Eunhyuk gazed at the lanky mess of limbs in front of him with cold emotionless eyes.  As his victim continued to struggle, they flailed about, jerking this way and that. Still, Eunhyuk continued to push him. He thought the moment called for a maniacal laugh, but settled for a cold smile that promised more pain to come.

No, Eunhyuk wasn’t in the process of committing murder, though it would not be too much to say he was in the middle of a sadistic act. The act was teaching, and his victim was one Cho Kyuhyun. Kyuhyun looked like a part of him was dying when he danced.  A part of Eunhyuk was dying watching.

“Oh dear Jesus,” he muttered under his breath, after making Kyuhyun show him the dance break from Bonamana once again. His shoulders were hunched, his hands were hanging like dead fish and something about the way his knees bent when he stepped irked him. Yes, he found his knees irksome. Kyuhyun was many things but he was not a dancer, thought Eunhyuk. He sighed again.

“Kyuhyun, stop,” he called. A vein in his temple was starting to throb. Eunhyuk showed him the step again, while Kyuhyun watched with barely concealed envy. He made it look easy, he knew, but that was the point. You practice, get good, really good, and then make it look like you never practiced at all.

When Eunhyuk finished he stared at himself in the mirror, chest heaving and utterly satisfied. He was waiting, waiting, but nothing. “What, no applause?” he asked, looking over his shoulder at a bored Kyuhyun.

“Thanks. We’ve now confirmed that you can do it. Really, that was very helpful.” said Kyuhyun. Then—Eunhyuk couldn’t believe it—the brat proceeded to slow clap. Eunhyuk’s jaw dropped.  Eunhyuk took a few moments to calm himself, deciding that breaking Kyuhyun’s kneecaps would only make the dance harder for him.

“Kyuhyun, I’m trying to help you. What in the hell do you want from me?” said Eunhyuk, trying not to yell. “Should I do it again, slower? Goddammit,” sneered Eunhyuk, throwing his beanie on the floor

Kyuhyun clenched his jaw. He wouldn’t look Eunhyuk in the eye but decided to speak.

“Hyung, did I do something wrong?” asked Kyuhyun.  Eunhyuk was looking at Kyuhyun’s reflection in the mirror.  His Adam’s apple was bobbing up and down that way it did when a man was trying not to cry. Eunhyuk wanted to scream.

“Again,” said Eunhyuk finally.

~*~

They had two days. In forty eight-hours they would have their first stage of Bonamana. Eunhyuk wanted to vomit. He watched Kyuhyun do the break again, anticipating all of his mistakes. He looked like he was afraid of hurting the floor, or compromising his dignity by actually committing to the moves. Why couldn’t he move the way he sang? Or maybe that was the problem, mused Eunhyuk. Everything was too soft, too fluid. He was smearing everything together, like slurred notes.

Eunhyuk didn’t want that. Muscle and breath working together was different and so It should feel different, not like it was floating through the air.  That was the trick, you had to make it look effortless, but still connect.

Kyuhyun was clearly struggling with this concept.  It was like he didn’t believe the floor would hold him and so, every time his legs had to face a different direction than his torso, he looked so precarious that Eunhyuk was afraid he was going to fall. Everything spoke of effort on his part, but a complete lack of understanding.

Unnoticed by Kyuhyun Eunhyuk sank to the floor, face in his hands. The music stopped and Eunhyuk did not move

“Hyung?” said Kyuhyun timidly, all the fight from yesterday gone. Kyuhyun was never timid, but Eunhyuk’s obvious frustration  had put that look on his face. Just another mistake to put on his list.

“Oh God, Kyuhyun I’m so sorry,” said Eunhyuk tiredly ribbing his face.  He didn’t understand why this wasn’t working and he blamed himself. He was the hyung, and he couldn’t even help his dongsaeng. Kyuhyun fiddled with the material of his work out pants.

“That bad?” he said trying to smile and failing, miserably. Eunhyuk shook his head.

“Let’s take a break,” suggested Eunhyuk. Eunhyuk walked to the side of the room and, grabbing two water bottles threw one to Kyuhyun. He took a seat and dragged Kyuhyun down next to him. They sat together in silence. Eunhyuk deep in thought while Kyuhyun was left wondering, for the millionth time it seemed since they had started, what he had done wrong. Kyuhyun tried to speak but Eunhyuk ignored him. The room was filled with the sound of their ragged panting.

“How should I—“

“Shush.” said Eunhyuk briskly. After a few minutes, Kyuhyun caught on to the fact the Eunhyuk was not going to tell him what they were doing sitting on the floor when they still had a lot more practicing to do.

Finally, Eunhyuk made up his mind that there was only one way to show Kyuhyun what he wanted. He had to do something different, he told himself, justifying the painful awkwardness that was coming next for the two of them.  He was done talking. That was more Kyuhyun’s style anyway.

“Up,” said Eunhyuk Kyuhyun grunted but complied, the lack of snark testifying how much he too sensed the desperation of this situation

“We’re dancing,” announced Eunhyuk “Together. Now”.  That was the easy part. Slowly, so as not to frighten him, though Eunhyuk couldn’t help but think maybe he should just hurry up, like with a band-aid, he got behind Kyuhyun.

“Hyung, what on earth?” said Kyuhyun startled. Eunhyuk didn’t answer. Avoiding eye contact through the mirror, Eunhyuk wrapped his body around Kyuhyun’s from behind, placing his arms over Kyuhyun’s his legs directly behind Kyuhyun’s own. They had a rather dramatic scuffle in silence as Kyuhyun fought to throw him off as politely as possible, but Eunhyuk hung on.

