Training, Bonding and Future Dreams

The day had gone exhaustingly slow, as could be expected of a Monday, and all he wanted to do was go to his bed and sleep for the remainder of the day, but a promise was a promise and he always kept his word. It was now half past eight, half an hour til his scheduled training session. His mind had been boggled today with thoughts of his promising future and his dream to become a rock star. It had came to his attention earlier today through rumors circulating amongst the trainees that Cube may perhaps scrap the idea of forming a band and he was now starting to have doubts about his future with Cube but eventually decided he would try to remain positive until he heard official word. It was just a rumor after all. Of course, he had a plan B if such a thing were to occur. He had already put in his application into a renowned school for music and was waiting for a response back although it could be months until he received any news.

He walked to the snack room and grabbed a few snacks to tide the night over during training. Placing them in his bag, he grabbed his water bottle out and refilled it too. There was barely a soul in sight, making the atmosphere of the room seem eerily quiet. He’d heard that Cube had a ghost that haunted the trainees when alone and he didn’t want to be it’s next victim. Once done refilling his bottle he raced out the room to make his escape from the imaginary ghost he envisioned creeping up behind him.

Walking the long corridors of Cube, he made his way to the practice room and observed the plentiful posters of his sunbaes lining the walls along the way. He hoped to someday have his image on a poster in these halls too. Someday I will, he thought to himself and smiled.

Changsub walked the hallway with his right hand in his pocket, deep in his thoughts, brushing his hair through the fingers of his left hand and turned the corner of the hallway to finally reach the practice room where his pupil would undoubtedly be waiting for him.

Surely enough, Sungjae stood by the door awaiting his presence with an eagerness that only a young trainee could exhibit through his body behavior. Changsub smiled to himself, reminiscing his initials days as a trainee at Cube. Everything was a new experience for him at that time and he treasured those memories now as precious gifts. He wished that this experience would become a precious memory for Sungjae in the near future too.

Today it was to be their second training session. Thinking back to when Sungjae had ask for his time to help him in his training, Changsub remembered being taken aback by his forwardness and eagerness to learn from him. It reminded him of himself when he first began as a trainee so much so that he couldn’t say no to his request. Afterwards, he had had regrets thinking about how much time he would need to train him in a condition that was passable for Cube’s standards but eventually came to terms with it and formulated a plan to see Sungjae through his evaluations. From dance lessons together he gathered that Sungjae needed a lot of help if he were going to pass Cube’s required dance evaluation.

Sungjae became aware of Changsub’s presence further down the hall and waved at him with a huge smile on his face. Changsub smiled back in return while walking towards him.

“I see you are here earlier than last time,” Changsub said, noting that this time Sungjae seemed more comfortable and not nervous or distracted like the previous session. The last session Sungjae had seemed confused and distracted. Believing Sungjae had either doubts about his ability as a trainer or having second thoughts, Changsub was a little peeved, and finally approached him close enough to whisper in his ear to regain his attention.

“Yes, the last time I was ill prepared. This time I’m ready, now that I know what to expect,” Sungjae said, his face flushing red with embarrassment.

“I see. Well, I’ll try to do the unexpected then to keep you on your toes,” Changsub teased back. Sungjae face turned even redder amusing Changsub. Chuckling to himself, he opened the door to the training room letting Sungjae walk in first before walking in and closing the door. He placed his bag on the ground next to the door and walked to the table that was placed conveniently a few steps away to the left. Grabbing a CD from the binder, he inserted it into the CD player and hit play. Turning around to face his pupil, he directed with his hands for Sungae to stand in the center of the room.

“Now, for a warm up, I want you to show me the dance that I showed you on our first session. If you can fulfill the dance to my satisfaction, we will then move on to the next dance that you will learn today,” Changsub said in a tone that he hoped was conveyed in an authoritative manner.  Sungjae nodded his head, and readied his body in the first step of the dance.

“BUT, if you do not fulfill it as said, then we will spend the remainder of the night re-training that same dance, and then we will train on the next dance no matter how long it takes. It all depends on you today with how long we train tonight,” Changsub said in his serious tone. Sungjae looked shocked at this revelation. He stared at Changsub for a long time trying to figure out if he was really serious.

“I’m serious,” Changsub answered in response to his questioning look, “I did warn you the first time, didn’t I? I even gave you a way out in the first session. When it comes to training I am very strict.”

Sungjae noticeably sighed out of disbelief at the new circumstance that Changsub had just delivered. Changsub felt bad looking at Sungjae but he knew that it would pay off at the end for Sungjae and would only benefit his future at Cube so he stiffened his resolve because that is what Sungjae needed in a trainer.

