Chapter 30
All afternoon, the two focused only on choreography. Especially Taeri’s choreography was so intense that it was exhausting just watching. Juha asked several times if he was okay, but Taeri remained composed.
The Choi Taeri who begged for kisses and clung to him at night was definitely a different person from the one preparing for the stage.
And at 6:50 PM.
While Juha was checking the live streaming equipment, Taeri used the break to try again the jump move that appeared in the ‘Mine’ choreography. Since it was solo choreography, he had been practicing individually the whole time, but he was in a sensitive state because he couldn’t execute it perfectly.
“10 minutes left, are you ready?”
“Yeah, let me try once more.”
“Stop it. You’ll get hurt.”
Juha nagged without even looking back.
“Ah, it’s not working…”
Taeri muttered to himself and rotated his stiff ankle. The jump was so high that the impact on his ankle and sole when landing was quite strong, but he couldn’t stop practicing.
While preparing for this competition, Taeri was unusually anxious. As much as he looked forward to the stage with Juha, he didn’t want to lose. Setting aside the death match results, he wanted to show a perfect stage.
The more spectacular the jump, the more unstable the landing. It seemed like it would be perfect with just a little more practice, but time was becoming increasingly precious.
Leaving his impatience behind, Taeri firmly tensed his core and jumped up.
“Ah, ugh.”
The moment Taeri landed, he sat down on the floor.
“Choi Taeri! Are you okay?”
As soon as he heard Taeri’s groan, Juha jumped up and ran to him.
Taeri grimaced and grabbed his ankle. Juha crouched in front of him and hurriedly massaged his ankle together.
“Are you badly hurt? Does it hurt? Are you okay? Should I call the medical room?”
As pale-faced Juha rapid-fired questions, Taeri chuckled.
“I twisted it a bit. I’m fine.”
“Still… won’t it get worse if you dance? Should we change our content?”
“I hurt this spot often, so it’s fine. I need to teach our Juha how to dance.”
Taeri brushed it off casually and got up from his spot. Juha still looked unconvinced.
“Be careful. I’m worried.”
“The broadcast is starting.”
As if to redirect Juha’s attention, Taeri got up and headed to the computer first.
The two sat side by side at the table for now. Only a laptop, audio equipment, filming camera, and one simple lighting setup were prepared.
“I’m a bit nervous…”
“It’s okay. I’ll handle it.”
With Taeri saying that, Juha couldn’t show his nervousness. Though they were the same age, Taeri was reliable, and Juha felt sorry that there was nothing he could do.
At exactly 7 o’clock, the broadcast started.
Messages saying “[…]님이 입장하셨습니다. (has entered)” frantically scrolled up the chat window.
“Hello, I’m Choi Taeri. Can you see me well?”
Choi Taeri skillfully waved at the camera and greeted. Seeing him focus on the broadcast, Juha’s doubts lessened.
‘Let’s concentrate.’
Juha pushed away thoughts about Taeri’s injury and turned his gaze to the screen.
[Taeri Love: Wow, it’s really Choi Taeri.]
[dd: It’s Taeri, it’s Taeri!!!!]
With just a greeting, the chat was filled with excitement. One minute after starting the broadcast, there were 4,821 participants.
It was still far from ten thousand.
“Ah, hello. I’m Lee Juha.”
Juha bowed his head and greeted.
[Overlord: ㅋㅋㅋㅋ Lee Juha greets well.]
[Meow meow: Oh, it’s so amazing to hear Lee Juha speak.]
[My Idol Best: The two-shot is so heartwarming!!!]
While Juha was busy reading the rising chat messages, Taeri made eye contact with the camera.
“Today, as I mentioned… Ah, TMI? Haha, things about the program aren’t allowed due to regulations. I’m doing well.”
[My Idol Your Idol: Lee Juha!! Lee Juhaaaaaa!!!!!]
[House Window Coexistence Flavor: Juha!! Look here.]
As Juha kept disappearing from the screen while reading chat, the chat window went crazy again. Juha was startled and waved at the camera.
“I’m, I’m here.”
This was his first time, so it was very awkward.
Taeri looked at Juha once with satisfaction, then turned his gaze back to the camera.
“As I mentioned, today I’m going to teach Juha some dance. Ah, as you all probably know, Juha dances really well too. But Juha asked me to look at his contemporary dance lines, so while we’re at it…”
[Overlord: Lee Juha has no talent but he’s trying hard to leech off Taeri.]
As soon as the chat appeared, Taeri stopped talking.
-‘Choi Taeri’ has removed ‘Overlord’ from the room.
-‘Choi Taeri’ has blocked ‘Overlord’.
“I’ll remove people who post malicious chats like this.”
