Practice Liking Each Other

Description

Kai and Sehun are ametures at Lay's dance conservatory, though there's a catch. They hate each other. Lay takes drastic actions nad takes the two across the country to his old friends beach house, Suho, to sort out their differences. While in the small town they meet some strange characters and drama--along with some broken pasts. 


Not exactly sure of the ships that will sail, but with your imput maybe I can decide c:

 

Some cameo characters shall also reside within the story~ Though this is an Exo fic.

 

Characters

Dancers

Lay ~ Injured his back while pursuing his career and changed gears to help other acheive what he could not, deciding to open Zhang Conservatory of Dance.

 

 

Kai ~ A hopeful dancer with some anger and people problems.

 

 

Sehun ~ Broke away from his father's overbearing rule to pursue his career at Zhang Conservatory.

 

 

Townies

 

 

Suho ~ Owns a beach house in Bernal and visits in the summer with his college friend, Kris.

 

Kris ~ Suho's friend and Tao's cousin [by marriage]. The two aren't very close.... Yet.



 

D.O ~ Runs Two Moon's Diner in Bernal with cook-in-training Luhan; and Barista, Xiumin. Rents a room in Suho's beach house.


 

 

Luhan ~ Xiumin's best friend and an almost-cook at Two Moon's Diner.


 

 

Xiumin ~ Barista at Two Moon's Diner and Luhan's bestfriend.

 

 

Tao ~ Owner of 3.6.5 Grocer in Bernal, inherited from his father. Tao's Uncle worked in Lucky Fish and Boat with Chanyeol's father, the two of them growing up together.


 

 

Baekhyun ~ Works as 3.6.5 Grocer with Chen and Tao.


 

 

Chen ~ Works at 3.6.5 Grocer with Baekhyun and Tao.

 

 

Chanyeol ~ Owns Lucky Fish and Boat after his father moved to work on a farm past town borders. Chanyeol makes trips to the farm to get the produce and supplies 3.6.5 Grocer.

Foreword

Sehun dropped his bag at the edge of the practice room, kicking it to the wall. In the bag were only a few items, a spare pair of shorts and a water bottle, but it was all he needed. Today was the first day of class and he just needed to concentrate and show everyone that he’s not just a stupid maknae. That he deserved to be at Zhang Conservatory, just like everyone else. He was the only one in the room at that point, and he was happy about it. He could relax at least for a little bit. He walked over to the stereo and plugged in his phone, setting a strong beat. He bopped his head a little and turned to face the wall of mirrors.

His white-blond hair was barely tamed and hiding under a basic red cap. He looked young, and it was one of the things that annoyed him the most. He kept his chin up and adjusted his black sweats and white tank top before letting his feet move with the beat. He lost touch of everything and just moved, just felt, emoted.

Dancing has been something that he’d kept a secret, something he had to hide. His father ran a business, one with great notoriety and it was up to Sehun to take it over. His mother used to be a dancer before she injured her knee terribly, taking her out from the spotlight forever. Sehun’s father had to watch his wife go through this pain, the pain of losing her dream, so he forbade Sehun from ever doing the same. He couldn’t stop his son, though. After school he told his dad that he was going to soccer practice, but he went to an abandoned building behind the school and practice with the b-boys who lived on the street. They became a kind of run-down family. An eclectic group of odd-balls and anomalies who found a common line through dance.

Dance was his life. It was all he had left now. His limbs flowed smoothly and quickly and he moved around the room, sweat running down his face as the beat sped up. The song finally ended and Sehun sat on the ground, his shoulders feeling heavy, like a weight was placed on him. He can’t go back home, so he has to succeed here. He has to make it. There’s no other option.

“You’re early.” Sehun jumped at the sound of a voice and spun around. Yixing-ssi was in the doorway, his auburn brown hair flowing across his forehead and eyes hidden underneath sunglasses.

“Hello.” Sehun bowed to his teacher deeply and tried to slow his breathing so he wasn’t gasping like a dying beached fish. He looked up and saw Yixing place his own bag next to Sehun’s along the wall and take off his sunglasses, revealing tired eyes. He placed the glasses on top of his bag and moved to where Sehun’s phone was, the room filled with tension. He carefully unplugged the device and put the auxiliary plug into his own.

“You do know that class starts at 7:00 a.m., yes?” Yixing turned to look at his youngest student though Yixing was only three years older himself.

