He’d been cleaning his apartment for three days. Three.
It wasn’t even that messy; certainly not messier than any other busy but decently responsible young bachelor’s living space. Of course, if the girl any of the aforementioned guys were crushing on was planning on coming over to their apartment, they’d probably have been cleaning and re-cleaning it too.
It had been three days since Chaeyeon had invited him to collab with her on a dance routine and Jaemin had been stressing nonstop. It’s not that he doesn’t want to collab with her; of course, he does. It’s not that he doesn’t want to dance with her; he’s honestly been dying for the opportunity and is just too much of a coward to take the risk on his own. His stress and compulsive cleaning are no doubt because this is important to him, immensely so. It’s an opportunity that he can’t screw up so, of course, he’s extra worried that he will.
His stomach backflips when the door buzzes, but he’s been standing three inches from it for the past forty-five minutes (you know, just in case she was extra early). He reaches out to hit the door button but clenches his fist, forcing himself to count to five first so it’s not so obvious he’d been standing right there waiting. He forces himself to take a deep breath too and then, nerves as calm as they’re going to get, buzzes her in.
He pulls the door open to his apartment, leaning against the door frame and watching the bank of elevators across the hall. His apartment is too high up to use the stairs (if you’re sane) so when he sees an elevator begin to make its ascent, he holds his breath as it seems to very slowly travel nearer and nearer to his floor. Sure enough, it stops and the doors slide open and Jaemin can’t suppress the smile that immediately comes to his face when he lays eyes on her.
“Hey,” he greeted softly, smiling like a damn fool. “You didn’t change your mind about this?” His tone is teasing, as usual; playful and warm. He steps back, holding the door open for her so she can pass by him and enter. It’s rare that he has visitors; this is a special occasion, but he hopes, one of many to come.
truth be told, that day has been one of those days wherein she didn’t think would actually come. chaeyeon had a lot of thinking back to do whilst stuck in traffic that day, anxiously shifting in the driver’s seat every now and then. how did she even get there? how did she even find the courage to go ahead and ask jaemin to do a dance cover with her? must have been the three shots of soju, she tells herself, cracking a smile like a maniac. her relationship — - well, friendship with the male has been one of those that contained a lot of grey areas. it was clear, to her at least, that she had a teeny tiny harmless crush on him. understandably so, right? she convinces herself, stepping on the gas pedal as her car continued to roll along the streets of Seoul, slithering her way through the rush hour traffic. after all, jaemin was loved and admired by many. not only because he was distractingly handsome but because he was a man of many talents.
and one particular talent caught her eye, of course. his dancing was impeccable, he could give most seasoned dancers a run for their money — - even herself, someone who has been honing her talent since she was a little girl.
her friends — - yes, she must thank her girl friends for being the driving force, for encouraging her that he was going to say yes when she was running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to look for a partner for that particular dance cover. and that’s another thing that somehow complicated their connection was the fact that they knew almost the same people, running in the same circle of dancer friends. they would always get teased though: pushed to sit together, often left alone so they can talk, etc. why is that? she asks inwardly. was it because everyone knew of her teeny tiny crush? or was it because he reciprocated it? she was unsure.
she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realize that she had already reached her destination. stalling as much as she could, she slowly made her way up to the elevator, looking down at her phone repeatedly just to double check the address he texted her not long ago ( as if she hadn’t memorized it already ), praying she was in the right place. and lo and behold, as if to appease her worries, soon the steel doors slide open, she’s greeted with the male’s smiling face.
“o-oh— hey—“ she greets him, and even if she wanted to hold back a big smile, she couldn’t. on top of it all, she could feel her cheeks heat up instantly — - a standard feeling she’d get whenever he was around. this time though, there is no alcohol to blame. “what? of course not, how can I pass off the chance to dance with the jaemin.. huh? I would be stupid to!” at least she was able to converse and wasn’t rendered speechless by him — - not yet anyway. taking light steps towards the male, she stepped past the doorway and into his apartment, curious eyes scouting the surprisingly neat place. “so, ready to start? or would you want to give me a tour of your place first?” she asks playfully, putting her gym bag down by the hallway.
