Long slender fingers ran across his slightly damp shirt, making him shiver despite himself. How was he supposed to concentrate like this? The more time he spent in the practice room with her, the more things seemed to be going in slow motion. He was sweaty but complaining about it was the last thing on his mind.

She was going over her part of the routine once again and immediately he couldn’t help but stare.

The way her body swayed to the rhythm of the music made the room exponentially hotter than he remembered.

Donghae was mesmerized-- from the way her hands traveled up and down her body, to the way her hips swayed with that self-assured strut of hers, to her perfectly toned belly assisting in those amazing body waves she could pull off.

If he didn’t watch himself, she’d catch him gawking at her.

But he couldn’t help himself-

He was becoming painfully aware of long chestnut brown hair flowing with a mind of its own-- hair that whenever she drew closer. Then there was that white midriff top that hugged the curves of her body as her sun-kissed skin glistened from faint perspiration underneath. Even the baggy sweat pants she wore weren’t enough to hide the obvious curves belonging to her hips when she danced.

It’s not like he’d never seen a girl dance before but-

Damn.

When did Hyoyeon acquire so much appeal?

When he’d agreed to substitute as her dance partner during practice, he’d never imagined what he was getting himself into. It amazed him how he’d never taken the time to appreciate Hyoyeon’s attractiveness. He was so used to seeing her as the goofy aloof choding she was known as, but he soon came to realize, once she hit the dance floor she transformed.

She transformed into a confident, powerful dancer that could pull off being cute, funny, and y whenever the occasion called for it. She was even capable of pulling off daring skinship during couple dances—something she would otherwise shy away from.

He smirked. Hyoyeon was a puzzling one. She was so frustratingly naïve to her own feminine allure sometimes it would hurt.

“Donghae oppa,” she called as she stopped her rhythmic movements, “Are you ok? Do you want to take a break?”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked at her, “Ani.. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“Because you looked like you were spacing out fishy.”

He couldn’t help but grin at her casual bluntness as well as her use of his nickname; she was the only girl that ever called him that to his face. “Even if I was, I’m not anymore. But maybe we should still take that break. You look like you could use it.”

She scoffed trying to appear offended, “Are you saying I can’t handle a few measly hours of dancing?”

Donghae laughed at her reaction, “Of course not, but even the Dancing Queen should take a break once in a while, don’t you think?”

Hyoyeon couldn’t hide the sheepish look of satisfaction upon hearing his words. “Hmm.. in that case maybe you’re right.”

He chuckled slightly to himself and watched as she her heel, walked towards her bag on the floor and started rummaging through it. Tossing her hair to one side of her head, she absentmindedly threw her towel over her sweaty neck and searched for her water bottle with the other hand. She found it and quickly opened it, taking a long swig from it. She let out a sigh and stared forward, as if pondering something.

After a few seconds of silence she opened and whispered something.

“Mianhe..”

He raised an eyebrow, wondering if he’d heard correctly. “For what?”

“For making you stay and work harder when you’re already so exhausted. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to help me,” she answered sincerely.

Donghae had a fleeting thought concerning Hyoyeon’s sudden mood change. Speaking with a somber Hyoyeon was as rare as Siwon wanting to share his coke— it probably wouldn’t last.

In the meantime though, he decided to take the chance to .

He took his hands out of his pockets and walked towards Hyoyeon, squatting next to her on the floor. “It’s no problem. In actuality, I consider it an honor to be granted a few hours with none other than the Dancing Queen of SM. Plus I can think of a few guys that would happily lose sleep if they had to in order to be here in my place,” he winked.

She blankly stared at him for a few seconds before bursting out in her contagious laughter and he chuckled along.

“Way to be corny, fishy,” she immediately reverted to her typical informal way of speaking.

“I’m only stating common knowledge.”

“Oh really? Says who?”

“Uh- that’s not important.. But what is, is you considering a partner change for the performance—you know, with someone good-looking… like me.”

Hyoyeon gaped at him for a second before pushing him, making him fall over on his . She couldn’t help the smile in her voice, “How does everyone deal with you? You can be so big headed sometimes Lee Donghae!”

He made to get comfortable beside her on the floor, glad that the previous heated tension he felt was almost completely forgotten. The petite girl seated in front of him seemed to be the only thing to interest him right now. He noticed the way her glossy hair fell over her bare shoulders and the way her eyes shined with her smile.

There was no denying— to him, she was beautiful—inside and out.

Apart from being a silly down-to-earth girl that always put a smile on people’s faces, Hyoyeon also happened to be one of the sweetest. She was known for going out of her way in order to take care of her family and friends.

Then again, she probably thought nothing of it.

The fire of unyielding perseverance she carried within her soul was something he admired about her as well. No matter what crap she was put through, what others said about her, she was always able to bounce back with impressive strength, something he wished he could do.

Smiling softly and momentarily forgetting himself, he reached his hand out to caress her wavy locks. Hyoyeon slightly stiffened under his touch, evidently startled with the gesture. She turned her questioning gaze in his direction and he had half a mind to pull back his wandering hand but made no motion to move.

She wasn’t used to Donghae being so openly friendly since he tended to keep physical contact at a minimum with most girls. She could count on one hand all the other times he’d been outwardly affectionate with her and most of them only occurred when he’d thought she’d gotten hurt.

She wondered what brought about the sudden display of fondness, and she was about to ask him if he was all right when there was a crash outside in the hallway followed by muffled sounds strangely resembling someone trying to suppress a giggle.

Hyoyeon almost laughed at the comedic timing of the sudden noise but instead looked down as she cleared somewhat awkwardly. “Uh- Maybe we should finish up. It’s starting to get late.”

Donghae watched as she got up and quickly walked away. His hand rubbed the back of his neck in slight embarrassment at the turn of events as he stood up to follow Hyoyeon. Maybe she’s right..