“I think we need to go back to the basics.” Youngbae said more to himself than Seunghyun.

“Back? You mean for the first time.” he grinned sheepishly, knowing full well how lacking his knowledge of dancing really was. Yeah, okay, he rocked the club every weekend, and most weekdays as well for that matter, but that was different. There were no rules in the club, except maybe the rules of the jungle, and then he wasn't dancing, he was fishing. He was good at fishing. He almost always caught the biggest, most prized fish in the pond. He took pride in it. It was something he was really good at, it gave him confidence.

“Come here.” Youngbae held his arms out after putting on some awful classical music, it was giving him a headache. This was definitely less his style. He just watched Youngbae standing on the middle of the floor with his arms stretched out. Stretched rather elegantly too, he noticed. Did he want him to hug him? There was no way. Maybe he was one of those emotional hippie-dancers that had to get in touch with the soul through the body first before starting the dance session or something equally idiotic. Not that he would mind a little skinship, quite on the contrary. Youngbae just seemed too uptight for something like this.

“Come. Now! I ain't got all day, you know.” he commanded, clearly running out of patience. Oh, well, Seunghyun thought. He decided not to over think it, for on those rare days when he woke up early his brain turned to mush and stayed that way all day, utterly useless, not recovering unless copious amounts of sleep or alcohol were offered to it. Without giving it a second thought, he stormed across the floor with intent, throwing himself into Youngbae's arms. Youngbae fit perfectly. He was so tiny that he disappeared completely into his embrace. It felt strangely nice. He smelled good. As he let himself get lost in the closeness, drawing him in tighter, he could feel Youngbae stiffen up.

“What. Do. You. Think. You. Are. Doing?!” Youngbae growled. In one fell swoop he pushed him away, so hard that after skipping a few steps backwards he tripped and ended up flat on his back.

Seunghyun coughed. He had no idea what he had done wrong. Was that not how dancers hugged? He only really knew one way to hug, intimately. Why bother if you weren't going to do it properly, that was his philosophy.

“You're kidding?” Youngbae looked at him in disbelief.

“What?” he could feel his whole face turn into a question mark. He had absolutely no idea what was going on.

“You seriously don't recognize the most basic of the ballroom dance postures?” he walked towards him, surprisingly offering him his hand to help him up off the floor. Seunghyun wouldn't have been surprised if he had come to slap him instead.

“Oh.” it finally dawned on him.

“You can say that again!” Youngbae's stern face lost to the cutest little eyesmile as he giggled brightly.

“Oh.” he repeated, stunned.

“No, ha ha, ah... I didn't mean you actually had to say it again. You just do anything I tell you, don't ya?” Youngbae chuckled, biting his lower lip as he shook his head and helped him up. As their hands met, an electric charge went off, biting both their palms so they flinched.

“That makes more sense.” he nodded, amazed at how slow he had been. How was he supposed to know, though? He didn't read thoughts. “But... ballroom dancing... why?” he didn't want to rock the boat now finally that the evil dance robot was actually melting and turning into a real boy, but he didn't see the point. He had to give the performance alone, so what good would ballroom dancing do him?

“It's the most basic of the basic, coordination, controlled movement, correct posture, precise footwork, timing, strict rules that don't allow too much personal expression. Pretty much all that you are lacking.” Youngbae explained, not bothering to sugarcoat it, at all.

“Ah, heh... kay...” he gave him a goofy grin, awkwardly approaching him again.

Youngbae took his hand in his, smoothly sliding the other one under his arm and resting it on his shoulder blade, posing rigidly but elegantly. It was kind of a funny sight, for he had to reach a bit since Seunghyun was taller than him. Cute. Like a Chihuahua that thought it was boss, and maybe it was. Taehuahua.

“Relax.” he told him. Seunghyun took a breath and loosened up.

“No, not that much. Keep the strength in your muscles.” he scolded him. Seunghyun tried to do what he wanted, but it wasn't easy.

“Okay, we are going to try the basic box step. Just follow the rhythm, 1, 2, 3. 1, 2, 3.” he started explaining. Seunghyun's head started aching again.

“Oh my sweet l... seriously, an hour and you're still doing triangles!!” Youngbae yelled in frustration.

“I'm... I'm sorry. But that's what I see when you do it. It's not a box, it's two triangles” he pinned his eyes to the floor. He really was trying, he just , that was all. He could hear Youngbae sigh deeply.

“Okay.” he took a deep breath, “Let's just, forget all about shapes and numbers and all that, okay?”.

