(for woohyunized) Butterflies
For: woohyunized
Title: Butterflies
Pairing: Jongin/D.O.
Word Count: ~3,000 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: It's all been routine for Jongin. Until one day his world collapses. And the next day he meets a boy with large eyes and fate kind of brings them together.
Author's Note: Predebut!au! Had an image that this whole scenario is SM but yet not. That it's EXO but really not. And then this whole story just happened and I don't really think I did justice to the prompt given to me but uhm.. i'm sorry and I still hope you do like it!
Jongin wakes up the blaring of an alarm clock. He hears others rustle out of their beds, the moaning and groaning a part of their routine nowadays.
It’s the day the announcements are made for who makes the cut, and more importantly, what their position (and possibly new name) will be.
Jongin has been waiting for this day to come. Worked hard for this day to come.
Yet, he feels butterflies in his stomach and he doesn’t like that feeling very much.
He gets ready, along with the other trainees.
The best part of this whole thing might be the fact that he won’t be living with ten other people in a room that could only fit, at most, three.
“Jongin, you’re first up.” One of their managers says and he shakily stands up and goes into one of the conference rooms.
He breathes in and out and tries to steady himself, he sees his best friend also heading for the room.
“Taemin, you were called too?” He asks softly and the other boy only nervously nods his head.
They look at each other before opening the door.
Jongin feels slightly bittersweet.
He was definitely happy that his best friend made it into a group and was going to debut. But he also felt as if he was being left behind, as if he wasn’t good enough to have also been chosen.
But it was one spot, one spot as the dancer.
He just needed to work harder.
-
A couple of years pass and he celebrates when he manages to secure that triple pirouette that he has been working on for literally three years.
“Hey guys, we have a new trainee.” A manager comes in and Jongin peeks to see who it is.
Large eyes spot him, and they feel eerie and definitely scary. As if the boy was staring right into your soul.
He feels goosebumps rising on his arms.
“Introduce yourself.” The manger pats the boy’s back.
“My name is Do Kyungsoo. It’s nice to meet you all.” He boys once and when his head rises, his eyes scan the room and fall back towards Jongin.
When his eyes find Jongin’s, there’s a bit more warmth to them and Jongin manages to not stare at his eyes directly to see the boy’s full features.
He was pretty darn cute.
“He’ll be training as a vocalist so please take care of him.” He points at two other trainees behind him to which Jongin already knows whom he was referring to.
Jongin walks to the other side of the room where the other dancer trainees were sitting at.
He moves to sit next to Sehun, his other best friend.
“We’ve been getting a lot of new trainees lately.” Jongin says and Sehun nods his head.
“That’s definitely gonna lower our chances.” Jongin pouts and Sehun scoffs.
“The boss loves you, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be next in line for anything.” Sehun says and Jongin sighs.
He really does hope so.
-
The training days do not become easier, even as he’s been doing this for as long as he can remember.
People come and go and it’s heartbreaking when a friend of yours suddenly decides this isn’t worth it anymore.
But Jongin pushes through, beyond that.
So when one of their managers comes into their dance room and Jongin gets pulled aside, he can only think of the worst possible things.
“Hey, we have this track to go on. Kyungsoo just recorded vocals for it, we want you to learn the choreo for it.” The manager says and Jongin nods his head.
When the dance room empties out, he pops the cd in and he listens to the song fully at first. It’s short, a teaser.
But it’s almost perfect.
Kyungsoo’s sultry voice smoothly glides with the music and Jongin can already picture the moves in his head, though he knows someone else will be choreographing for it.
He listens to it again and again and he swears he must be in love with the song.
Sehun slides inside with their choreographer. He only gets his bag and waves goodbye to him while the choreographer clasps his hands and signals Jongin to get up.
“I’m sure you listened to it by now. You ready for the dance?” he says more than asks.
Jongin smiles and nods his head.
-
He gets the choreography down within two days and records it in their dance room the day after.
As something ends, a new project begins.
He finds himself learning new choreographies for new tracks almost every single week and there’s a bit of pressure in trying to remember all of them.
