music** = Easily by Bruno Major

music*** = Focus by H.E.R

This will make sense as you read the fic, but in short, these are the songs I had in mind while I wrote this whole thing haha. That's all!

I have never been this wasted in my entire ing life.

But then again, what else would you expect when you’ve managed to finish half of the bottle of whiskey all by yourself? Even just at the first glass of whiskey with some peach iced tea, you were already a little tipsy. What more after downing a good half of the liquor bottle?

However, if there was any consolation for you, it was that you weren’t as bat wasted as the man sitting – slanting – in front of you. After two glasses of peach iced tea mixed with whiskey, Baekhyun could barely keep his eyes open, and for the first time ever in his life he was quiet. That was what whiskey could do to him. Whiskey was powerful.

“Tell me I’m alive.” Baekhyun said as he continued to slant even further to the other end of the couch. You laughed at his drunken state and watched him go horizontal before doing what he asked. “You’re alive, Baekhyun.”

He smiled at absolutely nothing in particular before suddenly whipping himself upwards again into a sitting position. “We are not done y—oh that was a bad idea!” And once again, his whole world was in shambles and he was on his slow descent to the sofa.

If the world wasn’t spinning, you would have gotten up and helped your best friend steady himself. But it was, and you struggled to keep your focus steady so the two Baekhyun’s you were seeing wouldn’t become four. You were trying your best to keep still and not sway like Baekhyun was doing.

This reminds me of when Jongin got---

Nope.

You grabbed your cup and downed the rest of the whiskey. You already ran out of peach iced tea to mix with the liquor so it was just pure whiskey going down your throat. . It burned.

The grimace on your face was evident even for an unstable Baekhyun, which made him raise an eyebrow at you. A few seconds later, understanding graced his features and he started to maniacally laugh. “Like I was sayingggg, we’re not yet done, missy.”

There were definitely four Baekhyun’s now. “Yes we are.”

The four Baekhyun’s were glaring at you, but you could care less and let out a tired hum. “If we go on any longer about him then I won’t be alive by tomorrow.” You were going to finish what was left in the liquor bottle if you go on any further about him, you were sure of it.

Baekhyun, however, didn’t seem to care. “Bull. Continue what you were saying.” Then he suddenly doubled over. “After I throw up.” In the next second, he was running to the bathroom at the hallway of your apartment. You didn’t even have energy or enough balance to go after him, so you just listened to him groan from a distance, figuring he would call to you anyway if he needed any help.

You closed your eyes. “Stupid Baekhyun. I don’t want to talk about Jongin anymore.” Even just at the mention of his name, you could feel your cheeks heat up, regardless of the fact that the alcohol has reddened them a lot already. As you felt them, you harrumphed to yourself. “Stupid Jongin.”

Jongin was Baekhyun’s friend, which ultimately led to you guys being friends. It was at the start of your second year and Baekhyun’s third year in Uni that they became pals. Baekhyun wanted to try dancing classes and Jongin was the assistant to the teacher. A few weeks later, with Baekhyun’s outgoing and over-all kind personality, the two became good friends and had been hanging out ever since. You met him some time after that.

Jongin was incredibly handsome. He didn’t mind it, but everyone in campus knew it. The flock of girls who follow him around at lunch chanted it, and even the professors can’t help but acknowledge it. You are such a handsome young man. Are you single? I imagine my daughter would like to have dinner with you!, said one of his professors when they chanced upon him at the hallways. You and Baekhyun were doing your best to laugh your asses off as quietly as possible while Jongin politely declined and wiggled out of that sticky situation. He was really truly good-looking, which didn’t really faze you.

Well, it didn’t faze you before.

It was a no-brainer to become attracted to such a man. He was the whole package: Tall, handsome, respectful, and has a nice personality; he even had a bonus feature: he was a good ing dancer. He leaves everyone in awe whenever and wherever he performed. It was almost as if he embodied this whole other persona when he was on stage, and everyone noticed; that was how he garnered the nickname Kai, which suited him so incredibly well.

You would always be left breathless in the crowd whenever you attended some of the dance meets and classes where he would perform. It didn’t matter which genre or theme he was given, he was versatile. Dancing was his passion and it really showed.

He was also a giant dork who liked hugging the life out of your teddy bears and whined whenever his idea of having chicken for dinner gets turned down. He sleeps like a helicopter every night – something you and Baekhyun learned right away when you all crashed at his place, and he liked petting every single dog he would come across during morning jogs.

You knew too much. You knew him too well. That had convinced you enough and gave you a mindset that he was unlikeable that way. He reached Baekhyun territory – which was best friend territory, and you cherished that too much to be able to conjure any romantic feelings towards him.

Until…

Baekhyun was on a family trip for the weekend. You usually didn’t bother going out whenever Baekhyun wasn’t around, and you and Jongin hadn’t really hung out without him before. So it came a surprise to you when you got a text from him that day, inviting you to the dance studio.

kim jong kai

Hey i got the studio to myself this afternoon. Wanna come over? ^^

For the first time ever, your heart pounded in your chest for reasons you didn’t want to dwell on. This is Jongin. He’s a best friend. Hence, without another thought, you texted him back.

Cool! Yeah sure I’ll be there in a little bit.

Once you got there, music was already booming from the speakers and he was half-heartedly doing some moves in front of the mirror. When you got in though, he immediately turned it down and walked towards you with a cute smile on his face. “You came.”

