"Grab a partner, we're dancing in pairs today." Miss Lee said as soon as the students filed into dance class on a Saturday morning. Flustered, Jihyun grabbed Kai since he was the nearest to her and he obliged as they both ran to the front and settled down. 

"Loosen up, everyone. This is just a mini practice and experiment I want to try. You'll be changing partners later on, but just stick to your current ones for now." She said and everyone nodded. "1 hour for you guys to come up with a routine. There's no limit to how long the dance should be. You decide.” She stated and walked to the side of the room while the pairs stood up and scattered across the room.

“What do you want to do?” Kai asked and Jihyun thought hard. “I’m actually pretty neutral about everything. But I was thinking we could do a hip hop routine?” She suggested and Kai smiled in agreement. “I like that.”

With that, they spent the next hour choreographing a short 30 seconds dance routine and even managed to rehearse it a couple of times before Miss Lee called them back to gather.

The first few pairs before them were good, but Jihyun believed they weren’t very much far off. As ‘Black Widow’ came on, Kai and Jihyun broke out into powerful dance moves as they hit every beat. Jihyun could feel the beat pulsing through her veins, and when she looked at Kai, he gave her a small smile indicating they were doing well.

Finishing the last move with a pose, the class broke out into an applause, where Jihyun and Kai heaved a sigh of relief and hugged each other.

“We did great.” Kai commented and Jihyun nodded as she gave him a high-five. “We sure did.”

After a few more pairs finished their dance routines, Miss Lee cleared and gained the attention of everyone in the room. “After looking at everyone’s routine, I have decided to make some changes to the partners.”

Jihyun turned to Kai confidently with a smile, as she was pretty sure they would be paired up together considering they worked well during the routine. However, to her dismay, Kai got paired up with another girl, Eunmi, in their dance class, and she could tell even he was surprised they didn’t pair up together.

What surprised her even more was her new dance partner was Sehun. “Two times in a row that we’re paired up, do we really have that much fate?”

“Miss Lee, I don’t mean to be rude or anything, but I think Jihyun and I did pretty well just now. Why didn’t you continue pairing us up as partners?” Kai asked curiously and Miss Lee just smiled in return. “You’ll see.” She simply said while Kai patted Jihyun’s shoulder and went to look for Eunmi.

“Same process, one hour, one dance routine.” She announced and went to the side of the room again.

Turning to her left, Jihyun found Sehun standing beside her. “What music should we use?” She asked and Sehun thought for a while before replying, “How about ‘Can I have this dance’?” He asked and Jihyun froze.

She instantly thought back about how it used to be. It was their song. The song that held so many memories for her, the song that she used to listen to all the time, the song they loved so much they created a dance for it, the song she couldn’t bear to listen to anymore because all it did was to bring tears to her eyes.

Seeing how Jihyun had no reaction, Sehun had plugged in his phone and had already started working on the dance routine. When the song came on, it snapped Jihyun out of her thoughts and she tried to hold her tears back as the lyrics started to flow.

Looking at Sehun’s determined face, she didn’t want to ruin the mood and decided to help him with the routine. Preventing the tears from falling, she headed towards Sehun and they started working on the dance together.

The feeling was all too familiar. Even if the dance was completely different, she still reminisced the times she spent with him choreographing the dance to fit the moves perfectly. Every step was perfect and in sync to complement each other, and she missed the way they fitted so perfectly like a puzzle.

“Are you okay?” Sehun asked as he noticed Jihyun wasn’t concentrating. “I’m fine, I was just thinking.” She replied and absent-mindedly continued dancing. He didn’t know if he was imagining things, but he clearly saw her eyes glistening with tears, but it may be a mistake too.

Unlike with Kai, Jihyun didn’t have time to practice the whole routine with Sehun, and with her lack of concentration, she wasn’t able to remember some dance moves.

“We’re totally unprepared.” She sighed as she felt guilty for making so many mistakes during the routine. “Listen, we’re going to go out there and perform a good one. I know we will, so when we’re out there, just trust me, okay?” He said seriously and Jihyun nodded. “Okay.”

When it was their turn, Jihyun was visibly nervous, not only because she wasn’t prepared, but also because it was the first time she was dancing to that song in a long while.

Calming her nerves, she took a deep breath and let her body flow to the music. She remembered a couple of steps here and there, but most of them were vague. It was barely 30 seconds into the song and she gave up on recalling the dance routine as she added her own steps to it.

With every swirl and turn, Sehun caught her perfectly and she could tell he had also stopped following the routine they made as he correspond her moves. He placed an arm around her waist and guided her as he pulled her along with his hands.

Dancing with Sehun was something new; dancing with someone else apart from him was something even newer. It felt all too unfamiliar, but the unfamiliarity wasn’t unsettling, in fact, it was actually comforting and it made her feel secured as he complemented her moves.

The routine was supposed to only last for half the song, but the two of them were so caught up in the dance that they ended up dancing to the entire song. It seemed like no one else existed as they danced in a while that was only theirs, and the both of them were only snapped out of it when the song ended and applause surrounded the entire studio.

However, when Sehun wanted to share his thoughts with Jihyun, she was already gone, and Sehun caught a glimpse of a brown-haired girl running out of the studio.

His first instinct was to give chase, and he did as he ran out of the performing area and out of the dance studio while the next pair went on. Looking from left to right, he saw her turning to her left before disappearing into the next corridor. Running after her, he finally caught up and saw her curled up on a bench with her knees up and head down at the end of the corridor.

As he went nearer, he heard soft sobs and he could see her shoulders trembling. She was crying. It was the second time he had witnessed it, but he still hadn’t gotten used to it. Normally, he would’ve backed away or laughed at her, but this time, he wanted nothing but to comfort her. There was no such thing as pride standing in the way this time.

