By @xo_viz
It was a typical, normal day in the JYP building.
Among all rooms, there was one particular studio room that blasted the same track on loop, volume on max that could've destroyed people's ear drums.
But somehow, the screams and grunts from the group of 8 dancers seemed to be just as loud as the music itself.
Minho began to grow frustrated when he noticed the lack of synchronization from the team.
Some of them weren't keeping up anymore and some were missing the beats of the rhythm terribly.
It was a mess.
In another week or so, they had to compete with their newest choreographed performance in order to secure that winning streak. However, much to Minho's disappointment, they did not show any much of a progress.
All of them were caught lacking in most parts of the choreography, and it was even painful to look at.
As the song came to an end, everyone could no longer bear with the exhaustion anymore. Their lungs fought for air while they fell to the ground.
Felix let out a painful groan, he was gripping onto his chest as he tried to fight off the pain creeping up.
While Seungmin and Jeongin had their eyes shut, they had no more ounce of energy in them to even move.
Even though the group seemed totally beaten up after the dance, Minho was not planning to let any of them catch a break.
As the dance leader, it was his duty to ensure everyone pushes themselves to their limits.
When he noticed how much they were lacking, the male couldn't help but feel irritated.
Hyunjin crawled to reach for his bottle on the ground as he panted heavily. "This is even harder than our previous choreographies." He grunted under his breath.
Slowly, the rest began to get their bottles as they catch their breaths. But before they could even drink any of the water, Minho stopped them.
"Don't even think about catching a break. We've got to practice more, let's go for 5 more times straight without stopping." He was serious, there wasn't any sign of joking around in his tone.
Changbin wiped a trail of sweat from his forehead before panting out. "We've been dancing for the past 2 hours non stop, get a grip of yourself Minho."
There were a few nods after hearing what Changbin said. But no one dared to speak up as they were busy fanning themselves due to the heat.
Minho was even annoyed after hearing the objection. How could they think of slacking off when the whole dance was not even close to meeting up his expectations?
The tense atmosphere was starting to get to the members. None of them wished to get under Minho's nerves, they didn't want to fall into any more trouble.
As if Chan could sense the annoyance from Minho's face, he stood up and ran to reset the music.
"Guys, let's practice some more. Let's do our best!" The oldest member interrupted.
It didn't take long for all of them to get into their assigned positions, despite secretly still yearning for a rest.
-
It was their fourth time repeating the dance without stopping at all.
The dance steps were very much advanced and required a lot of stamina to keep up. But as each second passed by, everyone had the urge to just collapse onto the ground and pass out.
The way their screams echoed through the studio was enough to show how hard they were trying.
However, even though they repeated the steps over and over again, the overall performance did not satisfy anyone in the room, especially Minho.
"Fuck!" Hyunjin couldn't help but curse when he lost balance and fell on his back, followed with a very loud thud.
The fall was pretty hard, considering how Changbin was supposed to lift Hyunjin up so he could do a backflip. But both of them slipped and caused the other to trip.
A pain shoot up in Hyunjin's back as he winced. Everyone could hear the fall, immediately turning to look at the guy on the ground.
Thankfully, there wasn't any severe injuries, or else things could've escalated into something worse.
Jisung ran to him mid-way through the dance. "Hyunjin, are you alright?" he asked, gripping onto Hyunjin's shoulder as all of them began to worry.
"I'm fine, just hurts a little." Replied the taller blonde, lifting himself up from the ground before wincing again.
Changbin looked over apologetically. "I'm so sorry, my hands slipped." Only earning a soft nod from the other.
Minho didn't want the rest of the members to stop just yet. He started to raise his voice, but still trying to keep his cool.
"Hyunjin, you can have 5 minutes. The rest of you, get back to your positions. We're starting again."
Minho didn't waste another second before forcing the members to get back up, ignoring their protests.
-
They continued the sickening practice, with Minho adjusting their positions and guided them professionally.
