"Alright everyone listen up. I have an announcement to make." Mr. Lee clapped to get everyone's attention in the room, Jongin included. He was being sort of moody that day as Sehun hadn't come to school. He'd never felt so lonely at school ever before even though all his friends were there to keep him company. Crossing his arms, he listened to whatever their insutructor had to say.

"I'm sure you all must have heard of the dance tryouts that are going to be held for the Nationals. You all are free to try out if you want to. I'm gonna be picking out the six best dancers for the final crew."

Everyone nodded their heads in understanding, slowly murmuring amongst each other.

"But." He continued, making the room go silent again, "These tryouts are going to be... slightly different."

Jongin furrowed his eyebrows in confusion as he crossed his arms, waiting for Mr. Lee to continue.

"You'll have to do dance covers."

Everyone in the room seemed fine with that and already started discussing amongst each other what song they would cover.

"The guys will do covers for girl groups and the girls will do covers for boy groups."

"Wait, what?" Jongin exclaimed.

"You heard me. You see, as dancers, you need to learn to be able to step out of your comfort zone, and still excel. That is the goal behind this decision. Now I want no complaining because I've already made up my mind."

"Are you serious?"

"This is ridiculous!"

Several other whines were heard from the room, and unsurprisingly it was mostly the guys who were complaining about the fact that doing girl group covers was too emasculating.

 "You can choose whether to try out solo or in pairs. However, being in a pair doesn't necessarily mean you both will get picked," Mr. Lee continued nonchalantly, ignoring their complaints. Jongin sighed. He knew that once Mr. Lee had his mind set on something, changing his mind was close to impossible. And he was obviously not going to give up on Nationals for something petty like this. If he had to sway his hips and twerk a little to get into the crew, he was going to do it. It was his chance to go abroad.

it. He thought, might as well.

He briefly wondered how Sehun would react to the news. Once dance class was over, he filed out of the room and took a quick shower before making his way out of the school building while dialing his boyfriend. After a few rings, he answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Hey. Why didn't you come to school today?" Jongin asked as he got into his car and the ignition.

"Ah, I had something to do."

"And what is that thing something supposed to be?"

"Hm... I'll tell you. Let's meet up somewhere?"

"Okay. My house, then? I also have some news."

"I'll be there in fifteen."

Jongin was blankly flipping through the channels when the intercom buzzed and he literally jumped out of the couch. He hadn't seen his boyfriend for the entire day and weirdly enough, he kind of missed him. Jogging to the front door, he unlocked it and was about to let Sehun hear it for not telling him that he wasn't coming to school but instead his eyes widened and his jaw dropped open when he took in the sight in front of him.

Sehun was dressed in a pair of washed jeans and a white full sleeved shirt that was rolled up halfway. Sure, he looked great as usual but that wasn't what surprised him.

What took him aback was that Sehun's usual blonde mop of hair was no where to be seen, instead now replaced by luscious brown locks.

"W-Wha..." Jongin was completely taken aback by the transformation. He thought Sehun looked absolutely breathtaking. Sure, he loved his unconventional blonde hair but he looked even more perfect like this, if that were even possible, "Your hair..."

"Do you like it?" Sehun asked, his tone coming out surprisingly shy.

Jongin stepped forward, eyes still wide and locked on Sehun, and gently caressed his hair, "No... No, I love it. Even more than your bad blonde hair."

Sehun laughed softly, "Really?"

"Yeah... wow." Jongin was at a loss for words.

"Thanks," Sehun said, stepping into the house so he wasn't standing outside and closing the door behind him. 

"But... why? Why'd you dye it?"

"Honestly," Sehun sighed, "I'd been thinking about it for a while now. I wanted to go back to my old self, and I guess you could say this was the last step of the way."

"Wow..." Jongin breathed, "You've come far. You know, I thought you were the only one that changed me."

Sehun shook his head, "I didn't change you. We didn't change each other at all, Jongin. We just... bring out the good in each other, you could say."

Jongin smiled. He felt a certain warmth spread across his chest at Sehun's words. It was true, this was the same Sehun that he started liking weeks ago. He was the same person, only now he smiled a lot more and he was a lot happier. If anything he liked him even better like this, because Sehun had the most beautiful yet adorable smile, and he got to see it a lot more often.