Choi Taeri said with a bright smile like the gentlest person in the world.
A blackout hit the chat window for a moment.
When every viewer was precious, a forced ejection. Suddenly, he remembered Choi Taeri eating sweet pumpkin like rice at lunchtime.
Juha felt both sorry and grateful to Taeri who mercilessly kicked out a viewer who insulted him. Also, it was reassuring to have someone who could be so direct beside him. Though he would stop being on his side once they got off stage.
Taking advantage of that gap, the viewer count rose again, filling the chat window.
“Huh?”
The viewer count rose at a frightening pace, and before they could even start proper content, a notification appeared.
[The limited number of viewers is full.]
Along with the message, fireworks popped on screen. Before they could even read proper messages, “Congratulations” messages quickly scrolled up the chat window.
“Wow! Ten thousand is all filled up?”
When Juha shouted, Taeri grabbed and hugged him.
Rather than the emotion of overcoming a hurdle, he couldn’t believe they had filled a full room so quickly.
“Wow!”
“Wowow!”
[Taeri Grandma: ㅋㅋㅋ Seeing you kids happy makes this grandma happy too hoho]
[Juha Grandma: Thanks to you I’ll live long hoho]
[Bag Grandma: But are there only grandmas here? I don’t see any grandpas?]
[Don’t Buy Stocks: Kids, aren’t you going to start ㅋㅋㅋ]
The two who were hugging while looking at the chat finally came to their senses.
“Shall we greet once and then start? We sincerely thank you for coming to see us.”
“Thank you.”
Juha and Taeri placed their hands above their navels and bowed politely.
“Since all the viewers have gathered, let me tell you once more. In today’s broadcast, I’ll be teaching Juha simple contemporary dance. Juha is also a good dancer, but I’m better at dance, so…”
Taeri praised while glancing at Juha.
“Not really a good dancer… haha.”
Juha scratched his neck awkwardly. Receiving praise in front of ten thousand people wasn’t familiar at all.
“Now, let’s stand up.”
Juha and Taeri positioned themselves at a distance from the camera and stood. The full bodies of the two tall men fit entirely on screen.
[Sister Yeoni: Wow, wow. They both stood up.]
[Fandom Fan: Look at Taeri’s face… What’s with those shoulders?]
[Muggle 1: Lee Juha is really tall and slender]
Unable to resist, the chat was flooded with praise for the two trainees’ appearances. Slender Juha in a slightly clingy white t-shirt and muscular Taeri’s bodies were heart-fluttering enough to compare at a glance. While Lee Juha’s shirt fluttered as he moved, revealing his thin waist, Taeri’s t-shirt wrapped his muscular upper body with volume. It was a satisfyingly pleasant sight.
Since a bar wasn’t prepared, Taeri brought a chair and placed it next to Juha.
“Now, first put your left hand on this chair, and extend your right arm forward like when dancing. Ah, what you just did is basic general dance technique, but to learn dance basics, you need to start by spreading from the shoulder blades here and extend with strength all the way to the tip of your middle finger.”
Taeri explained while holding Juha’s shoulders, spine, and elbows.
“Like this?”
Juha took the position and asked Taeri.
“‘Like this?’ You can’t use informal speech to your teacher.”
Taeri playfully scolded Juha.
[Ping Pingu: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Stern Teacher Choi Taeri]
[Taeri Me Taeri Me: Is this teacher-student content?]
[Ooh Chu Chu Taeri: Shh! You’ll get kicked out.]
When a few viewers who hadn’t seen the ‘Overlord’s’ swift pumpkin expulsion tried to raise the chat level, an atmosphere of mutual caution formed.
Regardless, Taeri and Juha, who had already gotten up, focused on the class.
“Then teacher, please show me a demonstration.”
When Juha requested with bright, clear eyes, the chat exploded again. Somehow it hit their fan hearts.
[Muggle 5: He said teacher………..]
[Kim Jungyeon: Oh my…]
[Anti-Marriage: Why doesn’t our school have students like that?]
[Moon Floating: Demo demo]
[Taeri Taeri Taeri: God Taeri’s demo is coming!]
At Juha’s word “teacher,” Taeri’s eyes trembled slightly. Though he found it absurd that he was excited by such words, Taeri tried to maintain composure.
“Ah, um. Since the ‘student’ is asking the ‘teacher,’ I’ll show a simple demonstration. It’s very basic.”
[Ping Pingu: ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ Hey, what are you guys doing?]
[Who Made That Cough Sound: You’re really playing well.]
[Let’s Go: You’re the student and I’m the teacher, live action version]
Taeri finished speaking and demonstrated extending his arms forward, then bending at the waist until his forehead touched his knees and coming back up.
