The Love Score || Zhuo Zhi

21: Better Later Than Sooner

2.58p.m. Jeez, why am I always late? Why couldn't both Si Yang and I have the same punctuality genes?

Panting, I ran across the school compound to get to the dance studio. I refused to let this be the first time that I would be late for our dance training sessions. My bookbag bounced on my back and my hair flew behind me in the cooling wind.

I pushed the door of the dance studio open, letting a blast of air-conditioning blow in my face. I shrugged my bookbag off my shoulders in the corner where the dance members would leave their bags, my eyes scanning around the studio. I saw Yi Kai in the corner, already talking to Li Jing. I darted over to their side.

"Hey, Senior," Yi Kai acknowledged while Li Jing made eye contact with me briefly and nodded. I still couldn't understand how Yi Kai could stand her unfriendly and hard-to-interact-with attitude.

"Sorry I'm late," I dragged a hand through my long hair, then tied it up into a relatively decent ponytail. "Got caught up in a bit of schoolwork,"

"Training hasn't begun, so you aren't late," Li Jing answered quietly.

"Everyone assemble!" Our co-president, the boy with the round spectacles, called out. Yi Kai and Li Jing got up from where they were sitting on the floor and we gathered amongst everyone else.

"Can I have your attention?" The president, the girl with the pixie haircut said. "Okay, this is your second last dance practice session before you all will be presenting your group dance choreography next week. The order of the performance will be randomized and we will not be revealing them. Remember that you will not just be performing in front of us, but the whole club as well. So I advise you all not to screw things up,"

That earned a few laughs. Our co-president then continued, "I know I've repeated it too many times, but I'll remind you guys that this determines the position of where you will be in our full club choreography for our performances. If you want to be a sub-role and stand at the back, you can give us a lousy performance. If you want to be up in the front and get better roles, I suggest that you'd better start perfecting your dance. Okay, we've said enough, now go!"

"I swear," Yi Kai shook his head. "He has said the same thing so many times, I can memorize his lines by now,"

Li Jing just stared straight ahead as we walked back to our corner of the dance studio. I raised my eyebrows at Yi Kai. "Oh really? Repeat what our co-president just said, then,"

Yi Kai smirked, speaking in a tone that imitated our co-president, "He always tells us, 'This determines the position of where you will be in our full club choreography for our performances. If you want to be a sub-role, then you...' " he paused for a second, his face dropping in disappointment. His voice faltered a little and it went back to his normal voice near the end. "Uh..."

I grinned. "Yeah, sure that you've remembered all those lines correctly, Yi Kai,"

Yi Kai scratched the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "Let's just go practice," he mumbled, catching up to Li Jing in front.

Since our dance club mostly involved hip-hop related dances, we had all decided on a dance that suited our dance styles best; sharp yet smooth, wavy movements. We had already settled the song and the choreography to follow on since we decided that three practise sessions per week for two weeks weren't enough to create our own choreography. Well, only Yi Kai and I had decided on that. Li Jing had given us a disapproving look while we were scrolling through the different choreographies on YouTube.

Well, we can't all have her talent, can we?

"I'll play the song now," Li Jing said, propping her phone up against the wall. "We will dance once to the video, and for the rest of today let's do it with just the audio and with no references,"