vii.

There was no mention from Baekhyun of the summer concert for the next few lessons, and Chanyeol began to assume he'd forgotten all about it, until he began to forget about it himself. But then Baekhyun pulled him aside before one of their Thursday classes and said, “I’d like you to stay behind for a while after class ends. There’s something I want to show you.”

Chanyeol was nervous for the rest of the lesson, which made him lose focus while he was dancing. What could Baekhyun possibly have to show him? Was it something bad? Would he even have the energy to hang around that long? After the last person had left at the end, Baekhyun asked Chanyeol to sit down. He walked over to the stereo and fiddled with it for a moment; a song began to play, and he started dancing by himself around the room. Chanyeol thought the singer sounded a lot like Frank Sinatra, but he didn’t recognise the tune. Baekhyun continued to dance alone, looking at himself in the wall of mirrors every so often. There was nothing clunky or clumsy about the way he moved; every step was light, every turn tight and perfect, every slide elegant and quiet. It was almost impossible to believe that this was the same person who sometimes needed a cane to walk. After it was over, Chanyeol gave Baekhyun an enthusiastic round of applause, getting to his feet for a standing ovation.

“That was great,” he said, his mouth hanging open in awe. He clapped until his hands began to hurt. “Wow..”

Baekhyun smiled and gave Chanyeol a little bow. When he straightened himself again, his cheeks were flushed with a mixture of happiness and exertion. “So you reckon you could handle that?”

Chanyeol’s eyebrows shot up. “Handle what?”

“That was a version of the Foxtrot I’ve been working on over the past few weeks; I’m hoping it’ll be one of the two dances we’ll perform at the concert.” Baekhyun walked back over to the stereo — with a little spring in his step, Chanyeol noticed — to turn the music off. “It’s still a work in progress, but that’s what I’ve got so far. I just showed you the leading part, which is obviously the part you’d be dancing. What do you think..?”

Chanyeol nodded, trying not to look visibly terrified at how complicated the steps had looked when Baekhyun showed them to him. He was expecting the Foxtrot to be the easier of the two dances. “Uh, yeah,” he lied, trying to hide the uncontrollable grimace on his face, “I think I can do it..?”

No I can’t. I can’t do that, at all, ever.

Baekhyun smiled, biting his lip. “You don’t seem very convinced.”

“You just make it look so effortless, that’s all,” Chanyeol said. “Even though you’re a dirty liar, and I know as soon as I try it myself, I’m just going to make a dog’s breakfast of it.”

Baekhyun looked unfazed. “So you wanna give it a try and see how you go?” He shrugged. “Who knows? You might surprise yourself.”

“You mean… right now?” The class had been especially strenuous that evening, and Chanyeol was just about ready to fall onto the nearest flat surface, and hopefully not move again until morning. But it looked like Baekhyun had other plans for him.

“No time like the present.” Baekhyun went to switch the music on again and turned around to face Chanyeol. “Let’s go through the basic Foxtrot steps again first, on our own. You’ve done this in class before, it’s really nothing new. All we’re doing is adding a few different steps to it, making it a little more interesting… giving it a personal twist, if you like.”

Sighing, Chanyeol nodded and stood opposite Baekhyun, waiting for instruction.

“Okay. Now, you step forward, I step back,” Baekhyun murmured, demonstrating for him. “Forward, forward, to the side, then together. Slow, slow, quick quick. You see? It’s not so hard. Let’s keep doing that until you get the hang of it.”

“How long do I have to do this for, exactly?” Chanyeol asked, trying — and failing — to hold back a yawn. “Isn’t the whole point of this ballroom business to dance with a partner..?”

Baekhyun didn’t dignify the question with an answer. He studied Chanyeol’s movements in silence, rubbing his boyishly-smooth chin as though he were some great thinker, every now and then making a little grunting sound to himself. Chanyeol felt stupid dancing around alone like that, watching all the silly versions of himself in the wall of mirrors as he Foxtrotted listlessly around the room. Baekhyun had him doing only this for the next fifteen minutes or so, but he was so tired that it felt much longer.

