got7 ; 2jae | rewind ↺

chapter 16 | with u

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"—and again! five, six, seven, eight," the trainer clapped his hands with the countdown, almost screaming at the seven boys before him as they ran another set of choreographies without a second to breathe.

they panted restlessly, shuffled in formations as sweat rolled down their faces. at this point, even the mirrors fogged up, dimming their reflections as they danced.

"jinyoung are you the centre or not?—" the trainer pointed to the boy's correct position as he shouted over the music, "jackson! stop lazing around— and mark straighten your arms for goodness sake!— no, no stop the music—"

jaebum ran to the player and shut it off as he tried not to give away his impatience with both their trainer and his friends.

"jinyoung," he began, "do you know what and where a centre is?"

the younger boy nodded his head weekly, taking a step to his right as he found himself correctly standing in the middle of the formation.

"now that's better. as for the rest of you — never forget the small details like arms and shoulders, make sure even your elbows are tucked in where needed and so on," the trainer sighed tiredly, "before i leave," he faced youngjae with a somewhat scowl, "you've been here for more than a month, so is it that hard to learn off a four minute dance routine without tripping anyone up? currently, you're pulling everyone else down, and if i was the group's leader i'd probably lock you up in the studio until you learn things off."

with those words, he left. and once the door shut behind him; everyone fell to the floor with unstoppable whimpers of exhaustion.

yugyeom threw off his shoes and gazed at his bleeding blisters with a frown on his face. he winced as he peeled plasters onto the sores.

jaebum tried to refrain himself from punching the mirrors and walls, and people, so he left the room to stroll around and calm down for a minute.

jackson and bambam drowned themselves in water bottles, while jinyoung just curled up and tried to catch his breath.

completely drained, mark and youngjae continued to repeat the choreography in silence accompanied by the squeek of their shoes.

it was becoming impossible. all these never-ending words of downpour, extreme lack of sleep and irritation between the members.

when jaebum returned, he rubbed his hand against his eyes tiredly, "yugyeom sit out for today at least, i don't need you breaking your feet with your dedication," he looked at the younger boy who was about to protest but didn't. "now let's try and work for another hour, then the bunch of you will head home."

"bunch?" bambam questioned in a whisper.

"yeah, youngjae will stay behind."

"—oh."

"—and i'll stay to help him out," jaebum faced the younger boy with unreadable eyes.

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the clock read past ten in the night, its hands ticking in a fixed motion around and around. half the studio lights were dimmed off, and only two reflections could be murmured through the mirrors.

two soft shadows danced along the floorboards, feet swirling in positions as hands entwined in movements as music played on half its volume.

"no, the other hand!" jaebum stopped in frustration as youngjae stuttered and hung his head down. "let's try again, follow my arms carefully," the older boy replayed the song as they started again.

on and on, hour upon hour built up towards this moment as youngjae messed up again, this time his feet stumbling against one another as he fumbled and fell.

suddenly forgetting his anger, jaebum rushed to the younger boy's side in an instant, "goodness me, when i said focus on hands, i didn't mean forget that your feet exist," he wanted to scream, but instead — jaebum gave out to him in a whisper.

"i'm so sorry, i swear i'm trying—" youngjae wanted to cry in return but stopped once feeling his face brush against jaebum's shoulder as the older boy pulled him into a hug.

"been there, done that—" he heard him chuckle, "now don't tell the others that i'm becoming so soft around you."

youngjae laughed through his sniffles, burrying himself deeper into the other's neck as he wrapped his arms around the boy securely. jaebum tightened his hold and skimmed his hands to youngjae's waist with a sigh.

"we should get back to the dorm, it's late," the younger boy murmured.

"stay like this for a while," jaebum whispered back.

youngjae let a small smile escape his resistance, "okay."

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i'm soft for 2jae bye

written: august 9, 2017
published: august 31, 2017

니카 ✿