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The music blared from the speakers, the bass bouncing off the practice room walls, as Jimin made his way to the edge of the room to take off his jacket. As he set his bag down and began stretching his arms he watched Hoseok in the mirror as he kicked his legs in front of him and allowed his hips to follow. He could hear the sound of Hoseok’s sneakers squeaking with every quick movement, and it reminded him of the countless years they spent dancing together in even smaller studios than this one. He remembered pushing themselves so far that by the time they all finished the mirrored wall was fogging up. How far they had all come together since those days. Not to say that they practiced any less now, if anything they worked even harder and pushed themselves further, just differently than they used to.
Jimin toed off his shoes and slipped off his socks as he joined Hoseok in the middle of the room. This was his favourite time of day, it was where Jimin could finally feel himself relax, where he could let his body move on its own, and who better to be free with than Hoseok. The two were a dynamic duo in the dance studio, Jimin’s gracefulness and flexibility in perfect balance with Hoseok’s harder, more isolated movements. While they spoke the same language of dance, they used different dialects. It took some time for one to understand that some movements the other did differently and on occasion, they had completely opposite methods and rituals.
“Jimin, I swear I’m going to step on your foot at some point and I can’t be blamed for it.” Hoseok rambled as Jimin began mirroring his movements beside him.
“Hyung, I know you won’t. Besides, you can’t force me to wear shoes I’ll sue,” Jimin said sarcastically. This came up every time they danced together, Hoseok always shocked that Jimin preferred to dance barefoot, and Jimin playfully countering that he performed his best when he wasn’t constrained to shoes and socks. Jimin knew that Hoseok never meant anything when he brought it up, and he was only truly worried about accidentally crushing his toes by accident so he always reassured him that Hoseok’s conscience could stay clean even if Jimin really did break his toe or whatever other injuries popped into Hoseok’s head.
It was just one of the differences in the language they spoke to each other. Hoseok always wearing his newest and comfiest pair of sneakers, and Jimin stripping down to his barest of selves, feeling the vibrations of the music rumble in the floor on the soles of his feet and travel up his legs, forcing itself into his chest and blooming right in his heart. When he was barefoot he felt his dancing was his most honest, his most vulnerable.
They spent the next few hours switching between being absolutely in the zone, not even daring to speak until the song had finished, and chasing each other around the room trying to cover the other in their sweat through the disguise of a friendly hug. They did this until they couldn’t move, until they both flopped onto the floor, chests heaving, and laughing softly to themselves.
After they caught their breath, Hoseok got up to grab bottles of water and two hand towels he had brought with him. He patted his face dry and tossed the other down to Jimin who was still lying on the practice room floor.
“I still haven’t told you the best part about dancing barefoot hyung.” Jimin had a smile on his face, as Hoseok swallowed the water he’d just sipped. Jimin’s leg suddenly shot up in the air right in front of him.
“It makes asking for foot massages that much easier.”