swxtched. | jhs

VIII : LIKE A CAT

THEY LITERALLY TURN left from the café and go down these stairs to an abandoned dance room underground. No one can hear them if they scream, probably. Green is not happy.

Jeongguk unbuttons his polo while Jimin slips off his sweater over his head. The two tug at their pants casually when Green pointedly turns away, too shy to even lift up the hem of her own shirt.

You can do this, she thinks. You can change your stupid clothes.

She looks down at her pants and really doesn't want to wonder what's in there. Aeroplane boxers? Something noticeable? She remembers stepping out of the shower last week and barely changing into her pyjamas when she and Hoseok switched, but thankfully, neither of them have seen each other naked.

Yet.

It's a lingering fear that keeps them on edge.

Taehyung and "Geurin" are sitting in the back of the dance practice room, laughing together at... God knows what. Taehyung covers her body's eyes playfully. Green shudders. Why can't we switch back and I leave right now?

She accidentally looks down to see Hoseok's skin. She shuts her eyes and turns around to face away from the mirror, quick to change into a loose black tee and sweatpants.

"Hyung? Are you okay?" Jimin asks, blinking at "Hoseok's" behaviour.

"Okay? Of course I'm okay!" Green smiles crookedly. "Just wondering why Geurin-ssi's tagging along, you know?"

"Isn't she your new friend? She's always welcome to watch us!" Taehyung exclaims. "She can even tell you guys what you need to improve on. Right, Geurin-noona?"

"Of course Taehyung-ah!"

Geurin-noona? Taehyung-ah?

Green's stomach knots and churns more and more, her face twisted in disdain, wondering if 1) Hoseok's body would dance on its own by muscle memory, 2) they would quit being buddy-buddy with each other so quickly, and 3) if Hoseok is gay. For Taehyung.

Hoseok watches her, so visibly uncomfortable that it's kind of painful to watch. He glances down at the body he's currently possessing, wondering if he can make it dance without passionately ripping the prosthetic arm off.

He stands up, walking over to them and asking sheepishly, "Can you teach me the dance?"

Jeongguk gazes warily at Geurin's prosthetic arm, Jimin breaks into a huge grin, and Green smacks both hands to her face to hide her expression.

"Hoseok-ssi? How about it?" Hoseok asks.

"Are you really asking me?"

"Are you sure you guys are friends?" Jeongguk says. Jimin smacks his back.

Green tries to think fast. In a matter of seconds, she weighs out her choices and the risks they entail:

She can probably carry on and act like Hoseok, pretending to be off and acting forgetful of the dance routine while letting Hoseok do whatever he wants with her body. She can also act nauseous (which shouldn't be that hard— she really does feel sick) and skip dancing as a whole. Or, she can tell them what's happening and suffer being laughed at because let's face it, switching bodies is, crazy enough, switching bodies.

Option three it is.

"We've only known each other for a solid month," Green shrugs. Option one it is. "Maybe coming to two."

"But weirdly enough, we get along!" Hoseok adds quickly.

"You do?" Jeongguk asks and Jimin smacks him again.

"So can you teach me?" Hoseok asks again, bouncing his feet. He looks kind of bubbly, which is absolutely beyond Green's character capabilities.

Green sucks in a breath and says, "I'm worried about your arm though. It will be moving a lot."

Jeongguk nods in agreement. "I thought the same thing."

"I'll be okay!" Hoseok assures. "I'm pretty strong."

She looks at him in her body. Her frail, frail body. This fucking idiot.

"Okay, sure!" Green dismisses, walking back to where Taehyung was sitting, back against the wall. Option two it is. "So um, I'm not feeling it today guys! Obviously. So Geurin-ssi can dance with you. She's a really fast learner when she's applying herself."

Jimin blinks. "Wait, what?"

Hoseok frowns but understands.

He dragged her into this situation, and he knows it's not particularly nice of him, but he also knows that he doesn't want his friends to suspect and worry about him. Green probably hasn't tried dancing in a long time because her arm yanks her down.

I mean, can't she just take it off? he wonders, but he doesn't push it.

He has to stop being so forceful and work with her to make it work for the both of them, as long as they were suffering from this phenomenon together.

The entire time, the two are in each other's bodies. The boys get impressed at how "Geurin" picks up the routine so fast. Green simply rolls her eyes at how Hoseok is barely even trying to pretend like he doesn't know the dance. He's too eager to get on with it.

What bothers her, though, is the fact that she's watching her body dance.

She knows what she looks like when she dances. At least, the way her soul in her body wants to dance. But Hoseok is distinctly Hoseok. The way his hand juts out in rhythm and his arms and legs pop and his hair bounces is not like Green. He's rougher. He's sudden.

Wait.

"H—" Green bites her tongue. "Geurin-ssi, I think you can tone it down. Your arm can't handle that. I think."

Hoseok stops and looks at her, chest heaving. She's trying her best to seem like him. It's evident in her posture, leaned back, shoulders slumped, legs apart. She looks at him with worry in her eyes.

"Okay. I'm done anyway," he pants, smiling in reassurance. "I feel really tired now. Like I got hit by a truck... or ate one..."

"I told you about the milk thing," Green mutters. Taehyung glances at her in plain confusion.

"You didn't have to go all out like that, noona," Jimin says, hand on Hoseok's back. He starts rubbing circles into it, causing Hoseok to accidentally let out a... purring sound. Jimin blinks. Hoseok covers his mouth.

Green says absolutely nothing, but her face betrays her horror.

They finally switch back on their way home, after Green pinches Hoseok's ear in mortification ("So Geurin-ssi, your body actually purrs like a cat. Is it from just boys or being touched in general? I never would've guessed— ow, ow! Okay! I'm sorry!"). Green, back in her body, takes a dump and agonizes over her sore muscles the very next morning.

I wonder, she thinks, if Hoseok noticed anything about my feet.

But knowing him, he's dumb enough to ignore it this whole time.

//

NOTE—i wrote this before hurricane irma hit me and ruined my plants