~Acts in the Circus~

            The crowd’s roar was deafening as the clowns made their exit from the center of the performance circle. The lights slowly dimmed themselves as the laughs from the audience young and old calmed, a spotlight switched on, focusing on a man dressed in a very bright and colorful suit with a sparkly top hat included, a pearly white smile adorning his face.

            “Our clowns are truly hilarious but now let me introduce our last act for tonight at the world renowned EXO Circus! Our amazing finale with talented trapeze artist Luhan!” announced ringleader Suho as the spotlight moved from himself to shine on the star of the act.

            Luhan smiled widely to the whole cheering crowd the second he felt the spotlight on him from atop the high platform he was standing on, waving kindly to them before placing his chalk covered hands on the metal bar that would allow him to swing through the air. The crowd cheered loudly but Luhan could no longer hear them, he was focused on his task to entertain.

            He took all but three steps and he was off the platform, swinging his body to and fro to gain the needed momentum. As he swung he felt weightless as if nothing could bring him down, and it felt good, magical almost, and he loved every second of it.

            Feeling that he had gained enough speed, he quickly flipped his body upwards so that his legs were now the only things holding onto the metal bar that kept him in the air, eyes focused on the other end where the second platform was located along with the second metal swing. Sehun stood on the second platform in his own stage outfit, a grin on his face and the metal swing grasped in his hand. Luhan timed his swinging perfectly just like all the times that the two had practiced; Sehun let the metal swing go and Luhan immediately twisted his body forward, his legs freeing themselves from the bar they were previously clinging to as Luhan flipped in the air extending his arms out just in time to catch the metal bar that Sehun had released to him.

            The crowd cheered and applauded as they kept their eyes on Luhan’s next movement. Upon hearing the excitement of the crowd it had adrenaline pumping through Luhan’s veins quicker than before, and Luhan felt like showing off. As Luhan swung he did a simple quick twist so that he was now facing the first swing that was still moving back and forth, a smirk made its way to Luhan’s face as he took in a breath and launched himself into the air, maneuvering his body easily as he did two flips while airborne and grabbed on to the first swing as it swiftly came into his reach.

            The crowd roared. Sehun, with the spotlight now off of him, rolled his eyes knowing all too well that Luhan was now just showing off. He grabbed on to the second swing that swung back towards his direction waiting for the right time to release it to Luhan once more. But despite the eye roll of his, he couldn’t help but simply stare at the light and airy performer before him, flipping, twisting and swinging his body so easily and maneuvering between the two swings with such effortlessness that it made it seem as though anyone could practically fly the same way that Luhan did. And Sehun wanted to so badly, he wanted to feel as if he was flying too, as if the ground was out of his reach and gravity wasn’t defying him by keeping him rooted to the solid floor.

            However Sehun knew first hand that this wasn’t the case, it would only continue being his wish because he was only the trapeze artist’s apprentice, his really really clumsy apprentice. It was actually a surprise to Sehun when Luhan actually allowed him to help with his performances but Sehun readily agreed because it was finally a step up from sitting in the back of the tent to wait for the end of the performance only acting as a spectator. So the two practiced (for quite a long time) and even more shockingly Sehun didn’t mess up… too much… but he eventually got the timings right enough to be able to help in the show which was why he was here now on the platform, but what he really wanted was to be able to join in the trapeze act with Luhan but that’s definitely going to take much much much more practice before Luhan deemed him ready to actually perform in the show.

            As Luhan finished his finale and swung himself back on to the first platform opposite of Sehun, the older shot him a pleased bright smile as if telling Sehun ‘Good job!’ and then bowed to the roaring audience, waving cheerily at them before disappearing behind the curtains of the first platform.

            Ringleader Suho’s voice rang out from below “Thank you ladies and gentlemen of all ages for coming tonight! We all hope that you have thoroughly enjoyed the show!”

            Sehun saw this as his own cue to get off of the second platform as he made his way through the curtains and down the ladder. But of course Sehun’s clumsiness gets in the way once more as he manages to slip on the third to last step and land painfully on his bottom.

            “Owww,” whined Sehun standing up to dust himself off.

            He suddenly heard a sigh behind him and an all too familiar voice “Still clumsy as ever, I see. Are you okay?”

            Sehun turned around cheeks stained pink in embarrassment “I’m fine.”

