𝐃𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞 | 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘬

18: Don't Be Delusional.

Nerves were eating Minsi up inside as she looked around her dance team in the changing room. Breathing heavier, she wondered how she was the only one freaking out. The showcase was the biggest deal for their group in its existence so far but everyone; along with Taeyong; seemed completely fine.

Upon feeling a hand on hers, she glanced to the side.

"Are you ok?"

Minsi heard Mark's mumbled voice while his gentle and slightly worried eyes pierced through hers. He asked once more when she didn't answer, just staring at him blankly instead. Only after he squeezed her hand a little tighter, she came back to her senses.

"Hey, it's going to be ok. You have nothing to stress about." Mark softly chuckled, hoping to reassure the dance leader and his partner for another half an hour or so.

"Is everything ok?" Taeyong suddenly came over with furrowed brows.

"Yeah, I'm fine." a smile finally appeared on the girl's face. After standing up, Taeyong placed his hands on her shoulders.

"You're my right hand for a reason. You're amazing at this and I've seen how hard you worked for the whole team and how well you lead them. You got this, Minsi."

Hearing her mentor-slash-friend's complimenting words, she let out a deep sigh, believing him as much as he probably wanted her to. When Minsi called everyone to the circle, Taeyong sent Mark a smirk that could've meant many things — but there was no time to decipher that at the moment.

"Ok, guys, first I wanted to say thank you to every single one of you for working so hard," she glanced at Mark whose smile grew immediately as he felt the compliment directly. "I know it's been pretty tough, especially with our amazing leader being on vacation,"

"Hey!"

Everyone laughed, enjoying this little moment.

"But I'm really glad that I managed to find someone to fill his shoes for this special showcase," her eyes went back to Mark again and he suddenly felt a blush burning his cheeks. "I don't know how you learnt how to dance so well, or maybe you're just a natural, but I really want to thank you for helping me even though you're swamped with your own stuff. And I think it's safe to say that it doesn't only mean a lot to me but also to everyone else,"

Cheers and whistles suddenly filled the room, making Mark burst out laughing while he thanked the whole group.

"So, really, thank you Mark." Minsi smiled, keeping the eye contact that only got more and more intense. The Canadian boy nodded, thanking her too and then they all cheered before going up on stage.

Taeyong watched from backstage, doing the counts as he monitored their performance which turned out to be more than perfect. His eyes filled with tears as soon as they finished it without a single mistake — even the newbie did amazing.