Language of the stars

(Just to clarify, One is from Jongin's POV, Two is from Lay's, Three is from 3rd person)

One

The first time I met you, it was a few days after you arrived at SM. That night, you wandered (stumbled) in but I was so lost in my own world that I didn’t notice at first.

When I finally noticed you, I was greeted with a glowing beam with a dimple sweetly denting your right cheek. Those eyes that seemed to radiate with otherworldly light, offering me a universe. The way you looked at me, watched me was like you’ve never seen anything more amazing. (My heart beat a little faster)

But then you introduced yourself (‘Zhang Yixing, from China’ in lilting Korean) and apologized for intruding on my practice, asking if you should leave.

I couldn’t help the bright smile that spreaded across my face, the shy hello in return, the No, it’s ok nod of acknowledgement. I didn’t say ‘don’t go’, hoping you’d recognize the quiet request in my eyes. And you did.

Turning on the music, I realized that we didn’t have a common song or a shared routine to practice, but somehow that didn’t matter. There was something enticing about the way you moved, as if it was calling out to me.

That night we danced until dawn and, for the first time in who knows how long, there was balance. You matched, complemented me, the compatibility startling. There were times that I felt like I was keeping up with you instead of the other way around, which usually happened when I was with other people. We moved like we knew each other our whole lives. (And I knew you were special)

For the months that followed afterward, you continued to ‘intrude’ on me, but it became a planned, even welcomed occurrence.

We wanted (still want) nothing more to shine in the realm that is the dance floor. So we competed late into the night, pushing each other further, harder, closer to our dream.

And, though we have different styles like accents, we learned to speak the same language of dance. (You understood me like no one else could) Moving to the same beat, melody, rhythm. Harmonizing in every twist, step, pause.

You said I was the sun.

That moment when we paused to rest, you told me you admired my strength, pushing forward with all the passion of a thousand blazing fires. You expressed through your endless eyes that you had never seen anyone dance like me. I just replied that I’ve never known a life without dance. It was simply a part of me. (Maybe all of me)

I told you that you were the moon.

When I said that I liked your quiet determination through my movements, you just smiled and said that you are trying to find your place. I knew without you saying (that you were lonely) that you wanted to feel important, wanted, needed because it peeked cautiously through every nuance of your dance. But I never said anything of it. We all have our own reasons for being, moving the way we do.

I only spoke one language and that was dance. Not even music. Just dance. Why did I need anything else when my whole being moves and tells a more eloquent tale than a fifty thousand word novel? But most people didn’t understand. So, they called me shy, reclusive, anti-social, simply because I didn’t talk like they did.

Except then, with you stepping in time and beside me, for the first time, there was a reply. Our dance battles were dialogues—a quirk of the lips here, a flick of a finger there—full of questions and answers. (And I loved how there were answers now)

We continued to push each other, vying for the glory of the stage. When there was no music vibrating off the walls, pounding in the space between us, your gentle laugh echoed off into every corner of the room we shared and I wanted to listen to it. Often, all the time, always. (Perhaps even forever)

We became inseparable; none of the other trainees spoke to us. Now people say that when we are together, we become two different people. No longer Kim Jongin and Zhang Yixing. They say that we are compatible, a perfect match made in heaven.

But they didn’t need to say it out loud because we already knew. Our bodies told us so.

But we really were just stars in our own universe, speaking a language that only we can understand.

Two

The next time I saw you dance was months after forming EXO and I was no long Yixing. It was the first time I saw you on the shining stage and it was the last time I saw Jongin.

I watched with wide eyes as you became Kai, a whole new person that I didn’t recognize anymore. Shedding the last of your innocence like a cocoon, you threw yourself without reserve into this new role that was handed to you.

As I gazed at you beneath the lights, I remembered how I used to lose myself in the story of your dance because it was a different from the one you told now.

Back then, it was about growing up—maybe too fast, too soon. Back then, it was about the awkward gray area between a child and an adult—being a teenager without an identity but with a burning passion. Back then, it was about a boy who dreamed of becoming a man—someone that everyone will be proud of.

But now it was different.

With sad eyes and a tired body, I watched as you—now known as Kai—grinded and danced sinfully to the music. A flirty smirk had replaced that sweet smile, your voice raspy around the edges as you rapped with those seductive lips.

But you were so radiant and shining that I suddenly found myself forgetting to watch the others’ performances because you just effortlessly captured my attention. All I could see was the boy that I once knew become something that I couldn’t explain. Yet still someone I wanted, adored, loved all the same, though now for completely different reasons.

Where Jongin was pale skies and shy sunshine, Kai was strong winds and blinding sunbeams. Kai radiated with the intensity of charisma, the zeal of charm, the fervor of confidence. 

