There once was a dancer who made a bet with his friend that he could make someone fall in love with him with nothing but the clothes on his back, a pair of dancing shoes on his feet, and his talent in doing what he loved most: dancing.

The winner would get one wish from the loser.

---

“I’ll give you this milkshake if you take a picture of Minseok without him knowing,” Yixing whispered to Luhan. The trio was having lunch at EXO as a treat for Yixing who had just returned from China the day before. Minseok was in the bathroom at the moment and Yixing decided it would be fun to play a prank on his friend. Well, not so much a prank rather than a ploy to get on his nerves. Luhan smiled as the idea sank in. His fingers curled around the camera he always carried despite Minseok’s protests.

“Deal,” Luhan replied firmly with a smirk. Yixing felt a certain satisfaction and he almost couldn’t contain his glee when Minseok came out of the restroom. Luhan rose to his feet, slyly taking his camera with him. Yixing watched as he passed by Minseok, chuckling under his breath when Luhan flashed him the most innocent of smiles. Yixing nodded at Minseok when he took his seat beside him.

“What did you two talk about while I was in the bathroom?” Minseok asked. “Because, if you asked me, Luhan was smiling a little too widely. It’s kinda creepy.”

Yixing laughed a little too loudly and flashed a grin at Minseok. “You think your boyfriend is creepy? That’s a little unsettling, isn’t it?”

“You know what I mean,” Minseok rolled his eyes. “You’re not planning something behind my back, are you?”

“What are you talking about? Not everything I do and say is meant to annoy you,” Yixing responded with a golden smile.

“Right. Because it’s not like I’ve known you since high school,” Minseok retorted. Yixing could only chuckle while he spotted Luhan by the bathroom door aiming his camera at Minseok.

“Luhan, don’t you dare take that picture or I will throw your camera off a ten story building,” Minseok shouted across the room. Yixing heard Luhan groan as he trudged over to them.

“How’d you know?” he whined.

“I’m not an idiot,” replied Minseok.

“Can I still have that milkshake?” This time Luhan directed the question toward Yixing. Yixing put on a thoughtful look and tapped the side of the glass as if pondering whether or not to hand over the beverage. His mind already had an answer though; he just wanted to build up anticipation.

“Hmm…nope,” he answered whilst smirking.

“What? Are you serious?” Luhan exclaimed. Yixing gave the man a pointed look because he hadn’t brought up his end of the deal so Yixing wasn’t inclined to give him anything. Yixing liked to make bets, little competitions or deals where he hoped the outcome would benefit him most. Quite honestly, from the start he had known that their prank on Minseok would amount to nothing. He just found it amusing to watch the couple bicker amongst themselves.

“I am one hundred percent serious,” Yixing responded with his hands clasped together on the table. He chuckled in amusement when Luhan pretended to sob and clung onto Minseok’s hands.

“Tell him to stop being mean to me Minseok,” Luhan cried out.

“No way! You were conspiring against me with him so why should I do anything for you?” his boyfriend retorted. Yixing rested his chin on his hands, observing the quarreling couple. He smiled to himself when he saw Minseok pull out the Polaroid Luhan had taken of him, saying something about how one picture of him was more than enough. That certain Polaroid happened to be the photo that brought them together and despite Minseok’s detest of photos of himself, he kept it anyway. It was his keepsake (Yixing liked to call it a treasure), that he’d probably keep for the rest of his life.

Yixing looked to the backpack hugging his leg and smiled. If Minseok’s Polaroid was his treasure, then what was in that backpack happened to be Yixing’s. He drifted off into his collection of memories, seeing the past playing before his eyes. He would have gotten lost in the visions of a little boy and his father dancing in a dim room full of mirrors if someone had not shaken his shoulder.

“W-what?” Yixing blubbered in confusion.

“Were you spacing out or did you just forget we were here?” Minseok teased with a cheeky grin stuck on his face. Yixing blinked a few times and the aroma of scented candles, the sight of numerous mirrors, wooden floors, and a man in his late thirties retreated into the back of his brain. He laughed belatedly, scratching his neck sheepishly.

“Yeah, I guess I did space out pretty bad,” he said.

“Well, get your mind back together because we’re going to Luhan’s workplace,” Minseok stated. He got up and went to talk to the owner and to pay for their meal. While he did that, Luhan slunk over to Yixing’s side.

