plié - a movement in which a dancer bends the knees and straightens them again, usually with the feet turned out and heels firmly on the ground.

relevé​ - a movement in which the dancer rises on the tips of the toes

-Hakyeon’s POV-

“By fifteen seconds at the very most! And you said by even one minute late I could forget it, but it hasn’t been a whole minute yet.” Sanghyuk argued after glancing past me at the clock in the studio.

“Okay, smartass. I trust you’re warmed up enough from your leisurely swim? We’ll get straight into it then. Go set your bag down in the back and bring a barre closer to the mirrors on your way back.” I didn’t miss the way he smirked triumphantly as he turned and walked to the back quickly to do as I said.

“All your class really worked on today was how to control your breathing while dancing. Something you’ve probably never really thought about, but once properly taught you’ll be able to go for long periods without gasping for air like you’ve just ran a marathon afterwards.” Sanghyuk only nodded once I finished explaining. Maybe he really is serious about this.

“Alright, first position.” Sanghyuk immediately straightened up, placed one hand gracefully on the barre and moved his feet accordingly until he was at rest in first position. I stood on the opposite side of the barre and mirrored his stance before giving further instruction.

“Breathe in for four counts as you go into relevé and take in as much air as possible in those four counts. Breathe out as you come down into plié for eight counts and try to let out all of it as you reach count eight. You’ll repeat from the plié position and rise for all eight counts back into relevé as you breathe in again and so on. Understand?” I tried to keep the nervous shake out of my voice as I explained, not really comprehending if what I said even made much sense, but Sanghyuk seemed to understand just fine. He nodded and gave an encouraging smile but other than that he remained quiet.

“Okay, I’ll give you four counts and then we’ll start together.”

It was nerve wracking how attentive and responsive he was to my teaching. Being nervous while teaching wasn’t really something I’d ever experienced. Having taught children’s ballet classes and even running the dance club at my high school I was never nervous. I always felt in control and at ease, in my element even. What made this any different from those times?

Sanghyuk did the first exercise with ease, which was expected. The first week of classes are mainly to refresh your brain and body on what you already knew and prepare them for new knowledge soon to come. It probably helped that he was already in excellent shape and knew more about how to control his breathing then he let on.

“Okay, same thing, but in second position this time. Bring your arms up as well when going into relevé and back down into the plié.” I said after six repetitions of the first exercise. “If you ever do this while warming up, don’t do more than just a few at a time. And take short breaks in between reps, otherwise you’ll get super dizzy.”

“Got it.” He nodded, keeping his gaze straight ahead.

We did the exercise together for the most part and I gave other small technique tips in between the reps while we gave our lungs a rest. Around the time we started on fifth position I continued counting out loud and moved away from the barre to slowly start circling around it. I took notice of things I couldn’t see from where I stood at the barre beforehand. The way his calves were just that more prominent up on relevé, the flex of his biceps as he moved his arms accordingly to the exercise, how his loose tank top rose up just enough to reveal a bit of his abs. Why I didn’t take more time to appreciate his abs when he was in the pool is beyond me. Focus, Hakyeon for ’s sake.

“Keep your back straight.” I snapped a bit harsher than I intended, the intensity of my voice aimed more at myself than the correction. “You’re blocking air flow bent forward like that.” I explained in a softer tone. I laid a palm flat against his back and the other on his stomach, already very aware of his abs but not at all expecting to actually feel them through his thin tank top.

“Sorry, sorry!” I rolled my eyes at his apology, ready to fire back a sarcastic remark but couldn’t find the words when he began to plié again. I might as well have been feeling him up through his shirt by that point. The hard outline of each of his abs could be felt through the fabric and had me starting to think very unprofessional thoughts. I moved away from him then and kept my face where he couldn’t see, too embarrassed by how hot my cheeks felt.

We moved on to spin exercises after that. Or rather, I instructed him on how to breathe while doing constant turns and counted him off to do so. I was beginning to prefer just watching him rather than joining in. I gave encouraging nods and praised him after each set before launching into other versions but other than that we didn’t talk.