So, he practices day in and day out until his body just naturally knows exactly where and how to move according to the song.
And it definitely helps that it’s always Kyungsoo’s singing voice that leads his body to move this way.
-
He goes into the company studio hoping to get some alone time with the dance floor when he sees one lone person sitting in the middle of the room, his back currently facing Jongin.
There’s a melody rippling through the air and Jongin already knows who it belongs to even though he doesn’t personally know the person.
The boy turns around when Jongin sneakers scratch against the floor.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t think anyone would come tonight.” Kyungsoo says softly and Jongin bows his head.
“No, I’m sorry. You can use the room if you need to practice.” Jongin says as he bows one more time.
“Actually, you’re Jongin right?” he asks and Jongin nods.
“You’re the one whose been dancing to the songs I’ve sang?” Kyungsoo asks as he gets up.
“Yeah.” Jongin softly answers.
“They showed me the recording, it’s really good. Flows well.” Kyungsoo compliments and Jongin feels himself blush.
The boy looks different. Not as intimidating as when he first saw him, but then again that was months ago.
“I can’t believe we haven’t actually met yet.” Kyungsoo sticks out his hand and Jongin looks at it at first before realizing that he’s supposed to take it and shake it like a normal human being.
“Yeah, me neither.” Jongin says.
He definitely looks different. Still cute but more handsome now that anything. And once again, Jongin can’t seem to take his eyes off the boy.
“Uhm, do you mind if you help me with this song?” Kyungsoo asks and Jongin snaps out of his reverie and nods quickly.
“What is it?” Jongin asks.
Kyungsoo walks towards the mini stereo he has laying on the floor and plays the melody.
The intro starts off with a piano and Jongin definitely likes how this is going.
“I don’t really know how to sing it. What emotion to convey. I wanted to see if you could make some moves and I could follow it with the singing?” Kyungsoo asks and Jongin nods his head again.
He drops his bag right next to the boy and warms up a bit as Kyungsoo hums what he thinks might be the lyrics to the song.
“It’s pretty mellow, but there are a lot of hard hits to it.” Jongin says as he starts to move with the music.
His hands move along the air as if he’s playing the piano itself.
“I’m thinking a couple of isolations so when you’re singing maybe try to follow that, and when I roll my body-“ Jongin says as he does so.
“Try to go with that feeling too. I don’t know much about vocals so you’re going to have to just try it out or something.” Jongin shyly says as he ruffles the back of his head.
Kyungsoo smiles and Jongin gets that feeling of butterflies in his stomach again.
“Okay, let’s try.” Kyungsoo says.
-
Jongin gets woken up by his manager.
When he looks at his cellphone for the time, he groans.
It is an hour earlier than their usual wake up call.
“Get up and get ready. Meet me downstairs.” The manager tells him before setting off.
Jongin reluctantly gets out of bed and manages to find himself in the bathroom and even manages to get himself properly dressed.
When he gets downstairs, in the lobby of their dorm room, he sees Kyungsoo there as well.
The manger leads them outside and towards one of the vans.
“What’s going on?” he asks and Kyungsoo only shrugs as he looks out the window.
Jongin doesn’t know what to feel or to think so he decides to just focus on the music that’s playing. That usually eases his anxieties.
They reach the company building and they enter.
He doesn’t even realize that they’re sitting in front of their boss until Kyungsoo nudges his arm.
“He asked a question.” Kyungsoo whispers to him and he sees their CEO chuckle softly.
“How does the name Kai sound to you?” he asks again and Jongin nods.
“I think it’s great sir.” He says automatically.
“From now on, you will be a duo. Kai we’re going to give you vocal lessons but you will be dancing and rapping as your main roles. D.O. we’re going to give you extensive dance lessons. Good luck to you both and start preparing for your debut.” He says.
They both bow and leave the room.
“What just happened?” Jongin turns to Kyungsoo and sees the boy start to smile.
“It looks like you’ll be my partner.”
-
The news spreads around the dorm room. Thankfully, both Jongin and Kyungsoo live on separate floors, so the harassment isn’t as bad.
