Eunhyuk was supposed to meet you on the roof half an hour ago. He called you an hour ago, telling you to be ready. You tried calling him to make sure he was alright, but he didn't pick up. Probably something came up and he can't get to his phone right now.

You decide to give him another few minutes. You press the play button again on your phone, dancing to one of the songs that Eunhyuk taught you yesterday as you have been doing for the past half hour that you've waited. You go through the moves, remembering the choreography almost perfectly, with only one or two errors. When the song ends, you press replay to correct the mistakes you made the last round, this time mastering all of the moves.

The song finishes and you pick up your phone again to find another song to practice. You scroll through the list of songs, trying to another one. After a few moments, you do find one and begin another dance. You go through the choreography just as you did yesterday with Eunhyuk. After a few attempts to get it perfect, you finally do so.

You lean your head back a moment, hands on your hips, taking several deep breaths to cool yourself down for a moment. 

"You passed today's training!" you hear a voice call out from behind you. You spin around to see Eunhyuk standing behind some old crates.

"Mwoh?" You stare at him in disbelief. Has he been standing there the entire time? "Yah! Have you been there all along?"

He grins, displaying his teeth and gums. "네 [Ne]."

"I should have known," you mutter. You take a gulp of your water bottle and wipe the sweat from your brow. "You know," you add. "That's kind of creepy. Have you turned into some kind of stalker since I left?" You take another sip of your water, then set it down on one of the crates. 

He laughs, tilting his head back out of habit. "아니 [Ani]!" he says in between laughter. "I just wanted to see if you would actually practice even if your trainer wasn't here."

You laugh. "What am I twelve years old again and I need to be told what to do?" You chuckle. "Come to think of it, I never listened to direction anyway when I was that age." 

"That's not hard to believe," teases Eunhyuk with a grin.

You think back to all that time. "That may be why certain people couldn't stand me when I was younger," you add with a chuckle. "I never did give them the respect they deserved." You shake your head, musing over the past. "Anyway, 형 [hyung], can we get to learning breakdancing? I've been looking forward to re-learning it."

He nods with an adorable smile plastered across his face. "Sure."

****

One Day in Early 2005

"Lee SooMan wants to meet with me," says Hyukjae, looking down at his shoes as you both sit down on a bench outside of the studio.

"왜 [Wae]?" you ask.

"I don't know," he says with a sigh. "I hope it's not going to be some sort of meeting where he's going to decide that he's done with me."

You scoff. "I seriously doubt that, 형 [hyung]. There's no way he could get rid of a talented guy like you. Trust me." You look out at the cars that pass by, their headlights shining their beams as they hurry past you both. "언제요 [eonjeyo (When)]?" you ask.

"Tomorrow," Hyukjae answers simply, still hunched over, staring down at his feet.

"It's probably good news," you reply, looking at him.

He takes a deep breath, slowly lifting himself up a little bit, not a lot though, turning his head toward you. "I wish I knew for sure though." He lets out a sigh. "It's been over a year since the group was canceled and I've been training since the year 2000. I don't think I can do this any more, Jaehwa-ah." He puts his elbows on his knees and buries his head in his hands.  "I'm getting sick of this." He lifts his head up for a moment, shaking his head slightly. "I mean, I like working to attain this dream, but what if it doesn't come true?" He looks at you, staring hard. "What if I've wasted all this time?"

You shake your head, scooting a bit closer and leaning forward, draping your elbows over your knees as you do so. "Yah, 형 [hyung]. I know that it's been hard for you just training this year without any idea when you will be put into another group." You let out a sigh before continuing. "Trust me, 형 [hyung]. They will put you into a group. They have to let you do something soon. You've earned it."

He looks at you with disbelief. "I don't know. I'm just worried about what Lee Sooman is going to say tomorrow."

You punch him in the arm. "Yah! 형 [Hyung]! You are an amazing dancer and rapper. Quit this. Do we need to go and have both a rap and a dance battle to cheer you up?" 

A smile cracks from his lips.  "진짜 [Jinjja (really)]?"

"네 [Ne]," you say with a nod. "We'll go find a random corner and pretend we're street performers," you elbow him in the side, jokingly.

