Dancing King

Chapter 30

Thirty whole chapters everyone holy crap.

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Yixing's POV

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It had been a few weeks since our first real fight. And while things were nowhere near back to normal, they were infinitely better now than they were then. Random affection didn't cause Junmyeon to flinch anymore. I also better understood his inner demons since we'd opened up even more, and on occasion I would randomly tell him I loved him, watching the way his expression lit up at that. Baby was also still a pet name that drove him wild.

Since we'd practically started from square one anyway, we'd taken to frequenting the cafe again, the little red and green fairy lights replaced with red and pink hearts for Valentine's day coming up. We would order our hot chocolate and sit at our favorite table by the window, watching the world speed by outside.

Yep, things weren't quite normal. But that was okay. It still felt utterly perfect even if our relationship entirely wasn't. I glanced up, catching his eye, his shy little smile still warming my insides. I reached across the table and trapped his fingers in mine. It really did kind of feel like we were back to first meeting, afraid to really make a move, but that was okay too. Every little step was progress.

"Are you excited to go back to the tunnel this weekend?" I asked, pulling him from his trance. It took a second for the question to process, but when it did, he positively beamed, nodding rapidly. I chuckled lowly. My favorite fanboy.

"You bet!" he said. "Oh my god their group dances were so cool! And I honestly didn't expect their numbers to swell like they did. I wasn't sure if they would take every applicant." And honestly neither had we. But we didn't have the heart to turn away kids like Chan and Hyunjin and Park Minhyuk, who were young but determined to prove their worth. So we accepted every applicant, doubling our numbers and then some. Though our loyal fans were eating up every bit of it.

"Is Lay still your favorite despite all the new recruits?" I fired this question second, curious to see his answer. More enthusiastic nodding.

"Sehun is obviously my second favorite," he explained. "But I've been going for so long. Long enough to know a time when it was just Lay, Kai, J-hope, and Jimin." Wow. So early on. We only really started adding people when our popularity rose after our first few years. "Lay has a special place in here." He tapped his chest. "He always will. I love their dancing so much."

"Same," I mumbled, though I was thinking something different than him I'm sure. I loved the freedom I felt when I became Lay. I loved what that character represented for me. No judgement. No reputation before him. Just a passionate person that people adored because he loved his craft and showed it the highest of respect. "Hey, uh, about that..." I began. He faced me, curiosity dancing across his features. "I wanna show you something," I blurted.

"Okay?" he said, rising with me and stuffing his arms into his coat. Now that it was kind of up in the air, I wanted him to know. Maybe this was the final push we both needed. Could he love both awkward, nerdy Yixing and graceful, powerful Lay? Could he love both sides of me knowing they were one in the same. I led the way, his hand grasped firmly in mine. I could feel the question radiating off him, but he kept quiet, accepting whatever this was. I forged on, plunging down the familiar set of stairs when we reached our destination. I left him at the doorway, running around lightly to get the place up and going like I always did.

"Uh, Yixing?" I heard uncertainty in that. But it was probably because of what happened to him nearly a month and a half ago. "I don't think that's a good idea. If they catch us down here, I don't think they'll be lenient this time."