s͟t͟i͟l͟l͟ ͟a͟r͟g͟u͟i͟n͟g͟.
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synopsis: you and minho fought often. being stuck to the same schedule despite everything that happened— the tension only grows and practices continue on—temporary truces, arguments, and a final warning from the rest of the group.
they don't stop fighting—but somehow, every step keeps pulling them closer.
pairing: dancer minho x reader warnings: rivals to lovers, roomates, bratty minho if you squint, eventual smut, slow-ish burn
read chapter two here. read chapter three here. read chapter four here.
wc: 2.4k
a/n: this took me longer than i expected but its finally here !!! i have no idea when chapter 2 will be out, but hopefully soon... also huge thanks to @actiniariaa for giving me ideas for this fic and proof reading it—bless your soul...
“what was that out there?” minho's voice cut through the empty hallway.
you could feel it all over again— the final performance, worth half of your grade—the same duet you both had practiced so many times, you could’ve done it in your sleep. the crowd hadn’t even realized what went wrong, but you did. minho did. and there was no way the professor missed it. but here you were, replaying every mistake in your head.
“oh, don't fucking start.” you crossed your arms, chest still pounding from the performance.
you and minho fought often, so often that it had become second nature to you. being stuck in the same group—being roommates— only made it worse. it was constant, and frankly suffocating.
“no, I'm serious,” he said, taking a step closer, “we practiced that turn a hundred times.”
“and I did it right a hundred times,” you shot back.
“one mistake doesn’t mean you get to tear me apart! besides, don't act like you didn't use the wrong foot while switching into the diagonal step.”
minho scoffed, folding his arms— staring at you like you slapped him.
“wrong foot?” he repeated. “i made up for your late count.”
you scoffed—did he think you were a joke? “made up for your late count?”
was he coming up with excuses, or did he genuinely believe that messing up the step counted as helping?
“you didn’t make up for anything. you panicked.” you snapped back, stabbing your finger into his chest.
“you rushed and threw off my balance.”
“shit, so now it's my fault you couldn’t land it?” he pressed, stepping even closer, eyes darkening—the air between you felt thicker.
"I would've landed it if you hadn’t yanked me early!” you retaliated, your chest rising and falling, frustration taking over.
minho stepped closer with a glower, eyes narrowing—as if he was daring you to push further.
“we failed because you froze.” he said, voice low and sharp.
“no,” you responded quickly, bitterly laughing. “we failed because you don't know how to dance with someone—only over them.”
for a moment, he looked stunned.
“...what did you just say?”
“i said,” you took a deep breath before continuing.
“you don't like to dance with people,” you repeated, not backing down. “you dance like you're alone, and everyone else just has to keep up or get dragged.”
silence rung out between you.
minho’s stare hardened, disbelief turning into something colder— ready to fight back— until a hand gripped his shoulder, trying to hold him back, that hand belonging to felix.
“can you guys please relax?” he huffed, a concerned look on his face. “you both made mistakes—so stop fighting. it's not going to change the fact that we failed because of you two.”
minho's jaw clenched, but felix's grip kept him from lunging forward. you were staring at minho half in disbelief and half in frustration. a part of you wanted to provoke him, but the other was telling you to drop it.
felix shook his head, letting go of minho. “seriously guys, what's done is done. you two messed up your duet, and we all faced the consequences. yelling at each other won't fix shit.”
minho’s glare snapped towards you, but he didn't argue.
before you two killed each other, rapid footsteps echoed down the hallway. hyunjin slowed to a stop in front of you both, eyes wide and grinning.
“guys,” he said, catching his breath. “we’re getting a second chance!”
both you and minho froze.
“...second chance?” felix asked, confused.
hyunjin nodded, voice stable now. “yeah, the professor knows the mess with your duet affected the rest of us, buuuut… he's giving us one more shot. basically—fix your part, or the whole group suffers.” his ecstatic tone when he first arrived shifting into something more serious.
minho blinked, mouth open slightly. “fix it…? together?”
“yes,” hyunjin stared at him, exhaling like he couldn't believe he was saying it. “how else are you supposed to perform a duet? anyways, this means you actually have to cooperate. no more screaming in hallways, holding grudges, and for god’s sake stop flirting in front of us!”
“what? okay, i”m going to stop you there,” you quickly cut off hyunjin. “in what world would I ever flirt with that narcissist?”
minho’s gaze flicked to you for a second—clenching his fists like he was going to defend himself, until hyunjin's voice stopped him.
