Mingming: I Don’t Dance
Anonymous asked: what if i just,, requested mingming fluff,, is this allowed
Characters: Mingming x gender neutral reader (featuring UNINE)
Genre/warnings: soulmate au, dancer au, college au, fluff, slight crack, even slighter angst
Word count: 7,509
Summary: In which you sometimes do what your soulmate is doing at the exact same time. So you always hated dancing until you found out your soulmate was good at it.
a/n: this wasn’t looked over, so I apologize for any errors that’re in it, and I apologize if I accidentally use she/her pronouns because that’s what I’m used to but I tried my best to keep it gender neutral (and I know some of y’all will read this and be like “how come reader never did what Mingming did when they were alone and vice versa” and it’s because if that happened, the story would be shorter and wouldn’t go how I wanted to so let me live 😤😤)
It started when you were 15. Your body would start doing things you weren’t telling it to, and you couldn’t stop it, either. You’d suddenly start moving your hand in writing motions while you were just sitting on the bus, or you’d find yourself miming throwing a ball in the middle of the school hallway. But that was how you knew your soulmate was out there, so you couldn’t complain.
You could complain when you turned 16 and it only got worse.
Growing up, you were a clumsy kid. You hated anything that required any sort of coordination and you did your best to avoid anything and everything that would embarrass you -- save for gym where you just tried your best not to draw attention to yourself.
But when you turned 16 -- god, did it get worse. You found yourself dancing -- full on dancing -- in the hallway or in class or walking home. Your soulmate was just always fucking dancing and you hated it because you’d trip over your own two feet immediately after your body was back in your own control.
Thankfully, by the time college came around, you’d gotten used to this. You’d actually even gotten slightly more coordinated -- emphasis on slightly. You still tripped and slipped up sometimes, but you were better than you were before. And...you kind of got used to the sudden dancing. People would commend you on it and it made you feel validated and talented. So the dancing was something you could definitely deal with. You still didn’t like it and you were bad at it, but you could put up with it.
Your soulmate, however, never got used to your odd movements. Falling over during practice, randomly tripping over nothing, and suddenly getting wobbly were things that were difficult to work around as a dancer. Especially in college when he formed a dance team with a few of his friends.
“Nice one,” Guanyue snorted when Mingming suddenly spun around and fell right on his butt in the middle of working on a certain part in the choreography.
Mingming just huffed, staying in his spot on the floor, “This is impossible.”
“Kind of ironic how you got a soulmate who can’t even stand upright,” Jiayi giggled.
“It’s not funny,” Mingming whined, his hands covering his face as he let himself lay on his back. “How can I be a professional dancer if I suddenly trip up in the middle of a dance?”
Mingming wasn’t upset with you or anything, he just was upset with the situation. He hoped that his soulmate would, y’know, get better at walking, but over the years, very little seemed to change. Sure, he didn’t fall over as often, but it was still more often than he’d like.
“At least you’re not stuck trying to do splits out of nowhere like Jiayi,” Hanyu deadpanned, though the hints of a smirk were on his face when he looked over at the boy in question.
Jiayi’s soulmate was some sort of gymnast or cheerleader or something because the poor boy was always stuck trying to bend his body in ways that simply weren’t possible for him.
“I’m getting bendier,” Jiayi insisted, crossing his arms over his chest.
Mingming pushed himself to sit up again, staring at himself in the mirror across the room, “I just wish...I could do something to help them. They’re probably suffering way more than me.”
“When you meet them, you can re-teach them how to walk,” Zhenning joked as he helped Mingming back to his feet. “Let’s just try that part again, yeah?”
Little did Mingming know that his chance to not only help himself but help you was coming a lot quicker than he thought.
-
DANCERS WANTED FOR DANCE GROUP
No experience needed
Please come to UNINE Dance Studio this Saturday at noon
It was a bright pink flyer with big, black, bold writing on it that caught your attention. But you didn’t plan on doing anything with it. You simply read it since it caught your eye, but that was--
“Hey,” a boy with a bright smile -- albeit, a little shy -- said as he walked up to you.
--...it.
“I’m sorry if this is really weird,” he began with a shy laugh, running a hand through his dark brown hair. “I just saw you reading the flyer and my friends are like, really hoping for people to come so--”
“You posted these?” you asked, gesturing to the flyer.
“Well, me and my friends. We’re dancers and...yeah... Basically, I just walked over here to convince you to go.”
You scoffed, shaking your head, “Sorry, but I’m not a dancer.”
“Anybody’s a dancer,” he shrugged with a hopeful smile. “You just have to be able to move and memorize things.”
