The practice rooms are cold and bare at 6:50 in the morning. This is Baekhyun's favorite time to dance, when the building hangs in shadow, and the floors are freshly swept, and a thin layer of dust lays over the floor but it's as yet uncontaminated by the sweat and grime of other dancers' feet. His are the first to touch this floor today. It's like a reset point in his day by day existence. The world is a blank, and he'll start to shape it now. 

Having texted one of the choreographers last night, Baekhyun knows he has two hours before the actual practice begins, but the dancers are all expected to be warmed and ready to go by then. This is his warm up hour. Somehow Baekhyun doubts Kai will really show up so early. He chooses a medium sized room in the corner of the second floor farthest from the stairs and plops down to stretch. His muscles pull at the strain from only a single night's rest as he works them into shape. 

Tao did indeed wake him up, in the early hours of the morning. After a couple feeble yells though, he managed to roll over and pass out. Luckily for Tao it didn’t mess up Baekhyun’s sleeping pattern too much. 

The sounds of others trampling down the hall don't disturb Baekhyun, as he works the stiffness now from his back and shoulders. None of the other dancers make it so far down the hall, their paths directed to other rooms where he knows they'll warm up either individually or in two's and three's. He could join some of them, if he wanted to. As one of the youngest soloists, Baekhyun hasn't established a routine with the other dancers in this particular crowd. Most would probably be welcome for the extra company, but Baekhyun decides to test his social skills another day. Still music-less, he  stands at the barre by the window and works out his feet and calves, his arms braced on the barre while he arches and curves his back. The view isn't too great from this room either, but since it's on the edge of the building at least it has a window.  That's why he picked it in the first place, to get a feel of the morning sun pouring life into his body.

It's half past 7 when Baekhyun checks the clock, and still there’s no Kai.

Figures, he thinks, without bitterness.

A few more minutes pass and he's just about to vacate the room and find some of the other members when the door squeaks open slowly. Kai steps in unhurriedly, wearing comfortable workout clothes, a small bag over his shoulder and juggling two coffees.  "Morning." 

"Uh, yeah. Morning."

"How long have you been here? I brought you coffee."

"Since 7. Why did you bring me coffee?"

"I told you I would bring an extra coffee."

Oh?

"I thought you were the one needing an extra coffee."

Kai shrugs and passes one over into Baekhun's confused hands. "What kind is it?"

"There's a particular kind? It's just coffee. Black. Maybe it has some cream or sugar in it, I don't know."

Baekhyun refrains from asking how Kai doesn't even know what he bought. 

"Uhh, thank you." He takes a little sip, checking for temperature and learns that it's right at a good drinkable state, no longer scalding but not yet lukewarm. He doesn't really drink coffee, doesn't crave it, and truthfully if it was anyone else he'd probably refuse it. But this is Kai, and while it's not exactly a heart-thumping gift, this coffee feels like a truce offering for whatever not-quite-a-spat they had yesterday in Mrs. Kim's office. 

They drink their coffee in silence for a few moments until Kai guzzles the rest of his, visibly unsettled by some thought of which Baekhyun’s too afraid to inquire. Before he can get a better reading, Kai wipes the expression clean from his face and looks at Baekhyun.

“Shall we get started? Are you warm?”

“Yeah, but you aren’t… are you?”

“I uh- did some stuff earlier this morning. Woke up really early.”

“I see. So, what are we working on?”

“How about some of the stuff from the summer repertoire? Whatever piece the group was working on yesterday.  You’ve got the music for it, right?”

“By the CD player.”

Kai paces over to the corner desk, chucks his empty coffee cup into the trash bin underneath and begins filtering through the stack of CD’s on top.

“Do you know the choreography?” Baekhyun is starting to wonder about the exact nature and purpose of this ‘practice’ session.

“Nope. Thought I’d start by just watching you dance.”

“Why?” Baekhyun doesn’t mean to sound so startled. The word just comes out that way, harsh and unbridled.

“Why what?” Kai finds the correct CD and waits for the machine to load it.

“Why am I the only one practicing?”

“Because you’re the one who just became a soloist," he says without turning around. "You can think of this as a sort of tutoring session.” Kai’s having fun now. The music begins to play, a slow hum of sounds, faint but promising.