About an hour into the lesson I had him caught all the way up to his class, as promised. I knew that I was working him harder than necessary but if he was uncomfortable with it, he didn’t show it.

We sat by our dance bags drinking out of water bottles and conversing about the rest of our class schedules. Apparently this was his only break he had throughout the day. It was only a couple of hours, but it was enough to rest a bit and eat lunch before launching into an afternoon of back-to-back classes. My schedule was a bit more lax, being in my third year at the academy. I had the first half of the day to myself, even though I was currently spending my mornings in his ballet class, and my afternoons were spent in class. Basically the opposite of Taekwoon’s schedule since he was doing interning this semester whereas I chose to put off interning until next semester, but the two of us made sure to find time for each other.

Our conversation somehow ended up on the topic of our favorite movies and musicals. I learned that he’d never actually been to see a ballet or seen a musical live in theaters since he lived more in the country and things like that mostly happened in big cities like this one. Instead he watched what he could of them online when he had free time. It was nice -strange, considering we’d never talked like this before- but still nice.

I was going to ask if he wanted to get lunch with me before having to go to class but he cut me off before I could say anything.

“I was kind of wondering, actually…” He started, voice shy and trailing off before he could finish the sentence.

“Yes?” I encouraged.

“Well, remember that night of the party when you were here practicing?” He questioned and paused to make sure I hadn’t forgotten. I nodded, still curious as to where he was going with this. “There was this one turn sequence you did, I mean when I was watching you. Wow that sounds creepy, I promise I wasn’t trying to be weird or stalker-ish but you just so happened to be practicing when I walked by and you dance really beautifully- wait that sounds weird too doesn’t it? I’m so strange, oh my-“

“You’re cute.” I snickered, smiling softly.

“Excuse me?” Sanghyuk blinked rapidly at my words, ears tinged pink.

“Anyway, you said something about a certain turn sequence? Do you remember how it went?”

“Only bits of it. I was wondering if you could possibly teach it to me?” He was adorable like this. All shy and unsure of how I would react to his question. Of course I wouldn’t mind teaching him. I would do almost anything as long as it meant getting to dance with him in any way.

“I don’t know…” I began, my tone heavy with sarcasm. “Are you sure you’re up for it? It might be a little difficult.” I finished with a smirk. Sanghyuk rolled his eyes with a matched smirk of his own.

“I’m more than sure that I can handle it. Besides, you’ll be the one teaching it to me. What could go wrong?”

“Okay. If you insist.” I said as I stood up, motioning for Sanghyuk to follow me back towards the mirrors. I plugged my phone into the sound system and went through a list of songs so that he could point out which one the turn sequence had been from.

We spent a good twenty minutes on it. I would show him a few counts of the sequence without music and have him repeat it back to me before we both would try with the music. It was like this back and forth until he got the whole sequence down with and without the music, both of us out of breath but not ready to stop.

“One more time, okay?” Sanghyuk said as he went back to start over the music. I only watched this time, standing at the opposite end of the studio where he would finish the sequence.

One would think that after the amount of time I’ve spent watching Sanghyuk dance that I would grow used to it. But I was entranced once more as he perfectly performed the turns I literally just taught him. I was pulled in once again by his elegance and gracefulness. He had started off with a serious face, fully concentrated on the beginning but as he made his way across the floor his features relaxed until he was nearly done, finishing with a triumphant smile. I could feel the greed creeping back into me, I wanted –needed- him to realize how perfect he was and how perfect we could be.

“Be my dancing partner.” I chanced as he came to a stop in front of me. It wasn’t how I originally planned on asking him, but I figured no better time to ask than the present. Every second we spent dancing just felt so right, and he had to feel it too. I was almost sure of it.

“Be what?” Sanghyuk asked, eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

“My dancing partner.” I repeated, pulling on his hand as I began to sit down, still a bit winded from when I danced the turns with him before.

“I-I don’t know about that…” I watched his chest as it rose and fell rapidly before handing him his water bottle.

“You think it’s weird because we’re both guys, huh?”

"That's not true, I used to dance with Hongbin all the time!” I smirked at how defensive he was getting and decided to play off of what he said.