Jisung could tell even though they were showing signs of improvement, the progess was still unbearably slow. And because of that, Minho's patience was also almost at its peak.
"Jeongin, pick up the pace!"
"Lift your arm higher, Changbin!"
"Hyunjin and Jisung, you're standing at the wrong position!"
This kept going on, with the members silently praying for the practice to end as soon as possible.
But unfortunately, Minho was just getting started. He was visibly pissed at this point, and that alone sent a chill down their spines.
Minho balled his hands into fists as he sighed again. "We're repeating this part until everyone is in sync."
Seungmin whined, he was also getting annoyed at the situation they were in. Bringing his hand to wipe the sweat from his neck, the boy did as told.
Not long after, they heard Minho screamed again. He did not sound happy, at all.
Jisung gulped when he observed Minho's expression.
This isn't going to end well.
"What the fuck are you all doing?" The dance leader cursed, his voice was slowly turning raspy due to all the yelling.
"If this keeps up, we're never going to win that damn competition. No one is allowed to go home until we do this right."
Minho had enough. The studio was silent. The only sound that followed was the awkward shift of their shoes in contact with the floor, and the heavy breaths and wheezes for air.
The angered male clicked his tongue in annoyance, tilting his head while he reached for the music once again.
But before he could turn it back on, he was interrupted by the complaint from Changbin.
"Minho, we need that break. Can't you see all of us are struggling to keep up?"
He turned to glare at Changbin, that was a threat to shut him up.
"I'm not going easy on all of you. If you wanna slack off that badly, might as well just not come at all."
Hearing that caused Changbin to let out a scoff. He crossed his arms as he returned that deathly glare to Minho, not showing any signs of backing out.
"Us craving for a 5 minute break is not slacking off." The shorter defended. "That's only fair considering how much we've practiced today."
"Use your fucking eyes to see, Changbin." Minho wasted no time to argue back. "Have you seen how awful y'all did?"
"I'm well aware it's not meeting up your expectations, mind you." Changbin rolled his eyes as he took a step closer to Minho, who was also close to exploding.
"Use your fucking brain instead, if you have one. What kind of bullshit dance mentor would force his members to dance for hours and hours? Hate to burst your bubble but we aren't fucking robots."
At this rate, the rest of the members were too afraid to interfere.
Things were getting pretty heated as they watched the two argued back and forth, neither of them planning to let the other win.
Minho scoffed, throwing his head back as he gripped onto his own hair. "You are not even cooperating with me at all, you don't have the rights to speak like that."
"I'm not cooperating? You are the one being pushy and ignorant like a bitch."
Jisung perked up. He was sitting next to Felix on the floor, both of them holding hands because they needed comfort.
The boy knew it was a bad idea speaking up, but he couldn't just sit there and allow things to further complicate.
"Changbin, that's enough." Jisung pleaded, gripping tighter onto the Aussie's arm.
He hated when the members have disagreements and fights, it always puts everything else in a bad mood.
Changbin continued to fire back at Minho, completely ignoring Jisung.
"You think being like this will ensure us to win that first place? Have you ever consider about any of our feelings? Hyunjin almost injured himself, it could've ended badly in many ways-"
"I'm being like this for our sake, our reputation. Do you think our fans want to see our ranking drop?"
"They wouldn't like it either if any of us gets injured a few days before the competition. Is that so hard to understand?"
Minho let out an impatient groan. "You don't fucking get how important this competition is to us."
"Judging on the way you treat us, I doubt you get it as well." Changbin retorted.
The more they argue, the more worried the rest of the members become. Their practice was already a huge disaster, and this is leading them to no good.
Jisung couldn't stand sitting there and do nothing anymore. He searched for Chan, and once he found him he signalled for him to do something before things get even worse.
Since Chan is the leader of the group, the only way to settle down the fight was through him.
