Jungkook, Jimin and J-Hope were sitting on the floor of their practice room, waiting for their dance instructors. They had been selected to perform a special stage at the end of year celebrations. “I heard that one of the girls from the new group will be dancing with us.” Jungkook said excitedly. “Really? Which one?” Hoseok said excitedly as he shoved his phone into Jungkook’s hand. Jungkook quickly brought up the profiles of the girls and pointed at one of them. “Yuri. She’s the leader of their group. I met her before at one of the award shows. She grew up abroad.” The three boys looked through multiple photos of her.

They were soon interrupted by the arrival of their dance instructors and their dance partner. “Alright guys, listen up! We’ve got a lot to do and not a lot of time to of it. Yuri, take a seat with the boys.” The three boys and Yuri exchanged greetings as Yuri took a seat next to Jungkook. “Now for this dance the three of you will take turns dancing with Yuri. Each of your dances will have a slightly different feel to it. First up it will be J-Hope and Yuri, you two will be doing a chair dance together. It’s gonna be pretty technical and a lot of work to master but it will look awesome. After that it’s Jimin and Yuri. You two will be going for a more powerful concept together. Both of you are quite flexible and agile so there will be a few flips you’ll need to master. And last, but not least, Jungkook and Yuri. You two will be our y couple.”

Jungkook’s eyebrows shot up, “S-y couple?” he stammered, a faint blush tinting his cheeks. “That’s right. You said you wanted to shed your cute dongsaeng image. This will completely smash it.” The instructor said with a grin. Jungkook nodded, nerves settling in his stomach. Yuri placed a hand on his arm and gave him an encouraging smile. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” He tried to smile back but it came out as more of a grimace. A y concept? How on earth am I going to pull this off? He wondered to himself.

The four idols watched open mouthed as their instructors showed them what they had planned. The whole routine was tough and involved good chemistry between the boys and Yuri so that they wouldn’t look awkward. They spent the next several hours learning the basic moves and started putting them all together. Hoseok picked up his moves the fastest, his outgoing personality quickly putting Yuri at ease as well. Jimin struggled a little more because of the complexity of the dance moves but by the end of the session, he was making vast improvements. The only one struggling was Jungkook. His part wasn’t overly complicated, but it required him to be in some very intimate positions with Yuri, which he was finding very difficult.

His inexperience with girls was making him feel very self-conscious. There was a part of the dance where he had to pull her against him, holding her thigh, her leg draped over his hip, his other arm wrapped around her waist and tilt her backwards. He had already let her fall twice. She had just laughed it off, telling him it was ok, but he couldn’t help but be embarrassed.

Once their session ended, Yuri left first, having another schedule to attend. Jungkook sat with his back against the mirrored wall and sighed loudly. “You ok?” Jimin asked as he took a seat beside the golden maknae. “No.” he mumbled as he let his head fall back against the mirror. “Hyung… this is so embarrassing.” He mumbled, his gaze on the floor, worried that the older man would laugh at him. Jimin sighed and wrapped his arm around Jungkook’s shoulder. “Is it because the dance is so intimate?” Hoseok asked as he took a seat on the other side of Jungkook. Jungkook nodded, “I just feel so… awkward when I have to touch her like that. Plus I dropped her. Twice!” he said with a groan.

Hoseok and Jimin both suppressed chuckles. “It’s only a dance Kookie. I know it feels embarrassing, but just think of it like any other dance you’ve had to learn.” Jimin said, trying to make the younger man feel better. “But I’ve never had to dance with a girl like this before hyung. What if I can’t do it?” he said as he looked at his hands. “Why don’t you try getting to know Yuri a bit better? Maybe it will help?” Jimin suggested. Hoseok nodded rapidly in agreement. “Now we better get going. We’ve got a recording session to get to.” Jungkook slowly got to his feet and packed up his things. Will it make it easier if I get to know Yuri more?

Jungkook mulled over these thoughts until the next day when Jimin presented him with Yuri’s phone number. “How did you get it?” Jungkook asked as he copied the number into his phone. “Not important.” Jimin replied with a grin. Jungkook smiled up at the older man, “Thanks, hyung.”

Later that day, Jungkook sent a message to Yuri.

Jungkook: Hi Yuri nuna, it’s Jungkook. I got your number from Jimin hyung. I don’t want to bother you or anything… but I was wondering if we could meet up? Not in a weird way or anything! It’s just that Jimin hyung suggested that if we spent some more time together then maybe I would stop messing up when we dance and stop me from dropping you… anyway let me know!

Jungkook was shocked as someone laughed from right behind him. He covered his phone and turned around, coming face to face with Jimin, “You really don’t know how to talk to girls, do you?” he teased, making the maknae blush. “S-shut up.” He mumbled as he shoved his laughing hyung away. He almost dropped his phone when he felt it vibrate in his hands. He opened the message, surprised to see a response from Yuri.

Yuri: Hi Jungkook! I’m glad you messaged me. I think meeting up and getting to know each other is a great idea! I especially like that part where I don’t get dropped anymore! : P Just teasing. Let’s work out when we’re both free, ok?

Jungkook smiled down at phone. He quickly replied and the two of them worked out when they had free time.

