You shook your head as you stretched and slowly sat on the bed. Taehyung sat next to you and leaned to kiss your shoulder and rest his forehead on it.

“There’s a snowstorm,” he whispered, a disappointed tone in his voice.

A small gasp escaped your lips. The plans and expectations for the day ahead drifted away with the swirling snowflakes outside. Taehyung noticed how your shoulders slumped in disappointment, so he rubbed your back gently.

With a sweet raspberry kiss on your shoulder, he hoped to comfort you a little. It surely made you let out a soft giggle, but it intensified your pout. “Do you know if it will stop soon? We came to go snowboarding…”

“Mmm, no, I just woke up.” His fingers traced patterns on your arm. “I’ll check for updates.”

He reached for his phone on the nightstand and searched for any weather report. He sighed as he confirmed the unfavorable situation, his still sleepy eyes conveying so much sympathy as they locked with yours.

The howling winds outside confirmed the unfortunate circumstances, and you flopped back on the bed with a dramatic and playful sob. “So what do we do now?”

Taehyung stopped to think before he lay down next to you. “Mmm… the spa or something?”

“The spa is in the main building; we can’t go out there… we’ll probably have to stay here in our cabin.”

“Right, right.” His eyes darted to the ceiling, thoughtful. “Let’s chill then. We can keep ourselves entertained, can’t we?” Taehyung looked down at you with a cheeky sparkle in his eyes.

As he shifted closer to you, his fingers played with your hair, tangling and untangling gently. His fingertips lingered on your forehead and then traced your eyebrows, leading all the way to your cheek. He poked at the soft and squishy spot, and he lowered his voice to a honeyed whisper. “I’m happy to get… creative, if you are.”

Your lashes fluttered up, locking your gaze with his. Taehyung’s eyes dropped to your lips, his own slightly parted in anticipation, before he leaned in to capture them in a slow, charged kiss. The gentle touch of his hand lingered on your cheek.

It was so easy to melt in the feeling of his lips on yours. You felt your heartbeat syncing with his as the kiss slowly deepened. Taehyung pulled back slightly, his lips still brushing against yours as he locked your hands together and tenderly nuzzled your nose.

“Are you seriously asking me that?” He asked between his chuckles. “How many layers of sweaters are you wearing? You look so funny!” Seokjin managed to straighten himself and walk to the bed, lying beside you with a playful grin forming on his face. “I didn’t know we were in Alaska, my lovely polar bear—no, you look like an igloo itself.”

It was impossible not to find that funny, but you tried your best to keep a serious face and roll your eyes. “I was cold, okay?”

He eyed you up and down, his relentless smug grin turning a little exasperating. You could feel the next joke coming as his eyes crinkled, but he just poked your cheek and moved closer to place a kiss on your temple. “That’s even one of my sweaters for ski—“ He stopped as he realized the lingering heat that your skin left on his lips, making him frown and reach his hand to touch your forehead. “You are not cold, you have a cold!”

The teasing glint in his eyes was suddenly replaced by a soft and caring gaze. He moved out of bed and rushed out of the room. The noises in the kitchen were almost too loud, and you tried standing to go stop him, but you couldn’t move too far away. You had to sit down on the edge of the bed due to the sudden dizziness.

Your husband came back with a platter of remedies and medicine. But as he saw you evidently weak, he left everything on the chest near the door and sat down in front of you on the edge of the bed.

“We have to take these off, you have a fever.”

You paused for a second before replying, still trying to dismiss his worry as he tugged on the upper layer of sweaters you were wearing. “Ah… so you’re trying to strip me down, huh?” The teasing tone in your voice was weak, and you started to notice that Seokjin was not going to be able to let this one slide easily.

His lips twitched, almost laughing at your retort, but worry had already settled upon his brow. “Come on, you gotta listen to me and rest, yeah? I turned the kettle on to make you some tea. I’ll make you some soup too; let me just check your temperature, please?”

Oh, that pout; he always got away with anything he wanted.

You tried to convince yourself that it wasn’t that serious, but, yes, it probably was a cold. Thinking back, your throat hurt a bit, but you had been speaking all day at work; your body hurt a little, and that’s why you got yourself straight to bed, cozying up before Seokjin arrived. But your shivers had seemed only because you were cold, so you just settled with some layers the more cold you felt until you were nice and warm.

Yeah, Seokjin is right; you have a cold.

He had so much fun at the party last night, letting loose and enjoying himself. It was nice seeing him smile so much and dancing around with all of your friends.

