Day One - Help ft Taemin & Sulli

                As Taemin pushed the wooden door open, soft sobs could be heard from the corner of one of the many dance studios in Seungri Arts School. He checked his watch. 10.31pm. ‘Who would be here at this hour?’ He thought. Taemin adjusted his black tank top and inched his way towards the direction of the sobs. The room was poorly lit, with only moonlight streaming in from the tall glass windows. He his heel and took a step towards the light switch.

                “Don’t.” Taemin was startled by the sudden sound. It was clearly a girl’s voice, one that he found familiar. Taemin squint his eyes in the dark. He managed to make out a girl who was hugging her knees close to her chest as she leaned against the wall at a far corner, away from the moonlight. Despite the dimness of the room, he could see that her long black hair drooped carelessly over her shoulders. She was wearing a white t-shirt with a pair of black sweatpants. Taemin sighed. He recognised who she was and walked slowly towards the girl.

                “Sulli ah.” He said as he sat down carefully beside his friend. He sighed when he saw her plight. They grew up together, yet they were not close. Taemin noticed that Sulli’s hair was drenched in sweat. He concluded that she was once again trying to practice the tough dance routine she had been taught this afternoon. He knew that she was struggling, but yet he could not help her. He wanted badly to, but he did not know how. Slowly, he pulled out his water bottle from his bag and passed it to her. Sulli accepted it with shaky hands and took a gulp of water.

                “What did Teacher Lim teach you today? Was it tough?” Taemin mentally slapped himself for asking such a stupid question. He was met by silence, as usual. He was used to it, for they have spent their years in middle school together in the same class. He understood that Sulli never liked talking when she was upset. Having known her for 3 years or so, Taemin knew Sulli was not the best dancer out there; in fact she scored the lowest in the cohort for the mid-year assessment a fortnight ago. Sulli was here to pursue the course in acting, but they were only Year 1 students. Students could only choose the course that they wish to major only at the end of Year 2. Taemin however, had no problems when it comes to dancing. It was like he was born for it. Dance was his life; life to him would be nothing without it. In contrast to his distressed friend, he scored the second in his cohort for the assessment. He could have gotten first if not for his sprained ankle.

                Taemin was about to stand up and walk his friend home until he heard her speak. “Help… help me.” Taemin looked at her and nodded after a few seconds. He carefully reached out his hand, and Sulli looked up. She shakily grabbed hold of Taemin’s hand and walked with him to the centre of the dance studio. Taemin decided to keep the room dim, seeing how she avoided light at all costs just now in her distressed state. 'She probably does not like it when she's not in the mood and there's light,' he concluded. It was the first time in months they had proper interaction due to their separate schedules.

                He listened to the music that was given to Sulli for practice and told her to demonstrate the moves that she was taught earlier in the day. She was able to recall all her dance steps, but her movements were slow and shabby. He tried to do exactly what she did, only with more power and sharper movements. Every single step he took was precise and every turn he made was sharp. Sulli stared at him in awe. When the song ended, Taemin gestured Sulli to come over so that he could go through the steps with her.

                Taemin was patient. It was one of his many traits. Step by step he walked her through. It was a hip-hop number, so it was physically demanding. However, Taemin did not give up on Sulli. Sulli did not feel tired or discouraged by Taemin either. She tried her best to follow Taemin’s instructions and made her movements sharper. What she was lacking was strength, but at least they could try to make her jumps lighter and moves sharper. It felt encouraging, to have someone that she's familar with helping her.

                After 3 hours, Sulli was able to grasp the routine better. ‘Weird.’ She thought. Her teacher had spent hours trying to guide her, but she just could not execute the movements the way the teacher wanted. Taemin put his hands on his hips and leaned against the mirror. He pressed the play button on her iPod, and music blasted through the small speakers he brought. Sulli did her best to make sure that she was on count and executed her movements with swiftly and with more energy. When the song ended and Sulli made her last jump, Taemin applauded. He smiled brightly at her, a smile Sulli missed seeing. She remembered how Taemin was so innocent in middle school and his smile was one of his charming points. She took her light pink towel and wiped her sweat away. Sulli suddenly remembered something and turned to face Taemin.

               "Hey. Aren't you here to practice?" She asked, still panting. Taemin's mouth formed an 'O' and scratched his neck sheepishly. It was strange how he forgot his agenda. Sulli gestured Taemin to dance, and sat down leaning against the mirror.

               When the music played, Taemin changed completely. His movements started out slow, and Sulli immediately recognized that this was a modern dance number. His movements were elegant, like a swan. His power was well controlled, with each step careful and distinct. Every part of his body - his fingers, feet, arms and head - was used to execute the dance. When the music became faster, so did his movements. It became more intense. It was like Taemin transitted from a small gentle kitten to a fierce and strong lion. His movements were as light as a feather, fast like the wind. The moonlight streaming in made him look like an angel. Sulli was fascinated by this side of Taemin. It was something she had never seen before. 'He's grown up so much...' She thought. His eyes were full of concentration and power, his looks were so intense that it drew Sulli closer and closer into the dance. It was like he had hypnotised her with merely movements. Sulli fully understood why he had chosen to major in dance. He was born for it. He was in this world to dance. Finally, the music ended, along with Taemin's performance. Sulli clapped loudly and showed her adorable eyesmile. Taemin smiled sheepishly and quickly sat down, breathing heavily.

                Sulli felt like she needed to dance again, with that same power Taemin had. Taemin sat up straight and watched her dance. Her eyes were much more focused than before and each step she took was distinct. Every stomp was powerful, every turn was light and she stretched her arms out the way she was supposed to. It was like Taemin's energy rubbed off her. Sulli had executed the movements almost perfectly. There were some minor errors here and there, but it was a vast improvement from before. When she finished dancing, a wide grin appeared on her face. Sulli felt so accomplished, and she looked at Taemin with gratitude. Taemin applauded loudly and showed his eyesmile as well. The two laughed, took their bags and began to leave.

                “Thank you for helping me, Taemin.” Sulli said as they exited the dance studio, all sweaty and tired. Taemin stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.

               “Help, is something I should’ve done earlier.” He spoke. Sulli gave a small smile and Taemin turned away. She giggled and followed Taemin out of the school building. Taemin felt lighter than never before. He finally made his first move.

I hope this wasn't too bad for you >< For some reason, I ship Taelli with all my heart! This chapter was written in class (not a good thing, I know) so I guess for me it was alright? Haha please let me know what you guys think okay?

I have already started on brainstorming for my next story. I plan to throw in Nana from Afterschool and Yunho from TVXQ. I was inspired to write it after finishing the drama 'School 2013' so if it sounds similar please forgive me!

Thank you for reading! ♥

EDIT 7/2/13 : I have edited the chapter and added a few more details in(: I hope it made the story flow a little better. I've added the last sentence because I thought that it would be quite nice haha ^^