Melonie

            Taking off his sunglasses, Jun stood there glaring at me with the express of shock and anger. Even though he had such a distasteful look on his face,  I had to admit the man was still very good looking. I could understand his frustration, but we didn't have time for this. Almost half the morning was wasted dealing with him because he forgot to show up to practice, and we still haven't started on the routine yet. Refusing to back down from his stare, I was starting to quickly understanding why all his past choreographers decided to quit on him. "Nine minutes…" I raised an eye brow at him, waiting for his next move. Heaving a loud sigh, Jun stomped up the stairs with clinched fists.

            A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips. Following after him I noticed how slow he was going, at this rate he'd never make it up the stairs in time. "Jun…you think you can speed it up a bit." Ignoring me he continued at his own pace. Rolling my eyes I could only think of what kind expression he had on his face at that moment. Tch, with all this attitude coming from him you'd think you were dealing with a ten year old, but I've dealt with worse. "Eight minutes…you haven't even made it up one floor yet. I guess you want to quit." I said mockingly behind him. He abruptly stopped in his tracks, causing me to  bump my head into his back. "H-hey!" "You know what Melonie Cartar, I might be  a lot of things, but I am not a quitter. Never have and never will. I know exactly what you're trying to, and I can tell you right now it's not going to work." Crossing my arms I leaned against the railing. "Oh yeah, and what is it that I'm trying to do Jun?" Turning around to face me, I noticed for the first time that Jun had dark brown eyes which was rare to see. If only he didn't have such a nasty attitude… "Stop calling me Jun, it's Min-Jun ok? I only let people close to me call me that. Also it's very obvious that you're trying to break me, why else would you be having me run up all these damn steps." "I don’t know maybe because you were late?! Almost half the morning was wasted because you "forgot" to wake up this morning." "If you haven't noticed I'm a singer, that's my job…I'm bound to work late. I have higher priorities than to be prancing around some studio with you." "Oh please get over yourself, if it wasn't for me you wouldn't even have a job right now, so I think you should show me some respect if you want to keep it that is..." "Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that before. What I want to know is for a person who keeps complaining about us wasting time, why don't we just use the elevator and get it over with. All morning you've been avoiding the them like they were the plague. What are you afraid of elevators or something?" My eyes widened from his assumption. How did he come up with that conclusion so quickly, was it really that obvious? Agitated from his observation I said, "If you keep talking, I'm going to make you run up these stairs every practice."   

            Jun didn't move one inch from where he was. Glaring at each other eye to eye, it seemed that we were at an impasse. The longer we stood there the more time we wasted, where we could actually be learning the routine. Calming myself I decided the only way to get through this, was to make a deal. "Fine. It seems like neither one of us is going to budge, so how about we make a deal." "I've had enough of those lately, no thank you." "Just hear me out for a second. The deal could get you out of having to run up these steps…" Jun perked up after hearing this. "I'm listening." "Ok so the deal is whoever can run up these eight floors the fastest wins. Simple as that." "What a second I thought you said I could get out of running these steps?!" I smirked at him while I sauntered down the steps to the bottom floor. "Yeah, but I never said today." "Sigh, so what's the catch? What do I get out of this?" He said while following after me. "Well "Min-Jun" if you win I'll let Mr. Jung-Hwa drive you to the company, you can take the elevators, and I'll even start practice at twelve." "That all sounds nice….but what do you get?" Looking at my nails as if I was bored I went on to say, "Well Min-Jun if I win…you'll have to get up at six in the morning to run to the company with me, followed by running up the steps to the dance studio. Every. Single. Practice…"

            Looking up the stairs I could tell Jun was trying to weigh his options. Pulling his cap off hair flooded in front of his eyes. Raking his hands through his hair, he turned the cap backwards. I don't know why this simple action made my heart skip a beat, but ever second I spent with him then more good looking he became. Pushing these thoughts from my head I stuck out my hand and said, "Do we have a deal?" The last of his resolve went out with a sigh. As he reached down to grab my hand a shock of electricity flew up my arm as our hands connected. "Deal." Once the offer was sealed I quickly pulled my hand back pretending that I didn't feel anything for a second time…

            Jun started the stretch as if he was in the Olympics. "Fun fact about me Melonie, I don't lose." I tried not to laugh at how serious he was. Getting down low into a running stance I looked straight ahead as I said, "Fun fact about me…I used to run track." "Wha-" With that I was off, starting out with a smooth jog up the stairs. Jun quickly figuring out that I started off without him, he started to sprint up the stairs. Quickly passing me, I shook my head knowing that he was going to be super winded in the next couple of seconds. The trick was to start off at a reasonable pace, then finish off strong. "You got this baby girl…breathe" My father's words of encouragement from when I was younger sang through my head as I started to pick up the pace. In full concentration mode I barely noticed Jun beside me as I continued to travel up the steps at my own pace. Heavy breathing distracted me slightly, coming from no other than Jun. His face was already slightly red, as his pace continued to become slower and slower. Glancing over at me he quickly recovered, making sure to keep up the same pace as me.

            On the sixth floor I decided to pick it up, knowing that there was only two more floors to go. Jun breathing became louder as he tried to match my speed. "You…should…give it…up Jun." I said going faster. "…Never." With a battle cry Jun shot forward, trying to pass me up now that we were on the last floor. Admiring his effort I shot him one last smile before booking it up the steps in a full sprint. Easily passing him I welcomed my victory with the last three stairs. "And the winner is_" "You have got to be kidding me…" Out of breath, Jun collapsed on the last few steps. "…You…cheated me…." He said gasping for air. "No I didn't, you cheated yourself. If you had read my file, you would've have known never to make a running bet against me. I was a track athlete in grade school, why do you think I run so much?" "…To stay in…shape?" I rolled my eyes while opening the door leading to the eighth floor. "Come on lets go. We got work to do." Standing up he sluggishly walked to the door. "I thought we just did?" "That Min-Jun was just the warm up…"  

***The next chapter should be up this weekend. Have a Happy New Year everyone!!!! :D***