The practice room was silently hectic.

Nobody uttered a word, yet the squeaks of the shoes on the wooden floor echoed off the cloud wallpapers. The dance instructor only needed to move his hands in command and the members would immediately catch the meaning.

They moved swiftly to the beat. It was their new comeback song.

JinHee looked around to search for Yixing to find him being in the middle of the routine, dancing like everything was depending on it.

Deciding that it was best not to disturb him, JinHee moved to the back of the room and sat down on the floor. It wasn’t long until somebody plopped down beside her, panting as a result of the practice.

“Oh, hey noona.” Tao said ruggedly- his breath choppy.

She looked him over and saw how he was massaging his one leg. The injured one.

“Tao-yah. You should take a break first.” JinHee advised, “Don’t push yourself.”

He gave her a tired smile in return before gulping down a bottle of water. She spotted a towel next to them and offered it to him.

“You should say the same to Yixing-ge.” Tao said as he wiped off his sweat, “He’s been going on like crazy. I’m worried if his waist could still take it.”

JinHee looked at her boyfriend who was still dancing to the choreography. It wasn’t a surprise that Yixing had to work extra hard this comeback- he had to fill two empty spots after all.

“Luhan-ge called earlier,” Tao spoke once more, “He asked me to tell you that at this rate, Yixing-ge would be drained out. And that you should talk some sense into him before he overloads.”

Her eyebrows rose in a question, “Why didn’t he tell that to Yixing himself?”

“Because… Yixing-ge only listens to you anyway.” 

JinHee smiled at the younger boy. “I will.”

For a few seconds, they kept their silence. Tao’s slightly uneven breathing being the only noise around them.

Suddenly, weight fell on her shoulder, and judging by the streak of blonde, JinHee knew Tao was leaning on her shoulder. She wiggled to topple him off but he whined and held down her arm.

“You spoilt puppy.” She scoffed.

“People say I look more like a kitty, you know.”

JinHee let out a laugh and ruffled his hair, “Ew, sweaty.” She wiped her hands on her jeans.

Tao froze on her shoulders and sighed, “I don’t think I can sweat any more noona. I don’t think I could last longer.”

In a millisecond, the girl’s head swept around to face him, her eyes stern. “You can do it Tao- you’ve worked hard. You and the members could pull through this together.”

He looked away.

“Sure I could do it noona. I could always just work harder. But the real question is…”

JinHee’s terrified look made Tao lower his voice.

“… Do I want to do it?”

*****

Yixing opened his eyes.

He was facing clouds… lots of clouds.

If only he could fly away to somewhere quiet. To be by himself.

That would’ve been great.

Realizing that it was SM Entertainment’s cloud-wallpapered practice room, the boy squirmed in his lying down position on the floor. A jacket was covering him.

He didn’t remember bringing a jacket to practice.

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