“Not if you fall over ever two seconds.”
“Trust me, I’m used to that,” he laughed.
“What, you fall over?”
“Sometimes.”
You gave a little pout, “Well now you’re just saying things to convince me.”
“I am not!” he insisted with a light laugh. “I can prove it if you come by on Saturday...?”
You frowned, looking between the paper and the cute boy giving you a pleading smile. It didn’t help that he made your stupid heart flutter when he looked at you like that -- or looked at you in general.
“Fine,” you sighed.
You could see the way his eyes lit up with excitement, crinkling in the corners as his smile widened.
“Thank you! Seriously, thank you!” he said, bowing to you. “Oh, um, my name’s Mingming, by the way -- Yao Mingming. I’ll...be there. Well, obviously -- you knew that. Sorry...”
“Ah, sorry about him,” another boy around Mingming’s height with a goofy smile came up behind him, placing his hands on his shoulders. “He’s a little awkward. Anyway, thank you. We’ll see you Saturday.”
As Mingming was dragged off shouting ‘Jiayi, were you listening the whole time?!’ you were left standing there by the wall the flyer was taped to, giving an awkward wave and a mumbled, “Alright, bye...”
-
When Saturday rolled around, you found yourself opening the doors to the small dance studio not too far from campus. You figured you’d probably embarrass yourself a little bit, but odds were that you wouldn’t know anybody in the studio -- well, other than the two strange boys you’d already met.
Thankfully, you were correct.
You noticed nine boys that stood toward the front of the room by the mirrors, bowing to and greeting the small crowd that was let in. There was a small handful of boys and girls alike that had seemed to come to this meeting of sorts to make this dance group.
The boys who were putting together this group seemed excited to have as many people as they did. One looked a little intimidating, another a little more serious than you expected, and another had a smile that lit up the whole room and then some. You had to admit, the group seemed a little...different from each other, but you weren’t here to judge them -- they were here to judge you.
You met the eyes of Mingming who grinned at you, giving a small wave as a thanks for coming. You just nodded and corralled together with the other people as he was nudged in the side by the boy apparently named Jiayi.
Once everybody was seated and quiet, one of the boys explained how it would work: they’d teach the group a simple dance and whoever did it well would get to stay. They planned on being a competitive team so they needed people who at least had teachable potential, which was understandable. You just hoped that your years of experience dancing because of your soulmate was enough.
“Five, six, seven, eight--”
Your body started doing the moves, but you knew you weren’t the one controlling it. It was normal to you at first since you’d experienced this so many times already, but it took a few rounds of you doing the moves to realize that this meant your soulmate was in the room. Your eyes widened as you stifled a gasp before your shock brought you back in control of your own body. You pause briefly after being brought off autopilot, and in your rush to keep up with everybody else, you tripped over your own feet, landing on the shiny hardwood floor, right on your hands and knees.
“Hang on!” one of the boys called over the commotion, catching your slip-up in the mirror. He moved through the small crowd to get to you, bending down on one knee to check on you. “Are you okay?”
You looked up into the brown eyes of Mingming as he smiled at you.
“Y-yeah,” you nodded. “Sorry for messing up.”
“Don’t worry,” he smiled, holding a hand out to help you up as he stood, “you were doing really well. Try it again, okay?”
You nodded again, taking his hand and letting him help you to your feet. He nodded at you before he went back to the front of the room, but your heart was still beating rapidly in your chest -- and not just from the dancing.
“Alright, let’s try again,” the more serious-looking one called out. “Five, six, seven, eight--”
Just before the group started up with the same movements again, you caught his eyes looking at you in the mirror with a flustered smile on his face.
-
“I think we made some good picks,” Guanyue nodded as he gathered his things into his duffel bag. “That _____ person showed a lot of potential. I think they might have a little bit of dancing experience.”
“Not a lot, though,” Youwei pointed out. “They’re the only one who fell down.”
“We’ve all been there,” Wenhan said, waving the comment away. “What’s important is that they showed potential to improve. And our first competition isn’t for two months so that’s plenty of time.”
“Plus, we now have a group of 17 people to work with,” Chunyang added in with a small shrug, “so we can always hide them if they do bad.”
“Yeah, we’ll just-- Ah! Ow!”
As Mingming went to straighten up from where he was crouched down packing his backpack, he suddenly threw his head forward, his forehead bouncing off of Chunyang’s shoulder.
“What was that?” Jiayi decided to ask with a soft giggle.
Mingming frowned, rubbing his forehead, “I have no idea.”
