"Taekwoonie~"

Taekwoon squinted at Hayeon. If there was anything that tone suggests, it was just plain suspicious. "No."

Hayeon instantly made a face. "You haven't even heard what I was about to say." she complained.

He gave her a look that said all he needed to tell her. That her acting wasn't flying. That she won't get anything from him. That his answer is still no.

She further scrunched her face but didn't say anything back. Instead, she moved away from the doorway, closing the door behind her and claimed Taekwoon's bed as her own, which was what she usually did. She spent a good few seconds just staring at Taekwoon's boring ceiling. Figuring she won't tell him anything soon, he casually went back to his game, but he slid off from his chair to sit near the bed instead.

Taekwoon felt her fingers on his scalp a few moments later, just quietly playing with his hair as she continue to stare at the off-white paint.

When his character died, he finally put his phone down and stayed quiet as Hayeon gently pulled a few strands of his hair. "Shouldn't you be in practice?" he asked.  Actually, he also wanted to ask if Hayeon's mood had something to do with that whole sweet act earlier. He knew he rejected her flat out, but of course Taekwoon would still consider if she was about to ask about something serious.

Hayeon's fingers didn't stop. "It's fine." she said, voice level.

Feeling suspicious about the vague answer, he tried to turn around but Hayeon's hand tightened a little. Taekwoon understood the meaning of the gesture so he settled back to his orginal position and Hayeon resumed combing his hair. "Trust me, it's fine." she said.

Taekwoon wanted to complain because he knew she purposely worded it like that. So he'd stop asking. He wasn't used with not knowing things. It was a Hayeon thing to tell him everything. But he also knows that he had hidden far more things, had refused to say a lot and Hayeon trusted him enough not to pry until he was ready to tell her himself.

So with a heavy heart, he let the topic go. He'll trust her this time. To tell him when she's ready.

~*~

There were three days left before the Drama Department's final evaluation and still five days before the Dance's. Since the Drama Department showed films instead of actual live performances like the Dance and Vocal, his group had already wrapped up filming yesterday. Now, it's all in the producers' hands to finalize their project. The ones from the Acting Class now have the rest of the days free.

Not having to stay late for filming, and with Eunji's group currently away to film their final scene somewhere out of town, Taekwoon decided to go over to the Dance Department's building. 

He had practiced the routine with Hayeon as per usual but he'd never had the time to watch the entire group. Today should be a good time. They should have the dance finalized by now and would only need the remaining days to perfect it. From what he heard, their stage clothes are also almost done.

Taekwoon knows which practice room to go to, coming to fetch Hayeon, Minhyuk and even Hyoyeon during days when the five of them would decide to eat out together. He didn't enter immediately when he got there. Instead he peeked at the little glass window on the door to see if it was actually safe to go in. If they're still running the routine then he'll wait until they finish so he wouldn't be a disturbance.

His brows furrowed. There was the group, dancing to music he couldn't hear through the soundproofed room. He knows he got the room right because he can see Minhyuk among the others. But where is Hayeon?

His eyes searched the other side of the room, then he found her there, alone and facing the wall. Well, not really alone since a guy, who Taekwoon assumed was Howon, was sitting on a chair and it actually looked like he was guiding her about which moves she should do.

Even though he wanted to barge in the room there and then, he still waited for the rest of the group to come to a stop before he turned the knob. Doing his best to stay quiet, he opened the door and let himself in. The group didn't notice him over the sound of the music still playing, but Howon definitely did.

With Howon's focus away from Hayeon, Hayeon also looked back to check what it was. And the moment she saw Taekwoon, there was an almost guilty expression on her face. As if Taekwoon had caught her red-handed over something he doesn't know.

Taekwoon's eyes landed back to Howon. He hadn't seen from the outside, but now, he can see that the reason Howon was sitting down and not participating with the rest of the group was because of a cast securely wrapped on his left foot. With her partner out of commission, it also became obvious why even Hayeon isn't practicing with the rest.

He understood why Hayeon was practicing alone, probably revising the routine for a solo among the pairs since Howon obviously can't perform in his condition but what he couldn't get was why Hayeon was avoiding his eyes like she did something wrong.

"Yeon..."

"It's fine." she said, still not looking at him. The words echoed in his mind, remembering her say the exact same words just yesterday in his room, with her fingers on his hair.

"Do you guys mind if I borrow her for a minute?" he asked to Howon, then looked back behind him to direct the question to everyone, the rest of the group having noticed his presence by now.

Howon looked at the rest of the group for confirmation then said, "Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

Taekwoon looked at her then. He saw the moment her shoulders sag in surrender. "Yeon?" he asked, urging her to turn around and take his hand. Thankfully, she did, all without meeting his eyes. She took his much larger hand and Taekwoon lightly wrapped his fingers around hers, feeling the coldness of her palms, an obvious sign of her nervousness. 

He glanced at Minhyuk who just nodded at him before he exited the room with Hayeon in tow.