"Ah, so you need to get your boyfriend's approval to dance with another guy?" I asked.

“Hongbin is not my boyfriend! We’re just friends, best friends. Practically brothers.”

“Alright, alright, easy does it, Tiger. I’m just messing with you. I’m just saying that I’m really good at ballet and it seems to be what you’re best at and I think we’re a really good match when it comes to partner dancing.”

“My major is ballet, that doesn’t mean it’s what I’m best at. I’m equally as amazing in all the other styles as well.” He said as a matter-of-factly.

“Same here.” I deadpanned before breaking into a Cheshire-like grin. “We don’t have to only dance ballet, then. I imagine dancing hip hop with you would be so fun and oh my gosh, the ballroom dance we talked about earlier! Can we try that out right now?” I asked getting unnecessarily excited just thinking about it.

“But-“

“You owe me for earlier,” I cut him off before he could fully reject, hinting at the pool incident for the first time as we caught our breaths on the floor. “Do this one thing and then tell me that we aren’t a perfect match.” Sanghyuk had mentioned knowing the choreography to the main couple’s dance in a musical that I’ve loved ever since I can remember and now all I could think about was how it would be to dance it with him.

“But it’s a waltz.”

“Weren’t you the one who just said-?”

“Fine. But if I drop you it’s your fault."

“I trust you.”

The dance, as we both very well knew, started off slow and graceful. Our mirrored steps perfectly synchronized even without music to help guide us. I noted how perfectly his hand fit into the dip of my waist and how small my hand felt in his gentle grasp. We were silent at first, but it wasn’t awkward due to the both of us trying to focus on the steps until we got more comfortable with them.

“Say that you’ll dance with me and I’ll let you ask me any question you want.” I finally spoke once the dance started to pick up pace. It was a silly bargain, but I could tell he was curious. What he was curious about probably ranged anywhere from why I decided to be nice and continue helping him to why I can’t swim. I was willing to answer almost anything in order for him to become my dance partner.

“Who says I want to ask you any sort of question?”

“Don’t you?”

“Do I?”

“Yes.”

“Maybe.” He corrected me distractedly, no doubt trying to keep up with my constant nagging while focusing on the dance.

“So you’ll dance with me?” I chanced again as he spun me out of his arms, quickly catching back up to me as I kept up the spins. His strong hands around my waist brought me back to when we first danced together earlier this week.

“Isn’t that what we’re already do- AH!” There was a mess of legs and arms as both of us tried to brace for the fall. I closed my eyes tight waiting for the hit, only to open them in surprise when it never came. Sanghyuk was awkwardly positioned over me with one of his arms pinned under my shoulder blades; he’d cushioned my fall.

“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention. Are you okay?” Both his tone and his face were full of concern when I’m more than sure he took most of the impact of the fall.

I had meant to answer him and let him know that I was fine, even make a joke about trusting him not to drop me, but the words wouldn’t come. His stare so intense it had me speechless once more, I was surprised that I could even manage a short nod. Sanghyuk let out a breath that he’d been holding as a smile broke out across his face.

“Good, because it’s your fault that I dropped you.” He nearly whispered, smile never faltering. It was contagious and I felt myself smiling as I retaliated.

“Oh really, mister ‘I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention’?” I mocked his shocked voice from before, only getting halfway through the imitation before I started to giggle at our comical position. Sanghyuk’s eyes crinkled in a way I’d never seen as his smile turned brilliant with his own laughter and I felt my heart jump at the sight. He was beautiful like this and I wanted more of it.

“Sanghyuk?” A voice by the door called out causing our laughter to cease. I followed Sanghyuk’s gaze but only got a glance at Hongbin from the weird angle from where I was still laying on the floor before Sanghyuk was hurriedly pulling himself up. He kept his arm around me and brought his free hand to my elbow to help steady me as he pulled me up with him.

Hongbin still stood at the door, his eyes now trained on the way Sanghyuk’s arm was still protectively strewn around me. Sanghyuk had practically sworn they weren’t together but there was definitely some sort of anger or jealousy in the way Hongbin looked at us. I made a move to pull away from Sanghyuk but he tightened his grasp around me.

