“Guys! It’s time to go to… Guys?” Tao trailed off, realizing that the kitchen and the hallway was completely empty. He frowned when he heard laughter come from the living room and walked in to see Kris surrounded by the other members with Luhan standing next to him. All the furniture had been pushed out of the way to make room for what seemed to be… dancing? Kris had to bend his legs slightly so he could be at the proper height for Luhan, the boy was a lot shorter than him after all. The sight of them together was somewhat awkward and completely amusing to the other memebrs, it even made the maknae laugh a bit.

“What are you doing?” Tao asked. The two stopped dancing and looked at him.

Luhan smiled, “Oh there you are! Apparently Kris knows how to do all these formal dances and was playing dumb on 'Exceptionally Extraordinary’.”

“He’s showing us ‘how it’s done,’” Chen used air quotations and motioned to the two standing, “Right now he’s demonstrating how to ballroom dance with Luhan.”

“But it’s kinda awkward with the height,” Xiumin chuckled, earning a kick from the second oldest.

“Why would he hide it?” Tao asked, curious as to why he wouldn’t showcase his skill.

“Probably because it’s embarrassing-”

“Says the boys who wanna learn how to do it,” the leader glared, earning a couple of laughs from them, "I just didn't see a point in acting serious on a show like that."

Tao nodded slowly, “Ah huh… well then I guess I’ll-”

“Don’t go anywhere,” Kris cut him off, “I’ll need you for something in a minute. Alright guys the last part of this dance is to twirl your partner, but not too fast or they’ll get dizzy,” He demonstrated the move with Luhan, straightening up his posture and holding the elder boy’s hand up. Luhan spun slowly, glaring at Xiumin to warn him not to trip him anytime soon, “Do you understand?”

“Yeees~!” The boys sang in union. Kris smiled and nodded, letting Luhan go and walking up to Tao.

“Alright, this is the last dance for tonight and then we’re going to bed,” they groaned, finding amusement in the leader’s ‘partners’ reactions but nodded anyways, “Okay, I’m going to show you how to properly do the dance the MC wanted Tao and I to do.”

“What? Ge, do I have to be the girl again?” Tao asked, pouting slightly.

“You do, I only know how to lead and they’re not doing to be dancing with men anytime soon,” He wrapped his arm around Tao’s waist and pulled him closer, “The spacing between you and your partner is critical. You cant be too close or you'll be unable to move, but you can't be too far or you'll just look sloppy. Get as close as possible so you can move as one.”

Tao blushed as Kris patted his hip, “You want your hand on their waist, any higher and it’s weird, any lower and you’re a ert.”

“Be careful Tao,” Lay chuckled, earning a glare from the leader. He then turned to Tao and grabbed his hand, pulling it towards his shoulder.

“Keep this by my neck, or shoulder if you’re more comfortable with that.”

“O-okay.”

Kris smiled and looked back at the boys, “Try not to step on your partner's feet, it’s okay for them to do it cause it’ll be a reminder you’re leading wrong. Now hold your hands up out here,” he lifted his other hand up, grabbing Tao’s in the process and holding it firmly. Tao’s face was redder then before and he avoided eye contact with the boys, knowing perfectly well that they would , “The next part is pretty easy, since we’ve all danced before. It’s the three count, you ready Tao?”

“Y-yeah.”

“Just follow my lead. One… two… three… one… two… three… one, two, three, there you go, one, two, three.”

Their dance started slow at first, Kris would place his foot forward and Tao would follow afterwards. Pretty soon the martial artist got into the routine of it and they gradually picked up the pace. Pretty soon they were dancing around the whole living room. Tao occasionally stepped on Kris’s foot, but the leader laughed it off and continued on like nothing happened.

Tao smiled when they did a complete rotation without messing up; he actually found the dance to be a little difficult, but fun at the same time. Even his band mates didn’t say any taunting comments and watched with small smiles on their faces as the two got lost in their own little world.

It wasn’t until Chen asked a question that they came back to reality, “What about the falling part? The one that you did on stage.”

“Oh, I almost forgot about that,” Kris stopped moving and looked back at them, “It's called a 'dip'. If you guys don’t have a strong grip then you’ll drop your partner for sure. I don't... really see how to explain this, other then lean them back and catch them before they hit the ground, so just watch what I do and see if you can get it from that.”

Tao’s eyes widened and he quickly shook his head, removing his arms and attempting to take a step away. However, Kris still had his hands around his waist and wouldn’t let him leave, “Ge, I don’t want to do that part.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to drop me.”

“Did I drop you last time?”

“No-”

“Then there’s no problem.”

"Ge-"

"If I have to trip you again, I will," Kris pulled Tao even closer and whispered in his ear, “Trust me on this; I won't drop you.”

Tao shuddered and gave Kris his best ‘innocent panda’ eyes to try and make him change his mind. He merely smirked and shifted his leg, kicking out one of Tao’s legs and making him fall backwards in the process.

“Gyah!” The boy yelled, closing his eyes and clinging tightly to the leader as he felt himself lose balance. When he thought he was gonna hit the floor, he felt the grip around his waist tighten and came to a halt. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Kris’s face only centimeters away from his.

The man smirked and bonked heads with the maknae, “Told you I’d catch you.”

Tao let out a sigh of relief and hit his chest lightly, “You’re no fair ge.”

“I told you in advance, didn't I?.”

“And I said no.”

“I can still drop you, you know.”

“Don’t!” Tao tightened his grip and stared terrified at him. Kris smiled and brought him back up to a standing position. Then he pulled him into a hug and rubbed his back in a comforting manner.

“Dui bu qi*,” he laughed, “Don’t be mad at me.”

Tao sighed, but hugged him back anyways, “I can’t be mad at you ge.” 

“Guys,” Lay coughed, “We’re still here you know.”

The two looked over to the boys, who all had unreadable expressions on their faces, and realized the position they were in. Tao quickly separated from Kris and scratched the back of his head nervously, “I-I guess I’ll go sleep then.”

“We all should,” Kris agreed, eyeing the other boys, “Lessons over, maybe you can practice with that special someone in the future. Now go to sleep,” He clapped his hands and the boys nodded, getting up and following him to their rooms.

Luhan felt someone poke his arm and turned to look at Xiumin, “What?”

“I feel like we just watched a kdrama.”

The boy laughed and nodded in agreement. He stepped inside his room after bidding goodnight to the elder man and made eye contact with Lay. He sighed and fell backwards on his bed, “It’s just painful to watch them act like this.”

“Seriously,” Lay chuckled, “I say we do something about it soon, before the s kill us all.”

Luhan laughed again, “Sure, because the maknae is capable of having those frustrations,” he replied sarcastically.

“I never said Tao was the one suffering.”

*Sorry/I'm Sorry

You like it. Dun lie.... i'm almost at the fifteen mark... you know what that means