"Alright ladies, line up so I can take attendance!”

Ms. Ok, the ballet teacher, waits until all of her students are lined up before going down the line and reading off the names. When she comes to the last student she noticed one person was unaccounted for. Not a second later, a little boy rushes through the doors startling the whole room. He tosses aside his bag and joined the rest of his classmates. He sees his instructor looking sternly down at him so he instinctively bows apologetically. She sighs as if this wasn’t new for her. However, this was the fifth time he didn’t show up to rehearsal on time. 

"You're late again. Jongin." 

The poor boy flinched at her strict tone. His eyes were cast down; feeling guilty and ashamed. "I’m sorry. I won’t let it happen again.” 

"Do you remember my number one rule?” he couldn't even answer because she cut him off. “To be eloquently on time for your lessons or our dance rehearsals. You can’t become a professional dancer overnight if you’re constantly late. Think of your other classmates who take time out of their day to come and practice. Next time be more aware of others' time. Got it?"

“Y-yes ma’am….” 

She marks down Jongin’s name on the attendance sheet and puts away the board. “Now that everyone is accounted for we can begin rehearsals for our big concert!” 

The entire class began their warmups and went across the room to do stretches. For the girls, they did these with ease but when it was Jongin's turn he struggled to keep up. He was also mindful of his balance. However, by the sixth exercise, he trips over himself. This makes a couple of the girls behind him snicker and giggle. Jongin’s cheeks turned red with embarrassment but he brushes himself off and kept going. 

After warmups, the class worked on their individual pieces for the recital that was in a couple of weeks. Jongin was the only boy in his class so his instructor insisted that he do a duet with one of the girls. Since this would be his first recital, he wanted to make it his best performance; which means he won’t take anything but perfection. However, the duet proved to be more difficult than he thought. The dance had him try to lift his partner up in the air and then do a six-turn pirouette concluding the performance. The task was easier said than done so Jongin was constantly messing up. Not only did it irritate his teacher but it frustrated him even more why he couldn’t get this right.  

“Thank you for your hard work teacher!” 

After three hours of relentless practice, everyone was excited to go home and eat dinner. Young Jongin stayed behind because no one was there waiting for him. So he used that extra time to practice his dances. He carefully watches his form in the mirror and goes for the pirouette but he falls off balance again. He grunts with displeasure at failing to do the jump for the hundredth time. Why couldn’t he do this after learning it a couple of days ago? All the other girls in his class could do a pirouette with ease and he couldn’t. Could this be a sign that he wasn’t meant to dance? Was he just wasting everyone’s time being here? He solemnly looks at his reflection and thinks how pathetic he looks for believing that he could be a dancer. 

It was now five o’clock, the studio was closing and Jongin patiently waited outside for his ride. The weather was frigid so he tried to warm his hands by blowing warm air onto them. A couple of minutes later a black Mercedes Benz pulls up and the passenger window rolls down. 

"Excuse me, young man! Have you seen a handsome, young boy who possibly might be wearing ballet shoes and leotards around here?"

"Abeoji!" Jongin’s smile stretched so wide when he saw his grandfather. His little feet start scurrying to his car and when he steps inside he gives his grandpa a big hug. The new weight on his body makes his grandpa heartily chuckle and pet his head lovingly. 

"So how was class today?" his grandfather was always excited to hear about what his grandson learned every time he picked him up. However, Jongin hid his face in his grandpa’s chest, worrying the elder. “What’s wrong my boy? Did you not have a good day today?”

Jongin shyly shakes his head, face still buried deep in his grandpa’s chest before turning to the side to say, "I kept messing up and the teacher got mad at me.”

“Oh I see but I’m sure you’ll do better tomorrow. Everyone makes mistakes.” 

“ But everyone else isn’t messing up and they’re getting compliments from the teacher. All I did was mess up a billion times and got yelled at for it. No matter how much I tried practicing, I just kept making the same mistakes over and over again. Maybe I’m not good at dancing."

Immediately his grandfather looks down at his grandson with a stern look. "Hey, don’t say that! You’re being too hard on yourself Jong. Ok, so you fell a couple of times and messed up in front of your teacher but everyone can make mistakes. Even your other classmates and even your teacher can make errors too. Why I’ll admit I’ve made some mistakes in my life but I don’t let that affect me.” 

“But I can’t even do all the stretches without falling over and embarrassing myself.” Jongin pouts still feeling upset.

“Pft are you kidding? Why when I was your age I couldn't even put my leg up past my head like how you youngins are doing. You don’t see me twirling around and doing a split like you youngsters can. Actually, I would look like a fool if I did any of that. Imagine a big old man twirling and wearing a tutu with ballet shoes on the stage; your grandmother would be livid.” Finally, he could hear Jongin giggling at his lame jokes but he was glad that he got rid of that melancholy look painted on his grandson’s face. “Listen to me. Don’t give up so easily because you didn’t succeed on the first try. No matter how many times you fail, you need to get right back up and try again. Just because you’re not good at something you like in the beginning doesn’t mean you shouldn't stop going after your dreams. You like to dance right Jong?"

