He was lucky to find him, never before had he felt so relieved. The competition was just around the corner and he had been restless when his partner told him he couldn’t handle it anymore, his partner had accused him of being too harsh on him and not letting him rest or breath at all, always nagging him about perfection, after he vented all his frustration on him he just left without a care in the world leaving him alone in the dance studio. He scoffed as he recalled the memory, how could he blame him for wanting to be perfect, it was a competition for Pete’s sake, it was a battlefield out there, nobody was going to let you win for trying hard, you had to be perfect if you wanted to snatch the first place.

“Howon” He snapped out of his memory to focus on the guy in front of him. “Are you sure about this?” he smiled at his question.

“Why wouldn’t I be? From what I saw, I think our styles could go well together” he said still smiling.

“You really think so? I’ll look all shabby next to you, you’re just too perfect Howon” ‘there it was, the word perfect again, what do people have with me and that word really’ he thought although he did use it a lot.

“Dongwoo, let’s just give it a shot, we have nothing to lose right?” the slightly shorter guy finally gave Howon a small smile, as he extended his hand to him; they closed the deal with a handshake.

After that they went to the dance studio to begin their practice, they chatted for a while about nothing too important as they got themselves ready to hit the beat.

“Are you ready for this?” Howon asked Dongwoo nodded excitedly ready to burn the choreo into his body. Howon began moving to the music, his moves precise, clean, he followed the beat with every single joint in his body, to harsh yet not enough to make it look awkward,  Dongwoo felt entranced by it, his heartbeat oddly growing steadily along with Howon’s moves, right there he knew he had to tag along,  and so he did, he followed his instincts and began swaying his body to accommodate to the beat, their dance wasn’t the same yet they were in sync, everything from their breathing to how their bodies hit the beat of the music was there, but then Howon stopped dancing abruptly and stared at him, the moment lost.

“What’s wrong?” Dongwoo asked eyes on Howon.

“Why did you start dancing?” surprised by the question and not quite getting it, Dongwoo began to feel uncomfortable yet he smiled and said “Because I like it” Howon chuckled at his answer “I didn’t mean it that far in the past Dongwoo-ssi, I meant just now why did you join me? I thought you were going to learn the choreo first”

“Oh that, well It’s just that you were so into it that I naturally felt the need to join in” he explained eyes big full of sincerity “I didn’t mean to disrespect you, dancing is like this to me, you let yourself go so you can share your emotions with others, your dancing was pulling me in and I just followed” Howon couldn’t help but feel a little taken back, he wouldn’t deny the fact that he felt happy when Dongwoo joined him so effortlessly, it had been a while since he felt such synchronicity when dancing with someone, but it was just that what made him stop, if he had followed along the result would’ve been messy and he couldn’t take that. He practiced earnestly to avoid it.

“Don’t do it anymore, ok?” Dongwoo blinked, it wasn’t the reaction he was expecting “If we freestyle too much it will be more difficult to adjust later and we don’t have much time to be fooling around” there was silence for a moment and then Dongwoo laughed awkwardly “Ok you’re right, I got ahead of myself, we should dance freely after everything is over right?”  Howon nodded “Let’s continue then” he said his voice a little stiff as he began dancing again.

This time Dongwoo watched him, paying close attention to the movements and changes he did with the music, he noticed the way Howon would precisely transition from one move to the next and how he seemed to be exaggerating so he could get it better, it didn’t take long for Dongwoo to pick up the choreo and soon they were moving together, everything from their breathing to how their bodies moved stayed in sync, but something was missing, it was a technically perfect dance but it conveyed nothing or so it seemed, Dongwoo wondered why when he saw Howon dancing he felt entranced by it and now that they were dancing together to his choreo it just felt like he was doing it by himself.

“Hey, Stay focused” Howon said, eyeing him through the mirror. Dongwoo mentally shook his head and focused on his and Howon's reflections, even tough he was still feeling rather lonely he couldn't help but notice just how good their dancing bodies looked, Howon was right when he said their styles would go well together. Both added their special features to the movements while executing them precisely, and that gave a really nice result, he smiled.

"Dongwoo, I just told you to stay focused" again he was scolded, he wouldn't have imagined how strict Howon could be, he had heard from fellow dancers who were previously Howon's partners, how tired they were of his constant nagging, he actually didn't mind it but it made him curious, trough the mirror he could clearly see he wasn't making mistakes in the choreography yet Howon wasn't satisfied. what exactly is he looking for?, Dongwoo thought.

