Dark sunshine

Chapter 8: Soul

Seoul was covered in the first snow of the year in mid December. I have not seen Yoongi and Hani for a long time as I needed to recover fully and get my head around some things. Jungkook invited me over to HYBE to get a sneak peak of their concert rehearsal. He wanted to get my opinion on how it sounded. It sounded like a nice change and he picked me up from my flat.

„I am super excited for you to see it", he said grinning as he pulled up to the private parking at his company.

„I will try my best to help you", I chimed back. Jungkook and me had a lot of banter going on and he was someone that could always lighten the mood by his dad jokes and clumsiness. So far I had only met him and Yoongi from their group so I was a bit nervous to officially meet the rest. They were at the funeral though I did not talk to them back then. I checked in at the lobby and we made our way up to the dance studio. The music was blasting loud when we entered. I bowed to the staff that was there.

„Yo yo, I bought a friend to help us. Ary noona will look at this with fresh eyes. I think we all are biased. Ary I think you know them all right?", Jungkook asked me grinning. I nodded and greeted everyone. Yoongi gave me a quick bow and started to stretch again. Jungkook rolled his eyes when he saw that.

„Miss Ary let me get you the best seat here. Tae help me", Jimin said sweetly and both set up a chair for me and even gave me a notepad and pen to take notes. They were both very nice. J-Hope came over and looked at me: „Please stop the music whenever you see something being off like choreo or music. There are some details that we worked out but I feel like you will catch more". I looked past them and all the members gave me their thumbs up expect Yoongi who did not care and the staff was also fine. They started the intro where Jungkook and Jimin danced together, Mid way J-Hope joined and I was pulled into their world. It was art at its finest and they deserved their spot at the top for sure. I could tell from the first few seconds. The first song started playing and I stopped it midway. It did not connect for me. They paused and looked at me waiting. „What story are you trying to tell? What is the journey? You started off strong and now you lost me. You start with a sad song and continue with a happy one? Can I listen to the other songs please. Maybe you need to re-arrange the order", I asked them and looked over to the staff.

J-Hope and RM came over to me and we talked about the concept. After listening to the songs I we moved them around. The transitions would work better. So we ran with the new order and it felt better though we quickly knew that the songs needed to be adjusted through mixing and the chore partially too. RM called in a break for all and I asked for permission to try something. Jungkook stayed with me and he was impressed at the speed I worked at. After 2 hours I was done with the entire list and once he heard the first song he jumped up and ran out to get the other members.

„J-Hope, I count on you to do live changes to it. The choreo is your speciality", I said as he came in and he nodded. His eyes were sparkling and he liked a good mission. Jungkook did us the favor of playing the list and they all listened attentively. Their eyes were closed and as the last song ended the all opened their eyes.

„It is perfect", Jimin said with a content smile. They all nodded. Now the ball was on their side. I watched J-Hope adjust the choreo and after 2 hours we got all the staff back to watch the entire run. They all clapped at the end and complimented them and me. The staff left and the guys invited me to their dorm to have dinner. Jin talked me into coming and I had no choice than to agree. I got inside the car with Jungkook, RM, Jimin and Tae.

„Hyung is a really good cook. You will love it", Tae sang from behind.

„Yeah though Yoongi Hyung is also good. Let us see who will be in charge today", Jungkook added as he pulled up at the highway. I felt more ate ease since Jungkook was there. Usually I feel awkward around new people.