Chanyeol: Chapter 18
Cupid's Match
“Did you really just call me Chan?”
I stop drinking before I choke. “I have no idea where that came from.”
“No, it’s cool. Chan. You can call me that.”
We walk to our table together. Bora and Donn have finished eating and are dancing together. I eat my chicken, which has turned cold. I want to blame Chanyeol for the cold food, but I know he would just say something stupid, so I keep quiet and eat until my stomach becomes full.
Because I don’t want to dance right after eating, I sit at the table and watch the other students dance to songs that range from ballads to rap. Chanyeol doesn’t leave me, although I told him he could dance if he wanted to. He says that I’m his partner for tonight, and that he’s willing to wait for me.
When I think that the food in my stomach has finally settled, Chanyeol stands up and nobly asks me to dance.
I’ve dreamt of a moment like this. In the movies, the guy finds the girl and asks her if she wants to dance. It’s one of the most romantic acts that a guy could ever do for a girl. And here he is, Chanyeol with his pink suit and wacky smile, extending his hand to me and asking, “Would you like to dance?” as if he were a noble knight from an exotic land.
Of course I say yes. How can I not?
At least a fast song is playing when we get to the dance floor. I don’t know how to dance to slow songs, or songs in general.
I tell him that, too. “Chanyeol.”
“Not Chan?”
“I don’t know how to dance,” I say.
“Everybody knows how to dance.”
“No, they don’t.”
“Just like everybody knows how to sing. Albeit, not well, but everybody can sing or dance.” He starts hopping on his toes. “This is a fast song. You jump, basically.”
“Jump?” I can jump.
“Kind of like when you’re in a club,” he says. Behind him, a group of guys shout and start hopping to the beat with their arms in the air as if they were in a concert. Girls around them sway their hips and roll their heads.
“It’s getting PG-13 up in here,” I say blankly and lift my hands in a “raise the roof” motion. Chanyeol is too busy to notice my sarcasm. I sigh and try to dance the way he is, although minus the crazy. It’s fun once I get the hang of it. I’m disappointed once the song ends and a slow R&B song starts to play.
“Come here,” Chanyeol says. I walk toward him, and he hovers his arm over my back and pushes me forward. “You said you didn’t know how to dance, right? I’ll teach you.”
“Okay. What do I do?”
“Give me your hand,” he says, so I give him my right hand, “and place your left hand on my shoulder.” I do. “That’s the formal way. And then there’s that way,” he nods his head to a couple on my left. Both of the girl’s hands are around the guy’s neck.
“I’m gonna stick with the basics for now, thanks,” I mumble.
“It’s pretty simple. You move your feet together. So for you … hold on, let me think.” He stares at our feet from different angles and then says, “For you, your right foot goes forward. Then you go … right? Yes, right. Then back. Then left. And you repeat. And your left foot just follows. Step by step. It’s simple. Let’s try it?”
I hold my breath and step forward with my right foot at the same time he steps back with his left foot. I do it too quickly, however, and pinch his toes.
“Sorry!”
“No, no, it’s fine. Try again.”
I’m self-conscious now because we somehow wound up at the front of the stage, and I’m sure the performers are quietly laughing at me. Chanyeol squeezes my hand, and I bring my mind back to the dance. Right foot forward. Got that right. Now move to the right. Back. Left. Repeat.
“See? It’s easy,” he smiles. “All you have to do is move to the beat. So … now,” he says, and leads me forward, his hands steering me to move at his will.
I start dancing with him, which is amazing, because I thought dancing was supposed to be so much more complicated than this. It really isn’t. Even for an uncoordinated person, I can memorize these steps and remain balanced.
“This is fun,” I say and look up. “I – “ But I stop talking, because Chanyeol’s face is a sigh away from mine, and he’s looking down at me, and I feel like I’m not dancing but floating in the sky. He smells
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