“How is that even going to work? You were trained as a dancer and he’s a vocalist. Are you just gonna dance around him or something?” Sehun says and everyone nods their head.
“Guys, I don’t know. It just sort of happened. I wasn’t even all there to take it in.” Jongin plops down on his bed but he internally cannot even process all the emotions he is feeling.
But one thing’s for sure, he’s certainly happy that he’ll get more time to spend with Kyungsoo.
“What’s your name now?” Someone else asks.
“Kai.” He plainly tells everyone.
“And what about Kyungsoo, did he get a name too?” Another asks.
“Yeah, it’s D.O.” Jongin says.
“Wow, that sounds pretty cool.” Sehun nods his head.
“I still don’t know how this will work.”
“Me neither.” Jongin sighs.
Me neither, he keeps thinking even in his sleep.
-
He gets woken up again by his manager.
“We’re moving you.” Was the only thing he said before he gets, basically, thrown out of the dorm room.
When he arrives at a new apartment place, he is pretty impressed at the location and even yet, the room itself.
It’s just himself and Kyungsoo, plus their two managers.
Definitely better already.
“Hey, did you get our first schedule already?” Kyungsoo asks and he shakes his head.
Kyungsoo waves him over to the couch and they both look over their list.
“We have training and practice for the next three weeks, all in preparation for our first debut song and mv.” Kyungsoo tells him and Jongin nods.
“The other songs that you’ve dance to will be put into here as demo’s but our main objective is this song. You still have to learn and record the rap for it and also some backup vocals.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin is starting to feel that pressure again.
“We’ll be doing vocal and dance training together. So you help me, I help you, type of thing.” Kyungsoo smiles at him which makes him feel a little better.
Their manager comes inside and tells them that they need to go to the company to the studio.
Kyungsoo gets his bag and things ready while Jongin waits for him by the door.
“By the way, I heard your demo vocal session. It wasn’t bad at all. You have a very soft voice.” Kyungsoo tells him when they reach their van.
“It’s nothing compared to your voice though.” Jongin says and he sees Kyungsoo blush a bit.
He finds that extremely adorable.
“If I can say so myself, it’s probably at the same or almost reaching your level in dancing.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin smiles widely.
He takes pride in his dancing.
“Thanks, if I could, I just want to dance forever.” Jongin softly says.
Kyungsoo nods his head.
“That’s not a bad sight to see.”
-
Jongin wakes up to the feeling of butterflies again.
Much like that time, ages ago.
He gets out of bed and starts to get ready.
This is the day he has been waiting for.
“You ready?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow when Jongin nears the door.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He tells him.
They walk down the steps together, and Kyungsoo makes small talk.
They’ve gotten relatively close, or well they’ve had to since they’ve only had each other.
“Don’t be so nervous. You’re going to be just fine. Plus I’ll be right there.” Kyungsoo pats his back and Jongin tries to make himself feel better.
Their manager waits for them in their van and they soon head out towards one of the broadcasting centers.
“I really can’t believe this is happening. I mean I never imagined this.” He tells Kyungsoo.
“Me neither to be honest. I thought for sure they would get Baekhyun with you.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin raises an eyebrow.
“Now hyung don’t start getting insecure.” Jongin smiles a little bit and Kyungsoo laughs.
“Okay, okay.”
-
They enter the building and step inside.
Everything sort of happens in a blur.
They get pulled into so many different rooms.
Makeup, hair, wardrobe, and finally the stage.
They only start with the rehearsals but the undeniable feeling of being on stage is still there and Jongin feels it from his toes to the crown of his head.
He feels a warmth surrounding his hand and he looks down to see Kyungsoo’s hand wrapped around his.
“I’m right here.” Kyungsoo smiles up at him and Jongin nods.
“D.O. Kai, ready!” Someone shouts and just then the lights dim and there’s only a spotlight against them.
The warmth leaves Jongin’s hand and he feels really sad about it but he looks to his left and Kyungsoo is there and he breathes in once before looking back in front of him.
“Kai to the piano, spotlight on D.O. center stage when the he starts singing!” Someone instructs.