The corridors of the Dance Department were quiet since all the rooms there are soundproofed to avoid being a disturbance to each other's practices. Taekwoon had walked here more times than he could count and was more than familiar with the silence. But this time it was especially quiet, with Hayeon avoiding making any sort of sound and was just following him, their hands still connected.

Once they were out, he pulled her to the side of the building, a place where almost no one passes by. He then placed his hands on her face to make her finally look at him. "Yeon, this has something to do with me, right?" 

"It's fine." she said again, and just couldn't help averting her eyes when she says the words.

"It isn't if you can't even look at me." he answered, still keeping her in place. He really is so much more taller than her. Even though Hayeon was on the tall side for girls, Taekwoon was tall even among the guys in school. She really needs to look up at him, Taekwoon's hands still on her face. "What is it, Yeon?"

"It's... nevermind. It's fine." 

He made a face at her, then pinched her cheeks. "Ouch! Taek, what the hell?!"

Taekwoon simply raised an eyebrow at her.

"We were given the option to find a replacement partner for me. There." she said in one breath. But Taekwoon knew there was still more to the story so he just continued to stare at her.

She looked at him, held the stare and sighed. "And well... my entire group knows that you practice with me so they asked me if I can ask you to stand in for Howon for the evaluations since it will ruin the group routine if I actually dance solo among the pairs."

Taekwoon's look softened, finally following where this is going.

"I came to your room yesterday just to tell you. I know you would refuse so I wasn't counting on it. But..."

"But?" 

"... I guess I was kind hoping that you'd agree. I know it's a tall order... So when you said "No." at first, I just kinda lost the nerve to ask. I told my group you refused." she finished, hanging her head low.

Everything makes sense now. The reason why she didn't let Taekwoon see her face yesterday was because she wanted to hide how upset she was over Taekwoon's refusal. The guilty look, since technically, she lied about Taekwoon's answer in front of her group. And her insistence to tell him "It's fine." was because she absolutely believed that Taekwoon wouldn't agree.

Well, in a sense she was right. He has no problems about practicing with her since it was only the two of them. But performing in front of the crowd, during an evaluation no less, he thinks he really would refuse if someone asked him to do it. He can dance, but only to the point that his limbs didn't look awkward doing the routines. He can't be compared with the students that actually got in this school through their dancing.

There's that. But one look at her deflated form, shoulders slumped and head hanging low. He also knew there was no way he could possibly refuse her.

"Hey." he said, gently bumping his head with hers. "Yeon..."

"Hm?"

"Remember back in second year when Yoona suddenly got chicken pox?" he asked, trying to jog Hayeon's memory back to two years ago.

"Yeah?" she asked confused.

"I don't remember you refusing for that stand-in favor by the Drama Club." 

Hayeon still looked confused for a moment and then her eyes were going wide, looking at Taekwoon half in disbelief and half with excitement. "But... But that one was a high school thing and this is so.... not! I mean this will be for evaluation where almost the entire school will be watching including others from outside and the auditorium will be full and... and..." 

Taekwoon didn't need the reminder but Hayeon was looking at him with her eyes bright and he just knows he wouldn't be taking his answer back.

"Are you sure?" she asked finally, obviously trying to contain herself in the off chance that Taekwoon would actually refuse after getting her hopes up.

So when he nodded, an answer enough for Hayeon even without the verbal "Yes." she jumped on him hugging him and "Thank you! Thank you! I'll bake you lots of cakes and cookies after this when we return home! Thank you, Taek!" and Taekwoon gave a silent laugh as he returned the hug.

"I love you!" she exclaimed. It was words they've exchanged a lot in the past, words that easily slipped out of their tongue, something as easy as hugging each other like this. But somehow, this time, Taekwoon can't return the usual "I love you, too." or even the simple "I know." Hayeon was still oblivious to Taekwoon's silence, not noticing the lack of reply, or even the sudden hesitance in his hold.

Taekwoon broke the hug first, before Hayeon could notice something was off. "Let's go back?" he offered, but this time he didn't hold out his hand. Hayeon nodded, a beautiful delighted smile fixed on her face. Taekwoon may not have offered his hand back, but Hayeon still took it, gently pulling him to the direction of the practice room. And while they walk the familiar corridor, Taekwoon fixed himself. If Hayeon notices something, she would surely ask, and Taekwoon... Taekwoon has no explanation to offer, not yet. He needs to figure this out, whatever this is.

~*~

Akira: The thing Taekwoon was talking about the favor two years ago was the "stand-in favor" mentioned in Part 3: Tea Time in the Palace Chapter 3, if you can still remember that part ^^

lindsjune: So that's the update this week, sorry for the long wait! Akira (she's the main author) has been really busy with irl stuff lately so updates will slow down a bit, we'll try to update maybe once a week or once every two weeks. Hope yoy enjoyed this chapter, and if you hear evil laughter in the distance there's a 99% chance it's Akira :3