Jongin fervently nodded. “Good. Then why should one little bad day stop you from reaching your goal? As long as you believe you can do it nothing can or will stop you.”

 His eyes brightened but dimmed when he remembered one tiny thing that could stop him from dancing. "But I’ve been lying to Appa about going to my boxing lessons with the personal coach he hired. If he found out that I’ve been going to dance class Dad is going to be so angry with me. He’ll never approve of my dancing. He said that I needed to be a man and do manly things like he did when he was younger so I can be prepared to take on the family business in the near future."

His grandpa clucked his tongue in disgust hearing something so ridiculous come out of his grandson’s mouth. "That little imp shouldn’t be telling you things like that. Hah! learn how to be a man. Please.” His grandfather scoffed at the irony.  “That son of mine didn’t even stop wetting the bed till he was ten. Screamed whenever an animal pass by and faint at the sight of his own blood. He doesn’t know squat about what being a man means.” 

“Abeoji, what does it mean to be a man?” 

“Until you know how to use a credit card, get a girlfriend and learn to drive a car then I’ll let you know what it means to be a man. However, the most important thing I’ve learned in the past sixty years is to do the things that make you happy. That's how I achieved my dreams. I wanted to make a better future for my kids and grandkids and now I have a wonderful family surrounding me. Plus I got my cute and favorite little grandson which is a plus for me.” Jongin giggles at being told he was the favorite grandson. “So you see my little Jong if you love dancing so much, build on that passion. You do that and nothing will stop you. Just keep doing what you love. Even if your father doesn’t like it I’ll always support and love you for whatever you want to be."

“Thanks, abeoji. I love you too!” Afterward, Jongin stayed quiet and took his grandfather’s words to heart. He mindlessly looked down at the pair of ballet shoes sitting on his lap and felt this nudging notion in the back of his mind that motivated his heart. He’ll show everyone that he was meant to dance on stage. True to his grandpa’s words, the little boy who couldn’t even lift his leg all the way up to his head didn’t know he was going to become one of the greatest dancers and no one was going to get in his way. 

(Line break)

“So what did you boys think? It was pretty impressive wasn’t it?” 

It was impressive alright but the boys had indifferent opinions about it. Everyone was speechless that they couldn’t even answer the headmaster’s question. Some of the boys that were less expressive were actually gaping in awe. That performance may have just been something way beyond what they were possibly capable of doing for their debut. It was at that moment that they knew they were going to make fools of themselves in front of the whole school.

Nari felt just as worried as some of the boys did. She knew they weren’t nearly as prepared as Ryujin Arts but she hoped that all of her worries were for naught when they begin preparing for the debut song. 

“Ah before we head out there’s just one last thing we have to do. The headmaster was kind enough to invite us all backstage so that we could meet with the members of Infinite. Isn’t that great? You’ll get well acquainted with your competition.” 

“Super.” Kyungsoo sarcastically comments before Tao stumbles up to him not looking so well. 

“I think I’m feeling that crazy bus ride catching up to me.”

“If you puke on me I swear to buddha I’ll send it to the back of your throat!” Kyungsoo growled, successfully getting Tao to take a step back. Everyone could see that Kyungsoo wasn’t in the best mood but when was he ever? 

After being led backstage by one of the staff, a middle-aged man who wore a gaudy blue suit, exuberantly greeted headmaster Sawatomi. Their personalities were almost similar just one was flashier and had a louder persona than the other. 

“Well if it isn’t the red devil in the flesh! I hope you enjoyed those VIP seats. I wanted to make sure you got a nice view of my boy’s performance.” 

“I highly appreciated the special invitation. The members were just talking about how amazing that performance was. Right boys?” 

Some of them simply nodded or didn’t respond because they wanted to be anywhere else but here. “Well thank you I appreciate the praise. Speaking of an amazing performance, I’m really excited to see what you boys have in store for us. When did you say your performance was?”

“In two weeks.” Headmaster Sawatomi replies. 

The other headmaster lowly whistles at his answer. It was almost like he was disappointed but not that surprised at that answer. “Hm, two weeks you say? Isn’t that a bit far away? What with my boys debuting today and then we have to wait another two weeks just to see yours? Wait, don't tell me are these boys not ready yet?” he leans in and whispers the last part mockingly to Headmaster Sawatomi. 

“Yah! What are you saying? Of course, they’re ready. We’re just working out the nitty-gritty details before showing you an extravagant experience.” 

