Chencing machine
Chenlay drabblesBased on EXO M's Yahoo interview. I really wanted to do a birthday spam for Yixing too but uni got in the way. Happy Birthday Yixing!
As soon as Duizhang said 'Dancing machine', Jongdae stepped forward. Yixing watched in slight confusion because he was sure that Kris was talking about him but that confusion soon turned into a smile. He was glad that Jongdae was being his usual self even in a foreign environment. He watched in amusement as Jongdae began dancing only to be stopped by Kris.
He almost protested, he wanted Jongdae to show off his dancing skills, especially since the boy had improved vastly in that area and had actually began enjoying dance lessons, not dreading it. But one look from Kris told him that he should just go along with it and show the fans what they wanted to see.
So he did. He stood front and centre and asked the members to sing for him as he flawlessly executed the choreography for MAMA. Half way through the dance, an idea struck him.
"Now I'm going to break down the dance." Yixing said to the camera. "Who wants to help me?"
Thankfully, Minseok pushed Jongdae out and Jongdae looked like he didn't mind too much.
Jongdae watched him, as he had a thousand times before, transform into a serious dance instructor. If Yixing was going to take this lesson seriously, so was he, even if he already knew how to dance MAMA decently well and could do so in his sleep.
Yixing began, step by step, teaching all the moves to their debut song. It brought back memories, both good and bad. Bad because Jongdae could remember his dance teachers yelling at him and pushing him to try harder and do better when he was struggling to do even the most basic moves. Good because Yixing had volunteered, he didn't have to but he did, to take time out to teach Jongdae their choreography to all their songs. Yixing was a perfectionist but he was patient. He didn't yell, he took his time, no matter how many times Jongdae messed up, until Jongdae's dancing was on par with the rest of their group.
Jongdae could see the same strategies at play here too. Yixing telling the camera how to turn more smoothly or punch the air with more power. Yixing really cared about giving a good tutorial to their fans. And not for the first time, Jongdae found himself glad that he had someone like Yixing to look up to, to idolise, even if he was in their own group.
And just when Jongdae thought he was doing well, he messed up on his footwork. The rest of them laughed in good nature but Jongdae could feel his face burn. He felt like he had let Yixing down.
"Sorry." he said with a smile even though his eyes didn't mirror his mouth.
"It's ok, you just need balance." Yixing replied.
Of course Yixing knew that Jongdae was probably beating himself up on the inside, he tended to do that a lot because he was the last to join their group so he had to most to catch up on. So he played it off like it was no big deal and decided to play a little trick on the younger by getting him to hold one of their more difficult positions. Kris stepped up to make things harder but Yixing couldn't have been more proud when not only did Jongdae hold that position but transitioned into the next move in time.
They had a few laughs along the way and Yixing was determined to let Jongdae perform the majority of the final dance alone.
"You stand in front of me." Yixing instructed.
Jongdae looked like he wanted to protest but instead he kept his eyes fixed on the ground for most of his performance. Yixing stood back and watched Jongdae with the rest of EXO M, knowing that they all shared the same feeling of pride watching Jongdae perform the dance alone. He had come a long way from a boy with two left feet to a man who would dance just as well as the rest of them. They all knew he'd just improve from there because that's what Jongdae did, he just kept on improving.
One final group song and dance, a few words from Duizhang and they were all finished for the day.
"Thank you ge." Jongdae said in his accented Mandarin.
"For what?" Yixing asked in Korean because it was just an easier form of communication.
"For letting me dance."
"Well I needed a student and you volunteered, how could I refuse my favourite dongsaeng?" Yixing teased.
Jongdae didn't say anything. He grabbed Yixing in a quick hug before skipping away. Yixing watched him go with a fond smile on his face.
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