“Even advanced dancers shadow-dance from time to time,” Baekhyun said, responding at last. “First you have to learn how to hold your frame correctly, and then it helps to nut out the basic steps by yourself. Then you can start dancing with someone else — or with me, I suppose, in this case.” He chuckled softly at that last part. “Okay, I think that’s good enough… let’s try it together. Just the basic steps, for now.”

Chanyeol walked over and stood in front of him, and they both got into position. While they danced, Frank was singing something about a smile so warm, and a laugh that crinkled someone’s nose, and how it touched his foolish heart. Baekhyun had a laugh that crinkled his nose, Chanyeol thought. His body felt warm against Chanyeol’s. He wore the gold band on his ring finger again, and he was smiling, mouthing the words to the song with a tenderness in his eyes that seemed to surface only when they were dancing. He was beautiful up close, so beautiful, and Chanyeol knew he was falling; the sensation was so real that he could feel it all through his body, a literal swoon.

And then, a voice from far away, trickling through the cracks from another world.

“Chanyeol…”

Someone was patting his hand, rubbing the back of it. The hand moved to his forehead.

“Chanyeol, can you hear me?”

Chanyeol let out a soft groan. His eyelids fluttered open.

“Are you okay? You fainted.” Baekhyun crouched down beside Chanyeol, holding his hand and looking concerned, as usual. As soon as he could manage it, Chanyeol sat up and rubbed his eyes. “I didn’t faint. I fell asleep,” he said, and let out a sigh so heavy it deflated his entire body. He couldn’t do it anymore; he couldn’t lie to this beautiful person who had never been anything but honest with him. It just didn’t feel right. “It’s called narcolepsy. I can’t control it, it just happens.”

Baekhyun looked at Chanyeol for a long time, his brow furrowed. His expression eventually softened. “Chanyeol, I have a confession to make.”

“What is it..?”

Baekhyun chewed his lip. “I knew. I’ve known all along.”

“Oh,” Chanyeol said, blinking at him in surprise. “I see..”

“I figured it out on the night we met,” Baekhyun continued, in a quiet voice. “I saw the medical bracelet you were wearing. I have one too, but I hate it, so I never wear it either.” He sat down next to Chanyeol on the floor. “So I saw it around your wrist, and then the next minute it was gone. And I thought to myself, this guy clearly has reasons for not wanting me to know about his condition… so I didn't ask, because it isn't my business.” He laughed and said, “then you fell asleep on me, and I couldn’t wake you up. I figured it was better to just let you be, and save you from feeling like you needed to explain yourself. I didn’t even expect to see you again after that night, but I was really happy when you showed up at that first class. Still, I wanted you to have the option to tell me all this stuff in your own time, so I didn’t bring it up. I hope that was the right thing to do.”

“Okay,” Chanyeol said. “I think I understand.”

“Are you mad..?” Baekhyun asked, chewing his lip again.

“No, of course not.” Chanyeol shook his head. “I thought you’d be mad that I didn’t tell you for so long, but I knew you’d find out eventually, because it’s kind of hard to hide. It's just that… I don’t want to be defined by stuff like that.” He paused for a moment, swallowing his inhibitions. It was too late to hide now; the door was already flung wide open. “I didn’t want you to look at me differently.”

Baekhyun frowned. “Why would I do that..?”

“Because everyone else does. I feel like I can’t even tell the people who come to me for help. I’m supposed to be helping other people, but how can I do that when I’m like this?” Chanyeol sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Sorry. I don’t want to dump all of this on you. I know you have your own to deal with.”

“It's okay, really. I know you’re frustrated,” Baekhyun said softly; he was the back of Chanyeol’s hand, and Chanyeol almost laughed because he felt like he was the one seeing a therapist for once.

“Your students all know you're unwell, don't they?” he asked. “What do they think about it?”

Baekhyun nodded. “They do know… on a bad day, there's no hiding what I have either. And when people ask about it, I tell them. But for the most part, they don’t treat m