Seoul, 2008

Jinki made himself a mental sticky note, to remind him he had practice after school. Even when he had a final to write, all he could think about was dance practice and how, for once, he would be included in his friends' plans. It was Wednesday, which also meant he would have to practice with Jonghyun after another two days. Being a shy person his entire life, Jinki had no idea what to do in this situation, and gnawed on his bottom lip nervously. The meeting earlier that day had been stressful to him, as they were planning an entire week of activities after finals, from the talent exhibition, to a weekend spa retreat. The treasury of the government, Lee Changsun had told them they needed to do some fundraising in order to get all of the activities approved, and as president, it was Jinki's job to work out the kinks. The corrections officer, Kang Daesung, and the secretary, Yang Yoseob both agreed to meet Jinki after his practice in order to plan something together.

Wrapped up in his thoughts, Jinki missed the sound of the dismissal bell, only to wake up as the teacher tapped his shoulder, a kind smile on his lips, "Leader duties are taking a toll on you, aren't they?"

As Jinki was very awkward, he was never able to connect with other people, but this teacher was an exception. It was a class for English Literature, and only the top students of the school were enrolled. Jinki, as the top student over the entire school was the first to be accepted and the first to be close to the teacher.

"Oh, no." Jinki chuckled, getting up and bowing his head, "I'm sorry, Mr. Park. It won't happen again."

"Just find me when you need help, Jinki-ah." Mr. Park bowed his head in return as he slipped out of the classroom, eager to leave the school.

Heaving a sigh, Jinki made his way to the classroom door, dragging his feet against the tiles. He was tired, and he was hungry, but today- his needs would have to wait. As he reached his hand out to open the door, it opened by some outside force. With wide eyes, Jinki took a step back to see who it was that came inside.

Jonghyun had been sent by Kibum to find where Jinki was. At least, that's what it looked like, with Jonghyun's relieved expression, "It took forever to find this room."

Jinki merely bowed his head, "Sorry to have bothered you."

He silently slipped passed Jonghyun and out to the hallway, trying to remind himself which direction the dance room was in. Before he took a step, however, Jonghyun went the opposite way, chuckling under his breath. He followed after Jonghyun, who slowly started singing under his breath. That was something Jinki liked about Jonghyun; no matter they were, and no matter how awkward Jinki would be, all Jonghyun had to do was start singing, and the entire world seemed to relax. Jinki walked behind Jonghyun by a foot, his eyes glued on the floor as he thought about all the things he needed to do.

Jonghyun stopped walking and turned to stare at Jinki, who let out a sigh as he continued walking, nearly walking into the shorter male. Blinking, Jinki looked into Jonghyun's eyes, tilting his head slightly, "Is something bothering you?"

Jonghyun turned around and started walking again, "I was just going to ask you that, hyung."

In the entire course of time in which Jinki had known Jonghyun, he was never called by his name. Jonghyun was a lot closer to the others, and even referred to others by their names. However, Jinki was never called by name. No, he felt he wasn't good enough to be close to Jonghyun anyway.

Clearing his throat, he followed Jonghyun once again, "It's student government duties."

Nodding slowly, Jonghyun stepped back so the two could walk side by side, "Oh, so your meeting didn't go well?"

Jinki awkwardly held his hands in front of him as if it would help him in any way, "Not really. Sunggyu-ah and I are going to meet again after school to finish speaking about it."

"So you're really close to Sunggyu hyung, aren't you, hyung?" Jonghyun asked, sticking his hands in his pockets as he turned his head slightly, to glance over at Jinki.

"Sunggyu-ah and I? He might just be my best friend." Jinki shrugged, more to himself. He didn't really have other friends, and didn't believe Kibum or the others were as open with him as Sunggyu was, leaving Sunggyu to be the closest friend he ever had.

Jonghyun only nodded, and the two lapsed into an awkward silence. Jinki mentally slapped himself as he knew that if he spoke he would cause Jonghyun to become awkward with him. The only time Jonghyun spoke was when they got to the locker room underneath the dance room, "Do you have anything you can dance in?"

For a moment of confusion, Jinki could only blink, until he realized what Jonghyun meant, "Ani, I don't have any clothes besides the ones I'm wearing now."

Chuckling to himself, Jonghyun nodded and walked over to his locker, opening the lock and producing a little, bulky gym back, "Here, take it. This has all you'll need for the rest of our practices."

Jinki was about to ask why Jonghyun had all of that, or why he was giving all of that to Jinki, but Jonghyun had already started taking his clothes off. Jinki was never comfortable with changing around other people, especially if they were leaner, like Jonghyun was. He walked over to the other end of the locker room, where no one could see him, and slowly changed into sweats and a tee shirt he found in the gym bag. There were also some bottles of water and packs of powder for herbal tea.

The sweats were a bit short on him, and the shirt smelled of the younger male's cologne. Did Jonghyun really give Jinki his clothes in order to practice? He didn't think much of it, and grabbed his own hoodie, pulling it on over him before he put the gym bag into the locker, walking to where Jonghyun was. However, when he reached, Jonghyun was nowhere to be found, and with a shrug, Jinki climbed up the stairs into the dance room.

Taemin had been learning dance from a young age, his favorite style being popping. He was in front of the mirror, stretching his legs, with Kibum talking in hushed tones to Jonghyun and Minho. They all stopped when they heard the door close, staring at Jinki with almost wide eyes.

"What?" He couldn't help but ask, self-conscious about their stares directed toward him.

"I didn't think you would actually join us." Kibum grinned, "I thought I'd have to roll my sleeves up and go drag you back here."

His eyes fluttered in confusion as he inched away from Kibum, towards Taemin, "I-I already said I would do it, didn't I?"

Minho chuckled and walked up to him, lightly patting his back, "Good. So we can start practicing now."

Had they already decided what dance they were doing and learnt it? Wouldn't Jinki only slow them down if they had to teach him all of the steps they already knew?

It was as if Taemin read his mind, patting his shoulder, "I can teach you, hyung. It's not difficult."

"What dance is it?" he asked,