Chapter Text
You were happily lost in your phone, one earbud in as you scrolled through your tiktok fyp. Your thumb stopped when you came across a particular dance that caught your eye- someone was dancing to a song called “FaSHioN”. You had never heard it before, so you assumed it was new and mentally reminded yourself to learn the choreography later.
Later that evening, the glow of your phone screen illuminated your satisfied face at the dinner table. You tapped the ‘post’ button and immediately turned the phone to your parents.
“Look at this new dance I just learned.”
Your mom leaned in, squinting. “Oh, very sharp, honey! All those little pops and locks.” She mimicked a goofy head movement, making you grin.
“Is that… chinese?” your dad asked, pausing with his fork halfway to his mouth. He was trying, God love him. “I thought you liked the korean stuff, what about the whole K-pop venture? Speaking of, are you still dead-set on Seoul next year? After graduation?”
You couldn't help but laugh at your dad's ignorance, answering his question nevertheless. "Korean, dad. And yes, 110%" That had been the plan since you were 12, now that you had the passion to dance you finally had a motive to go to your dream country.
“And the Korean lessons?” your mom prodded gently. “Is that nice tutor actually helping?”
A flush of pride warmed your cheeks. You’d been practicing the phrase all week. “Ne, eomma. Jeoneun hangukeul jom haeyo,” you said, carefully shaping the words. Yes, Mom. I can speak a little Korean.
From the other end of the table came a scoff. You raised a brow in your older brother's general direction. “You got something to add, oh wise one?”
He didn’t glance up from his game. “Nope. Just sitting here, quietly in awe of a true, dedicated Koreaboo in her natural habitat.”
You finally turned to him, a slow smile spreading. “How do you even know that word? It’s so niche. Sounds to me like someone might actually be interested in kpop too?” you say wiggling your eyebrows .
“I looked it up” he said flatly. “Just to have an accurate term for the bizarre phenomenon occurring in my own kitchen.” Your parents laughed at you and your brother's antics, you sighed with a smile on your face and went back to your food, amused at his failed attempt to rage bait.
The next morning, you were on your way to school when you decided to check on how the tiktok you posted last night was doing. You’d gotten a few notifications, but thought nothing of them. When you opened the app, and the number you saw didn’t make sense.
3.7M views.
It blew up!!! wait hold on
You stopped walking, heart was suddenly a frantic drum against your ribs. 3.7 million. And counting. HOLY SHIT. plus the likes were in the hundreds of thousands. You opened the comments to make sure you weren’t going viral for some stupid shit you accidentally did.
“OKAY SHE ATE AND LEFT NO CRUMBS”
“get her on stage!!!!”
“CORTIS NEEDS TO SEE THIS ASAP”
“oh she can DANCE dance”
“Someone tag them! @cortis”
You slapped a hand over your mouth, but your eyes crinkled with incredulous joy. You had a following, sure- a couple hundred thousand people who liked watching a girl who could move. But this? This was insane!
A couple weeks passed by, you pinned your dance video to the top of your page and uploaded a couple different choreos since then. It was a thursday afternoon. You were curled on the living room couch on your laptop sorting through your emails for potential brand deals. You were clearing out all the unnecessary ones when a sender name made your finger freeze on the trackpad.
BigHit Music.
Huh? That couldn’t be right. It had to be one of those scammy emails that used big company names to seem legit. You got them sometimes, and you almost deleted it, but something held you back. The preview read: Inquiry Regarding Performance Collaboration.
Heart beginning to thud in a slow, heavy rhythm, you clicked it.
Subject: Performance Collaboration Opportunity – CORTIS
Dear Y/N L/N,
We hope this message finds you well.
My name is Kim Seoyoon, and I am a Performance Director at BigHit Music, under HYBE Corporation.
Our team recently came across your dance video to “FaSHioN” by CORTIS that was posted on TikTok. We were highly impressed by your musicality, precision, and overall stage presence, and your performance has been internally shared among our creative staff.
As CORTIS prepares for upcoming promotional stages, we are currently exploring opportunities to collaborate with emerging dancers who demonstrate strong individuality and connection to our artists’ work.
We would like to invite you to participate in a short-term performance collaboration with CORTIS in Seoul, South Korea.
This opportunity would include:
• A three-week rehearsal period with our performance team
• Participation in choreography development sessions
• Potential appearance in upcoming stage performances and related contentAll travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the company. Further details regarding scheduling, guardianship consent (if applicable), and logistics can be discussed following your confirmation of interest.
If this is something you would like to consider, please reply to this email at your earliest convenience.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Kim Seoyoon
Performance Director
BigHit Music | HYBE Corporation
....
Holy fucking shit