Sehun bowed his head a little, “Yes.” It was currently 6:15 a.m. and Sehun had planned to get to the practice room at 5:30, though his roommates had hidden his clothes in the hall. His sweats were in a potted plant by the emergency exit and his shoes were strung up by a window.

“Then why are you here so early?” Yixing played a groove song from his phone and sat on the polished wood floor. He splayed his legs out and started stretching, closing his eyes and breathing deeply.

“Technically I’m not a great dancer…” Sehun conceded to Yixing, his face a little red. Everything he knows is from the street or watching music videos—he knows that he’ll be behind everyone else, people who’ve had training and classes. He has catching up to do.

“Technicality isn’t the most important thing.” Yixing replied simply, wincing as he leant forward to stretch his lower back. “You can teach technique—it’s passion that matters. It’s the feelings inside. You have to be born with that.” Sehun sat on the ground in front of his teacher, biting his lip.

“Is that why you’re teaching, Yixing?” He asked lowly.

The elder had been a great dancer, an international one. He toured around the world and was known by all. But then he injured his waist, and then his knee, and finally his back. The last injury was what pulled him from the spotlight. He was only twenty-two and was barely able to live his dream before it was ripped away from him.

“You can call me Lay.” He said after a moment, his forehead resting on the ground between his splayed legs. 
The position looked painful and his breathing went ragged, but he held steady, his hands clenched into fists and resting on his knees. He finally sat back up, which looked more painful than the actual stretching. A small gasp escaped from him and he winced before going back to the conversation.

“Yes. That is why I’m teaching.” He took a deep breath and winced again as he flattened himself on the floor, leaning back and breathing deeply. He stared up at the ceiling for a beat before closing his eyes.

“I’ve seen showcases in the past year where the soloists are good in the technical sense, and because of their skill they get featured more… But then I see those in the back. The endless sea of backup dancers who seemingly blend together, dressed the same and dancing the same.” He sat up suddenly, his calm face now filled with a little bit of excitement, though physical pain hindered it a little.

“But they’re not blended together.” He ran his hand through his short light-auburn hair, a small pained smile on his face. “There’s always one or two who stand out. One or two who are not only good dancers, but great ones. They have the passion, the spark, their lives are driven by dance, are molded by their dreams, but because they aren’t technically up to par with someone else’s choreography, they don’t get a chance. I wanted to give those people a chance.”

“So now you are.” Sehun finished, looking around the practice room.

The walls were white except for the one wall of mirrors. This is a place where you bleed, sweat, and cry. But it was also a place where magic happened. Where nothing else mattered. Sehun never had a place like this, unless you could count the warehouse behind the high school where he every day after class. He didn’t. Back then he danced in secret, always afraid of being caught, punished. But here there was no fear. Nothing to hold back. He was free to feel and dance. Free to live.

“What are you thinking about?” Sehun snapped out of his revere to look back at Lay who was now standing by the stereo, flipping through songs on a playlist.

“I’ve, uh… I was never allowed to dance back home.” Sehun stood as well, turning back to look at himself in the mirror.

He was wondering what is was that made him different from the countless amount of others who auditioned. What made him so special so that he was chosen? He was a nobody. He was nothing spectacular. He pushed a few strands of his white hair from his face, looking at the sharp angles of his cheeks and jaw. Did he look the part of a dancer? He pursed his lips briefly before continuing.

“My father forbade me. He said that dancing wasn’t a career.” He didn’t want to explain the whole story, but at the same time he wanted Lay to know why he wasn’t at the other students’ level.

“I only danced in secret after class at school. Which is why I’m practicing early.” Sehun also wanted him to know that he was committed to this life. He was committed to his dream and would do whatever he had to in order to make his dream reality.

“Well then…” Lay selected a song on his phone, a jazz beat playing from the speakers. “Let’s get started.”

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
BlossomingAdy
#1
Chapter 6: Woah woah! This is a great story, I don't understand why you have such few comments praising it! I feel really sad for Kai, seems something big happened to him and his family. The bullying is saddening too, but I was happy when I saw that not all of them partake in it. The dancing academy part was really good, like I got into it that I forgot that there's still more exo members to appear.
And now... The real fun is gonna start! Yes! Can't wait for an update!!
Thefanficwriter
#2
This is very impressive. Well done.
Sleeping__Baozi
#3
Chapter 3: Girl I love this chapter! Sorry I was going to read it yesterday, but I was busy. I feel bad for Kai and I want to know more about his background. Poor little BamBam. Kai he was just trying to be nice... >:/
Sleeping__Baozi
#4
/creepy smile/ I will pester you until you finish this...