Your eyes lingered on his lips, remembering the sweet New Year’s kiss you shared. You had to look all over for him as he got distracted mingling around. The minutes were ticking, and you had to still light up some sparklers and take your traditional New Year picture. It was like a scene from a rom-com movie, both of you finding each other on opposite sides of the room, smiles growing and a walk in slow motion.

The closet door squeaked as you tried closing it slowly, and you cursed under your breath. Looking back at Yixing, you noticed him shifting in his sleep and bit your lip unconsciously as if trying to stop any more sounds. It all seemed okay until you took a step back and stumbled with his bag, making you fall on the floor.

Yixing woke up at the sound and sat on the bed, his lidded eyes barely open, and his cute messy hair making you chuckle a little louder. You had tried to muffle your laugh at your clumsiness, but it was impossible.

“What happened? Who’s there?”

His voice was so raspy and deep even in his alerted state, but his sleepy face betrayed the sexiness it could have had. Your heart still skipped a beat, even though you found the entire situation quite entertaining. No matter how much your relationship changed the night before, he was still the same Yixing.

He spotted you on the floor on the other side of the room, and his eyes widened. “What happened, baby?” Yixing’s face tensed for a moment, as if he had let something slip that he was keeping a secret, but then quickly relaxed as he remembered the softness of your lips and the warmth of having you so close. “Ah, right… you’re now my baby.”

Your heart melted on the spot, witnessing his widening smile at his realization. “I’m okay, just fell on the floor.”

“What?” He moved out of bed in an almost jump and reached just in time to finish helping you get up.

“Just clumsy me…”

“No, no, are you okay? Any scratches? Does it hurt somewhere?” It’s like he didn’t even hear you through his worry. He started searching for any red spots or bruises, but all he found was the marks he left on your shoulder.

You managed to place a kiss on his cheek and made him stop. His head started turning slowly towards you from that little bruise and straight to your lips. Flashbacks to the night before occupied his mind while doing so, his face starting to be adorned with a tender yet hungry smile.

“Happy new year…” He whispered, the words almost a mumble. “I forgot to say that, didn’t I?”

A small chuckle escaped you as you held his gaze with yours. “Yeah, well… you rushed to kiss me at the last second, and then… we’re here, where our night led us.”

“I did tell you I like you, though, right?”

“Yeah, you definitely did!”

Jongin’s older sister arrived with their bags and water bottles, chuckling at their interaction. “They are excited to dance with you; they’re just stubborn,” she said fondly.

“I’ll take good care of them, noona,” he said as he helped carry the kid’s belongings. A playful thought crossed his mind, so he winked at his sister and looked back at the kids. “Aaand I’ll show teacher Y/N some moves; settle up who’s best.”

Opening the studio door, you carefully managed to avoid colliding with the tall man who was foolishly jumping around. “I look forward to seeing that,” you teased, causing him to startle as he was about to lean against the door, unaware that you had opened it. As a result, he stumbled inside. “Oh my! I’m so sorry!” you exclaimed, struggling to contain your laughter.

Jongin’s eyes locked with yours, finding not only a sweet voice but a sweet, worried expression that melted his heart. In that tender look, he glimpsed the children’s delight in you and realized that his heart may probably learn some new moves as well.

You gently squeezed his wrist, trying to figure out if he was okay. His hold on you was still firm as more of your students arrived and entered the class, but he was still not moving his hand from yours.

“Jongin, everything all right?” His sister asked, bringing him out of his trance.

The warmth of his hand left yours quickly enough, and he pulled off a wide, nervous smile at you. “Sorry, yeah, yeah, everything is all right,” he answered in an almost robotic voice.

His sister looked at you with an apologetic smile. “Okay… I have to go now. I hope you can handle this one, teacher Y/N.”

“I’ve got it! I’m excited to work with him.” You quickly glanced at the still-nervous, smiling man beside you.

“Thank you for taking my kids’ request; they just love their uncle too much.”

Jongin shyly lowered his head, looking at his hand that still lingered with your touch, even though he hadn’t noticed at first that he had held onto your hand for support. He also vaguely remembered you asking more than a couple of times if he was okay because he had been lost in your eyes—just like now that he didn’t even notice when his sister left.

“It’s nice to meet you, Kai sunbaenim,” you paused. “Sorry, should I call you Jongin?”

Although filled with nervousness, he briefly glanced at your hand and dared to purposefully hold your eyes with his own. The patience and care that painted your eyes drew a different type of intrigue and anticipation, unlike any other introduction he had experienced.

A delicate smile graced his face as he hoped that here he could simply be Jongin—that you saw past the surface and name to the heart within. His smile widened when you did not look away, but instead you matched it with an encouraging one of your own as your hands found each other. “Jongin is fine,” he answered and bowed.

