“Yeonie! You’re here! I missed you so much,” Sooyoung’s towering frame almost tackled Hyoyeon to the ground as soon as she saw her walk into the studio.

There were 10 minutes left until their first lesson officially began so the class was already packed. Since it was night time, the lights were all and the atmosphere was much more relaxed with people socializing or getting rid of the day’s exhaustion in preparation for class.

Hyukjae walked in a few minutes later, dressed in an Adidas training suit (which, only Sooyoung knew, was somewhat of his dance uniform. The rest would find out soon enough though – he owned it in every color possible – including the limited edition leopard print!)  After briefly saying hello to his students, he busied himself oddly moving around huge blocks of wood. Some of the students joined in to help.

Hyoyeon, in the meantime, was still struggling to breathe but didn’t push Sooyoung away in case she felt offended. And this kind of affection wasn’t unknown to her – Donghae enjoyed smothering her with hugs and head-pats on a regular basis.

Thinking of her best friend, she suddenly felt pangs of longing – like her days were all incomplete without his goofy smiling face – but she quickly brushed it away. He was doing something good in America and the days would pass by soon enough.

Sooyoung finally let Hyoyeon go as Hyukjae announced that class would begin in 5 minutes.

“Sorry I get overexcited easily!” she grinned sheepishly.

“It’s ok. I don’t mind,” Hyoyeon grinned back, “but excuse me for a sec. I should really get ready for class.”

As Hyoyeon turned around to place her jacket and bags (yes ‘bags’, because she had come prepared today with extra bottles of water, towels, energy bars, tissues, face spray, change of clothes – pretty much anything you could think of) on the floor, she heard Sooyoung chuckle loudly.

“What’s so funny?” Hyoyeon looked up from the floor.

Sooyoung looked as smug as the cat who ate the canary, “M.F.E.O!” ***

Hyoyeon just blinked at her dumbly waiting for the explanation. English was never her strong subject. But Sooyoung, after what appeared to be some quick mental argument with herself (honestly, the girl was just a tiny bit weird!), decidedly shook her head. “Nothing important. Hey! Don’t you want to wear your jacket too? It’s cold in here.”

“It is? But… you’re in a tank top too.”

“Ah… I am, aren’t I?” Sooyoung spoke slowly, “but.. I am used to this studio so I have really strong resistance. Believe me, it gets cold.”

Hyoyeon hesitated. She wasn’t really cold, especially after that sprint from the subway station to the studio but it seemed to mean a lot to Sooyoung that she take her advice, so she decided on a compromise. “I’ll definitely wear it if it starts to get cold!”

“o..ok then. Hurry up. Class is going to start soon!” As she turned away, the tall girl mumbled to herself, “Aish.. what the hell happened to my Midas touch!”

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“Ok people! Are we ready to become the best beginners’ class Elite Dance School has ever seen?”

“yeah”

“I can’t hear you!”

“YEAH!”

“A little louder! Come on, you guys can do it.”

“YEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH”

The entire studio roared and instantly there was a buzzing energy all around them – they were pumped!

Hyoyeon was one of the people who started shyly but at the end found herself yelling at the top of her lungs; unlike Sooyoung who had started out loud and now was starting to lose her voice.

“Here!” she passed her a water bottle and Sooyoung winked at her gratefully.

The two of them were standing in the back as usual. It didn’t matter to Sooyoung but Hyoyeon belatedly realized that it was a problem for her – she was too short! She could barely see Hyukjae over the heads of the tall boys in front of her.

Noticing that she was now standing on her tiptoes, Sooyoung chuckled, “Don’t worry! Oppa will stand on the platform while teaching.”

“Platform?”
Sooyoung nodded, “Oppa just finished setting it up.”

And sure enough, Hyukjae went up to stand on an elevated makeshift stage and he was visible.

From his vantage point, Hyukjae turned around and did a quick sweep of the sea of faces. Two people immediately stood out and he smiled discreetly. Sooyoung waved her arms above her head wildly while the blonde girl next to her just dropped her eyes to the floor.

With a shrug, Hyukjae began class.

The two hours that followed was the greatest workout Hyoyeon had had in a while. At the end of it, she was ready to just crumple to the floor and make the studio her bedroom. But it was also the most fun she had had in a long time. Hyukjae was a gifted dancer and an equally good teacher - leading them with his encouraging and positive energy. To be totally honest, she was in awe of his skills – he seemed like a totally different person when dancing .. ‘oh wait! He kind of is! He goes by the name of Eunhyuk.. I should ask Sooyoung the story on that one day.’

****************************************************************************************************************************

Finally, at 8:50 pm, Hyukjae declared that their lesson was over and that they could take the last ten minutes to cool down or leave early.

Sooyoung was the first to hit the floor. She tugged on Hyoyeon`s ankle. “Join me!”and Hyoyeon was only too happy to oblige. The two girls laid on their towels breathing heavily, eyes closed …

Slowly Hyoyeon found herself drifting off ….

