Hoseok stared into his cup of coffee. Pure black, because he needed the caffeine. It’s what he had been running on for the past several hours. There was just so much to do and so little time and if he had a choice he wouldn’t sleep at all but he didn’t so here he was. Drinking black coffee with Namjoon.  Trying to look alive enough to form sentences.

“You need to make more time for other things in your life besides dancing Hoseok.”

Hoseok looked up from the coffee he had been swirling. A pointless task if there ever was one, but it kept his attention well enough. “I do. I make time for you.”

Namjoon sighed, rubbing his face exasperated. “I mean, like, more than me. I’m practically your only friend.”

“The dancers are my friends.”

“No,” he argued. “You’re their teacher. You’re their employer. You may be around the same age as some of them, but that doesn’t make all of you friends.”

Hoseok shrugged, because when he was with them all it felt like the same thing. Learning to dance was one of the best things that had ever happened to him. He dedicated his whole life to it. He was a partner at a dance studio. He made choreographies for idols and musicals and films and everything else under the sun. It never felt like work to him.

It was kind of his only passion in life.

Nothing else compared to dancing. The feeling that overcame him when he was on stage. How it felt when he finally worked out an amazing choreography for a part of music he was struggling with. Hoseok didn’t think there was magic in the world, but if there was it would be when a person danced.

Of course, some of his students made him feel otherwise.

Hoseok was often used as a last resort. Send an idol to him for a month and if they still couldn’t dance it was hopeless. Hoseok rarely failed. It may not be up to par with his other students, but he could get them to at least blend in and not stick out like a sore thumb.

“How about this,” Namjoon suggested. “I’ll set you up on a date. You won’t even have to worry about finding someone or-“

“No.”

“Hoseok.”

“I mean it.”

He wanted to tell Namjoon that him and dating never worked out. Hoseok was a bad boyfriend. He forgot about dates. Sometimes it took him hours to respond to a text. He prioritized his career over any relationship he’d ever had and that always resulted in fights. People just didn’t get it. They didn’t understand how something like dance could make him completely forget about the time. More than once he’d had a cup of some liquid or another thrown on him as a break up method. He didn’t know how to get Namjoon to understand this. Namjoon, who was able to perfectly manage his time at the studio and his boyfriend without a problem.

So all he did was sip his coffee and people watch.

“Hoseok, just once,” he pleaded.

Hoseok shook his head sharply, face resolute.

“If you keep this up you’re going to end up alone.”

“What's so bad about that?” He didn’t need a person to complete him. Being single didn’t make him feel empty or lonely. He had dance, and his cat Lulu that sometimes hated him. Probably because he was barely ever home. It wasn’t like Namjoon was going to disappear on him.

He had everything he needed.

Namjoon sighed, shaking his head. It felt like this whole conversation was a commentary on Namjoon’s sighs. His exasperated sigh. His tired one. The sigh he made when he was in disbelief. Hoseok should have a degree on Namjoon’s sighs.

“You’re young,” Namjoon said finally. “Maybe you’ll feel different one day.”

Hoseok wasn’t sure. He couldn’t picture wanting more, but if someone had asked him at seven what he wanted to be he would have never said dancer. It would have been fireman or basketball player. What his older sister liked to remind him that he said in kindergarden: a dog.

She never let him live that down.

Hoseok didn’t take his first dance class till he was eight, and that had changed his life. It hadn't even been a month when he decided it was what he wanted to do with the rest of his life. He hadn't looked back since.

“I think I would have to love someone in order to date them,” Hoseok contemplated.

Namjoon snorted. “I don’t know if you realize this, but it doesn’t actually work like that. You kind of have to date someone to get to that point.”

“Well I’ll probably be alone my whole life then. Relationships are too stressful for me anyways.” Too many high expectations. Too many ways to disappoint someone.

Too many ways to hurt them.

He didn’t mean to. It was the last thing he wanted. It was why Hoseok thought he was better off single. Maybe Namjoon was right. Maybe when he got older he would feel differently.

But for now, everything was perfectly fine the way it was.

Hoseok met Min Yoongi on a Monday night when he smelled like the boys locker room.

Namjoon had told him he had some left over Chinese take-out in the studio and to come up and get it. Hoseok went after working with one of his company’s idol groups. For one of the guys, dancing did not come naturally. It took a lot of patience and visual cues for him to get it right, so by the time Hoseok was done it looked as if he had just come out a sauna. Except without the pleasant scent.

He’d casually opened the door like he always did, not expecting anyone to actually be there. Normally, Namjoon worked alone. He said it was easier that way, but this time a man with bleach blonde hair was sitting in Hoseok’s seat messing with the dials on the sound booth.

“Hoseok,” Namjoon said, gesturing for him to come in. “This is one of my co-workers, Min Yoongi. You might know him better by his composing name, Agust D.”