“H-Hongbin, hi. We were just finishing up a private lesson.” Sanghyuk’s voice vibrated against where his chest was touching my side. He sounded cautious, but too careful to be speaking to the person who was supposed to be his best friend.

I decided that I was unwelcome to stick around for whatever talk was about to happen and came up with an excuse to leave.

“I... should probably go. I just remembered that I told Taekwoon I would meet him for lunch.” I lied, twisting out of Sanghyuk’s grasp and walking away to retrieve my shoes and dance bag.

I was aware of both of their eyes on me as I walked past them and to the exit. I paused with my hand on the door and turned back for a moment to be met with Hongbin’s piercing stare and Sanghyuk’s pleading gaze now willing me to leave.

The yelling started as soon as the door was nearly closed behind me. I caught onto the handle before it could fully close and left it just barely ajar.

“Why did I have to find out from Taekwoon that you almost put your scholarship in jeopardy to go swimming?! Sanghyuk I knew you could be stubborn and sometimes a bit dense, but seriously? Do you know how ing worried I’ve been all morning? I couldn’t concentrate during class because I thought something had happened to you!” Sanghyuk looked so much younger with the way he kept his eyes glued to the floor and his shoulders hunched. The way Hongbin was questioning him reminded me a lot of how Taekwoon was with me and I couldn’t help but feel bad for both parties. It definitely didn’t feel good knowing that I’d worried my best friend, but at the same time he had every right to be worried.

Hongbin paused his yelling, pushing a hand through his jet black hair but his eyes never left Sanghyuk’s form, waiting for answers to his questions. Sanghyuk remained silent which was such stark contrast to his usual stubborn arguing.

A sudden wave of guilt washed over me as I realized I was listening in on something I probably shouldn’t. I was about to turn and leave when Hongbin finally spoke up again.

“And this ‘private lesson’? It sure didn’t look like there was anything being taught. From what I saw it was just a bunch of grab-, flirting, and playing around. Which, you know, seems a bit odd to me since I can’t help but remember just last night you couldn’t stop complaining about how much you can’t stand the annoying redhead that won’t quit talking to you.” Sanghyuk’s head shot up at those words and he looked towards the door as if he was making sure I wasn’t still around to hear, eyes finding mine in an instant. “How much you just wished they’d find the new fill-in so that Hakyeon would stop hanging around your class. But you didn’t seem to mind him just now, what kind of double standard are you playing, Sanghyuk?”

My feet were moving on their own accord then. Down the hallway out the exit to the stairwell and down the steps. I didn’t stop walking until I was back into my -now empty- dorm room. My head was spinning in confusion. That whole time, was Sanghyuk just being polite because he felt bad about pulling me into the pool or was he using me to get out of trouble because of the scholarship rules?

-Hyuk’s POV-

. . . Hakyeon wasn’t supposed to still be here, what the hell!

“-what kind of double standard are you playing, Sanghyuk?”

And with that he was gone. The small window on the door that previously framed Hakyeon’s shock-written face now empty. It took everything in me to not take off after him, and even if I did I wouldn’t know what to say to him. Not to mention that it would lead to even more questioning from Hongbin.

Right, Hongbin. I shut my eyes briefly and shook my head before finally looking him in the eyes. They were dark and huge and downright scary. I’ve only seen him like this a couple times before in my life, but never have I been the direct cause of it.

“I’m sorry, okay?” I spoke slowly and carefully. There was no use arguing back when he was this angry, it would only make things worse. “I didn’t mean to worry you earlier, that wasn’t my intention whatsoever. I was in the middle of texting you back, I promise. You can check my phone if you don’t believe me, but I must have gotten distracted before I could send it.” Distracted was a way to put it I suppose, I clearly remembered being interrupted mid-text and having to go straight into the lesson. I didn’t dare tell Hongbin that, he’s already so worked up over this misunderstanding.

His eyes searched mine for a few silent moments and he must have found what he was looking for because his bitter expression softened out into a more understanding one. I was ready to drop it right there and just move on. He seemed satisfied enough with my answer and that was good enough for me, as long as we didn’t part ways whilst still angry with each other.

