You wipe the sweat off your forehead as you look at yourself in the mirror. A sweaty, messy girl stares back at you wearing comfortable, grey sweatpants and a loose white shirt, draped around her bare shoulders.
“You worked hard, everyone!” the dance teacher praised her class. The other dancers in your class dropped to the floor, completely beaten. You, on the other hand, quickly bolted towards the teacher who was packing her bag and was about to leave the studio.

“Unnie! Can I ask you something?” you ask her.  “Sure, what is it?” she replied as she turned around to face you.
“I was wondering if you know a little more about that dance competition next month. I’d like to participate in it,” you shyly ask, revealing your dream.
“Ah, yes. My acquaintance organizes it. It’s a duo competition however, I’m not sure if you can enroll with a solo performance,” the dance teacher explained to you. “Oh,” you mumble, a little disappointed. Even though you love dancing and have been dancing with this class for over two years; you aren’t exactly best friends with the other girls in your class.

“Thank you for the information, I’ll compete in a different competition then.. I don’t think one of the girls would like to dance with me…” you said defeated. To your surprise, your dance teacher laughed loudly.
“You misunderstood! When I said duo I meant a male and female duo! Just ask one of the boys in the boys’ classes to dance with you and you’ll be fine to participate!” she smiled and left the studio.

“But I don’t know any of the boys in those classes…”  you mumble. Defeated, not sure what to do, you walked to the mirror where your backpack was placed. Completely lost in thought, you failed to hear one of the other dancers call out your name. A sudden hand on your shoulder snapped you out of your thoughts.
“Are you participating in the competition?” the female with long black hair asked you. She was one year younger than you, and you’d hate to admit it, but she was slightly better at dancing than you. Hana was definitely considered your rival.
“I’d like to, but I don’t have a partner,” you mumble as you shove your stuff in your backpack.
“B-joo and I are competing as well!” Hana bragged while flicking her hair over her shoulder. “But maybe he knows someone who can be your partner. I could ask him to ask around for you?”

You look at the girl. “You’d do that?” you ask her, slightly sceptical. Hana noticed your suspicion and smiled. “Why do you sound so surprised? I’d love to compete against you. Especially cause we’re sort of each other’s rivals, right?”
You nod shortly and bit your lip. After a couple of thoughts, you nod again. “That would be great, Hana. Thank you.”
“No problem!” Hana said brightly before leaving the studio as well.
“Hmm… This could be interesting. Maybe now I can finally show Hana that I’m just as great as her,” you think to yourself as you make your leave.

Being the last person to leave the room, you turn off the lights before walking to the door. Surrounded by darkness, you grabble for the door handle and step into the hallway. You fling your bag over your shoulder and push your headphones into your ears. Carefully selecting your music, you walked over to the exit but before you reached it, you felt someone grab your upper arm and turn you around with a soft jerk.

“Hey!” you shouted, aggravated.
The culprit let go of your arm and frowned. “I called for you twice but you didn’t hear me,” he said with a soft and gentle voice. The boy had black hair and wore a large grey hoodie on top of black sweat pants. He had a small face with lips which were a perfect combination of a thick lower lip and a slightly thinner upper lip.

“Why?” you ask him with one eyebrow cocked. You’ve seen this boy before; he’s in one of the boy teams of your dance school and good friends with Hana’s dance partner B-joo. He was also known as one of the best dancers of the boys’ teams. Somehow, you had never known his name.
“You dropped your beanie,” he said, holding up a black piece of clothing.
“Oh, thank you, -… Uhm, I’m sorry I don’t know your name,” you quickly grasp the beanie from his hands and shove it in your pocket.
 

“My name is Jiho, but my friends call me Xero,” the boy smiled at you. His eyes formed into two perfect half circles, and he ran a hand through his raven hair, revealing his dark eyebrows.
For some reason, your felt a strangle tingling in your tummy and your cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as you watch the corners of his lips curl.
“See you around,” he suddenly said and walked past you, leaving you slightly dazed.
“See you…” you mumble.

At the next dance practice of your group, you notice Hana sitting in the back of the studio, frantically typing on her cell phone. You pick up all the courage you have, take a deep breath and try to look confident as you strut towards her.
“Hello Hana,” you greeted her. Hana looked up from her phone and smiled at you. “I was just talking about you!” she said brightly.
“You were?” you said curiously, trying to take a peek at her phone.
“B-joo found you a dance partner!” Hana said.
“Already?”

Hana nodded. “He basically had the same problem as you; wanting to join but not having a partner and all.”
“Oh, alright. Who is he?” you curiously asked. While taking off your jacket and putting on your dance shoes, Hana jumped off her seat and walked over to you.
“Xero.”

When the boy’s name was mentioned, you almost dropped one of your shoes. “X-xero?” you stuttered, turning around to face Hana. By the cheeky smile on her face, you noticed she had something up her sleeves.
“Yes, is that a problem?” she asked, trying to sound as casual as possible.
“Isn’t he the best dancer in the boy’s crew?” you continued tying your shoelaces, ignoring the girl’s attitude. She obviously planned this.

“I wouldn’t say he’s the best… He’s definitely a great dancer. Are you scared you won’t be on his level?” Hana giggled.
“Of course not!” you huff loudly. But deep down, you felt a gnawing feeling of insecurity. “What if he’s really on a different level? What if I can’t live up to his expectations?” you think to yourself.
“Xero will meet you after practice. I’m looking forward to compete against you,” Hana winked and walked off.

After dance practice, you thud down on the cold wooden floor and grasp for your water bottle. The teacher left the studio again before the others did and Hana noticed you sitting on the floor. You watched her walk over to you and you wondeedr what she wanted this time.
“Good luck with Xero today,” She said with a voice that made you want to puke. “Thanks,” you grit through your teeth.

The other students, including Hana, left the studio; leaving you al