“You’re up in the second half Hyoyeonah so you can rest in the dressing room until then.”

“Neh, thankyou oppa.” Hyoyeon bowed respectfully to one of the dance trainers and peeked out into the audience through a little hole in the wall. She was searching for a face.. ‘Why wasn’t he here yet?’

“HYOYEON!” The person screamed right into her ear.

Hyoyeon jumped with a start, clutching her wildly beating heart and then turned around with her hands raised. Instantly, she began beating the taller girl on her back.

“Ouch! Stop stop… mian!” The culprit pleaded as her entire back stung from Hyoyeon rapid attack. The shorter girl complied with a satisfied grin. “Serves you right! I think I lost 5 years of my life because of you Choi Sooyoung.”

“What about me? Getting beaten up by both you and Sica all the time!” Sooyoung pouted making Hyoyeon shut her eyes at the sight of her terrifying aegyo.

Another girly giggle joined them. “Hyoyeonah! We just came to wish you luck! Knock ‘em dead!” Jessica gave her a loving hug.

“Fighting HyoHyo!” Donghae patted her head like a caring older brother.

“Thanks guys.”

The HaeSica couple left after wishing her luck once again.

Hyoyeon eyed Sooyoung suspiciously. “Why aren’t you going with them?”

“Wae? I can’t hang around backstage with my best friend? Wae? Wae? Wae? (you could tell that SooYoung was training to become an actress) Unless….” Her playful eyes lit up even brighter than Christmas lights, “you’re waiting for someone else!”

Hyoyeon’s cheeks coloured slightly.

“I’m right, aren’t I? mwahahahhaha. You can’t hide anything from the great Choi Sooyoung. I saw you peeking into the audience before I jumped on you!”

“A..ani… no… I was looking for you guys actually.”

“Yea right. What do you think? I was born yesterday?”

Hyoyeon deflated – she knew she was a bad actress – and then braced herself for more of Sooyoung’s teasing but instead she just got a rough pinch on the arm.

“Yah! Choi SooYoung what the hell?”

*Shhh..*her friend nudged her, “The person you were waiting for is here!”

Hyoyeon perked up immediately. For a moment she had been afraid that he would not be at the showcase – the thought alone made her stomach turn in knots again. She needed him there.

“I’m leaving now.. at just the right time, like the awesome best friend I am, so you better buy me a triple sundae this weekend. Bye.”

Sooyoung turned Hyoyeon around to face her visitor and then dashed out.

Hyoyeon was already smiling wide even before she turned to face him, “OP…pa~ .. ah Yoochun oppa. Y.. you’re h.. here.”

“Of course, I told you I would make it, didn’t I?” He graced her with yet another one of his gorgeous dimpled smiles.

“Thank you,” Hyoyeon bowed calmly.

But inside her brain, her thoughts were a jumbled mess. The horrible truth was that she hadn’t even noticed that Yoochun wasn’t in the audience already. Her mind had been terribly out of sync ever since the morning – like her internal wires were crossed or something.. she was thinking about things.. people she shouldn’t.. in ways that she shouldn’t.

“Hey.. are you ok? Your face is a little red.” Yoochun placed his palm on her forehead and Hyoyeon’s eyes grew wide in realization. ‘No! this is not possible.’

Sensing the hidden panic inside her, Yoochun swiftly withdrew his hand, “I’m sorry.”

But Hyoyeon was too much of a bumbling mess at the moment, to even formulate a simple response. It seemed that all her brain cells were currently engaged in figuring out a much more pressing issue. ‘Does this mean what I think it means?’

“So,” Yoochun coughed discreetly, “I guess I should be going. The intermission will be over soon and I want to grab a front row seat.”

“Y..yes of course.”

“Good luck Hyoyeonnie. I will be cheering for you!”

Guiltily, Hyoyeon gave him the biggest, most grateful smile she could muster, “Thank you really really thank you for coming.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” Yoochun gave her a handsome wink and started to walk away when Hyoyeon suddenly interrupted him, “Wait! Oppa! I was just wondering… if you could meet me after the show in the main dance room?”

The older boy was genuinely surprised. He actually adored that about her – the fact that he never knew what to expect from her.

“Sure. No problem.”

“Great. Thanks oppa.”

With brows furrowed Hyoyeon made her way to the dressing room in a daze. But slowly the determined focused side of her began to take over.

‘This is your showcase Kim Hyoyeon. Don’t mess it up by getting distracted, you idiot.’

As she turned the corner, she bumped into something ..or rather someone.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbled with her head still bowed and was continuing on towards the dressing room when the person she had collided with reached for her arm and stopped her.

*Zap*

She tugged her arm back in alarm – her entire body was left tingling.

“Hey! What’s wrong? Hyo, you okay?”

Hyoyeon looked up to find herself staring into the concerned eyes of Hyukjae…. as expected.

“Hyo?”

She quickly gave herself a shake.. “Yes yes.. I am. Just nervous I guess. You surprised me.”

“You’re nervous? The dancing queen?” his eyes twinkled playfully, “Come on, if anything it’s the audience and the rest of the performers that should be nervous. You’re going to kill it on stage.”

“How can you be so sure?”

She was genuinely curious and Hyukjae was quiet for a few beats, trying to think of the reason. But nothing seemed to come to his mind. He sought out her eyes carefully, trying to not say the wrong things and freak her out even more… finally he gave a little shrug. “It’s just a feeling… I mean, no, it’s more than that.. it’s .. umm…” (the words miraculously came to him), “it’s my faith in you, how much I believe in your talent!”

Hyoyeon’s face broke out into a gorgeous smile.

“Thanks oppa. You always know the right things to say… and because of that I’m going to even forgive you for getting here late.”

“Late! But that was also because of you.”

“Eh? How come?”

“I – ”

       “Hyoyeon you’re up in 20 minutes. Get ready and come out to stand by as soon as you can!”- It was the stage manager.

“I can explain later. We should get going first.” Hyukjae held out his arm to her and Hyoyeon tried to slide her arm into his as carefully as possible.

‘Why is she acting weird and jumpy today? Is she really that nervous?’Hyukjae asked himself silently. Not wanting to freak her out, he kept his questions to himself and instead, patted her hand comfortingly.

Hyoyeon smiled, despite the butterflies exploding in her tummy.

The showcase turned out to be a huge success and Hyoyeon’s stage was by far and long, the standout performance. Everything from her dancing to her skills and the choreography was perfect and the audience didn’t even wait for the piece to end before rising on their feet. All of Hyoyeon’s friends and family members cheered and hooted proudly.

The first face Hyoyeon sought was his – but it was a stolen glance that went unnoticed;

except by one person.

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A/N

- this chapter might be a little redundant but I just had some issues to clear up. The next chapter is ready to be posted so comment !!!! and i'll update asap. All i can say is there's a KISS  ;)

The song that the title was taken from (and i was listening to while writing this):

Can't you see?
There's a feeling that's come over me
Close my eyes
You're the only one that leaves me completely breathless

No need to wonder why
Sometimes a gift like this you can't deny

'Cause I wanted to fly,
so you gave me your wings
And time held its breath so I could see, yeah
And you set me free

There's a will
There's a way
Sometimes words just can't explain
This is real
I'm afraid
I guess this time there's just no hiding, fighting
You make me restless...