There’s a white baby grand piano on the stage and a small mini platform a couple of feet in front of it towards the center of the whole stage.
Jongin takes his place and sits on the piano bench.
“Backup dancers!” Someone calls out and he feels a pat on his back when a dancer passes by him.
It's Sehun.
They’re all dresses in black pants, white button downs, almost a replica of what he himself is wearing except he has on a red vest, the same color matching Kyungsoo’s bow tie.
“Music start!” someone shouts out.
-
They’re back in the backroom, eyes glued to the screen that’s been playing other group’s performances.
“You guys are next after this.” One of their coordis tells them and they both nod in unison.
“I messed up on a part of the choreography.” Jongin says and Kyungsoo blows a raspberry.
“I’m pretty sure you can mess up and it’ll still look like part of the choreography, unlike my voice cracking.” Kyungsoo tells him and Jongin laughs lightly.
The performers leave the stage and it blacks out as the MCs announce the next performance.
There’s a spotlight on the piano and Jongin semi shields his eyes as he looks at himself.
The music starts and he pretends to play the piano.
Another spotlight shines in the middle of the stage just as Kyungsoo starts to sing.
A couple of lines into the verse, Jongin grabs the mic from the stand against the piano and falls in line with the backup dancers.
They keep watching until the very end, neither one of them saying a word.
“Hey, I’m surprised you didn’t point out when you messed up.” Kyungsoo chuckles a bit and Jongin just now realizes.
He was staring at Kyungsoo performing the whole time.
“Uh, yeah, forgot.” Jongin shyly smiles.
Kyungsoo laughs a little louder now as he shakes his head.
“You crazy boy.”
-
They go through a packed schedule for months, their debut performance granting them a couple of wins on shows and a definite spot for a rookie of the year award.
Jongin finds himself back to where he first started.
Alone on the dance floor.
He takes in the sight and it brings back a flood of memories.
He drops his bag against the mirror-lined walls and pops in a cd.
The sound pulses through the room and he feels his body move automatically.
He doesn’t realize that another person has walked inside the room until the music nears the end and he hears a soft clapping echoing in the studio.
He turns around and finds Kyungsoo standing by the doorway.
“That’s the first song I recorded.” Kyungsoo tells him, walking towards the boy.
“It's the first song that I ever choreographed to.” Jongin tells him.
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen.
“You choreographed that?” Kyungsoo asks and Jongin only nods as he tries to find his breathing.
“We’ve already been sent our next round of schedules.” Kyungsoo tells him and Jongin takes a seat on the floor, waiting for Kyungsoo to discuss it with him.
“We can discuss it later though.” Kyungsoo says even though he takes a seat right across from him.
“So, what are you doing here?” Jongin asks sincerely.
“I wanted to see you dance.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin notices how he’s avoiding eye contact now.
“You’ve seen me dance plenty of times.” Jongin laughs a bit.
“No, I wanted to see you dance.” Kyungsoo looks up this time and there’s something lying beneath his eyes.
Words that can’t be spoken, feelings that aren’t yet sure.
“Butterflies.” Jongin blurts out.
Kyungsoo tilts his head a bit, confused.
“I get butterflies, when I’m nervous. Like how I felt when I walked in the room to find out I didn’t make the cut. Or when we both walked in the room to find out we were going to be a duo. Or when-” Jongin pauses in his last statement.
“Or when?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow.
“Or when I first heard your voice, I’m feeling that again right now.” Jongin tells him and Kyungsoo laughs lightly.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Jongin feels his cheek burn.
Kyungsoo takes Jongin’s hands, pulling him closer.
“I know, I get them too.” Kyungsoo softly says as he softly kisses the boy.
Jongin thinks that maybe it was better for Taemin to debut before him.
Because if he got placed in that group, then he wouldn't have this with Kyungsoo.
And maybe it was fate twisting and turning until their red ties stopped intertwining and started running smoothly, pulling them closer together.
Because Jongin doesn’t know what else to call this.
But he likes it.
Title: Butterflies
Pairing: Jongin/D.O.
