When we arrived at the town square, there was already a horde of people. The sky was already dark, embellished with twinkling stars. The moon shone brilliant silver, glowing against a dark velvet background, both mysterious and beautiful. With the lights switched on, the town square was as stunning as ever. The water that spouted up from the fountain danced and spiralled into the sky, illuminated by the multicoloured lights that shone from the bottom.

There was a stage set up in the middle, a large one. Speakers boomed out dance tracks to hype up the crowd as they waited for the competition to start. A long red table designated for the judging panel stood on a platform to the right of the stage, separated from the crowd by the white metal barrier that barricaded it. I stood and admired the sights, overwhelmed by the excitement.

“Wow,” Baekhyun remarked.

“Wow indeed,” I agreed, craning my neck to take a look at the crowd. There were a lot of people I recognised from school, jumping and bopping to the music as they chanted out the names of their competing classmates.

I spotted Luhan, entertaining the people that had gathered around him to give him their well-wishes. He looked bashful, accepting their wishes with a smile and a thank you, cracking jokes that made them laugh. Baekhyun noticed what I had been looking at and slowly began to withdraw his hand.

The feeling of having his fingers uncurl from mine made me tear my eyes away from Luhan to look at him instead.

“I should go,” he said, not meeting my eyes.

Involuntarily, I tightened the grip I had on him. “How about you stay and watch?” I asked, forcing a smile in hopes that I could convince him.

“No, no, I... should really go,” he gave me a wan smile. “Homework.”

I frowned, knowing that Baekhyun, like most people, wasn’t the type to do homework on a Friday night. I opened my mouth to say something but he had already slipped his hand out of mine. He backed away, still facing me as he gave me a heart-wrenchingly sad smile that I had never seen him show before.

“See you tomorrow,” he said before his body was engulfed by the crowd.

I stared at the spot where he disappeared, feeling my heart squeeze in my chest. Watching Baekhyun act so uncharacteristically depressing made me ache.

“Yoora!”

I turned when I heard my name, forcing a small smile when I saw Luhan walking up to me. He looked handsome tonight, dressed to perform. His hair was styled; it looked fluffed and the bangs were permed into wavy locks. He wore a white jacket spattered with silver circles over a black graphic tee and army patterned jeans. He had make-up on too; it was barely noticeable, just enough to touch up his eyes and enhance his already clear skin.

“Hey, I was looking for you,” he said when he reached me. The colour of his hair looked lighter, a shimmering rich gold shade.

“Hey, Luhan,” I smiled.

“Luhan!” A boy with chocolate brown hair and gentle features came up from behind him, clapping a hand over Luhan’s shoulder. “We have to go. They’re calling for us backstage.”

Luhan nodded. “This is Yixing,” he said to me, “he’s the guy I’ll be dancing with.”

I smiled at Yixing and introduced myself. “I’m Yoora.”

Yixing smiled in return, showing a set of dimples that immediately made him look pleasant and charming. “I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said, casting a quick glance at Luhan with a cheeky grin.

Luhan elbowed him and Yixing laughed. “We really have to get ready,” he said to Luhan.

“Fine,” Luhan said. To my surprise, he reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me with him as he and Yixing ploughed through the crowd to get backstage.

“I saved you a spot on the front row,” he yelled over the noise.

I could barely respond with all the people pressing around us. Luhan had to manoeuvre through cracks and slip through openings, tugging me along with him as he uttered quick apologies. Yixing was long gone, already disappeared off backstage. Luhan paused when were almost directly in front of the stage, craning his neck.

“Sehun!” he yelled.

I neither saw him nor heard Sehun’s response, but in the next minute, a long thin arm had s out from somewhere in the crowd. Luhan tugged me forward and handed me to the outstretched hand, which easily grasped my fingers and pulled me into the throng.

“Hey Noona,” Sehun greeted me as he pulled me next to him.

“This is crazy!” I yelled back at him, trying to get my voice heard over the shouts.

Sehun grinned. “Trust me, it’s worth it!” he yelled, just as the emcees voice started booming through the speakers.

“Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Grand Seoul Amateur Dance Competition!”

Sehun and I plugged our ears as screams echoed as the response.

“If anything happens to my eardrums I hold you and Luhan responsible!” I yelled at him, to which he responded with a laugh.

“Just sit back and enjoy the show. You’ll be amazed at Hyung’s skills,” Sehun said with a grin.

The performances passed with a blur, leaving the crowd exhilarated and begging for more. The time passed without my noticing it, for I, too, found myself too distracted by the dancers on stage to take much notice of anything else.

Sehun was great company, possessing a whole bundle of energy that I had never expected him to be capable of having. I had only seen him in the hallways a few times before Luhan introduced him to me, and from the lack of expression he seemed to have every time I passed him by, I had assumed him to be the cold and studious type; the kind who would prefer being locked up in his room reading books than the kind to party from nightfall to sunrise. Standing next to him now, I realised that I had been gravely proven wrong.

He was jumping to the beat of the songs, singing to those that he knew and hooting at the performers as they moved around the four corners of the stage. Occasionally, he would move his head closer to mine to whisper something into my ear, sometimes to tell me that he liked the song and sometimes to whisper a biography or an introduction of the person dancing.

