#dancer!yeonjun

Yeonjun was soft, oversize hoodies, sweaty hugs, the fluidity of dance moves, the duality of him on and off-stage, the green tea shampoo he used, the cherry blossom detergent he washed his practice clothes with, and the gentle smile looking back at you in the mirror.

You and Yeonjun met at a dance studio. Not so surprising because he was a professional dancer there, but you didn’t know that, and you went there for a beginner hip-hop class because you had been eyeing it for some time, and you finally decided to give it a try. Since you had never been to the practice rooms before, only at the offices to hand in your application, you asked the receptionist where you would find the practice room for the beginner-level class starting at 7. She told you the directions, and then you went on your way.

Initially, you were very confident, remembering every direction the receptionist had just told you, but when you walked into a practice room, and only one sweaty boy was there, you were quick to turn on your heels.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to interrupt you,” you apologised with a semi-awkward smile, knowing all too well that your teacher would be a female dancer, so it couldn’t be your teacher who was there before the beginning of the class.

Not to mention that this boy looked as if he had run a marathon, sweating through his grey hoodie (yet not discarding it) and panting while you were excusing yourself. He wore sneakers and shorts with the hoodie which seemed like an odd combination to you since you were the type to feel cold in your legs first, but maybe he felt cold in his upper body first.

He raised his hands in the air, motioning you to stop, and you did so, taking in his slender figure, those deep, jet-black orbs and those fluffy, midnight-black locks. He ran a hand through his hair before clearing his throat, speaking up.

“No, it’s fine. Have you booked the slot after mine?” he inquired as he put his hands on his hips, furrowing his eyebrows as if he wanted to make sure that he didn’t interrupt your practice session which couldn’t have been further from the truth.

“Uhmm well, no. I was looking for the practice room for the beginner-level hip-hop class, and I’ve thought that it would be this one, but it turns out it’s not,” you stated the obvious, letting out a chuckle, soon followed by the boy’s wholehearted laughter.

“Ah, that’s fine. This place is like a labyrinth,” he added casually, probably to soothe your nerves, but if anything, him with that lopsided smile, his sweaty yet attractive state, and those warm eyes only made your nerves act up even more. “Let me help you find your practice room,” he suggested in a friendly way, but you were quick to protest.

“Oh, no, you don’t need to! I wouldn’t want to keep you up.”

“You’re not keeping me up. I was supposed to finish about half an hour ago, but I got carried away,” he admitted a bit sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck. He averted his eyes to the clock on the wall, nodding to himself as if confirming that he was indeed staying longer than he wanted, then looking back at you. The way he looked at you so expectantly made your heart go wild, and you really couldn’t say no to him when he looked at you like that.

“Well, thanks in advance then,” you gave in, flashing him a friendly smile, and he did the same, jogging up to you to fall in step with you.

While you were walking towards the practice room he thought where the class would be (he told you that beginner-level classes were in a different section of the building, and usually night classes were held in the same rooms each day), you exchanged introductions. The boy even told you about how he had ended up at the HYBE Dance Studio, and you listened to him attentively, absorbing his words as if it was medicine. It could be seen based on even such a short conversation how much he loved dancing, and it made you smile - his passion and enthusiasm for something that you had been also eyeing for some time. Sure, you didn’t want to become a professional dancer yourself, but his enthusiasm was definitely contagious. You felt like you were at the right place to learn dance.

That day, before you would say goodbye to each other, he gave you his Kakaotalk ID in case you needed help with the directions in the building, or if you needed help with dancing, and you couldn’t help but blush deeply, not knowing just how much time you would spend with him in the future.

Yeonjun was childlike sulking, flirty remarks and teasing smiles, the energy that lifted you up, the joy that slowly crawled into your days, the warmth that spreaded through your veins whenever he was around, and the sunshine peaking through the clouds after a stormy night.

After your first encounter, Yeonjun started dropping by the practice room where your class was, and while it was initially embarrassing because he would come to see you dance and practice with the others, and you were nowhere near good, it became less awkward after a while. The boy was as supportive as one could be, and he usually stayed after the classes to help you whenever you were under the weather because you didn’t get a sequence right. And even though he would take it seriously to help you with dancing, otherwise he was joking around so much that your stomach usually hurt after meeting him. He wasn’t afraid of breaking into twerking or dancing foolishly, but he also showed you the Watermelon Sugar & Blow performance he was working on, and it literally blew your mind.

“You can’t tell me you find my dancing enjoyable when you dance like this,” you chuckled, sinking down to the ground to do some cool down exercises.

The boy dropped a lazy, pretty smug grin, and you wished you could give him the satisfaction of not seeing you affected by his actions, but your cheeks flushed immediately, and he caught sight of that which pulled his lips into an even wider grin.

