Previous chapter:

“Hyunjae-ssi and Teacher Kim are going to have a dance battle!” One of the trainees called out.

 

Youngmin chuckled. “Is this the punishment we’re talking about here?”

 

He turned to face Hyunjae and Tyler.

 

“Neh, sajangnim.” Tyler replied.

 

“Mind if I stay and watch?”

 

Tyler smiled.

 

“Why not?”

 

Chapter 13:

{Just inches away.}

“Good work, Kris!”

 

The vocal teacher patted Kris on the back with a smile.

 

“Go rest now, you’ve had a long recording. I’ll see you next week, okay?”

 

“Neh, hyung! Komowo, jinja.” Kris grinned, giving his teacher a small bow as he headed for the door.

 

“Any day,” His teacher smiled. “Feel free to hook me up for a drink some time if you’re that thankful!”

 

Kris rolled his eyes.

 

“Saem, you’re going to get into so much trouble the day Youngmin finds out you’re offering to drink with his singers.”

 

The teacher laughed before sending him out.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that day doesn’t come.”

 

“We’ll see about that.” Kris joked as he walked out. “See you next week!”

 

“Arasseo!” His teacher called out.

 

The moment the door shut close, Kris let out a deep breath. He was exhausted. It was tiring to keep up the same thankful expression for more than two hours, especially during a vocal lesson. He was a rapper, and yet he still had to attend singing lessons. It wasn’t that he was complaining or anything, but...okay, maybe he was complaining. He cleared his throat and began walking while taking out his iPhone to check the time. It was 8:45 in the morning.

 

What a joke...I’m actually up at a time like this when all of the other members are still sleeping like pigs. I should honestly be sleeping in at least once a week...

 

He sighed.

 

Being a leader really sometimes...

 

As he strolled down the hallway checking the texts he received on his phone, something caught his attention. He suddenly stopped in place and turned back to glance at the practice room wing. Trainees usually held their dance practices at this time, didn’t they? He stared into the empty hallway, weighing the possibilities.

 

Does that mean Hyunjae would be there too?

 

It’s been almost forever since Kris had seen Hyunjae dance, and frankly speaking, it was always the moment Kris looked forward to the most back in his trainee years: dance practice. No one could deny that she was the best out of the trainees. Not even the teacher himself.

 

It’s no harm if I stop by and say hi...right? After all, I should be a sunbae to them by now...

 

Kris took a few steps towards the practice rooms and his mind continued to make calculations. Which is worth more: waking up your members earlier to get a compliment from his manager or stop by the dance rooms and let his manager do a leader’s job?

 

Maybe it’s not such a good idea...

 

He changed direction again and began to walk back to where he was headed, towards the dorms.

 

Ah, mwola! Manager-hyung can wake them up!

 

He was about to spin around and head for the practice rooms but right then, a few sunbaes passed by and Kris, flustered, abruptly bowed to them and said his greetings. He didn’t want to look like an idiot, turning around in the middle of walking to go another direction. He wasn’t a rookie anymore and embarrassing things like this were never to be shown to others. He pretended to keep walking forward and listened to the footsteps of his seniors clacking down the corridor.

 

After making sure that all of his sunbaes have disappeared out of sight, he turned around sharply and walked briskly down the hallway connected to the practice rooms. As he reached the end of the hallway, he heard the pounding beat of music resonating from his right. He followed his hearing instincts and ended up in front of a practice room. He quickly grabbed for the handle to go inside but froze as he saw the plaque next to the door. It read “Practice Room #8”.

 

What luck.

 

To him, practice room #8 was a forbidden territory, one that if he crossed the borders, would help him regain his pain and the feelings he threw away long ago. All of his memories from his trainee years and all of the painful decisions he regretted making, they were all lingering in that practice room. Under that risk, he couldn’t bring himself to swing the door open and cross that line.

 

Biting his lip, he brought his gaze upwards and caught a glimpse of the dance session in progress through the window on the door. It was small but Kris figured it was sufficient enough for him to look through. He spotted Hyunjae in the front of the room with a huge smile on her face, sweat running down the sides of her forehead. Her shirt was half drenched and she was panting for air, but it was the first time Kris saw her so happy, so carefree as she watched Tyler dance his heart out in front of her. He had to admit Tyler’s dancing was way beyond ordinary and sometimes wished Youngmin had picked a more useful power for him, one he could use secretly in the presence of other normal people. His flying power always had to be hidden and Kris found no use to it as in the present.

 

If only I had a power that could make Hyunjae as happy as she looks right now...

 

His grip on the handle tightened and he chuckled to himself as he noticed himself tense up.

 

Gee, Kris, since when were you ever such a poetic man?

 

As he continued to absentmindedly watch Hyunjae and Tyler dance, an image began to flash in front of him and as much as he wanted to stop it from happening, it continued to replay.

---

Hyunjae leaned in quickly and gave Kris a peck on the cheek. Kris’s eyelids immediately fluttered open and his eyes met Hyunjae’s in shock. He watched as Hyunjae smiled genuinely.

 

“I’ve been confused about my feelings ever since the second you told me to quit, oppa,” Hyunjae laughed. “Thanks for letting me confirm it myself.”

 

She winked at him and turned around, reentering the girls dorm room. Kris stood there in the balcony absentminded, still not able to grasp what happened. His hand slowly reached up towards his cheek and his fingers gently grazed over the place where Hyunjae had planted her lips on.

 

“What was that all about?” Kris murmured as he stared at the door Hyunjae left from. "Aish, cham. It's not polite to leave someone hanging like that, you know!"

 

He frowned, kicking a random pebble on the ground.