Taking note of his fellow member's signal, Chan sighed as he cleared his throat before yelling at the two of them.
"That's enough, the two of you shut the fuck up!" He scolded, catching Minho and Changbin's attention instantly.
None of the members expected Chan to sound so mad. They've never witnessed him being like this.
Jisung guessed he was just keeping it in this whole time.
The leader stood up and forcefully threw his towel on the ground, which caused the others to flinch at the action.
The Aussie walked to the two fighting members. "This is getting us to nowhere. You two know better than to start this nonsense. Be mature for once, please."
The way Chan sounded so disappointed when he yelled at them made Minho and Changbin feel guilty.
After Chan's outburst, no one else made any noise, they just took in the silence and waited.
Minho was the first to break the tension. He looked at his teammates for a split second, before grabbing his own towel to leave.
"You're dismissed. You can go home now." was all he said before slamming the door shut.
Meanwhile Changbin could still sense the leader's stare at him, to which he then apologized, ashamed.
As soon as Minho was out of the studio, the boys shifted awkwardly in their seats, still unsure what to do to fight off the tension.
Jisung got up from the ground and ran out the studio, turning to find Minho before he lost him.
The boy was still sweating from all the movements from the past few hours. The sweat stained his T-shirt but he didn't put that in mind at all, his priority was to make sure Minho was alright at the moment.
Turning to the stairs, Jisung didn't expect to see Minho there.
There was no one there, considering how it was past midnight and most of the staffs were gone.
The latter sat on the staircase, it seemed as if he had too much on his mind to even notice there was someone behind him. So, Jisung slowly made his way next to the other and made himself comfortable beside him.
Finally sensing the presence of the younger, Minho lifted his head up from his knees to look at Jisung with tired eyes. It pained Jisung to see how destroyed and messed up Minho looked, but regardless in his eyes the male was still stunning.
Since the lighting was not as good, the two boys could not exactly make out each other's features. But it was plain obvious how Jisung knew that Minho was on the verge of breaking down.
If he didn't find Minho here, did that mean that the older would cry alone?
Just having that idea caused Jisung to frown.
He hesitantly brought his hand up to tug at Minho's sleeve in the softest, gentlest manner.
Knowing that the other was not in the right state of mind, Jisung made a bolder move to just pull Minho into his embrace.
Once Minho was tightly wrapped around Jisung's petite figure, he could no longer hide the tears building up in his eyes.
One strand of tear followed with another, and soon more of them came pouring down his cheeks.
Jisung had rarely seen Minho cry like this. Heck, in their group, the latter is usually the last one to ever shed a tear.
So, he brought one hand up to pat Minho's head in a soothing manner, trying to get him to calm down. It took a while, but eventually all that was left was the little sniffles coming from Minho.
Jisung let his mind wander, trying to think of what to say. His hold on Minho was still tight and secure, it was as if he never planned on letting him go.
"You know Changbin didn't mean anything he said, right?"
There was no response from Minho.
Jisung gave a squeeze. "He was just frustrated, like you."
Still nothing.
Jisung puffed his cheeks. He unwrapped his arms, dragging his own hands down to intertwine with Minho's.
"We don't blame you, Min. So don't ever blame yourself for what had happened earlier."
He finally earned a response, even though it was just a solid head shake.
Minho seemed to disagree with what he said.
Of course he would, Changbin's words were pretty harsh to hear.
He swung Minho's hands from side to side playfully, to lighten up the mood just a little.
"Min, can you at least look at me?" Jisung asked nicely, as if he was talking to a toddler.
That seemed to do the trick. Minho slowly lifted his head and looked at Jisung with a pout.
The image was rather cute to Jisung, the latter smiled to himself.
"Whatever happened just now, will not affect anything on us." The younger tried his best to assure. "You're not the only one worried about the competition, we're all in this together, as a team."
"It's nice to know that you'll always help and monitor us when we face difficulties, you never ever gave up on us, despite how much you wanted to slam your head against the wall sometimes."
