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present day. - dress rehearsal for kbs
"and that's a wrap for today! all of you get a good nights sleep, the big performance is tomorrow." their managers dismissed the exhausted idols, all 16 of them bowed respectfully as they slowly congregated back to their dressing rooms.
rehearsals went smoothly, audio works, stage setup works, performance ran well. no mistakes. however, for two people, they were still a little too energized at the moment.
while the remainder of their band mates changed out of their performance outfits and tiredly packed up their belongings. the famous 98' liners anxiously nipped at the fingertips. both of them itching to go to the other.
it was like a magnetic force was pulling them together. now in her casual wear, sohee rushed out of the dressing room, startling her members in the process.
"where's she off to in such a rush?" chaesol asked, seated on the sofa next to eunseo. "no idea," the two youngest members could only shrug, paying no mind to the older members behaviour and focusing their attention back onto their phones.
sohee felt her heart rate rapidly increasing, she tugged at the sleeves of her crewneck, rushing her steps. the eyes of a certain individual halted her movement, she felt her breath hitch. there was something different in his eyes, something in her own.
minho stood opposite of her, slowly moving towards her to shorten the gap between them. they didn't dare break eye-contact. he managed to look effortlessly stunning in grey sweats and a navy blue hoodie. clothing choices matching sohee, with her forest green crewneck and white joggers.
he felt his breath be taken away, acting like he wasn't just spinning her around in his arms dressed in an outfit that showed much more skin than her current outfit. but it didn't matter, her newly dyed navy blue hair and bare face, paired with her loungewear was more than enough to leave minho stunned.
"hey," she spoke up, once minho had found himself stood in front of her. "hi." silence seemed to overtake them, neither really knew why they'd come together like this. more like, they didn't know what to say after coming together like this.
"do you want to-" "i still want to-" they began at the same time, startling each other with their voices. soft smiles crept onto their faces as they light heartedly chuckled, minho ushered for sohee to speak first.
"do you want to go over the choreo a few more times? i'm still a little uh... anxious? with some parts..." lies. her voice was trailing off, a sudden reluctance taking over her. she fiddled with the sleeves of her sweater again, hoping he'd agree.
to her fortune, the corner of minhos lips quivered up into a half smile. "i was about to ask you the same," they smiled at each other shyly, the strange tension in the air going unnoticed to no one. they were lucky no one but them were in these halls, or someone would've seen right through their facade.
"great, kq or jyp?" he asked genuinely, both slowly turning to head in the direction of the exit. they kept their gaze on each other, minho only looking away when he made sure to guide sohee away from any walls that might've been in the way.
"doesn't matter," her voice breathless. he seemed to just nod in agreement, before both had even realized what was happening, they were in a separate car with minhos manager.
"perfectionists aren't you both? try not to over exert yourselves while practicing tonight, take care of your bodies." stray kids' manager bid them farewell after dropping them off at the jyp building. both bowed respectfully as he drove off.
the sun had set a couple hours ago, relying on the hues of the streetlights and whatever lights came from inside the tall building as they walked up the stairs.
now up in the practice room, sohee tossed her crewneck to the side, leaving her in her tank top. minho walked over to the computer, turning on the music before carefully making his way back to sohee to commence their performance.
unlike how they'd been practicing before, they left hardly any space between them. if their choreographer saw them now, he'd be giddy and cheering them on happily for finally complying to the directions he'd been giving them since the start of their preparations.
everything seemed to be falling into place. maybe it was the dimly lit room, or the intense gaze they kept on each other as they danced. but something was in the air tonight, and it was affecting both of them positively.
they both were thinking about it, they both understood what day today was. yet both were still entirely against bringing it up, at least for now. as the song concluded, minho held her close to him.
eyes locked on each other, chests heaving up and down as they tried to catch their breaths. the music had turned off, leaving them in an almost silence. the sweat on minhos forehead stuck his bangs against it. the way he looked so captivating in the dark room made it increasingly difficult for sohee to catch her breath.
it was their anniversary date. five years ago today, both of them confessed their love for each other atop the school roof, courtesy of mirae. the ordeal was small, but the impact their relationship had left on them was so grand. they were teenagers, hopelessly in love, pulled apart for the sake of achieving their dreams.
sohee read into his gaze, seeing a specific glint in his eyes that she hadn't seen in a while. his gaze was laced with passion and admiration. it felt illegal to break it. they allowed for their breaths to catch up to their heartbeats.
pulling apart almost unwillingly as sohee went to restart the song. as much as they shouldn't be practicing more, adding additional strain to their bodies, but neither of them wanted to go home. neither of them wanted to leave the others side.
they ran through the dance again, and again, and again. no words exchanged between the both of them, they communicated through the dance and their eyes. as if carefully trying to curate the right words to say in this moment.
for the fifth time they concluded their routine, landing themselves back in that ending pose. his grip firm on her waist, sohee's hand intertwined with his other hand. back against his chest, lost in each others eyes.
the room was silent, only the sounds of their panting breaths was heard. chests rising and falling at a fast pace as they let their heart rate catch up to them. they shouldn't be practicing this much. they shouldn't be spending this much time together, alone.
"soh..." "lino, i-"
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