Voices: A Bbangkyu Story

Chapter 12: No Air

"5! 6! 7! 8!" Haknyeon yelled. The captain of the dance team stood at the front, watching the progress Q had made with The Boyz. The boy had been spending lots of time with Sunwoo and had been relying on Q to run practices lately.

Q had been a great teacher. All the boys had picked up the steps easily with his help and guidance. He also had a great eye for precision, making sure the boys were standing in the correct spot, had perfect transitions and spot changes.

Haknyeon watched the boys performing "Call Me Baby" in full with a smile on his face. He was genuinely impressed and happy with the group's work. He stood at the front trying to hide his smile and keep himself from nodding.

Younghoon took to the center of the group, leading his part. After meeting with Changmin at the mall his father was on him like never before. He threatened to take away everything from him, including dance club. And taking away dance club meant taking away Changmin, and Younghoon couldn't let that happen. But this meant more of his father dragging him to the bank office, more home assigned homework, telling his managers he could work more shifts when he really couldn't take it anymore. But Younghoon had to make sure he kept his father happy, but this meant Younghoon was beyond stressed out and over exhausted.

Haknyeon's expression got darker and he furrowed his brow once Younghoon was in the center. He was a few beats behind, looking around to remember the moves and not in the zone at all. Haknyeon marched over to the wall where their radio was and stopped the music. The Boyz froze in their tracks before turning to their captain.

"Stop." One word and the room was so silent you could hear a pin drop. "Younghoon...is everything okay? You're off...like really off." The group all stared at Younghoon. Some blankly, some worried, some judgmentally.

Younghoon was speechless. The room suddenly seemed like there was no air. He felt trapped and had to get out. "I--I--I need some air," he suddenly said, running out of the practice room in a panic.

All the members looked at each other in confusion. Q stared at the door worriedly. Haknyeon noticed this and signaled for Q to run after him. Changmin nodded, getting up to chase after the boy, Chanhee shoved him slightly causing Q to run out even faster after Younghoon.

It didn't take long for Q to catch Younghoon pacing back and forth on the staircase. He stopped at the flight above the older, looking down at him pacing nervously in the same direction. He took a deep sigh. "Why'd you do that?"

Younghoon looked up sadly at the younger before turning away and staring back at a wall. "Do what?" he glumly replied, looking defeated.

"Run out like that. What's the matter?"

"B--Because I don't think I can do this! I'm about this close to cracking under the pressure I'm under! My dad just doesn't think this matters and wants to pile more and more on my plate that I just can't deal with! I think I'm going to have to quit. Did you see how I just danced? That was so embarrassing! I can't focus!"

Changmin ran down the stairs meeting the older, but standing on one step above him so he was standing over him. He grabbed Younghoon by the shoulders, lightly shaking him as if he was trying to snap him out of confusion. "Don't say that. Don't you want to do this?"

Younghoon turned to look back at the younger sadly. "Of course I do. But I just don't think I can do it anymore. Everything else is catching up to me and it's messing with me. I'm forgetting steps, forgetting formations, forgetting the beats. I messed up."

"If you really want to do this, listen to that inner voice of yours and just focus on this then. You can do this. You're better than you think, you just need to give it your all. You're one of the strongest people I know," Changmin replied, slightly squeezing Younghoon in attempt to relax him.

"But--" he sadly tried to say.

But Q cut him off, suddenly leaning down and capturing Younghoon's lips with his own. The halls were empty and there was no one there to interrupt this moment. Younghoon once again was initially shocked but kissed him back. He leaned forward, as returning Changmin's kiss with the same passion as if he was expecting this as if he needed it. The kiss lasted a few seconds before Changmin decided to pull away, surprising Younghoon and causing him to moan slightly.

"Wh--What was that for?" Younghoon shyly asked, caught in a blush.

Changmin grabbed Younghoon's face and pulled him in close. "I believe in you. And if you're serious about this, I need you to start believing in you too. I think you're amazing. So it's time for you to start seeing yourself that way too."

"But...my dad say--"

"Don't worry about him. Worry about practice right now," Changmin happily said.

Younghoon nodded before he began to walk back to the practice room with Changmin. Changmin was the voice who always told him what he needed to hear.

Changmin feeling overly confident now and high on his feelings grabbed Younghoon's hand firmly and interlocked their fingers together, calmly and quietly walking with him hand-to-hand back to the practice room. Younghoon squeezed Changmin's hand and looked at him with a sweet smile, Changmin gave him the air he needed to breathe once again.