He earned another response, this time it was a short breath of laughter.
Jisung wasn't done though. "Even if the others don't agree, I can tell you this myself."
He looked at Minho dead in the eye. "From my own point of view, the way you guide us is rather attractive to me."
He did not know what had gotten into him to admit that. But that concern was long gone the moment Jisung heard a giggle from Minho, and the way his hands tightened around his own.
That seemed enough to keep Jisung going with his words of appreciation.
"You're harsh on us because you knew we can do better, it shows that you genuinely care. This whole competition is nerve-wracking anyways, all of us wants to win so badly. So I understand your intentions very well."
Jisung paused for a few seconds to glance at Minho, only to realize he had this fond look plastered all over his face while he observed Jisung.
That look sent butterflies spiraling in Jisung's stomach as his face slowly turned red.
"W-why are you looking at me like that?" Jisung stumbled over his own words.
However, Minho just looked back at him tenderly.
"Don't stop what you were saying."
As if that wasn't enough to make Jisung blush furthermore, Minho shifted closer next to Jisung.
Their knees were touching as they sat across each other, with Minho placed their interlocked hands on Jisung's lap.
He did it so smoothly, as if it was nothing much to him. Jisung couldn't get his mind off how Minho traced his own fingers in a circular manner on Jisung's skin, which sent tingles everywhere his body.
Realizing that Minho was still waiting for his answer, Jisung nervously cleared his throat before continuing.
He looked at him, this time the gap between them was even smaller. It was close enough to see the mini universe existing in each other's eyes.
"And..." Jisung stuttered. "You're always so observant when we make a mistake, and always gives us second chances. You're also very professional and knows what you are doing all the time, you never make a mistake."
Jisung stole a glance at him bashfully. "You're perfect."
The look on Minho's face was nothing but full of attentiveness, which seemed to be only famous when Jisung was around.
It was nothing like his usual sly smirk, or his playful death glares. It was all genuine. Pooling with affection.
It was different this time.
Jisung didn't even realize how close their faces were at that moment. Maybe Minho shifted even closer when he was busy talking away just now.
There was a moment of silence, none of them spoke anything.
Until Minho moved his hands to cup Jisung's face softly, the movement itself felt like electricity.
"Jisung," He whispered, his breath fanning over Jisung's lips.
"Can I kiss you?"
Hearing that made Jisung instinctively looked at Minho's lips.
They were unbelievably close now, only a few centimeters from one another.
Minho didn't move when he felt Jisung lean even closer as the younger murmured a quiet "yes".
With that, the distance between them closed as their lips connected for the first time.
The way both of them could feel the electricity travelling down to every part of their bodies, which only made them want more.
Jisung craned his neck to kiss him better, while Minho wrapped a protective arm around his waist, flushing their bodies together, which had Jisung almost yelp.
Who knew things would turn out to be like this?
Neither of them were complaining though, they were each other's comfort person.
Just one single kiss could create such an enchanted spark between the two of them.
Minho couldn't think of anything else better than this.
The kiss lingered only for a few seconds when Minho slowly pulled away. Their foreheads were still touching as their lips ghosted each other.
They opened their eyes only to stare straight into each other's. And just from that slight eye contact caused both of them to break into a fit of giggles.
Anyone passing by the staircase would assume those two were drunk, but thankfully they had the whole area to themselves.
It was as if the conflict between Minho and his teammates didn't occur, because now the only thing he thought was important was to kiss Jisung again.
Which he ended up did.
They stayed like that for only God knows how long, with Minho sneaking in kisses from time to time.
Jisung laid his head on Minho's shoulder, finally allowing his sore neck to ease down.
Their hands connected like magnets again. Everything felt right in that moment.
However, the boys knew they couldn't linger there any longer. It was almost 3am in the morning and they had to catch some rest for tomorrow's ongoing practice.