“I think your soulmate’s having a bad day,” Zhenning laughed, trying to lighten the mood as Mingming put his water bottle against the tiny bump forming on his forehead
Outside, you were sitting in your car alone. Your forehead was pressed against the steering wheel, a loud groan falling from your lips.
They’d really chosen you to be on their dance team.
You were screwed.
-
Wenhan, Guanyue, Changxi, Youwei, Zhenning, Jiayi, Hanyu, Chunyang, and Mingming. Those were the boys who had started the dance team. You weren’t really sure why they wanted to, and the only explanation they gave was “we wanted to”, but now you were apart of it.
And you were not happy.
The first practice was only two hours long, and you didn’t do well. You’d bumped into one of the girls, tripped and fell into Chunyang, and you accidentally tripped Zhenning. But truthfully, you couldn’t get your head into focusing because you knew somewhere in that dance studio was your soulmate, and that was both exciting and terrifying. All the people on the team were good dancers, and you were pretty sure they’d be embarrassed to have somebody like you who could barely dance be the person they were supposed to spend the rest of their life with.
After that practice, the nine boys that had created the dance team honestly considered kicking you off. However, Mingming saw the potential and felt bad just kicking somebody off after the first day.
“Alright, they’re your responsibility, then,” Wenhan told him a little more sternly. “You teach them and make sure they can do the routine before the competition.”
While Mingming was definitely nervous that he’d have to end up staying after a little longer with you to work one-on-one, he was determined to help you so he wouldn’t have to give you the bad news.
So he nodded, “I’ll make sure of it.”
So the next practice, you heard your name being called as everybody went to get their belongings from the back of the room. You turned back around to see Mingming standing by the mirrors, offering a shy wave and a smile. You walked over to him, stopping a few inches away.
“Y-yeah?”
“I noticed you’ve been struggling a bit with the moves we’ve learned so far,” he said with a tiny shrug, and you instantly felt embarrassment shoot through you. Were you really doing so poorly that Mingming noticed? No doubt the rest of the group must’ve noticed, too. “I figured I could offer some help.”
Even though the last thing you wanted was to stay in the studio longer than necessary to dance -- something you still weren’t completely sold on -- you figured it was that, or go through the awkwardness of quitting only two classes in.
But you had to admit, you felt a tinge of guilt keeping Mingming back in the studio, too. No doubt he had homework to do and classes to study for.
“Are you sure?” you wondered slowly. “I don’t want to burden you. You shouldn’t have to--”
“It’s not a big deal,” he shrugged with a sheepish smile, his brown eyes looking elsewhere now. “I usually stay back, anyway. I like dancing so I make sure to practice as long as I can. I have about an hour of free time now, anyway.”
“O-okay...sure...”
“Cool!” he smiled, seeming a little shocked but pleased you agreed. “Okay, uh...l-let’s start from the beginning, then?”
As people started filing out of the room, Mingming started counting the steps as he slowly showed you exactly what to do. He said he wanted to get the moves down in your head before figuring out the timing. He thought maybe that doing both at once was what was confusing you during practice.
Before his eight friends left, they glanced back and watched how patient Mingming was with you. He was standing behind you and moving your arms exactly where they had to go, telling you they should always be at a certain angle for that move so everybody would match, and he hoped it would make it easier on you if he gave you an angle number to visualize in your head. Some of them quietly teased him as they left, giggling and singing “_____ and Mingming sitting in a tree--” while the others just smiled softly and followed behind the more immature members.
Mingming made good use of the whole hour, spending the whole time teaching you. You didn’t even make it up to the point the rest of the group was at, but you at least felt a little more confident in the parts he got to teach you. Definitely not 100%, but better.
However, he noticed that you seemed a little worried. He knew he didn’t make it as far into the dance as he should’ve, and he knew that you were now deemed his responsibility.
“_____?” he spoke up, causing you to turn once again as you were going to get your stuff. When you turned to look at him, you couldn’t tell if he was blushing or if his faced was just flushed from dancing, but his eyes were cast downwards. “Would you want to practice again tomorrow...? You don’t have to! It’s just that you’re not completely caught up -- not that you’re doing bad -- but I don’t want you to feel behind or like you’re lacking -- which you’re not at all -- but I just--”
“Sure, Mingming,” you sighed, too tired to come up with a response better than that.
Still, Mingming was looking at you now, a toothy grin on his face, “Cool! What time is good for you?”
“Maybe around 2?”
“Sounds good! See you tomorrow afternoon!”