Sungjae had patiently stood at the door waiting for his tutors arrival, eager to learn and improve his dance skills with Changsub’s guidance. His first training session had revealed his weak areas in dancing that required immediate attention if he were to stay at Cube. Luckily, Changsub had mistakenly misunderstood his request, training him in dance and not singing as he had initially wanted. He had much to learn and he could definitely rely on Changsub to teach him thoroughly without question.

That night, after acknowledging his weaknesses to himself, and in an effort to show his appreciation towards Changsub providing him training, he’d decided he would practice alone all weekend the dance Changsub had shown him. Little did he know that it would work in his favor.

Sungjae was now staring at Changsub in disbelief, questioning what was on his mind. Based on his expression he could see that he was in his serious mode. Even though he had practise for this on his free time he was having doubts especially with the conditions Changsub had laid out for him. If he didn’t impress Changsub with his dance he would probably be here all night. He sighed deeply at the thought of a sleepless night.

He looked up in resignation, and said, “I guess I have no choice, huh? Okay, let’s give it a go then.”

With music already playing and surrounding the room, he closed his eyes, focusing all his energy on remembering the moves taught to him and started moving his body to those steps. He opened his eyes as he moved his body forward and adjusted them on Changsub’s face trying to discern by his facial reactions if he was making any mistakes but he gave none. He continued the dance as he remembered to the best of his ability and when he finished he stood still waiting for Changsub’s judgment.

Changsub watched as his pupil completed the dance he taught him days prior with satisfaction. It seem that Sungjae had picked up the dance with ease and for this he was glad his effort in training him had not been in vain. He smiled and raised his hands to clap.

“Well done. It seems like you’ve been practising without me. Have you?” Changsub asked, curious because when he had trained him before, he had observed some steps that he had needed a little work in but today it seem as if they had disappeared and he was viewing a professional dancer.

“Yes, I have. I took the liberty of practising over the weekend during my free time. I’m glad that it paid off, “ Sungjae said while nodding his head in agreement and smiling smugly, proud of himself.

“That’s good. I can see you are very passionate about this. I like your determination. It will get you through the evaluations that are to come. As long as you have that you will go far here,” Changsub said. “Now, we can move on to the next dance. I will spend the next hour training you on it and then we will take a break, okay?

“Okay.”

For the next hour, Changsub instructed Sungjae on the particulars of the next dance. It was more rigorous from the first and he could see that Sungjae was having difficulty grasping the moves of this dance. In order to make it simpler for him he decided he would first show the finished dance to him by performing the perfected dance alone. Then, he would explain each move in a slower pace. After a few trial and errors, Sungjae was showing signs of improvement.

“Good, good. There you go. That’s it. You’re doing excellent,” Changsub said with an approving voice, smiling at Sungjae’s improvement in the short amount of time he’d taught him.

Sungjae seemed happy to get his approval, smiling and grinning whenever he complimented his dance that Changsub couldn’t help but to laugh at his smugness. Chuckling, he said, “You really like being complimented, huh?” Sungjae smiled shyly at this and nodded his head.

“I guess I do. I’m the baby in the family and I’m used to being treated in such a way,” he said, “although I rarely receive compliments from my dad, I suppose. I think you are the first male that has complimented me. My mom and sister always dote on me though.”

“Really, I’m the first male to compliment you? Wow. I guess your dad must be one of those macho types that don’t like to show their emotions outwardly,” Changsub said. “I’m sure he is proud of you though.” He didn’t know why but he was glad that he was the first to compliment him. Maybe it made him feel special in a way.

“I guess so,” Sungjae said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Well, as long as I’m your tutor I will compliment you when you do a good job but I will also reprimand you when you’re not,” Changsub said. Sungjae nodded his head and smiled so big he could see all his teeth. Chuckling at this, Changsub said, “One hour has passed so it’s break time. I brought over some snacks from the break room if you want any.”

Changsub walked over to his bag he’d thrown on the floor near the door and sat down against the wall, opening the bag to expose all the snacks he had taken earlier. Sungjae walked over and sat down in front of him, reaching over to grab a snack to his liking and tearing the package open. Changsub grabbed his bottle out and took a swig of water, replenishing his thirst. Laying his head back against the wall, he let his eyes close for a minute, feeling the exhaustion from earlier returning in full force.

Sungjae had been happily munching away at the snacks laying before him before he noticed the silence from his partner in training. He looked over to see Changsub lying his head back against the wall with his mouth slightly hanging open and eyes closed gently in sleep. Just then  Changsub’s head suddenly fell to the side so Sungjae quickly stuck his hand out to prevent him from waking or hurting himself. Sungjae smiled, watching his hyung’s head lying on the palm of his hand. It seemed Changsub really did love to sleep. Sungjae moved and positioned his head up but it fell back onto his extended hand.  

