"Two, three, four, and five, six, seven, eight; very good, Eunhwa-yah! One more time: one, two..."

The sounds of heavy breathing and shoes scuffling, skidding, sliding and stomping on the floor pounded through the sweat-filled, sticky air again and again. The lights were no longer bright; instead they were muffled by the humidity and the passion as it suffocated the air. The heat in the air took on the appearance of a fine mist, and it was glowing under the light, constantly moving, swirling due to the disturbance of the air around it. 

Haejin exhaled heavily and stepped forward again, moved by only a beat as it pounded through the air. Her pulse matched with it, fierce and strong and standing as the single reminder of what kept her blood moving, kept her alive. Her breath was erratic and her lungs screamed for oxygen, but she paid no heed. The only thing on her mind at this moment was how her body was positioned, how fast she could move, how precise her moves were, and how smoothly she could execute them. 

Unconsciously, she shook her head roughly, noting the sweat that flew off of her forehead. As gross as it was, it kept it from leaking into her eyes, stinging them, burning them, ultimately causing her to lose her sight momentarily. And in the practice, the eyes were everything.

They had joked that they were cross-eyed after practice, Haejin and Eunhwa did. The reason why they thought such was because the eyes had to look two different places, with one eye looking the opposite direction than the other. One eye was focused on the lead dancer, who taught them where exacly to place that left foot, how exctly to pop out their chest. The other eye was trained on their own body, watching for mistakes, comparing and contrasting their trainer's moves with their own. Yes, their trainer also had eyes like a hawk to look for mistakes for them, but a second opinion was always the best option in the training room, and the individual is their greatest critique.

The end of the song was nearing. Haejin could tell, though she had never heard this one before; the music became a little more laced with complexion, the notes a bit higher... But the beat stayed the same. Maybe there were a few more tuts included in the rhythm, but the originality still shone through.

"Give it your all!" The dance coach's order rang loud and clear, and it was the only thing Haejin heard. Watching her coach dance, she mimicked her moves with crisp perfection, despite the fatigue that ran through her veins. She felt her lungs would burst, but she pushed onward. The pain would be over soon, and behind that pain, beauty would ensue.

"And... Spin!"

Haejin pivoted on her feet and spun once, twice... Thrice. A gasp left her lips in surprise before she caught herself, landing on both feet, albeit clumsily.

"Whoa!!!" Eunhwa's voice echoed through the room, loud with shock. The beat stopped as their song ended. The dance coach turned to Haejin, wiping her brow. Eunhwa gaped at Haejin, her eyes wide and her skin glistening.

"Wow! Very good, Haejin!"

Haejin was in shock as she looked at her coach. "Wow," she huffed.

"'Wow' is right!!! That was three times! Three!" Eunhwa stumbled over to Haejin and gave her a pat on the back. Unfortunately, Eunhwa's hand was sticky with perspiration, as was Haejin's shirt, and they stuck together as Eunhwa patted her friend. 

"One more than your boyfriend," their instructor commented. She smiled, impressed. 

"Oh man, wait 'til you tell him that! He'll freak!" Eunhwa jogged over to the side of the room to grab her bottle of water, where she opened it and was chugging it down.

"Nah," Haejin shook her head, feeling sweat trickle down as she did so. "He'll just try to beat me." She smiled to herself, before looking at her coach. She nodded in agreement.

"He always is so competitive," she chuckled, before clapping her hands. "Good job, you guys! That was the last song on my set list for today. You're free to go."

Eunhwa stopped drinking her water and froze. Haejin gawked at the dance instructor. 

"Seriously?" they asked in unison. 

"Yeah?" Their coach let out a laugh. "Why are you guys so surprised?"

"Well, I mean, we're happy because we're wiped out, but you usually wring us dry for a few more hours!" Eunhwa tossed a towel to Haejin, who took it gladly and began to dab at her face and arms.

"I know. I've got a schedule today though. So you guys are free to go home," was her reply. Haejin looked at Eunhwa.

"D'ja hear that, Eunnie?" She broke into a large grin. "We get to go home!"

"SLEEP!" They yelled in unison once again, causing their coach to break out into a laugh. 

"EARLY!"

"ALRIGHT!" The dance instructor laughed, and walked over to them, giving them a pat on the back. "I'll see you guys in two days," she said, before leaving the room. Haejin fist-pumped the air.

