Lay, as Yumi knew him, was quiet, unfailingly polite, and so kind she’d heard that he had once saved a kitten from the rain and carried it around school the whole day, and the teachers couldn’t even be mad about it because he was too polite about the whole thing. Which was a much better profile than most of the other boys at their school had, so Yumi decided that he would be the one she would say she had a crush on, if any of her friends ever asked (which, of course, they did, because it was always a fun conversation topic among them). It was believable enough, too, because he was both stunningly attractive and stunningly nice, the one killer combination of alluring qualities.

In retrospect, Yumi didn’t know if she liked Lay, or if she simply said that she did, because he wasn’t a bad guy, and her friends wanted an answer. It’s not like they were close, or that she ever talked to him at all, really. But, even from afar, she was drawn in by him, with fingers itching to draw his figure as he modeled.

Which was undoubtedly why, if not the only reason she jumped at the chance to go down to the dance studio for the next art assignment and choose a model to sketch in various poses.

Of course it would be Lay, she had never even considered the other dancers (though she did, to some extent, realize once she was outside the door and looking in on the class, that he was in the special talents program, filled with dance prodigies such as Kai and Taemin, and taught by one of the best modern dancers of their generation) however attractive they were. The students didn’t stop in their warm up to look at her, though she felt like they were all glancing at her discreetly when the teacher motioned for her to sit in a corner, and he was so intimidating that she didn’t need him to tell her to shut up and not disturb the class before ducking her head in a last minute effort to escape attention.

She spied the chair by the wall, against the mirror where her reflection wouldn’t be so noticeable and moved to sit in it, though it quickly became more comfortable for her to sit on the floor and pull up her knees to use as a resting table.

For a moment, when she looked up, she was entranced by the fluidity of the dancers’ movements - even as they stretched she was captivated by the curve of their bodies, how lithe but powerful they looked, the little details in how they held themselves with such confidence and grace. For a moment, she took it all in, on the verge of gaping in awe. But then she caught sight of Lay, as her eyes roamed around the room to take everything in, and she started to memorize his posture and bent her head to draw it out.

When she finished the base sketch, she looked up again to find the class in a formation, practiced and uniform, so different from their scattered warm up exercises, and she couldn’t help but want to draw them all. However, she wasn’t good enough yet to take one look and draw the whole class from memory, so she settled for making another sketch of Lay.

At the end of the class, when everybody was stretching again, Yumi looked over her rough sketches, and she was a bit surprised to see that she had only one page that wasn’t of Lay. It was of Kai and Taemin, in a hypnotizing duet, and she quickly penciled a few lines in before scanning the rest of the pages.

Yumi quickly closed the sketchbook when the instructor approached, scrambling up with pencil and pad in hand. “Hello, Mr. Jung.”

“Good afternoon. Ahn Yumi, right? Ms. Choi said you’d be with us today. How was the class?” Mr. Jung was more commonly known as Yunho, a national sensation after winning one of those televised talent competitions as a teenager. He was held on a pedestal by teachers and students alike, and Yumi had a lot of respect for him from his fearful reputation alone.

“It was amazing. Your students are very talented,” Yumi murmured in reply, shuffling from foot to foot.

“They are. Thank you for not disturbing our class, though I know it would have been easier to draw still models. Would you like any of the students to pose for you?”

Lay would be nice. Yumi started at his offer, shaking her head. “There’s no need, I have everything I need. Thank you so much.”

“If you’re sure. You’re welcome to come again tomorrow, Miss Ahn.”

“Thank you,” Yumi repeated, ducking her head in a semblance of a bow. She could feel her face heat up, and hurried away from his intense presence, all the while cringing at how rude she must seem.

From years of practice (which was honestly just years of subconsciously doing so) Yumi made her way back to the art room with her eyes trained solely on the ground. There were other students weaving around her, but she slipped through the sea of kids with light steps and muttered apologies. Everyone else was headed to lunch, but Yumi preferred to eat in the quiet art room - and she’d noticed that some of the dancers had chosen to stay behind as well. Yumi could use this time to solidify the lines in her sketches, and tomorrow she’d go back to finish some minor details. Maybe she would even pull together the courage to ask Lay to model for her (though she’d probably shy away and pretend to be busy before she could even consider it).

She slipped into the art room, taking comfort in the familiar setting of tables taking up most of the room and easels in a single line of the side, with both paint and paintings decorating the walls. The dance room was more open and spacious than she was used to, and it made her glad to be back - though one side of her said that it was probably not a good thing to spend all of her time holed up in her art. That side could be ignored for another two hours, though.

It took a loud, high pitched, “Yumi!” to reach the addressed girl, off in her own world, when her friends came looking for her.

She looked up, startled, but smiled softly when she recognized them. “Hey. Is lunch over already?”

“We heard you went to go see Lay during art,” Jiyoung prodded, grinning wolfishly while pulling up a chair to the table.

Sohee, the most level headed of the three of them, spoke up after Jiyoung. “There’s still about an hour left of lunch."

“Oh.” Yumi looked down helplessly at her sketchpad.

“Can I see what you drew?” Jiyoung tapped her fingers on the table as if to say ‘gimme gimme’.

Yumi, normally reserved with sharing her art, opened her sketchbook to look through it, picking out the drawing that she knew Jiyoung would appreciate.

Sure enough, a high scream came out of her friend’s mouth when the pad was turned toward her. “THIS IS AMAZING! It’s Kai! And Taemin! YUMI! You’re so lucky, oh my god, you’re the best. Is it done? Can I see it when it’s done?”

Yumi and Sohee shared a grin, and Yumi replied, “It’s almost done. It’s for you, anyways.”

“Oh my god, Yumi, you’re the best!”

Slowly reaching across and taking back her sketchpad, Yumi said, “Thanks. I’m glad you liked it. Their dance was really good, I think they’re putting together a performance.”

While Jiyoung’s mouth hung open, Sohee took the chance to ask, “Did you get to meet Lay?”

Yumi shook her head. “I saw him dance, though.”

“Was he good?”

“Amazing.”

“You like him, don’t you?”

Yumi shrugged. “Sure.”

“Sohee, let’s get them together.”

“Jiyoung!” Yumi exclaimed.

“Hm.” Sohee started chewing on her bottom lip, something she did when she was thinking. “What if Lay doesn’t like her?”

“Are you kidding?” Jiyoung gasped dramatically, clutching her hand to her heart. “Look at her! That isn’t possible.”

“Well,” Sohee tilted her head in acknowledgment. “I don’t have anything better to do.”

Yumi sighed in exasperation. “Come on, it’s almost the end of the school year. We have finals!”

“All the more reason to get you together now. Then you have all of break to spend together!”

Yumi brought her sketchbook up to cover her face while Jiyoung smirked triumphantly and Sohee looked on in amusement.