The mellow jazz was replaced with a much faster, much livelier beat, and Chanyeol realised that his heart rate was increasing it’s tempo in accordance to the tune played. He was familiar with this routine, to say the least. Had practiced it every day with Jongin when they were bored enough with nothing better to do.

However.

This was the very first time he would be dancing with someone other than Jongin. And that someone other being Minzy did not help calm his heart. Already he was blessed rather generously with two left foot... He was tempted to run out of the building or fake a fever, which wouldn’t even be a lie, you could probably fry an egg on his forehead.

But!

Park Chanyeol was a man - a fairly clumsy one - but a man nonetheless. And men do no​t go back on their words.

Mustering himself, he opened his arms, relaxed his stiff shoulders and forced his hips to loosen up and made sure his eyes did not seem like they were about to pop out at the sight of her. She didn’t walk to him, she floated towards him. With steps so graceful that it was almost gravity-defying, she came into his unmoving arms, all languid motions and alluring charm.

A siren, a temptress in gray tee and jeggings.

He placed his trembling hands on her waist, wincing as she smirked and tightened his hold for him. In one fluid movement (he hoped!), he lifted her up and swung around, praying hard he wouldn’t trip over his own feet and make a spectacle of himself. She on the other hand, seemed perfectly at ease with him despite his lack of coordination and without a care for the tragedy that might befall them, she spread her legs; one bend and the other held straight and arched her back. Eyes closed, flaxen mane strewn behind by sheer centrifugal force, she looked almost a pagan goddess.

Wild, unrestrained and more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen.

Too soon, she was slipping away from his grasp, slithering far away. Teasing, skimming close but never close enough, they danced around each other, hungry for more but not daring to reach out. The music notched up another cadence, faster, wilder. She spun beatifically on her heels; one leg lifted effortlessly into the air and without an iota of hesitation, fell back, right into his arms. Chanyeol’s heart thrummed with the horror of what may have occurred, had he been not watching, not focusing for even a mere second.

She rose; body pressed flush against his own stricken one, “Relax, Park,” warm breath caressed his ashen face. He met her eyes, the good-natured humour and trust in them making him lose his words. His breath hitched at her next set of sentence:

“You won’t let me down, will you, hmm?”

At loss, he could only let his body perform the well embedded steps with precision that overruled a robot. Again and again she let go, each time he was there to catch, so save her from her fall. And each time, she smiled angelically at him, her cheeks red from exertion and something else that he couldn’t quite place but made his insides quiver all the same.

The last note of the guitar faded behind to leave a silent background. She lay panting softly against him, warm puffs of breath touching the side of his face, making his brain go haywire.

It took a moment for Jongin to snap out of his reverie. Staring at them in disbelief, he clapped his hands in a natural applause, “Wow.. You guys, just – hyung really – Wow..”

He clapped his hands again, “Really. I can’t believe it, you didn’t -up a single step, hyung, and Minzy-ssi, you were beautiful, enough said. You took my breath away, literally.”

She smiled modestly, “You flatter me too much, Jongin-ssi.”

“No, no, I’m serious. How long have you been dancing?”

Gulping a few shots of her energy drink, she frowned, “13? Somewhere around middle school era?” She chuckled, “I started for a very dumb reason, really.”

“And what would that be?”

Shaking her head with a small smile, she said, “Just a reality show in which I basically had a crush on one of the contestants. I liked how he moved, reminded me of liquid and it didn’t hurt that he had a good voice too,” she shrugged, “bland reason to start, but once you’ve started, it’s hard to stop. It gets addictive, and I’m the type to persist.”

An understanding smile bloomed on Jongin’s face, “Ditto, started ballet when I was five, still learning till now. It gets too hard to resist after some time, and keeps me toned, so yeah.”

He stepped out, making sure the lock clicked gently into place before stumbling towards the toilet, heart thundering in his ears. He leant against the cool ceramic faucet, face wet and cheeks flaming, ‘Damn..’

Sighing, he smiled to himself, not believing the situation he’d landed in. “Hiding, Park?”

He started, jabbing himself on the sharp edge of the sink, “!”

She laughed, pushing herself from the door jamb and traipsed towards him, “Miss me?”

Chanyeol gulped, unable to answer. She bent closer to him, minty breath fanning his already scorching cheeks, “I’ve missed you, a lot.”

He remained still as a statue as she stood back, smirking. “I’ve lost you Park, the moment I chose this life.”

Placing a hand the side of his face, she it tenderly, “But now that I’ve got you..”

She patted his cheek sharply twice, “Now that I’ve got you,” she tilted her face towards him, breaths mingling, lips almost touching but not really, “I’m not gonna let you get away..”

It was a promise, Chanyeol knew that. Knew her enough to know that she meant it.

She kept bouncing and throwing and leaping and running. Panting, sweating, but nothing could stop her from going back to the previous night. ‘Park,’ She threw the ball, her angle skew-whiffed, ‘Park ing Chanyeol..’

The ball clanged off the rim, her first miss for the night, probably because she lingered too long on his dewy pink lips, thinking about if they would really feel that soft if she were to touch with her own. Then blushed to the roots of her blonde hair. She really had to stop thinking about him. Or how soft his lips seemed when he it.

.

He was going to be the death of her. “Minzy-yah, come in already! You’re gonna catch a cold if you keep playing at these ungodly hours!” Bom.

She turned; the eldest knight was dressed in a thick sweater with a jumper over it and some woollen pants that she insisted on every winter night. Says that it would keep her warm and safe. Safe from what though, Minzy often wondered.

 

“Minzy..”

His voice never changed. The same deep timbre, it’s rich overtone never failing to send spikes of thrilling shivers whistling through her body. She smiled, neck warm as the thoughts of him filled her. Wondering idly how he fared after their last meeting, she turned to face the floor-to-ceiling window, the moonlight calming down her frazzled nerves. And as she plotted their next meeting, another soul elsewhere tossed and turned in his bed, unable to fall asleep.