And that was what he did.

Settling on the empty seat beside her, he slowly put an arm around her shoulder, and she seemed to notice it as she looked up from her knees. That was when Sehun knew he was right, her tear-stricken face made his heart fall, and when she broke into a fresh wave of tears, he pulled her in while she sobbed her heart out.

Breaking out into loud, crying sobs, Jihyun couldn’t care less if anyone would see her in her current state. All she wanted to do was cry her heart out and all the troubles away.

Giving occasional pats on her back, Sehun couldn’t help but wonder why she had broken down even though they had done well during the routine. He was pretty sure he wasn’t harsh on her, and he thought they had done pretty well.

Finally stopping after a long while, Jihyun wiped her tears off her face and straightened up, causing Sehun to release his hands from her shoulders.

“You seem to always be the one who sees me crying.” She joked lightly as she finished wiping her tears. “Yeah, I guess.” He didn’t know what to say. Should he comfort her? Should he ask her why?

Getting up from her seat, she motioned to Sehun, “Let’s go back to class. Miss Lee must be wondering where we are.” She headed towards the direction of the dance room and Sehun obliged as he followed her.

She was too overwhelmed by her feelings, and she couldn’t contain the tears that were threatening to fall during the dance. As much as she felt secured and comforting when she danced with Sehun, memories of the past came flowing back into her and it was more than she could take.

As soon as the dance ended, she rushed out of the room because she knew her tears were going to fall anytime, and she surely didn’t want anyone else to witness that. However, all her efforts went to waste as soon as she saw Sehun.

For some reason, she felt relieved when she saw him. She didn’t know why, but his presence had made her feel calmer, and had alleviated some of her sadness.

When they arrived at the practice room, they quickly took a seat at the back as the routines had just ended and Miss Lee was about to make an announcement.

“I have decided on the pairs, and apart from a few changes that I’ve done just now, all of you will stick to your pairs. We will be working on something big in a couple of week’s time, so the pairs can start getting to know each other and build up your chemistry during this period of time.” She announced and everybody nodded in response.

After a few more dance routines, Miss Lee decided to let the class off and Jihyun had gathered with the EXO boys in the middle of the dance room.

“I’m feeling barbecue tonight, anyone?” Tao asked excitedly and Kai agreed ecstatically, “Me too! I’ll call the rest!” He said as he whipped out his phone and typed in the group chat.

Within seconds, replies came in and everyone agreed to meet at their usual place for barbecue. Despite the crying session she had just now, Jihyun decided to join everyone instead of going back to the dorms to mope over the past. Putting on her best smile, she engaged in conversations and laughed along as the guys cracked jokes.

However, Sehun knew she was faking it. He could tell she was trying hard not to think about whatever was bothering her, and thus putting on a strong front. Deciding to keep an eye on her, he snagged a seat next to her at the buffet place.

The place became rowdy and noisy after the entrance of the EXO boys, with Hyorin and Jihyun. Everyone was enjoying and engaging in conversations, and no one noticed Jihyun was picking at her food and not eating at all, all except one person.

Taking a piece of meat and wrapping it with veggie, Sehun put a roll of vegetable wrap onto Jihyun’s plate, and she peered up at him when she noticed it.

Giving him a small smile, she took the roll and put it in . “Thanks.” She muttered after chewing it. He didn’t ask any questions, and she was thankful for that. She didn’t find a need to put up a strong front in front of him, because she knew he had seen it all, her weakest side and her crying moments. There was practically nothing to hide, and surprisingly, it was relieving.

Sensing she wasn’t in the mood, he spoke up and said he needed to rush the Chemistry project and pulled Jihyun along with him as they left the barbecue place together without the rest. Stepping out into the cool fresh air, Jihyun felt better.

Taking a slow walk back to the dorm, Jihyun drowned herself in the memories of her past as Sehun stayed silent and tried to figure out what she was thinking.

“It’s really peculiar how you’ve been helping me all the time when I thought you practically hated me from the start.” She suddenly said as she turned to him, causing him to halt in his tracks.

Without him realizing, his dislike for her had been lessening as the weeks go by, and he had found himself actually being okay with her presence. It seemed like it was fate that he was always there when she needed help, and when he did, she was always there too.

It was like they were always there for each other unknowingly.

He stayed silent as she continued, “We’re still affected by our pasts, so I guess we aren’t that different after all.” She remarked and he understood a little by what she said.

He guessed the reasons for her tears were the past, and even though he didn’t know what it was because, he was sure it involved someone who was precious to her.

Shrugging off his questions, he decided to respect her privacy, seeing as how she did the other time when the incident with Minjung happened. He decided to ask her another time, at least not now since she was still affected.

Without any explanation, he rushed off towards the direction of the convenience store, leaving Jihyun bewildered. “Where are you going?” She screamed while he ran into the convenience store without a reply. Standing rooted to her spot, she waited for Sehun to come out and he finally did after a couple of minutes, holding a plastic bag in his hands.

Panting hard, he put out a Chocolate ice cream and offered it to her, and she chuckled at the sight of it. He was embarrassed; he hadn’t done anything like that before, but he had vaguely remembered watching in a drama that the male lead had offered an ice cream to the female lead after she finished crying; saying things like an ice cream would help to cheer her up.

“I watched a drama and the actors were doing something like that, so I thought an ice cream would cheer you up.” He said with embarrassment and Jihyun giggled again, “Thanks.” She let out a true smile and took the ice cream.

“We’re both foolish people stuck in our past, but I know we will get through this.”