Hoseok blinked, staring between the two with wide eyes. It was true he’d heard of Agust D. Sometimes he listened to his students talking, and a lot of them wanted to be in the music scene. Agust D was one of the top hip hop composers in Korea. Namjoon was more R&B and the occasional pop song when decreed by the agency or a future buyer, but Agust D was pure hip hop.

As Hoseok studied Min Yoongi he realized he had this charisma about him. This lazy, laid back energy that somehow put Hoseok on edge. Hoseok wished he had been quieter when he opened the door because if he had known The Agust D was in here he would have turned right back around to the dance studio where he could bemoan his ty diet plan of three espresso shots a day and dance until he forgot why he was even frustrated to begin with.

Hoseok gave the man a slight bow and the man reclined his head in greeting. It was all Hoseok could manage before he grabbed the food, sitting down on the too small chair at the edge of the room that made his knees sit awkwardly and reminded him of his teen years. He’d been a spindly kid with braces, not exactly Mr. Hot Stuff. It wasn’t until he’d grown into his body and the braces came off that people wanted anything to do with him.

Namjoon was the exception. He had always been there with him. They’d been best friends since middle school, ever since Mrs. Kwon turned around and put them in detention for talking when it had been the two snooty kids behind them. They’d bonded over the injustice of it all, and managed to stick together since.

“This here is the hyung I was talking about,” Namjoon said, gesturing to the blonde who gave a lax nod. “He’s a great producer. He’s good to talk to and get advice from.”

Hoseok chewed his food, nodding when appropriate. Very aware of the smell on him. To smell like in from of Namjoon was one thing, but a complete stranger?

Hoseok made sure to stay as far away as possible.

“I’ve seen him around,” Yoongi said casually. “He’s in the practice rooms a lot.”

“Yeah, he’s one of the choreographers. His professional name is J-Hope.”

Yoongi’s brows rose and he gave a slow nod, twisting back around to check out the sound booth. “I think we should add some bass here.” He played a beat, a mixture of hip hop and R&B combined. Soon enough both of them were immersed in the music, forgetting all about him. Hoseok viewed it as a blessing that he could sneak out.

Having those eyes on him once was enough.

As if the world was against him, Hoseok began to run into Min Yoongi all the time.

Hoseok had never seen him before that day, but now he saw the man everywhere. And it was always after Hoseok had gotten a hard workout in the dance studio. Yoongi would recline his head and give Hoseok a nod, sometimes adding some small talk to the mix as they waited for the elevator. Asking how he’d been. If work was going well. Work was always easy to talk about. If Min Yoongi asked about that Hoseok could go on for hours. But the minute he asked anything personal, even a simple ‘Did you eat?’, Hoseok always clammed up.

Min Yoongi seemed to realize that, because soon enough it was all he ever asked Hoseok about. He’d tell Yoongi about the student that was following him, Lee Dahye, who was studying to be an idol. He was her last resort and she was placing all his faith in him. Hoseok told Yoongi about the new choreography he was making for an idol group. The struggle as he had to rework it to each person’s level and how he had to take away from the dance he perfected whenever they couldn’t manage a move. He spoke about his students, the fact that he was working on choreo for another artist’s upcoming concert.

And Hoseok asked how work was with Min Yoongi too. It seemed to be the only time his eyes lit up and that laid back persona dissipated to reveal an excited, passionate man underneath. Most of the time Hoseok didn’t have a clue what Yoongi was talking about, but he nodded as if he did. Yoongi probably didn’t understand everything he talked about either.

It just worked.

It was gradual, his realization that he liked Min Yoongi. It wasn’t lighting coursing through his veins or late night realization as he contemplated life.

He thought about him.

It sounded like such a simple thing. People think about things all the time, but Hoseok never allowed himself to be distracted like that when dancing. His mind had always been on the choreography. He felt like pulling his hair out, letting out a frustrated scream because he didn’t have time for that. He was too busy, and it wasn’t like Yoongi was vying for his attention. The guy barely acknowledged him unless they were standing at an elevator or stuck in a crowd of kids at work. Hoseok didn’t even know where Yoongi’s studio was located.

All they were to each other was a conversation to pass the time.

He felt so stupid. He didn’t even know Yoongi was his type. He’d never dated someone like him. All the girls he’d dated had a smile to kill for, and when it came to guys Hoseok was a goner for beautiful eyes.

He’d just ignore it. He was better off that way. Even if Yoongi was somehow miraculously interested in him it would end in flames.

All of his relationships did.

Hoseok’s downfall was on a Wednesday morning.

He’d felt dead tired, ready to fall over. He had been in a rush to complete a dance he had been working on and was living off energy drinks to stave off crashing. He’d stayed in the studio all night to finish it and managed to get it done, sending the video over in an email knowing the buyer wouldn’t suspect a thing. Yoongi was already standing in front of the elevator yawning. Rubbing his back as he tried to blink away sleep.

“Late night?” the blond