“I have a friend at the company that I want you to meet. I have a feeling you two will get along well,” Luhan winked. Yixing was thoroughly confused as to what Luhan was hinting at. He decided whatever it was would be better off as a surprise and only nodded in response.

“He’s a sometimes but deep down he’s a really nice guy,” Luhan rambled on. “Oh, and he has some interesting…quirks. Just thought you should know.”

Yixing had no idea what Luhan meant by “quirks” and he was somewhat frightened to find out. So far, this friend of Luhan’s sounded like someone Yixing wouldn’t be interested in befriending much less pursuing a relationship with (if that was the reason Luhan was introducing him to Yixing for).

Minseok returned after paying and immediately threw his arm around Luhan’s shoulders, steering him away from Yixing. “Stop talking Yixing’s ear off, you might deter him from meeting your friend,” he chided.

Yixing could hear the tenderness in his friend’s tone and the adoration dripping from his voice. He smiled to himself, feeling happy all over again that his friend found love. He didn’t tell Minseok how happy he was for him, no, that wasn’t the way Zhang Yixing worked. He would rather show his happiness in the form of playful teasing and senseless banter because that’s what friends did.

Shaken by the shoulders yet again, Yixing blinked back to reality. “What?” he stammered.

Both Minseok and Luhan laughed uproariously at the confused dancer. “You need to stop forgetting the world around you sometimes. You never know what you might miss,” Minseok stated.

“Well, I’m sorry if I get wrapped up in my thoughts,” Yixing retorted while holding in the laughter threatening to burst forth. Minseok was right and Yixing acknowledged the fact that he tended to drift into a state between present and past, reality and fiction.

“Whatever, let’s get going,” replied Minseok. He began hauling a still-laughing Luhan out the restaurant and Yixing followed in their footsteps. The trio engaged in light conversation and threw joke after joke at each other, caught in a moment of bliss.

---

The dancer’s friend agreed, believing that there was no way he could ever make someone fall in love with him just by dancing.

Love needed words to blossom, not just actions, she said.

To this, the dancer merely smiled mysteriously.

---

“! Why aren’t you working?” Damn it!” yelled Kris as he violently shook his computer monitor in hopes that maybe physical abuse could make the machine work properly. It didn’t. “, I freaking hate you,” he cussed under his breath.

The door opened and Kris’ childhood friend (who was also the editor of “Seoul’s Soul”) stepped in. “What is it this time?” ’s not working?” he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow.

“Jongdae, you know how to fix this, right?” Kris smacked the computer. “Stupid never works.” It was obvious that Kris was no computer genius and he often was technology deficient. This caused him to hate nearly all forms of technology, un-affectionately naming them vulgar names. For example, he had named his computer “”. He had a phone he referred to as “Crap” but normally referenced it as “Dammit”. It was one of the many quirks in his personality to give a special (or more often offensive) name to things he wasn’t fond of.

“How do you not understand this? It’s simple,” Jongdae said as he clicked and tapped away with the mouse and keyboard fixing the problem in an instant. “There, all better. Are you happy now Grandpa?”

“Don’t call me a ing grandpa!” Kris snapped but still patted Jongdae’s shoulder in a gesture of thanks anyways.

“You’re right, I shouldn’t call you Grandpa,” Jongdae responded with a slight nod. “Even my grandpa can work a computer better than you.”

Kris had a certain urge to punch Jongdae in the face but thought that it would not only be troublesome but he would be seen as a bad boss if he went around beating his employees. So, sighing as if the weight of the world fell on his shoulders, Kris flailed his arms in the air as if to say he just didn’t care anymore (which was true).

“Alright, I get it. You’re right.” Kris conceded defeat which put a self-satisfied smirk on Jongdae’s face. “Now get out of here and go do your job.”

“Sure thing Gramps,” Jongdae quipped before dashing out the room, cackling all the while. There was no time for Kris to even grow aggravated when the door was slammed open again and in walked the trio that Kris immediately decided to call “The Three Musketeers”. He found his eyes locking onto one of the faces in particular, the one he had never seen before. Their eyes met for a split second and Kris continued to stare at this stranger. The man smiled shyly, his cheeks flushing, and Kris couldn’t help but notice the cute dimples he had.

“What do you want?” Kris asked, shifting his gaze toward his co-worker, Luhan. The baby-faced man smiled in such a way that it sent shivers down Kris’ spine (and they weren’t the good kind). He knew that smile very well since he’d known the photographer for years. It was a smile that meant the man had something up his sleeve or he was concocting some devious plan.

