[ @jsyevn ]
———— && IT WAS LATE AT NIGHT and the hallway to the famous dancing room of the Cube Entertainment building, yes the room that was showing in all of the company’s groups dance videos. The music were loudly playing through the speakers and the young girl were trying to find the way to make the dance steps fit. Her face being covered in sweat and her legs felt like jello now, but she was not going to give up. Not when the elder make had offered himself to stay there with her and help her through this hard time for her. He knew how much she had been struggling with the steps, she had randomly poured her worries out to him over a random cup of coffee the other day around. It just happened when she was with the elder male, his safe aura made Seungyeon want to pour out all of her worries, and she did it again and again.
‘It is almost 3AM, let’s call it a night and go home.’
He had said it to her one hour ago, but she had refused to give in, despite her body wanting to do that. Her muscles were screaming for some rest and she felt that if she took one more step her bones would break, but she would not let them do it. She had to finish this routine until she got it perfectly. It had to be flawless.
One, two. One, two. One, two. She was counting the beats inside of her head, constantly getting closer to the break in the song, the place where she was struggling the most. Her heart were pounding hard inside of her chest, she felt as if it would jump out of her chest as well, she was scared. No, not scared. She was terrified. And that was what caused her steps to give in and before she knew it, Seungyeon fell onto the ground. Gikwang stopped the music and ran over to the girl.
He wrapped his protective arms around her, causing the younger girl to curl up against his chest and burst out in tears. Tears of exhuastion and disappointment with herself. It took Seungyeon a while before she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him close. It felt good, and comforting, to know that there was a senior within the company who would be there for her. During her darkest moment, holding her close.
“Thank you, oppa..” She finally managed to stutter out. “Thank you for everything.. I am sorry for putting you through this, for forcing you to stay awake like this..”
Since Seungyeon was insistent on logging in extra dance practice hours, Gikwang couldn’t leave her all to herself, considering how much of a hard-working and ambitious, yet slightly reckless person she was. He would be considered blind and completely dumb if he couldn’t detect some sort of despair in her energetic moves, for she was constantly messing up the crucial part of the choreography. Try as hard as he might, he couldn’t remain indifferent to an upcoming breakdown that was yet to wash over his friend - he could almost sense it in the stuffy air.
His heart tripped in his chest at the spine-chilling moment when her body fell limply to the floor. It took several nanoseconds for him to bolt out of his chair to turn off the blasting music and rush over to Seungyeon’s side. It was unplanned, instictive, as he couldn’t fight the worry clawing at his insides. Hands rubbing up and down her back in soothing patterns, he let the silence settle between them as he waited for the quiet sobs to subside gradually.
“It’s okay, Seungyeonie. Even if you tried to kick me out, I wouldn’t let you. Also, there are days when not everything meets our expectations, you know? You can’t get it right now but once you’re well-rested and refreshed, you will find it within yourself to make it right. I know what.” Gikwang comforted her in the most reassuring tone he could muster, concern peeking out through his eyes. “I know what I’m saying! I’m the main dancer but, trust me, I’m the one who tends to forget the right order all the time, not to mention I’m awful at memorizing all the moves for longer than it’s needed.” He quickly forced a smile and let loose a nervous chuckle as he pulled away just enough to catch a glimpse of her face, before gently wrapping his arms around her all over again, cocooning her in warmth.
“Don’t be so hard on yourself. I know you want it to be perfect right here, right now but... I suggest you go take a nap, and we can come back here in the morning to practice. I’ll come along, I promise... unless you don’t want me to.” He amended, his voice still soft and caring.