It was crazy to think about, but maybe Jongin did love him, after all. He wasn't sure how long it usually took a person to fall in love, but he realized it didn't really matter. How he felt about Sehun was way beyond just 'like' now.

"Yeah... we do." Jongin muttered, more to himself than to Sehun, "I could get used to your new hair. Makes you look a lot more... human? I don't know. I like it."

Sehun lifted a brow, "So what? I was a llama before?"

"I was thinking more like Disney Princess but hey, llama works," Jongin said with a grin.

Sehun elbowed the other in the ribcage with a roll of his eyes, ". What did you want to tell me?"

"Oh yeah! Apparently we'll be dancing to girl group songs for the Nationals tryouts," Jongin said, face slightly scrunched up.

"What?"

Jongin laughed, "That was my reaction too. But now that I think about it, it could be a good thing. Maybe it could help us embrace our uality, y'know?"

Sehun rolled his eyes, "Sure. And I'm about to lose all the reputation I made for myself in this school."

"Oh who gives a damn about those peasants? We get to be fabulous. Hey, I was thinking Miss A's "Bad Girl Good Girl"," Jongin suggested. He thought this could actually be kind of fun after all.

"Whatever, I guess."

* * *

They started by looking at the music video, various live performances of the song and even some dance covers. Jongin had to admit that letting go of their masculinity and going full on Miss A mode was difficult and hilariously awkward at first. Especially for Sehun since this obviously wasn't his forte. Watching the younger trying to execute the moves was amusing, to say the least. But this was a challenge, and it was exactly what Mr. Lee was talking about- stepping out of their comfort zone and gaining experience. It took a while but they started to get more comfortable with the choreography day after day. By the first week they had already gotten all the moves down, and all they had left to do was perfect it and really get that attitude and sass in there.

Jongin would sometimes find himself staring at Sehun when he dropped down to the floor and especially during the self--grab-hip-sway move. Was it weird that he found it extremely hot when Sehun danced like that? It was plain to see that even though the younger was slightly uncomfortable, he was still enjoying it. Practice was filled with playful remarks and insults (and a lot of staring on Jongin's part), a great contrast to their first time partnering up together.

* * *

It was finally the day of the dance tryouts. The pair watched all the other dancers, and they had to admit, some were actually pretty good. Jongin had no doubt they were going to qualify anyway, because he'd never worked his off so hard for something before. He really had to hand it to those girl groups. When it was their turn, everyone was anticipating. The pair had gained themselves quite some popularity after their first performance together and people were dying to see them again. The whole girl group thing just made it all the more exciting. Jongin and Sehun took their positions and once the song started, cheers erupted through the dance practice room. Some students were also there to watch the tryouts, including their friends, who were cheering the loudest.

Jongin smiled as they went about the now familiar choreography. The crowd screamed and wolf-whistled when they reached the grab part and even louder when they dropped down to the ground. They made sure to put as much sass into the moves as possible, and obviously it was working. The audience hadn't cheered for any of the previous dancers as hard as they did for them, and it gave Jongin that old sense of dancer's pride. They ended it successfully and once they got into their ending positions, everyone was clapping and cheering. Jongin and Sehun shared a moment of eye contact and they grinned at each other.

Jongin loved dancing.

Sehun loved dancing.

But they both found that they loved dancing even more when they did it together.

Mr. Lee seemed impressed with them, judging from the amused smile he had on his face throughout the performance. Compliments were showered on them from everyone, especially their friends, and many left playful remarks saying they would both do great in a girl group.

The results were out the next day and just as Jongin had anticipated, they were both chosen for the final crew, along with Taemin, Hyoyeon, Sunyoung and Minji. Many complimented Sehun for having been picked even though he was new to the club, and Jongin would smile somewhat proudly at the fact. He was usually careful but now he didn't mind doing a little skinship with Sehun even in front of their peers. He'd sometimes rest his chin on Sehun's shoulder from behind and would even wrap his arms around his waist. Some people would look at them weird but he tried not to pay any attention to it. They could think whatever they wanted to.

By then they'd already started training for Nationals. Jongin didn't exactly fancy the idea of being partners with his long-time rival Taemin but Sehun convinced him to end his petty differences with him because they were teammates now and had to stop acting like kids. And Jongin had listened to him and tried to be friendly with the other.