“Extravagant? More like a raging ball of a hot mess.” Baekhyun rolled his eyes hearing the headmaster lying straight through his teeth. 

Luckily he believed Sawatomi’s white lie before seven rowdy boys came out of their dressing room. They were maniacally laughing at something one of them had said when they noticed the crowd blocking their hallway.

Headmaster Ryuu’s brows raised when he sees his team is out. “Ah, perfect timing! Great performance boys! I couldn’t have been more satisfied to see all your hard work come to fruition.”

They bowed and thanked him for his praise when one of them made eye contact with Jongin and subtly smirked. Jongin of course noticed and felt slightly uncomfortable before he averted his eyes away from the strange guy. 

“Boys, meet your rival group from Sawatomi Academy. Why don’t you all formally introduce yourselves to them.” 

They started with the guy from the far right who had brown swept hair. He bows and flashes this perfect smile. “Hello, I’m the leader of our team Infinite; I’m Sunggyu.”  

Afterward, the rest of the members followed suit. The members consisted of Dongwoo, Sungjong, Hoya, Sungyeol, Woohyun, and L. Just like their leader, their introductions were short and simple. Not exactly too welcoming in the boys' opinions.  

“Well, I should let you boys get acquainted with each other. I just need to discuss with Tomi a few things pertaining to the schedules. It was nice meeting you boys. Hwaighting! Oh and boys? Be nice to our guests won’t you?” the headmaster pats Sunggyu’s shoulder firmly and goes around the corner leaving the hallway with awkward tension between the two opposing groups. 

None of them knew what to say and ironically the boys would rather be back on the bus with that crazy lady driving them. Much to their chagrin the first person to break the silence was one of the Infinite members. If Nari remembered correctly, his name was Dongwoo. He had blue streaks in his hair that meshed with his black bob cut that covered the left side of his face. 

Dongwoo steps out and surprisingly approaches Jongin who still looked a bit skeptical at this dude walking up to him. 

“Hey don’t I know you from somewhere?” Dongwoo questions squinting his eyes and trying to fumble his brain at where he’s seen him. 

“Uh, I don’t think so?” Despite his denying it, Dongwoo shakes his head stubbornly because he was positive that he’s seen him somewhere before. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. 

Lay uncontrollably rolled his eyes and thought how this was such a waste of his time. He just wanted to go back to school and not have to start a useless conversation with these posers. 

Of course, Tao always tends to ruin his wishes; unintentionally of course. “Hey, can I just say that you guys were really amazing out there? I mean that performance was spectacular. I can’t wait for you to see our performance-OW! Yah hyung~ Why did you step on my foot so hard?” 

“Oops, I must have lost my balance for a moment.” No, he didn’t. Kyungsoo just wanted him to stop talking to these guys before they became friends or something. Luckily none of the boys from Infinite caught any hint of Kyungsoo’s intentions and smiled politely at Tao’s appraisal. 

“Thank you. We really did want to try and put our all into our performance so we’re glad that you all enjoyed it.” Sunggyu flashes another kind smile when another one of his bandmates, Sungjong, jumps into the conversation too. 

“When we heard you all were coming to watch us we knew we had to give it our all!” 

It wasn’t very loud but Nari could hear Sehun behind her scoff and mutter incoherent grumbles. It wasn’t like it surprised her to hear him talk like that but the way Sehun looked more uncomfortable than usual made her on edge too. Meanwhile, Junmyeon steps out and bows to greet Sunggyu. 

“It was an honor for you to invite us to your performance. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is-”

“Kim Junmyeon. Right?” 

Junmyeon hesitantly nods and looked puzzled. Sunggyu immediately apologizes when he sees the concerned look on his face. “Sorry. It’s just that everyone knows who you are. You’re the only son and future heir of JU enterprises. My father is a close friend of your father’s so whenever your family hosts charity events or galas I often see you there next to your father.”

“Oh! Um, I’m sorry but I’m afraid I don’t recognize you.” Junmyeon awkwardly says. 

Sunnggyu shakes it off, not offended at all. “It’s fine. You must have your hands full with your family business and school. Although, I was surprised to hear that you got involved in this band too.”

All eyes were on the leaders' tense atmosphere. There were two contrasting expressions. Sunggyu was more polite and nice and Junmyeon had this firm frown that indicated he was slightly uncomfortable with the way Sunggyu smiled at him.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you properly this time. The next time my father hosts an event, I’ll for sure greet you.”

“I’ll look forward to that.” Junmyeon of course doesn’t miss the fake sarcasm in Sunggyu’s tone despite his kind smile. However, Junmyeon wasn’t an idiot. He knew when someone was just pretending to be on his good side. He’s met with these kinds of people on a daily basis because of who he was. 

“So when are we expecting you guys to perform?” The other boy who had blond hair, Woohyun, jumps into the conversation now. 