            Luhan gave Sehun a pat on his cheek and a small smile “Good, wouldn’t want my apprentice getting hurt before he could even get the chance to really perform. Maybe with a bit more practice you can finally-”

            There was a sudden crash sounding out from the close right of the tent and a shout of “! That ing hurt!”

            It sounded like Baekhyun.

            “Language! There are still little kids around the circus you know!” yelled out another deep voice, which was instantly recognized as Chanyeol.

            “Shut up!” snapped Baekhyun as he hobbled out of one of the smaller make shift tents that held a majority of the circus’ performance equipment.

            Chanyeol poked his head out of the same tent Baekhyun exited “That’s not very nice.”

            “Well neither was the box of juggling equipment that smashed my foot while I was trying to get to the animal training equipment!” replied Baekhyun crossly.

            Chanyeol gave Baekhyun a confused look “Why didn’t you just call me to help you?”

            “Because I thought I could get it but I suddenly heard this one,” Baekhyun pointed accusingly to Luhan who raised an eyebrow “Tell this one,” Baekhyun was now pointing to Sehun who timidly cowered a bit “That he had a chance at performing if he just practiced a little more and then the box slipped on to my foot!" Baekhyun faced Sehun once more "Boy let me tell you-”

            “You’re only a few years older than me!” protested Sehun defiantly at being called ‘Boy.’ He was twenty damn it.

            “I still got more experience than you!” retorted Baekhyun “Now let me give you advice, you’ll need more than just practice to be able to perform, you’re going to need to fix that clumsiness of yours first and foremost!”

            Sehun looked down at the floor in defeat knowing that Baekhyun was telling him the truth.

            “Hey, no need to be so harsh on Sehun, he’s my apprentice and I think he’s learning just fine at his own pace,” defended Luhan.

            Baekhyun whirled back to Luhan “How long did it take you to be able to do your first flip on the bars after your teacher taught it to you?”

            “What does that have to do with-”

            Baekhyun cut Luhan off “Just answer the question.”

            Luhan frowned “Under a month.”

            “Okay, how long has it been since Sehun was at least able to attempt to do a flip on the bars, despite being your apprentice for about three years?” asked Baekhyun.

            Luhan didn’t answer has he stole a glance at Sehun who just hung his head in further shame.

            “Yeah, exactly, he needs more than just a little bit of practice, Sehun practically needs a miracle,” said Baekhyun looking straight at Luhan “You need to stop coddling him.”

            “I’m not coddling him, just because Sehun is clumsy doesn’t mean that he can’t learn, he’s just a bit slow at it,” replied Luhan adamantly.

            “Now you’re just making excuses for him,” said Baekhyun crossing his arms.

             Sehun bit his bottom lip, still not looking up to meet the others’ gazes.

            “Hey Baekhyun, calm down, there’s no need to be like that,” stepped in Chanyeol as he saw the shorter’s temper begin to flare up.

            Luhan ignored Chanyeol’s attempt to calm the situation “I’m not, Sehun has been getting better lately.”

            “But not enough,” shot back Baekhyun.

            “I think that’s for me to decide,” responded Luhan.

            Baekhyun scoffed “Please, you’re only defending Sehun because you feel sorry for him.”
            “Okaaay! Going too far! Baekhyun come here!” said Chanyeol scooping up the shorter male and lifting him across his shoulders as Baekhyun struggled and protested, Chanyeol faced Sehun and Luhan for a quick moment “Sorry about that, I think Baekhyun is just cranky today because one of the clowns scared him right before we went on stage and today is just his off day especially since he got that box smashing his foot, I think he's venting his frustrations out on you guys, don't take it to heart okay?”

            “Shut up, Chanyeol!” protested Baekhyun as he smacked Chanyeol’s back.

            Chanyeol rolled his eyes, not even flinching at the hit, before carrying Baekhyun away.

            Luhan sighed as the two animal tamers disappeared out of sight, turning towards his now downcasted apprentice “Don’t let it get to you Sehun, we’ll work on it together and you’ll perform before you know it.”

            Luhan lifted Sehun’s chin up with his fingertips, giving the younger a tentative smile.

            Sehun was still frowning but nodded at Luhan “Okay.”

            Luhan reached up and ruffled Sehun's hair “Good, as long as you don’t give up everything will work out.”