You simply nodded in response before going to grab your bag. You politely wished Mingming a good night before leaving the studio, walking down the hall and out of the building to the parking lot. But as you were walking to your car, you suddenly leaped into the air and clicked your heels together, throwing your fists into the air like you were celebrating. You even jumped in an excited circle before your body was finally yours again, leaving you standing in an almost empty lot, looking around in confusion.
-
“I think we can cut it here for now,” Mingming panted as he nodded at you in the mirror. He’d gotten you caught up on all the moves, now he just had to work on timing next time. “What time is it?”
You went over to your stuff, pulling your phone out of your bag and laughing at how late it had gotten, “Almost 5.”
“Jeez,” Mingming laughed nervously, running a hand through his sweaty hair, “I didn’t mean to keep you here for three hours. I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” you shrugged, gathering your bag and hanging it off your shoulder, “I needed the practice.”
“You wanna get dinner?” he blurted.
You paused, your eyebrows furrowing as you looked at Mingming -- who couldn’t seem to look at you, “Dinner...?”
“I just meant...y’know, since I kept you so late, and we’ve been exerting a lot so it’s good to eat after,” he quickly explained, and you were surprised he didn’t trip over his words with how fast he was talking. “It’s my treat to make up for keeping you here for so long.”
Not only could you not pass up free food, but you didn’t quite know how to tell Mingming no. Especially with the innocent look he was giving you.
“Nowhere too expensive,” you told him, a slight pout in your voice.
Mingming chuckled with a nod before he went to retrieve his own bag, “Don’t worry, I know a good place.”
“Shouldn’t we shower first?” you asked as he opened the door for you to leave first.
“Nah, I go there after practice a lot. Not many people are there, but they make amazing food.”
Once the two of you were outside, he said it was walking distance from the studio, so you left your stuff in your car before you walked side-by-side with Mingming to wherever it was he was taking you. He wouldn’t tell you where it was or what it was, but you trusted him enough to not try anything weird. He just promised you’d love the food as much as he did.
The trip was a little awkward, especially when you felt yourself lose control of your body. Thankfully, your soulmate was just walking -- presumably to class or back to their dorm -- but you were hoping you didn’t look too nervous when that happened.
You and Mingming were hardly speaking until your body was back in your control, and you tripped over your own feet when you suddenly changed back to your own walking speed. He managed to catch you before you hit the sidewalk, letting out a soft laugh as he steadied you back on your feet.
“You do that a lot, don’t you?” he joked lightly, trying to make some sort of conversation.
You shrugged, an embarrassed blush coming to your cheeks, “I’m kind of a clumsy person sometimes.”
“Don’t worry, some people are just clumsy. I’m used to experiencing it anyway.”
“Really?”
“Mhmm,” he nodded but didn’t elaborate. “You are doing better with staying on your feet while dancing. Let’s just hope it stays that way when we work on timing.”
He suddenly stopped outside a tiny restaurant that was on a busy strip, though people didn’t seem to be going inside. From the sign outside, you saw their specialty was soup dumplings, so you assumed that’s what you were there to eat. Mingming held the door open for you, a little bell dinging to signify customers before you went inside, Mingming following behind you.
The two of you greeted the hostess before Mingming brought you over to a table by the window. He said he always sat there -- usually with Guanyue because that’s who he often went with. The waitress smiled when she saw him and asked if he wanted his usual, to which he nodded eagerly and thanked the woman before turning back to you.
“I don’t know if you like soup dumplings, but you’ll love them from here even if you normally hate them,” he insisted with a warm chuckle. “If you don’t, I’ll buy you dessert, too.”
“You don’t have to,” you told him, to which he just shrugged.
The two of you sat in another silence, you looking around the small restaurant while Mingming people-watched through the window. As you looked around the space -- it seemed family owned and operated, which you thought was nice -- you couldn’t help but think about the dance team and how you were afraid of holding them back. It was clearly obvious you were a klutz so why you?
“Why did you guys even let me onto the team?” you wondered suddenly, looking curiously at Mingming.
He shrugged, his gaze moving away from the window and to you, “We saw the potential you had. You can pick up the moves, you just need a little extra practice.”
“But isn’t that just more work? That seems more trouble for you than it’s worth.”
He cocked his head to one side, looking almost puppy-like, “Why do you say that?”
“I’ll just hold you back,” you admitted bluntly. “C’mon, you can’t tell me that you wish you didn’t invite me to go to auditions that day.”
As the waitress came over with the orders of soup dumplings, Mingming tore away from the conversation to thank her. She walked away, and the conversation was basically forgotten by both of you in favor of food. Of course, you being you, you burnt your tongue trying to eat the dumpling, letting out a soft “ow” that had both you and Mingming laughing quietly.
