"Hey."

Gently prodding. Ow. Everything ached, everything just hurt. 

I blearily opened my eyes and rubbed at them tiredly to find that they were tugged away from my face by a firm grip. 

"Don't rub, it's bad for you." 

I froze at the voice and slowly blinked my eyes until the familiar face of Jongin oppa came into focus. 

"Hello there." I said casually. He just gave me an unimpressed look and hauled me up from where I was lying on the floor. 

"How long have you been here?" he asked in a monotone voice and I glanced at him surprised. 

"Not long enough." I sighed. There was a short silence in which I pointedly ignored his glare that felt like it was boring a hole through my head. 

"Nothing's working." I said finally. "My moves aren't sharp enough, Hyo unni's in my group, I'm not fast enough, Hyo unni's in my group, I tried to do a double twist today and I fell and my back hurts - did I mention Hyo unni's in my group?" 

I was met with silence so I peeked up to see Jongin oppa smiling at me. 

"You're really cute." he said off-handedly and I rolled my eyes. 

"That's not the problem! I gained weight oppa! How awful is that?!" I wailed. He simply chuckled and smothered me in a gently hug, my head tucking against the crook of his neck. 

"Ah I missed you Heri." he murmured into my hair. I could hear his heart beating and through his warm chest and sighed. 

"You're the one that's been ignoring me." I mumbled in a huff. He laughed.

"Who is this Hyo unnie?" he asked, holding me at an arms length and studying me carefully. 

"Oh no one, just a dance genius that I'm competing against for my career in three weeks." I groaned.

"I'll check her out." he said casually and I raised an eyebrow. He rolled his eyes. "Dance-wise, you idiot." 

"Suree." I replied. "She's super hot."

"Well I guess I'll see tomorrow." he said cheekily and I whacked him, proclaiming 'I hate you' loudly. 

"Let's see how your pieces are going." he said finally in a serious tone. I nodded before turning on music for a quick warmup. 

Two hours later, I was sweating like a pig, and Jongin oppa looked the same as he had when he walked in. 

"Heri, I know you've been trying but - " 

"Save it, tell me outright what I have to do." I cut in swiftly. I didn't need anyone sugar coating my improvements. He nodded and I saw a gleam of what seemed like respect in his eyes.

"The middle part of your dance is a mess." he started and I barely suppressed a wince. "Your stamina is low to almost nothing and you really need to do more leg exercises for those snaps for your second piece. The pop and locking is mediocre and we're going to have to do some work with the shoulders."

I breathed out slowly, trying to get my heartbeat to lower so I could go back to doing more practice before nodding firmly. This was a lot of critique to be getting after a whole week was gone, I reprimanded myself. I knew I had been working, but it was useless if I hadn't been working on the right stuff. 

"Let's do this bit again." Jongin said, glancing at the time: 05:19. "We'll practice till 06:30." 

I immediately refused to this as I knew that Hyo and Jess came in to practise at 06:00, sometimes 05:30. I didn't want to be seen practising with Kai, who was supposed to be working with the other team. 

"You should go oppa. Thanks a lot for your help, I know it must have taken a chunk out of your practising time." I told him. He nodded, looking forlorn as he tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. 

"Work hard, Heri. You'll get there I promise." he said softly, brushing his lips against my forehead before grabbing his hoodie and leaving. I stood still for a further few seconds before massaging my legs to try and reduce the aches. 

I then focused on my reflection as I moved.

-o-

Jess and Hyo came in around 06:00, muttering tired 'hello's. 

"When did you get in?" Jess asked as she slumped onto the sofa. 

"Just around half an hour ago." I lied as I continued repeating the shoulder move. 

"You never come to breakfast or dinner." Hyo said as she began warming up with stretches. 

"Sorry.."