Straight-ish (Hwang Hyunjin Fanfic)

7

After a few weeks, things seemed to be leveling out. Classes were booked solid, the commercial shoot was planned, and the guys had almost finished the choreography for the new intro piece. Hyunjin looked forward to the days when he could get a little extra sleep, but that day, his phone rang early. Maria had sprained her ankle and needed his help with a class. He had helped her develop the choreography, so he was the natural choice to call in when she couldn't teach it. He had another nightmare that night and didn't really feel rested, but he also knew he wouldn't go back to sleep, so he might as well make some money.

He got to the studio around 10, warming up to show the dance to the class. Maria hobbled in and drop her bag. Hyunjin tilted his head and watched her then shook his head. "Why are you even here? Shouldn't you have that propped up with ice on it?" he asked, eyeing her very swollen ankle.

"I can do that here if you're teaching the class," she giggled. He rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Girl, you are stubborn. How do you want me to start? I mean, have they seen the whole thing yet?" Hyunjin asked.

"No, this is our first class since we finished the choreography. They've learned a few of the combinations that required a little more practice, but they haven't seen it all yet. They haven't even practiced the combos with the track. I don't even think they know what track it is, yet," she laughed. "I've been teasing them pretty ruthlessly."

"So... I'm showing it to them?" he asked with a grin.

"Yep. Called in the big guns for this one," she said with a smile. He liked her smile. The two of them had been friends for a long time, having danced together in school.

"You're going to owe me lunch for this one," he threatened playfully, adding in a silly tone, "making me dance in front of a bunch of girls..."

"Oh, shut it. You love it. They all think you're soOooOo HaNdsoMe!" she teased. He tossed a towel at her that he had just pulled from his bag and laughed. The girls started filing into class and preparing for their lesson. Most of them were older high school or early college students, so he was only a few years older than some of them. It sometimes made things awkward, but he was a professional, so it was their problem, not his.

Maria greeted the class "Ladies! We're going to start learning our new choreography today for the upcoming recital showcase. Each class is learning two full tracks. Our first is going to be "Lonely Eyes" by Lauv." Some of the girls got really excited and Maria had to give them a second to calm down. "I'm still trying to figure out our second track, but I'll let you know as soon as I do. Hyunjin is going to demonstrate the choreo for us today so you can see the whole dance, so have a seat and PAY ATTENTION."

Hyunjin grinned and announced, "I'll go through it once altogether, then we'll break it into chunks. Okay?" The girls all nodded in understanding. Hyunjin waved to Maria to start the track. He started dancing and disappeared into the music, performing the whole dance. He realized at a couple of points that Maria was watching with a bright smile. It caused him to smile as well. After the full dance, he broke it up into chunks and they spent the remainder of the class working on the first section.

After class, he grabbed Maria's bag, so she didn't have to carry it. She was limping pretty badly, and he clicked his tongue at her. "Why aren't you on crutches, at least?" he asked, worried she was going to injure her ankle worse by not staying off of it.

"I hate the things. I always end up falling!" she laughed. She was clumsy, and he knew it. He honestly thought it was cute. He giggled with her and was struck by a crazy idea. He actually liked her. He enjoyed talking to her. He enjoyed spending time with her, and though she wasn't one of the drop-dead gorgeous types he usually approached, she was very pretty, with full lips and long dark brown hair that looked black in certain light.

"I'm going to grab some lunch before my afternoon class, do you want to join me?" Hyunjin asks, suddenly feeling a little shy.

"I do owe you lunch!" she answered with a smile.

"I was just going to grab a sandwich, but we can do something else, if you want," Hyunjin offered.

"I'm a simple girl. That works for me," Maria responded as they headed out the door. The two laughed and talked all throughout lunch until Hyunjin was almost late to his classes.

Hyunjin wandered back in after lunch and was a bit distracted. The classes went quickly, and the guys were coming for practice afterward. Minho picked up on his distraction and kept an eye on him to see if he could figure out what was going on. During a break, Minho asked, "Hyunjin, what has got your attention?"

Hyunjin blushed a little and put his head down with a grin. He shrugged and took another drink of his water. "Oh, mate, is that a blush I see? Did you meet someone?" Felix teased.

"Actually," Hyunjin hesitated then answered with a little more confidence, "I've known her for a long time."

Minho and Felix exchanged a look of surprise because he actually looked interested. "Who is she?" Minho asked as he playfully prodded Hyunjin's knee.

Hyunjin's grin became a smile as he told them, "Maria. We had lunch together today and it was really nice."

"LIKE A DATE???" Felix nearly screamed causing Hyunjin to shush him quickly.

"NO!" he yelled back. "I just helped her with a class and we both needed to eat lunch, so we went together."

"Just lunch. Like... you grabbed a hot dog and came back to the studio?" Felix asked, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

"Well..." Hyunjin laughed, blushing deeper and rubbing his hand across the back of his neck. "We kind of talked for a couple hours..."

"IT WAS A DATE!" Felix yelped, getting to his feet and clapping.

"SHHHHHHHHHH!" Hyunjin shushed, laughing. "It wasn't meant to be! It just kind of... turned into one, I guess?"

"Are you taking her out again?" Minho asked, sharing in the excitement.

"I... uh... I don't know. I guess I didn't really realize how nice it was until I was back here," Hyunjin stuttered.

"Dude," Felix and Minho scolded together. "Ask the girl out," Minho ordered.