Sungjae lifted his head up to observed the clock hanging above the door. It was a quarter past ten. Looking at Changsub’s relaxed face as he peacefully slept on his hand, he determined he would let him sleep a few more minutes before waking him up. In the now quiet practise room, with just Changsub and himself, he reflected back to when he first marvelled at Changsub on the night he’d heard his beautiful voice. He had been completely awestruck by him that he wanted to immediately get closer, feeling an unexplainable great tug in the heart to his being and now here Sungjae was propping his head while he slept. He smiled and chuckled to himself, finding it hard to believe it had only been a little less than a week since then.

“Thank you, Changsub hyung,” Sungjae whispered, “thank you for saying yes and believing in me.”

A few minutes passed by and Sungjae decided it was now time to wake him up even though he really didn’t want to. Reluctantly, taking his hand away from his head, he moved it down towards his shoulder and gave him a gentle nudge. When that didn’t work, he shook him a little harder and said, “Changsub hyung, wake up. We have to train some more, remember.”

Changsub slowly shifted from his position, yawning and opening his eyes. He seemed dazed and unfocused at first until he looked up at Sungjae. The look he gave Sungjae frightened him. His eyes felt like they were shooting daggers at him for disturbing his sleep.

“I’m sorry, Hyung. I really didn’t want to wake you but you said we would train some more after our break,” Sungjae said in defense to Changsub’s deadly glare focused on him. “And it’s not good to sleep in that position either. You can get a stiff neck, hyung.”

Sungjae watched as Changsub shook his head and rubbed his face. He was horrified at the thought that he may have just upset Changsub without meaning to.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to glare at you. It’s just that when I sleep I usually don’t wake up in a good mood if I’m suddenly awoken. People always mistakenly think I’m mad at them because of how my face looks like when I’m sleepy. It happens all the time. Sorry, “ Changsub apologized.

Sungjae was relieved that he hadn’t done anything to warrant Changsub’s anger and happy to learn a new piece of knowledge about him. Accepting his sincere apology willingly, Sungjae extended his hand as a gesture of forgiveness, helping Changsub get up from the floor. After that minor misunderstanding they trained for another hour until Changsub was satisfied and believed Sungjae had mastered the basics of the new dance.

A week passed by and Sungjae could tell that they were becoming much closer. During dance classes Sungjae always stood beside Changsub now. Changsub would openly help and explain to Sungjae anything that the teacher instructed them to do during dance classes. Today the teacher had recognized Sungjae’s improvement in front of the whole class. Sungjae had smiled at the acknowledgement from his teacher and looked over to see Changsub giving him a thumbs up with an approving smile.

During break Sungjae sat beside Changsub. Looking for a way to hang out with Changsub without dance as an excuse, Sungjae decided to asked Changsub to hang out with him during his off time.

“Hyung,” Sungjae started off hesitantly. Changsub looked over at him with a snack held in his hand and his mouth full with water, plumping his cheeks out that Sungjae couldn’t help but to smile and laugh at his appearance.

“What?” Changsub said once he swallowed the water down and was now placing the snack in his hand in his mouth and chewing it. Becoming serious again, Sungjae continued what he wanted to ask.

“I know we don’t have a session tonight but do you want to go with me to the shopping center today?” Sungjae asked shyly, afraid he may get rejected. He didn’t want to imposed himself on Changsub’s off time but he really wanted to talk to him about other things besides dance. Dance had brought them close but he wanted to become closer as in best friend’s possibly. Friends that could discuss anything on their mind without judgement and freely give their own advice on anything that may be bothering them. Changsub chewed on the snack and looked at Sungjae’s face as if he was trying to decipher what was on his mind.

“Why do you want to go to the shopping center?” Changsub asked him. Not wanting to say he wants to become closer to him because of embarrassment, Sungjae said the first thing that he thought of.

“There’s an item that I really want to get but I don’t want to go alone and you were the only one available that I could ask,” Sungjae lied.

Changsub looked at him closely and Sungjae felt his ears turning red from all the attention that Changsub was now giving him. Changsub began laughing, embarrassing Sungjae further which only made his ears turn even more red.

“Why are you laughing?” Sungjae asked, looking away from Changsub’s laughing image. He loved when he laughed but not at the expense of him.

“Hey, what’s with all the laughter?” A familiar voice asked from behind. Turning around, Sungjae spotted Eunkwang standing before him.

