They spent the rest of the day chatting comfortably while Jongin’s beloved videogames lay forgotten in the corner of the room. When it got late and Jongin’s father was supposed to come home, Key excused herself to her room and Taemin took that as his cue to leave.

His best friend pouted a bit, whining about the fact that they had hardly done anything together that day – and Taemin honestly couldn’t blame him. He felt a bit guilty because he knew for a fact that he only had eyes for Key these days.

However, he got to see Jongin at school every day, and his best friend wouldn’t die if Taemin spent just a little more time with his elder sister.

Earlier, Taemin had noticed another thing that left him a bit confused.

Jongin was usually a very carefree and cheerful guy, sometimes even a bit too mischievous, but when it came to Key, he seemed uncharacteristically serious. Even when Jongin had had a girlfriend for three months during eighth grade, Taemin had never seen him act this protective around a girl – it made the older boy wonder.

His best friend wasn’t the type to hover around a person constantly, so what was different about his sister? If she even had a twin brother she was close with, why did Jongin jump at any chance to protect her?

That night Taemin fell asleep over these questions, but when morning came, he was even more confused.

__________________________________

At the end of that week, Taemin found himself on his way to the school’s dance practice room. He was walking slowly because he didn’t know what he would find there. It was his first time using one of the school facilities apart from classrooms, toilets and the cafeteria, and for some odd reason, he felt nervous.

Luckily, Jongin had promised to go with him, but he still had History class, so Taemin would meet him by his locker in five minutes.

On his way, Taemin passed a tall, athletic boy in the hallway and when he caught a glimpse of the guy’s face, he remembered his name – Choi Minho, Kibum’s best friend. He seemed to be in a hurry and quickly disappeared from Taemin’s eyesight, yet when the younger student passed one of the giant windows facing the school’s parking lot a few moments later, he saw Minho greet a short man outside.

As he continued walking, Taemin frowned. He found it odd that he had never seen Minho with Jongin’s brother before if they were best friends – actually, the fact that he hadn’t met Kibum at all was strange.

With those thoughts in mind, Taemin reached his locker the second the school bell chimed. He casually leant against a wall, waiting for Jongin to arrive so that they could go to the practice room together.

It took his best friend almost ten minutes to arrive and when he did, he was panting heavily, his hair sticking wildly into every direction possible.

“What on earth happened to you?” Taemin asked with a bemused smile as he led the way to the practice room. “I thought Korea didn’t have hurricanes.”

“Yah, don’t make fun of me!” Jongin protested. “I had to copy everything the teacher wrote on the board and it was hell of a lot. Also, you don’t get to complain – after all, I ran all the way up to you.”

“What a great friend you are.”

“Definitely greater than you.”

Jongin’s tone was light and teasing, yet suddenly Taemin wondered if there was a grain of truth hidden in his words. His best friend must have noticed how he gave his sister every bit of attention he had whenever they met – or he simply felt that something was off with Taemin.

However, Jongin didn’t ask any questions, so Taemin let him be.

The two boys reached the practice room bickering about the week they’d had and their new teachers. After a short side-trip to the changing rooms where they exchanged their uncomfortable school uniforms for sweatpants and tanktops.

“What are you doing, Taem?” Jongin curiously asked.

His best friend was standing in the middle of the room, breathing deeply and slowly as if he was trying to meditate.

“Shhh,” he shushed the younger, “I’m taking in the dancing smell. It’s been so long since I last did this.”

“What the ,” Jongin muttered under his breath. “It’s literally just reeking off sweat and deodorant. But whatever. Let’s go get some actual practice done!”

When the two boys entered the spacious practice room, they found that they weren’t alone, much to Taemin’s displeasure. He had hoped they would get at least one hour to themselves before anyone else would come, since most students were still in class, but at the far end of the room there was a slim guy dressed all black and moving to an inaudible beat.

He hadn’t noticed the two boys coming in and Taemin quickly realized it was because the boy was wearing headphone. He stood there for a moment, watching the other’s moves – somehow this student’s figure looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t pinpoint why exactly until Jongin suddenly let out a yell.

“Hey, Kibum-hyung!”

The boy whipped around instantly. He was wearing a face mask and a cap that did their best to completely conceal his expression, but Taemin could still see the dark pair of almond-shaped eyes looking at them from under the boy’s fringe.

The familiarity of that gaze made Taemin freeze – the guy looked exactly like Key!

“Kibum-hyung,” Jongin repeated as he strode over to his brother. “I didn’t know you were here too.”

With a swift gesture that looked pleasantly elegant, Kibum pulled one of his earbuds out. He waved at Jongin without a word before his eyes flickered over to Taemin, who was still standing frozen on his spot.