Baekhyun doesn’t budge in the center of the room. “I don’t need a tutor,” he says a little louder.

“No dancer doesn’t need a tutor.” Kai turns around and leans backwards on the desk, his arms folded together. 

“Then what about you?”

“This isn’t about me. I was asked to watch you practice this morning. I want to see you dance.”

Baekhyun doesn’t miss the lack of connecting words: ‘asked to watch you’, ‘want to see you.’ Some part of Kai wants to be here. He misses the cue to start dancing though, and Kai wordlessly stops the music and sets it to play from the beginning. This time Baekhyun shuts out his growing anxiety and faces the mirror. 

You’re a pro now, Baekhyun. Show him that you can do this.

Kai witnesses a transformation before his eyes, as the petite dancer begins to move with the music, shrugging off the bristling attitude he had before. Kai fetches a single wooden stool from beside the desk and plops himself down so that his back reclines against the wall, hands in his lap, and his legs splay out widely, his feet drawn to action as they roll with the music. If this was a symphony he could close his eyes and fall passionately and entirely into the chords of a fifty piece orchestra, but this is Baekhyun dancing, so he shuts off every other sense but his eyes and ears and feasts upon the scene.

“He’s good,” Sehun had said.

Kai knew Baekhyun was good too, but remembering those words from last night he thinks Sehun purposefully understated the talent of the company’s newest protégé. It’s almost like a hook, meant to draw him in, with his mother and Sehun as the fishermen, a sea-tossed Kai, and the boy now dancing as the lure.

Baekhyun reminds Kai of himself. How he moves, how he feels, how his body never stills even in a resting pose. Baekhyun has all of Kai’s flexibility and prowess, his presence and at least half of his power.

Oh the things this boy could do—

The music ends, and Baekhyun stops too, an inquiring expression blooming across his features and Kai realizes that several moments passed and he hasn’t yet made a sound. The song tries to replay, and Kai quickly sits up and snaps the power off.

“Well? Teacher?” Baekhyun asks.

The attitude is back, but Kai finds that he doesn’t care.  Kai is all business now. “I can see why you were chosen for this role.”

Baekhyun waits for it. “But..?”

“No buts, though you really need to work on your timing, or rather the fluidity of your movements with the time. Your rythmn was a little too rigid during the bridge when you should be going for a more sweeping effect.”

“I thought you said there were no buts?” Baekhyun doesn’t really mind. He’s already trying that part, working up to the sweeping effect.

“I didn’t say it was bad- drop your shoulder there… there!”

Baekhyun demonstrates it again.

“Right. Watch this step here. You’re hopping into it too much. Uh huh-like that.”

Kai talks while Baekhyun dances, teacher and pupil, and Baekhyun forgets that he’s the older one and Kai his junior. Truthfully, Baekhyun never thought of Kai as a little boy, or anyone remotely younger than himself. The legend was too strong, and while there are dancers out there with a firm dislike of their juniors stealing the spotlight (Suho comes to mind), to Baekhyun Kai was mature beyond years, and artistic beyond measure.

Standing side by side with his now mentor, Baekhyun is pretty sure nothing has changed to make him think differently of the dancer.  Kai coaches him from the side, never coming too near him. He knows just what to say and what advice to give, and Baekhyun feels his dance changing and molding at the slightest adjustment. It’s 8:37 when another dancer pokes her head in to see what they’re up to, and Baekhyun realizes he’s learned more in the last hour than he has in six months.  

He drops to the floor, his body spent, and casually angles his head in Kai's direction to see what the man is up to. The girl at the door giggles and Kai greets her, there being some recognition of each other on both ends. Small talk, as Kai verifies that yes, he is indeed back and it's good to see her again. Baekhyun thinks he sounds tired. It can't be because Kai's physically exhausted though, because it was Baekhyun doing the all of the hard work this morning. 

He's probably tired of explaining his presence here, Baekhyun muses. If the people here are anything like Baekhyun, they're likely just as confused by Kai's return as he is. There never was a consensus on where Kai went two years ago, or why. Even the most well informed teachers and his former friends and acquaintances were tight-lipped about it all this time, if they knew anything in the first place.

Kai bids the girl a polite 'later', shuts the door, and stalks back to the middle of the floor, hovering a few feet from where Baekhyun still lays. He pulls himself up so that his hands support his lower back, waiting expectantly for Kai to say something.