“Y/N,” you introduced yourself, mirroring his gesture, even when he had possibly already known your name because of his family.

Jongin had indeed heard your name almost daily for a while. His niece and nephew had talked about their dance classes and their amazing teacher whenever they called or saw him on his days off from service. All that it encouraged was his competitive spirit, not accepting that his niece and nephew looked up to someone else for something he was passionate about. He needed to meet this dance teacher, whatever it took. What he didn’t anticipate was him overthinking his every word and move, not to keep making a fool of himself in front of that person.

“The kids really admire you, but now that they are finally interested in dance, I feel like I need to earn some of that admiration, as their uncle.” He easily went back to his playful behavior, igniting the competitive spirits you indulged in before his stumbling.

You chuckled softly at Jongin’s challenging tone. “Oh really? Your humor is still intact, I see.” You scanned him playfully before you continued. “I suppose if you’re truly set on taking the title, I can’t stop you from trying. Your niece and nephew might finally get to consider you cool for once… that must definitely be tempting.”

Jongin was more than entertained by your reciprocation. His eyes had a new spark, recognizing the drive in yours that matched his own. He chuckled devilishly, but his cute face softened the effect, so your lips trembled, almost breaking your unwavering stare.

Before you could end up allowing him to see through you, you clapped your hands to get the kids attention. “Okay,” you called out, “everyone! How are you all doing? Excited for today?”

The students cheered in agreement, gathering around the two of you. Jongin couldn’t help but chuckle as he saw your interactions with the students, noticing how effortlessly they were drawn to you—especially Rahee and Raeon.

“Wonderful! Alright, before we begin, I’d like to introduce our special guest.” Turning to your side, you were surprised to see him already so engaged with your students. A small smile hid in the corner of your lips as he gazed back at you. “If you want, you can do it yourself,” you encouraged him.

His smile widened, and he tried to match the kids’ heights when he addressed them. “Hi, everyone! I’m Jongin, Rahee and Raeon’s uncle. I hope we can all have fun dancing today,” he softly said.

Jongin’s heart moved as he saw the kids’ excited faces turn towards him; their excitement was gratifying and somehow unexpected. He also caught the surprised yet joyful grins the students gave his niece and nephew, as well as the playful nose scrunches and smiles that they offered back.

You smiled at Jongin as he caught your gaze. “Should we get started then?” you asked with an encouraging smile.

At Jongin’s nod, you instructed your students to find a place somewhere in the space to begin the warm-up while you searched for the kids’ favorite playlist. At first, Jongin watched intently as you gracefully led stretches and movements to loosen muscles until you asked him for help, encouraging him to show the kids his skills. “Care to join in on the fun, our special guest?” you proposed with a playful smirk.

He grinned, stepping forward, following your steps, and later adding some jumping jacks for a little cardio. It was just too easy to find a balance in your teaching methods, and your students seemed quite interested in what Jongin taught them. He looked like a natural; though he is, teaching seemed to fit so well with him. His patience and nurturing were truly admirable.

Across-the-floor combinations brought a fresh energy, with curious and enthusiastic eyes looking at both of you as you interacted and showed the students the sequences for practice to reinforce technique.

“Amazing work, everyone!” you exclaimed. “I’m seeing a lot of improvement in ballet technique. You all have worked hard; let’s have a small break before we continue, okay?”

Raeon immediately ran towards Jongin, along with a couple of his classmates. As he wiped the sweat from his forehead and drank some water, his nephew suddenly jumped on his back, nearly toppling him off the chair he was sitting on. You were beside him, so he lightly pushed you and sprinkled some water over you.

“It’s a tie for me now, uncle.” Raeon admitted. “But we have more dances, right, teacher Y/N?” The mischievous smirk amused you. Raeon was so disciplined, even when he liked to play around a lot.

“Yes, we do! There are lots of surprises awaiting us.” You winked at him, concealing from Jongin the secret you shared with the class.

One of Raeon’s friends made Jongin grin from ear to ear as you offered him the towel you used to dry the water from your clothes. “Your uncle is cool; he’s so tall!” The kid exclaimed. When Jongin took the towel from you, his fingers softly brushed yours, causing a cute blush on his cheeks, which he attempted to hide with his hands but only managed to spill more water from his bottle on him.

You chuckled louder than you had intended; it was just too endearing to you that Joon looked so awestruck at Jongin. The man in question looked up at you, confused by your antics, but he was probably misinterpreting your reaction. “We have a cool guest today, don’t we?” you said, trying to explain your true intentions.

