Kim Yugyeom is 20 and he is a bad boy. He doesn’t really do “bad things” for real but he’s feared by everyone. He’s also admired for his good looks and amazing dancing skills. He lives for dancing, he can’t picture himself doing anything else. He has a little crew made of his childhood best friends Jeon Jungkook and, as everyone calls him, BamBam. Yugyeom and BamBam major in dancing and Jungkook majors in singing. They are the only one to know the real Yugyeom: a big softie who’s shy with new people and has a very loud and high-pitched laugh. Yugyeom also likes singing, Jungkook doesn’t stop telling him that he has a good voice every time they go to a karaoke, but he doesn’t like singing enough to study it. It’s just a hobby.

Im Jaebum is a very easy-going and sociable guy. He’s 24 and a dancing major as well (he’s got a minor in song writing too). Everyone wants to befriend him, he’s so nice and his eye-smile makes him look as cute as a little kitten. He entered university late because he couldn’t afford it so he worked for some years as a waiter in a café until he had enough money to pay for it. He lives in the dorms because his family lives far from the university. He has a lot of friends but he only has one best friend: Park Jinyoung. They met in middle school after Jinyoung’s family decided to move to Seoul. Contrary to Jaebum, he finished his studies and is now an actor. He’s not famous yet but Jaebum believes that he will soon become one of the most famous actors in South Korea.

 

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“How are you?” Jungkook asked Yugyeom as they walked to university.

“I’m fine. Just a bit stressed.” Yugyeom answered.

“Why? That’s unusual of you.”

“Second semester is starting and I heard that there will be a special assignment or something like that. It will be a group project from what I heard.”

“I see. Maybe you’d team up with BamBam?” Jungkook asked, trying to comfort his friend.

“Nah, I don’t think I’ll have such luck. I just hope I won’t be paired with Im Jaebum.”

“Yugyeom-ah…” Jungkook sighed. “I really think you should stop acting like you hate him.”

“I’m not acting like that! I really dislike him!” Yugyeom exclaimed, suddenly angry.

“That’s right, and I’m not in love with Jimin. You’re being ridiculous. He’s a really nice guy, I don’t get why you hate him so much.”

“Everyone is infatuated with him and I don’t get it. He’s a great dancer and maybe he’s nice but he’s not that good looking. It’s crazy.” Yugyeom said.

“I think you’re just jealous.” Jungkook stated and Yugyeom glared at him. “Don’t look at me like that. I know you and you’re jealous of him.”

“Why would I be jealous of him, then?” Yugyeom asked in a defying tone.

“He’s sociable and has a lot of friends. That’s the only thing you lack. Sociability.”

“Is it my fault though?” Yugyeom asked and, seeing Jungkook's face he added “Don't answer that.”

“Look, Bam is there. Let’s catch up with him.” Jungkook said, Yugyeom feeling grateful for the change of subject.

“Bam!” Yugyeom called out, him and Jungkook jogging up to him.

“Guys! How are you?” BamBam asked.

“We’re alright, how about you?” Jungkook asked.

“I’m fine, super fine. The new semester is beginning and I’m excited about the dance project.”

“We were just talking about it, Yugyeom is stressed.” Jungkook stated.

“Of course he is. He isn’t very sociable, I wish good luck to the person who’ll be with him.” BamBam said, earning a punch from Yugyeom.

“Shut up. I wish good luck to the person who’ll have to deal with your loud and weird .” Yugyeom said, a little smile on his lips.

BamBam stuck his tongue out at him and soon enough, they parted ways with Jungkook, going to the dancing room.

“Hello Yugyeom-ssi!” a girl said as Yugyeom walked in front of her. Yugyeom ignored her and kept on walking to the dancing room, BamBam waving to the people he knew.

“You should really be a bit nicer to people, Gyeom. If you go on, people are really going to hate you.” BamBam said as they entered the room and sat down on the floor, facing the mirror.

“I don’t care. I don’t see why people should like me anyway.” Yugyeom said and just then, Jaebum entered the room as well.

The same girl as earlier went up to Jaebum.

“Hello, Jaebum-ssi!”

“Hello, Yooa-ssi. How are you?” Jaebum asked, flashing his cute eye-smile. Yugyeom scoffed at the exchange.

“I’m fine, thanks! How about you?” asked Yooa.