“Uh in two weeks…” Chanyeol awkwardly answered but regretted it immediately when a couple of the guys glared at him. 

Woohyun dramatically heaves a sigh of relief that bothers some of the boys for some reason. “Oh thank goodness. For a second there I thought we weren’t going to see anything at all from you guys. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if you guys extended your debut date or maybe cancel the whole thing.” 

Luhan awkwardly chuckles at Woohyun’s lame comment before leering at the brat. “Wait what? Uh, what makes you say that?” 

Woohyun simply shrugged and almost couldn’t contain his laughter. “I mean it just seems like we have to wait so long for you guys to perform. You all must be preparing something big to wow us away. I mean I want to know what I’m preparing myself for before deciding whether I should take you guys seriously or as one big fat joke.” 

This was when everyone in Infinite began showing their true colors. Woohyun looked so smug and cocky now it was astounding how his expression could change that quickly. The other members too were showing their bad side. 

Chen scoffs in astonishment, “I’m sorry come again? As a big fat joke?”

“Look how can I put this gently without hurting your poor sappy feelings? Oh what the heck, why should we care at all about your feelings? We already thought we could have an easy win from the looks of our competition.” Woohyun states like it was a fact. 

“Aw man for a second you guys had us worried there. When we heard Sawatomi Academy was going to have a twelve-member group we were a little overwhelmed because we only had seven members.” Sungjong exclaims. 

“Turns out we didn’t have to worry about a bunch of desperate, mediocre, average talents. I guess what they say about your school having a poor music program is true if they had to find and beg people to do it.” 

Then Sungyeol walks up to Woohyun and rests his hand on top of his shoulder while playing himself off as a cocky prick. “Now Hyung, don’t be so harsh. It wasn’t like we were expecting to be blown away by their lack of talent. I mean they really thought they were going to present an amazing show at that dingy school.” 

“I have to disagree with you Sungyeol. The school itself doesn’t look bad. Yes, it may be smaller than our luxurious academy but I’m more offended at the fact that their headmaster thought they could win with a bunch of low-quality talented students. Pfft, they probably don’t know a damn thing about music or performing on stage.” 

Chen couldn’t take it anymore and pushed past Kris and Junmyeon to stand in front “Yah who do you think you are to think we don’t know a thing about music when you haven’t heard us perform yet? You don’t hear me parading around to everyone about how boring YOUR performance was. I mean really, I must have yawned almost a hundred times watching you dance and sing.”

“Oh, really our performance? Boring?” Sungjong stands up and scoffs hearing Chen’s blatant insult. “Please, as if. Someone like you has probably  never watched a top-notch performance like ours before.”

Chen scoffs back and exaggeratingly rolls his eyes. “I have actually and I definitely know that yours was probably at the mediocre level in my opinion. I mean really, the ’90s called they want their genre back.” 

Before the two could start butting heads, Kris pulls Chen back and leers at the rest of Infinite. “Look, we didn’t come here to pick a fight. Unless that’s what you really want then we can take this somewhere else but not in the middle of the hallway.”

Woohyun wryly laughs to shake off the tension and stands in front of Kris who looked like a giant compared to him. “Whoa hold on there sasquatch. We're just reiterating the rumors that we’ve heard. I mean it’s not like I’ve said anything that was a lie. I even heard you were all chosen by some low-grade student that’s at your school’s crappy music program.”

Nari’s body stiffened when they started talking about her. Luckily, no one noticed her yet since she was hiding behind some of the guys'. She flinches at someone putting their hand on her shoulder but realizes it’s just Luhan. It was almost like he was telepathically telling her to calm down. 

“Wow, your headmaster must really not want to try and win this year. I wonder what it must feel like to know that you’re already going to lose and make complete fools of yourselves.” 

Luhan looked fairly pissed and spoke up for the first time in this conversation, “Might want to put away your buddy because the competition hasn’t even begun yet.” Sungjong looked a little uneasy at the way Luhan glared at him but he covers his anxious smile with a smug smirk. 

“Hey Luhan, calm down will you?” Junmyeon warns, knowing how hot-headed his friend can get, “We will not start an unnecessary fight right here. It’s not worth it.” Be it as it may, on the inside Junmyeon was itching to slap these clowns down a peg or two from their low-class pedestal. 

“They’re definitely not ready considering they have three weeks till their performance. Do you really need those extra weeks to practice when we know we’re obviously better?” Dongwoo says with no harm intended but in fact, was meant as an insult again. 

“If you must know, those extra weeks are meant for us to do solo activities to promote our group more,” Tao muttered because he was scared of Kyungsoo hitting him again.

Woohyun’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh! I almost forgot that our headmaster told us you were going to do some solo performances to advertise each of your talents and skills but it might be a little too late for you to improve on anything.”