“sure, whatever— i don't care if it's flirting or fighting. you guys need to put aside your pride for once and make sure we dont fuck this up okay?” his voice firm—making sure he got his point through your heads.
“so what, are we supposed to just pretend that didn't happen?” minho responded, getting worked up all over again.
felix exhaled loudly as he stepped forward—preparing to step in if something happened. “no.” he paused before looking directly at both you and minho, “you’re supposed to shut up and not make it worse.”
“yeah, you guys can do whatever you want after we pass.” hyunjin leaned onto the wall, agreeing with felix.
“seriously, how do you guys argue this much? does it not get tiring?” felix's eyes flicked between the two of you, genuine confusion painting his face.
“minho’s ego is clearly too high to accept that I'm just as good of a dancer as he is—so he constantly nitpicks every little thing I do. It's like he's obsessed with me or something.” you responded flatly, maintaining eye contact with minho.
“me?” he scoffed, a humourless laugh slipping out, “obsessed with you? you wish.”
felix ran a hand down his face, exhaustion coloring his voice. “you know what? forget I even asked.” he glanced at hyunjin, who shrugged helplessly.
“just— go home and work things out, okay? we can't risk losing our last chance because you two can't stand being in the same room for five minutes.”
minho grabbed his bag from the corner, already heading towards the door. “fine, whatever.”
you followed him out, the door slamming shut behind you. the campus was quieter now, most people gone for the night. the only things you could hear were a few voices in the distance and the footsteps of both you and minho.
the walk back to the dorms was suffocating. minho walked a few steps ahead, with his hands shoved in his pocket—you kept your distance, staring at the pavement—wondering how you would try and work with him.
by the time you reached the building, your chest felt heavy—you couldn't tell if it was anxiety or anger. minho pushed through the entrance without looking back, and you caught the door before it could shut in your face.
“seriously?” you muttered.
he didn't respond. didn't even flinch.
up the stairs, down the hall, and finally—your shared dorm room. minho unlocked the door and stepped inside first, tossing his bag onto the couch like he’d already forgotten you existed.
you closed the door behind you— a little harder than necessary, and stood there for a moment, staring at him before you sat on the couch, keeping your distance.
“so what now?” you asked, breaking the silence. “we just pretend that didn't happen?”
minho turned slowly, leaning against the arm of the couch. “what do you want me to say?”
“i don't know—maybe acknowledge the fact that you were being unreasonable?” you said, frustration bleeding into your voice.
“unreasonable?” he let out a breathless chuckle and shook his head, “youre the one who can't take criticism.”
you let out a forced laugh before retaliating, “that's rich coming from you.” minhos gaze dropped onto your crossed arms, “someone seriously needs to put you in your place.”
minho's mouth opened, then closed. his eyebrows shot up, and for a second, he just stared at you—like he couldn't quite process what you just said.
“i—what?” his voice came out slightly higher than usual, and you watched as his ears turned pink. “put me in my—are you serious right now?”
you shrugged, trying to keep your expression neutral. “yeah. someone really should.”
he let out a breathless laugh, running a hand through his hair as he looked away. “that's—you can't just say shit like that.”
“why not? it's true.”
minho’s gaze snapped back to yours, something flickering in his eyes that you couldn't quite read. he opened his mouth like he was gonna argue, but no words came out.
“you’re unbelievable,” he whispered, but his voice had lost its bitterness.
“why?” you tilted your head, a small grin appearing on your face. “did I finally find a way to shut you up?”
“shut up,” he said, but there was no anger behind it—just embarrassment he was very desperate to hide. he cleared his throat— trying to avoid making eye contact with you. “it's getting late…can we just— can we figure out the choreography tomorrow? Please?”
you glanced at the time on your phone. he wasn't wrong—it was late—you were both exhausted from the performance and the argument that followed.
“fine.” you said, uncrossing your arms. “but you’re actually going to work with me this time, not against me.”
“i always work with you,” minho protested weakly, finally meeting your eyes again.
“sure you do.” you stood up from the couch, grabbing your bag from where you dropped it, "that's why we failed today.”
he winced slightly at that, and you almost felt bad for bringing it up.
almost.
the silence that followed felt heavier than before. minho looked away, jaw working like he wanted to say something, but couldn't find the words.
“i’m going to bed,” you said, finally breaking the tension. you couldn't do this anymore tonight—the arguing, the back and forth. you were exhausted.
“yeah,” minho said quietly, still not looking at you, “okay.”
you turned towards your room, taking a couple steps, but stopped and hesitated for just a second. part of you wanted to say something else— maybe apologize for your comment, but you were too tired to deal with anything.
