Turns out, their way of “helping” was actually quite intricately planned, at least by their standards. Instead of going for the simple option of just, well, asking one of the freshmen or maybe even Hwall himself for the details Juyeon wanted, Changmin laid out the “plan” to the other boy a few days later. Why go for the easy route, he said. Why not, Juyeon had tried to argue, but reminded himself that he probably really won’t get anywhere without Changmin’s help and so just silently agreed.

The plan began with Changmin getting Hwall’s dance schedule from their coach.

“The freshmen usually practice at the studio around these times,” the brown haired boy said eagerly as they all gathered in Juyeon’s dorm room, pointing at the piece of paper he had given the latter to review. “I’ve highlighted which ones are sure to have Hwall practicing.”

“Does Juyeon share the same break, though?” Kevin pointed out, ever the advocate for not cutting class.

Scoffing, Haknyeon waved a hand to dismiss the thought, “not important. Carry on.”

“The rest is all up to Juyeon, actually,” Changmin said, not really of much help by this point. “He can drop by the dance studio and say he’s looking for me. He could pretend he’s looking to join the dance club since I said so.”

Chanhee frowned, “he can’t, though, he’s an Engineering major. Isn’t that why he didn’t join back then? I’m surprised he even has time for all thisto begin with."

Silently, Juyeon agreed and said a prayer for his grades.

“He won’t actually join,” the dancer soon clarified. “Just say he’s interested, maybe get Hwall curious, then they end up talking and being friends, all that—main point is, he has a reason to talk to Hwall. He can introduce himself and find out Hwall’s real name by then. It’s foolproof.”

Jacob let out a low whistle, “sounds tedious, but it just might work. Surprisingly. Good job, Changmin!”

“Thank you, thank you.”

One of the time slots indicated on the schedule Juyeon was given was for later that day, thankfully (according to Kevin, at least) after all of his classes. After a few hours of lessons—in which he was far too distracted to actually listen to anything or take down notes, whoops—he finally gathered enough resolve and decided to head to the dance studio. He might as well take the first chance he got, right? Why waste an opportunity?

Juyeon could tell that there was someone inside the dance studio as he walked towards the room. The music was loud enough to be heard even a few doors down, along with how the closer he got, the louder the sound of sneakers skidding on the floor became, too. If Changmin was right about the schedule he gave, Hwall should be among the students in the studio right now. If he was absolutely right, maybe even the only one.

Once outside the door, Juyeon took a deep breath, and knocked.

“Hello?” He opened the door slightly, poking his head through.

Sure enough, the only person in the room at that moment was Hwall. He looked just like how Juyeon had remembered him from the dance event—dressed in an all black, dancer’s attire, with his hair slicked back. There was a sheen of sweat on his forehead that glistened on his pale skin. It actually took him a few more seconds to realize there was another person in the room, but when he did, Hwall immediately hurried to stop the music.

“Sorry! I didn’t see you right away,” he said, a hint of a Busan accent along the edges of his words. His voice sounded more youthful than Juyeon had previously imagined, not entirely matching his intense image. He was a lot taller up close, too.

Standing a bit straighter, Juyeon smiled what he hoped was a charming smile, “it’s alright. I wanted to ask if Changmin was here.”

“Changmin…?” Hwall asked, tilting his head to the side. The hanging earring he had on one ear followed suit.

Oh, right. Dancer names.

“Q,” Juyeon supplied, watching as recognition lit up Hwall’s face. “He told me to drop by if I wanted to, uhm, ask about the dance club?”

The younger boy smiled at that, the kind of smile that made his eyes turn into small, crescent moon shapes, an entire 180 degree turn from his chic boy look. “Oh, Q-sunbaenim! He isn’t here, but maybe I can help?”

After a split second, he smiled wider and said, “you can call me Hwall. Are you a Junior like him?”

“Yeah, I am. Nice to meet you. My name is Juyeon,” he said, taking great care into pronouncing the syllables properly incase his name sparked something in Hwall, since it didn’t seem like he was getting the other’s actual name anytime soon.