Soonyoung is really not a morning person. Normally he’s the person grumbling endlessly when Seungkwan has a stupid Broadcasting Club in the morning (again) but still ends up going early to school because that’s what best friends do. In summary, he deserves a medal. And a nice comfortable pillow to sleep on in school.

Except today he has something he wants to do. Use the sleepy morning as a quiet backdrop to finish the choreography for the end-of-term festival. That’s been weighing down pretty heavily on his mind these days.

There’s something about the silence in the morning that makes the trek to the shed less of a burden. It’s almost relaxing, just letting the new day wash over him.There’s no rush to his footsteps as he makes his way up the metal stairs.

Bright yellow light floods into his eyes and he squints. The soft sound of the melody he swore was in his head is suddenly cut off.

Lee Seokmin looks up.

Well damn.

Soonyoung is in too much of a good mood today to let anyone, Lee Seokmin included, ruin it. He places his bag down, stretches in front of the mirror and plugs his earphones into the phone.

Elbow straight or bent for this move? He keeps trying different variations, replaying the same section as he compares the flow. Straight is better. Then how does he transition to the next section? A turn?

The fan isn’t whirring quite fast enough to cool him down. Already he can feel the sweat beading on his forehead. The gentle breeze that blows through the slightly ajar door does soothe his increasingly frustrated head.

The clock in the room that is ten minutes too fast ticks steadily as he replays that one segment that just doesn’t agree. Either the flow is wrong or the move is too harsh. It stands out, and not in a good way.

Yet for some reason he isn’t flustered, isn’t throwing his hands up in resignation this time. He closes his eyes just to think for a moment. The music continues playing through his earphones but he can hear a clear voice singing a soft rock song.

Seokmin is strangely soft today, like there’s nothing to fight against.

He must have been so puzzled by Seokmin’s calm appearance that he ended up staring. Because Seokmin’s furrowing his brows at him.

“What.”

“Just amazed you’re not trying to bust my eardrums today.”

“I can be quiet too okay. There’s nothing with being soft when the situation calls for it.”

“Huh. And here I thought you were a socially inept creature.”

“It’s too early in the morning to fight. Pick it with me when I’ve got lunch in my system.”

“So you’re a pushover in the morning?”

Seokmin just shrugs. He looks really harmless like this, slouched against the wall, one earphone in his ear as he sings strumming the guitar. It’s still a rock song but there’s something oddly calming about it.

Softer, huh.

Replay that part. Same moves, just slower. Softer. Like there’s no rush to get to the next part.

Blinks dumbly. Does it again. Again. Rewinds even further. No way. From the top. Again.

Heh.

Lee Seokmin unintentionally gives good advice and aids the enemy. That has got to be a first. That was exactly what he was looking for, exactly what he had visualized in his head.

“If you keep smiling stupidly at the mirror, you’re going to be late for class. And I don’t want to be caught sleeping when you stumble into class late. No way Mr. Kye will reply your feelings when you scorn him by turning up late.”

Placing his guitar away, Seokmin turns off the fan calmly. Soonyoung glances up.

“Oh my god. We’re going to be so late. You fool, the clock is ten minutes fast! Gotta run, gotta run, idiot!”

Hastily winding up his earphones, Soonyoung flicks the fans off and steps into his shoes. Seokmin sits down and sorts out his shoelaces.

“Ugh, can you be faster? Hurry up!”

And the moment Seokmin is on his feet Soonyoung breaks out into a dead run across the school compound.
 

“Run faster! You’re so slow!”

“Excuse me? You would have continued smiling at the mirror if not for me! I deserve a damn thank you!”

“You’ll get it when we reach class on time. If you can scream at me then you can run faster.”

“I train my lungs, not my body. And you’re screaming too, so you can run faster.”

Soonyoung has no idea what time it is but they’re already at climbing the stairs.

“If I go faster you’ll go slower then you’ll be late. Two flights left, just shut up and climb. ”

“I’m plenty fast by myself. Don’t think so highly of yourself.”

And they dash into the classroom, bowing slightly at Mr. Kye standing in front of the class. Soonyoung sits down, bag and all. Seokmin just touches the seat when the bell goes.

“Well, that was quite the dramatic entrance.” Mr. Kye deadpans. “It wouldn’t kill to wake up five minutes earlier so you won’t need to run the 100-metre dash with Olympic-style commentary.”

“It was more of a 1 kilometer race, Mr. Kye. And you’re right. The next time I’ll just be late. I don’t understand why Soonyoung subjected me to an unscheduled P.E. lesson.”

The classs laughs. Soonyoung huffs in frustration. He doesn’t even know where to start with Seokmin’s words.

“Sorry, Mr. Kye. Next time I’ll sacrifice Seokmin for punctuality. He doesn’t understand gratitude. ”

The class laughs even harder. Soonyoung smirks proudly.

“And where’s my thank you?” Seokmin asks when Mr. Kye sets up the projector screen.

“Thank you. But next time get the time right.”

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