Dongwoo had started attending the night dance class a little over a month ago. He knew how to dance, heck, he was a dance instructor for a living! But he had, maybe, gotten just a little- only a little-  lonely at night. So when he saw that right after his last evening class that there would be another instructor renting the studio, he decided to see how it went. 

When Sunggyu had found out, he had looked up from his Blackberry, set down his briefcase and took a seat next to Dongwoo. He had slid an arm around Dongwoo’s waist, then held him close.

“Are you being replaced?”

To which Dongwoo had responded to by laughing and shoving Sunggyu away. He had told Sunggyu he only wanted to see if their teaching styles were similar or if he could learn anything new. 

Sunggyu had then cocked his head to the side, picked his Blackberry back up and kissed Dongwoo on the cheek.

“Well, you’re an excellent teacher so I think if anybody’s gonna learn anything from anyone, it would be him from you.”

Then Sunggyu had given Dongwoo a great big smile and left to his office. Dongwoo’s cheeks had risen in temperature and he had gone to sleep with a smile on his lips.

On the first day of class, Dongwoo had brought along the same bag he brought everyday to his own class, brought the same bottle and wore the same tattered shoes. Sunggyu had repeatedly asked him if he could buy Dongwoo new ones but he had always declined, there wasn't any need to spend money on unnecessary things. Besides, he liked these shoes.

Stretching when he realised that the instructor wasn’t here yet, he looked over the other students. He stood way at the back, assessing the different people who had gathered here. The students were altogether generally older than his usual students, his were all well into their teens or just getting there, while these people ranged from what looked liked 20's to 40's. These people looked like they had their day jobs that they loved or loathed but gathered every night for a nice night of dance. 

It made Dongwoo smile.

When the instructor had entered, he was dressed in a plain black muscle shirt, and three- quarter sweatpants. He had a cap on and he introduced himself as Lee Howon. If Dongwoo was being honest, he would have to say that Mr. Lee was quite attractive, quite being an understatement. 

They set to work with some basic moves, stuff Dongwoo was pretty sure he had learnt when he was still a beginning dance student. There were at least a handful of students who couldn’t seem to get it right, and Dongwoo had to suppress the urge to go ahead and help them himself. Instead, he watched Mr. Lee correct their moves patiently and advise them softly. 

The class ended after an hour and a half and Dongwoo had to admit that although he wasn’t actually learning anything, he was having fun. He had made a few friends, like Sungyeol, who was working as a full time barista at the coffee store down the street but thought that picking up dance would be fun and healthy. Sungyeol had cringed slightly when he said healthy. Or Woohyun, who had flirted with Dongwoo for almost 20 minutes before Dongwoo couldn't take it anymore and burst out laughing, revealing that he was happily married.

Dongwoo was looking forward to the next class, which would take place 3 days from then. Mr. Lee’s classes were every Monday, Thursday, and Sunday. Dongwoo had shook Mr. Lee’s hand and thanked him for his hardwork before he left. 

When Dongwoo had gotten home, he had called Sunggyu, who was still at the office, to tell him about the class, jumping back and forth between his words and slipping up his sentences as he remembered things halfway through a story. Sunggyu had chuckled at this before he grew annoyed the next few times, and in the end he told Dongwoo to either tell it properly or to stop altogether. Dongwoo decided to stop, knowing he wouldn’t be able to tell it properly. Then Dongwoo had bid Sunggyu goodnight and blew a loud kiss through the phone. When he heard the dial tone, Dongwoo set his phone down beside him on the empty pillow and promptly fell asleep.

“Ma?” 

Dongwoo was on his break when his phone started to ring. 

“Dongwoo, my baby, how are you?”

Dongwoo smiled and told his students to give him another 5 minutes.

“Ma, you know I have class now! But I’ll give you 4 minutes and call you again later.”

“Oh! That’s right! I forgot, sometimes I still think you’re working at Sunggyu’s and that you’re having your lunch break right about now with Sunggyu and guys would be so cute together, sharing food and flirting but still not admiting that you liked each other.”

Even though he couldn’t see her, Dongwoo was imagining her grinning as she rested her free hand on her waist, as she usually did when reminiscing. Dongwoo chuckled at the memory. 

“You know it’s alright, ma. How’s dad?”

“Your father’s doing fine, building another piece of furniture outside actually. How are you and Sunggyu?”

Dongwoo paused as he surveyed his class. Some students were going over what they learnt, to which he gave a big thumbs up to when they looked his way, and some were simply chit chatting, which he frowned at but decided not to interrupt. 

“Well, you know Sunggyu. Always working, always busy. He hasn’t slept in his own bed for a week!” Dongwoo chuckled, “And I’m doing fine. We’re planning to have a weekend together down at Bukhansan, for our 3rd anniversary.”

“That sounds lovely, the views should be lovely this time of year. I remember on our 3rd anniversary, your father had brought me to this absolutely stunning cliffside and we had lunch there and danced with the music from the car radio.”