“I’m doing perfect! Are you taking this class this semester?” Jaebum asked.

“Yes! I hope I’ll be paired with a good person.” Yooa stated, blushing. Jaebum understood she was talking about him and laughed.

“There’s only good persons here, Yooa-ssi. Even if you’re not paired up with me, you’ll be with someone who’s kind and talented.” He said, ruffling her hair.

Yugyeom rolled his eyes and turned to BamBam.

“Am I the only one to not like Jaebum?” he asked, frowning.

“Yes. And he’s older than you, for the reminder.”

“Anyway. I don’t get why everyone likes him.”

“He’s nice and talented.” BamBam stated, looking at the people entering the room one by one. “I hope I’ll be paired up with Momo, she’s such a great dancer.”

“I’m talented too.” Yugyeom said, pouting.

“Yes and that’s why you’re so popular. But people prefer Jaebum because he’s not only talented but also nice and humble. You’re so full of yourself.” Yugyeom punched him on the arm. “It hurts, man!” he screamed and everyone looked at them.

Yugyeom accidentally made eye-contact with Jaebum who smiled at him. Yugyeom just adverted his eyes, not returning the smile.

“Yooa-ssi, do you know who’s the guy with black hair sitting there?” Jaebum quietly asked.

“Oh, it’s Kim Yugyeom. But you surely heard of him.”

“Oh, so he’s the so famous Kim Yugyeom.” Jaebum said, looking back at Yugyeom for a short moment.

“He’s very talented but as cold as ice. He’s not very kind.” Yooa stated, looking at Yugyeom as well.

“I’m sure he’s one of those people who need to be forced to open up. No one tried enough to really warm up to him. I guess the guy besides him is his best friend?” Jaebum asked, turning back to Yooa.

“Yes, it’s BamBam. Yugyeom has another best friend, Jeon Jungkook. He majors in singing and he’s in a relationship with Park Jimin.”

“Yes, I know them. I’m friends with Jiminie, Jungkook is so sweet to him and he’s kind.” Jaebum explained.

Then, the dance teacher entered the room and closed the door behind her. There were now about 30 people in the room, waiting for what the teacher would announce. Jaebum and Yooa went to sit down. Jaebum purposely went towards Yugyeom and BamBam and sat down not far from them.

“Isn’t Teacher Boa intimidating?” BamBam asked Yugyeom.

“I don’t know, I found her more talented than anything.” Yugyeom bluntly replied.

“Hello, everyone!” Boa started. “So, as you know, this semester you will all be paired up and you’ll need to choreograph a dance by yourself. I have a surprise for you all though.” She said and everyone gasped in excitement. She smiled. “Don’t be too shocked, okay? This year, especially, you’ll get to work with the dancers from the 1million studio.” She stated and everyone began to applaud.

“So, before announcing the pairs, I just need to tell you that you’ll have a maximum of five dancers to participate in the choreography. You can also choose not to have any but I recommend it because they are allowed to help you. However, you need to finish at least half of the choreography before choosing who you wanna work with.” Everyone applauded and Boa raised a hand, making everyone stop.

“So, the pairs will be Kang Seulgi and Jung Hoseok; Lee Taeyong and Kim Hyoyeon; Lee Taemin and Kim Jongin; Oh Sehun and Lalisa; BamBam and Momo; Kim Yugyeom and Im Jaebum; Yooa and Chou Tzuyu;…”

As he heard the name of his partner, Yugyeom groaned. How could he end up with Jaebum? He never had good luck but still… On the other side, BamBam was almost crying from joy, he had Momo as his partner.

When Jaebum heard that Yugyeom would be his partner, he smiled. He was secretly hoping he would be with Yugyeom when Yooa told him that he was in this class as well. He looked over to Yugyeom who was, contrary to him, frowning.

“Gosh, how could I have such bad luck? Im Jaebum! Out of all the people in this class, it had to be Im Jaebum I get paired up with!” Yugyeom complained to BamBam.

“I know right.” BamBam said, doing his best to look sad for his friend. “But I got Momo! I’m so happy!” he went on, totally ignoring how Yugyeom pouted, realising that his friend didn’t care one bit about his ‘problem’.

“I hate you Bam.” Yugyeom said and got up, gathering his things before walking to the exit.