Hyukjae gives you that all too familiar wide white smile, revealing the gums. "Let's do it."

You raise an eyebrow at him. You were joking, but you don't want to disappoint him now. You shake your head ever so slightly and get up from the bench. "Are you ready then, 형 [hyung]?"

He gets up, grabbing your head in a head lock and ruffling your hair. "I'm always ready, 형제 [hyungjae]." 

****

Present:

 You follow the specific directions that Eunhyuk gives you, but your body is very much out of practice when it comes to this. You know it's going to take you awhile to get the hang of it all over again. It almost feels as if your body is old compared to what you used to do with it. You push that thought out of your mind. You can't think like that any more. You have to just train yourself to be better.

You fall again, and not a proper drop either. That would be great! You sit up, picking yourself off the roof top floor beneath you. Eunhyuk holds out a hand to you. You gladly reach up and take it. He pulls you to your feet and once more begins to instruct you on how to perform the set of moves fluidly without injurying yourself.

You watch patiently, trying to recall how you used to do it.

He takes you through the steps again, making it look all too easy.

"Ready to try it?" he asks. 

You nod, clearly not thinking very well, but still wanting to succeed anyway.

Within just a few seconds, it's obvious that it's not going to work. You stop, groaning in frusteration. You snatch up your water and start chugging it down. 

"Yah!" Eunhyuk intercedes, snatching the water bottle away from you. "Don't drink too fast! You'll get sick!"

"I will not," you say, rolling your eyes. 

"Will too," he says with a chuckle. 

You lunge for the water bottle, your desire to quench your thirst stronger than his logical objections. "Yah!" 

He dodges you. "First, before I give you back your water, you have to at least do this right once." He gives you a big smile.

You heave a sigh. "Fine," you concede.

****

Past:

Ugh! You messed up and you know that mistake will cost you your next move.

You think fast. Once you land on the ground, you quickly flip yourself to your back and perform a Nip-up, sending you back to your feet in one fluid motion. 

Cheers sound from the bystanders around as you perform a stab, feeling the muscles in your abdomen clench a bit as you maintain your balance with your legs and body suspended in the air while your right hand is touching the ground. After a few moments, you throw yourself into a windmill, completing your routine. 

The bystanders 'whoop' and whistle at you. Hyukjae however, tries to steal the show, doing a series of power moves before resorting to the Nutcracker. A few girls watching squeal. You roll your eyes. 진짜 [Jinjja (really)]? 

Deciding not to let him get away with that, you perform a no-handed halo and segue into a tombstone and from that into a handcuff windmill. You end, breathless, your chest heaving from all the exertion you put into that dance. Bystanders cheer. You just lay there on the ground, your stomach and chest rising and falling quickly.

Hyukjae stands above you, shaking his head. "You just had to beat me, didn't you Jaehwa-ah?" 

"네 [Ne]," you mutter in between breaths as the crowd starts to scatter. 

He chuckles, holding out a hand to you. "Nice job." You grab his hand and he pulls you up to your feet. "You know, Jaehwa-ah," he begins. "I have to say, this helped me cheer up a lot. 감사 [Kamsa]!" He gives you another gummy smile, throwing an arm around you.

****

Present: 

You try several more times. Your throat is dry and you feel your muscles ache. This isn't working at all.

You take a deep breath, getting ready to try again. You wipe the sweat from your brow.  You try to focus all your attention on the moves ahead of you. You close your eyes for a moment, visualizing how Eunhyuk does it, trying to recall how you used to do it. You take a deep breath, still keeping your eyes closed. You remember how you used to always dance with your eyes closed. That would be great if you could reach that point again. You take a deep breath once again, feeling the setting sun's light against your closed eyelids. You feel a bit of that old spark in you that you used to get when you would practice in one of the rooms at SM, imagining yourself on stage in front of fans...

Eunhyuk starts to approach you, thinking that you could use some water, forgetting the deal he made with you.

An image of a crowded stadium encompasses your mind. A small smile forms across your face. Without opening your eyes, you decide to go for it. You plunge into an old dance you used to do, keeping in mind that they will lead you into the moves Eunhyuk re-taught you. Your heart practically skips a beat as you feel a lot like your old self...

...For all of two seconds that is.