Not much conversation was made as the two of you ate. Both of you were too focused on eating to say much, but you did manage to at least make some small talk. Mingming asked what you were going to school for, so you asked him the same thing. You talked about your classes, what you did other than practice, and the like. You thought he was a pretty nice guy, and kind of interesting, honestly. He seemed to only have his eight friends, though, and you wondered if he was just too shy to make other friends.
After the both of you were done -- and you had to admit that they were the best soup dumplings you’d ever had -- Mingming paid and left a generous tip before the both of you left, thanking the staff on your way.
As you were walking, you were left in silence again, your hands in your pockets of your jacket as it started to drizzle. You had been walking for only a couple minutes, almost back to the parking lot when you heard, “I don’t wish that.”
You turned your head to look at Mingming, “What?”
He was smiling, still looking straight ahead as he shook his head, crossing the street to the parking lot, “You said before that I probably wished I didn’t invite you to auditions. I don’t wish that. I’m glad I ran into you looking at our flyer.”
You scoffed, “Why? I’m the worst one on the team.”
“Because...well... _____, if I’m honest with you, I liked hanging out today,” he admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head shyly as the two of you stopped by your car. He turned to face you, but he didn’t look at you. “If I hadn’t invited you that day, we wouldn’t have even met. We wouldn’t have gotten to hang out, and you wouldn’t have experienced the world’s greatest soup dumplings.”
“Mingming, we hardly spoke,” you laughed.
“Yeah, but you didn’t ignore me, either. It was a good mix, y’know? You’re not too quiet but you don’t talk my ear off.”
You assumed Mingming just felt awkward around you, but it felt nice knowing that he felt...content. You didn’t even notice you were smiling until one spread across Mingming’s face seeing you smile.
“I’ll see you at practice this weekend, okay?” he said before he waved and turned to go to his own car. “Get home safe, _____!”
You watched as Mingming jogged to his car before you got into your own, figuring he’d think it was weird if he saw you watching him. But you couldn’t help but think on the drive back to your dorm, and even once you were in your dorm, about how Mingming seemed to genuinely like you.
-
“You liiiiike them!” Jiayi sang.
The boys were talking about what they had done earlier that week as they got ready for practice. As always, they were the first ones in the room, arriving before everybody else. Mingming had mentioned he mostly just went to class and went to the soup dumpling place once before Chunyang had mentioned Mingming stayed after last practice with you to help you out. Then the questioning began.
“Did you see them again after?” Guanyue giggled.
Mingming shrugged, “Yeah, the next day to practice. We got kinda sidetracked though, so we were here for almost 3 hours.”
“And that’s when you went to the dumpling place!” Changxi realized, slowly getting louder toward the end.
That was when Jiayi decided to call him out, pointing out that Mingming had to have some level of feelings for you if he took you to his little hole-in-the-wall restaurant.
“I hate to say it, but Jiayi might be right,” Youwei admitted with a slight smirk.
“I do not like them,” Mingming stated, though the tips of his ears were turning pink. “Besides, I have a soulmate out there. _____ hasn’t shown any signs of being it. We’ve never done the same thing as each other when we’re together, and that’s too much to just be coincidence.”
“You’re allowed to have a crush even if you have a soulmate out there,” Wenhan shrugged, “but I understand how you feel about it.”
“Still, you’re not a bad person if you do like _____ and decide to ask them out,” Guanyue smirked, clearly trying to push the younger boy to build up the courage to take you on a real date.
“I barely know _____,” he mumbled. “We’ve just been talking about practice.”
“That’s what a date is for,” Hanyu informed him.
Mingming felt a slap to the back of his head before he saw Zhenning walking passed him to start stretching, “Duh.”
-
Practices and ‘tutoring sessions’ as Wenhan jokingly referred to them as were going by quickly, and the date for the competition was arriving quickly. Everybody had to admit you were improving, but Mingming still wanted to make sure you were understanding and remembering the steps, rhythm, and timing. But with only two weeks until the competition now, he had decided you wouldn’t need one-on-one training anymore.
During the weeks you’d spent with Mingming, you’d grown closer than you thought you would. Awkward silences weren’t awkward, small talk was replaced with full conversations and new inside jokes, and you started to look forward to practicing with your ‘trainer’. One might say you were developing a crush on him.
