“Would you…like to dance?” He flashed a sheepish smile her way and her cheeks burned as red as they could get. He could barely see her facial expressions, with the faint light emanating from the bulb positioned at a corner of the room as their only light source. But when she acted that way, fiddling with her dress or else inattentively removing a strand of hair off of her forehead, he would know she was feeling quite bashful. And he could definitely be sure of how flushed those cheeks could get.

They were in the studio. He had promised to take her there and introduce her to the other Super Junior members once they were not very busy. She stood with her back attached to the wall, watching as he was dancing a few steps from their rehearsal awhile ago.

“Are you crazy?” she retorted to keep herself from blushing all the more. “There’s no music.”

Indeed, there was no music. He could have told her he could turn the radio on or else let them use his earphones for them to have a little piece of music. Or he could have told her, You’re going to dance with Super Junior’s lead dancer, Lee Hyukjae, Miss. You don’t need music. He will just guide you on the dance floor. But he chose to answer her question. “I think I am crazy.” He bowed his head, trying his best to hide the grin that portrayed the pleasant thoughts that were running through his head—

“Oh really…” Her lips curved into a smile and both of her eyebrows rose.

—Thoughts of her and how lovely she looked, even in the near-darkness. He had always thought she was charming, witty, brilliant and many other nice things.  But he had barely mentioned anything to her. It was not really like him to not say something to anyone, but with her, things are different. A look from her could make him think of thousands of nice words to say but he is silenced at the attempt to voice out those things. He would rather just stand there and stare and think about how in the world she could be his and his alone. One thing was clear, though…

“About you,” he tried to reply nonchalantly but it was his turn to feel the warm sensation on both of his cheeks. Realizing what he just blurted out, he said, “Aigoo!”

…He was crazy about her. And that was even an understatement. He loved her with every beat of his heart.

She let out a soft chuckle. “You can be really mushy sometimes, do you know that? And do I see such a flushed face right there? Oh, I admit I have never seen this side of you before.”

“Ya! Can you at least pretend to appreciate what your boyfriend is trying to do here? Aish,” he mumbled grumpily and stomped his feet, or at least pretended to. He could never get mad at her. Ever.

“Awww…” she chortled all the more. “You called yourself my boyfriend. Have I heard right?” she said in a sing-song voice.

He rolled his eyes this time and walked over to where she was. He took her hands in his and looked into her eyes. “You do know that I love you, right?”

She merely smiled.

“And I know for sure you love me the same way,” he said audaciously as if it were an offense to know otherwise.

“Hmmm…very cheeky of yours to put it that way, but yes, very, indeed,” she replied as she returned his gaze, looking deeply into his eyes and trying her best to avoid those lips that were just one of the most amazing pairs in the world.

“So…let me have a dance with you tonight.” It was not a question. He pulled her towards the center of the studio as he walked backwards, continuing to stare at her face. He slowly drew her closer into a hug and put his hands on top of her waist on her back. It did not matter that she was no dancer. She could have just stood there for all he cared. She was in his arms. That was all that mattered.

“But there’s no music,” she reiterated as he started to lead her to a series of slow steps.

“Shhh…” he replied. “Just listen to my heartbeat in sync with yours. Don’t you think that’s music to the ears?” Having said that, he still began to hum a soft tune that fit the mellow scene in which they glided, ever so easily, on the wooden dance floor.

She looked up at him, beaming, with tears that had begun to make her eyes blurry. “I love you.”

“I love you too…” he responded and he was sure at that time it was true.