Hakyeon’s mortified expression flashed into my mind. I needed to find him as soon as possible to explain.

I let out an ironic huff of laughter at my situation. It seems all I’ve been doing is trying to explain things to people. Who knew that trying to clear my head would come back and bite me in the ?

“What?” I’d momentarily forgotten that Hongbin was still here, watching me curiously.

“Nothing, I just need to go find Hakyeon right now. I think he heard what you said and-”

“So what if he did?” The harsh annoyance in Hongbin’s voice was back, causing me to wince slightly. “Was it not the truth? He’s all you’ve complained about all week long, but the way you were looking at him seemed far from annoyed. Looked like you were thoroughly enjoying yourself to me.”

“He was helping me, Hongbin! And I was grateful! I was such an to him, like you have no ing idea how bad I messed up and he still agreed to help me out! I wouldn’t have skipped class if I’d known about the scholarship rules, trust me.” Mentioning the scholarship only seemed to spark his anger even further. A smile stretched across his face but it was anything but kind or happy.

“Unbelievable.” He muttered, looking around the room incredulously and then back at me. “So you’ll go to Hakyeon, someone you’ve known for maybe a week, and accept any kind of help he’s willing to give you? Because all ing summer I waited, you know me right? Your best friend? I waited and worried and sacrificed any free time I had when you would ask me to help with choreographing your solo. Every time you asked me to come help I thought ‘oh maybe today he’ll tell me what the hell is going on’. But you kept me in the dark! Hell, I’m still in the dark.”

“You never even asked me-” I began to argue, but it was useless. He wasn’t letting me get any words in. His dark smile now gone, replaced by an unamused eye roll paired with an exasperated sigh.

“Because I trusted that you would eventually tell me, Sanghyuk! We’ve always told each other everything. That’s what best friends do!” He looked confused and hurt and it hurt me to see him like this. If he would just let me talk!

“I-”

“Hongbinniiiiie!” A shrill and familiar voice rang throughout the studio as Jaehwan and Wonshik walked in. Well, Wonshik walked, Jaehwan basically sprinted over to where the two of us were standing and all but barreled into Hongbin. The confused and hurt expression Hongbin was previously sporting nowhere to be seen, only a huge dimpled -fake- smile now plastered across his features. Wow.

I tuned out whatever conversation those three jumped into and walked to the back of the studio to retrieve my bag. My phone was still sitting on top of it and still on the unfinished text to Hongbin when I unlocked the screen. I finished typing out the explanation and added in an extra apology and hit send. We never fought like this. It was scary and I didn’t like it one bit, so I was willing to do whatever I could to get us back to normal.

“Do you want to join us for lunch, Sanghyuk?” Wonshik’s soft voice called out as I reached the exit. Jaehwan and Hongbin finally halted their conversation and looked up long enough to notice that I was about to leave.

“Yeah, come eat with us! We hardly get to see you since your schedule is so different. I think they’re having spaghetti in the cafeteria today, it’s like super yummy!” Jaehwan’s smile was warm and inviting and I immediately felt bad for the harsh things I’d thought about both him and Wonshik in the past. These guys wanted to include me just as much but I continued to make it difficult.

I looked at Hongbin to see how he felt about the offer but he wasn’t paying me any attention, too engrossed in his phone.

“Thanks for the offer, but I have another class soon. I kind of spent my entire lunch break in a lesson.” It wasn’t a lie, I really did have class soon. And after spending so much time arguing with Hongbin there wasn’t any time left for me to try and find Hakyeon. It would have to wait.

“Another time, then?” Wonshik questioned with a smile.

“Definitely.” I answered, returning the smile with a nod before leaving the studio.

°°°

Hakyeon had been right.

I was called to the admissions office nearing the end of my last class of the day. I sat in the waiting room outside the office for nearly fifteen minutes before it was my turn to go in. The lady began talking as soon as I took a seat on the opposite side of her desk, going over confidentiality procedures and then telling me why I was being called into the office. It went exactly how Hakyeon explained this morning, making me wonder how he knew this would all happen.