Meanwhile, Mingming already knew he kind of liked you -- he’d known since Jiayi teased him for it. But those feelings only worsened the more time he spent with you, and he was starting to wonder if he should take his friends’ advice before it was too late. He only ever really saw you alone when he was helping you between practices, so he figured this would be his last chance.
“You completely nailed it,” he praised through labored breaths, giving you a tired but proud smile as he held his hand up. “You didn’t mess up, fall over, or go off beat.”
You hit his hand in a high five, beaming at the compliment, “It’s thanks to you, though.”
He shrugged, “I can teach somebody how to dance but it doesn’t mean they’ll be good at it. You put in the work and dedication, _____. It’s been really nice seeing you grow as a dancer, actually.”
You couldn’t help but blush, smiling at the floor, “Thanks.”
Mingming thought you looked absolutely adorable. Even with your sweaty face, messy hair, and baggy clothing you wore to practice, he couldn’t take his eyes off of you, smiling to himself as you smiled at your feet. Your smile lit up the room, and he found it giving him that little bit of courage he needed.
He stepped forward, putting a hand under your chin so you’d look back up at him. Then he leaned in, pressing his lips softly to yours.
Your eyes widened, not expecting the action at all. But you also didn’t have time to react in any other way before Mingming was pulling back, fear and surprise on his own face as he lightly touched his bottom lip.
“I-I’m... _____, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to-- I mean, I did but--” he rambled, tripping over his own words before he was shaking his head, “I-I’m just sorry.”
Then he was running to the exit, swiftly grabbing his back before slipping out the door. He figured that the good thing was he wouldn’t have to be alone with you again so it wouldn’t be too awkward. The bad thing was that he would still have to see you at practice, and it would at least be a little awkward.
You were still frozen in the practice room, not quite understand what happened. Still, your lips felt tingly as you stood there, your hand slowly going to touch your own lips like Mingming had.
And outside, Mingming touched his again, too, even though he didn’t mean to.
-
The tension was obvious. Mingming wouldn’t go near you or even look at you. He didn’t greet you when you came in like he always did, and everybody noticed it -- especially his friends. You had gotten close to a girl in the group named Alina, and she had asked about it one afternoon as the two of you were walking to the parking lot, saying she didn’t want to pry if you didn’t want to talk about it. You explained the out-of-nowhere kiss between you and Mingming, and even she was confused as to why he suddenly ran away after gathering the courage to do that without warning.
Mingming’s friends had stayed in the practice room after everyone left, asking Mingming to hang back with them.
“What’s up?” Wenhan asked.
“What do you mean?” he wondered. “You’re the ones who told me to stay back.”
“Because you’re not acting right, especially toward _____,” Youwei stated, hands on his hips. “Did something happen?”
Mingming sighed, hoping he wouldn’t have to tell his friends about this. He knew they’d tell him he was silly or stupid or something in between, so he just ran a hand through his hair as he prepared for the onslaught of insults.
“I kissed _____,” he admitted.
The eight boys gasped, some looking genuinely surprised, and others looking beyond excited.
“Really?” Zhenning grinned.
“Wait,” Changxi stopped his clapping, frowning suddenly, “but neither of you have spoken to each other, so... Did something go wrong?”
“Well, no...” Mingming began, looking away with furrowed eyebrows as he thought back to the moment he tried not to think about. “Kinda? Well, not from their part. I don’t know, they just seemed...shocked. They didn’t say anything or kiss me back or react.”
“So then...what happened?” Jiayi pressed.
“I just...felt...guilty,” Mingming said with a defeated look. “I like _____ a lot, but I feel like I shouldn’t. My soulmate is out there, and here I am, giving my time and attention to somebody else when I should be finding my soulmate. It just felt...wrong. Not like the kiss wasn’t good! But it made me feel like I was cheating on my soulmate.”
“So what did you do after you kissed them?” Chunyang asked.
“I...kinda ran...”
Hanyu rolled his eyes, letting out a disappointed sigh, “Oh my god, Mingming...”
“That’s actually the dumbest thing you could’ve done other than headbutt them,” Zhenning informed him, arms crossed over his chest.
“Whatever, it doesn’t matter,” Mingming mumbled, looking down at the floor. “They’re clearly over it, and I’m trying not to think about it. If it meant anything to them, they would’ve tried to talk to me or something but they avoided me, too. It’s better to just move on and focus on the competition next week.”
“Are you sure...?” Wenhan asked slowly, concern written all over his face.
From the point they’d brought up Mingming’s possible feelings for you up until he kissed you, they could tell how much Mingming grew to like you. The two of you were always joking and laughing together before and after practice, and sometimes they boys would go to the practice room afterwards to check up on him and see the two of you chasing each other around the room as you laughed and yelled at each other. Even now, it was obvious Mingming was upset he ruined your friendship, so they wanted to make sure he would be okay.
