You were starting to feel a little embarrassed with the way his arms were wrapped around your waist, your back to him and your own arms resting over his. It wasn’t like there were only the two of you in the room. There were also others around you, with just as much intense gazes and equally determined movements.

Besides, you wouldn’t be able to avoid it even if you wanted to. It was simply how the choreography went. And at this point in your trainee career, you couldn’t afford to be whiny at all, after all the struggles you’ve been through to learn Korean, the sweaty sleepless nights in the practice rooms, and just passively taking in all the harsh criticisms. 

You lower your gaze from the sunbaes and the seonsaengnims watching over you with stern expressions and focus instead on the music.

From the way you would hold me
To the sweet things you told me

Holding onto each other, you take a light leap to the right and, with a slight wave of your body, you bring your head and upper body facing towards the side, your left leg stretched out and ending to a point with your left foot. You feel his breath on your neck as he follows your movement in tune with the music. Still in the same position, you both extend your left arms slowly, your heads following in the same direction, splaying out your fingers and intertwining them with one other.

He spins you around to face him without letting go of your hand. You stare at one other, his face concentrated on portraying the emotions of the song and dance. You wonder what he could be thinking of at this moment. You’ve practiced for this for countless times, but you never dared to ask.

You take small graceful steps backwards, left arms stretched out between you, fingers brushing as you gently pull away from him. You turn around, lifting your left hand, closed into a fist, to your chest, your head down and eyes closed. You feel your heart thumping fast and loud, the sound echoing through your hand, up your arm towards your head. The music plays on and you just let yourself get lost in the feeling.