Dancing On Thin Ice // KTH

Chapter 50

"Alright, now spin your arms around... like this... but at the same time jump like this and... shazam! This move can go at the end of alotta dances. It makes it swick!" AJ instructed Carmela who wearily smiled and nodded.

Woah, this was more tiring than she'd expected. AJ and her had been in here practicing new choreography techniques for the past hour and though she didn't want to directly say it, she was kinda tired. 

"Like this?" Carmela panted, copying AJ who nodded beside her.

"Yeah, exactly--" AJ started but then the door opened behind them. 

They turned around and found Tae standing by the door, a hand in his pocket. He had a hard look on his face as his dark eyes darted between them.

"Tae--" Shit, Carmela knew what he was probably thinking.

"So that's where you were, Carmela. A private dance lesson, huh?" His voice was calm but he clenched his jaw angrily.

"Yeah, we were just playing around--" AJ started, but his smile fell when Tae's face twisted into a furious glare.

"Playing around, huh? I'll show you what playing around is--" Tae moved towards AJ but Carmela jumped in front of him, putting her hands on his heaving chest.

"Tae! Look, I know what you're thinking and you're wrong." Carmela quickly spoke. Then she turned around and looked at AJ who was standing confused, his hand on his hip.

"AJ, are you related to a guy named Jackson?" Carmela suddenly asked. AJ's eyes jerked wide in shock.

"H-how the hell did you know that?" The young man stuttered nervously in a high pitched voice.

"I met Jackson once and you look almost exactly like him. That's why..." She turned back to Tae. "... I was so surprised when I saw AJ. I thought it was that ass-- UH, Jackson!"

Tae furrowed his brow for a second but then his narrowed eyes softened and he relaxed his shoulders. Carmela gave him a pat on the arm and turned back to AJ.

"Jackson's my little brother, actually. He was more of a city guy so he left our home town, Rooston, years ago. I do visit him a lot though. How do you know him, Carmela?" AJ said, a small smile on his lips.

"Oh uh... well, we went on a date." She swallowed the gross feeling that came up her throat, reminding her of that horrid night.

"A date? With Jackson? Oh, he ain't too good with girls. He thinks every one of them likes it... how do I say it... rough. And by the looks of it, I'm guessing you and him didn't get along too well." AJ smirked as Carmela nodded but blinked in confusion.

Wait, what? All this time she though Jackson was a creepy pervert but in reality... he just didn't know how to act around her? Oh... but he still should've known better. Always pick gentleness over violence.

"Hey, so what were you guys practicing?" Tae asked, his expression happy and smiling. Ha.

"I was showing Carmela here a few choreography tips. Hm... you know what? Now that you're here Taehyung, we can try out a dance duo!" AJ said excitedly.

Tae looked at Carmela and shrugged.

"O-okay. What do we do?" Carmela positioned her body nervously as Tae stood beside her.

"You guys look pretty close, so we can do a comfortable dance. This is one of my first choreos. So here's what I want you to do: Carmela stand in front of Taehyung, your back should face him."

Carmela shuffled in front of Tae, her stomach fluttering as his tall body towered behind her.

"Great. Now Taehyung, put both your hands on her waist, but Carmela is going to spin away. When she spins away, you Taehyung, will gently grab her leg in the air and she's gonna fall against you and finish on the floor. This has to be really fast but y'all are amazing dancers. Do you think you can do it?" AJ said, grinning at the two nodding people in front of him.

"Okay... and start!" AJ instructed, stepping back.

Tae's hands immediately pressed against Carmela's waist and she sucked in a nervous breath before spinning away on one leg. She felt Tae's fingers brush over her thigh in the air and he slid his hand all the way down to her ankle, holding her leg against his body. She tried to control her beating heart as she dramatically collapsed backwards into his chest and they twisted to the floor, Carmela laying in Tae's loose embrace.

Sh-shit... Carmela felt her face burn as Tae panted against her back. AJ clapped and rushed to them.

"Oh ma gosh! That was seriously swick!" He grinned proudly.

"Ahem, sure whatever..." Tae grumbled quietly behind Carmela and he stood up, gently pulling her up to. She glanced at him and found his cheeks flushed pink and she smiled to herself. Then Tae leaned in and gently pecked her on the lips.

"WHAT THE FUCK?"

Everyone jumped and turned around to Hosi's angry voice. Carmela narrowed her eyes, confused and shocked at the furious boy standing at the door. His nostrils were flared and his flaming eyes burned into Tae standing beside Carmela.

"Hosi? What are you--" She began, but Hosi thundered towards Tae.

"FUCK YOU, YOU BASTARD--" Hosi spat, the veins in his neck bulging, as he stumbled over.

"Hey, hey! Calm down, man, what's wrong?!" AJ quickly stopped Hosi a few feet away from Tae.

"Get the fuck out of here, Hosi." Tae commanded in a dark voice, hands in his pockets.

Carmela glanced between them, panicked. Shit, shit, shit... what do I do, what do I do?!

"Ha! Me? I should get out of here, eh? Well, fuck you, Tae. FUCK YOU. Wanna know what you're doing right now? You're ruining my life!" Hosi shouted, his voice ripping with angry emotion.

"I'm not doing anything to you, Hosi. Why can't you understand that for fucks sakes!" Tae sighed, but Hosi fumed even more, his eyes popping out. AJ struggled, holding him back. Carmela was a bit confused at what they were talking about. But it was probably about her.

"We all know you, Taehyung. We know every damn thing about you! And you sure as hell knew how much I wanted her. How long I waited for her. AND YOU STILL WENT AND FUCKED AROUND WITH HER!" Hosi shrieked as Carmela's heart dropped to her feet. Her stomach felt sick as she looked at Hosi's angry red eyes. He was really hurt.

The door sprung open and Roxana, Namjoon and Jin ran inside.

"What's going on?!" Jin quickly asked, looking around.

"Hosi? What's all this screaming?" Roxana demanded, pushing AJ off of Hosi.

Hosi took a deep shaky breath and glanced around at everyone. Then he looked at Tae straight in the face and spun around towards the exit. Carmela sighed in relief but jumped again as Hosi angrily knocked down a chair by the door before he left.

"Tae, what happened?" Roxana asked, turning to him. But his eyes were on the ground and without answering he too left the room.

Carmela gulped nervously. Hopefully he didn't go after Hosi. Not exactly sure he was in the mood to talk at the moment.

"Carmela?" Jin asked, his eyes hardened on her face.

"I... I don't know what happened." Carmela lied, remembering the warning Jin gave her on her front lawn a long time ago.

"You don't know?" Roxana questioned, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Yes, I don't fucking know!" Carmela said, her voice shaking. Before anyone could say anything else, she hurried out of the room.

"So does that mean y'all are leaving early?" She heard AJ say behind her.

She sighed sadly. What a great field trip.

Zaraa, Yoon, JK, and Jimin were talking on the stage, and Carmela tried not to glance at them as she heard their hushed whispers and felt their questioning stares.

"Ahh..." Carmela yawned as she stepped into the hallway and decided to go back to the hotel.

She needed to figure all of this out.

But how do you make someone happy and not hurt the other at the same time?