Things were more or less neutral in those two months. The two boys still went out together for bubble tea almost everyday and spent extra time in school to practice for Nationals.

Until...

* * *

It was the day of Sehun's final biology exam. Sehun was in the kitchen, pulling out a box of donuts from the fridge, and made his way to the living room to watch some TV. That was of course until he realized his father was still home and sitting there on the couch. The elder man frowned at him.

"What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

Sehun shrugged as he took a seat on the couch, "I called in sick."

"Didn't you have an exam today?"

"I do." Sehun replied nonchalantly, munching on a chocolate-covered donut.

"You do? And do you care to explain to me why you're not at school, writing your exam?"

"Hm... I didn't feel like it," His voice came out slightly muffled as he chewed on his donut.

"What?"

"I said," Sehun swallowed and looked straight into his father's eyes, his own bearing no emotion, "I didn't feel like it."

"What do you mean you didn't feel like it?" Mr. Oh narrowed his eyes, underlying rage evident in them at his son's nonchalant behavior.

"It means exactly that, father. I didn't feel like writing the exam so I didn't go to school. Nothing more and nothing less."

"You..."

"What is going on here?" Mrs. Oh walked into the room, eyes moving to Sehun and a frown appearing on her face immediately, "Why are you here?"

Sehun rolled his eyes, "You really don't like seeing me around, do you?"

"This is not the time to be sarcastic, Sehun!" The woman scolded, "You had an exam to write today. Why are you still here?"

"I didn't go. What are you guys gonna do about it?" Sehun challenged, placing the box of donuts next to him and crossing his arms. He had been preparing himself for this day for the past few months now.

"What has gotten into you?!" His father yelled, "When have you become so disrespectful? This is not the Sehun we have come to know!"

"You're right, because the Sehun 'you've come to know'," He said in air quotes, "that you never actually took the time to know, was just this empty shell of person that blindly followed your orders like a dog. Tell me, is that the Sehun you're talking about? Is that the Sehun you want back?"

The two stared at him, eyes wide with shock and indignance.

"When have you guys ever done anything for me? Or with me, for that matter? Tell me, mom, when have we ever gone shopping together? Celebrated a birthday party? And dad, when have you ever taken me out fishing, or camping, for example? All these years, you've denied me - and Changjo - the love we deserved. The parental love that every kid needs. So tell me, why? Why should I go and write this exam that you want me to write, to get into the university that you want me to go to and to become the person that you want me to become? When has it ever not been about you two? When has it ever been about me, or Changjo?"

Sehun stood up, fists clenched as he felt old wounds open at the sight of his parents in front of him and at the mention of his little brother, "When did you stop to think about what we want? What our dreams were? Our likes and dislikes? When did you take the time to get to know your sons?"

"You do not know anything, Sehun!" His father yelled, "Your mother and I work day and night to provide for you, so you can get good education and have a bright future with a proper career! We don't have time for such petty things!"

"Petty?" Sehun chuckled humorlessly, "Well these petty things are one of the reasons your son is buried under the dirt right now."

His mother widened her eyes, "How dare you-" 

"And you're saying you guys were busy? So mom, couldn't you skip those tea dates with your friends to maybe get to know your sons a little better? And dad, you couldn't skip those nights at the bar with your friends to maybe take us out on a family dinner, a picnic, perhaps? Honestly, when has this ever felt like a family? When did this place ever feel like a home? How when every dinner together feels like a damn press conference?"

The two opened their mouths as if to say something, but no words came out. And really, what could they say? Sehun was not wrong and they both knew it. And they looked so small right now, it gave him a sadistic sort of satisfaction.

"You promised..." Mrs. Oh said, and Sehun almost snorted at the words. This is all she could come up with in the end, huh?

"Yeah I promised. But guess what, mother," He smiled humorlessly, "I lied."

Oooooh 's getting intense. Did you guys see that coming? Geeheehee. This chapter started out all nice and calm and then the end is just like 'wait wut just happened O_O'. Sorry I took so long, guys. I was kinda uninspired, hence the very 'meh' chapter. I'll get working on the next chapter right away though, so expect it soon! Only a few more chapters to go~

That being said I'd give anything to see Sekai dancing to Bad Girl Good Girl *_*