"Alright! Let's see, it's... Only four o' clock," Haejin said as she checked her phone. "I don't know if the others are done yet though..."

"So we can't call the manager to get home; he'll be upset if he has to make multiple trips here and back." Eunhwa's face suddenly twisted in disgust, and she looked at Haejin. Haejin stared confusedly at her, before suddenly groaning and sharing the same look.

"We're walking home." Again, in unison. They sighed, before picking up their things and leaving the room.

"But I don't wanna~" Eunhwa's shoulders slumped. "Carry me, my love." She looked hopefully at Haejin, who sneered at her.

"No way; after calling me 'fattie', you think I'm going to carry you?" Haejin scoffed and pretended to look hurt. She quickened her pace down the hall, leaving Eunhwa behind.

"No, wait! You know I didn't mean it!" Eunhwa scurried after Haejin.

"Uh-huh, of course you didn't-- Oh!" Haejin suddenly stopped, allowing Eunhwa to catch up with her and cling to her shoulders.

"Hey guys," Haejin greeted, as she looked at Minji, Yejin and Sora. The three other girls were sitting on the couch in the lobby. Upon hearing the greeting, they looked up. Minji smiled.

"Hey! We got out early today!" She stood, as did the others. 

"We did too," Eunhwa cheered. "Where's Jina and Hyori?"

Yejin glanced at her phone. "They got held back."

"Hm. Well shoot. We can't call the manager; he won't come back for those two. He'd make them walk," Haejin commented. 

Sora sighed. "I guess we'll have to walk back... At least we won't be walking alone, though. We'll have each other to talk to!"

"That's true," Minji replied. She looked at them. "I guess we'll head out now--"

"No you wont!!" The group turned to see Jina and Hyori jogging toward them. The other girls cheered.

"Yay! You guys just saved us from walking our tired selves home," Yejin cheered. Hyori's jaw dropped and she hit her playfully. 

"Yah," she started, "I see where we stand! ...Thought we had something special," she mumbled. Yejin giggled and hugged her friend. "I'm only teasing."

"Yeah, we're done early." Eunhwa had called their manager, and was speaking to him a little ways off from where the girls were standing. "No, we didn't get kicked out, I'm seri--You think we're felons?? I'll show you a felon if y-- You're on your way? Okay, see you in a bit, my humble master!" She pressed the 'end' button on her phone, before turning to her group. "He's on his way," she reassured with a smile. They laughed.

Haejin let out a sigh of relief as she stepped out of the shower. She felt refreshed, and her skin could breathe again now without all of the sweat that caked its surface. She toweled her long hair, as she wrapped another towel around her warm, pruny body. She walked toward the door, and opened it quietly. Looking around, she could barely spot the other girls. Three of them were in the kitchen, cooking dinner, and the other four were sitting in front of the television.

Even though they had been roommates for well over a year, with Sora being the newest addition only six months ago, Haejin still felt shy around the others when it came to seeing each other's bodies. Some of them didn't care, and would freely walk around in full-blown birthday suit as they waited for their clothes to dry, or for another member to get out of the bathroom so they could jump in the shower quickly. Others were as shy as Haejin, and would sprint from the bathroom to their bedroom, quickly shutting the door behind them. Haejin was one of those, and once she declared the coast was clear, did just as she always did, scurrying to her bedroom and quickly closing the door.

She emerged a few minutes later in evening attire, which was a band-tee and a pair of shorts. She walked out into the hall with a hairdryer in her hand, searching for an outlet. Once she found one, she plugged it in, turned it on, and began to dry her hair.

"Hey!" Minji's head poked out from the kitchen. "Turn it off!"

"I can't hear my drama," Sora complained loudly.

"Oh. be quiet; I'll only be a few minutes," Haejin hollered over the sound of the dryer.

As soon as Haejin turned the dryer off several minutes later, a loud scream was heard. Everyone froze.

Another scream, and suddenly Jina bursted through the door and into the living room.

"GUYS!" She was breathing heavily, with one hand clutching her chest.

"What's wrong?" Hyori asked urgently.

"Downstairs... DOWNSTAIRS." Jina struggled to speak, her eyes wild.

"A fire?!"

"A flood?!"

"E..." Upon hearing the syllable leave Jina's lips, everyone looked at her confusedly.

"E?"

"X..." At this, everyone's faces dropped. 

"No way," Sora muttered.

"You're kidding me..."