“Good practice,” Kai says.

“Yep. Thanks— even if I don't know why you're bothering.”

“Like I said, my mom—“

“Yeah I heard what you said.”

Kai doesn’t respond.

“I just don’t get why. Not to sound like a prick or anything, because I’m semi new here, but it seems highly unusual that someone like you would be sent to ‘monitor’ my dancing abilities. I mean, for one, you’re not a teacher, a director or a choreographer; though I guess if you’re Mrs. Kim’s son you’re granted some sort of opinion of me to share. But still, why me? Unless-unless you are a new teacher/choreographer! Are you?”

Kai’s lacks of acknowledgement suggests he isn’t, so Baekhyun continues his monologue.

“Well then. Two, we’re not exactly friends. We barely know each other. I’ve seen you dance in person only once, and you’ve seen me what… before today… two times?

“Maybe,” he finally replies.

“Maybe what?”

“Maybe three times?”

“You’ve seen me dance three times? When? Where?”

“I don’t know. Competitions or some place.”

“I could’ve sworn we only did the same competition once. Where else did you see me dance? Was it at some other convention? You must’ve taken a lot of master classes to get to where you are now. I mean, you’re a good teacher.” He snaps his fingers like some kind of logic puzzle just made sense. “Ahh, your mom probably knows this. Is this why she sent you here today?”

“It’s possible.”

“Is she grooming you to teach?”

Kai scowls. “I don’t kn-- Does it matter? Why are you so chatty all of a sudden?”

“I just want to know.”

“Well I don’t know.” Kai’s voice grows a little louder, and Baekhyun gulps at the sound of his frustration. “Look I just moved back two weeks ago. I’ve still got half my crap in boxes, and some of it hasn’t even arrived yet. I was told to come watch you practice, and I did that. Now everyone in this friggin’ company wants to know what I’m doing here and after helping you perfect your technique for an hour I get a full on interrogation from you!”

Baekhyun feels bad. Really bad. “Uhh-gh” he stutters.

“What now!”

The very near-livid look on Kai’s face has Baekhyun wishing the floor would swallow him whole. He wishes he’d kept his big mouth shut. He can’t even tear his eyes away, and the range of emotions on Kai’s face seem to be mirroring his own sense of desperation over an encounter gone wrong.

“Th-thank you.”

Something in Kai softens. “Huh?”

“Thank you for the coffee, too,” says Baekhyun rapidly, but sincerely.

Kai’s shoulders relax. He didn’t even realize how tense he’d become over the last few minutes.  “You already thanked me, earlier.”

“I-I did?”

“Yeah.” The fight’s gone out of both of them. “You should probably get a move on. Your rehearsal starts soon, doesn’t it?”

“Oh yeah. Are—are you going to come to it?”

“Probably not. I-I’ve been out of practice for a while.”

“Oh. Well… why don’t you get yourself a tutor then?”

Kai smirks. “I’m willing if you are.”

“Seriously?”

“No.”

Baekhyun laughs, and they grin at each other, one crisis passed.

“I’ll see you around then?” Baekhyun asks, with what he knows is his most friendly and precious smile.

Kai sighs. “Count on it.”

It feels just the same as it did yesterday, with Baekhyun grabbing his things and exiting the room, Kai staying put. It’s only as Baekhyun joins the other dancers in one of the larger practice rooms that he realizes something. He was more than warmed up with all the exercise and motions Kai had put him through. He danced harder in that hour than in any group practice, motivated by the drive of Kai’s voice edging him on. But in all that time, he didn’t actually see Kai dance. Not even a single step.

2,403 words

Guys, I'm exhausted. This chapter was really hard to write, even though I've been envisioning the scene happening like this for at least two chapters now. Maybe that's why actually...

(I gave myself feels...)

The Kaibaek budding relationship/friendship/*insert something more here*/???? !!

How was it?

I need some coffee now. Black, maybe with some cream and sugar. ;)

Thanks for all my subscribers! And commenters! I hope I meet your expectations and don't you let you down. I know Kaibaek stories are a slighter rarer commodity. People, we seriously need to fix this! 

(Listen to me... and it's not even my main ship! haha)

<3 Rosie