he’s not blind. he also has been in the same training group with yohan for a handful of months now, and that in combination with their history leads him to understand a little bit more about what yohan says, and what yohan doesn’t say. they’ve been amicable at best after their awkward re-introduction, with no thanks to both of their odd behaviours. it’s something yushin hasn’t bothered to correct after all this time. but it gets to a point where at least they’re holding some sort of conversation even if it’s smalltalk. the other trainees from the group had left already, but yohan insisted on repeating the song again and again.
“you know it’s almost an hour past practice time, right?” the clock edges more towards 6 in the evening than 5pm, which is the end of their usual morning sessions. he doesn’t mind that yohan asked him to stay behind, he doesn’t mind. after all, while he has an eye for the choreography, yushin isn’t ever going to say he’s great at it, even after a few years of practice. “here, it’s probably muscle memory at this point but you keep missing this one movement, which makes you offbeat for the rest of the chorus.” he stops the song, and moves over to yohan, moving his arm to swing in the proper direction, the one step he keeps skipping. “see here, one, two three,- then so on? yea, you’re missing the ‘three’.” and then he moves yohan’s arm ever so robotically, so that it can try to stick and replace what the younger boy has been doing repeatedly. “don’t get mad at yourself – you don’t have to say it,” the blonde gives yohan a pointed look. “i can tell. don’t be so critical. some of the trainees in this group are almost on the verge of graduating to the senior group. we’re all at different skill levels as it is. so…. don’t be so hard on yourself.”
“one more time. i’ll even do it with you this time, if you want. but…. it’s getting late and i’m getting hungry,” yushin sheepishly admits, scratching at his cheek as he looks away from yohan. “one more time then… let’s grab a bite to eat? or something? it’s friday. we should celebrate,” he says as if they don’t have practice on saturdays. unless the company gives them a little bit of a break during christmas break. it’s getting close to that time of the year.
“can you believe it’s 4 days to christmas?” he says in passing as he goes to press the music to play again. hopefully for the last time. he’s leaving with or without yohan because his stomach growls embarrassingly at the exact same time the music blares. he hopes the music was louder.
yohan knows it was a good idea in the beginning to ask yushin to stay behind and help him. he trusts yushin to be honest with him, to point out his mistakes and what he can do to fix them. but yohan feels guilty. he feels bad for asking yushin to put in extra time with him while the other trainees got to leave to rest and eat dinner.
yohan pushes himself up, leaving his waterbottle to rest against the mirror. he runs a hand through his hair and sighs heavily. he almost tells yushin to go home, to just head back without him, that he’ll work on the next few pieces together. but yohan? well he’s selfish, he must be because he bites his tongue and moves to take his position. “just once more and then hopefully i’ll get it right.” and with guilt burning in the pit of his stomach he tries to follow along with what yushin is showing him.
he swallows down his frustation and allows yushin to move him, tries to memorize what he’s showing him. but everytime he moves his arm in what he thinks is the same way, it looks off, looks stiff and unnatural. yohan’s surprised but yushin has always known how to read him better than most people, and it looks like he still knows how to. he takes a deep breath and tries to calm down. “you’re right. it just sucks because i don’t think i’ll ever get it right. it’s like no matter what i do, i just can’t get it right.”
but yohan is nothing if not stubborn, so he grits his teeth and steels his nerves and lets the music wash over him. the beginning of the song is easier, muscle memory leading him through the parts he feels comfortable with almost as easy as breathing. it’s still messy, a bit disjointed but that’s just yohan’s style it seems. but as comes up through the chorus, he stumbles a bit in his steps but he refuses to let that throw him off. instead he centers his balance and works through the rest of the routine as they move out of the chorus and into the next verse. yohan tries, tries so hard to keep his limbs in check but instead of going right, he goes left. so he stops, midstep as the music continues on until it drops into silence for a moment before re-starting.
sighing heavily to himself, he heads to the computer to shut off the music, head kept low as he tries not to give into his feelings. yohan turns to look at yushin and takes in his tired appearance and knows that he has to be hungry, because yohan himself is starving. “you’re right, it’s friday and it’s four days to christmas. do you want to go get something to eat, my treat?” they should head back to the dorm but if yohan doesn’t leave this practice room right now he’s going to spend the night here and he’s not sure that he has that in him. but food with yushin, it’s a distraction, an apology for keeping the other so long when yohan knows he’s not the best company.