When you stepped into the studio the next day, you immediately felt the tension of every dancer in the company competing for the same role. It was…not pleasant.

There were a crowd of people at the company bulletin board, still in states of either weather bundled or half dress and chatting very animatedly.

“What’s up? Hey, what’s new?” you asked as you pushed into the crowd to look at the board for yourself.

CUBE COMPANY PRESENTS: “FICTION & FACT”

YONG JUNHYUNG

PARK BOYOUNG

YANG YOSEOB

LEE KIKWANG

YOON DOOJOON

& CAST

What? The company already picked the next production? You frowned and pulled your phone out, heading for the lockers.

TO: GODWOON

hav u seen the postr yt?

Setting your phone down on the bench, you opened your locker and changed into your tights and leotard. You a small hole in the leg of your tights, frowning. It was all of the dynamics the company was working on and you were sure of it. Sighing, you sat down and slipped your feet into your soft shoes, snapping the elastic straps against your feet.

The girls from in the hall slowly flooded into the locker room, opening their lockers and grabbing their practice clothes before leaving. You could hear some of them mentioning the production and various characters, with Park Boyoung being a choice name from their lips, as well as Yong Junhyung.

“Yeah, I heard the male lead was already chosen.”

“Right! Even before the production rights were bought, too!”

“Of course I’ll be the newest Boyoung on the scene though.”

“Oh, please. I’m pretty sure Boyoung’s cheeks are two times slimmer than your own.”

“It’s him, right? Jang Hyunseung is the Yong Junhyung of our city.”

You sighed, stuffing your jeans and zip up into your locker before closing it. Your phone vibrated against the bench and you hurriedly grabbed it as the last girl left.

FROM: GODWOON

fiction&fact? yes. i’ll meet you after prac.

Right. The guys still had practice today even though the girls had the day off. You shook your head and left the locker room to go take your place at the mirrors.

Fiction & Fact was the first thing to come to your mind as you began warming up with stretches. It was a well known play of romance, infused with dynamic acting and showcasing incredible vocal talents. Fiction, the second Act of the play, was the greatest love story ever known and you knew that the girls and guys alike would be after the two most important parts, Junhyung and Boyoung.

The smaller, lesser roles of Yoseob, Doojoon, and Kikwang were not as sought after, but they were still important. You hummed a bit of the melody that you could remember to yourself as you stretched, thinking of those roles and the personalities of the characters.

Yoseob, the best friend of Junhyung, was the friend who mainly kept Junhyung's head straight. Doojoon made sure everyone stayed calm and collected in rough situations, and Kikwang was the one who kind of threw the others for a curve most of the time, causing laughs and trouble all at once. Who in the company could portray these roles? Not to mention the solo stage that Yang Yoseob had where the other two only had conjoined stages with Junhyung. Whoever tried for these roles had to have passion and feeling in their movements, even if the roles weren’t as big as Junhyung’s role.

After going through your warm ups twice, you went back into the locker room to grab your purse. You needed a water bottle, but Jingu usually brought an extra one for you and she wasn’t here. You weren't even sure if you had money for the vending machine.

When you entered the front hall with the change you'd scrounged up from your locker, you were surprised to see half of the girls from the company standing outside of the men's practice room.

Getting your water, you turned to go back to the female practice room, trying to ignore how some of the girls had already turned to see you and started whispering while shooting you dirty looks. Before you reached the practice room, however, you heard someone call your name.

"Yes?" you called back, turning to see Hyerin standing guard in front of the men's door.

Some of the girls were grumbling as they pulled on jackets and scarves and left, having been shooed out by Hyerin.

"Why are you here? The girls have the day off. You should be at home relaxing," Hyerin immediately jumped on you as you approached her.

Rolling your eyes, you opened your water and took a sip. The door to the men's practice room was still open.

You felt Hyerin's eyes on you, but ignored her and quietly slipped into the room, pulling the door closed behind you. Dongwoon was already by your side as if he'd been waiting for you all along, clearing a chair of his towel and water bottle so you could sit down.

"I hope you've steered clear of the rumors," he whispered, wiping his face and neck with the towel so he could keep you company for a while longer, "because I hear those girls can really talk." He wiggled his eyebrows at you as an afterthought.

You chuckled softly, hand over your mouth. "I've already heard a lot of rumors. Our Boyoung will be thick. He’ll be Junhyung,” you gestured to Hyunseung off to the left in a front straddle, “and you’ll be his understudy.”

“Stop playing,” Dongwoon whispered back to you, lightly throwing his towel at you, “Girls aren’t really saying that, are they?” He sounded genuinely worried for his well being with his eyes all wide like they were.

Laughing again, you tossed his towel back to him so he could hang it up. “Yeah, right! They’re all talking about how Hyunseung needs no understudy because he’s just that good,” you told him before taking a sip of your water.

Just then, you saw Hyunseung’s head turning towards you and-

You spat your water out in disbelief.

Hyunseung was looking at you. He was really looking at you.

You hurriedly scrambled for a towel on the rack behind you, patting at the damp spot on the front of your leotard. Why was he looking at you? Did you have a mark on your face? Was your hair falling out of its hair tie?

Dongwoon grinned at your flailing before returning to his dynamic training.

Unable to look at Hyunseung again lest his eyes find yours, you focused on Dongwoon's dancing form.

Something you’d always enjoyed with dancing was that you could always sit back and watch Dongwoon. It wasn’t that he loved it more than you, no one could measure how much love someone had for something, but he just worked so hard and put so much passion into every little thing he was doing.

You watched as he threw his lithe body into a smooth line, one leg poised acutely against the floor and the opposite arm drawing the line of his body up towards the studio windows. Then, as if he could feel your eyes on him, he turned and smiled at you, throwing up a quick heart before jumping into his next position.

You smiled back.

After another minute or two, you returned to the other studio, getting into place in the center of the room. You breathed deeply and tried to calm your beating heart.

Hyunseung had really been looking at you. You and not some other girl. Did he know how you felt about him? Did he suspect anything?

“Clear your head,” You told yourself before taking another deep breath and beginning to move.

Channeling your emotions into your dance was the best way to release them, so that’s what you did. You threw your arms up over your head and twirled a few times, testing out how much your ankles improved over the summer before changing positions. Keeping your limbs still, you danced and danced, integrating flowing movements into the dynamic motions you’d been practicing forever now.

You didn’t know how long you had been practicing for until you heard a knock on the studio door and stopped, stumbling slightly as you turned to the door.

It was Dongwoon, wet hair falling into his face, already changed back into jeans.

“Come on, you! I thought we were going out tonight? Jingu’s already sent me twenty texts asking where I am.” He laughed and tossed a new water bottle at you.

Smiling, you caught the water bottle and took a sip before running over to Dongwoon to punch him in the arm. “You could have hit me!!”

“You caught it anyway!”

He walked you over to the lockers where you quickly grabbed your bag and street clothes. You decided that you had already taken too much time practicing, so you were just going to wear your tights home. It was also laundry day since you didn’t bring a clean set of practice clothes to replace the ones you wore today.

“Alright, let’s go!” Dongwoon said with excitement, taking your bag from you and suddenly throwing you over his shoulder.

You screamed but let him carry you as far as two or three blocks before you finally asked to be put down.

“I just want to go home real quick to shower and change into something nicer,” You told Dongwoon as you both got on the subway. Your arm was locked with his so you wouldn’t fall over when the train pulled out.

Dongwoon rolled his eyes and smiled as the doors shut behind him. 

-

omg, is that an update?!