Time seemed to be on a fast-track as their dance classes progressed. With each passing day, Hyoyeon and Eunhyuk grew friendlier and more attached to each other’s presence. Hyoyeon often found herself restlessly flitting from one unfinished chore to the next like an indecisive bumble-bee, just waiting for the clock to strike 7 pm.

Eunhyuk too, though busy with college classes in the day, was zoning out of entire lectures – his mind wandering to vague scenes of picnics, cotton candy (am I hungry?) and Hello Kitty… (Wait a minute, HELLO KITTY? What is wrong with you, Lee Hyukjae?)

Since night time was the favorite part of both their days – the unsuspecting pair figured it had to do with the weather being unusually hot for this time of the year. The night air was cooler and soothing – as was the company. But it didn’t register in either of their minds that there was a common denominator for their hearts’ flightiness – and it wasn’t the strange weather.

It was three weeks into their lessons – when Hyukjae had just finished instructing the entire class on a new routine. Once he was confident that everyone had the basics down, he advised them to fine tune it on their own. It didn’t take more than ten minutes for him to complete a walk-around of the class as he had done a good job of making everyone aware of where their strengths.

So after that was complete, he moved on to the next thing that was on his agenda.

He grabbed a water bottle and slouched down against the wall taking a rest – but the truth was he wanted to watch her in the mirror.

There was no denying that the girl had a god-given talent for matching the beat and rhythm of any given song and he didn’t know if it was because he was her instructor or what – but their styles were quite similar.

The idea that had occurred to his mind the night before was strengthened as he watched her execute the moves perfectly and with little effort. She stood out in the sea of bodies like there was a spotlight shining right over her head with angels singing a hymn about the “Chosen One”. The smile of pure bliss on her face also did not go unnoticed and Hyukjae found himself smiling as well.

When the class finally ended, he didn’t waste any time sidling up to her.

“Hey Hyo, do you have a schedule after this?”

She rolled her eyes at him – (they were that comfortable with each other now) “Lee hyukjae you know better than anyone that all I do after class is go home!”

“What? Are you serious?” he let out an audible gasp – playing along, “No way! I thought you and the neighbourhood ajummas were hitting up the disco every night, dressed in your neon tights!”

“Very funny!” she flicked his forehead. “Why? Do you have some plans? I can just take the subway you know.”

“You should know me better by now than to argue about that again!” He always turned serious when the issue of her transportation came up – particularly since they had seen a man who looked eerily like her step dad four days ago.

“Arasso,” the girl complied quickly, “then stop beating around the bush and tell me.”

He took her bag off her shoulder and placed it back on the ground. “I can do better – come on, let me show you!” Taking her hand, Hyukjae led Hyoyeon to the auditorium.

“Wait just a minute, ok?”

Still confused, she managed a nod before Hyukjae disappeared somewhere behind the wings. Then suddenly the white screen came to life – some catchy hip hop beats playing over the sound system.

Hyukjae joined her, slipping into the next seat.

“What’s this?”

“A video of last year’s International Street Jam Battle.”

“Wow” she stared agape at the screen, “this is so cool.”

“Yea, I know and I was thinking…”

“Shh. I want to watch!” She shut him down mid-sentence.

“Huh… ah… neh your highness” Hyukjae could only chuckle at how cutely bossy the real Hyoyeon was.

When the video finally ended, Hyoyeon could not stop gushing about how cool everything was.

“They’re even better than Beyonce and Chris Brown! Waaahh and you were pretty cool too, seonsengnim.”

“I was, wasn’t I? So may this cool seonsengnim talk now?”

“Hmm…” Hyoyeon smirked playfully, “I guess I can allow it.”

They walked back to their regular studio with Hyoyeon perching herself on the platform and Hyukjae standing in front of her.

“We are participating in the Street Jam again this year and I was thinking... how about you help me? Good idea right?”

Hyoyeon looked lost, “Me? How can I help?”

“Well Gahee noona and I represented Elite last year but the judges said we lost because our choreography was too obviously split. You see, the two of us came up with our own parts and threw everything together last minute but the contrast in our techniques was too jarring… no sense of fluidity… continuity in the story telling… so she told me I could choreograph the entire routine this time.”

Hyoyeon was nodding along.

“And I need a female partner to help me choreograph.”

“Ok sure,” she replied immediately. “I’ll help however I can. It’s the least I can do! So how does this work?  You want me to run an announcement for auditions? Go through applications?”

At those words, Hyukjae blinked in confusion before bursting into a fresh round of chuckles. “You’re really dense aren’t you, Kim Hyoyeon? The partner I want is you, pabo!”

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this was supposed to be updated shortly after the last chapter but i forgot to unhide it OTL. about donghae, i am confused! my plan was to keep what he's been up to in America a mystery until he showed up again but if readers demand his appearance sooner .. i might consider it, so give me your opinions. thanks