“we’ll figure it out tomorrow,” you added, softer this time.
minho’s eyes flicked up to meet yours briefly, and he nodded, “yeah. tomorrow.”
you gave him one last look before heading into your room and closing the door behind you. the moment you were alone, you dropped your bag on the floor and collapsed onto the bed, staring up at the ceiling.
tomorrow.
you’d fix everything tomorrow.
you just hoped it would actually be that simple.
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the next morning came too fast.
you woke up to sunlight shining through the blinds and the muffled sound of movement in the space outside your room. for a moment you just laid there— replaying last night in your head, you regretted a lot of things.
you groaned, dragging a pillow over your face—ready to scream, until a sharp knock on your door jolted you upright.
“are you up?” minho's voice came through, flat and cautious.
“yeah,” you called back, shoving the pillow aside and swinging your legs off the bed. “i’ll be out soon.”
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the practice room felt different.
emptier.
colder.
felix and hyunjin were already there when you arrived. felix was sitting against the wall—earbuds in, eyes closed like he was mentally preparing himself for whatever chaos would unfold. hyunjin was sitting next to him, scrolling on his phone—but the way he kept glancing at the door told you he’d been waiting.
“morning,” you greeted them, dropping your bag by the wall—beginning to stretch.
felix pulled out one earbud. “hey.”
hyunjin straightened up, rolling his shoulders back. “okay so—are we going to do this, or are you two going to need another minute to… i don't know, get it out of your system first?”
“we’re fine,” you responded quickly.
“sure you are.” hyunjin didn't sound very convinced.
minho walked past you, already pulling his arm across his chest to stretch. “let’s just start. the sooner we fix this, the sooner we're done.”
you shot him a look. “wow. how motivating.”
"i wasn't trying to motivate you,” he muttered, not even looking at you. “just being realistic.”
“right.” you bit your tongue, resisting the urge to say something that would start another argument.
not today.
felix stood up and sighed loudly. “okay, let's go over the group part first—just to make sure we’re all on the same page, then you two can work on the duet.”
you and minho nodded at the same exact time.
hyunjin let out a short laugh, shaking his head. “you guys are so weird.”
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you thought everything was going well. the counts were clean, the transitions smooth, and for once you weren't second-guessing every movement.
then minho opened his mouth.
“your footwork’s sloppy.”
you stopped turning to face him. “yeah? well your back isn’t straight.”
“it doesn’t need to be straight for this step, dumbass,” he shot back, crossing his arms
“sure,” you said, tilting your head slightly. “but you should practice it anyway to make sure you don’t fuck it up a second time.”
minho's eyes widened for just a second before his expression hardened. he took a step towards you, voice dropping.
“fuck it up? are you seriously going to stand there and act like yesterday wasn't on you?”
“it wasnt—”
“yes it was,” he cut you off jaw tight. “stop trying to rewrite what happened just because you don't want to admit it.”
your chest tightened, heat creeping up your neck. you lowered your voice, leaning in just enough so that he could hear every word. “keep talking like that and I’ll make sure your footwork isn’t the only thing that’s sloppy by the end of the hour.”
minho blinked. his mouth opened slightly, then closed—staring at you, clearly caught off guard.
“yeah?” he finally managed, voice rougher than before.
hyunjin groaned loudly from across the room. “could you guys whisper any louder? i was just starting to hear my own fucking counts.”
felix rubbed his temples, as if a headache was forming. “i think we should just stop for today—“
“what? no," minho said quickly, breaking eye contact with you. “i can’t leave yet. i’ve got so much to go over.”
hyunjin and felix glanced at each other momentarily, before hyunjin stepped forward.
“perfect! you and minho can do whatever it is that you need to do and felix and i can relax. i’m sure you two wouldn’t understand, but carrying a group project on your back isn’t very easy,”
hyunjin slung his bag over his shoulder, turning towards the both of you to give you a final look, “make sure to work on your duet sections before you have any extra fun.”
hyunjin and felix didn't waste any time. they headed for the door, not even bothering to glance back. you didn't think much of it—not until the door swung shut behind them.
then you heard it.
the lock.
a soft, deliberate click.
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i really hope u guys enjoy it so far because this genuinely took years off my lifespan while writing it..
lmk in the comments if you would like to be added to the taglist for chapter 2 !!
taglist: @minho4luv @daises-and-domming @gabimmat @mxmx09
read chapter two here.
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