Bittersweet

5

"J-Hope-ssi?"

The male's lips spread in his signature full smile.

"That's me. Are you the new trainee?"

You nodded.

"H-How long were you here?"

J-Hope frowned, thinking.

"I don't know maybe ten or fifteen minutes? You dance beautifully, by the way. I'm impressed."

You could feel your face redden. You could hardly believe that you were standing in the same room as your ultimate role model, let alone process the fact that he was complimenting your dance. Though BTS had debuted only a while back, you had been following J-Hope since he was a street performer. He had the most effortless yet strong dance style that you greatly admired.

"Th-thank you."

You looked down at the ground, not sure how to react to his compliment. J-Hope leaned against the wall lazily.

"Do you want to do something together? I actually came down to dance because I couldn't sleep."

"Yeah, I came down because I couldn't sleep either. What do you want to do?"

He shrugged, his expression thoughtful.

"Well if you're tired, I could drop you off at your dorm room. Or we can maybe do a choreo together?"

You couldn't believe your ears. He was offering to dance with you. You nodded eagerly.

"I'd love to dance with you."

He gave you his dazzling grin again and walked over to the sound system. You trailed behind him, peeking over his shoulder to see what he wanted to pick. He turned to you, showing you a playlist of songs.

"Which of these did you learn here? I'm pretty sure they'd teach the same choreo for a duet."

You went through the songs, and pointed to a song you had just finished learning a week back. J-Hope nodded.

"Jimin and I learned this a while back. Just to make sure it's the same choreo though I'll do a bit of it first. And then we can do it together."

You nodded and stood by the sound system. He took his position in the center of the room and nodded at you. You hit the play button and he immediately responded to the music. You watched as he went through the whole choreo without breaking sweat. The music faded away and he looked up at you.

"So? Is it the same?"

You nodded mutely, receiving another brilliant smile in response. He motioned for you to come over. You hit the play button and sprinted over, missing a couple of beats, but managing to catch up. You and J-Hope moved easily to the music, your eyes not leaving each other.

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Soo Jin opened her eyes, squinting. It was still dark outside. She rolled over in her bunk and squinted down at the clock on the night stand. 2:30 AM? She didn't have to wake up for another few hours. She was about to roll over when she noticed an empty bunk.

Why is Y/N's bunk empty?

Frowning, she got up, climbing down from her bunk. She slipped out the door.

Where could she have gone?

She wandered through the floors, looking for any sign of your presence. She finally reached the floor with the dance studios. She saw the slightly ajar door with music playing. Sighing, she turned around to go back to bed, when she heard a male's voice.

"So? Is it the same?"

Curious, she padded back to the door, peeking in. She could see you at the sound system, fumbling with something before sprinting to join a male in the middle of the room. As the two of you danced to the music, she caught sight of the male's face.

Y/N is dancing with J-Hope?

Anger and jealousy rose in her, her hands balling into fists.

First she gets scouted because she went to college early, then she gets to dance with J-Hope? None of us have been allowed to meet idols yet. So why did she get to meet him? Why did she get to dance with him? I was the best trainee here until she showed up. I was the best until she came and started showing off about being a dancer. She can't be the best. I am. I am the best. I have to be the best.

Soo Jin made an angry noise in the back of her throat and stormed off back to the dorm, wishing you were gone.

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You woke up groggily, your head pounding. As a result of dancing extra time with J-Hope, you had hardly gotten an hour of sleep. But you couldn't afford to sleep more. Today, you'd be starting your specialized training as a main dancer and vocalist. You pushed yourself to shower and get ready.

Ji Woo hung around at the door to the room, waiting for you. She raised her eyebrows at you.

"Why are your eyes so red?"

You laughed nervously, debating whether or not to tell her about your encounter with J-Hope.

"Well... I couldn't really sleep last night, so I danced for a while."

Ji Woo peered at you and grinned.

"Something happened when you went to dance, didn't it?"

You let out another nervous laugh.

"I might've met J-Hope in the dance studio?"

Ji Woo's jaw dropped and she squealed in delight.

"Seriously?! You actually met him?!"

You shushed her, looking around to make sure nobody was around and nodded.

"He asked me to dance with him so we danced for a while before going to bed."

Ji Woo clapped excitedly, her face lighting up.

"That's my best friend!"

"Yeah but now I feel like I died and came back to life."

Ji Woo scoffed.

"Yeah well it's worth it. You got to meet a dance god."

You nodded in agreement, stifling a yawn.

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"5..6..7..8"

The music started and you once again started the choreo from the beginning. Your clothes were drenched in sweat. You'd been dancing for hours. The fatigue from dancing last night instead of sleeping was setting in. As you finished the routine, the choreographer nodded his approval.

"That's good enough for today. We'll meet again tomorrow."

You trudged back to your room, collapsing on your bed, not bothering to change. You figured you could catch up on a few hours of sleep before rushing off to practice for vocals. You'd been excited for the new training, but it did nothing but drain every last bit of energy you had. Wondering when the hellish training would end, you drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

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I swear Ji Woo is like my child. And also my spirit animal.