Word Count: ~3,000 words
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Summary: It's all been routine for Jongin. Until one day his world collapses. And the next day he meets a boy with large eyes and fate kind of brings them together.
Author's Note: Predebut!au! Had an image that this whole scenario is SM but yet not. That it's EXO but really not. And then this whole story just happened and I don't really think I did justice to the prompt given to me but uhm.. i'm sorry and I still hope you do like it!
Jongin wakes up the blaring of an alarm clock. He hears others rustle out of their beds, the moaning and groaning a part of their routine nowadays.
It’s the day the announcements are made for who makes the cut, and more importantly, what their position (and possibly new name) will be.
Jongin has been waiting for this day to come. Worked hard for this day to come.
Yet, he feels butterflies in his stomach and he doesn’t like that feeling very much.
He gets ready, along with the other trainees.
The best part of this whole thing might be the fact that he won’t be living with ten other people in a room that could only fit, at most, three.
“Jongin, you’re first up.” One of their managers says and he shakily stands up and goes into one of the conference rooms.
He breathes in and out and tries to steady himself, he sees his best friend also heading for the room.
“Taemin, you were called too?” He asks softly and the other boy only nervously nods his head.
They look at each other before opening the door.
Jongin feels slightly bittersweet.
He was definitely happy that his best friend made it into a group and was going to debut. But he also felt as if he was being left behind, as if he wasn’t good enough to have also been chosen.
But it was one spot, one spot as the dancer.
He just needed to work harder.
-
A couple of years pass and he celebrates when he manages to secure that triple pirouette that he has been working on for literally three years.
“Hey guys, we have a new trainee.” A manager comes in and Jongin peeks to see who it is.
Large eyes spot him, and they feel eerie and definitely scary. As if the boy was staring right into your soul.
He feels goosebumps rising on his arms.
“Introduce yourself.” The manger pats the boy’s back.
“My name is Do Kyungsoo. It’s nice to meet you all.” He boys once and when his head rises, his eyes scan the room and fall back towards Jongin.
When his eyes find Jongin’s, there’s a bit more warmth to them and Jongin manages to not stare at his eyes directly to see the boy’s full features.
He was pretty darn cute.
“He’ll be training as a vocalist so please take care of him.” He points at two other trainees behind him to which Jongin already knows whom he was referring to.
Jongin walks to the other side of the room where the other dancer trainees were sitting at.
He moves to sit next to Sehun, his other best friend.
“We’ve been getting a lot of new trainees lately.” Jongin says and Sehun nods his head.
“That’s definitely gonna lower our chances.” Jongin pouts and Sehun scoffs.
“The boss loves you, I’m pretty sure you’re going to be next in line for anything.” Sehun says and Jongin sighs.
He really does hope so.
-
The training days do not become easier, even as he’s been doing this for as long as he can remember.
People come and go and it’s heartbreaking when a friend of yours suddenly decides this isn’t worth it anymore.
But Jongin pushes through, beyond that.
So when one of their managers comes into their dance room and Jongin gets pulled aside, he can only think of the worst possible things.
“Hey, we have this track to go on. Kyungsoo just recorded vocals for it, we want you to learn the choreo for it.” The manager says and Jongin nods his head.
When the dance room empties out, he pops the cd in and he listens to the song fully at first. It’s short, a teaser.
But it’s almost perfect.
Kyungsoo’s sultry voice smoothly glides with the music and Jongin can already picture the moves in his head, though he knows someone else will be choreographing for it.
He listens to it again and again and he swears he must be in love with the song.
Sehun slides inside with their choreographer. He only gets his bag and waves goodbye to him while the choreographer clasps his hands and signals Jongin to get up.
“I’m sure you listened to it by now. You ready for the dance?” he says more than asks.
Jongin smiles and nods his head.
-
He gets the choreography down within two days and records it in their dance room the day after.
As something ends, a new project begins.
He finds himself learning new choreographies for new tracks almost every single week and there’s a bit of pressure in trying to remember all of them.
So, he practices day in and day out until his body just naturally knows exactly where and how to move according to the song.