Since Taeri’s limbs were naturally long and flexible, even simple movements looked elegant like a crane.
[Muggle 3: Wow, amazing. I sometimes do that when my back hurts, but can you do it so artistically?]
[Muggle 1: Choi Taeri really was a dancer…]
[Taeri Me Taeri Me: Taeri has tons of amazing stuff on his channel, don’t just admire this, quickly hit subscribe and like.]
“Student Lee Juha, please try it.”
“Yes.”
Juha extended his hands forward slowly, starting from his shoulder blades as Taeri taught him. When his center wobbled a bit, Taeri lightly placed his hands on both sides of Juha’s waist to support him.
“Focus more on your back muscles. Think as if you have a face on your back.”
Taeri traced Juha’s back curves with his fingertips, checking his body movement. Juha focused on each muscle following his touch as he took the position. It was a simple movement, but paying attention to details already made him sweat.
[Lee Minseo: Juha’s fingertips are trembling ㅠㅠ Why is it so touching…]
[Fish Bread Eat: Lee Juha’s face is his skill.]
[3 Second Cut: Oh, he’s better than I thought?]
[Angry Yellow Taeri: Kind of like a squid…]
[Lulu: Where is there such a handsome squid!!!]
“Student Lee Juha, well done. Now to the side. Bend your waist, then slowly come up as if rolling up from your tailbone, good job.”
A slight laugh was mixed in Taeri’s tone when he said ‘student.’ When Juha lost balance and wavered, Taeri held his waist with both hands to help him center.
Since Juha had also danced for a long time, his learning speed was definitely fast. Juha’s basics were beyond Taeri’s expectations. The most important thing in dance is understanding your body’s available range, and Juha was already well-trained. Taeri, who was teaching, was getting more excited.
Thanks to this, the class became more serious than suitable for broadcasting.
However, the worry that viewers would be bored was unfounded. Every time their bodies touched and separated, the chat caught fire.
Comments like ‘This house seems to be doing nothing but why is it so fun’ and ‘Face restaurant’ – for fans who expected their chemistry, every gesture and tone of Taeri correcting Juha’s posture was all material.
Moreover, with the exchanges of ‘teacher’ and ‘student,’ fans were struggling and screaming.
A few chats with risky content appeared, but unless Taeri noticed them or there were no insults toward Juha, they didn’t pay much attention.
-10 minutes left in the broadcast.
Before they knew it, 50 minutes had passed and the broadcast was nearing its end.
“Oh, there are only ten minutes left. Shall we chat a bit and finish?”
“I’ll do whatever the teacher tells me to do.”
At Juha’s answer, Taeri looked at him with meaningful eyes again. Meanwhile, anxious fans started flooding the chat.
[Taeri Me Taeri Me: Choi Taeri Choi Taeri! Show us something cool!]
[Geuncho Choco King: Jump!!!]
[Taeri Something: You have those flying things, let’s see that for real!!]
[Taeri Grandma: Taeri, grandma’s wish is to see your dance live.]
Most viewers were ‘Teri Us’ subscribers, so they knew how excellent Choi Taeri’s dance technique was.
He could show something, but Taeri smiled awkwardly and waved his hands.
“I’d like to show you, but I can’t because the stage might leak. The last 10 minutes will be Q&A time.”
[Taeri You: Aaaaah Taeri…]
[Taeri Something: Ah, ugh, Taeri ㅠㅠㅠㅠ Why did you seduce me if you were going to do this!]
[Taeri Taeri Taeri: Right… if Taeri says so, then that’s that…]
Taeri ignored the disappointed fans’ reactions and brightly talked about various things. Meanwhile, Juha secretly stole glances at Taeri.
‘Why won’t he do it?’
For ten thousand viewers, he could have shown one move that wasn’t in the choreography.
The Taeri that Juha knew was someone who would respond coolly to such requests. But there were only two reasons for deliberately avoiding it. Either because he was worried Juha would be overshadowed if attention focused on Taeri, or because he was in a situation where he couldn’t do it.
‘He’s not really hurt, is he?’
Juha secretly looked at Taeri’s ankle.
He wasn’t limping, so there didn’t seem to be a big problem, but Juha was secretly worried.
“Thank you so much for coming today. Student Juha, say something too.”
When Taeri nudged him, Juha reflexively waved his hand.
“Ah, yes. Thank you everyone. It was my first live so I was very nervous, but next time I’ll do better. We really prepared a lot, so please look forward to this stage.”
Juha smiled brightly and gave his final greeting. It seemed a bit businesslike, but fortunately no extremely bad comment like “thank you for saving me” came out.
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