Mingming just nodded, “It’s better that--”
Before he could even finish his sentence, he had suddenly slipped like he was on ice, falling straight onto his back with a huff of air being pushed from his lungs. He just laid on the floor as his friends surrounded him, looking down at him in curiosity and concern.
He nodded with a soft sigh, “I probably deserved that.”
Outside, Alina was giggling softly at you before holding out a hand to help you to your feet. You declined with a shake of your head.
“I’d rather just...stay down here,” you decided.
She chuckled, rolling her eyes, “_____, you’re being over dramatic.”
“He kissed me, apologized, and ran!” you reminded her, clearly upset over what happened with Mingming. “Was it me? It was me, wasn’t it? But why would he kiss me if it was me that was the problem? Alina, what if I’m a bad kisser?”
“You said you didn’t react, so you can’t be a bad kisser if you didn’t even kiss him back,” she pointed out before sitting down beside you on the ground. “If you like him, why don’t you ask him?”
“Because then I’ll have to stay on this dance team,” you grumbled, sitting up and brushing the gravel and pebbles from your hair. “He’s the only reason I stuck around.”
“Do you still hate dancing?”
“Well, no, not anymore... But I don’t like doing it in front of people, and we have to to compete.”
“Then think of it this way: now that you don’t have Mingming keeping you here, you can quit the team after the competition.”
“I guess...” you sighed, still not pleased with the outcome.
“C’mon, I’ll take you for dinner,” she chuckled, standing up and finally helping you up as well. “Maybe it’ll cheer you up.”
-
Your hands were clammy and shaking as you waited back stage. You were on deck, watching the group before you perform. They seemed so polished and precise and that made you nervous. You knew the rest of your group was amazing, but would you be? Would you drag them down? Would you be the reason they didn’t place high?
Mingming couldn’t stop looking at you. He could tell your nerves were getting the best of you, and all he wanted to do was hug you and give you words of encouragement, but he was afraid he’d make things worse. So he stayed where he was, stretching and eyeing you.
Alina was the one to go over to you, offering a small smile, “You look terrified.”
“I am terrified,” you confirmed. “I don’t know if I can do this...”
“_____--”
Before she could say anything, you had jogged over to the exit to go to the hall. You wanted to just go hide out in the bathroom and hope nobody noticed you were gone. Maybe your group would win without you there and you could just avoid them forever so you didn’t have to face them after ditching them.
Mingming, however, noticed you leave, his feet moving without him even having to think about it.
“I’ll be back,” he said over his shoulder before sprinting off after you.
He looked down the way you’d gone, not seeing you at the end of the hall, but he still went that way anyway. He reached the end of the hall and saw the door to their dressing room close, so he jogged over and lightly knocked on the door.
No answer.
“_____?” he asked.
“Nobody’s here,” you replied before mentally slapping your forehead. That was a dumb response.
He chuckled, “_____, I just wanna talk. What’s wrong?”
You sighed, figuring you’d already blown your cover so why not open the door? Things couldn’t get any worse, could they?
Mingming looked genuinely concerned as he looked at you. You didn’t reply to his question, though. You just turned and walked further into the empty room, allowing him to enter and close the door.
“Why’d you run off?” he wondered.
You shook your head, “I can’t do this.”
“Why not?”
“Mingming, I’m so bad!” you told him, turning to face him.
“You are not.”
“Stop trying to encourage me, I know you say that to be nice!”
“No, I mean it.”
“I’m going to be the reason you guys don’t get first place,” you frowned, looking at the floor. “I don’t want to hold anybody back.”
He let out a laugh, and that surprised you. You looked up at him to see him walking over to you, placing his hands on your shoulders.
“Winning’s cool, yeah, but this is our first competition together. We don’t expect first,” he explained, “we’re just here to have fun and do the best we can.”
“But everybody else always said--”
“I know what they said, but don’t listen to them,” he told you, looking deep into your eyes. “Do you trust me?”
“Y-yeah...”
“Then come on stage with us and do it. You can do it, I know you can. I’ve seen you run that dance without falling so many times, and I know you can do it this time.”
Slowly, you nodded, taking a deep breath and holding it before slowly letting it out, “Okay...”
He smiled, patting your shoulder, “Alright, let’s go.”
As you followed Mingming to the door, your nerves took over again and you blurted, “I’m quitting after this performance.”
