Sweat drips down the curve of Sehun’s spine to settle stickily in the hollow at the small of his back. It’s Friday night, so there is no dance club rehearsal and the studio is blissfully empty.

It’s a little eerie to be there all by himself, but, with the bright lights and the pounding music, he can forget about it for a little while. He’s able to immerse himself completely in the music, in the heavy beats, in the dance moves they’ve been learning during rehearsals.

It’s not that Sehun is falling behind. In fact, despite his lack of formal training, he’s actually doing pretty well for himself. But he wants to impress a certain doe-eyed someone and so he wants to make sure he can pull off every move flawlessly. There’s some part of him – and he’s a little embarrassed to admit it, even to himself – that wants to be able to draw Luhan’s attention even where there are a dozen others dancing on the stage. He wants to be the only one Luhan can look at.

“You’re doing that one move wrong.”

The voice comes from the doorway, the sentence spoken right after the music ends so that it echoes in the cavernous dance studio.

Sehun looks up, hair plastered to his forehead with perspiration, his loose shirt damp and his chest heaving.

Luhan is standing in the doorway, arms folded over his t-shirt, an unreadable expression on his flawless face.

“What?” Sehun replies stupidly. How long has Luhan been standing there? Has he been watching Sehun for long? A million questions – each more ridiculous than the last – race through his mind.

“That last move,” Luhan repeats, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips. “You’re a little off. It’s got to be a pop. You’ve really got to make a statement with it.”

“Oh.” Sehun isn’t sure what else to say. Luhan has caught him off guard and so his brain has all but shut down.

Luhan’s almost-smile becomes a real smile. “Do you want me to help you? I don’t mind.”

Sehun falters. “B-but it’s Friday night,” he protests meekly. “I’m sure you have plans.”

“Nah, I’ve got nothing better to do,” Luhan assures him. “Besides, dancing with a cute guy is a pretty awesome way to spend my Friday night.”

Sehun can’t form an answer because he’s pretty sure Luhan just called him cute and he has forgotten how to speak because of it.

Luhan is either oblivious to or ignores the way Sehun has become suddenly mute, because he walks over to the younger. “You need to end it like this, with a big bang,” he explains, demonstrating the move in question. “Now you try it. Yeah, that’s it. Like that. Okay, try it from the top and let me see.”

Sehun doesn’t think he’s ever been quite this nervous before. It’s the first time that he’s been alone with Luhan, and even this creepy deserted dance studio feels hot and stuffy when it’s crammed with all this . He feels like he’s messing up moves that he perfected last week, but, at the same time, he feels happy. This is what he wanted, after all. To have Luhan’s undivided attention.

Luhan whistles approvingly when Sehun finishes the routine. “Are you sure you’ve never trained before?”

“No, never,” Sehun answers honestly.

Luhan purses his lips. “I think you must be lying. You look fantastic.”

The younger blushes crimson.

Luhan doesn’t comment on the pink dusting Sehun’s cheeks now. “Let’s go through it together. I need to practice too. That is, if you don’t mind spending your Friday night with me.”

“No!” Sehun assures him quickly, a little too quickly. “I mean, no I don’t mind. I was just going to be here practicing anyway.”

So they go through the routines, Luhan giving Sehun helpful pointers along the way.

Eventually they slump against the wall and Luhan passes Sehun a bottle of water. It must be midnight or later by now; they’ve been dancing for quite a long time.

“Shouldn’t you be hanging out with your girlfriend or something?” Luhan asks conversationally, taking a sip from his own bottle of water. “I mean, it is Friday night.”

Sehun blushes again. “I don’t have a girlfriend.” He hesitates, and then plucks up his courage. “What about you, hyung? Do you have a girlfriend?”

“Nah,” Luhan answers easily. “Too high maintenance.” He flashes a grin at Sehun and Sehun has to – very strongly – resist the urge to lean down and kiss the elder. Their faces are close – close enough that Sehun can pick out individual pores on his hyung’s face – and Luhan’s lips look so very inviting.

It isn’t until Sehun has been staring for a minute that he actually realizes that he’s staring. He’s immediately mortified, but then he realizes that Luhan is staring at him almost as intensely.

He blushes yet again – only Luhan seems to have this effect on him. “Why are you staring at me like that, hyung?” he asks.

“Like what?” Luhan replies, but he doesn’t stop staring.

“Like you want to eat me,” Sehun answers without thinking.

Now Luhan does stop staring. He blinks several times and then blushes the most violent shade of red. “Ah, sorry. I guess I’m a little distracted tonight.” He quickly gets to his feet, gathering his belongings. “It’s late, and I’m tired. I’ll go first.”

Sehun immediately realizes that he must have said something wrong. “Ah, okay…See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Luhan answers distractedly, already halfway out the door. “Tomorrow, Sehun-ah.”

And Sehun is left alone in the dance studio with his heart thudding in his chest and his mind a jumbled mess of tumultuous thoughts. 

I have been having overwhelming Luhan feels lately OTL