Dongwoo smiled. His parents were always so sweet to each other. This was the type of relationship he wanted to have with Sunggyu. His students were starting to get restless as the ones practising got bored and the ones chatting got louder.

“Ma, I’ve got to go now but I’ll call you later, okay? I love you.”

As soon as Dongwoo ended the call, his students zipped back into formation and Dongwoo grinned at their efficiency. 

Later, as he walked back to the studio only 2 hours after he had left from his last class, Dongwoo ran into Mr. Lee. The taller dance instructor was currently trying to close the front door while juggling his gym bag and shoe bag amongst several other things. Dongwoo quickly rushed up to him and shut it for him, greeting him as he closed the door.

“Good evening, Mr. Lee.”

“Good evening… Sorry, your name is?”

Dongwoo had started towards the studio door, walking next to Mr. Lee. 

“I’m Dongwoo, a student of yours.”

“Ah, no, I remember you, I’ve just never caught your name.”

Laughing, Dongwoo opened the door for the both of them and he flicked on the lights as if he owned the studio room.

“You seem very familiar with the room, Dongwoo.”

“Hmm? Oh, let me tell you a secret.”

Dongwoo walked to where Mr. Lee was putting his stuff into the pigeon boxes by the side of the room. Mr. Lee looked up expectantly at Dongwoo, taking off his cap and running his fingers through the flattened hair.

“What is it?”

Dongwoo grinned and sidled right up to Mr. Lee’s face.

“Well, Mr. Lee-“

“Call me Howon.”

“Well, Howon, my day job is actually as a dance instructor. Right in this very studio too! I think we even work for the same company.”

Howon was obviously taken aback. Because he literally took a step back.

“What? Then what are you doing here?”

“I just wanted to see how the night- classes were.” 

Howon had nodded slowly.

“Assessing the competition, huh? So, this means that you're the guy occupies this studio almost every hour of every day.” 

“Technically not every hour, cause I’m only here during the day, but yes, every day of the week.”

Mulling over it, Howon continued to nod to himself, occasionally looking over at Dongwoo.

“I’ll have to come see the day- class one day.”

Dongwoo grinned. 

Dongwoo had rushed home on Thursday night, after having cancelled his last class of the day, thinking that it was cutting a little too close. It was the official day of their 3rd anniversary and Dongwoo had been rushing around for hours after his last class ended, picking up flowers and food and tidying up the apartment, just the way Sunggyu liked it. 

He had placed the floral arrangement in a hand- painted bottle (yes, he painted it himself not too long ago), prepared the nice white plates around the round table and was just turning on the stereo to their favourite ballad singer when he heard his phone beeping on the kitchen counter.

Rushing back, Dongwoo grinned even wider than he already was when he saw that it was Sunggyu calling.

“Gyu, are you almost home?”

There was a hesitant pause on the other side.

“Baby, I’m so sorry but a crisis has come up and I don’t think I can make it home tonight.”

Dongwoo actually felt the nice atmosphere get out from the room. And any kind of air just squeezed out from his lungs. He took a deep breath and turned off the stereo with the remote in his hand as he leaned his hip against the counter.

“But. Gyu, we’re supposed to have awesome anniversary and then go to Bukhansan tomorrow. What about tomorrow?”

The rustle of frantic paperwork was interrupted as Sunggyu’s strained voice replaced it.

“Baby, I’m sorry but I really need to go. We’ll see about tomorrow.”

The call ended and Dongwoo simply sighed as he placed the phone back onto the counter. Dongwoo began to gather up the plates he had laid out, placing them back in their cupboards. Then, he had picked up the bottle and put it on the table that stood by the front door, knowing that Sunggyu would see them as he put down his briefcase, if he ever came home. He would appreciate the flowers, Dongwoo mused. 

Dongwoo looked at the time after he finished putting everything back, realising that Howon’s class was still in session. Feeling like he needed a little (or a lot) pick- me- up, Dongwoo changed and headed to the studio, leaving his phone on the counter and his bag back at home.

When he opened the studio doors and saw that the class was practising a move and that Howon was not currently teaching, he quickly rushed inside. As soon as Dongwoo made it back to his usual spot at the back of the class, he greeted Sungyeol at his right and Myungsoo at his left. Woohyun turned and winked but Dongwoo only managed a small smile.

Howon walked up to Dongwoo at the end of the class. Sungyeol waved to Dongwoo as the gangly boy was leaving through the doors, but he was cut short as Myungsoo pulled him out forcefully. 

“Dongwoo, you were late today. Don’t tell me you got lost on the way here.”

Howon's voice was bright with humor. Dongwoo only smiled slightly at the joke. Howon handed him a bottle of water and took a seat next to Dongwoo, who was sitting with his back to the mirror. Towards the end of the class, when everyone was practising the latest move, Dongwoo had started thinking about Sunggyu and had managed to get himself to feel angry and frustrated. So he had started to dance as he would to work out tension, which was unfortunately, a normal thing for him. He was spinning and tripping to the music playing only in his head. 