They continued dancing until their bodies gave in, Howon took two water bottles and threw Dongwoo one of them. Dongwoo smiled at the gesture while Howon laid down on the floor drinking to his heart content, after being in silence for a while Dongwoo decided he had to get rid of his curiosity, he gathered his courage and looked at Howon straight to the eyes and then he asked "Howon, can you tell me exactly what my mistakes during practice were?" 

Howon blinked rapidly, he was taken by surprise so he didn't have a good enough of an aswer to justify his nonstop nagging during rehearsal, if he was honest with himself, Dongwoo had actually been great during all the practice they did, he knew Dongwoo was a great dancer but since they had never been together in a team he hadn't experienced the intensity of his dance before. Dongwoo's presence was breathtaking and that's what made him call on him so many times.

"I already told you during practice"

"No you didn't, you just told me to focus a lot of times, but you never told me what made it look sloppy, I really want to improve and for that I need you to tell me my mistakes."

Howon felt a bit cornered, he couldn't possibly tell Dongwoo his reasoning, it didn't matter how understanding Dongwoo could be, it was out of the questoin to scold someone just because you were being pulled in by their dancing.

"You weren't matching my style" he could´t find anything else to say, Dongwoo tilted his head thinking really hard about what he was just told "Howon, didn't you say our diversity would be good?"

Howon wanted to slap himself in the face, he and his big mouth “I said that earlier, didn’t I?” with a smile Dongwoo nod, curiosity still reflected in his eyes “Ok what I mean is the emotion you’re conveying doesn’t match mine, it’s like we’re expressing different things and although we match the steps...” “It looks like we’re dancing separately” Dongwoo ended the sentence for him, surprising Howon “Exactly” he whispered, actually he had made that up real fast to get Dongwoo off his back it was a mystery to him how they had thought the same.

“I get you, there was a moment I felt lonely dancing with you” that comment made Howon frown “What do you mean?” he asked, Dongwoo then came close and sat down right next to him, he drank some more water (the gesture attractive enough for Howon to make an effort not to stare), once he finished he laughed to himself and then he said “Remember before we began how I just tagged along?” Howon nodded, “at that moment I felt we were totally in sync, it got me really excited so I thought we would be just like that with the whole routine, but once we got everything down, I felt as if you had put a wall that I couldn’t pass, everything was the same but before you let me in and after you just kicked me out” If Howon had been confused before now he was totally lost he gave Dongwoo a look that said please continue and that’s what Dongwoo did “Since I took you by surprise first we were able to match but after you concentrated totally you just shut me out, I'm sure that if you let yourself go a little we’ll be able to express the same feeling”

“So you’re saying I’m the one who’s not dancing well?”

“No! Of course not, it’s just that since my style is a little loose and yours is more controlled that’s exactly the feeling we’re giving” Dongwoo said shaking his hands nervously.

“Then why don’t you try to restrict yourself a bit more? Why do I have to be the one being sloopy?” he said as he got up and walked to his stuff to pick them up, he would be lying if he said he hadn’t felt offended by his comment, nobody before had told him something like that, he was about to leave the room when he felt a hand on his shoulder stopping him.

“Letting yourself go and being sloppy are two very different things” Howon turned around he eyed Dongwoo skeptically, “I’m not saying your movements have to be different, I’m saying you have to enjoy yourself a bit more” Dongwoo continued he was now looking at Howon with determined eyes, Howon sighed “Ok, I’m not quite sure what you mean, but I guess we can give it a try” as he said that he saw the brightest smile he had ever seen in his whole life, and it belonged to his new dance partner. “Tomorrow I’ll see you here, same time” he said turning around to leave but Dongwoo stopped him again “Wait! I have a better idea, why don’t we meet at the school’s entrance and I’ll take you somewhere instead” Dongwoo said, looking anxious, after a moment of silence Howon agreed ”All right, see you then” and he finally went out the room leaving an excited Dongwoo behind.

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Author's note:

Well finally after a looooong time I finished the first chapter, i thought I would make it a one-shot but as I kept writing I noticed it would be difficult to leave it like that so I guess a short story is what will come out. I'm sorry for taking so long, I just had a million things going on and since I lose inspiration real fast it was really tough to finish even this. I hope the next one won't take as long but who knows.

If anyone checks this thank you so much I hope it's enjoyable enough ^^