“Why are you wearing nice clothes for a choreography meeting?” Shindong asked Hyukjae as they drove towards the company’s building.

“Stop. Please.”

“What? I was just asking.”

“I know where you’re going with this. And no, I’m not trying to be more presentable for Donghae.”

Shindong laughed. “I didn’t even say anything. Why are you so defensive?”

Hyukjae sighed. “I need to be able to clearly show the steps and also see how they look when being danced. The fitted clothing helps to make the moves more defined, okay?”

“I know that, Hyuk. Sorry, I was just teasing.”

Hyukjae just hummed in response.

Shindong looked at him skeptically. “You don’t usually get annoyed at our teasing. Is there something wrong?”

Hyukjae kept silent, debating if and how to verbalize his dilemma. Deciding it’s better to at least keep Shindong off his back, he answered, “Just that Kyuhyun keeps on teasing me for days now. It’s getting on my nerves.”

“Is it because Kyuhyun is annoying or something else?”

Looking out the window, Hyukjae did not respond.

“As a manager, I’m telling you to be careful, and reminding you that your emotions are pretty much transparent when you’re on camera so if you’re sulky with Kyu, it won’t be good when promotions start.” Shindong looked at him with a smile. “As a hyung, I’m telling you that I’m just here if something’s bothering you. And I won’t tease you as much as Kyu, you know that.”

“Thanks, hyung. I guess I’m just annoyed that Kyu kept making a big deal out of Donghae.”

“And you don’t want it to be a big deal?”

“It would be better that way.”

Shindong nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll talk to Kyu as well to lay it low. Okay?”

Hyukjae finally smiled. “Thanks, hyung.”

***
 

Shindong had some other work that needed to be done in the building so Hyukjae went to the practice room alone, where the meeting with the choreographers will take place. Arriving there, Hyukjae saw Donghae setting up the projector while chatting amicably with some of the dancers.

“Hi!” Donghae greeted him with a smile.

Of course he can’t help but smile in return. “Hey,” he greeted back with a nod, then greeted the dancers he’d been working with for a long time as well.

“Just waiting for some others then we can start,” Donghae said.

“No problem. I’m early anyway.”

Hyukjae sat down at the side and took out his phone to kill time. Donghae was still chatting with the dancers and the other people were used to Hyukjae keeping to himself. After checking his notifications, he decided to message his fans again on Bubble. Snapping a quick photo of the practice room, he sent the message, anticipating the replies as well as the fans reacting on social media. He wasn’t disappointed. Immersed in reading, the minutes passed by quickly.

“Okay, let’s start,” Donghae said when they were all complete.

The meeting commenced, starting with listening to the two songs and Hyukjae explaining the concept he was thinking of, occasionally getting up and dancing specific moves he had in mind. He’s always been a good dancer, and after the first few years in the industry, they were given enough artistic freedom that he began to be trusted for the initial concept of their choreographies before they were assigned to a choreographer.

During the entire meeting, Donghae was silently taking notes, much like how he was during the first comeback meeting. It lasted for a couple hours, and scheduled to have the next meeting a week from now, during which the choreographers will show the finished choreography. Hyukjae will then evaluate whether it’s already okay or they need to tweak some parts, before they have the first practice day with the other members of SKYE.

“Oh!” Donghae suddenly exclaimed when the dancers had already left and the staff and Hyukjae were already packing up. “I forgot to ask them how long it would take if there would be changes in the choreography. So I can plot it on schedule.”

“Don’t worry. It can usually be done the same day, or another day at most,” Hyukjae answered him before any other staff could do so.

“Ah, I see. Sorry, I didn’t foresee asking that during the meeting. You see, the other groups and solo comebacks I’ve been a part of aren’t like this. The song and concept are just communicated with the choreographers and then whatever they come up with will be the final one, so we just set the schedule for dance practice.”

“We were like that too, in the beginning.”

“It’s amazing that you’re very hands-on in the performance aspect. You’re really good at it too.”

Hyukjae was flattered but still humble as he usually is. “I’m not the only one like that. There are others as well.”

“I haven’t worked with anyone like that yet though, so it’s really interesting to see you work like this.”

At this point, the two of them were the only ones left in the practice room. Instead of standing up, Hyukjae remained seated and conversed with Donghae.

“How long have you been working in this industry?”

“Six months!” Donghae answered cheerfully with a proud smile.

“I mean, before coming to this company?”

“Ahh, no, I was working in a completely different industry before this.”

Hyukjae raised his eyebrows at that, surprised. “Really? But you’re really good at this. Managing and coordinating. And of course your composing skills.”

“I was used to managing and coordinating in my previous line of work. And music has been a big part of my life since I was young.”

That statement reminded Hyukjae that he actually doesn’t know Donghae’s age and distracted him from their current topic.

“How old are you, Donghae?”

“I was born in the same year as you.”

“Really??”

Donghae l