Armful of Hope

Damn Girl, You're Good

You head out to Bangtan Music, where you teach those training for debut, specific areas of hip hop, break dance, pop n lock, and your favorite, isolation.

Two hours later, class is over, and you now have free time in the dance studio just for you.

You turn the lights down to a more normal setting, start the music, and begin isolation. To you, it is like ballet, where you have to have precise control over your body. You are so into the music and your body that you don't know you are being watched. When the music ends, you grab your towel, covering your face and drying it, when you hear the door open.

You were startled and jumped. "Oh!" as your hands flew to your chest, dropping your towel. You feel your heart beating rapidly under your hands.

You sigh in relief when you see it's J Hope and start laughing. You say, "You scared me, Mr. Jung."

He apologizes. "I didn't mean to scare you. I'm sorry."

You laugh and say, "It's okay. I'm so used to being alone after teaching my class that it caught me off guard."

He steps closer, "I was watching you dance just now. You're good, I mean really good."

You smile at him. "Thank you, Mr. Jung, coming from you, that is a great compliment."

He steps closer, " Yeona, I came by to check on you. I wanted to ensure you weren't hurt from earlier when we fell."

You slightly blush, "I'm sorry about that."

He says, "Don't be. I'm just glad you're not hurt."

You smile, holding out your arms. "See, I'm good, no lasting effects."

He grins as he walks over to the room's sound system and links up from his playlist music before saying, "Good, then dance with me." He is walking towards you, smiling.

Surprised, you ask, "What?"

He says, "Hip hop, isolation, let's dance." He reaches you, waiting to see what you would do.

You both start grinning at each other, and he starts dancing. You quickly join in. Next thing you know, a couple of hours have gone by. You were having so much fun, and neither of you even noticed.

He drops to the floor, trying to catch his breath, "Damn girl, you're good!"

You plop down beside him, "Thank you. You aren't so bad yourself, Mr. Jung."

He starts laughing and says, "Please, call me Jae. The guys call me Hobi and to Army I'm Hope, but I would like it if you call me Jae." He's been crushing on you for months now he hopes you will call him by a name the others don't.

You smile, "I like that . . .Jae."

He lowers his head with a slight blush to his cheeks. "I mean, sometimes I just want to be Jae." He sees being Jae is as close to normal as he can without any unreal expectations required of him.

You nod in understanding. "My mom use to do k-drama and she would always be called by her stage name and was expected to be just like the character she played. I saw first hand how difficult that was for her."

You reach out and take his hand in yours, and he slowly raises his face.

You look at him sweetly, saying, "Jae, we can't always be happy. Or as in my mom's case, always be the perky little airhead. My mom was super smart and had a degree in engineering before she was recruited to take the lead role in Chance To Dream."

"You mean your mom was . . ."

You smile "Yes, she was."

"I use to watch that show all the time." he confesses.

"Do you recall the season she found out she was pregnant and they did a whole season based on it?" You suddenly blush, "I'm so sorry assuming you're older than me. I meant no disrespect."

"Yes, my mom loved watching that show and she always had me watch it with her. I was only four at the time, but being with my Mom was everything."

The sweet smile and joy you saw in his expression warmed your heart.

Grinning you tell him, "That was me. She was actually pregnant with me at the time."

His mood has lightened up and he wants to know more about you. Inside he is feeling that some how your hearts are connecting and he doesn't want to do anything to discourage it.

"How long have you been dancing?"

You giggle, "My mom will tell you I was dancing before I was born."

He laughs. "So you had a head start on me."

You grin at him. "I guess so." You had fun dancing with J Hope. He is such a fantastic dancer. You hope he would want to dance again. You were hoping maybe the next time you were done with class for the new group, he would come by.

You start to stand, and he jumps up and takes your hand, helping you.

"Well, I need to head home and get dinner. I'm hungry. I had so much fun dancing with you tonight, Jae."

He hasn't let go of your hand yet, "I'm hungry too. We can go out and grab a bite."

You lift your sweaty shirt from sticking to you and then grimace, "I can't go out like this."

He looks at you, and as his eyes slowly travel down your body, he says, "We can stop by my place, take showers, and then head out to eat."

Startled, you look at him frowning. "Seriously? You want me to take a shower with you?!"

He blushes, "No, no, that's not what I meant." His face blushes a deep red.

"I, I um, only meant that there are spare bedrooms and bathrooms at my place. You can use one of the spare rooms and bath. The guys won't mind."

You raise your brows, curious, "The 'guys won't mind.' what do you mean, the guys?"

"The others and I share a large house, and you are more than welcome to shower and change there."

He looks around and asks, "You have a change of clothes with you, don't you?"

You heave a little sigh, "Yeah, I do. How far is your house?" You think it may be nice to go out tonight instead of straight to your lonely apartment.

He smiles, happy you are considering coming over.

You tell him where you live, and he says, "I'm a lot closer. Come on, let's go."

You grab your bag, and he takes your hand as you leave. You can't believe you're doing this.