Jisung let out a cute yawn as he snuggled further into Minho's neck, all cuddled up and comfortable. "By the way Min, you gotta make it up to the others tomorrow. Hm?"
He could feel Minho nod above him. "I will, especially Changbin. I'm sorry I'm too harsh on you as well, Ji."
"You don't ever have to apologize to me, you know I won't be mad at you."
Minho sucked in a breath, placing his own head on top of Jisung's.
"My God, I fucking love you." He laughed once more, feeling the weight lift off his shoulders.
Jisung stood up first, before dragging Minho with him.
"Let's go back to the studio, we gotta get our belongings."
And with that, the two boys walked down the hallway, hand-in-hand.
-
What the two boys weren't prepared was to see that the studio was still occupied with the same group of people.
When Minho pushed open the door, he froze at his tracks, causing Jisung to clumsily bump into his back.
Chan, Changbin, Hyunjin, Felix, Seungmin and Jeongin were all seated in a circle. It was even weirder to see them still having trails of sweat and bloodshot eyes.
Jeongin stared at the two, eyes travelling down to their interlocked hands without saying anything.
Seungmin noticed as well, to which he spoke up. "We thought you two got kidnapped." He smirked, "What took you two so long to come back, huh?"
Minho could read Seungmin's expression like a fucking book, to which he scoffed playfully.
They made their way back into the studio and walked to the group.
"Didn't I say practice was dismissed?" Minho tilted his head.
Everyone shared looks before turning back to him.
"Well, we for once, decided to disobey your orders." Hyunjin grinned.
Minho and Jisung mirrored the same look: confusion.
Felix was next to beam. "We've been practicing while you and Jisung were gone."
Minho couldn't help but gape at the members. Maybe he looked stupid because the boys snickered after noticing his reaction.
But there was a warm feeling bubbling within him nonetheless.
"Minho," That was from Changbin.
Everyone turned to look at him, including the mentioned boy.
Feeling all the stares at him, the flustered male coughed. "I'm sorry for whatever I said just now. I was just pissed and I really regret saying all that."
The way Jisung could feel himself smiling without even knowing it, he gently nudged Minho's shoulder with a raised eyebrow.
Minho didn't say anything as he pulled Changbin in for a brotherly hug. With of course, the other returned the embrace.
"I'm sorry too, all of you. I should've known better than to act like that." Minho apologized sincerely, only to receive shrugs and a few "it's okay".
Just looking at the hug alone made everyone coo and tear up. Hyunjin silently snapping a picture of the image in front of him with a proud look on his face, he mentally made a note to himself to tease the two with this in the future.
Minho let go of the hug, scrunching his face up in disgust playfully as he wiped his hands. "Eww you're so fucking sweaty it's gross."
Changbin could only raise his fist at him, it was an empty threat anyways.
Chan then got up from the ground as he made his way towards Minho.
"So, Minho, what should we do now? Go home? Or continue our practice?"
Everyone anticipated for Minho's answer. Whichever one the latter picked, Jisung knew none of the members would mind.
They still needed that practice in order to win, none of them preferred to slack off.
Minho shook his head with a chuckle. "We're going home. Tomorrow's practice will start after we have our lunch, okay?"
Hearing that drew wide smiles upon everyone's faces, all of them then began to pack up their stuff before leaving the company altogether.
As they locked up the door and walked out of the building, Jisung felt a hand rest on his waist, pulling him closer.
The rest of the boys were chattering away ahead of them, while Minho and Jisung were left behind as they strolled through the quiet streets.
"Thanks for talking some sense into me." Minho chuckled as he turned to the boy.
He shrugged and looked away shyly. "I got you, Min."
As if it were a trigger, Minho's grip tightened around Jisung's waist, catching the other off guard.
The hold was so secure and protective. It made Jisung subconsciously lean closer to the taller, nuzzling in search for warmth.
That night was indeed a special one. Everyone went home safely.