“Nothing, I just wanted to introduce you to Minseok’s friend,” said Luhan. “This is Zhang Yixing.”

Luhan shoved the man with the dimples and he staggered forward, and for some reason Kris saw a certain grace in the way the man stumbled. The dimpled man timidly looked up at Kris and smiled again. “Hello, my name is Zhang Yixing.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Yixing, I’m Kris.” Kris had to stop himself from calling Yixing something along the lines of “Mr. Dimple” or “the dimpled man”. There was a gap of sound as no one said a word and Kris was left gazing into Yixing’s eyes. He could feel Luhan and Minseok’s eyes on his face, trying to pierce through his skin and divine the inner workings of Kris’s mind. Those two (although mainly Luhan) had to be planning something, Kris just knew it.

“Are you busy right now? If you’re not, why don’t you hang out with us today?” Luhan offered. A look of surprise crossed Minseok’s face as well as Yixing’s. Obviously, Kris going with them hadn’t been a part of their plan. And Kris, for one, did not plan on going either way.

“I am busy, actually. Since my best photographer decided to take the day off, I had to make do with whatever resources I had,” Kris responded keeping his tone neutral. Luhan’s response to Kris’s answer was to snicker. If it had been anyone else, Kris would have fired him for not only being annoying but also for taking a day off just to go on some play date with his boyfriend.

“How much work do you have left, maybe we can help?” Luhan continued to attack, backing Kris up into a corner. Soon, he would no longer have any excuses. It’s not that he didn’t want to hang out with Luhan, okay, maybe it was because he had no desire to tag along with the Three Musketeers that day.

By now, Luhan had already situated himself on one of the extra chairs in Kris’s office. The photographer was pulling Minseok down to sit on his lap while gesturing at a seat for Yixing. Kris had no strength to argue so he kept his mouth shut, inwardly sighing.

“Alright fine. I’ll hang out with you guys. But, I don’t need your help so you can either sit there or outside,” Kris curtly replied. He hoped they would take the offer to go sit outside, but when none of them made any move to leave Kris knew he was stuck with them. He didn’t hide the exasperated sigh that left his lips as he turned back to his computer, which was working properly thanks to Jongdae.

While Kris began to work, he couldn’t stop himself from glancing up at the Three Musketeers every so often. He found his eyes shifting towards Yixing most and cursed himself for doing so. He was mesmerized by the man and the way he could make every one of his movements look extremely elegant and graceful, as if everything he did was part of a dance. It was a stark contrast from the way Luhan was practically stampeding around the room and touching all the trinkets on Kris’s shelves.

“Is there a reason that you’re touching all of my stuff?” Kris finally asked just as Luhan picked up a snow globe he had gotten from his parents for his birthday a couple years back.

“No, not really. I’ve just never been in your office for this long because you always kick me out right when I walk in,” responded Luhan.

“Did you ever think there was a reason for that? I don’t want your hands all over my ,” Kris replied briskly. “Why don’t you wait outside,” he ordered rather than asked.

This time, much to Kris’s relief, Luhan nodded. “Come on you guys, obviously we’re not welcome here,” he said as he shot an exaggerated look of annoyance at Kris.

“Get out of here,” Kris snapped with a small smile on his face. He and Luhan always made tiny jabs at one another like that. They were like brothers but without the wonderful (or not so wonderful) experience of being raised under the same roof. With a tiny bow, Luhan swept out of the office with Minseok and Yixing in tow.

“Finally alone,” sighed Kris. Left to work in peace, he got lost in concentration as time ticked away. When he finished, about an hour and a half had gone by much to his surprise. Rubbing his tired eyes, Kris rose from his seat after slinging his bag over his shoulder and headed toward the door. Something caught his eye on the way out though, so he paused to pick it up. It was a purple backpack that he had never seen before in his life.

“What the hell is this?” he muttered as he ped it and peered inside. “Shoes?” He rifled through the contents of the backpack and found that the shoes were the only thing in it. Curiosity getting the better of him, Kris pulled the shoes out to examine them more closely.