Mingming paused and turned to look at you. You saw hurt flash in his eyes before it was replaced with an unreadable expression. He didn’t say anything for a moment before he finally nodded.
“O-okay...”
He turned an carried on out of the room, feeling a pang of disappointment in his heart, but he tried to ignore it. You just silently followed him, feeling sad as well, but you weren’t sure why.
By the time you reached the backstage area again, the group before you was walking off the stage. Guanyue ran over, his eyes wide with worry.
“Thank god you’re back,” he breathed in relief. “We’re on, c’mon!”
Mingming glanced back at you before following the older boy, so you followed behind them. Your group waited at the side of the stage before you were announced, signaling you to get into your positions.
As you got into your spot, Mingming’s words kept ringing in your head. All of the moves, the timing, the rhythm played on a loop in your head. You could do this dance in your sleep. You could do this dance a million times without messing up.
You could do this.
The music started, and your body moved on instinct. You didn’t blank, you didn’t freeze up, and you didn’t panic. Hearing the music, you were back in your own little world, remembering every step, how to do it, and when. You had this, and you would celebrate that later.
But something happened. Somebody messed up, but it wasn’t you.
Mingming’s actions were no longer his own. He started doing moves he wasn’t supposed to and he couldn’t stop himself. He knew whose moves they were because he’d done them almost as much as he’d practiced his own. Glancing across the stage, he saw you doing the moves he’d taught you at the exact same time as him.
His eyes widened as the realization hit him.
His body was suddenly back in his own control, but in his rush to correct his actions, he tripped over his own feet and fell to the side, catching himself on his hands. However, the thud he made was a lot louder than he thought it would be.
Across the stage, you had fallen on your side. But this time, it wasn’t you who fell -- at least, it wasn’t on your own accord. Your actions weren’t your own as your feet randomly tripped over themselves, sending you sliding a little bit before you looked up at your group in panic. Only instead of meeting upset or worried faces, your eyes met the amused expression of Mingming on the floor.
Knowing he still had control over you, Mingming got to his feet, you mimicking his actions at the exact same time. He got back into the dance easily, which helped you, even when your body was back under your control.
You were relieved when the dance was over, all of you in your ending poses at the audience cheered and clapped despite the two slip-ups. Nobody except Alina and Mingming’s friends knew about your ‘thing’ with your soulmate, so they understood your mess ups, laughing, teasing, and playfully hitting you as the group walked off the stage. Once in the safety of the darkness backstage, Mingming paused by the curtains to wait for you, beaming when he saw you trailing behind everybody with your head down. You still felt bad because you were technically the reason for the mistakes. You had started it -- you caused Mingming to do the wrong thing, and you--
Before you could finish your negative thoughts, you felt a warm hand against your cheek before you just barely saw Mingming lean in. His lips pressed against yours like last time, but this kiss was much more confident, his lips firmly against yours in a sweet kiss. And he didn’t pull away before you could kiss him back.
You could hear your group behind him whooping and clapping, making you giggle shyly against his lips before he pulled away, the happiest smile you’d ever seen him wear on his face.
“That kiss, I’m not sorry for.”
-
[Bonus: one week later]
It was ‘law’ that you got properly acquainted with Mingming’s friends -- at least, that’s what Jiayi claimed, and the other seven just agreed with him. So the ten of you were gathered at a handful of tables that were shoved together at Mingming’s favorite restaurant, you sitting between Mingming and Zhenning as you ate your soup dumplings.
The group still joked about how they still managed to get third place at the competition, claiming they were either that good or the competition was just really bad. Either way, they were proud of their small trophy that they proudly showed off in the practice room.
“We should give everybody a break from practicing,” Wenhan decided. “Maybe take a couple weeks and then train for the next competition.”
Guanyue nodded, “I agree. Give everybody time to relax before we start up again.”
Mingming turned to you, suddenly remembering your statement in the dressing room, “Are you still quitting?”
“What?!” Zhenning gasped.
“Why?” Jiayi whined, sounding like a disappointed child.
“_____, you wanted to quit?” Wenhan asked, not seeming upset with you but definitely curious. “Why is that?”
You just shrugged, keeping your eyes on your dumplings now that the spotlight was on you, “I just never really liked dancing before...”
“What about now, though?” Youwei inquired. “You danced with us for so long -- don’t you like it now?”
“And you improved a lot!” Changxi grinned.
You looked up at Mingming at the mention of you improving. You had to admit, you did like the times Mingming helped teach you. He made dancing a lot more enjoyable than you used to find it.
“I guess I kinda like it now,” you decided with a small smile.