Truth be told, feeling Kibum’s gaze on him was extremely unsettling. Taemin had never seen twins before who looked as scarily alike as Key and her brother. He could tell even without seeing Kibum’s entire face that he probably had the same high-cheekbones as Key, the same pouting lips.

He seemed to be the same height as his twin sister, too, and their bodies were shaped so similarly that Taemin doubted he could differentiate between their silhouettes in the dark. Kibum was skinny and lean, just like his sister, but his figure was hidden by the baggy shirt he was wearing, one that almost reached his kneecaps.

“You probably wanna continue practicing, right, hyung? But is it okay if we put on some music?”

Again, Kibum only nodded before putting his earplug back in and turning towards the mirror he had been facing before.

“So, that’s Key-noona’s twin brother,” Taemin spoke when his best friend had returned. “They sure do look alike. Wait. What’s he doing over there?”

“Uhm…dancing?”

“Is he performing a girl group dance?”

“Oh yeah, he is. Hyung does that sometimes.”

This way, their short conversation about Jongin’s older brother came to an abrupt end. While he let his best friend put on the music they were going to use for their try-out next week, Taemin kept watching Kibum dance.

The boy’s moves were accurate and much sharper than the original choreography promised. Taemin had to admit that Kibum truly made the dance his own as he performed it. He had to smile a bit when he realized Jongin’s brother moved a bit like Key, with just as much control over his own body.

He could almost see her dancing as he watched at Kibum and the image that had formed in his mind did things to Taemin that he didn’t want to explain to Jongin. Luckily, his friend had just figured out how the speakers worked and seconds later the familiar remix of some classical piece rang through the room.

As soon as the music hit his ears, Taemin felt the electronic beat of it pulse through his veins. He quickly got into position and once Jongin was ready too, they started to perform their individual dances, each caught up in their own world.

Whenever he danced, Taemin tended to get lost, lost in the music and lost in his own head. He didn’t have to think about his movements and let his body and his instincts work together to create a dance that was never quite the same.

Dancing felt natural, like an ability Taemin had already been gifted with at his own birth. He knew that wasn’t true, he remembered all the long hours in various practice rooms, all the sweat and the tears he had shed along the way to become this good.

But even when he hadn’t mastered his moves this easily, dancing had never felt like a burden to him. Most people didn’t understand how dancing could relax Taemin’s mind – after all, he was exhausting himself more often than not – but he didn’t feel the need to explain himself either.

Dancing was like breathing. It was that simple.

As he moved on to another song and another choreography, Taemin let his thoughts wander to Key again. It was almost ridiculous how infatuated he had been ever since he had met her. His heart started to race whenever he thought about her yet whenever he got to talk to her, he felt at peace, at home.

Dancing and Key could become synonyms, Taemin mused. They were probably already exchangeable in his mind.

The boy’s flow was interrupted when the practice room’s door opened yet again and two people entered, though they weren’t dressed like dancers. It took Taemin, who had stopped moving and was panting heavily, a few seconds to recognize Choi Minho as well as the short man he had seen him with in the parking lot earlier.

The guy, whose eyes somehow resembled those of a puppy, waved at Kibum and crossed the room without paying much attention to Jongin and Taemin. His fingers were covered by the sleeves of an over-sized sweater, which made him appear even smaller next to the giant Minho, who was wearing a bright grin on his face.

“Kibum-ah, we came to watch you!”

“I know you said you didn’t want us to earlier, but we wanted to get a sneak peek,” the short guy explained as he sat down with his back against the wall, his legs crossed. “It was Minho’s idea.”

“Jonghyun-hyung!” Jongin called and the previously unknown man waved slightly. “Do you mind if we turn up the music again.”

“Not at all,” Jonghyun smiled. “We won’t disturb you two, we’ll just silently sit and watch Bum-ah dance.”

“Great!”

Seconds later, the music was blasting through the speakers again and Taemin took that as his cue to pick up his dance where he had left off. After all, he had the try-outs to practice for.

__________________________

So Taemin met Key's twin...finally! yay! I feel like this chapter was a bit too short / seemed uneventful, but I hope I didn't bore anyone. It's important to the plot I promise.

On another note, I'm sick - not REALLY sick but kind of pseudo-sick where I have a bad cold and feel exhausted but I'm not sick enough to lie on bed. It happens to me once or twice a year and it really . Usually I am really grateful for having a good immune system, but when this happens, I force myself to do everything anyway like going to school, to work, playing sports etc. and it gets a bit tiring.

But enough of my personal . I hope you had a nice week. I can't believe Kibum's going to the army in like two weeks (AND THREE DAYS LATER MY FINALS START DAMN). I may become a fulltime Taem-duck when he's gone (jk I'll be faithful hopefully).

Have a nice next week, too! You'll be getting your next update in seven days!