His first thought was that they weren’t anything special and were long due to be thrown into an incinerator. Never before had he seen a pair of shoes that looked so worn down and beat up as these ones. They were a simple pair of dark gray converse that had most likely seen better days, years before. But now, they were crusted with dirt and mud, holes peeked through the sides, and the rubber soles were worn thin which would provide no traction. Kris grimaced at the thought of wearing these shoes during the winter, or even in the spring when there were frequent rainfalls. Whoever wore these shoes would more than likely walk around with sopping wet feet during the wet seasons.

His second thought was more of a question. Who on earth would keep such crummy shoes? There was no logical reason to keep them; even now Kris wanted to chuck them into the nearest trash bin. He held them on the tips of his fingers, debating whether he should dump them in the garbage can outside or just shove them back in the backpack. He decided to go with the latter, rationalizing that whoever owned the shoes wouldn’t be too happy if they ended up in a landfill somewhere. Or they could have left them there solely for that reason, but Kris didn’t want to take any chances.

His final thought was to wonder who they could have belonged to. The only people who had been in his office that day were Jongdae and the Three Musketeers. Jongdae certainly did not own any shoes like that, he detested owning any article of clothing for more than a year (and those shoes were obviously several years old). He had never seen Luhan carrying around that purple backpack before and Minseok wasn’t the type to leave behind things. That only left one possibility: Yixing.

Kris exited his office with the backpack in his hand, ready to hand it to Yixing only to find the lobby void of other humans except for Jongin. He furrowed his brows and sauntered over to Jongin and the secretary gave him a bemused look.

“Luhan, the boyfriend, and the boyfriend’s friend already left if that’s what you’re all confused about,” Jongin mused. Kris chuckled at how Jongin still refused to say Minseok’s name (the two had gotten off to a rough start) and plopped the backpack onto his desk. “What’s this?” asked Jongin.

“I think Minseok’s friend left this in my office.”

“Oh, you mean the really attractive one? I was shocked when he first walked in, I thought he was a model or something,” Jongin said. “Hey, do you think I should ask him out?” He smirked and wiggled his brows suggestively, which would normally cause Kris to laugh but this time he remained silent. The idea that Jongin might have his sights set on Yixing tugged at his heartstrings in an odd way and he felt his chest burn with what he was afraid to call jealousy.

“I don’t know about that, I don’t think you’re his type,” Kris replied. He struggled to keep his tone neutral and uncaring. Why should he care that Jongin was interested in Yixing anyway? He just met the man today.

“Hmm, we’ll just see about that,” Jongin responded with a small devious smile playing on his lips.

“Yeah, whatever. Anyways, if you see him again can you give him his backpack?” asked Kris. He glanced at his watch, realizing it was slowly encroaching on his dinner time and he did not like to be off schedule. “I have to get going now, close up for me.”

He turned to leave only to find Jongdae standing in front of him with the backpack in his hands. How Jongdae had managed to get the backpack without him knowing, Kris could only wonder. Kris heard Jongin snicker in the background and bit back the nasty comment he wanted to spit out. “Jongdae? I thought you’d have left by now,” he said instead.

“I was going to until I saw you and Jongin having a pleasant conversation. And then you tried to dump your problems onto him and I couldn’t stand still anymore,” Jongdae stated. “He may be the secretary but he’s not your errand boy.”

Kris suppressed an annoyed groan. Jongdae had harbored feelings for Jongin for as long as Kris could remember and he always stepped up to the secretary’s defense. He couldn’t argue against the man so he merely conceded his defeat and grabbed the backpack.

“Fine, you freaking . I’ll return the backpack. Are you happy now?”

Jongdae nodded once and Kris glared daggers at the man. He pushed past him and left the building, feeling more frustrated with his friend than how he had been with his ty computer before. Shouldering the purple backpack, Kris pulled out his cell and dialed Luhan’s number.

He waited and waited, growing more and more irritated by the incessant ringing. In the end, Luhan did not pick up. A growl rumbled in the back of his throat as he tried again, but still Luhan didn’t answer.  He had no idea what Minseok’s number was and he obviously did not have Yixing’s number. Already tired and frustrated, Kris decided not to bother with the backpack anymore until tomorrow.

Besides, Yixing wouldn’t care about an old, crappy pair of shoes. It’s not like they were special or anything.

Shrugging the backpack on his shoulder, Kris trudged home not knowing just how important those shoes were to a certain dancer with dimples.

---

The dancer was clever though. He only made bets when he knew the outcome would always benefit him.

And this bet was no different than the others.