“Tch you’re really making it difficult for me not to say some things I’ve been holding back,” Sehun muttered lowly while Luhan was next to him also itching to say a few fighting words but he held back and didn’t want to show that side to Chibi. 

All of a sudden, Dongwoo’s eyes widened and pointed at Jongin’s unsuspecting face. “Aha! Now I remember where I’ve seen you before. You're Kim Jongin right?” Lay scoffed looking at that kid’s stupid aloof expression as if he was drunk or high. “I knew you looked familiar, at first I didn’t recognize you because you look so different when you’re wearing your school uniform.”

“Hyung, how do you know him?” The other dancer, Hoya, comes beside Dongwoo to greet Jongin. 

“How can you not know him? He's famous around the dance community.” Lay quickly snorts in disgust thinking how could this oaf be acknowledged at all. “I didn’t recognize you by your actual name since you usually associate yourself with Ka-”
 

“Alright, everyone! We are back!” The boys have never felt so relieved to see Headmaster Sawatomi come back and end this hell hole. 

“I hope we didn’t keep you all waiting but I hoped you all got amicably acquainted.”

As if like a switch the Infinite members acted like literal angels. “Oh yes, we have a headmaster! We got to finally meet our competitors and we are so glad to be going up against worthy opponents.” 

“I can’t wait to see their performances! We were all just talking about how excited they were to perform in front of us.” Sungjong chirps annoyingly. 

All twelve of the boys almost sputtered out loud at Infinite’s mood change. What happened from them acting like smug little brats to becoming two-faced angels? Some of them couldn’t believe how these two-faced douches were acting and didn’t think the headmaster was this stupid to buy their crap.

“Splendid! I’m glad you’re all getting along! That’s what I like to call a friendly competition right Tomi?”

Headmaster Sawatomi nodded, touched at both groups getting along.

The boys were wrong. They guessed that they were stupid enough to fall for Infinite’s crap. Their torture was finally over when Headmaster Sawatomi looked at his watch noticing the time. 

“Whoa looks like we should head back to campus. The boys have plenty of work ahead of them if they want to impress you all with their performances.”

“Right! Wouldn’t want to waste another second of their time. It was nice meeting you all and we can’t wait to watch your first solo performance.”

Headmaster Sawatomi heartily chuckles and clasps both of the main dancer’s shoulders who flinched at being put under the spotlight. “I’m especially excited to showcase these two talented dancers' skills in a couple of days. These two are the best in our dance department I’ll have you know.”

Both of them were cringing inside at the headmaster’s praise and were mentally insulting each other for being nowhere near as talented as the other’s skills. Meanwhile, Dongwoo and Hoya were intensely observing them and smirked when they realized their little cat and dog dynamic. 

“I’ll make sure we’ll all be there to watch. After all, having you split your boys into solos and subunits to promote their debut will surely get everyone excited.”

Not sure if he was being discreet but the EXO boys thought they subtly heard one or more members from Infinite scoff under their breath breaking every last ounce of patience they had. If there was one thing the twelve all had in common they were all very prideful boys. They loathed scrutiny especially targeted at them. It made them feel like they were complete fools. If they wanted to see a show they were going to give it to them and shove it down their throats. 

Actually, some of them were thinking the exact thought. The other boys who either didn’t care were preparing for the oncoming manslaughter. For example, Yixing and Jongin, who hated each other’s presence, weren't looking forward to their performance one bit. 

“It was nice meeting you boys!” The headmaster shouts. 

“We can’t wait to see you all blow us away!” Woohyun had this fake, sarcastic sweet tone that caused a couple of boys to glare at him and almost give him more than just wave back. 

“The only way he’ll blow up is if I shove a stick of dynamite down his throat.”

“Chen at least say the threat when we are out of the hallway at least.” Junmyeon scolds Chen but he ignores him and kept thinking of how he was going to make them swallow their own words.  

Meanwhile, Nari was between some of the members but was able to see some of the Infinite members when she looked back. She makes eye contact with some of the members and they looked surprised when they see her in between the boys. It made her uncomfortable how they stared at her so she turns around and goes into her own thoughts. Will they be able to get through this? 

After they returned to school, Jongin and Yixing immediately went back to the dance studio to work on their performance piece. They were going to perform a duet piece. This means there will be a lot of choreography that is expected to be in sync. The main goal of their performance was to blend well together. However, it was easier said than done as the choreographer tiredly watched them both not be in sync with each other. 

On the beat drop, they were supposed to dance together and be in synchronization. However, it wasn’t right and their teacher huffs noticing they were making mistakes again. He decided enough was enough and paused the music. Both of them bump into each other and Jongin snaps and glared while Yixing clicked his tongue showing he was annoyed. 

“There’s something not right when you’re dancing together. You guys learned the choreography easily but it also looks like you’re doing your own thing. Like you don’t want to be together.”