And it definitely helps that it’s always Kyungsoo’s singing voice that leads his body to move this way.
-
He goes into the company studio hoping to get some alone time with the dance floor when he sees one lone person sitting in the middle of the room, his back currently facing Jongin.
There’s a melody rippling through the air and Jongin already knows who it belongs to even though he doesn’t personally know the person.
The boy turns around when Jongin sneakers scratch against the floor.
“Hey, sorry, I didn’t think anyone would come tonight.” Kyungsoo says softly and Jongin bows his head.
“No, I’m sorry. You can use the room if you need to practice.” Jongin says as he bows one more time.
“Actually, you’re Jongin right?” he asks and Jongin nods.
“You’re the one whose been dancing to the songs I’ve sang?” Kyungsoo asks as he gets up.
“Yeah.” Jongin softly answers.
“They showed me the recording, it’s really good. Flows well.” Kyungsoo compliments and Jongin feels himself blush.
The boy looks different. Not as intimidating as when he first saw him, but then again that was months ago.
“I can’t believe we haven’t actually met yet.” Kyungsoo sticks out his hand and Jongin looks at it at first before realizing that he’s supposed to take it and shake it like a normal human being.
“Yeah, me neither.” Jongin says.
He definitely looks different. Still cute but more handsome now that anything. And once again, Jongin can’t seem to take his eyes off the boy.
“Uhm, do you mind if you help me with this song?” Kyungsoo asks and Jongin snaps out of his reverie and nods quickly.
“What is it?” Jongin asks.
Kyungsoo walks towards the mini stereo he has laying on the floor and plays the melody.
The intro starts off with a piano and Jongin definitely likes how this is going.
“I don’t really know how to sing it. What emotion to convey. I wanted to see if you could make some moves and I could follow it with the singing?” Kyungsoo asks and Jongin nods his head again.
He drops his bag right next to the boy and warms up a bit as Kyungsoo hums what he thinks might be the lyrics to the song.
“It’s pretty mellow, but there are a lot of hard hits to it.” Jongin says as he starts to move with the music.
His hands move along the air as if he’s playing the piano itself.
“I’m thinking a couple of isolations so when you’re singing maybe try to follow that, and when I roll my body-“ Jongin says as he does so.
“Try to go with that feeling too. I don’t know much about vocals so you’re going to have to just try it out or something.” Jongin shyly says as he ruffles the back of his head.
Kyungsoo smiles and Jongin gets that feeling of butterflies in his stomach again.
“Okay, let’s try.” Kyungsoo says.
-
Jongin gets woken up by his manager.
When he looks at his cellphone for the time, he groans.
It is an hour earlier than their usual wake up call.
“Get up and get ready. Meet me downstairs.” The manager tells him before setting off.
Jongin reluctantly gets out of bed and manages to find himself in the bathroom and even manages to get himself properly dressed.
When he gets downstairs, in the lobby of their dorm room, he sees Kyungsoo there as well.
The manger leads them outside and towards one of the vans.
“What’s going on?” he asks and Kyungsoo only shrugs as he looks out the window.
Jongin doesn’t know what to feel or to think so he decides to just focus on the music that’s playing. That usually eases his anxieties.
They reach the company building and they enter.
He doesn’t even realize that they’re sitting in front of their boss until Kyungsoo nudges his arm.
“He asked a question.” Kyungsoo whispers to him and he sees their CEO chuckle softly.
“How does the name Kai sound to you?” he asks again and Jongin nods.
“I think it’s great sir.” He says automatically.
“From now on, you will be a duo. Kai we’re going to give you vocal lessons but you will be dancing and rapping as your main roles. D.O. we’re going to give you extensive dance lessons. Good luck to you both and start preparing for your debut.” He says.
They both bow and leave the room.
“What just happened?” Jongin turns to Kyungsoo and sees the boy start to smile.
“It looks like you’ll be my partner.”
-
The news spreads around the dorm room. Thankfully, both Jongin and Kyungsoo live on separate floors, so the harassment isn’t as bad.