Seeing this, Jaebum quickly got up and almost ran to Yugyeom who was already in the corridor.

“Yugyeom! Kim Yugyeom!” he called and Yugyeom groaned, recognizing this voice. He stopped and turned around.

“What?” he rudely asked.

Jaebum was standing in front of him, a bit out of breath. He looked up and smiled widely.

“Hi. My name is Im Jaebum and I’m your partner for this semester.” He said, extending his hand.

Yugyeom looked at his face then at his hand and back at his face.

“I know. And you apparently know who I am since you called my name just now.” Yugyeom replied and turned around, ignoring Jaebum’s hand and resuming on walking out of the building.

Jaebum was a bit taken aback by the outright ice-cold treatment but he followed Yugyeom out of the building.

“Aren’t you going to listen to me? We’re going to spend most of our time together, we should at least get to know each other.” Jaebum said and Yugyeom stopped, turning around to face him, looking very annoyed.

“Look, I just want to pass this semester and learning about you won’t help me. I don’t care about who you are Im Jaebum. Now, I have to go somewhere. Bye.” Yugyeom coldly said and turned away, getting out of the campus.

Jaebum looked at Yugyeom’s retreating figure and laughed.

“He’s cute.” He said to himself and, looking at the time, decided to go to the cafeteria to meet up with Jimin and Jungkook.

When he entered the cafeteria, he immediately spotted Jimin, he was kinda hard to miss with his pink hair. He walked to him and sat down in front of him as Jungkook was feeding him.

“Hi, guys.” He said, taking his doshirak (Korean for bento) out of his bag.

“Hey, Jaebumie. How you doing?” Jimin asked his friend, detaching his eyes from Jungkook who was flashing his most beautiful smile.

“I’m fine. How are you Jungkook?” Jaebum asked Jimin’s boyfriend.

At first, Jungkook didn’t like Jaebum because he judged him too close to Jimin but after getting to know him, he relaxed and started to be a lot friendlier.

“Doing alright. I’m a bit worried for my friend though.” Jungkook said, looking around the cafeteria, obviously looking for his friend.

“Is your friend Kim Yugyeom by any chance?” he asked and if Jungkook’s pure expression of surprise wasn’t a clear giveaway, his next words were definitely the answer to his question.

“Did you meet him already?” he asked and Jaebum nodded. “Did you talk to him?”

“Well, if we can say that what happened was ‘talking’ then, yes, I did talk to him.” Jaebum said, a little smile on his lips.

“That must have been awful.” Jungkook said, shaking his head. “But, why on earth did you talk to him?”

“That’s a funny story.” Jaebum said, nervously giggling. “By some kind of chance, we got paired up for the end of year project. I’m sure he talked to you about it.”

“Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh.” Jungkook said, repeating the same words five times in a row until Jimin put his hand over his mouth.

“Can you say something else, please? Like, for example, explain what’s up?” he asked.

“You see, I talked to Gyeom this morning and he hoped he wouldn’t be paired up with you.” Jungkook stated, getting a bit embarrassed. “He must have been very cold to you, right?”

“He was ice-cold. I felt like I was talking to an iceberg. But it was kinda cute, to be honest.”

“You’re surely the only person on Earth to find Yugyeom cute after talking with him for the first time.”

“I remember the first time I talked to Yugyeom, he was so cold, right, baby? But I quickly put him back in his place after telling him that I was your boyfriend. It was kinda funny.” Jimin said, laughing. Jungkook pecked him on the lips.

“But that’s because you’re the best.”

“Anyway.” Jaebum began, trying to forget what he had just witnessed. “I guess he’s very protective of his friends. And he trusts them a lot.”

“He does.” Jungkook stated, playing with the rings on Jimin’s fingers while the other resumed to eat by himself.

“Can I ask you to break his trust, just this time?” Jaebum carefully asked.

“Gladly.” Jungkook said, surprising Jaebum. “I’ll do anything so that you could become friends with him. Seriously, I’m sick of him. What do you want?”

“His number. We need to communicate but he didn’t want to talk to me so his number was a big ‘no-no’.” Jaebum explained and Jungkook nodded, sending Jaebum Yugyeom’s number.

“There you go. Please, get him out of his shell.”

“Oh, that’s exactly what I plan to do.” Jaebum said, finally beginning to eat.