Over the following two weeks, on top of their scheduled practice sessions, Jungkook and Yuri were meeting up as often as possible to perfect their part of the dance. The first few times they practiced, they were still awkward with each other and Jungkook managed to drop Yuri a couple more times. But they slowly became more and more comfortable with each other and soon the awkwardness between them disappeared. They started joking and were happy to throw their arms around each other’s shoulders or hug when they met and said good bye. Their closeness didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the BTS members.

“You like her, don’t you?” Jimin asked eagerly.

“Hyung…”

“You don’t need to lie, maknae.” Namjoon said with a grin on his face. Jungkook rolled his eyes.

“We’ve all seen it. The two of you have so much skin ship! It’s like you’re already dating!” Taehyung added.

“OH MY GOD ARE YOU TWO DATING ALREADY?” Hoseok yelled, startling the other members.

“HYUNG!” Jungkook’s protests were cut off.

“Well you have my blessing. Yuri seems like a good match for you. Even if she is two years older than you.” Jin said, his mothering nature kicking in.

“I agree. The two of you are pretty cute together.” Yoongi added.

“It’s not like that!” Jungkook protested loudly. Taehyung wrapped an arm around the younger man, “Why not? You do like her, right?” Jungkook gave the tiniest of nods making all the other members cheer loudly. “Then you just need to man up and tell her!” Jimin said brightly. Jungkook paled, “I can’t do that! What if she says no?” he whined. Yoongi wrapped an arm around his shoulders, on the opposite side from Taehyung. “Trust us. She won’t.”

Jungkook mulled over the older members words the rest of that night. By the time he came to his practice session with Yuri the next morning, he was more nervous than he had been on their first session. When he arrived at the practice room, Yuri was already there. She was standing in the middle of the room in her loose sweatpants and a crop top, stretching in preparation for their dancing. He stood at the door silently watching her until she caught his gaze in the mirror. “Hey, what are you doing standing out there? Come on in.” she said as she waved him in. he quickly entered the room, a blush staining his cheeks for being caught.

He threw his bag to the floor in a corner and removed his hoodie. When he turned around Yuri was standing right behind him. He jumped a little at the sudden proximity. “Nuna… you scared me.” Yuri giggled, “Sorry, but Jungkook, are you feeling ok? You look a little flushed.” She said, her head tilting to the side. “I’m fine. Just a little warm.” He said as he pulled at the material of his t-shirt, hoping to cool himself down. Yuri frowned up at him, her hand reaching out and touching his forehead. Jungkook froze under the unexpected touch. “Hhhmmm you’re pretty hot.” Yuri mumbled as she took her hand away from his forehead. “Are you sure you’re ok? If you need to rest we can just practice another time.” Jungkook shook his head. “I’m fine. Let’s start.” He said as he headed to the stereo and hit the play button.

Their practice was a disaster. Thanks to Jungkook’s realisation that he had feelings for Yuri, and not just feelings of friendship, his previous nerves had comeback tenfold. Jungkook prepared himself as Yuri spun into his arms, her toned body pressing up against his. He could feel her s pushing against his chest and all his blood ran south. He panicked, losing his footing, sending them both crashing to the ground. “Nuna! I’m so sorry, are you ok?” Jungkook said from his position underneath Yuri. “Y-yeah, I’m fine.” She said as she propped herself up on her hands, which were on each side of Jungkook’s head.

He looked up at her and swallowed thickly. They were both breathing heavily from their previous exertion. “Nuna… I…” he looked up at her and was taken aback by the look in her eyes. They were dark with an expression he couldn’t recognise. His breathing hitched as she leaned down, her face mere centimetres away from his. Her lips barely grazed his and Jungkook felt a spark of electricity shoot through him. He tilted his head up, meeting Yuri’s lips fully.

The kiss was heated, with teeth clashing, tongues battling for dominance. Eventually their need for air too great and they separated, their faces still only inches away from each other. Yuri grinned down at Jungkook and he smiled up at her, “Nuna, I like you. That’s why I dropped you. I was too nervous.” He admitted his hand reaching up to push away a strand of hair that had escaped her ponytail. “I like you too, Jungkook. That’s why I asked Jimin to give you my number.” Jungkook’s eyes widened in surprise, “You did?” Yuri nodded, “Yeah, since we first met at that awards show I thought you were really cute, plus if I’m honest, you’re my bias in BTS. So when we were picked to do this dance, I wanted to take my chance to get to know you. I luckily ran into Jimin at the recording studio and asked him to give you my number. I never expected this to happen though.” She said, finally noticing their position. She moved to get off of Jungkook, with a surge of courage he didn’t know he possessed, he grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down, their lips once again meeting in a kiss.

Their kiss was interrupted by loud voices and cheers from the doorway. “I don’t remember that part of the choreography!” Hoseok yelled from the doorway as the two of them separated from each other, both turning red at being caught.

“Go maknae!” Jimin cheered loudly.

“Our maknae is growing up so quickly.” Namjoon teased.

Jungkook glanced at Yuri while the BTS members continued to cheer and tease. She smiled back at him as he took her hand in his. Best dance practice ever…