“How is that even going to work? You were trained as a dancer and he’s a vocalist. Are you just gonna dance around him or something?” Sehun says and everyone nods their head.
“Guys, I don’t know. It just sort of happened. I wasn’t even all there to take it in.” Jongin plops down on his bed but he internally cannot even process all the emotions he is feeling.
But one thing’s for sure, he’s certainly happy that he’ll get more time to spend with Kyungsoo.
“What’s your name now?” Someone else asks.
“Kai.” He plainly tells everyone.
“And what about Kyungsoo, did he get a name too?” Another asks.
“Yeah, it’s D.O.” Jongin says.
“Wow, that sounds pretty cool.” Sehun nods his head.
“I still don’t know how this will work.”
“Me neither.” Jongin sighs.
Me neither, he keeps thinking even in his sleep.
-
He gets woken up again by his manager.
“We’re moving you.” Was the only thing he said before he gets, basically, thrown out of the dorm room.
When he arrives at a new apartment place, he is pretty impressed at the location and even yet, the room itself.
It’s just himself and Kyungsoo, plus their two managers.
Definitely better already.
“Hey, did you get our first schedule already?” Kyungsoo asks and he shakes his head.
Kyungsoo waves him over to the couch and they both look over their list.
“We have training and practice for the next three weeks, all in preparation for our first debut song and mv.” Kyungsoo tells him and Jongin nods.
“The other songs that you’ve dance to will be put into here as demo’s but our main objective is this song. You still have to learn and record the rap for it and also some backup vocals.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin is starting to feel that pressure again.
“We’ll be doing vocal and dance training together. So you help me, I help you, type of thing.” Kyungsoo smiles at him which makes him feel a little better.
Their manager comes inside and tells them that they need to go to the company to the studio.
Kyungsoo gets his bag and things ready while Jongin waits for him by the door.
“By the way, I heard your demo vocal session. It wasn’t bad at all. You have a very soft voice.” Kyungsoo tells him when they reach their van.
“It’s nothing compared to your voice though.” Jongin says and he sees Kyungsoo blush a bit.
He finds that extremely adorable.
“If I can say so myself, it’s probably at the same or almost reaching your level in dancing.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin smiles widely.
He takes pride in his dancing.
“Thanks, if I could, I just want to dance forever.” Jongin softly says.
Kyungsoo nods his head.
“That’s not a bad sight to see.”
-
Jongin wakes up to the feeling of butterflies again.
Much like that time, ages ago.
He gets out of bed and starts to get ready.
This is the day he has been waiting for.
“You ready?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow when Jongin nears the door.
“Ready as I’ll ever be.” He tells him.
They walk down the steps together, and Kyungsoo makes small talk.
They’ve gotten relatively close, or well they’ve had to since they’ve only had each other.
“Don’t be so nervous. You’re going to be just fine. Plus I’ll be right there.” Kyungsoo pats his back and Jongin tries to make himself feel better.
Their manager waits for them in their van and they soon head out towards one of the broadcasting centers.
“I really can’t believe this is happening. I mean I never imagined this.” He tells Kyungsoo.
“Me neither to be honest. I thought for sure they would get Baekhyun with you.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin raises an eyebrow.
“Now hyung don’t start getting insecure.” Jongin smiles a little bit and Kyungsoo laughs.
“Okay, okay.”
-
They enter the building and step inside.
Everything sort of happens in a blur.
They get pulled into so many different rooms.
Makeup, hair, wardrobe, and finally the stage.
They only start with the rehearsals but the undeniable feeling of being on stage is still there and Jongin feels it from his toes to the crown of his head.
He feels a warmth surrounding his hand and he looks down to see Kyungsoo’s hand wrapped around his.
“I’m right here.” Kyungsoo smiles up at him and Jongin nods.
“D.O. Kai, ready!” Someone shouts and just then the lights dim and there’s only a spotlight against them.
The warmth leaves Jongin’s hand and he feels really sad about it but he looks to his left and Kyungsoo is there and he breathes in once before looking back in front of him.
“Kai to the piano, spotlight on D.O. center stage when the he starts singing!” Someone instructs.
