Flower ||| Ateez

2

"Good, Lily! That's it!" Professor Lee called. "I love your power!"

Lily smiled as she continued through the new dance routine. She concentrated on her body, watching herself on the sliver of mirror she could see, trying to ignore the baggy clothes over her thin body. She wasn't beautiful, curvy, or cute. If anything, Lily was just plain. She had her bright, golden blonde hair pulled into a ponytail and had come to class wearing an oversized hoodie and sweatpants. Her lips were almost always chapped, and while she had a few freckles on her cheeks, they were nothing compared to the other girls on campus.

But that's how she wanted it...

"Alright!" the professor started clapping. "Let's partner up!"

Lily bit her lip and stepped to the side, letting everyone else partner up first, hoping she would be the odd one out.

But she knew she always had terrible luck.

"Hey! It's 'rainbow girl'!" She was greeted with the same cheerful smile she saw in her history class a few weeks ago. "Remember me?" Lily looked up at the tall boy and nodded, her eyebrows raising slightly. He stood over a head taller than her. "I'm Yunho. I didn't know we had this class together."

Lily forced a smile and tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear before turning to face the professor again. Yunho tilted his head slightly, shooting her a questioning look before following her example.

"Now I want you to face your partner, and we are going to do the dance again. This time, focus on the others' movements, their facial expressions, their 'tells' as they put themselves in the routine."

The music started. Lily took a deep breath and focused on the booming bass, letting the vibration rattle her chest. It was one of her favorite feelings.

Yunho smiled again as they both started dancing. Lily couldn't help but be impressed. The way his body flowed into each step had the making of a professional dancer. And his face, it changed constantly. Smile, smirk, serious, smile, he even threw a wink in there.

That threw Lily of track and she got tangled in her own feet before slamming into the floor. Pain shot up her right arm at the impact.

"Oh! Are you ok?" Yunho crouched beside her and reached out to help her up.

Lily instantly pulled away, flushing. "I'm fine." Her voice was shaking. "E-excuse me." She pushed herself off the ground, collected her bag, and fled from the room, cradling her wrist.

Yunho stared after her, concern flashing across his face, before going to join another group still dancing.

---

Back at home, Lily did her best to hide her slowly swelling wrist. She bit her trembling lip as she rolled back her sleeve and winced. Making sure to stay quiet, she pulled a bag of peas out of the freezer and stepped into the backyard to ice it. Before she placed the bag to her skin and glanced at the bracelet she wore. A small charm with the letter 'M' flashed at her, worn from the constant contact with her skin. Her fingers cradled the charm and she felt tears welling up in her eyes.

I miss you... I wish you were here. I need you.

She inhaled slowly, forcing her emotions down, and hissed when the cold bag touched her skin.

"What happened." A stern, sloppy voice said behind her.

A chill ran down her spin as she turned. "It-it's nothing, Father. I just fell in dance class today. It was an accident."

"An accident? Are you sure about that?" He walked slowly to her, a predatory look crossed his face. "You weren't fooling around with anyone, were you?"

"N-no, Father. I slipped and fell. I-I'm sure it will be all better tomorrow." I hope...

The man reached out and grabbed her wrist, pulling it to him. Lily fought to hold back the yelp of pain as the sprained wrist screamed at the contact. He ran his thumb over it, caressing it, before he squeezed. "It had better be."

---

"Hey, are you ok?" It was a few days later, and Yunho had walked over to Lily when he saw her enter the classroom. He rubbed the back of his neck and did his best to make eye contact.

"Yes, I'm fine." Lily didn't look at him, instead choosing to rummage around in her backpack.

Defeated, Yunho walked back to his friends. Lily glanced at him from the corner of her eye and saw a couple of them look in her direction while patting Yunho on he back.

She just wanted to be left alone...

But her bad luck struck again.

"Ok!" Her professor's cheery voice called. "Today we are starting a team test. You will need to come up with a choreographed routine and present it to the class in a month. Every class period from now on will be dedicated to your individual team time. I will be around to help and study your progression, but you are your own teachers now. While I write your teams on the board, go ahead and begin your stretches. We will begin shortly."

Lily watched nervously as everyone was separated into groups of five. Her heart beat faster with every name that appeared on the board. She completely forgot about her stretches.

Yunho.

Yeosang.

San.

Wooyoung.

Lily.

Lily glanced at the group of boys again, some of them sad that they had been put into separate teams.

No...

Professor Lee walked up to her after a few minutes. "Lily! I hope you don't mind, but I put you in a group with some of my repeat students who can't get enough of my class." She laughed before continuing, "I think they can really help you. I see a lot of potential in you, so do the best you can to learn from them! I expect great things." She patted Lily's shoulder before walking to a different group.

Lily felt her heart sink as the four boys made their way over to her. Yunho looked a little nervous as they approached.

"This is so exciting!" One said, running his hands through his red and black hair.

"I agree! What should we do?" Said another, copying the movement and running his had through his silvery hair.

The third boy nodded quickly in agreement before looking at Lily. He smiled softly and bowed, "Hello, I'm Yeosang. I look forward to working with you.

The red-haired boy tilted his head and smiled too, flashing some dimples that would melt the hearts of most girls. "Me too! I'm San. This is Wooyoung," he said, draping an arm over the others' shoulder comfortably.

Wooyoung glanced at Lily, looking her up and down. She shrank back under her gaze. "So, you can dance? I hope you don't hold us back."

"Wooyoung! Be nice." San giggled, slapping his friend on the shoulder.

"She won't." Yunho spoke up. The others turned to him, even Lily. He sent her a reassuring smile. "I danced with her the other day for the partner routine. If anything, she might give us a run for our money!" He rubbed the back of his neck. "It's nice to officially meet you, Lily."

"It's n-nice to meet you too." Lily cursed herself for stuttering, but this is the worst thing that could have happened to her...