“But it’s soooo cute!” He cooed as he leaned closer and raised his voice to sound more high-pitched. You laughed, nudging his shoulder to hide your embarrassment at his words (and also to push him further from you because he appeared dangerously close). Yeonjun joined you in on the laughter, then cleared his throat.

“Anyways, dancing isn’t just about how it looks. It’s also about how it feels, and it can be seen that you enjoy it, and that you’re confident even though the moves may not be on point all the time. You may not believe it, but it’s something that people who have been dancing for years find difficult: to appear confident. So that’s why I like watching you dance. You have the confidence and the passion, and it shows.”

You were speechless, safe to say. No one had ever said such a monologue about your dancing even though you showed some practice videos to your friends and family, so he wasn’t the only one who saw you dancing like that. Yet, maybe he was the only one who actually saw you; saw you behind the hairflips and the hip moves and all those confident facial expressions.

Given that he was a professional dancer himself, his compliment felt extra nice, but you couldn’t deny that you were affected by his words to this extent because you had warmed up to each other in the last few months, and maybe, just maybe, someone had fallen in love along the way. Yeonjun was easy to be around, and you found yourself looking forward to your dance practices more because you could meet him afterwards than because of the practice itself. It was silly, you knew, especially since the boy seemed generally very flirty, but the more time you spent together, the stronger your feelings grew, and you couldn’t help it.

So it was not only because of his compliment that your cheeks were tinted burgundy, but of course, Yeonjun being Yeonjun, he couldn’t not comment on your very much obvious reaction.

“Ooooh, you’re blushing!” Yeonjun teased as he pointed at your face, and you yanked his hand away in an attempt to counterattack him, but he didn’t back down. Instead, he let you try and push his hands away time and time again until he caught your wrist and pulled you closer.

You gulped as you looked into his jet-black orbs. You saw your reflection in his eyes, and you wondered what he could see in that moment. You saw him, the slightly amused tugging of his lips, the curiosity bathing in caution in his eyes, the drops of sweat sliding down his slightly heated cheeks, the defined features of a 20-something boy, and you knew in that moment that you lost. You lost against your feelings for him.

“Where does your confidence go whenever you’re close to me like this?” he inquired, but instead of a teasing edge to his words, there was gentleness lacing his question, and it made your heart drop.

“You have this effect on me. I can’t help it,” you admitted, almost as a whisper, a secret shared between the beating hearts of yours, the air around you two still and heavy with questions and anticipation.

“You can be confident around me. I won’t hurt you,” he breathed out as he leaned even closer, close enough for you to hear his even breathing and his steady heartbeat. So he was actually this calm when he was so close to you? His heart didn’t race as yours did. Maybe it’s because everything was written on your face already, but you… you didn’t quite want to believe that he was feeling this way.

“I know,” you confirmed feebly, already falling, falling so hard, but if he was there to catch you, you didn’t mind. He made you dizzy, his closeness making you lightheaded, and the air between you two was searing, and you were afraid that you would burn to ashes if you weren’t careful. But maybe he wasn’t the fire itself, he was the match that lit up the fire inside of you.

“Then, what are you afraid of?”

“It’s scary…” You started, your breath hitching in your throat when you saw his eyelashes fall heavily, painting dark little crescents under his eyes. However, when you continued, he opened his eyes, as if waking from a daze. “It’s scary how much I can feel and how intensively.”

“You’re not the only one who feels that way,” he confessed softly as a small smile was making its way onto his mellow lips, and you were mesmerized by the simplicity yet complexity of such a gaze, of such a touch, of such a proximity. You were feeling nothing and everything at the same time, you felt heavy and weightless, your heartbeat was loud and silent. Everything was like this with him; having two sides, making you feel so deeply.

Yet, when he leaned even closer, the world went quiet, and your heartbeat didn’t bother you anymore. You were bewitched, you were drugged, you were under his spell, but you didn’t want to escape from it. You would gladly stay like that, your lips slowly exploring each other’s, your breaths intertwined, your hands fitting like two halves of the same heart, and your love being engraved into each other’s memories.

Yeonjun was mint chocolate-flavoured kisses, amusement park dates, random plushie gifts out of the blue, mirror selfies being sent each and every day, proud smiles whenever he could call you his girlfriend, and couple outfits that he picked out for the two of you.

Honestly, just as much as you were different with Yeonjun, you found out that you two were pretty compatible with each other despite all of your differences. While you prompted him to do better with his time management, he helped you to loosen up; while you reminded him to take breaks between his dance practices, he was there to assist you whenever you were struggling with a part in a choreography; while you were sometimes very much affected by others' opinion about you, he was there to tell you time and time again that you were enough just the way you were, and whenever he doubted himself because of a mistake he made, you supported him, even if it meant repeating the same soothing words into the phone at 2AM or getting him his favourite mint choco ice cream.

