Hyunwoo sees it during dance practice.

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They're in the practice room working on the intense choreography for their comeback, and they've been going at it for hours now. They're all exhausted, breathing hard and drenched in sweat, and the room feels too hot and humid, like there's not enough oxygen to go around, the moisture sticking to the backs of their throats as their lungs struggle to in air.

The heavy beat pounds through the floor and through their bodies like a thrumming electric current, and their muscles are getting achingly sore as they work through their fatigue. At this point, everyone's starting to miss their cues, miss entire steps more often than not, their sneakers squeaking harshly as they frantically backstep and bump into each other in attempt to remedy their mistakes. Hyunwoo himself is even starting to see spots in the corners of his vision.

He's a strict leader, a firm believer in hard work and tough love, but it's clearly time for a break. So Hyunwoo calls time, allows for a generous fifteen minutes, and the members scatter in various directions.

Minhyuk moans loudly in relief and drops down to the floor, lies face-down for a few seconds, then gets right back up and leaves with Jooheon to get some water, still so full of energy as always, even when his muscles burn and his hair is damp with sweat.

Changkyun and Hyungwon move to sit down in a corner, leaning up against the wall. As they sit, Changkyun rests his head on Hyungwon's shoulder, his chest rising and falling with huge breaths as he chugs down water. Hyungwon brings his own water bottle to his mouth and misses, spilling all over himself, and Changkyun laughs loudly with his whole body.

Hyunwoo sits down against the mirror and tips back his own bottle of ice-cold water, feeling revitalized as it flows down his throat. His legs are throbbing and each breath feels strained and prickly, like needles clawing at the inside of his chest. His thin, sleeveless t-shirt is sticking to his body and to the smooth glass of the mirror behind him, and though it's pretty gross, he actually feels really, really good. Working up such a great sweat is invigorating, and despite the decline in quality of their performance over the past hour or so, in general, the choreo is starting to look awesome. He feels optimistic and so proud of s, all of them giving their best effort and trusting him (and each other) to always work hard for the team.

He glances over at Kihyun and Hoseok, who are still standing up on the other side of the room. Hoseok is doubled over with his hands on his knees and his head hanging down while Kihyun leans against the wall, breathing hard, mouth hanging open and cheeks flushed pink.

Kihyun in particular has been having a lot of trouble with their new choreo, and Hyunwoo can see that his eyebrows are still furrowed in frustration. Kihyun unscrews the cap on his water bottle and takes a few delicate sips, then puts it back down on the ground and goes back to practicing by himself.

He steps away from the wall and starts going through the motions of the choreo, humming the music to himself, deep in thought. Hyunwoo watches him with fascination. He's not surprised; Kihyun has always been a perfectionist, and he absolutely hates struggling, no matter what it is that he's struggling with. Though Kihyun has improved a lot since they debuted, dancing is still a weakness for him and Hyunwoo can tell that it drives Kihyun absolutely crazy to be considered weak at anything. Hyunwoo knows that Kihyun won't rest until he's got the choreo down perfectly, and though Kihyun's dedication and work ethic make Hyunwoo so proud, he does worry sometimes that Kihyun might push himself too hard, criticize himself too much.

As Kihyun continues to practice, Hoseok grabs his own water and gulps it down, his Adam's apple bobbing in his throat as he swallows. He eyes Kihyun as he drinks and even from across the room Hyunwoo can see something shift in his eyes, can see them morph from intense concentration to warm, earnest affection.

Hoseok puts down his water bottle and strides over to Kihyun, one hand sliding to the small of Kihyun's back and the other moving to rest on Kihyun's shoulder. Kihyun jumps a little in surprise but when he sees that it's Hoseok, he visibly softens. Hyunwoo can see the tips of his ears go a little red and a small, almost imperceptible smile adorn his face.

Hoseok starts to guide him through the steps, smiling brightly as he maneuvers Kihyun's body through the turns, moving Kihyun's shoulders and his hips and his arms to show him exactly what he needs to be doing at each count of music. Hyunwoo has never seen Kihyun look so shy and so flustered–his face now bright red and his eyes darting around as he tries to focus on what Hoseok is saying–nor has he ever seen Hoseok look so like a guardian, protective and gentle as he murmurs instructions.