            “Whatever you say hyung,” sighed Sehun glumly before turning and walking off towards his stationed tent.

            As Luhan watched Sehun's slumped figure walk away from him he couldn't help but feel the need to cheer up his apprentice "Sehun-ah," he called out before the younger could walk any further from him.

            Sehun paused looking back at Luhan questioningly "Yeah?"

            Luhan looked to be contemplating something but eventually said "I'll let you perform with me if you can do a flip before the next circus show, I'm sure Baekhyun didn't mean what he said but why don't we prove him wrong anyways."

            Sehun's eyes widened "What!?"

            "I'm pretty sure you heard me," said Luhan teasingly with a small smile.

            "Really? You're not just saying this?" asked Sehun in disbelief.

            Luhan nodded with a small smile on his face as Sehun beamed at him.

            "Thank you, hyung!" Sehun came back to throw his arms around Luhan tightly "I promise I'll get better and I'll work a thousand times harder!"

            Luhan gave a chuckle as he patted Sehun on the back "Good, we have about two months before our next show I'm sure you'll be able to do a flip on the bars by then."

            Sehun grinned as he pulled back "Yeah definitely!" Sehun leaned in and pecked Luhan on the cheek "Thank you so much Luhan hyung!"

            Luhan flushed a bit at the sudden affection from his apprentice, the brat may be clumsy but he can surely be cute and sweet when he wants to, "No problem, just make sure that you keep practicing."

            "I will!" replied Sehun gleefully before releasing his hold on Luhan in order to head back to his stationed tent.

            Although the poor boy didn't even make it half way before tripping over nothing but air and tumbling into the bags of animal food.

            Luhan winced as he watched Sehun land harshly.

            Sehun picked himself back up and shot Luhan an embarrassed look, yelling out "I'm okay!"

            Luhan was able to give the boy a quick nod before the younger scampered off again, 'Two months should be enough time to learn how to do a flip… I hope… Even if Sehun is clumsy… It should be fine… Maybe…'

/           \           /           \           /           \           /           \           /           \           /           \

            Luhan's thought were surely proving themselves doubtful as a the two of them at the moment were in their sub-tent practicing once more with Luhan instructing Sehun and Sehun just following along to the directions as best he can.

            "Sehun that's not how you're supposed to hold on to the bar, we went over this about a thousand times already," said Luhan.

            "Oh, right," replied Sehun switching his hold on the bars so that his palms were now facing away from him.

            "Just curious, but do you even listen when I talk to you because I feel like whenever I talk it goes through one ear and out the other," Luhan gave Sehun a pointed look.

            "Of course I listen, I always listen to you," said Sehun innocently with a little smile.

            "Uh-huh," replied Luhan not really believing what Sehun told him.

            Sehun pouted "I do listen."

            "Okay, then answer this question," retorted Luhan "What's the most important thing for a trapeze artist while swinging?"

            "Timing," answered Sehun without hesitation.

            "Good! I guess you do listen after all!" grinned Luhan patting Sehun's cheek.

            "Only because you repeated it so many times that now I practically hear it in my sleep," muttered Sehun under his breath.

            "What was that you brat?" questioned Luhan shooting Sehun another look.

            "Hyung is so manly!" replied Sehun looking anywhere but Luhan's baby face.

            Luhan was still giving Sehun the evil eye but decided to let it go, "Damn right you kiss up, now on to the lesson."

            Sehun stuck his tongue out at Luhan when the older had his back turned towards him.

            "Stick that tongue back in or I'll do it for you using Chen's knife throwing collection," warned Luhan teasingly with his back still turned towards Sehun.

            Sehun instantly put his tongue back inside his mouth, a shocked expression now on his face 'How did he even-'

            Luhan laughed as he stood up to face Sehun and as if Luhan could read minds he pointed behind him "There's a mirror over there and I saw your reflection in it."

            "Oh," Sehun should really pay more attention to his surroundings.

            "Now hold on to the bar tightly okay? You need to keep your posture correct so that you don't end up injuring yourself… again…" although Luhan mumbled the last part Sehun still heard it and frowned.

            "That was an accident, I didn't know I was going to end up with a sprained wrist."

            "Yeah well try not to have another accident because I ended up having to spoon feed you for a month because you weren't able to feed yourself using your good hand," complained Luhan.

