Summers have usually left Taemin with a feeling of distaste and memories of repugnance. He very much loved the cold; the windows were left open for infrequent winter breezes and hot chocolate could always be found within his reach. This particular summer however, Taemin became immune to the heat and the melting sun, and forgot his hatred for the season as a whole. He now awoke with fresh eyes and fresh perspectives on the blooming summer flowers and now focused not on the heat, but the shade of a tree.
Taemin represented the perfect hermit, and anyone who even slightly knew him could point it out with ease. Considering this, one would find it awfully strange to see Taemin spending so much time with a single person and never once growing tired of it. Jongin also noticed Taemin’s willingness to constantly be with one another, yet he was definitely not complaining, and embraced it undividedly. Occasionally, Taemin lost himself during the days spent with Jongin, which were now seen as dreams rather than day and night. He now practically lived at Jongin’s house; only returning home in the evening to help with his mother’s cooking and brighten up her day with leftover blushes and wonderful stories.
One morning late in June, as Taemin was enjoying the massive book collection in the depths of Jongin’s room, Jongin walked in holding a very ancient looking video camera. “Hey, Taeminie… Do you think you could record me dancing? It’s part of the application to the school in Hong Kong.” Taemin looked up from a translated version of Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina to stare a little hesitantly at the camera, and then to Jongin’s hopeful smile. He was torn between the pain of anything to do with him leaving, and seeing Jongin’s honest dream come true. He slowly rose from his crisscrossed position. “Sure…”Jongin sensed Taemin’s indisposition, yet there was nothing he could say; he had to apply, at least.
They found a cleared space with decent lighting, and Taemin stepped back to get a full view of Jongin’s body. There was something a little too planned and a little too expected for either of them to take it seriously. This might be why the two broke into laughter the instant Taemin began recording. After they both calmed themselves, they attempted take two. Taemin had to bite his lip to hold his laughter, which led Jongin to laugh, and led to take three, and eventually take fifteen. In the midst of pointless laughter, Jongin tried again, with failing determination. “Annyeonghaseyo, my name is Jim Kongin…” Taemin’s focused façade burst into yet another fit of laughter, as they held onto each other for support, sides aching terribly.
Maybe Taemin was just a little too upset over the entire ordeal, and maybe Jongin felt a little remorse for making Taemin do this for him. They inhaled and exhaled deeply before they began their final take. Jongin correctly introduced himself, fought off an intruding smile, and began his choreography. Taemin expected Jongin to use a dance he had been practicing for years, yet as Taemin watched through the screen of the camera, he noticed this dance was unfamiliar. He broke his mesmerized gaze only to fix it on the actual Jongin instead of the screen.
Though the dance was short, the intricacy and detail in every movement overruled any time constraints. His expression remained focused, while his eyes occasionally followed the wings of his fingers and the dominance of his foot work. He performed a certain bend with his back to emphasize his pelvis, cringed terribly, yet still managed to pull it off. Taemin cringed as well, yet tried to disguise the heartache he felt each time Jongin hurt himself further.
As Jongin finished, he placed his hands to his knees and panted in a slow rhythm. Taemin continued to stare, and searched for his speech which was now floating around the abyss of things he wished he could put into words. The angel of dance and perfection was now smiling and making his way over to the stunned camera man. Jongin placed his hands to Taemin’s cheeks and kissed him slowly, before thanking Taemin for recording him. Taemin finally found his voice.