---

Kris groaned, loosening his grip on the handle of the door. His back collided with the wall next to the room and Kris ran his fingers through his hair. The same flashback had been replaying over and over again in his head for the past few days and Kris swore he had lost many hours of sleep because of it. There were just too many questions he wanted answered and he didn’t even know why he wanted to know the answers to them. Just what did she have to confirm? Did she confirm it? It looked like she did. What feelings did she have when I told her to quit that made her confused? Does that mean we’re friends now?

 

Kris concluded he was just curious. What else could it be? However, when that flashback returned, Kris wanted nothing more than to forget all of the past and just walk through the door. It was funny how even though Hyunjae and him were not in any type of romantic relationship -- nor any type of close friendship as a matter of fact -- but Kris still wanted to somewhat understand Hyunjae better after the time they’ve separated. Somewhat closer.

 

But I mean...how much closer can we get?

 

He stood up from leaning against the wall and took a peek through the window again. They were already done dancing and he watched as Hyunjae high fived Tyler before giving him a bear hug. It sure did take some of the trainees off guard but most of them were already too impressed by the dancing done during the lesson that the hugging didn’t seem that out of the ordinary. Some did believe that music connected people which was why they thought Hyunjae and Tyler being close wasn’t exactly an unusual situation. Kris’s lips unknowingly curved up into a smile. He then mentally slapped himself as he realized what he was doing.

 

Why did I even come here to check up on her? Ugh, I can’t believe it. I feel like recently, I’ve been turning into a pabo because of her return.

 

He shook his head disapprovingly at himself as his eyes landed on Hyunjae for a couple of seconds. She was laughing at something one of the guy trainees had said.

 

Hm. You’re right, Kris, you’re right. It would be really embarrassing anyway if you randomly visited Hyunjae during dance practice without a reason.

 

Kris chuckled to himself as he continued to make up excuses to comfort his urge to go inside. He didn’t want to make the wrong decision, barge inside, and regret it right away. He wasn’t even ready to face his own memories of the past yet. He hadn’t fully forgiven himself although technically, Hyunjae had forgiven him.

 

It’s better to maintain a distance for the time being. She’s not comfortable with me yet.  

 

Just the thought that him and Hyunjae were only a door's distance apart made Kris want to forget about everything else and just walk in. He knew he couldn't do that though. Before he could even change his mind, he quickly turned away from the practice room and flew over to the flight of stairs at the end of the hallway. With no one watching, he slowly floated up the steps, his mind too blank to even worry about Youngmin’s scolding for using his powers in public.

 

~*~

“Good game, Jae!” Tyler high fived Hyunjae before giving her a tight squeeze around the waist.

 

Hyunjae laughed.

 

“You too!”

 

They were both drenched in sweat and it was the first time in a while that Hyunjae had felt the feeling of satisfaction after a dance workout. She never realized how much she missed it until now. She glanced through the trainees and smiled at those who gave her a thumbs up, returning it with her own. She was extremely happy at this one moment and just for this one moment, nothing on her mind was related to Kris.

 

As Hyunjae and Tyler rested and began to converse with the other trainees -- since the boys seem to have taken an interest in the new trainee, Seungyeon was and had been paying attention to something else ever since the middle of the dance show off.

 

Staring at the door, she could faintly see a man standing outside, peering in through the glass. Seungyeon couldn’t see him clearly, but she was almost sure that that man was Kris. After confirming her suspicions, her eyes widened as she saw the man break into a smile.

 

His expression was a gentle one, not the teasing ones Kris usually has on, nor the cold ones he shows to the people he doesn’t know. For all she knew, it wasn’t the same expression he showed her that same morning when she said her greetings. It was the first time she’s seen such an expression on Kris’s face, one that made him look vulnerable and almost like the nicest person on Earth. Okay, but seriously; who was she kidding? She turned to see what Kris was looking at, trying to find the explanation to his sudden weakness.

 

Her eyes passed Tyler, a few female trainees, and the stacks of water bottles pushed against the wall. To her surprise, she found herself looking at Hyunjae. Hyunjae, coincidentally, met eyes with Seungyeon right then, and Seungyeon greeted her with a huge grin and a thumbs up. Hyunjae returned the notion with a wink before turning away.

 

There was always something weird between those two... Seungyeon thought, pondering the relationship between Kris and Hyunjae. it’s almost as if they’ve known each other for a long time, but at the same time, they don’t know each other.

 

However, when Seungyeon glanced back at the door, Kris was gone, suddenly disappearing from her line of sight.

 

Huh? Didn’t he come to see Hyunjae?

 

“Hey, wait!” Seungyeon shouted amidst the noise of the trainees chattering inside the room.

 

She bolted out of the room and into the hallway.

 

“Kri--!!”

 

She stopped mid sentence and looked left and right. No one was in the hallway.

 

“Kris...?”

 

She tilted her head in confusion.

 

I’m pretty sure I saw Kris by the door just now...

 

She shook her head, ruffling her hair with her hands.

 

“I must be imagining weird things now.”

 

Seungyeon glanced up and down the hallway once more before turning around and entering the practice room. Hyunjae ran up to her.

 

“What’s wrong? Why’d you suddenly run out of the room?” Hyunjae asked curiously. “Was someone out there?”

 

Seungyeon hesitated to answer but eventually did.

 

“Aniya, it’s nothing.” She smiled. “I just thought I saw someone I knew, that’s all.”

 

Seungyeon bit her lip and watched as Hyunjae believed her words.

 

 

What if Kris was really there?

{The distance between us widens.}

 

~*~

A/N:

How’d you think of the new chapter? Hmmm. I think EXO’s coming back next chapter xD Or should I introduce another SM artist? Hehe. Welcome to all the new readers!! ^^