            "That's because I'm right handed," protested Sehun, although he would never admit this to the older for fear Luhan would most likely smack him, he actually really liked that entire month where Luhan would practically baby him because he wasn't able to do much.

            "Beside the point, no accidents this time," said Luhan.

            Sehun nodded "No guarantees though."

            "I know," sighed Luhan, if it was one thing about Sehun that was guaranteed it was his clumsiness and it's ability to cause accidents that affect practically anyone within a half mile radius "Just... Be careful…"

            Sehun nodded once more and inhaled a deep breath, he took a step forward but unfortunately that step was the wrong move to make because (and honestly Luhan has absolutely no idea in hell how this even happened) Sehun somehow managed to slip on the edge of the platform causing him to lose his balance, panic began to set in as he released one of his arms on the bar he was holding to try and catch his balance however what he caught instead was Luhan's sleeve which had the older's eyes widening in surprise.

            When the younger wasn't able to rebalance himself and ended up just slipping off the high platform altogether, there was a shrill shriek of "SEHUUUUUN!" as Luhan got pulled along with his apprentice in his fall.

            Sehun felt the impact of the fall first as his back hit the safety net and then Luhan's body crashing right on top of his own, "ACK! Ugghhh owwww."

            Luhan groaned too as his nose practically collided with Sehun's collarbones.

            The two laid there in shock and bewilderment before what happened finally caught up to their senses, Luhan was the first to react as he shifted his head so that he was now looking eye to eye with Sehun, the both of them still laying in the safety net "What did I just finish saying before you nearly dragged me to my death?"

            "Be careful," groaned Sehun, not wanting another safety lecture from Luhan.

            "And what were you not?" questioned Luhan.

            "Careful," answered Sehun.

            "Exactly," replied Luhan, he reached up and tenderly touched the bridge of his nose, wincing as he felt the sore pain begin to set in "Great I think I bruised my nose on your collarbones."

            "Sorry," apologized Sehun.

            Luhan sighed "At least there wasn't anything sprained."

            "Ummm," Sehun gave Luhan a sheepish look.

            "What?"

            "I think I might have twisted my shoulder when we fell because it kind of hurts…"

            "The shoulder on the side that you were using to hold on to the bar earlier?"

            Sehun nodded.

            Luhan sighed in exasperation burying his face in Sehun's sweater, wincing as he did so since it caused his nose to sting in pain 'This will be a long two months…'

            Sehun muttered out another "Sorry," as he patted Luhan on the back with his good arm.

            'A very looooong two months,' thought Luhan.

/           \           /           \           /           \           /           \           /           \           /           \

            So it turned out that Sehun didn't twist his shoulder after all, he just pulled the muscles a little bit and after about a few days of rest he was back up and ready to go for his trapeze training once more. A whole month has passed already and it was filled with nothing but constant practice and Luhan had to admit although Sehun was slow at progress he was still progressing little by little.

            "Okay, since you know how to swing properly now, we can move on to attempting to do one air flip," said Luhan as he watched Sehun cover his hands in a layer of chalk dust.

            "Oh okay…" replied Sehun monotonously.

            Luhan raised an eyebrow at Sehun's response "What's wrong? I thought you were going to be excited about finally being able to learn this?"

            "I am… It's just, we have a month left and it practically took me two years to train my body so that I could be able to support myself on the bars correctly, another year and a month to learn the basics of the posture and correct swinging movements to use and now there's only one month left to learn how to do a flip before the show… I just don't know if I'll be able to do it, what if it takes me another year or more to learn…" answered Sehun as he played with his fingers.

            Luhan's expression softened as he listened to Sehun's worries 'I suppose he's just insecure about his skills... Maybe some encouragement will lift up his spirits…'

            Sehun stopped twisting his fingers when Luhan reached out and placed his hand on top of the younger's making Sehun finally look up at Luhan.

            Luhan gave Sehun a warm smile "Don't worry about that Sehun as long as you're doing what you love it'll be okay even if it takes you years to learn it, I'll be with you every step of the way."

            "…….Okay," replied Sehun suddenly feeling much better about attempting to do the flip 'As long as Luhan is by my side in this it should be fine even if I don't get it right away.'