Yixing settles his breath before speaking. “There wouldn’t be a problem if a certain someone didn’t overstep his side of the stage.”

Jongin grits his teeth and clenches his fists. “Sunbaenim can we also address that at the beginning of the dance this horse face didn’t follow your specific instructions about not doing this move when we are supposed to stand still?”

“You must have your brain scattered because there was no way I would miss a specific step the professor directed us.”
 

Jongin scoffs and gets riled up. “That’s not what I saw.”

“Oh yeah? Well, maybe you should stop focusing on me and watch yourself. Maybe you’ll know where to go next time.” 

“That’s enough you two! You both made mistakes. End of discussion. There are a lot of things I want to critique before this can be perfect but I’m fairly disappointed. You’re some of my best students so I expected better.”

It was hard for them to hear their professor so disappointed in them. They do agree that they felt like crap during practice when they usually always give their hundred percent during practice or performance. 

“To be honest I’m not even sure if you guys will be ready for the day of the performance.”

“We’ll run through it again.” Yixing urges as Jongin was already ready to go from the top again. 

Their professor however shakes his head. “We haven’t even gone to the end of the song without one of you running into each other or looking like you want to strangle each other.”

Well, he wasn’t entirely wrong.

“Besides, it's getting late. I need to head home. We’ll pick this up first thing tomorrow but you two should keep working on it. I expect progress from the both of you.”

They bow as their professor leaves and without a single word they run the song from the top. Little did they know that this would be just the start of their .

“Yah! Did you hit your head or something? How come you can’t get this part right?”
 

Jongin just about had it with Yixing’s outburst and had a few things to say. “Hah! You shouldn’t be talking. How about you step in rhythm with me for the middle part of this goddamn performance.” 

“Gosh! You’re so infuriating to talk to!” Yixing groans exasperatedly and walks to the other side of the room to blow off some steam. 

“The feeling is mutual,” Jongin muttered, looking away and clenching his fist. 

It took five seconds for Yixing to calm himself down before turning around. “Forget it. Let’s just go from the top again and this time I don’t care if you mess up because I would very much like to get through the entire song for once.” 

Jongin aggressively wipes the sweat off his face and takes a glance at himself from the mirror when he sees the clock behind him and notices the time. His eyes widen and he rushes to grab his bag. His sudden action catches Yixing off guard. 

“What are you doing?”

“Sorry I didn’t realize the time. I have to go somewhere.” 

Yixing scoffs and places his hands on his hips incredulously, “You’re ting me right?”

“Sorry I know you would very much like to grill my right now but I’ll work on this with you first thing tomorrow.”

“What the hell man? You can’t leave when we haven’t even gone through the whole routine! Hey, don’t you dare walk out that door?”

He hated how Jongin ignored him and hastily left the studio without giving him a proper excuse as to why he was being a little . At this point, Yixing didn’t feel like he wanted to go over the dance anymore and started packing up too. He knew this was a horrible idea to have him paired with this idiot. If he wanted to be so cocky and boast to the whole world that he was the king of dancing then he should be proving it not making half- excuses and wasting his time. Now all he wanted to do was head back to the dorms and relax after wasting endless hours with this annoying prick. Yixing takes his anger out on the door by kicking it and storms out. Meanwhile, on the other side of the door, Nari, Tao, Luhan, and Chen were about to go in and check on them when they were startled by the abrupt force of the door. 

Yixing storms by and Tao’s eyes light up when he saw his favorite hyung. “Hey hyung! Did you finish practice with Jongin early? How was it?” However, he shrinks back when he notices Yixing wasn’t in the mood to have a nice chat. When he storms past Tao, Nari, Luhan, and Chen they could hear him grumbling something fast but in mandarin. Judging by Luhan and Tao’s reaction, it is probably better the others didn’t understand it. 

“Geez, what’s his problem?” Chen grumbles looking at Yixing incredulously. “He could’ve just said hi and not acted like a .” 

Tao smiles apologetically, “Don’t be mad at Hyung. He’s just having a hard time with this whole band situation. Ever since they told him that he had to share the dance position with Jongin he’s kinda not in the best mood lately.” 

“I don’t see why he’s so upset over having to share the stage with that guy. I mean the headmaster highly praised them both as the best of the best.” 

“It’s not that Luhan hyung. You see back home Yixing was always known as the best dancer in our school. So the moment he met Jongin, who claimed himself as the number one dancer in this school, he took that as a challenge. He doesn’t really approve of a lot of people’s dancing unless they prove themselves that they are able.”

“Boy, I guess Jongin is really not worthy in Yixing’s eyes considering how much he insults him on his dancing.”

Nari worriedly chews on her lip remembering the times they fought and never tolerated each other. “Do you think they’ll be alright for their performance?”