Eventually Kyuhyun stilled with a huff . When Kyuhyun relaxed, Eunhyuk smiled victoriously. Well, perhaps relaxed was overly optimistic. Kyuhyun had gone as stiff as a board, in fact it sounded like he had stopped breathing all together. But at least he wasn’t fighting him.

Well, that was one way to shut him up, Eunhyuk thought with a smile.

When he was sure that Kyuhyun wasn’t  going to bolt, Eunhyuk poked and prodded and pulled until they were, the both of them in the starting position for Bonamana. Only then did Eunhyuk look up at Kyuhyun, arching his brow. Comprehending the unspoken, whenever you’re ready , they began to dance.

They were slow to begin, Kyuhyun unwilling to dance with a sly-faced monkey on his back. He kept on trying to shuffle forward, trying to put space between them, but Eunhyuk unfailingly dogged his steps. Whatever Kyuhyun did, Eunhyuk did it bigger and better, so that Kyuhyun could see the difference in what he was doing and what it had the potential to look like.

He shot him an annoyed glance but Eunhyuk was uncaring, lost in the dance, focusing on Kyuhyun’s steps, forcing him to make them bigger and stronger. He was still placing them too carelessly. Eunhyuk purposely brought his foot down loudly when Kyuhyun was not expecting him, startling him out of his stupor. Kyuhyun flinched so badly that it startled them both. Eunhyuk scowled, as though to say ‘i-told-you-so’.  

They began again. Eunhyuk had to fight to keep his impatient eagerness from showing in the next few steps. This part had been aggravating him so much, and it was, unfortunately for Kyuhyun, one of his solo gestures. It wasn’t a mistake per se but Kyuhyun was not matching the feel of the song at all. It came time for his first few lines and Kyuhyun started to sing but Eunhyuk punched him in the gut lightly, telling him to keep it down.

Rather than notes, which Eunhyuk knew Kyuhyun had no trouble with, the bastard, they were here to teach Kyuhyun how to move his body. Kyuhyun brought his hands up and started rocking his shoulders side to side. He looked like a goddamn bobblehead. Eunhyuk pressed himself against Kyuhyun to grab his hands to pull them further away from his body. They did not move on until Kyuhyun was rocking, instead of instructing his shoulders to move oddly from side to side.

Eunhyuk had to back off a bit to give them some space for the jumps in the chorus but before the chorus was over  he was back on him again, to help him with the shuffle. It was a cocky serenade, deceptive, meant as much for the pleasure of the person dancing as the one who was being serenaded. Kyuhyun was dancing like he was serenading a mop. Or some equally stiff, but most importantly, non-human object.  And frankly, even if he were the mop, he wouldn’t have given Kyuhyun the time of day.

If the boy had any swagger to show, though he doubted it sometimes, this was the time to show it.  Still, not so foolish as to get his hopes up, Eunhyuk decided to lend him some of his own.

He got close to Kyuhyun, close enough for the boy to feel his hips at his back, and Eunhyuk’s legs mimicking the lines of his own. He was practically glued to him at this point.

“What are you doing?” Kyuhyun whirled around indignantly. Eunhyuk smirked. That was the most graceful he had looked all day. He turned Kyuhyun back around forcefully, ignoring his grumbling protests.

They started to do the box step again. It was a testament to Eunhyuk’s own skill that he didn’t stumble all around Kyuhyun, so much as he flowed around him.  The step was reading wrong, and Eunhyuk didn’t understand it. He cocked his head to the side thinking, and made them start from a few steps back, dragging a fuming Kyuhyun into place. Ah yes, that was it. Putting one leg between Kyuhyun’s he knocked is feet a little further apart and made them try it again. Didn’t that feel better? How could Kyuhyun miss that, he 'tsk'ed mentally.

They walked through the entire song like that. Even the dance break. Eunhyuk shuddered as he rolled his body against Kyuhyun’s. If not for his own discomfort, he would have noticed that the boy was trembling.

Finally, they reached the end and bowed.  They stared at themselves in the mirror until Kyuhyun suddenly shrugged his arms off and moved away quickly. Eunhyuk stepped away from where they had been standing as well, breathing raggedly. “Do you…Can you do it again, on your own this time?”

Eunhyuk spoke to Kyuhyun’s back. He wasn’t facing him, and had somehow ended up on the other side of the room. Eunhyuk just watched him, what was wrong with him now?

Kyuhyun nodded distractedly, fanning himself wildly.  Kyuhyun wasn’t sure why it felt like a million degrees in here. He was never this hot after practice. 

Suddenly feeling tired, but happy, Eunhyuk forced himself to jog over to turn the music on, taking the time to collect himself. Why was he so tired? He felt like he had run miles. His arms were tingling from all the adrenaline.

The electric intro to Bonamana blared from the speakers and they danced again, all the way through. Eunhyuk had an eye on Kyuhyun the entire time and was smiling by the middle. He marked the moves mostly, distracted by how different Kyuhyun looked.

“Finally!” hooted Eunhyuk, throwing himself to the floor before the last notes had sounded. “Yes. That was brilliant Kyuhyun.”  The boy said nothing so Eunhyuk peeked up  from under the arm that was slung across his eyes. “Kyu?”

“Oh, I’m sorry for being such a jerk before, by the way--”  began Eunhyuk, blushing. He was thoroughly ashamed of how frustrated he had gotten, but he was never very good at expressing himself with words.

“It’s fine,” said Kyuhyun, sounding a little breathless. “I-I get it now.” Eunhyuk gave Kyuhyun his full attention, frowning at how weird he sounded.

Kyuhyun was still looking at him, completely red in the face, as though he had never seen him before. “I...um, you’re a really good dancer—uh, teacher hyung,” he said embarrassedly. “Really good.”

“Anytime.”

Kyuhyun fled from the room, yelling 'bathroom!'. Eunhyuk shook his head. He would never understand that kid.