Swing: a fast, upbeat tempo; underlying steady rhythms binding all elements together in an enriched mixture

Yixing found himself sitting in the café that he was known to frequent with Lu Han, waiting instead for a tall, dark, and devilishly handsome boy by the name of Kai. Ever since their night at the dance competition, the became nearly inseparable; Kai going over to Yixing’s small but comfortable apartment when Yixing wasn’t dragging the younger down the mysterious streets of Beijing. Kai honestly didn’t mind since their adventures usually ended up with him being fed amazing food (sometimes by Yixing himself, but more often than not from the multitudes of street vendors lining the busy walkways.

Today was to be another exploratory adventure, except unlike most days, today’s course had a specific end destination. Lu Han, with his magical connections, had heard from his old choir buddy, Joonmyun, that the big cultural center was having a huge traditional dance festival. Figuring that Kai wouldn’t mind going with him, he hurriedly grabbed the tickets from the grinning smaller male, figuring that this was a ploy so that him and Sehun could freely touch each other inappropriately. Disregarding the disturbing images, he had grabbed his phone and texted the address of the small café that he was currently sitting in to his young companion, telling him to meet him there as soon as he was available to.

The small bundles of bells hanging from the door handle jangled together restlessly, signifying the arrival of another patron. Looking up, he saw his partner in crime hustling over; sweat dripping down his hairline. Yixing offered him a bottle of water, having prepared for when the younger arrived.

“Running from your gaggle of admirers?” Yixing inquired, dimple making a teasing appearance. Ever since their little show before the actual competition, the foreigner and his sinful hips entranced everyone causing them to act in frightful fangirl ways. Kai found it quite annoying, but Yixing couldn’t help but chuckle every once in awhile. Kai pouted over the rim of the nearly empty bottle before setting it down and letting out a groan of exhaustion.

“Please tell me you have something fun planned for today. These crazy people are stressing me out.”

Yixing reached out to ruffle Kai’s sweaty locks, fingers enjoying the soft sensation of the strands sliding against his skin. Internally, he thanked Lu Han for his magical idea, letting a sly quirk of the lips grace his features yet again. Wanting his companion to feel better and forget those crazy people, he roused the other from his bent over position and dragged him onto the busy street.

To Kai, the path that Yixing was taking him down was the equivalent to a tumultuous maze of street vendors and people. The only thing that he could be sure of was that his guide better not let go of him, for fear he’d be lost forever. He was thankful for the small reassuring squeezes the other offered to remind him that even in the vast density of confined civilization, someone was taking care to make sure he wasn’t completely overwhelmed. He gratefully noticed that whenever the surround population became denser, the older would rewrap his hand around the other’s ever so slightly.

After weaving around a large group of tourists, and almost pitying them (since there was no better guide than Yixing), he stumbled in to the said guide, since the other had stopped so abruptly. Looking ahead of him, he saw great whirls of color, later proving to be the vibrant hues of the skirts that were a part of the traditional costumes that were being displayed. He could smell the fresh dumplings being cooked on secret shelves in the numerous food stalls, causing his mouth to water.

Heading towards the entrance that was ordained with a large banner full of characters too complicated for Kai’s basic knowledge, Yixing produced the two tickets from his jacket pocket, looking back to make sure he hadn’t already lost his charge. Passing under the hanging banner, Yixing grabbed a schedule of events from one of the employees that were lining the walkway.

Pulling the boy with wandering eyes aside, they looked at the schedule to try and get the best out of everything they had to offer. They had about an hour and a half to wait before the main dance exhibition began. Scanning the list of participants, Yixing found that one of his old dance instructors was participating and was hoping that he’d be able to meet up with him later. Having established a plan of action, both boys stood up to start walking down the beautiful tree-lined walk way yet again. Since it was fall, the leaves were turning beautiful shades of orange and muted gold.  The air had a pleasant nip to it that wasn’t uncomfortable, but made people inherently cuddle closer.

Nearing the street vendors, Kai hurried forward like a tiny child. For some reason he liked little cheap trinkets. He just supposed it was because it was an easy way to document the passing of time and the memories and people that came with. Running to a small tent that was selling handmade pins, he looked at the displays with classics such as popular Chinese characters and symbolic animals, where as further towards the back there were more abstract pieces. Immediately, there was one that caught his eye. It was silver eighth note with a sash of rose gold wrapped around the necks of the note. The simplistic elegance reminded him of Yixing’s dance style with the quality of the note showing just how upbeat the other was when he was lost among the ever-present tempos of everyday life. Calling the other over, he showed his find to his companion, noticing the way his eyes lit up in childish delight. Kai figured that he could save it for when there was a prime opportunity, such as his birthday or something. Smirking to himself as he imagined the older’s reaction, he handed the small piece to the old hunched over running the tent. As he finished handing over the coins necessary, he was faintly aware of music coming from behind the woman; it sounded like one of those fifties big band swing types with lots of brass and pounding bass lines. Bowing his goodbyes, he joined the other outside and they continued their trek, the uplifting beats still flowing through his mind.