The rest of the students had turned around in awe, after seeing his reflection in the mirrors. Sungyeol had watched with a gaping mouth, and Myungsoo had only smirked, as if he knew that Dongwoo was a seasoned dancer all this time. 

“And I think you scared some of my students with your little dance just now.”

Dongwoo chuckled softly, taking a sip from the water before he set it back down between them.

“Is something wrong, Dongwoo?”

At first, Dongwoo had shook his head. But then he nodded, after he realised that even though he had a handful of close friends, none of them had ever seen the frustrated side of him, nor knew when he was, or if he ever was. Then, he had nodded and had gotten weirdly emotional when he thought about Sunggyu. The bitter feeling twisted in his chest and gripped at his stomach and Dongwoo felt himself tearing up.

It was their 3rd anniversary for god’s sake! He understood that Sunggyu had responsibilities, especially when he owned the company all by himself. He understood that every time he fell asleep next to an empty side of the bed, Sunggyu was working hard to keep his company excelling.  And Dongwoo understood why Sunggyu had to cancel on their 2nd anniversary as well.

But sometimes, it didn’t feel enough to just understand. It wasn’t enough to have Sunggyu call as Dongwoo was brushing his teeth to tell him about the latest crisis and to wish him goodnight and tell him a rushed ‘I love you’, as he apologised for not coming home. And when they had had makeup last year after Sunggyu missed their anniversary, Dongwoo was crying because he was afraid that Sunggyu would miss the next one. But Sunggyu had only held onto him tightener, and promised him that he wouldn’t. 

Dongwoo knew Howon was probably panicking by his side right now. Probably worried about what to do with a crying Dongwoo. So he pressed the heel of his palms to his eyes and tried to stop the sobs. When he thought the tears had stopped flowing, he pulled his hands away from his face and sniffled.

“I guess something’s wrong.”

Howon spoke softly, and he had then pulled Dongwoo in for a hug. 

Dongwoo had been accompanied by Howon as he walked home to his apartment complex, and he had hugged Howon too, before he left. When Dongwoo let himself into the apartment, he noticed the absence of a briefcase by the table and only sighed. 

After they had left the studio, Howon had dragged Dongwoo to the nearby dessert shop and they had shared 2 waffle ice cream plates as Dongwoo told him about Sunggyu and everything that made him cry. And Howon had only stuffed a spoonful of the perfect combination of fruit, ice- cream and waffle into Dongwoo's mouth every time he started to choke on his words and felt like he was about to cry.

The next morning, Dongwoo threw an arm onto the other side of the bed, only to find it void of a warm body as his arm simply fell flat against the soft but cold sheets. A deep sigh left Dongwoo’s lips as he sat up. 

Dongwoo padded into the kitchen for breakfast and he checked his phone as he dug through the fridge.

There were 3 missed calls from Sunggyu and 1 miss call from Howon from last night when Dongwoo gave him his number. 

Finding the takeout box from 2 days ago, Dongwoo stuck it into the microwave after sprinkling some water from onto the rice. He called Sunggyu as the microwave hummed in the background. 

“Dongwoo?”

Sunggyu’s voice was a little tired but also worried.

“Gyu? I’m sorry I missed your calls last night, I was out and forgot to take my phone along.”

That was a lie. He had purposely left it behind, afraid to get a message from Sunggyu telling that tomorrow was definitely cancelled. But he knew that they would probably never get to go anyways. 

“It’s okay, baby, I was pretty worried, though. Just be careful without your phone. Anyways, I’m wrapping things up here but tying up all these loose knots will probably take a whole day. Why don’t you go to Bukhansan yourself? You deserve the break. And it’d be a waste to cancel the booking for the hotel room.”

The beep in the background stopped Dongwoo from bursting into the phone. As he picked up a dishcloth to take the hot takeout box out, he sighed into the phone.

“Gyu, I love you a lot, you know that right? How can I go on this trip without you? And me, need a break? What about you? You’ve been overworking yourself lately.”

“It’ll be alright, Dongwoo. Just go, why don’t you invite that guy you made friends with in dance class?”

He meant Sungyeol. As if Sungyeol could replace the man he loved with his whole being. But he relented. He could tell Sunggyu was antsy to get back to work.

“Alright. I love you, Gyu.”

“Love you to-“

The call ended before his sentence did and Dongwoo knew from experience was probably because he was too excited to get back into work. As Dongwoo dug into his rice and curry, he considered going to Bukhansan. The problem was, did he really want to go without Sunggyu? Of course not. Even though he was upset and slightly angry at Sunggyu, despite understanding why he couldn’t go, Dongwoo didn’t think he could bear going on a trip they planned together without him.