You shook his head at him, willing your cheeks to calm down. “Of course you dummy. I did say I was coming.” Jongin just laughed and wrapped you in his arms and gave you a tight warm squeeze that ended all too abruptly. He swiftly went back to his phone that was attached to the AUX cable and restarted the song that was playing. “I have another dance meet next week, and they said the theme was going to be chill hip hop.”

“Chill hip hop?” That was a genre?

The sun-kissed male in a form-fitting grey ensemble* of an outfit just shrugged and jutted out his bottom lip. “Kasper got to pick because he got the most upvotes the last time.” He scrubbed through the song and looked for the part he was going to dance to. “I have a song picked out already.  Can you tell me if it’s any good?”

As if I would ever say no to you. “Sure!”

That began a little routine between you and him. Baekhyun would sometimes join in, but more often than not, Jongin would invite you to the studio when he had it all to himself. You tried to be as objective as you could when he asked for pointers, but you would almost always just compliment him. It made him uncomfortable at first, but he grew used to it. But you also got better at giving him criticism, something he appreciated very much. You weren’t an expert, but you gave him your honest insights as an onlooker.

Ever since then, your attendance to his dance meets became more regular, and he started looking at you while he performed – his gaze getting longer every time. It was then that you realized that Jongin, who stayed in best friend territory this whole time, was slowly but surely getting out and pushing himself into your area of possible love interests.

You welcomed him in your heart a whole lot more warmly than you realized. The notion that he could be more than a friend didn’t seem so bad, and you soon got used to the feeling of admiring and liking Kim Jongin that way. You didn’t resist the pounding in your chest anymore, and you liked the warmth he brought into your cheeks. Baekhyun, of course, caught on. He was ing ecstatic as he had so politely exclaimed.

Then one day, you were at the studio again, and Jongin had just finished rehearsing a piece which left you in awe. You had been giving him an admiring look for too long, and he noticed. “What is it?”

“Huh?”

“You look like you’re about to get down on one knee and ask my hand in marriage.”

That snapped you out of it and you threw his jacket to his face. It earned you a hearty chuckle from him. “I was just admiring your dance routine, idiot.”

Something about what you said caught onto Jongin you guessed, because he immediately sobered up and stared at you. He tilted his head in wonder. You just raised an eyebrow at him. “What?”

Jongin smiled and walked up to you. He offered his hand up to you. “Dance with me.”

“WHAT?”

The male grinned. “Just for now. We’ll just slow dance to whatever.” Jongin waited for your answer, with his hand still held out for you. “Please?”

You’ve never danced ever outside the safety of your room. You didn’t particularly hate it, but you just didn’t have the limbs for it. You were terrible at it. But with the way Jongin was looking at you, pleading with his honey-brown eyes, you reluctantly placed your hand in his.

Jongin smiled even brighter and swiftly brought you by the speakers. Without letting go of your hand, he took his phone with his other one and scrolled through songs. When he finally picked one, he played it and brought you to the middle of the dance floor.

The music** started playing, and it was the perfect mixture of string instruments and percussion, producing a slow melody that was so very Jongin but also very you. You couldn’t pinpoint the reason, but you liked his song choice.

Gingerly, he lifted your hands up to shoulder level, and put your other hand on his shoulder. He looked at you, silently letting you know that he was going to touch your waist, which did not go unnoticed by your hyperaware senses. He slowly placed his warm hand on your waist and pulled you closer.

“Follow me, if you can.” He muttered. He didn’t need much volume to talk in such close proximity, and you figured you didn’t have to talk at all. You just nodded your head in response and you both started to sway to the beat of the song.

The movements were soft and slow. Jongin never took his eyes off of you, and you him. The smile on his face never wavered, and your heart didn’t stop pounding in your chest. He lead the way the whole time, and your body just followed. He twirled you a few times, earning the softest giggles from you – something that the male thoroughly enjoyed. The dance studio was suddenly forgotten, and you were just filled with thoughts of Jongin, and how you’d always move with him.

I love Jongin.

When the song came to a close, you realized that you and Jongin were just mere inches away from each other, and no one was pulling away amidst the deafening silence. It was when Jongin’s eyes dropped down to your lips that you were sure that you were going to kiss him. If he didn’t lean in, then you were going to do it.

But then your phone rang. Baekhyun’s ring tone played.

Stupid Baekhyun.

The air soon cleared between the two of you, and you both pulled away from each other at the same time. Jongin’s hold on your hand lingered just a second longer, but you were too preoccupied with the call with Baekhyun to notice.

That night you found yourself just lying in bed and listening to your heart that was still beating very deeply for Kim Jongin. He never left your mind ever since the slow dance in the studio.

I love him?

You decided that you were going to confess. Not at that moment, but soon. Kim Jongin was worth the shot, you thought. If you were getting turned down, you promised yourself that you’d learn to be okay, because you knew that you would rather face defeat than drown in what if’s and scenarios that will never happen should you not confess to the man. It would destroy you indefinitely.

You were just about to call Baekhyun and ask for help for your freshly formed plan, when another name popped up on your screen.

kim jong kai – CALLING

Your finger immediately pressed on the green button. “Hello?”

“Hey.” Jongin cleared his throat on the other end of the line. “I was supposed to ask this tomorrow morning, but I just couldn’t wait.”

What is this about? “Oh okay. What is it?”

“Can you come to the studi