Jongin seemed even more flustered; one could even say shy for a more accurate word. He had been too enthusiastic about winning the kids over, especially his niece and nephew, so it felt like the greatest achievement to hear Raeon’s friend say that he was cool. But then, you said it too. He wanted to keep playing cocky and making a teasing comment, but you sounded too genuine, and instead, you managed to bring an honest smile and a slight blush to his face.

The look he gave you made your heart jump, and the corners of your lips trembled. You fiddled with the cap of your water bottle. “Are you ready?” It was too late to analyze how your sheepish question came about when Jongin enthusiastically nodded and walked over to the center of the room.

As you approached him, Rahee stepped closer, filling each of her steps with energy. “Is it time for the K-pop choreos?” she spoiled.

Jongin's eyes searched for yours, a smug smile playing on his lips as he realized he might have an advantage now. He was confident that he could surprise the kids and, perhaps more importantly, impress you.

“It-it is time!” you exclaimed and looked back at Jongin, who was already shaking his limbs, preparing to take on the teaching of the choreos. It was impossible not to giggle at his determination, but little did he know that it was actually a surprise that they had prepared for him to celebrate his birthday.

“Uncle, sit down!” Rahee tried to shove him all the way back to his seat, but she only managed to destabilize him a little. “It’s still not time to be Mr. Cool!” With that, he took some steps back as he gently laughed at his niece’s statement.

“Well, then I am Mr. Cool, huh?”

Rahee only rolled her eyes and shook her head as she continued to make him step away from the center of the room, her spunky spirit only moving his heart.

Settling onto the sidelines, he directed an anticipating glance at you, only to find you caught in joyous laughter with Raeon and Rahee. You proceeded to carefully ask everyone to get in their places and call in the parents so they could see the day’s performance. This sudden quiet gave him space to breathe and calm his beating heart, but soon enough, reality would only show how his heartbeats would race from then on.

You stood in the center of the room, all by yourself and already mesmerizing, when the song started with the beat drop of Super by Seventeen. The first ten seconds were all you, and it felt like an eternity where Jongin would’ve wanted to spend the rest of his life. The most advanced students joined you for the last ten seconds, ready for the transition to a mind-blowing mashup of Maniac by Stray Kids and Maniac by Viviz.

With that forty-second introduction, the beat turned more bubbly when all of the students joined to dance Super Shy by New Jeans. You had gone to the back so that all of the kids could have their own spotlight. Rahee and Raeon had the brightest smiles on their faces, and they followed the steps so diligently. Love Lee by AKMU was the last song they all danced to, so while the song faded out, Jongin gave a standing ovation, but a familiar melody was overlapping the fading song, and the kids moved to different places as you walked back to the center. Rahee and Raeon stood next to you, adorably getting in character and mimicking their uncle as they waited for the “stop” in his song, Rover.

Jongin flopped on his seat, his eyes flooding with happy tears as he witnessed his lovely niece and nephew dancing to his song. At some point, they took center stage, while you and the rest of the students danced behind them. The parents behind him kept clapping and cheering for their children, only making him even more emotional. They closed the choreography medley with a simulation of his fall in the music video, with Rahee catching Raeon in her arms as he fell backwards. Jongin rose up again, cheering for the little ones as they ran to him and hugged his legs.

You approached Jongin, outstretching your hand with an encouraging smile. “What do you say we have a dance battle to your song? Get the kids to choose who’s the realest cool one between us,” you offered playfully, yet somehow, your tone didn’t come off as challenging as before. It genuinely sounded more like a simple invitation to dance.

He looked at your hand and back at you, a widening smile accompanying his answer as he nodded in agreement. With a gentle gesture, he reached out and took your hand, accepting your request. The parents’ encouraging chants energized him even more, taking his place in front of you for the challenge.

The beats resonated throughout the studio as both of your bodies instantly synced into the opening pose, evoking smiles and chuckles along the way. The battle was far from competitive, as each step united you in a duet-like dance, with all moves becoming actions and reactions, leading to improvised turns and reflected motions.

The atmosphere between the two of you was so electrifying, exuding an overwhelming sense of passion and joy that captivated everyone in the room. Not a single pair of eyes dared to look away, including yours and Jongin’s, as you locked gazes with each other. Even at the song cut, your eyes remained locked, only tearing away when the kids approached, cheering and seeking their uncle’s embrace.

“Teacher Y/N! Teacher Y/N!” Rahee chanted playfully. “You have to come celebrate with us uncle’s birthday!”

“Rahee, noona!” Raeon exclaimed and shook his head at his sister, defeat clear in his face at Rahee’s second spoiler of the day.