looked back at Elena and said, "If you want to see me try this, pick some music then?"
He knew he sounded more hesitant, nervousness really setting in, but he managed to stop himself from starting to chew on his sleeves again, trying to catch the nervous habit before it started. He had no idea what to think of Elena, and he wasn't the slightest bit sure what she thought of him.
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Dreams Ent Trainee.
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 19, 2021 18:45:54 GMT -8
Elena couldn't help but smile when Josh nibbled on his sleeve. She almost asked him about it, but that'd probably make him more nervous. "I mean if it makes you less nervous, I have no expectations. I don't teach dance so I don't really know how to teach it or how others learn it. So I'm probably going to be just as bad at this as you are."
She wandered back to her phone and looked through her music. "You're nervous because the song and dance is going to tell your love story, right?" she asked, not even thinking about her words as she said them. She paused in her scrolling when she realized what she'd just asked. This is what had made her stop getting along with Mr. Plausible Deniability, what if it backfired on her again.
She decided to play some CNCO for Josh, "try this."
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
01/17/1993.
29.
Monkey (Korea)
Authored by Etienne.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 20, 2021 13:40:56 GMT -8
Josh was about to agree to it making him a little bit less nervous, but then Elena dropped her comment about their story being in the song, and he flinched, sleeve coming up to his mouth unbidden and unstopped this time. Taehoon and others had mentioned that she was blunt. Taehoon had mentioned that she'd figured them out. But also that she was open and accepting. Josh took a deep breath.
His voice was small when he said, "Yes, that's a big part of it. Last time someone seriously suspected I was gay, my entire life got uprooted and turned on its head. I've got a lot more agency over myself now than I did then. I was fourteen at the time. But it's nerve-wracking. Taehoon's been very patient with me about it. Though he definitely understands the fear, he wouldn't be as cautious about the portrayal of it if it wasn't for me."
He was doing his best not to vibrate from the sheer idea of telling someone he barely knew, even if she already knew. He tried to reassure himself that it was OK, it would be OK. He had Taehoon on his side for this. He was pretty sure that this wasn't going to be the conversation that sank his career somehow and completely upended his life again. It had been half his life ago at this point, a strange strange thought.
He took a deep, steadying breath, and focused on the music that she had started, trying to move to the rhythms in it. Freestyle dancing wasn't really his strong point, and he found himself mostly just bobbing at first, trying to find the rhythm, and trying to imitate some moves he'd seen done in Kpop songs with more Latin beats. He had no idea how to get his hips to do the right thing though, feeling more stiff dancing than he had in a long time. He was used to clean, sharp, almost bouncy styles, and the occasional slower, smoother, graceful style. This was something new, and Josh couldn't think of a time that he'd actually tried for sexy. He was pretty sure that the awkwardness of it was showing clearly on his face, but at least now that he was dancing, he wasn't chewing on his sleeves, so there was that.
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Dreams Ent Trainee.
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 20, 2021 16:17:38 GMT -8
Elena saw the sleeve go back into his mouth, she really was making him nervous. "I support you, you don't have to be nervous around me. I'm sorry someone in your life didn't support you and that you feel afraid to be yourself. That person should have loved you unconditionally."
She quirked her head as he started... dancing? She chewed on her lower lip to stifle her giggle and approached him. "Close your eyes and be prepared for me to get way too close for comfort."
She stepped up behind him so her entire front side was flush against his back. She placed her hands on his waist and pulled his butt back and down so he was sort of sitting in her lap which was in the same position. "Close your eyes, don't think about the music, don't look at yourself, don't do anything but listen and feel."
She began to sway her hips, moving his to mimic hers in time. She wanted him to get a feel for the dips and curves and flows of his hips and music.
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
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29.
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Authored by Etienne.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 20, 2021 16:35:01 GMT -8
Josh sighed and mumbled, "My parents, it's been a long time. Half my life."
He shook his head, trying to clear it and just focus on what they were doing.
He could tell from the glimpses that he got of Elena that his attempts to follow the music were at best amusing. This wasn't really how he usually picked things up, and not being familiar with the music or the style in general certainly wasn't helping. He could hear the rhythm fine, he could probably learn the song vocally pretty quickly, but he just didn't quite know what to do with his body to it.
When Elena left his line of vision, he was not expecting to suddenly have her body plastered against his, and he squeaked and tensed up, taking a few moments to process what she was saying. He'd never done something like this with anyone other than Taehoon, and it felt strange and vaguely uncomfortable if he thought about it too much, but he focused on what she was actually saying and doing. Trying to get a feel for the elements of the music that she was trying to show him. He was struggling to relax into the feeling of it though.
When the song that they were on ended, he stepped away for a second, frowning a little bit and said, "I think that I have a slightly better idea of what my hips are supposed to be doing from that, but I'm honestly still a little lost. I know it's potentially a slightly more improvised style? But like, is there a specific dance or moves that you could show me as a starting place? I think that I'm struggling a little bit to wrap my head around the shape of it, and I'm used to starting from set choreography."
He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, and said, "I'm sorry, I'm not being a great student for a first time teacher am I. I've only had one person teach me dance for years, and I suspect it's showing."
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Post by Elena Moon on Aug 20, 2021 19:00:40 GMT -8
Elena watched Josh as he tried to talk himself around his own dancing. “I mean I can show you some dance moves for you to copy I guess. That being said, knowing choreography and feeling it are very different things.”
She changed the song back to Shakira and did a quick 16 count which mainly consisted of hip movements. She focused on clean moves, hoping tying those two things together would help Josh. Shakira was known for her isolations so she imitated those.
“Try that to get a feeling,” she wasn’t confident in her own teaching abilities so she worried that without Mr. PD that nothing much would get accomplished, but she also had no desire to be around the happy coupe for now.
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Kpop Idol, Yuseong's Leader.
Gay (Secretively).
Single.
01/17/1993.
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Post by Joshua Kim Jaeseo on Aug 20, 2021 19:13:25 GMT -8
Josh considered it for a moment and nodded, "I think that I know what you mean, about the difference between knowing choreography and feeling the music. But I think that we approach things differently in that until I know where to put my body for choreography, I have trouble incorporating the music to it. Yuseong isn't really a dancer heavy group, honestly. I'm second or third best at dance in the group, but that doesn't mean I'm truly good. We've got good synch because Taehoon is good at coaching us, but I'm not sure any of us are truly good dancers other than him."
Josh watched what Elena did carefully, starting to follow along with what she was doing quickly enough. He knew that he didn't have the hip isolations right yet, but he worked on creating a framework in his mind for the sorts of steps that the style could be based on. It helped to hearing more layers of the music too, the off beats and lyrical levels that tied in with the dance. It took him a couple of tries to get all the steps that she was doing, but only a couple for him to find the pattern.
He nodded and said, "I think that playing that again and having me try while you watch will be more useful in starting to fix things. I've certainly not got it down right, I know my hips aren't doing nearly the right thing, it's a different style of isolations than I'm used to, but this makes more sense to me than trying to wing it."
He was able to replicate the steps that she'd been showing pretty well, trying to focus on projecting the correct feeling, and doing a halfway decent job at facial expressions and the hand and leg movements. His hips were still too sharp and jerky in their movements, but he was able to at least get the overall movements more in line with what Elena had been doing. In general face and hands were what he got the most right the fastest in dance, which he knew made him very much an idol dancer as opposed to a dancer who was an idol. He didn't mind horribly. He got by, and he was a significantly better vocalist than that.
He tried his best to watch for Elena's reactions and see what she was going to do to adjust him, fully expecting her to touch first and explain second, but feeling more in control of his own part in the situation now.
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