#I can study things on my own schedule without having it be a memorisation race

[sleepywyrldbuilder]

I’M FREEEEEEEEEEE

[cloudyyoonji]

The Lovers Dance

Hwang Hyunjin X Reader 

BASED ON ANON REQUEST 

Summary: Being a trainee is burdensome, but when there’s someone to help share those burdens, you begin to see the lighter side of things. 

 Genre: FLUFF!!!! 

__________________ 

“Y/L/N, Y/N.” 

Breathing a well-held sigh of relief, you step forwards, traces of a smile on your features as you try to suppress your excitement. 

You made it through again. 

No matter how many times your name is called first, you still feel that same excitement; as if all your hard work had finally paid off. 

The trainees around you chorus into claps as you’re bowing respectfully at all the managers. 

Your body shakes with so much excitement, almost in a state of euphoria, despite having been through this so many times prior. 

You’re one step closer now. One step closer to becoming a singer. 

Of course, that was a long way off, after all, you’re only a trainee - and will be for god knows how much longer. 

But this almost stupid number one spot, a spot you’d never even dreamed of getting, made you feel like you were on cloud 9. 

It had bought so many new opportunities for you over the years, meeting idols you had looked up towards for years on end, wishing that you’d be there someday too. 

And somehow it felt like you’d be there. 

Felt. 

The last three years had been anything but easy, a series of countless trials and failures. 

It was hard to get back up at first, but now you were just so used to it. Bouncing back became almost routine. 

If you kept afloat you’d have to get somewhere, right? 

It was undeniable that the idol experience had its perks, meeting so many JYPE Idols that you bonded with, but of course, every high comes with a low, and perhaps this was your low; realising that you're stuck in a vicious cycle of validation and not going anywhere with it. 

Every manager says the same thing; 

‘You have so much talent, why have you not debuted yet?’ 

Your answer never changes.

‘Because there are things I need to improve on.’ 

Your euphoria melts away through the day, the disappearing high leaving you with a sense of absence, restlessness. 

You’re barely concentrating on your studies, slinking off during lunch to the nearest dance practice room to do more practice, as if 6 hours a day just wasn’t enough. It's stupid, you know that, but you just can’t help it. 

Everything needs to be perfect. 

You’re engrossed in the music, becoming one with each note as your body reacts on its own, each move memorised. 

“Yah, Y/N!” 

The shout sends you flinching, almost slamming into the mirror as you swing around to see the door opening, a familiar face sticking through the crack with a large toothy grin over his features. 

The mischievous Kim Seungmin. 

Rolling your eyes at the boy, you place a hand on your heart. 

“Come on, we’ve talked about spontaneous yelling!” 

“Right, sorry about that,” the boy says sheepishly, pushing open to reveal a line of members gathered around him. “But we’ve sort of reserved the studio Y/N.” 

Immediately you’re bowing at the band, a sorry slipping from your lips in such a formal way as they all enter the room. Even though you’d known Seungmin for years, it was hard to not be intimated by the group as a whole, after all; they are idols. 

“C’ mon Y/N you can drop the formalities, we’ve known you for ages.” 

Hyunjin nods at Chan’s words, a wide smile on his features. 

Your heart swells at the sight of his smile, your features mirroring his in an instance. 

Hyunjin was lovely, almost too lovely. 

You hadn’t expected that they would all be so lovely to a trainee, especially when they were so busy most of the time. 

“Chan! Can Y/N-ah stay? We could teach her some dances!” Godbless the maknae and his easygoingness. 

Every inch of you wants to stay, but you know that you probably shouldn’t. Shaking your head, you’re quick to swipe up your belongings. 

“It's okay! Sorry for cutting into your practice time!” You’re almost at the door when a hand catches your arm, turning you to face them. 

Breath hitching in your throat, you stare wide-eyed at a soft Hyunjin, who seems to realise your close proximity, releasing you in an instance. 

“Please stay! We heard you ranked number one again! We could teach you some more advanced things if you’d like!” 

Eyes wandering over all the remaining members, who seem just as enthusiastic as the boy in front of you, you give in, bag slipping from your shoulder and into your hand as you place it in the corner. 

“Okay, but if I’m too much of a nuisance, please tell me and I’ll leave.” 

The next few hours that follow are some of the most useful lessons you’ve ever had. It wasn’t too easy, but it's not too hard either. 

Your all smiles as you’re all packing up for the day, bags bring roughly repacked with jackets and water bottles. 

“You should dance with us more often, you’re a natural.” Minho comments, patting your back as he passes you. 

You thank him, ignoring the tinge of pink on your cheeks as the remaining boys pile out of the room. 

“Y/N!” 

You spin around at the sound of your name, seeing Hyunjin jogging over, bag slung over his shoulder. 

You raise your eyebrows at this. Just what was he doing. 

Letting out a small breath, the boy suddenly looks quite nervous, a hand making his way to the back of his neck. 

“Look,” he begins, looking towards the door for split second. “I think that you’re a talented trainee, and I’ve been thinking about this, and if you’d like some lessons, just like today where we joke around and dance, I’d like to offer to give you some. I mean, that’s only if you’d like of course!” 