After seeing what the remaining stalls had to offer, they made their way over to where the big performance was supposed to occur. Yixing was excited to see what they would perform; more than anything he hoped that it was a medley, combining the different styles used throughout the eras. Those were his absolute favorites.

Soon enough, an announcer made his way to the center of the makeshift wooden stage, greeting everyone and providing basic historical facts related to the periods of the dances. Since most of the speech is in rapid Chinese, Yixing takes this opportunity to lean in real close to translate for his friend what was being said, letting his soft lazy tones transcend deep into the empty crevices of Kai’s brain. He had never really noticed how just how much that voice was able to conquer all the other noises attempting to be recognized by his auditory senses. He couldn’t say that he minded either.

The dancers entered on to the stage, taking up their starting positions right before the immediate first beat emerged from hidden speakers below the stands. Soon, the masterful artists began to move their bodies in sync with the pounding drums, acting out scenes and weaving tales using the natural arcs and columns provided to them at birth. The beat was intoxicating and the rhythmic motion of the swaying bodies was beyond pacifying. Yixing spotted his teacher among the group, leaning over to point him out to Kai.

Kai shuddered once again at the sudden warmth and blushed as Yixing’s breath caressed his ear lobe yet again. He barely managed to catch the message before Yixing pulled away again, leaving Kai feeling slightly colder than when the performance had begun. Remembering that his neighbor had mentioned something about a past teacher, he looked to where the other had pointed to previously. The man he saw was certainly attractive, and a spike of an unclear emotion shot through him at the thought of that fact.

After another hour or so, having watched three or so other period dances, the show was eventually over.  The dancers went over to a side tent holding refreshments, encouraging curious people to stop by and ask questions. Seeing the yearning look on Yixing’s face, Kai reluctantly agreed to stop by the tent with the other to meet this so called educator. Kai wasn’t particularly sure why he felt such animosity, not wanting to analyze his emotions. He decided to instead attribute these strange feelings towards the cold whether and the extended stay outside. Grabbing a cup of water from the buffet table, he watched as his friend approached his instructor with that cute smile usually reserved for people that he was acquainted with. A strong pain filled Kai’s heart with all the imaginings of how close the two really were. Watching them talk animatedly was beginning to make Kai feel lonely, so instead of watching the joyful exchange he opted to go walk along the pathways outside.

Looking up at the multicolored leaves still remaining on the trees, he let out a sigh; sound reverberating off the trunks of the trees and filling the previously empty air. Finding a nice tree, he sat down and rested his back against the sturdy base, thinking of the last few days.

It wasn’t really until he saw the other’s genuine smile directed at someone else that he realized that Yixing had become an important staple in his life. He honestly didn’t want to remember the times before he met Yixing, since they seemed so dull in comparison. It was only then that he realized the previous sensations as jealousy. This revelation caused him to lose himself in a deep stream of thought centered on his self-proclaimed unprecedented jealousy. Unfortunately, before he could really discover the root of the problem, he heard a voice ring out through the silence, conveniently causing every other coherent thought to scatter.

“Hey! There you are! Why’d you leave?” Yixing let out in between breaths. It seemed that he had been running in his search for his companion. Instead of answering Yixing with incoherent thoughts that he wasn’t sure of himself yet, he decided that he would perhaps just come up with an arbitrary excuse.

“I was feeling kind of sick, so I thought that a walk in the cool air would be an easy way to make it go away.” Kai managed to say without too much emotion.

“Oh…well I’m so sorry I didn’t notice right away. You should have told me though! You know I would have taken care of you…” Yixing said lightly, bringing a hand to lightly push Kai’s bangs back to rest on his forehead.

“You don’t feel too warm. So I think we’ll be able to make it home just fine. Do you think it’ll be ok?”

Kai shook his head, a small smile gracing his mouth. The minute that Yixing’s hand had touched his forehead, a tingly warmth had spread its way through all of his limbs, reassuring him that he was the one that was by his side. It just felt so right to be the one that he took to these exhibitions and hung around, shoeing him the sights; and maybe it was in that one glorious moment that he realized that his feelings had shifted ever so slightly.