“Sungjae just asked me to hang out with him at the shopping center and then his ears turned red. I’ve never seen someone's ears turn so red that I thought it was funny. Look at them. See!” Changsub answered in response, pointing at his ears. Sungjae was relieved he hadn’t been exposed in his lie but still embarrassed.

“Wow, they’re really red!!!” Eunkwang said in wonderment. Eunkwang then looked over at Changsub and asked “So are you going to go with him Changsub? If you don’t mind can I tag along if you go. I need to get something and I think it would be fun if we go as a group. I can ask Hyunsik to come too if he wants. We haven’t hung out in a while. What do you say? Hmm??”

Sungjae looked over at Changsub waiting for his reply to Eunkwang’s question. He was glad that Eunkwang had managed to focus the attention back on Changsub and not him but also a little upset that his plan to hangout with him alone had been foiled. Changsub looked up at Eunkwang and then back to Sungjae. “Hmm, I guess we could do that, if you want. What time should we meet up outside?” Changsub answered.

Sungjae was happy that Changsub had agreed but now he wasn’t sure if he was going for him or because Eunkwang had asked.

“Yess! Okay, let meet out front at 6,” Eunkwang said. Changsub nodded his head at the suggestion.

“Okay,” Sungjae said as brightly as he could. His chance to hang out with Changsub alone had slipped from his hands. He was grateful for Eunkwang’s help unknowingly but couldn’t help feeling a little upset of not knowing why Changsub had decided to go. Looking down he grabbed a snack, placing it in his mouth and slowly chewed it. A few minutes later the teacher came in and Eunkwang walked out to his class next door. Sungjae sat absentmindedly, not hearing the teacher come in until he felt a hand nudge him on the shoulder. It was Changsub. He held his hand out for him to grab which Sungjae did. They walked back to their spots and continued the lessons the teacher taught.

In the dorm, Changsub stood before the mirror examining a pimple that had form within the last hour or two. His face occasionally broke out no matter what method he tried to keep a clear face. Shaking his head, his wet hair splattered water onto the floor and sink, and in the process covering his eyes. Sweeping his bangs to the back with his left hand, he grabbed a comb that was lying near the sink with the other and started to comb his hair which was growing long since his last cut was a month ago. He had an hour until he would meet the others, more than enough time to get ready.

He remembered Sungjae’s face when he’d asked him to hang out, nervous but shy; then his face when Eunkwang asked and Changsub obliged at going, down and seemingly upset. He couldn’t help but to feel like Sungjae had had other things in mind. The difference in his facial reactions was just too noticeable for Changsub not to see. He had only began to train him for the last week and half but he had already picked up on Sungjae’s unique quirks and mannerisms. When he had saw Sungjae’s glowing red ears as he suggested them to hang out together Changsub had immediately knew that he was embarrassed but why, he didn’t know.  

Over the last week Changsub had took on the duty of guiding Sungjae whenever he could. He didn’t know why but he felt it was his obligation to take care of Sungjae, making sure he understood everything being taught. Anything that he needed help in Changsub had made sure to be there next to him to guide and encourage him. If he didn’t know better, it almost felt like he had adopted Sungjae as his little brother. Changsub could tell there was something bothering Sungjae but couldn’t put his finger on it. From his observation he knew it had started since break time.

Walking out of the the bathroom he grabbed a pair of clothes from the closet. He chose a black plain T-shirt and red jogging pants. He didn’t see any reason to dress up formally since they were just going to the shopping center and he preferred to dress comfortably anyways. He grabbed a black baseball cap and placed it over his now drying head and looked over at the clock on the wall. He still had 20 minutes left. Grabbing his wallet that was lying on the night stand next to his bed, he opened it to count what little money he had left of his monthly allowance. Enough to grab something to eat and perhaps a small cheap item or two. Standing up he decided he would arrive earlier and wait for the others.

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Hello Melodies. Sorry for the long wait. I guess I was having a slight case of writer's block but once I decided to change point of views I think it became easier. Did any of you guys pick up immediately that it was Changsub's POV from the beginning of this chapter???...lol I did it on purpose. Please comment if you noticed it was Changsub before it was revealed. Take note that the large spaces between paragraphs means a change of POV. I didn't want to actually write "...POV" above each paragraph but if you want, let me know if I should re-edit to place the different POV's. BTW, the reason I started this fanfic was because of one of the Beatcom episodes where Sungjae jokingly said that Changsub was his 'first love'. I found it amusing and motivating to write a fic about it. XD Yes, Changjae is my OTP!! :P I adore their friendship within Btob.