I was surprised to find that he knew so many people that were performing that night, and when asked, he sheepishly admitted that he, too, was a dancer like Luhan. He told me that they gravitated amongst the dancer crowd, hopping from one studio to the next during the past when they wanted to familiarise themselves with the art. Apparently, they met Yixing at a dance school they attended for short-term classes, and Luhan had formed an instant connection with him when he learned that they were both from China.

He told me that the routine Luhan and Yixing wanted to perform today was actually choreographed for three people, but due to the sprained ankle he suffered during soccer practice last month, they had to modify the steps to make it suitable for two. According to Sehun, they had practiced long and hard to achieve the perfection they found satisfactory now, and had been pining to win the first place trophy ever since the competition was announced.

The lights dimmed then as the song finished its last beat. Sehun stopped jumping, his face turning serious as he gripped the metal railing in front of him with tense knuckles. I watched his sudden change in behaviour curiously and was about to question him when the emcee began speaking again.

“And now, let’s welcome our next dancer, the one and only KIM JONGIN!”

My eyes immediately snapped towards the stage, towards the dark silhouetted figure standing in the middle. Spotlights suddenly hit his body, revealing his opening stance with his legs crossed and his arms outstretched. Screams rippled through the crowd in the midst of the chanting of his name, and Jongin slowly revolved on his feet to face the crowd. 

“He’s been winning almost all the competitions ever since he debuted into the dance scene,” Sehun whispered to me, his eyes trained on Jongin’s figure. “He’s our biggest competition.”

I nodded; I could see why. Even before he danced, Jongin’s presence was overwhelming.

The song started, and my jaw dropped. The song Jongin had chosen was a ballad, sung in pitches that were hard to choreograph a routine from. Yet, Jongin performed flawlessly. He had control of every beat, every fibre of his being, and had transferred the soulfulness of the song into even his most minuscule of gestures. His confidence off-stage was channelled into his performance, his passion for the intricate art shown clearly through his expression and his eyes. He commandeered the stage with his presence alone, and I knew instantly that this kind of skill and impeccable precision were going to be hard to defeat.

Then, I saw Jongin catch my eye. He gave me a quick wink and I sighed. He won’t change, that boy.

I stole a glance at Sehun, who looked as tense as ever. His eyes never left Jongin, and I could see the taut muscles bulging from his neck as his knuckles continued to tighten on the railing. I supposed that even he could see that Luhan and Yixing were really going to have to outdo themselves to defeat Jongin.

Jongin’s ending pose was the one that he started with, the full-brimmed hat that he used for his routine now being clutched by his hand as if he was a makeshift coat stand. The crowd erupted into cheers, the loudest I’d heard so far. Sehun sighed and leaned back, releasing the grip he had on the railing to run a hand through his hair in frustration.

“I wish I could say ‘Good luck’ to them again,” he said. “There’re really gonna need it.”

Jongin strode off stage as confident as ever, popping the hat back over his head and flashing winks and smirks towards the cheering crowd. I shook my head; skill comes with a price, and in the case of Kim Jongin, it was his insufferable ego.

“They’re up now,” Sehun told me, the previous excitement returning into his eyes once the disappointment over seeing Jongin’s flawless showcase had faded.

“And now, introducing the top class duo, LUHAN AND YIXING!”

I turned my head to the stage again, excited to finally see Luhan perform. He and Yixing had taken different opening stances, with Luhan just a few paces behind Yixing. The music started and they burst into their perfectly choreographed routine.

I had to give it to them, the friendship Luhan and Yixing shared had given them chemistry on stage. They coordinated their moves well, responded to one another almost instinctively. They showed team work that couldn’t be shown in a solo routine like Jongin’s, but they lacked the soul he put into his moves. Of course, they were both remarkable dancers with different styles. And I was only a part of the audience, not an enthusiast or a professional in the art of dancing; I didn’t know how to judge them as a critic.

I shoved all thoughts about Jongin’s performance aside and focused on Luhan instead, on the moves he showed. His expression was previously tense when he stepped on stage, but it had relaxed considerably as he began to enjoy his performance. Yixing looked like he had pushed aside all thoughts about the world and was just focusing on executing a perfectly synchronised choreography. He and Luhan exchanged perfectly timed high-fives, flashed winks at the crowd and secret smiles at each other. Luhan caught my eye and smiled.

When the routine ended, both of them had somehow gotten hold of two tiny red roses. They performed a short little trick with it, twirling it with their fingers before throwing it into the air and catching it with their caps in a bow just as the song ended. They straightened up, grinning, and then reached into their caps to throw the tiny roses into the crowd.

Luhan threw his in my direction, but it ended up going to Sehun instead. Sehun laughed as he caught it in midair while Luhan’s eyes widened.

“What a waste; he practiced so hard to get that right,” Sehun said with a shake of his head. He gave me a small bow and presented the flower to me. “For you, my lady. I apologise on behalf of the prince for his terrible hand-eye coordination.”

I laughed at his silliness and took the flower.

Luhan and Yixing scurried off the stage. I saw Luhan turning to look at me again before Yixing grabbed him by the arm and tugged him away.

“What’s next?” I asked, tearing my gaze away from the spot where they disappeared to behind the curtains.

“The judging,” Sehun replied.

To those who are wondering, Jongin's choreography was the one from his teaser with Sehun. I can't remember the name, but it was the one where he acted as a coat stand while Sehun hung his jacket, and then the song starts and he dances with the jacket.

Anyway, to all the new subscribers, thank you so much for giving my story a chance. To the silent readers, please comment. I would love to read what you have to say. 

Thank you!