            "Good, now remember you'll only be doing the flip, I won't be swinging the second bar to you just yet you need to get the hang of gaining the needed momentum to be able to shift your weight forward for the front flip first before you can actually think about getting to the second bar," instructed Luhan.

            Sehun nodded, he's seen Luhan do flips about a million times he knows what the flips are supposed to look like and the basics of how to do them, he just needs to be able to replicate those same moves.

            "Are you ready?"

            "Yes."

            "Okay, start off by swinging back and forth until you get enough speed and I'll tell you when you should let go and shift your weight forward to flip," said Luhan.

            Sehun gave one more nod and took the metal bar into his hands, taking the needed steps off of the platform to let himself become airborne once more.

            Throwing his legs back and forth to help increase his speed, Sehun built up a rhythm as he steadily swung himself higher and higher, completely focused on his task waiting for when Luhan would give him the cue. However the voice he heard call out his name definitely didn't belong to Luhan at all.

            "Sehun! Wow, didn't expect to see you swinging that high on the bars!"

            Sehun's concentration was instantly lost as his rhythm faltered and he felt his hands slip from the bars.

            'Oh no,' was Sehun's last thought as he struggled to keep his hold, he swung his feet back and forth in attempt to pick his rhythm back up but it just caused the bar to twist and swing him in a circle.

            "Sehun! Just let go and fall to the safety net!" yelled out Luhan as he watched his apprentice struggle.

            Luhan's words were just a bit too late as Sehun suddenly heard a 'clink' noise from above him and the next thing he knew he was falling with the metal bar still in his hands.

            Two voices yelled out "SEHUN!"

            Sehun landed in the safety net, metal bar still in his grasp and the metal wires that were connected to the bar pooled on both sides of him with the now broken metal link that held up the metal wires from atop landing right on his forehead "OW!"

            Luhan was the first to get to Sehun since he just jumped off the platform on to the safety net, crawling over to him, Luhan helped him sit up and cupped his face to look at the injury that Sehun gained "Are you okay!? I didn’t expect the metal link to just suddenly break like that!"

            Baekhyun was the next to come near Sehun as he stood a the edge of the safety net, a look of worry on his expression.

            Sehun hissed a bit as Luhan brushed his fingers lightly across the dark red mark that was beginning to form on the younger's forehead.

            Hearing the  Sehun's hiss of pain, Luhan instantly retracted his hand "Sorry! Sorry! I think you need to ice that though it looks really swollen."

            "I'll go get him an ice pack from the first aid tent," said Baekhyun before walking off.

            "Thanks!" called out Luhan as he continued eyeing Sehun's injury.

            Sehun whimpered because it seriously hurt and it felt like his forehead was throbbing, he could feel his eyes begin to water a bit from the pain.

            "Ah, Sehun-ah I know it hurts," said Luhan softly before gently placing a light kiss at the side of Sehun's temple away from the younger's injury "But Baekhyun went to get the ice pack already and that should help with the pain."

            Sehun tried his best to blink away the water gathering at his eyes, feeling a bit comforted by Luhan's kiss.

            Seeing that Sehun was placated for the moment, Luhan moved to get the metal link that was broken. Rolling the metal in his hands, he finally saw what the problem was, it was worn out and a bit rusted 'No wonder this broke while Sehun was on the bar the metal link wouldn't have been able to handle all those spontaneous twists and circles that Sehun was doing on the metal bar, it just happened to be bad luck that Sehun was the one on the bar as it broke.'

            "I'm back!" yelled out Baekhyun as he walked into the trapeze tent once more while holding up a blue ice pack.

            "Oh, thanks Baekhyun!" called out Luhan as he helped Sehun off the safety net and on to the ground, the broken metal bar in his left hand.

            Sehun took a seat at one of the chairs across from the safety net with Baekhyun taking a seat right next to him after handing the ice pack to Luhan.

            Carefully Luhan placed the ice pack on Sehun's forehead causing the younger to let out another pained whimper "Ah, sorry Sehun-ah I know this stings but you it'll feel better eventually."

            "Okay hyung," replied Sehun quietly "Thank you Baekhyun hyung for getting the ice pack."

            Baekhyun smiled at Sehun "No problem."

            "Baekhyun, can you do me another favor?" asked Luhan suddenly as he grabbed Sehun's hand to move it on to the ice pack so Sehun would keep it in place.