Over time, when I watched you in interviews—my eyes always drawn to you—I noticed that bits and pieces of Jongin would still show through. It peeked through the shyness in the corners of your eyes, the sweetness that Kai couldn’t completely hide or strip away.

I don’t know if I’m happy or sad by this fact. You were a complete mystery to me, a cryptic puzzle.

So I watched you burn with the fever of the sun that is so different from the night.

I said you were the sun.

Eventually, I fell back and slipped into my own persona. Becoming Lay was easy because he wasn’t that different from Yixing.

Lay was understated talents, sweet ambition, quiet mischief. I became a man who is a soft voice that contrasts sharply with his strong dance. I was tear-laden thanks, humble humility, sweat of resolve , infinite gratitude, vows of loyalty.

And I shone from the background, unfailingly there and always waiting.

You told me that I was the moon.

Smiling gently, I often talked about the times when I was still Yixing, about you when you were still Jongin. I know you were doing the same, yet I wonder, as you say similar words, if you felt the same way I did.

And I fall harder and deeper with every word that I said. Even though I know that we can’t be together because Lay couldn’t love Kai.

But we really were just stars in our own universe, speaking a language that only we can understand.

Three

Many months later, as their careers are on its steadying path, when it simply clicks into place. That single instant when Lay realizes that the dark-haired man that he loves isn’t just Jongin or Kai, just simply black or white—like him, the younger is a shade of gray, a careful balance of light and dark.

It is a single time during the awards ceremony where Lay is asked to dance with Kai.

It is the moment when Kai turns over to him and, wearing Kai’s characteristic smirk and flamboyant clothing, catches his eye. Lay knows that he had been searching for him too.

It is the moment when Kai starts to walk towards him, that stride with all of Kai’s swagger and all of Jongin’s precision. From then on, everyone else is forgotten.

It is the moment when Kai reaches out to grasp Lay’s hand and a glint as bright as the sun flits across his face, flashing that sweet smile with the pure touch that Jongin had.

All the fire of confidence and all the warmth of innocence.

He says that he is the sun.

It is in that instant that Kai realizes that behind the wisdom in Lay’s tired eyes is the ageless, eternally-youthful Yixing.

It is in that instant that Lay smiles, quiet laugh that has Lay’s special tone that is soft around the edges and Yixing’s tint that is child-like in its happiness.

It is in that instant when Kai gazes into those calm eyes, he sees the gentle moon in those depths, reflecting the glow of the stage. (Or is it the light that peeks through his own eyes?)

Waning and waxing, but always there. Changing yet staying the same.

He tells him that he is the moon.

The heavy beat starts and, somewhere on the edge of their consciousness, the deep rhythmic sound of Kris’s and Chanyeol’s rap start.

But neither Kai nor Lay hears it. The heartbeat before their entrance, a fleeting smile crosses those dark features, with Kai’s cockiness and Jongin’s playfulness, and the other’s heart leaps in his chest—Lay’s from the challenge and Yixing’s from the nostalgia.

Then they are moving to their song “Two moons”. Nothing else matters as they fall into their own world, governed by their wordless rules.

As they gaze into each other’s eyes, never breaking contact even for a heartbeat, neither of them can find it in themselves to regret choosing this path.

They’ve gotten lost but they just pushed forward in their journey back towards each other through their shared language of dance because that is how Kai found Yixing.

They’ve searched and finally revealed the hidden secrets beneath the surface because that is how Lay found shy Jongin.

They’ve battled, sweated, cried, laughed, because that is how they learned to accept and embrace both parts of each other and themselves.

Kai is a part of Jongin just as Jongin is a part of Kai. Lay is Yixing just as Yixing is Lay.

But for this moment, they are just two boys dancing to their own rhythm, free from mere names and constraints, telling the world a story that only they can fully appreciate.

Because no one can fathom their lyrics quite like they can.

But they really are just stars in their own universe, speaking a language that they can only understand.

“To watch us dance is to hear our hearts speak”

~Hopi Indian saying

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A/N:

Wow, this really is different from what I normally write. I tried my friend's style since I felt like it fit the tone of their relationship, but as they say, it's best to have your own style. Oh well. I tried

I tried my hardest to make this work...but too many feels... And this is what happened... load of word vomit

This ship needs more love...

DANCER LINE IS FLAWLESS I MEAN LOOK AT THIS

This moment during Happy Camp....right in the Kailay feels.

 (hahaha I couldn't resist Chenchen, the real Dancing Machine) 

Anyway, I have some other stories with these two lovelies planned so I hope you look forward to it~

Thank you for your support and I hope you liked it~ <3

Now, off to finish babysitting my other story babies...