I didn’t get to wonder for long as I was asked for any explanation or reasoning as to why I missed class. I hadn’t really thought of an excuse to use and I couldn’t just say that I decided to go swimming instead of attending class. That definitely wouldn’t go over well.

“I um, I didn’t feel very well this morning. But I did have a private lesson with one of the third years that’s been filling in during that class! His name is Cha Hakyeon.” Her eyebrows rose in what I assume was recognition at Hakyeon’s name and she wrote something down on the paper in front of her.

“Did he write up an excuse for you?”

“Ah, no I guess he forgot. It was kind of a last minute thing.” I explained. “Could you maybe call him to confirm it?” I asked. I had no idea he had to write up an excuse. This was like high school all over again when I would have to bring a doctor’s note after being absent.

She did just that. But unsurprisingly, Hakyeon didn’t answer the phone. I should have known better. He probably didn’t want anything to do with me after overhearing what Hongbin said earlier.

In the end I was given until Monday to get an excuse slip from Hakyeon and to the admissions office in order to avoid consequences. I thanked the lady and set out for the dorms to try and find Hakyeon. Hopefully he would let me explain everything, and if not... Well, I don’t want to think about ‘if not’.

“Sanghyuk-ah!” I looked up to see Taekwoon emerging from the entrance to the dorms as I approached them. He was dressed casually in jeans and a t-shirt.

“Ah, Taekw- I mean, Leo-hyung!” He smiled at my correction and shook his head slightly.

“Just because Hakyeon is the only one who calls me Taekwoon doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t. Just whichever one you’re more comfortable with is fine.” He ruffled my hair and motioned for me walk with him away from the dorms. I followed hoping maybe he would know where Hakyeon was.

“Speaking of Hakyeon, have you seen him? I forgot to get an excuse slip from him after our lesson.”

“That brainless boy, he should have remembered that on his own. I can write one for you if you want?” Taekwoon seemed sincere and it made me happy with how friendly he was. I might have taken him up on the offer if I hadn’t needed to desperately fix things with Hakyeon already. Might as well kill two birds with one stone by going to him personally to explain and ask for the slip.

“No, that’s alright. I have something I need to ask him as well.”

“Well I saw him right after he got out of class. I was going to see if he wanted to get dinner together but he said he wasn’t feeling well and went back to the dorm. He’s probably taking a nap now. When do you need the note by?” Not feeling well, eh? That’s definitely because of me.

“Monday.”

“I’ll let him know, then. That you need the excuse and needed to ask him something. But for now, join me?” He stopped walking and nodded towards the dining hall.

“Sure.” I suppose dinner couldn’t hurt.

Dinner with Taekwoon was refreshing to say the least. We talked of nothing other than dance and how we got into it. Taekwoon went on to talk about his internship and how this week he taught a few toddler ballet classes for it. He was so passionate about everything he did and I was envious. I could only hope that I was still as passionate after three years of this kind of training. I didn’t want to be one of those people who found out a couple years in that it just wasn’t for them and I really didn’t have anything else to fall back on.

After dinner I spent the rest of my evening holed up in a practice room. Going over the breathing exercises again and then the turn sequence Hakyeon taught me until it was perfect. It was really nice to take my mind off of everything that had happened today over dinner, but now as they threatened to cloud my head once more I turned the volume up on the sound system and lost myself in dancing for a few hours.

°°°

Our dorm room was dark and silent upon entering it. It was only a little after 11PM but from the light of my phone screen I could make out Hongbin’s figure in his bed facing the wall. I guess we wouldn’t be talking tonight.

I quietly moved around the room to grab some clean clothes and a towel before heading to the bathroom to take a quick shower. I used the light of my phone to find my way around the room once I was done showering and made it to my bed without any trouble. Practicing for so long had worn me out and silenced any unwanted thoughts making it easy to fall asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

*The walzt Hakyeon and Sanghyuk dance to is the walzt to 'Once Upon A December' from the movie Anastasia. (I mean, that's what I imagined it to be anyway, you can imagine whatever you'd like!)

A/N: Thank you for reading ^^