Hoseok's hands fall to Kihyun's waist, his fingers gripping lightly, and Hyunwoo watches with amusement as Hoseok gives Kihyun a small, playful squeeze, causing Kihyun to yelp and spin around in Hoseok's grasp, hit him softly in the chest a few times as Hoseok laughs, his smile wide and gummy and his eyes lovingly crinkled up.

Hyunwoo observes Hoseok then step back to watch as Kihyun repeats what Hoseok had just shown him. Kihyun does a little better than he had been doing before, but it's not quite perfect yet, and Hyunwoo watches, charmed by what he's seeing, as Hoseok returns to Kihyun to provide more guidance.

Hoseok bends down to a squat and to Hyunwoo's surprise, his hands shamelessly travel up to grip at Kihyun's thighs. Kihyun's eyebrows shoot up, his expression incredulous and the color on his face darkening, as Hoseok starts to manhandle his legs, looking up at Kihyun from underneath narrowed eyes and a coy smile as he corrects Kihyun's stance. Kihyun looks down, laughs in disbelief at Hoseok's cheekiness. The laughter is contagious, and soon Hoseok starts laughing too and then the two of them are just staring at each other, neither one moving, all wrapped up in their own little world, eyes locked and mirthful joy filling up the space between them.

Hyunwoo glances around to check if anybody else sees what's happening right now, but Minhyuk and Jooheon haven't returned yet and Changkyun and Hyungwon are both distracted, looking at something on the group's iPad as they finish their water bottles. Hyunwoo turns back to Kihyun and Hoseok, shaking his head a little in awe. He doubts from their interactions that Kihyun and Hoseok would even care at all if anybody saw them right now, doubts they're thinking about anything but each other.

Under normal circumstances, Hyunwoo might be more taken aback by what he's seeing, except for the fact that this is not the first time he's seen Kihyun and Hoseok like this. He may not be the most observant person in the world, but even Hyunwoo has noticed that this has been happening a lot, seemingly more and more often as time goes on. The initial shock has given way to curiosity, amusement and, maybe, just the tiniest bit of anticipation.

Hyunwoo would be lying if he said that he didn't often wonder about the true nature of their relationship. He'd also be lying if he said that he wasn't interested in seeing how far it would go.

Kihyun wheezes a little bit as his laughter dies down and Hoseok stands up again, still grinning so hard that it hurts Hyunwoo's face just to look at it. Hoseok's hand goes to Kihyun's shoulder and he gives a gentle, encouraging squeeze just as Minhyuk and Jooheon are reentering the room and Hyungwon and Changkyun are setting down the iPad, helping each other up and preparing to get back to work.

While they all start to return to their formation at the center of the room and stretch their muscles for round two, Hyunwoo sees Hoseok make eye contact with Kihyun from across the room. Hoseok nods, the smile on his face now soft and sweet, and Kihyun returns it with a small, shy smile of his own, looking down at the ground as he flushes again.

As they start up practice a few minutes later, Hyunwoo notices that Kihyun has improved spectacularly. He keeps throwing glances at Hoseok, the two of them communicating with their eyes and Hoseok nodding when he sees Kihyun getting all of the moves right. Kihyun is practically beaming, energetic and confident, even as sweat starts to drip down his forehead and his breath starts to come out harsh and loud. He looks so happy, giddy even.

When they're finally finished for the evening, all of the other members hollering and cheering in relief, Hyunwoo sees Hoseok walk over to Kihyun and start to rub his back, looking down at him with soft, soft eyes. Kihyun breathes hard and leans back into Hoseok's touch, his eyes fluttering as his breathing slows down. Something strange settles in the air between them, a bewildering but not unpleasant sort of tension that Hyunwoo picks up on even as someone looking in from the outside.

They look at each other again and Hyunwoo suddenly feels like he's intruding on a private moment, even though this is all happening as the other members walk around them, pack up, and start heading out the door to go back to the dorm for the night. Whatever that tension is, Kihyun and Hoseok both snap out of it with nervous chuckles and make their way towards the door with the others, grabbing their things as they go, but still hovering around each other like satellites.

Hyunwoo is the last to leave and as he flicks off the lights and closes the door to the practice room behind him, he catches Hoseok looking at Kihyun while Kihyun's head is turned.

Hoseok looks-there's really no other word for it-smitten, absolutely smitten.