This is rated. Nothing too graphic, but you know. Don't tell me I didn't warn you!

Scratch The Itch

--

Groaning once again, Taeyeon drops her arms back to her sides. This is stupid. Why can't she just do this? Her eyes roam around the practice room, seeing everyone else follow the dance steps way more easily than she can. It is so frustrating. The choreographer notices that she had stopped dancing and claps his hands, informing everyone to take a small break. Taeyeon sighs, trying to avoid looking back at Tiffany, knowing exactly that she will find concern in her eyes. She knows that her behavior might worry her best friend, but she just can't execute this dance move correctly and it makes her want to scream in frustration. It is all too much, this combined with the still ongoing promotion makes it worst. This year had been hectic. They traveled in so many different countries, in so little time, performed in so many shows, participated to so many variety shows, that her body feels like it is going to break. Not to mention that lately, she barely gets any sleep at night. She slowly exhales through as the choreographer walks closer to her.

“Taeyeon, are you alright?”

“Yes.” She says, waving her hand dismissively. “It's just... I can't get some dance moves right.”

“Do you want me to go over them with you once again?”

“No it's alright, don't worry. I think I'll just stay some more time to practice after everyone leaves.” She explains.

This is good, she tells herself. She will be alone and if she doesn't succeed, she will be able to voice her anger. She doesn't want to bother the other members with her frustration. The choreographer looks at her for a long moment, then hums and nods before walking away.

*

“Ah man, I'm hungry.” Sooyoung sighs.

“You're always hungry.” Jessica groans.

“Hey don't complain, because you're always the first to jump on the food.” Sunny jokes.

“Taeyeon-ah.”

Turning her head towards the entrance of the practice room, Taeyeon locks eyes with Tiffany, but also realizes that eight pair of eyes are set on her. Everyone else is ready to leave, except for her.

“Uh, I'll stay a bit more.” She starts and immediately sees the frown on her best friend's face, so she hurries to explain. “Not long, I just want to go over everything again, don't worry.”

She tries to smile, but she knows the other members are not that stupid. Yet, no one adds anything and she feels thankful to them for that. She is too tired to explain anything. She just wants to calmly go over the things that she needs to change, try to improve the way she executes some dance moves. It is not that she doesn't like the presence of her members, but this is something she wants to do alone. She turns her back to the door, walking to where her phone is to pick it up before crouching down. She won't be able to dance without the music, so she quickly searches for it in her phone while the other girls leave the room. She waits until the door clicks shut to sigh deeply and runs a hand through her hair.

“So what's wrong with you?”

A loud shriek escapes , she jerks around, making her phone fall from her hands as her gaze sets on Hyoyeon, who quirks an brow up after seeing her reaction. The dancer slowly steps forward after having put her bag down and stares at Taeyeon, waiting for an answer.

“H- Hyoyeonie, what... What are you still doing here?” She questions.

“Our choreographer told me that you might need some help with a few things.” She explains.

Of course, he had to say something, she thinks.

“It's really nothing, you don't need to stay for that.” She says, trying to remain as casual as she can.

It is really not actually. Taeyeon knows she is not the best dancer of the group, but she can still dance and the fact that she can't seem to be able to make some moves just annoys her to the point that it might make her cry.

“Bull.” Hyoyeon blurts out, making Taeyeon look up back at her in surprise. “Look, even I can see that it's frustrating you. I'm here to help, so keep your excuses for someone else, alright?”

She stares dumbly at the dancer. Well, it is Hyoyeon's way of offering help. Maybe to anyone else, it would sound a bit harsh, but it is Hyoyeon after all. It is not like her and Taeyeon are the closest people on this planet. She wanted to be alone, but she knows the blonde won't be asking too many questions, even after seeing how badly she dances. She snaps back to reality after hearing Hyoyeon's voice again.

“So what is it?”

“It's, uh- The dance break part...” She tells, a bit ashamed.

The dance break part is the point of the choreography and it is the one part, she can't seem to get right. In her mind, it all looks right, but when she sees herself dance in the mirror, it is not good. It doesn't look as well as when the other members do it.

“Show me.”

“W- What?” She croaks.

“Show me. I can't tell you what's wrong if I didn't see it.”

That makes sense. Of course it does, Hyoyeon is the lead dancer. She nods and walks to the speakers to connect her phone to it. The song starts to play and she fast forward to the moment right before the dance break, leaving her enough time to take her mark in front of the mirror. Her eyes quickly shift to see Hyoyeon stepping forward. She swallows nervously, feeling the younger's woman intense gaze on her. Now she remembers why she had wanted to be alone. Having someone else watching her makes her so nervous, she knows that it will make whatever dance moves she was able to do correctly, look completely awful. And this is exactly what happens. Taeyeon bites the inside of her