Tao meekly shrugs. He’s usually optimistic about these types of things but this time it was a bit difficult to decide. 

“, we are so going to make fools of ourselves in front of those snobs.”

No one disagreed with Chen this time because they felt like they were in deep . 

The next morning, Jongin groggily wakes up to his phone alarm blaring in his ear. His hand fumbles around trying to shut it off before he finds it hiding underneath his many layers of blankets. 

He checks the time and sees that it’s 6:30 in the morning. He needed to be at practice in an hour which was not a lot of time for him to take a few minutes to just lay in bed. It would especially help to soothe all the aches and sores on his body. This was because of where he was last night after he ditched dance practice. He hated feeling like this the next morning. The more he went the less he enjoyed being there because he would rather be dancing even if it was with the intolerable foreigner. 

He groans when he tells himself to get up feeling his body drained of any energy. As he puts on his dancewear for practice he thought how much of a pain it was going to be facing his roommate who will probably judge and ridicule him for leaving their practice for an anonymous excuse. 

When he finally leaves his room he walks into the kitchen to grab a quick bite before heading out. It was just his luck that Yixing was also in the kitchen drinking coffee while scrolling through his phone. At the sound of someone coming in Yixing picks his head up and makes eye contact with Jongin before looking back at his phone. 

It was probably not the worst interaction he’s gotten but he was definitely still pissed at him for leaving last night. The room was filled with deathly silence when Yixing finished his coffee and leaves to head out. 

Jongin finishes eating before grabbing his backpack and heading out the door. He sees the elevator door open from across the hallway and sprints to catch it in time but finds he was stuck with the one person who hated his every being. 

God, maybe he should’ve just taken the stairs instead but goddamn his laziness got the best of him. He wanted to get out as soon as possible but of course, the elevator took its sweet time going down; stopping on each floor. He wished this thing could take him to the lobby already but the elevator stops again and he swore he almost groaned out loud. Luckily he doesn’t when he sees Nari waiting on the other side of the elevator doors. She looked surprised running into Jongin and Yixing but stood in between them. “Morning Yixing sshi, Jongin sshi. Are you guys heading to practice now?”

Jongin mindlessly nodded but in his head, he was internally thankful that she was here to ease the suffocating tension in this goddamn elevator. He peers down at her and smiles when he sees her surreptitiously yawning. He chuckles and Nari looks up at him confused. All he did though was yawn back. Not because he was teasing her but feeling drowsy.

Meanwhile, Yixing was silent the whole time until the elevator doors opened to the lobby he immediately walks out. He was so quick in his steps that Nari couldn’t say anything to him. Next to her, Jongin rolled his eyes thinking how it was going to be such a pain dealing with this all day. 

So Jongin and Nari opted to silently walk together to school enjoying the cold and crisp morning air. Until Nari comes out with what’s been on her mind. 

“Jongin sshi, did you and Yixing sshi have a fight last night?” 

Jongin gets startled, forgetting that he wasn’t alone. “Sorry what?” 

“Last night I and a couple of the guys went to see your practice but we saw Yixing sshi storm out of the dance room looking angry.” 

“Pft when is he ever not angry? Besides, we fight and argue all the time. It’s not like it’s a secret that we don't like each other.” 

“But why?”

“Why what?” he mirrors the question back to her. 

“Why don’t you like each other? Is there a general reason why you guys can’t get along as friends? Let bygones be bygones?”

“Ha! Us friends? Sweetie, I can't stand being in the same room as him. All he’ll ever say to me is some backhanded comment. Plus he’ll find a way to disrupt me from my naps on the couch just because I ‘looked stupid. Above all, I don’t like how he undermines my dancing. I can’t be called second best when it’s my passion. Everyone knows it’s what I’m good at well besides being fairly good-looking and intelligent. I mean you of all people should understand what I’m going through. You probably wouldn’t like it either if someone constantly insulted you about how you compose music?”

The corners of turned downwards, taking Jongin by surprise. It wasn’t his intention to try and make her feel down first thing in the morning. “I’ve become so numb to all the constant insults, doubts, and harsh criticisms. They all told me to give up on such a hopeless dream. In the beginning, I felt like it really was impossible to do what I wanted to achieve but thankfully I didn’t give up.” unconsciously she grasps her necklace as a source of strength and continued, “That moment when I got accepted to pursue my dreams here at this school I felt elated. Even more grateful to be given this amazing opportunity to work on the showcase. I knew that focusing on others' words wasn’t going to get me anywhere. As long as I know I could pursue it.”

"I do that too. I don’t really let him get to me. I’ve heard dozens of other dancers like me talk behind my back but I show I’m the best through my hard work. Hence why I am one of the best dancers in the department. It’s also why you picked me right? Because you thought I was one of the best?” 