“Is my class really that hard? Are you guys dead?”

She jerked awake and found Hyukjae standing over her, a grin on his face. 

Hastily twisting her face to the left, she felt slightly relieved to see Sooyoung asleep as well, with wide open.

Hyukjae’s eyes followed her gaze and she could swear his face lit up.

“Oh Princess Sooyoungie! Wake up! Your prince charming is here.. you’re not pretending to be Sleeping Beauty just so I will kiss you, right?” Hyukjae asked in a sing-song voice and Hyoyeon involuntarily rolled her eyes.

‘He could at least have the decency to save the mushiness until I’m gone! And come on, what grown up man talks about fairytales.. such a cheeseball. Yep, Hyukjae and Dance teacher Eunhyuk are like two totally different people!’

“OPPA! Where’d everyone go?” Sooyoung yelled as she sat up.

“Home,” he snickered.

“And HyoYeo – oh thanks Jesus! you’re still here.” Sooyoung smiled at Hyoyeon and got off the floor. “I have to rush home for dinner but oppa, drop Yeonie off ok?”

“What?” Hyoyeon almost shouted. “No need for that. You guys go ahead.” She didn't want to be a roadblock in their private moment again. (Sooyoungie must trust him a lot to be acting so carefree around other girls.. well, I guess I’m no threat to her model-type body and good looks.. but this is so awkward… wait a minute… what if she is doing this so SHE doesn’t have to spend time with him.. hmm… trouble in paradise?)

“YEONIE! Are you listening?”

Hyoyeon gave herself a shake, “sorry! I got distracted.. what were you saying?”

“I said,” Sooyoung gave her an exasperated look, “it’s getting late and you told me you live up in Suyu right? That’s like… so far and you rarely come into the city. So oppa will give you a ride.”

Hyukjae just nodded, although he looked confused at Sooyoung’s odd behaviour as well.

But Hyoyeon was determined not to get involved in their lover’s quarrel. “It really is no big deal, Youngie. I have been taking the subway since I was 10 and I even took it here this morning so I'll be totally fine. I'm Ms. Independent!”

“Ok then.” Hyukjae gave Sooyoung an ‘are you satisfied now, you weirdo?’ look.

Hyoyeon took the opportunity to grab all her things and head out.

“See you both tomorrow! G'night!”

Sooyoung waited for the door to close before turning back at Hyukjae with a glare, “This really explains it.”

“What?”

“Oh nothing… and everything!” With that cryptic reply, Sooyoung made her way to the door as well, quietly muttering.

‘No wonder he’s never had a girlfriend! But thank you Jesus, It’s not my matchmaking abilities that are the problem. It’s just that these two are such friggin tubelights when it comes to love!

 Ah! I’m getting a migraine .. must hurry home and make Siwon oppa tell me all about how he would never met such a perfect fiancée like Tiffany if it wasn’t for me! Yes, that will make me feel better! Breathe Choi Sooyoung.’

******************************************************************************

Stepping out of the dance studio with fragrant freshly washed hair and well scrubbed skin, Hyoyeon smiled to herself. The hot shower was just what she had needed to rejuvenate her tired bones but…

 ‘Darn it!’ She looked at her watch – it was already 10 pm. She placed all her bags on the floor, dialled her aunt’s number and left a message.

“Eemo! It’s Hyoyeonnie. I’m just leaving the studio right now so I might be a little late. Please don’t worry. I should be home in an hour.”

The night air was starting to get a little crisp with Autumn just around the corner. A little shiver went up Hyoyeon’s spine - she attributed it to her stupid decision of changing into a summery dress and quickly pulled on her zip up jacket.

Then picking her bags up again – which annoyingly felt a lot heavier than they did in the morning – she headed towards the subway station.

Along the way a 7/11 came into view. Hyoyeon paused for a second and was contemplating whether to get a drink or not..

when suddenly,

she froze..

Her eyes widened in shock and fear.

‘It can’t be.. no, it’s not.’  Her heart was racing like it was going to jump out of her chest while her mind sent urgent signals, ‘Just turn around, it’s not too late. He hasn’t seen you!’  But Hyoyeon’s body simply wouldn’t co-operate.

Her legs had pretty much turned to jelly and her arms were starting to get numb too.

*thump*

Her bags fell to the floor drawing the attention of the man.

His glossy eyes glared at her in annoyance before turning back to his companion.

Whispering a quiet prayer of thanks,her shaky hands began to reach for her things but at that very moment, the man's head snapped around.

Slowly his eyes focused in on her and before she could do anything else he stalked towards her – a crazy gleam in his eye – “I knew I'd find you again. Annyeong Hyoyeonah, did you miss me?"

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*** M.F.E.O: Made For Each Other

a long update today. some parts might be confusing but they will be explained later so just flag them in your mind for reference in future chapters :) hope you like it. thanks for all your support