1.1 | Just dance partners ✓

-8-

HEALING
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For the first time in a long, Naomi had slept in.

When her alarm clock went off in 6AM, she groaned in her sleep whispering something about five more minutes or five more hours, turned on the other side and stepped in dreamland once again. Luckily, her mother came half an hour later to wake her up.

Naomi knew that Jimin would probably tease her about waking up late, or say that she was stealing time to see him. But the truth about her lateness was different. The previous night she kept saying 'one more episode', but like always one more episode turns into one more season and going to bed in four in the morning when you have to wake up in seven.

Naomi wasn't surprised when she stepped in the school's hallway and heard music coming from the dance studios. Knowing Jimin, she was sure that he had started the practice an hour ago.

Once again, she silently cursed under her breath for staying late the previous night and exhaled deeply before entering the studio.

Naomi never expected to find Jimin sitting on the ground leaned against the wall and with two cups of coffee beside him. And she never expected to be welcomed with a smile - maybe with his signature smirking and teasing, but differently not with a warm smile.

Some unknown fluttering feeling warmed her insides and unconsciously she returned with the same smile he had offered.

"Coffee?"

Jimin lifted one of the cups while patting the place on the ground in front of him. He was silently inviting her to sit with him and seeing the coffee beside him, Naomi just couldn't resist the offer. Sure, she kept telling herself that she only agreed because of the coffee.

"Thanks, I really needed it. You are a lifesaver."

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After spending the morning just talking, listening to music and drinking coffee as if they were long-time friends, Naomi and Jimin had decided to dance after classes. Even though Naomi didn't want to admit it, they were way behind the other teams and it was all because of her. She had never thought that her pride would come between her and her love for dancing.

But she decided to leave behind what had happened in the past between them and focus her full attention on dancing. The upcoming competition was what she had prepared for her whole life and if she continued to act like that, all those late hours of practicing will be for nothing. The competition was an opportunity and she vowed that she would cherish it.

With that thought in her mind, she focused on the mirror in front of her and moved like never before. She was so into her dance that she didn't even sense when she pushed Jimin, causing him to fall on the ground.

She didn't intend to stop until the ending of the song, assuming that Jimin would just stand and continue like nothing had happened. But at her surprise, he didn't. Not only that he stayed on the ground, but he also had a face full of pain.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Naomi stopped kneeling next to him and wondering in her mind if she had pushed him too hard. Imagine the horror, when people would find out that she had injured her dance partner. Those who knew them and their famous clashes, they would assume that she did it on purpose.

"It's nothing. I just sprained my ankle last night, but it's getting better."

"No, it doesn't look like it's getting better Jimin. Why didn't you tell? We could have rescheduled practice."

At Jimin's surprise Naomi had sat beside him and lifted his foot putting it into her lap. She had begun to examine his injury with a worried look on her face.

"Did you know that you are cute when you're frowning?"

Jimin didn't know what caused him to lift his hand nearing it to her face. He just couldn't resist her pouting lower lip and he leaned to caress it with his fingers. It had a fainting redness from her fight with Hanna and he suddenly wondered what to do to heal it.

"Be serious for one second."

"I am..."

Naomi wanted to push him away, to be unaffected by his actions, but her words gave her away when they came out as a whisper. His warm fingers leaving a trail over her skin were causing her heart to drum in inhuman speeds.

What Jimin didn't know was that over the weekend Naomi's lip had turned purple and she was ashamed of it. That was precisely the reason why she had avoided him on Monday. She didn't want him to see her like that, vulnerable. If someone had known this they would say that she cared way too much for the opinion of someone who is supposed to be just a dance partner.

She never sensed when Jimin removed his foot away from her, but closed that little space between them. She didn't even sense when he leaned so close that their noses were almost touching.

But she did feel when his breath fanned her face. She felt his eyes piercing in hers as if he was trying to read her thoughts. He looked at her as if he was waiting for permission.

His stare warmed every cell in her body. Her skin was burning under his touch when he moved his hand from her lips to cup her cheek.

She lost her sense when she saw him biting his own lips and had the urge of doing it herself.

There was a moment of hesitation that Jimin overcome when he saw her wetting her lips. The way their rosiness shined under the lights of the studio, he knew that he had to taste them, even if that would be the last thing he gets to do.

He forgot about the permission and leaned to finally connect with her. When his lips devoured hers, he swore that he had never felt like that. The unknown feeling, a hunger maybe, had spread through every cell of his body.

He felt the world disappearing around him and his only connection to sanity were her lips. He forgot about his pain in his leg, he forgot that they were in the school and only cared about that moment.

His arms enclosing around her body felt right, felt at place. Her tremble in his embrace building protectiveness inside him, the taste of her lips - an ownership. He had never wanted something so much until that moment. It was like her kisses were healing his pain, they were enchanting a spell on his mind, but he didn't care. Because he was sure of one thing - Naomi was definitely not just a dance partner.

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Sorry that you had to wait for an update, but it was worth it. Right? Thank you for reading!

THIA