Loving A Triple Threat

It was boys dance term.

Ms Moon in her great wisdom made Gi run all the way to Daeil to practice with the boys from the YG feeder academy. The very same boys who resented her for showing them up at Joon's party. Especially since she only won the competition because of her comedic portrayal of Big Wang and Blackpink's intervention.

The disdain from the boys was real.

The pack had a leader; Shin-Wa. The boys were strange pack like beasts and all the smaller in stature - would follow his queue. Not quite all, there was one exception, the lone wolf, the one they also held in disdain; Jordan. He didn't even have a Korean name.

Mr Pak made Ms Moon seem nice.

"Okay," Mr Pak growled, "its time for you sissies to get to work! If I hear one complaint from any of you Ms Moon owes me a favour and you will be doing splits by the end of the day," he walked up to one of the lesser boys. "Ballbreakers son. Ballbreakers."

Gi felt like waving her hand to remind the Teacher that she was here, but from the snickers, at the word 'sissy' it sounded like he was quite aware, and the joke was at her expense.

'Oh. Mr Pak.' Gi thought, her eyes smouldering – 'Challenge accepted.' She would show Mr Pak and his boys who was a sissy.

On the agenda for today was street dance. And Mr Pak didn't teach choro, he merely taught moves that the dancer could string together in any fashion they saw fit.

"There are fifty moves that I can teach you," he growled, "some of you know most of them already." He patted Shin-Wa on the head. "While some of you just make up your own crap." He stared at Jordan.

Gi wondered how a teacher at Daeil could speak such a way and not be reprimanded by the Principal.

"And some of you," he closed on Gi standing four feet from her and coughed "some of you are expected to fail. Street dance isn't for girls."

It brought a roar of laughter from the boys. Gi looked around staring them down. She would not lash out, she would see how they laughed once she beat them. And then she noticed Jordan wasn't laughing. He was ignoring everyone, including Mr Pak, while he was stretching.

Gi made her way over to the stretch bar and began to do the splits with one leg up on the bar. She was wearing her normal tights but had a short skirt and loose top in an attempt not to send the boys crazy.

They boys crooned when she did the splits until Mr Pak roared, "Shut it and work. Until you can perfect the basic moves I don't want to hear anything except the panting of dogs."

Mr Paks hadn't bothered to show Gi the basic moves, she watched the boys for a moment and since they hadn't perfected the move perhaps she would learn the wrong thing if she mimicked them.

She looked for the lead boy, Mr Paks' golden boy Shin-Wa, so she could study him. Fortunately, he was showing off to the other boys, so Gi watched closely.

"He's not that good," Jordan said quietly. "It's all hype and no depth." Before he started to dance. After watching three rounds of Shin-Wa Gi had a good idea of the basic moves and a couple of improvisations.

She stood at the stretch bar and watched Jordan. He was all improv if he took on any of the moves from Mr Paks he had changed them significantly to his own personal style.

Mr Paks walked the room saying the rudest things to his students. Gi wondered if Ms Moon sent her here, not for the lesson in dance, but for the lesson in that she wasn't the worst teacher in the world.

Gi began to mimic Shin-Wa, she stood thirty feet away and copied his every move. Mr Paks watched her for a minute before he sniffed and tilted his head to this side in thought. But he said nothing and moved to the next student.

Gi felt like she had the basic moves down, she could feel them in her spirit. Not the technical perfection, but what they were meant to be.

She closed her eyes and began to practice them while embedding her own style. After a few minutes, she opened her eyes. She felt like she had the spirit down, her style down. She had danced for so many years she did not need to watch the mirror to know where her hand was, where her toes were pointing.

But now, she did watch herself, as part of her process. It had been an hour and she was satisfied with her progress. The moves were different in rhythm and expression. There were many torso sweeps and dips. The kicking wasn't with a straight leg, but a bent knee. And the style, it was not meant to look precise even if it was. The moves had varying acceleration, which made them distinct from traditional and most modern. As she swung an elbow in an arc, it would start slow, before a massively accelerated jerk before slowing down again.

"Good," Mr Paks said, she didn't know he had been watching, but then he added, "for a girl." There was at least one snigger at the remark.

Gi's immediate reaction was to fire back, but she held her tongue. She was not only improving her dance control but her tongue control as well.

"Thank you, Mr Paks," she said, "you are a good Teacher."

He smiled.

"For a man," she finished.

Okay, she thought, maybe the tongue was not so disciplined after all.

Mr Paks laughed.

Gi was amazed if it was Ms Moon she would have been sent to the principal. But Mr Paks took her disrespectful remark and laughed at it. Like it was nothing. She was intrigued by him now, he was the rudest teacher. One who surely would be fired at Branksome Hall. But, now he proved that he was not normal in the slightest.

"You will need that," Mr Paks said.

Gi had no idea what he meant.

She finished her warm downs and once Shin-Wa led his pack of boys in a whistle directed towards her they all followed suit.

"That's enough!" Mr Paks bawled. "If she goes crying to Ms Moon none of you will survive." He eye-balled Shin-Wa when he said none.

It was probably the worst defence Gi had ever received, but it was better than nothing.

"You weren't bad," Jordan said quietly from her other side. She was blocking Mr Paks and the other boys view of him.

"You weren't that bad either," Gi replied, "your improv is excellent."

She saw a tiny grin spread on his face, "You're the only one who noticed, they all think I can't do the moves properly."

Gi walked to her bag, towelled down the sweat as Jordan approached and opened his own bag next to hers.

She chuckled, "They must be as stupid as they look. It's obvious."

"You're pretty good," he said. He then stood and flung his long hair back, before quickly retying it behind his head. "For a girl." He grinned and left.

Some of the other boys heard a snippet of their exchange and one remarked, "Ooo, Jordan might get lucky." Which brought a round of laughter from the pack.

"Pfft," Gi said, "he'd be the only one around here that was looking at you lot."

It was a mistake to retort. The boys went into a frenzy about Jordan and Gi.

She made for the door to escape when she ran into Ren.

"Hey," he said and then he heard the pack. "What's going on? Are they talking about you and Jordan?"

"Yeah, they don't like me or him very much," Gi replied.

"Oi," Ren called to the YG feeder academy students, "lay off."

"Whatever Ren," came the reply.

They left the building together, "Don't you have class?" Gi asked.

"Sure, but you're here how can I not see you to the gate at least. I won't be late," he said.

"Oh, so sweet," she replied and pecked his cheek with a kiss.

"Don't give them any reason to make you think you're with Jordan," Ren said as they reached the gate.

"I just talked to him Ren, and he was trying to help me. Unlike everyone else in that class. Including the teacher," she replied.

"Well," Ren said, "talking to him is reason enough for them."

"So, I'm not allowed to talk to other boys?" Gi asked.

"Yes, don't be stupid," Ren stated before adding, "just not Jordan."

"Are you two rivals?" Gi asked.

Ren shook his head, "As if. No. I'm year twelve and his is year eleven. And I have you as a girlfriend and he is probably gay."

Gi laughed, "I am year eleven and he is not gay. Well, I didn't get that vibe off him."

Ren put his hands in the air, "Okay. You're defending him now." He laughed. "Do what you want, I can handle it." He stomped off back to class.

Gi sighed and ran back to Branksome.