Twenty-Eight

"Jeongwoo-ssi." Song Taejoo-ssi, one of the best choreographers in the industry, stopped counting beats and frowned a little. "That's moving a little too fast."

"It is?"

He nodded. "It would be really impactful if you could shadow Changmin-ssi's every move with a half-beat lag. Close your eyes to show that you knew him well enough to know what he's doing but that you're still falling behind."

"We'll try again." Half a beat lag. Got it.

"Can't he watch me instead?" Changmin asked. He was standing a little to the right, in front of me. We were planning to make the light fall on him at such an angle that I would be standing in his shadow. I was going to portray the inner self.

"Watch you?"

"I understand what you're trying to go for but I just had this thought- We are referring to how he watches but I don't notice and then how he forgets to look, right? What if… he watches and still goes half a beat slow and then we can probably add in a turn or a twirl or something at which point we're facing the back so he can't see me and then, even after facing forward again, he isn't watching me anymore. He continues to shadow me though, although he's late by half a beat."

"That… could work." Song-ssi turned the idea over in his head and then looked at me. "Watching him might make it easier for you to pick up and follow his rhythm too."

"Make it obvious." Changmin looked at me seriously. "Make it super obvious that you are watching me at the beginning."

That shouldn't be too hard. "Okay."

"Then…" Song-ssi took up the ending position of my previous segment and slowly, counting the beats, tried to work out this segment's step sequence by including a twirl. "One… Two… Step at three… Four… Twirl, slow… Six… Seven… Eight and pause."

How were he and Changmin so good?!

"Let's try, shall we?" Song-ssi asked and stood up to watch us again. We faced forward and got into position. "Watch him, Jeongwoo-ssi. Not too melancholic, more of just longing."

"Okay." I pasted my eyes on Changmin. He caught my gaze, smiled, nodded and faced forward again. I kept my eyes on the back of his head.

"Okay. Five, six… Five, six, seven, eight." Song-ssi counted and we began dancing to his counts. "One, two, three, step, four, twirl, six, seven, eight."

That felt fine. It really was easier to follow him like this.

"That looks good. You need a little more practice to refine your movements but it's looking good otherwise." Song-ssi nodded, seeming content.

"Thank you." I beamed. The planned contemporary dance was coming along a lot better than I had thought it would.

Changmin smirked at me. "Why were you so worried about the dance? You're doing perfectly fine. I actually think contemporary suits you better."

Song-ssi nodded. "You have a petite enough form to make your slow movements look graceful. Speed and intensity seem to be more difficult for you to perfect. This too needs practice but you're doing good, Jeongwoo-ssi."

I couldn't argue with that. I just bowed and thanked them again.

"Again. Again." Song-ssi clapped. "Let's try that a few more times."

We took a 5-minute break once we were done with that segment. I continued to do a few light hand movements even then though. The rhythm felt good.

"You seem to be having fun." Changmin stretched a bit, facing me.

"Of course, I am." I smiled. "I'm dancing with you."

He chuckled. "That makes me think that you do not have fun dancing with S.T.A.Y."

"I do, okay? You're not all THAT special." I returned. "But this feels good. After so many years, we're getting to practice with each other."

"It is refreshing." He stopped what he was doing and watched me almost adoringly. "I've missed you."

Mhm. "Hyung." I lowered my arms and decided to confront him. "Why didn't you reply last night?" I had not gotten a chance to ask him as we were leaving during the award show last night.

"Hm? When?" He raised an eyebrow, pretending to not recall.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about." I narrowed my eyes at him. "I said something sincerely and you ignored it. You read it and did not respond."

"You had not wanted to talk to me." He shrugged.

I had known that he would say that. Why had I even bothered asking him? "I'm never saying anything like that to you again, you tactless idiot." I shook my head, then added. "With all due respect, Hyung."

He laughed. "I hugged you when you came to say good night, didn't I?"

"That was to make up for it?"

"Yes."

"Oh? So, you would not have hugged me otherwise?" You can't save yourself here, Hyung.

"I would have. Agh. Jeongwoo!" He laughed. "Fine. I'm sorry."

"I'm not angry."

"I know."

I stared at him and then gave in. "You know, I thought of something while watching us in the mirror earlier."

"What?"

"It looks like I'm your after-image, with the slight lag. You move and I move behind you like an after-image. Imagine if there were a few more people lagging behind me." I formed a camera with my hands and pretended aimed it at him. "It will be like an action shot."

"I don't want other people though."

"No. I don't either. I'm just saying. Imagine."

He nodded. "Yeah, it will look like an action shot."

Now it felt like he was just humouring me.