"O." 

EXO.

Suddenly, everyone was pushing each other and running in order to get to the door. They couldn't get there fast enough.

"Move!!"

"I'm trying!"

"I had no idea they'd be coming back!"

"They didn't text me about it!!!"

Haejin pushed through the door with Jina pressing on her from behind, and they ran out of the door, through the hall, and down the stairs to the floor below.

"I should've grabbed more stuff."

"You should move faster; my arms are about to fall off."

"Excuse me? YOUR arms are about to fall off? Why do I have to be the pack-mule every time?"

"Because you're terrible at rock-paper-scissors, Xiumin-hyung."

"Baekhyun, you should have grabbed more stuff."

Baekhyun scoffed and threw a look behind him. "The past is the past, Kris-hyung."

"Whatever, Bacon." They reached the top of the stairs, where Luhan, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol awaited them.

"You guys sound like elephants," Luhan hissed. "Are you trying to wake everyone up?"

"It's seven p.m.! Who's sleeping at this hour?"

Kyungsoo looked at him blatantly. "This is S.M.. When given the chance, who isn't sleeping at this hour?"

Baekhyun paused, before admitting defeat and nodding. Sehun emerged from their dorm room, along with Lay, Chen, and Tao.

"Is that everything?" he asked, while Tao picked up two suitcases with a grunt before carrying them into the dorm.

"I think so," Xiumin said with a huff as he set his bags down. "Jongin and Suho are with Manager-hyung downstairs, and they didn't have anything with them.

"Thank god," was Sehun's reply. 

Suddenly, they were alerted to the sound of rampant footsteps, and they were growing louder.

"Oh boy." Chanyeol grinned, and he crouched down and spread his arms. "I'm ready."

Sehun let out a laugh. "Please, like you can be ready for them--oof!" He was suddenly tackled by a pair of arms wrapping around his torso. Soon, the boys were being hugged as the girls from upstairs welcomed them home.

"Welcome back!" The area became filled with laughter and happiness as they greeted each other.

"Women! I'm surrounded by lovely women!" Baekhyun was released by Jina, and he suddenly locked eyes with Haejin. He smiled brightly.

"Hi beautful!" Baekhyun pulled Haejin in for a tight squeeze. Haejin laughed in response.

"Hey, you! We missed you!" Haejin pulled away after a moment to look at him, and she grinned.

"Haejinnie!" Haejin was suddenly pulled back, and recognized Chanyeol's deep voice almost immediately. He squeezed her tightly, having to bend over to get a good grip on the shorter girl. "Haejinnie-yahhhh~"

"You goofball, I missed you too," Haejin cooed.

"Haejin!" Once Haejin had pulled away, she spotted Luhan weaving through the crowd of people. "Come here," he called, opening his arms for a hug. Haejin gladly accepted it, letting him pull her into his embrace. She hugged him back, smelling his sweet scent.

"I missed you," he whispered. Haejin pulled away and smiled at him. 

"I missed you too," she replied.

She hugged and shared a greeting with the rest of the members, as did the other girls. The atmosphere grew more relaxed, and they finally began to quiet down. Haejin and Eunhwa were standing by Chen, and Haejin was scanning the crowd.

"Gosh, you guys have changed," she huffed, earning a laugh from the boys. She smiled.

"Alright," she started. "I've gotten a hug from you all and have seen all of your lovely faces; where is he?"

There was another laugh, and a comment somewhere along the lines of, "She tossed us aside already" was thrown about. Haejin giggled with them.

"I'm serious!"

"Jagiya!"

And there it was. It was the voice that melted Haejin's heart every tme she heard it.

And it was coming from behind her. Haejin turned around, and in that instant her eyes softened, and she smiled.

He was standing at the top of the stairs, directly in front of her, and only about seven feet away. His eyes twinkled and were filled with warmth as they stared her down from under his fringe, begging her to melt on the spot. He smiled at her shyly.

Kai.

"Did you miss me?"

~*~Author's Note~*~

Yay!!! EXO's finally here!! ^o^ Now the fun can start... ;)

I'm so excited now; I'll probably update this fic like crazy! (I hope so anyway, if my schdule allows it .-.)

Also, thank you for reading and subscribing to this story, to those who already have! I absolutely love you all to pieces >...< I'm so happy that this story is being accepted so well! ^o^

See you very (hopefully) soon~! <3