He’s not looking at you now, rather everywhere but you. 

You ignore your beating heart, an embarrassed smile creeping onto your lips. 

“I’d like that Hyunjin.” 

The boy seems to sigh in relief, smiling widely at you now. 

“Good! Great! I mean, yeah! We can start tomorrow if you’d like? Maybe just for an hour? Or whatever...” he trails off, a little too excited at the fact you’ll be practising together. 

Placing a gentle hand on his arm as a source of comfort, despite your nervousness. 

“I’ll meet you here at about 6, Hyunjin. I'm looking forward to it!” 

“Yeah, so I am I! Imagine it now, two awesome dancers training together!” 

You laugh, shaking your head at the boy. 

“Let’s do it!” 

The days are quick to turn into weeks and the weeks to months in the blink of an eye. Despite Hyunjin’s busy schedule, he always shows up without fail. You try to ignore the pound of your heart, and the turn of your stomach when he walks through that door, hair a little shaggy. 

You had to keep your relationship strictly a friendship, a friend that was just helping you dance more, sing more, be more. 

A friend who made you feel completely worthy of your number one rank. 

A friend, and nothing more. 

He filled that small void of uncertainty, sharing his struggles as a trainee and offering you unconditional support as you continue training. 

You sigh, looking down at your watch as you make your way to the elevator. Your dancing lessons had gone over time, cutting into the time you danced with Hyunjin. 

Anxiously, you’re pressing the button to the third floor once you're in the elevator, foot bouncing unconsciously as you wait. 

Your body is exhausted, but you can’t let the boy know that, or he’d want to stop the lesson that kept you going through your 6-hour long dance class. 

Floor one. 

Floor two. 

Floor three. 

Racing out of the elevator, you rush towards the practice rooms, opening the door to see a slightly sweating Hyunjin stretching. 

His eyes flick to you in the mirror, a wide smile on his face as he drops his arms to face you. 

“I thought you wouldn’t come.” 

“No!” You exclaim, throwing down your bag to join him in stretching. “I’m sorry! My singing lessons ran over.” 

He nods understandably, helping you up from the floor as l himself stands. 

“Let's do some dancing.” 

And so you do, starting with some easy dances and working your way to some harder songs. 

Your legs hurt with every movement, energy completely draining as you try not to slow your painful expressions in the mirror. 

Taking a breather after running through the choreography for “Miroh”, you reach down for your water bottle, legs almost giving out as you do so. 

Your visions a little blurry, but rest can always fix that. Right? 

“Can we go again?” You ask, standing up after a few long minutes, itching to do something to preoccupy your beating heart and your blurry vision. 

“Now?” He asks, watching you incredulously as you return to the centre of the studio, looking for a song on your phone. 

You nod at him through the mirror, settling on “DNA”. 

As soon as that first move had passed through your body, you knew that you weren’t too well. 

It’s not till halfway your vision truly becomes incomprehensibly bad. 

Your movements become sloppy, delayed even. You don’t know if he notices them, but when your ankle rolls, body hitting the floor like a ton of bricks, he is right beside you in an instance, helping you sit. 

“I’m okay! It’s fine really, I just misstepped!” 

His eyes search yours, and it’s soon crystal clear he knows. 

“You’re exhausted. You need to rest. You shouldn’t dance for more than 8 hours without refuelling your body, Y/N.” 

So he knows. Well shit. 

“I saw you dancing before this. The door was open and I saw you as I was walking past. God, you’re so damn instant on the harder dances.” 

You shrug, a lazy smile on your features. “I like the challenge.” 

He smiles, shaking his head at you. “You’re crazy you know that right?” 

He’s quick, you’ll give him that. 

“Lucky I like you!” He exclaims, passing you the bottle that had been in his bag a second before, a granola bar in his other hand. 

It seems that time stops for a second, you both freezing as your fingers make contact on the bottle, his words settling in. 

“Oh shit.” 

It’s barely above a whisper, but you still hear it, eyes going wide as your skin flushes scarlet. 

“You... you like me?” You splutter, a little confused at the accidental confession.  

“I mean, there’s no use hiding it now,” he’s not looking at you, rather the bar in his hand, fingers tapping nervously. “But yeah I do like you. It’s okay if you don’t feel the same way. Oh god, I just made things so awkward. I’m sorry-” 

“It’s okay,” you interrupt his ramble, avoiding his eyes. “Because I like you too Hyunjin.” 

“Oh.” 

Time feels still for what feels like months, both as awkward as each other as you estrange awkward glances at each other. 

“Can... can I take you out? Like on a date, not a dancing session. I mean we can do another dancing session if you like-” 

You cut him off with a gentle hand on his and a sincere smile. 

“Hyunjin I would love to go on a date with you.” 

He sighs in relief, finally looking at you. “Well good. How’s tomorrow night at 6? I’ll wait for you outside the dorms.” 

You nod, looking down at your slightly intertwined hands now, a red tinge on your cheeks. 

“That sounds perfect.”