“Sure!” Seunghyun agreed on the spot. It wouldn't take him long since none of it had stuck anyway.

“Alright. Just, let me lead, okay. So when you feel my body steer your body, just let it go where it wants to go. Trust your instincts. Trust me.” he was looking him straight in the eyes, but it was not his usual murderous stare, it was softer, warmer. Seunghyun's stomach fluttered, threatening to do a summersault. He nodded.

Again they assumed the starting position, but this time it was less rigid and as soon as their hands locked together, he pulled him in real tight. Seunghyun swallowed. This was not what he had expected. His stomach churned. How did he still smell so good, after hours of workout? He had to focus, somehow. Or breathe at least.

The moment the next song started, Youngbae whisked him away. It was amazing and terrifying at the same time. It felt as if they were flying across the room. He never knew what to expect, nervous that he would go the wrong way or step on his feet, but Youngbae skillfully twirled him around like a ballerina.

“What's that in your pocket?” Youngbae's sharp voice cut the air between them like a knife.

“Eeee...in my pocket?” he said, panicking.

“Don't even! I can feel there's something in your pocket!” Youngbae insisted. There was nothing in his pocket. His sweats didn't even have pockets. A pang of terror shot through his gut as his heart froze, throwing time into slow motion. What should he say? What should he do? Did he really think he had something in his pocket or did he know? He was doing all he could not to hyperventilate. Yeah, he had brought a baguette for lunch and he kept it in his invisible pocket. Sure, that was a believable story.

“Don't tell me...” Youngbae started with an appalled expression. Oh, no! He knew. He definitely knew.

“Your phone?! I told you the moment we started! No phones!! Get rid of it! And make sure it's off!” Youngbae pointed at the chair with the rest of his stuff.

“Ehh...sure. Of course. Only...ehm... I have to make a quick call.” he lied. Youngbae looked livid.

“I... forgot to cancel an appointment... it's important.” he pleaded.

“Right. Wouldn't want your girlfriend to worry now, would we?” Youngbae sighed, signing with his head that he should take it outside.

“Eh.. right. I'll be right back.” he gave him a frozen smile.

Just then a phone started ringing. His phone. His phone that was not in his pocket but in his pile of stuff on the other end of the room. Crap!

Youngbae looked at him surprised.

“Oh, eh... the other one... got two, heh.” he jogged terrified to get his phone and ran out of there.

Barging into one of the stalls in the bathroom, he started freaking out. Okay, he just had to think about something gross, something unappealing. Just relax, calm down, think of smelly old socks and it would go away. But then it would just come back the moment they started dancing again. He couldn't help it, he smelled so ridiculously good. They were dancing so close to each other. His skin looked so smooth, like caramel latte, he just wanted to bury his lips in it.

Ah! There was one way. He sat down on top of the toilet lid, pressing speed dial #1.

“What?” a grumpy, hoarse voice complained on the other end of the line. He had woken him up.

“Talk to me.” he said urgently, already starting.

“Uhm, mkay. So yesterday I went to the club without you, AGAIN... and you totally missed out, I met these two guys who were like, models, like actual models, they had a profile online and everything. We could have totally tapped that, instead I just took both of them back to mine.” Seungri bragged.

“No, talk to me.” he put a special emphasis on talk, already breathing rather heavily..

“Oh.. right.” he could hear Seungri grin mischievously. He was really good at these kinds of things. And he didn't hate doing them either.

“What took you so long?!” Youngbae put both his hands on his hips, demanding an explanation. Seunghyun wiped the now cold sweat off his forehead, shrugging apologetically.

“Was she mad?” Youngbae guessed, curiosity in his eyes.

“Who? Oh, eh... a little bit.” he decided to just go along with it.

“You want me to talk to her?” Youngbae softly offered. How uncharacteristically nice of him.

“Eh, no, no, that's not necessary. I'll make it up to her later.” he lied through his teeth. He wasn't all that good at lying, he was the type whose nose grew bigger when he lied, or at least it felt like it did.

“Girls.” Youngbae giggled, giving him a look that said 'you know what I mean'.

“Hah! Right!” he forced a chuckle. Man he hated lying, especially about being gay, it was so awkward and unnatural. But what choice did he have? He couldn't very well tell him what he had really been doing in the bathroom.

“Okay, let's do this. I think it's time to come up with a little routine you can rehearse.” Youngbae announced in a determined tone, indicating that the time for jokes was over and it was time to get down to business.