There’s a white baby grand piano on the stage and a small mini platform a couple of feet in front of it towards the center of the whole stage.
Jongin takes his place and sits on the piano bench.
“Backup dancers!” Someone calls out and he feels a pat on his back when a dancer passes by him.
It's Sehun.
They’re all dresses in black pants, white button downs, almost a replica of what he himself is wearing except he has on a red vest, the same color matching Kyungsoo’s bow tie.
“Music start!” someone shouts out.
-
They’re back in the backroom, eyes glued to the screen that’s been playing other group’s performances.
“You guys are next after this.” One of their coordis tells them and they both nod in unison.
“I messed up on a part of the choreography.” Jongin says and Kyungsoo blows a raspberry.
“I’m pretty sure you can mess up and it’ll still look like part of the choreography, unlike my voice cracking.” Kyungsoo tells him and Jongin laughs lightly.
The performers leave the stage and it blacks out as the MCs announce the next performance.
There’s a spotlight on the piano and Jongin semi shields his eyes as he looks at himself.
The music starts and he pretends to play the piano.
Another spotlight shines in the middle of the stage just as Kyungsoo starts to sing.
A couple of lines into the verse, Jongin grabs the mic from the stand against the piano and falls in line with the backup dancers.
They keep watching until the very end, neither one of them saying a word.
“Hey, I’m surprised you didn’t point out when you messed up.” Kyungsoo chuckles a bit and Jongin just now realizes.
He was staring at Kyungsoo performing the whole time.
“Uh, yeah, forgot.” Jongin shyly smiles.
Kyungsoo laughs a little louder now as he shakes his head.
“You crazy boy.”
-
They go through a packed schedule for months, their debut performance granting them a couple of wins on shows and a definite spot for a rookie of the year award.
Jongin finds himself back to where he first started.
Alone on the dance floor.
He takes in the sight and it brings back a flood of memories.
He drops his bag against the mirror-lined walls and pops in a cd.
The sound pulses through the room and he feels his body move automatically.
He doesn’t realize that another person has walked inside the room until the music nears the end and he hears a soft clapping echoing in the studio.
He turns around and finds Kyungsoo standing by the doorway.
“That’s the first song I recorded.” Kyungsoo tells him, walking towards the boy.
“It's the first song that I ever choreographed to.” Jongin tells him.
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen.
“You choreographed that?” Kyungsoo asks and Jongin only nods as he tries to find his breathing.
“We’ve already been sent our next round of schedules.” Kyungsoo tells him and Jongin takes a seat on the floor, waiting for Kyungsoo to discuss it with him.
“We can discuss it later though.” Kyungsoo says even though he takes a seat right across from him.
“So, what are you doing here?” Jongin asks sincerely.
“I wanted to see you dance.” Kyungsoo says and Jongin notices how he’s avoiding eye contact now.
“You’ve seen me dance plenty of times.” Jongin laughs a bit.
“No, I wanted to see you dance.” Kyungsoo looks up this time and there’s something lying beneath his eyes.
Words that can’t be spoken, feelings that aren’t yet sure.
“Butterflies.” Jongin blurts out.
Kyungsoo tilts his head a bit, confused.
“I get butterflies, when I’m nervous. Like how I felt when I walked in the room to find out I didn’t make the cut. Or when we both walked in the room to find out we were going to be a duo. Or when-” Jongin pauses in his last statement.
“Or when?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow.
“Or when I first heard your voice, I’m feeling that again right now.” Jongin tells him and Kyungsoo laughs lightly.
“Don’t laugh at me!” Jongin feels his cheek burn.
Kyungsoo takes Jongin’s hands, pulling him closer.
“I know, I get them too.” Kyungsoo softly says as he softly kisses the boy.
Jongin thinks that maybe it was better for Taemin to debut before him.
Because if he got placed in that group, then he wouldn't have this with Kyungsoo.
And maybe it was fate twisting and turning until their red ties stopped intertwining and started running smoothly, pulling them closer together.
Because Jongin doesn’t know what else to call this.
But he likes it.