“But it’s also why I chose Yixing sshi. He was also a really talented dancer. You may not see eye to eye but there was this look of sheer confidence and effort that you both had when dancing on stage. I thought it was beautiful. I admired the way you conveyed your passion through dance which is why I thought if two different personas could interpret such similar stage presences then there’s no doubt in my mind they would look great dancing together.”

Jongin weakly scoffs at the ridiculous nothing even if was right. “You live in a world of fantasies. Just because you think that people who have a similar goal doesn’t mean they automatically should get along. Don’t expect me and that to be buddies at the end of this performance.”

“It’s a glimmer of hope but is it wrong to think you guys are better off saying that you’re the best instead of bringing each other down? Wouldn’t that bring you both down someday?”

He falters on his next choice of words. So he opted to just shake his head and gently ruffle the top of her head. His unsuspecting gesture catches her by surprise and she squeaks at the mess on top of her hair. She unconsciously pouts as she was fixing her hair and it makes Jongin laugh. 

“Yah watching you reminds me of a little princess.” 

“Eh? A princess? But I was just only fixing my hair?”

“Now that I think about it, you also wear a lot of pink on your outfit. Look, even your glasses are pink too.” he points out her glasses and backpack. “Most princesses wear sparkly pink dresses or at least according to my sisters when they were younger. Not to mention you’re always giving such cheesy advice and are very ditzy.” 

“Huh? But do all princesses act that way?” Maybe she was thinking of other princesses that Jongin wasn’t talking about.

He takes a second to ponder over it before saying, “Hmm….in my mind they do but I can’t help but think that in another world your altar persona would’ve definitely been some kind of bubbly pink princess. You would’ve lived in some grand white castle. You probably are those kinds of princesses who sing songs all day attracting animals to her beck and call.” 

“That’s a bit too specific don’t you think?” still she started to giggle at Jongin’s statement. “Just because my dream is to make music you assume I would sing all the time in every universe? What if I liked something else? What if I couldn’t carry a tune and broke every instrument I touched?”

The boy fervently nods his head confident in his answer. “Nah I don’t think so. Even in another life, the things you love the most will still be a part of you.” 

He had that far-off look in his eyes that she only saw back at the camp when they were alone at the lake. She wondered what he was thinking about at this very moment. 

“Then what about you?” 

Jongin looks back down at Nari who had a gentle smile on her face. “What?” he asked.  

“Would you have been a charming prince who is an amazing dancer? I bet you would sweep all the princesses off their feet if you were.”

He scoffs and pretends to be posh and elegant. “Obviously I would be an amazing dancer even as a prince but….you think I’m charming?” he leans in close till he’s at eye level with Nari. He smirks and gives a sly look at her words. She blushes and backs away trying to explain herself.’

“No! I didn’t mean to offend you! It’s just, aren't all princes charming? Maybe I shouldn’t have called you a charming prince”

His smirk quickly turns to a playful pout, “So you don’t think I’m charming then? Am I not that handsome?”

“EH?! N-no it’s not like that! I mean, of course, you’re charming! A lot of girls think that and I think you look the most charming when you’re dancing-” 

She ceases talking when Jongin begins laughing and pokes her forehead like it was an on-and-off button. He has a wide grin sported on his face and shakes his head. “I was just joking. Next time I’ll keep in mind to not tease you intensely or else you might explode into a messy puddle. I wouldn’t want that for the princess now would I?” 

“Eh? B-but I don’t. Puddle? I mean it’s ok to tease me but…”

He pokes her forehead again before walking ahead. “Alright pick up the pace princess or I might have to carry you all the way to the dance room like a damsel in distress.” 

Not a second later she tries to keep up with Jongin’s long strides while he’s unconsciously smiling at how ridiculous her short little legs were trying to keep up with him. This may have been the first moment where he found an odd girl like her rather amusing and he found himself being the odd spectacle. 

“Stay in formation! And stop!” The music pauses and Professor Young has his hands on his hips while surveying his students. Most if not all of them were covered in sweat and were tired from practicing their teacher’s choreography for almost two hours. “Hmm alright that was better than when we started but I still see that some of you need to work on your moves. We’ll run it again after taking a thirty-minute water break. You all deserve it.” 

His students bowed before dispersing to get their bags and grab some much-needed refreshments. However, Jongin didn’t look the slightest bit tired and wanted to continue practicing the dance till he made sure he could do it in his sleep. As he is trying to analyze what he could do to make some of his moves sharper, he sees Taemin walk up to him. 

“Yo.” His senior greets him while taking a huge gulp of water. Jongin gives him a lopsided grin and goes in for a fist bump, always glad to see his favorite senior. “Still working hard even when everyone around you is taking a break? Yah you still haven’t changed since I met you in freshman year.”

“Of course! How else am I going to be the be