            "What is it?" asked Baekhyun curiously.

            "Can you sit here with Sehun while I try to go fix the bar?" asked Luhan holding up the broken metal link that held up the metal bar.

            "Yeah, no problem! I came here because I wanted to talk to Sehun anyways," answered Baekhyun.

            Luhan nodded "Okay thanks!"

            When Luhan walked away, Sehun turned towards Baekhyun "You wanted to talk to me?"

            Baekhyun nodded "Yeah…"

            "What about?" asked Sehun curiously.

            "Um… just…" Baekhyun seemed to be embarrassed about what he wanted to say.

            "Hm?"

            "Okay I'm going to say this really fast so listen really well, got it Sehun?" asked Baekhyun seriously.

            "Um… okay," replied Sehun still confused.

            "I just wanted to say… I'm really sorry for what I said to you back at out last show I didn't mean any of it, I was having a bad day and like Chanyeol said I just took it out on you and I'm really sorry, I know you work really hard and not all of us can progress quickly but at least you're still trying and you seem to be improving and…"

            Baekhyun was cut off as Sehun gave a small laugh "It's okay hyung, I forgive you, actually I forgave you a long time ago already, I know you didn't mean all those things and besides I know I am clumsy that was just the truth."

            Baekhyun sighed in relief "Thank goodness, I thought you hated me because I have a temper and sometimes I can't control what tumbles out of my mouth, and what I said to you that day has been bothering me so much."

            Sehun gave Baekhyun another smile "It's okay, no need to worry about it."

            Baekhyun returned the smile to Sehun and the two sat in peaceful silence for a little while before Baekhyun started the conversation again "Are you finally attempting to do the flip?"

            Sehun nodded which looked quite awkward considering he was still holding the ice pack to his forehead "Luhan said that since I was able to get the hang of swinging I could try to do air flips now."

            "Good job Sehun," replied Baekhyun patting the younger on the back "You must be working hard if you've finally reached this point. I'm surprised really I never thought you'd be able to reach this point in so little time."

            "I have been working hard because I want to become a top trapeze artist like Luhan too," replied Sehun quietly as he looked towards Luhan who was fixing up the metal bar.

            "That'll take a lot of time…" smiled Baekhyun "But I'm sure you'll get there Sehun."

            "Thank you hyung," said Sehun cutely.

            Baekhyun chuckled as he ruffled Sehun's hair carefully so as to not hurt the younger's injury "No problem, everything will work out as long as neither you nor Luhan give up, Luhan has a lot of patience so no worries."

            Sehun was silent for a moment as that last part of Baekhyun's sentence repeated itself in his head 'Luhan has a lot of patience… But what happens when that patience runs out…'

            At that moment Luhan suddenly threw aside the chain link that he was trying to fix, huffing and glaring at the metal piece as he began grumbling under his breath "Piece of , what the , why is this crap so hard to fix!? Ugh to hell with this !" and then walking away to the back of the tent to possibly look for something to probably hold the two pieces together.

            Sehun bit his bottom lip as insecurities began filling his heart 'What if my clumsiness makes Luhan not want to teach me anymore because I'm so slow at learning? Will I get thrown aside and forgotten like the metal link? I don't want Luhan to cast me aside…'

            "Baekhyun!" it was Chanyeol who was standing near the tent opening that was calling for the smaller male.

            "Chanyeol!" greeted Baekhyun happily.

            "Oh my gawd! What did you do to Sehun!?" squeaked Chanyeol as he took in the sight of Sehun holding a blue ice pack to his forehead.

            "What!? I would never harm Sehun purposely! What do you take me for!? We were just talking!" yelled back Baekhyun.

            "Oh, okay then," sighed Chanyeol in relief.

            Baekhyun shot Chanyeol a look "What was that sigh for!?"

            Chanyeol chuckled nervously "Nothing."

            Baekhyun looked like he wanted to retort but was cut off before he could.

            "Well anyways sorry to interrupt your fun time and everything but I can't find where the animal food is and the tigers are looking really hungry," explained Chanyeol with another nervous laugh.

            "Oh my gawd, okay I'll help you with that," said Baekhyun as he got up, but before leaving he ruffled Sehun's hair playfully once more giving the younger an encouraging smile "Keep working hard Sehun, you'll be at the top in no