With him, every day felt like a new chance, a new opportunity to learn more about each other, and while you had initially assumed that he was always very confident, very flirty and sometimes very smug, he could be doubtful and shy and going into his little shell, but you loved him even more because he dared to show you such sides of him. You did the same, too, though it was difficult to not feel like a bother whenever you were down, cried because of something that someone said to you, and you just wanted to escape reality. He was there to remind you that he wanted to listen to you, take care of you and see you even if you were under the weather because you did the same, and because he wanted yours to be a genuine relationship.

Sure, there were ups and downs, but for all the times you shared a wholehearted laughter, for all the times he ruffled your hair only for you to do the same to him, for all the times he backhugged you in the middle of showing him a choreography you were taught, for all the rare times he blushed and pursed his lips when he was trying to hide how pleased he was, for all the times you could call him your boyfriend and he did the same, for all the times he greeted you with a quick, sweet peck on the lips and said goodbye to you with a long, remedy-like kiss, and for all the times you felt found and loved and cared for, you would have never regretted meeting him.

Not to mention that going on dates was always an adventure with him. Sometimes it was because he was so clumsy, and literally anything could happen to him while he was doing something (like how he almost fell into a pond while you were visiting a traditional Korean palace, how he spilled coffee onto you the first time you went on a coffee shop date, how he tripped over himself and fell to the ground while you were trying to find your seats in the already dark cinema hall and so on…), you just enjoyed being together with him, no matter the outcome.

No wonder you were so curious as to what you could expect that day, but wanting it to be a secret, Yeonjun kept his mouth shut, failing to hide his smirk whenever you gave him a glare on your way to the place he was taking you. You took the bus together, and you were playing the sulky one, pouting as if it could change his mind.

“Nope. I won’t tell you. You can look at me with those puppy eyes, but I won’t tell you. What’s the fun in that?” He stuck his tongue out at you, and you scoffed at that.

“You know I like routines, and I like planning ahead,” you reminded him as you crossed your arms in front of your chest as if you were actually angry with him, hoping that he would get the sign and try to make it up to you.

However, the boy merely let out a chuckle (a genuine, joyous one that was filled with affection, care and amusement), and leaned closer to ruffle your hair.

“I know that very well, but it’s my job as your boyfriend to surprise you from time to time. You don’t want a boring boyfriend, right?” He wiggled his eyebrows, and gosh, how could you object? He was right, he was so damn right, and he knew it. He liked acting so cocky when he knew he was right, you just tried to deny it (and you usually failed terribly because your blushing cheeks gave you away), but you liked when he was acting like that, you just wouldn’t want to admit it.

“Well, I guess you might be right…” You said with a sigh just as the bus came to a halt, and the boy grabbed your arm, hurrying you to get off because it was your stop. In a hurry, you both ran to the nearest door and hopped down, panting from the abrupt jog. Then, you exchanged a glance and burst into laughter. That was just so like him; so like the dates you were on with him.

You needed to walk a bit further to get where the boy planned your day to be, but when you saw the sign by the entrance, your hands flew to your mouth in disbelief.

“Oh my gosh! You really brought me here!” You exclaimed beamingly as you turned to the boy who boasted a content smile.

“Well, yeah, I’ve remembered that you said that you couldn’t have a dog while you were growing up, and you can’t do now either because you rent a flat and you wouldn’t want to burden your flatmates, so I’ve figured you might still enjoy walking some dogs,” the boy explained thoroughly, and just by his words, you realised yet again just how attentively he was listening to you, and how much he remembered about what you had said in the past.

He was right, so bringing you to an animal shelter to walk the poor dogs that were still stuck there was literally the sweetest, most wholesome date he could have planned. You both got one puppy at first, and you walked them around the green area that was around the animal shelter, but you didn’t stop there. You were there literally the whole afternoon, walking the dogs and playing with them, and just as good as the boy was with people, he befriended the doggies pretty quickly, and you had such a fun time with him and the cute pets that you took dozens of pictures and videos, and you still looked at them as you were on your way back home on the bus.

“I’ve told you it would be worth it, right?” Yeonjun teased you, and you didn’t even want to counterattack him. You had the best day ever, and you felt like you could hug him forever, that’s just how thankful you were.

“You were right. Thank you so so so much again!” You said, pressing a kiss on his cheek before snuggling up to him to rest your head in the croak of his neck while you intertwined your fingers with his. It seemed just so fitting, so perfectly fitting: your hands in his, your hearts beating at the same time, your memories being displayed in your head.

“You’ve already said that and I’ve already said it, but you’re welcome,” he mentioned with a slight chuckle, and pressed a soft kiss on your forehead.

Yeonjun was the light and the dark, the hope and the sorrow, the hard work and the joyous play, he was all the colours on a palette, both the sunset and the sunrise, and the fragrance of the cherry blossoms at the beginning of dawn, inviting you on a hopeful journey, transitioning nature rotationally.