Chapter Text
„A dancer dies twice – once when they stop dancing, and the first death is the more painful.“ - Martha Graham
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The boy was dancing passionately.
Leaping off the ground like a bird, he gracefully spun in the air, his arms spread out like wings, and seemed so weightless as if he could fly away any second, but then gravity clasped around his ankles again and mercilessly yanked him down to the ground. Despite the height of his jump and the force pulling him down, his feet landed with no sound as he continued to swirl and jump through the room elegantly, his legs and arms moving fluently with him.
Each of his movements expressed the sweet melody in such a way that it made him seem almost divine as he was precisely in sync with the music that surrounded him, the emotional notes played by the old speaker perfectly embodied by his movements.
The boy’s muscles contracted and relaxed in a fluent transition as his body moved further through the room, but his face showed no sign of exhaustion. Instead, everything from his movements to his facial expression displayed utter determination and passion for what he was doing.
He was in his element. It was truly obvious that the boy was born to dance.
The smelling, sordid dance room brightened up at his sole presence and movements. It seemed as if the place, its impression being the entire opposite of the boy’s gracefulness, was a scenery designed to emphasize the boy’s elegant dance. His movements resembled falling cherry blossoms in spring, twirling around, floating elegantly in the wind, moving to the melody of spring: bees droning, birds chanting, wind rushing.
After a few more notes, the sweet melody faded away, the boy shifting into the final pose, legs stretched and arms elegantly held above his head.
Nothing was audible apart from his heavy breaths, his chest moving violently up and down as he waited anxiously for a response, his facial features still frozen in a particular expression that displayed the emotions he wanted to convey with the choreography.
Then, applause and enthusiastic screams resonated in the room, filling him with pride and satisfaction.
The boy relaxed, put his arms down, and lowered his head to bow to the teacher and his schoolmates. When he straightened himself, his eyes sparkled with passion and the euphoria he felt while dancing.
“You did awesome, Jimin! As expected!” his dance teacher praised him, proud of her best student, impressed by the extraordinary talent his delicate body held.
“Thank you, Mrs. Choi!” the boy exclaimed excitedly and beamed, his gasps indicating that he was still short of breath. Desperate for the refreshing effect it would bring, he downed the bottle of water a classmate was holding out to him.
After dance class had ended and he had taken a shower, effectively cooling his heated body down in the process, Jimin changed from his sweaty practice clothes into the ordinary school uniform every student of the Busan High School of Arts was required to wear. Without caring if they were folded neatly, he stuffed his practice clothes into the bag he had taken out of his locker and walked out of the changing room. His friend was already waiting for him and smiled his unique boxy smile as soon as he spotted Jimin.
“How was it?” Taehyung asked in excitement when they started making their way to the exit, knowing that dance practice never failed to make his friend happy, and indeed, Jimin’s facial features brightened even more.
“Amazing!” Jimin exclaimed with sparkling eyes, words immediately starting to bubble out of his mouth at a fast speed as he was talking about what made him be the most passionate; dancing. “We performed our self-elaborated choreography today! It was my turn at the end of the lesson and Mrs. Choi praised me after the performance!”
The boy was overflowing with happiness, so much that he bounced while walking without even noticing it.
Taehyung smiled in adoring admiration at his friend for his passion and determination and put his arm around Jimin’s shoulder when they exited the building. His unique boxy smile even widened when a sudden thought came to his mind.
“Do you wanna go to the arcade with me before going home?” Childlike excitement built up in him when he glanced to his side at Jimin to see his friend’s lips showing a bright smile.
“I would love to!” Jimin cheered happily, and so the best friends walked together down the street, no worries in their minds.
The dance teacher, Mrs. Choi, had watched both of them leaving the school campus, her eyes clouded with thoughts while they were following the boys, who were running next to the other on the sidewalk, seemingly racing against each other. She wore a fond smile on her lips as she once again recalled the determination Jimin always held in his sparkling eyes when he danced.
Many years ago, she had felt the same determination for dancing, it had been her only purpose in life, but that had been long ago, back then, when she still had been young and her daily struggles hadn’t taken such a toll on her body and mentality yet. Nowadays, she rarely managed to find the time and willpower to dance on her own and it shattered her heart to pieces whenever she saw her young students dancing since it painfully reminded her that she had lost her fervor years ago.
But Jimin was still young and undeniably talented and passionate while dancing, so the possibility for him to lose his passion at that young age was almost nonexistent. By now, he was out of sight, but earlier, she had noticed how even while walking over the campus, he had performed a small dance step Mrs. Choi had taught her students today. It was a flawlessly executed pirouette that had immediately drawn the attention of everyone to him.
With a sincere smile, she laid her forehead against the window and whispered: “I hope you will never lose your passion, Park Jimin.”
One year later, Jimin attended the audition of a small agency called BigHit Entertainment and enchanted everyone with his flawless and graceful dancing ability.
A few years later, he debuted in the group BTS, which first got mocked for everything they did as they had their debut under a small company. But despite all the hate they received at the beginning of their career, over the years, BTS gained fame and success and became the most famous boy group in the world, breaking record after record, never reaching the peak of their careers as they kept on evolving and rising higher and higher.
Their success wouldn’t have been achievable if all the members hadn’t been passionate about what they were doing.
But what happens if one member suddenly loses his passion?