I clicked my tongue and looked away. "Fine. Don't imagine."

"You know what I was thinking?" He asked.

"What?" I glanced at him again.

"By the time we release this song, it would be around holiday season. Christmas. It could help us with promotions as well but as an event from DayBreak itself, S.T.A.Y and 04:00 am can have a joint Christmas party."

"Oh. That sounds good." I perked up immediately, taken by the idea. "We've interacted plenty but we've never quite had a joint event before. Not even a photoshoot."

"Exactly. It will make more sense now since we're collaborating too. DayBreak might agree."

"True and Coffee would be thrilled!" I mused. "I would love to spend Christmas with you too."

"It's been 4 years, huh?" He nodded and smiled. "4 Christmases and 4 birthdays."

"Well, everyone will be there but-" 4 years. "I'm looking forward to it already."

"I wonder why no one had thought of anything like this before." He sighed. "If this works, it'll be the most meaningful Christmas ever."

"Don't let your mother hear that. Or your younger sister." I chuckled. "She can be scary."

"She said that they pretty much don't even think about me anymore." He pouted. "The last time we got into a fight, she said that it would be better to set up an altar for me instead because I'm practically non-existent in the household anyway."

"Okay. That was mean." I winced.

"Sisters can be mean- especially possessive little ones."

"I wouldn't know." I was an only child, after all.

"Mm. Hyungs can be possessive of their Dongsaengs too. You don't need an actual sibling to know possessiveness."

"You've never shown your possessiveness before though." That amused me. He was possessive of me?

"Just because I don't show it, doesn't mean that I don't feel it."

Heh… "Enlighten me." I pressed on. I wanted to hear this.

He looked at me as though in contemplation but then shook his head. "No. Figure it out on your own from now on." He then called out to Song-ssi who was listening to our track by himself to figure out how to proceed. "Song-ssi, shall we start again?"

"Hey. No." I caught his arm when he turned away. "Tell me, Hyung."

He turned right around and yanked my arm towards him, bringing us face-to-face in the literal sense. "I said… figure it out yourself." He smirked, let go and returned to his position.

"That's-" I swallowed the surprise. "That's unfair, Hyung."

Song-ssi joined us. "I was listening to the song and… I want to try something."

"Which part?" Changmin enquired.

"After the second chorus. The bridge."

"Ah ah. Ah ah. Ah ah." I sang my part. "That one?"

"Yes." He nodded and thought for a moment. "At the end of the chorus, the both of you dance together and then Jeongwoo-ssi walks away, right? You can walk along Changmin-ssi's shadow, considering that the light will be coming from here." He motioned in the direction that we were planning to have the light fall on us from, then he waved a hand in the general direction that the shadow would fall in. "So, you can walk this way, away from Changmin-ssi. At the second 'ah ah', Changmin-ssi can turn and at 'Take my hand', Jeongwoo-ssi turns towards Changmin-ssi who holds a hand out to you."

I looked at Changmin who had turned to me too. He then held out a hand to me, fingers outstretched. "Take my hand." He sang.

"And, in dance, Jeongwoo-ssi can move towards Changmin-ssi. At the third 'ah ah', use your hand, maintain a centimetre distance between your palms and guide Changmin-ssi to hold up his hand, palm facing you. At 'Let's meet again', gingerly touch just the fingertips."

Ah… "That's- The angst." I pursed my lips. As in, just touch. Don't hold his hand. Just touch.

"Exactly." Song-ssi nodded. "It's a struggle. But once you meet each other again, the final chorus can be fluid and a little faster. We'll try to make it such that you both are able to maintain physical contact throughout- to show that you have become one. You have the chemistry to pull off close-proximity dances. Let's use that to our benefit."

"Sounds good to me." Changmin agreed.

"Jeongwoo-ssi?" Song-ssi looked at me.

I smiled. "I feel moved already. This is exactly what I was looking for, emotionally, when I was writing the lyrics for the song."

"That's good." Song-ssi seemed more than satisfied. "You'll have plenty to practice, Jeongwoo-ssi."

"I understand. Don't hold back. I'll learn it all properly." I was feeling motivated enough to put in that extra effort too.

"Don't worry. I'll teach you properly when we practice by ourselves." Changmin placed a hand on my head.

I smiled at him.

"Okay. Let's try it out." Song-ssi clapped and returned to the spot from where he had been watching us. "Let's try the bridge."

"Mm." I nudged my head against Changmin's palm and then locked eyes with him. "Let's meet again, Hyung."

"You…" He withdrew his hand and chuckled at my dramatic display. Soon after, we were back to practice.