Are You?
Member: Yunho Genre: Fluff/Pining Requested: No Content: Self indulgent fanfic about dancing with Yunho and secret crushes. God save me.
You've danced with him in the past. Same choreography classes. Same dance camps. Same dance programs. You've seen each other's different sides on the floor.
So why does this feel so weird?
It's a freestyle program this time. A chance to explore your own capabilities and expand what you already know about your body. A chance to show who you are beneath all the booming bass and sneaky snares.
It felt vulnerable.
You never did well with that; in life and in the studio. Now that you were in this program with him. Just because this six feet tall golden retriever got too excited and enrolled the two of you to save on a few hundred without your heads up. He owed you big time for putting you in this.
It was a circle this time. The coach said something about incorporating the drills from earlier, about letting the body move on its own, letting it move with the music. Not on. With.
Two people are to enter the circle to dance to the same song, if only one were to enter the circle, they must choose who to dance with. You sat at the side, waiting for the song to play. You hug your legs close to your chest, guarded, scared, tensed. Muffled instrumentals ease into vocals.
Oh how life lives to laugh at you.
It makes your muscles twitch, unsure if it's to run away or to step into the circle.
He steps in. Yunho enters the circle first. His hand outstretched for you to take. "Come on." He says, in that tone that makes your neck flush hot. That tone that makes you feel so raw behind your strong hits and fast paced weight shifts. His eyes shine with reassurance, No one's going to laugh at you. A heavy sigh, no one's sure if it's of exasperation or nerves, comes out of you and your fellow dancers push you in to the circle with him.
He moves first, letting his body move with the instrumentals. You, on the other hand, watch him first, letting yourself listen to the music; heavy bass, sultry vocals, smooth strings and snares.
A deep breathe in and you start to melt into movement. You move on your own path, moving around in your half of the circle. You don't notice Yunho's eyes on you, observing how you let the music guide you. Your eyes are downcast, covered by your cap that you've pulled low. You can't handle the amount of eyes on you right now but you let yourself move. Your body speaking of restrained emotions, feelings you refuse to admit to him.
Surprisingly, the two of you compliment each other's movements. He moves with weight and control around your space, not quite crossing the wall in between the two of you but his eyes say otherwise. He's never seen you be this soft, this exposed to a song. You move in flows and curves, spinning through the vocalist's enunciations and tone. Your hands grasp at something you're not quite ready to touch while he seems to reach out to you.
By the time it's pre-chorus, the two of you are inching into each other's spaces. Your movements moving like air, floating almost above you and him while he moves lower, grounded, as if ready to keep you from floating away from him.
Your eyes raise to him by the time the chorus comes in. It nearly makes you forget you were moving. There was warmth in his gaze, something you weren't quite sure of. Unspoken promises to keep you safe, and you swear you could see a phantom of a smile on him when you meet his gaze. You move around him, body suspended in the air, as if scared to admit what the song speaks of; scared of falling.
But he's there ready to catch.
You melt in time to the confession in the song, bouncing away from his body. A reference to how he moves with you; weighted and stable. Your chest and shoulders hitting the bass now rather than floating with the vocals and strings, just like he did earlier. His body moves in time with yours, elbows pushing past the negative space to let you move around him, his feet dragging around to keep you from stuttering through the gazes of your peers.
A promise to keep you safe.
By now though, the two of you have melted into each other's spaces in the circle. Bodies threading and connecting to each other, forming secret admirations and respect that neither of you are quite ready to admit. The feeling of being at ease with each other but not quite ready to move past what is. Yet even with the two of you moving into each other's spaces, neither of you touch each other, fingers ghosting, arms floating around, legs mirroring.
He doesn't break the space between the two of you unless you do it first.
You don't realize it. Not immediately at least. Your dear dance partner, this graceful sunshine has gone from guiding you to come out of your shell, to responding and dancing with you tonight. His movements falling in sync with you by now. But you don't see it, drowned by the music and the unfamiliar feeling of letting your heart out in front of these people who don't know your story.
By the time the song ends, you land yourself in front of him. He was already standing behind you, hands stretched out ready to catch, his arms, ready to be held on to.
Yet you don't hold onto him, you keep the space between the two of you just like how it started earlier. This time though, it was smaller, as if you were trusting him a little more.
You keep your eyes up, scared but strong, but steady as you gaze up into his once more. You didn't look at anyone else. His gaze holds yours, asking you the same thing the song asks 'Do you feel it too?'.
The song ends like a ghost. Everyone's squeals and screams waking you up from the bubble the two of you had. While you melt and practically disintegrate into the floor, crawling back to your spot, Yunho's still standing. His shy laugh hidden behind his hands as he bears the brunt of everyone's emotions to your piece.
You hate how your heart's running now.
"I don't know what just happened, but I like it." Your coach praises, passing a glance at the two of you that seems to know something you try to look past. You stay in your spot again, letting everyone do their turns as you grip your hands to stop them from shaking. The full weight and realization of being so exposed to everyone, to Yunho of all people, made your body heat up hotter than a physically demanding piece.
A hand appears in your peripheral. It's Yunho's. "Good job." He whispers, offering his hand for you to hold, to steady yourself. He smiles when you hold onto him, squeezing all the embarrassment out of you.
You don't see how flushed his cheeks are.
The session ends and it's only the two of you left outside. The heat of the studio now replaced with the cold night air. Unfortunately, it does nothing to control how red Yunho's ears are, almost mirroring your cheeks.
"So are you?"
His voice breaks the silence between the two of you. You peek from your cap's visor, in the middle of drinking your now watered down coffee. You hate how his warmth makes your heart skip.
"Am I what..?" You ask in return, mumbling through your chewed up straw. The question had broken your train of thought, the dream of a long hot shower after tonight.
He smiles again. That stupid soft smile making him glow in your eyes. It wasn't even smug. He didn't even look like he was teasing. "Are you in love?"
He didn't need an answer. He sees the way your cheeks flush, the way your eyes sparkle, the way you bite your lower lip. It's already his answer.
A/N: Hi i haven't written since 2021 and dance/music fics are my indulgence. So have this fic idea based on Not Another Love Song by Ella Mai. Yunho one chance pls. I would love to dance with you. thx.