Chapter 1: Crush
Keeping Secrets"There he is! There's Cha Hakyeon!" your fellow female trainees gushed as the tall slender, beautifully tanned male idol walked into the room.
Cha Hakyeon, apart from being the wonderfully vibrant, kind, and busy leader of VIXX, was also the trainees' dance instructor. Obviously, with such a charismatic, affable, and talented man in front of us, who could stop themselves from falling for him? Well...not me. Someone else had taken my fancy. Someone that wasn't around as often, but someone whose presence changed the atmosphere whenever he arrived. While Hakyeon was as bright and as warm as sunshine, Jung Taekwoon was as chilly yet as beautiful as the first fall of snow in winter. Hakyeon and the other members, who were long used to his expressions, could tell his mood by just a slight twitch of his lip or a blink of his eye but to most others, Taekwoon had the same expression, a sort of middle ground between a scowl and a blank expression. He intrigued me and his silent charisma had taken a hold on me right from the beginning. He had been my die-hard crush since I stepped foot in Jellyfish entertainment and accidentally ran into him. Maybe the fact that I wasn't enraptured by Hakyeon was because I was blessed with Taekwoon's slight smile upon my entrance, a smile that has been engraved in my mind for the past year.
So as my friends giggled, I contained my feelings as Jung Taekwoon also entered the room, with Hakyeon clinging onto his arm.
"Have a good time producing Taekwoonie~" N grinned happily as Leo nodded and ripped his arm out N's grip.
Taekwoon glanced (or glared) at the trainees then shyly bowed his head as he scurried to his practice room.
"Cute." I mumbled and blushed.
"You're so weird." my best friend chuckled.
"Yo ___!" N greeted you happily.
One of the good things about not having an emotional attachment to our dance instructor was that I had no reason to be nervous and no reason to turn into a fumbling mess when he walked by to check our technique. I was also a pretty good dancer (if I could toot my own horn), having been in dance classes since I was able to stand on my own two feet. My relatively relaxed manner was evident to everyone, including Hakyeon, so you could say he favored me, seeing as how he actually knew my name and would occasionally ask me other trainees' names when he forgot. While other trainees glared at me in jealousy, my best friend stuck right next to me, hoping for an opportunity to be noticed by Hakyeon.
"Yo sunbaenim." I grinned.
"I told you to just call me Hakyeon or Oppa~" N chuckled.
"It's a little weird since you're still our dance instructor." I laughed. "But don't worry, I'll drop the formalities once I debut."
N's eyes crinkled happily at my light banter. I don't blame him. All the other trainees would stammer and be a little too nervous around him so normal conversation would become awkward. Hakyeon would normally ask if he was intimidating and that's why everyone would get weird around him. I reassured him that it was just being in the presence of "Chayeoji" that baffled our minds so much that we became incoherent. He would simply laugh heartily and puff out his chest confidently. Any compliment was thoroughly welcomed.
"We'll start in 5. Make sure you're warmed up!" Hakyeon announced.
My friend exhaled and trudged away, going unnoticed again. I was about to follow suit when N stepped in front of me.
"So ___," N started as he threw an arm around my shoulders to pull me away from everyone else. "I'm going to need you to stay after today so I can go over the choreography with you for when I'm away. I'm going to need you to help out my substitute."
"Why does it seem like you don't have much faith in your substitute?" I raised an eyebrow.
"So is that a yes?"
I laughed, "How could I turn down THE Cha Hakyeon?"
"That's my dance prodigy." N patted my head lovingly. "Go warm up then. I can take it back if you're not on your game today."
I scoffed. "I'm always on my game."
If it was one thing I was confident about, it was my dancing. I could probably dance better than I could walk. My voice was decent too, but let's just say I was not the class favorite when it came to vocal training with our instructor Lee Jaehwan, VIXX's self-proclaimed cutie main vocal. I was relieved and slightly disappointed that it wasn't Jung Taekwoon, but I guess I can't exactly see him teaching a group of girls with his shy personality and soft voice.
I must've jinxed myself because just as we were about to start going through the choreography we covered the previous day, Jung Taekwoon stepped out of his room. I blanked out for the first time in my 23 years of existence. Luckily, Hakyeon was not paying attention to my horrified expression as I failed to remember what I was supposed to be doing.
"Hakyeon-ah." Taekwoon called out.
My heart flipped in my chest. It wasn't even my name, goodness. I had it bad.
"Practice amongst yourselves ~ before I judge you!" N grinned brightly and floated towards his life-long friend summoning him. Taekwoon glanced over at me, probably cause I was gawking at him in awe unconsciously, and I hurriedly turned away and began moving my body as if I was dancing. From the mirror, I saw him whispering to N seriously with his eyes wandering away every so often due to his shyness. N however maintained perfectly direct eye contact full of fondness as if Taekwoon was saying the most intriguing and mesmerizing thing in the world. I fought the urge to pout. I wanted to look at Leo like that. I wanted to have a serious conversation with him up close. However, lost in my thoughts, I didn't realize that I was not moving my body and simply staring at my reflection in the mirror.
"___. You can't practice dance in your mind. Get moving." Hakyeon returned and nudged me playfully.
"I was just getting into the right mindset." I snapped as I blushed out of embarrassment.
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