Archive of Our Own

“God Juho, if you keep grabbing me like that I might just fall in love with you.” Dawon’s voice was playful and breathy; Juho had their sweaty bodies in a closed position, right hand on his back and left hand laced with Dawon’s right. 

The music that blared in their studio was some variation of salsa— the rotation of social dances had done its rounds and Dawon was Juho’s favorite follower to pair with when it came to latin dances. He was one of the only dancers that could keep up with Juho’s quick movements, following the pushing and pulling of his hands in fluid fashion. Juho chuckled as he pulled Dawon into a quick cuddle and rolled him out; he followed this with a dip that would have made anyone else dizzy.

Baek Juho, co-captain of the dancesport ballroom team and instructor of bachata, cha-cha, salsa, and waltz was one person his teammates would not fuck with. He was a stern leader: quiet, calculating, and always redirecting his students to their correct positions. While Kang Hyunggu may have been the head captain, nothing would get past Juho unless every routine was thoroughly cleaned and adjusted; he held no mercy for those who refused to follow his orders. They were a competition dancesport team, after all— and Juho only liked to win.

“If you fall in love with me I’m putting you on probation. Can’t have our strongest follow being a moron on stage.” Juho joked, leading him into a swift enchufla— his tone indicated that he was half kidding. Anyone could have easily lost their cool in front of his undulating movements and sleek physique. Dawon grinned and allowed himself a perfect triple turn before falling back into Juho’s arms and into another dip. The music abruptly stopped and Juho simply held Dawon there, jokingly staring into his eyes in quite possibly the most homoerotic way describable. 

“Man. You got me fucked up.”

Laughing, Juho gently pulled his friend up from his nauseating dip and shook his head as his follower pretended to be dazed. Dawon turned towards the clock, sweat permeating throughout the entire half of his white tee, running down towards his black trousers. Juho on the other hand was soaked through and through, his black T-shirt sticking to his back in a familiar sensation. He ran his hands through wet hair and shook his head, sweat flying in all different directions.

“What’s next?” Juho asked, turning his attention towards Captain Hyunggu, whom they called “Kino” for short (or Killer Kino for those who had competed against him). 

Dressed in an oversized black hoodie, Kino was dashingly handsome. Most of the girls on the team (and likely a handful of guys) had major crushes on the captain: his plump lips and cold gaze paired with sharp and smooth dancing was intoxicating. Being an expert in hip hop, contemporary, and ballroom was a major flex. Not only that, but Kino was funny, kind, and easygoing— they preferred his lead over Juho’s.

“It’s 5 pm, Juho. For fucks sake just drink some water and go home,” Yeonjun’s voice was concerned— having watched Juho stay behind for hours, all he could do was worry for his sake.

Yeonjun, an aerospace engineer and esports club representative, was almost too irritating to have around. Despite that, he was a very valued unofficial member of the ballroom team; because of his prior commitments, Yeonjun had never fully pledged his loyalty to dancesport. Though that annoyed Juho to no end, Kino insisted that Yeonjun was there for the major wins when they needed him. As a result, his loud and often annoying (in Juho's opinion) presence often clouded the room of more reserved and professional dancers. But he kept the mood light.

“I have a class after this, anyway. Taking modern for funsies this term. Then I’ll move onto ballet because I crave masochism in its rawest form.”

“You’re insane, king!” Yeonjun guffawed, stuffing ballroom shoes into his duffel bag.

Rolling his eyes, Juho threw an arm over Dawon and led him out of the building— his ankles cracked with experience at every step he took. The sky was beginning to turn shades of orange and yellow hues, indicating that Juho nearly had 30 minutes before modern started. The ground was gently wet from a rainfall a few hours earlier; Juho preferred the weather to be gloomy. He said his goodbyes to Dawon and threw his duffel over one shoulder, stealing a quick glance at the repetitive chants of fraternities on the soccer field. He could faintly hear the drone of cheer practice taking place across the street from the ballroom studio— that slightly annoyed him to an extent.

Juho had been offered a slot on the cheer team for nearly two years in a row; every time he was asked, he simply waved the offer and kindly told them he had no particular interest in being a cheerleader. After all, he couldn’t see himself smiling brightly at a crowd and waving to the bleachers— he’d rather smirk at his partner and seduce the crowd with smooth dips and mesmerizing turns. 

Of course it made sense, the well-built frame he carried and the many times the cheerleaders saw him lift women and men up with ease— it was no doubt that they wanted him there. Not only that, Juho knew for a fact the numbers of men on the cheer team had been dwindling down rapidly. With that thought in mind, Juho smirked; he knew they were desperate. Despite having done nothing wrong to him, he still enjoyed the light competition. 

When Juho arrived to his modern class, he was pleasantly surprised to see some new faces. As a child, he had done ballet for a few years and had somewhat of a basis for the more technical side of dance. He hated ballet but loved the fluidity of modern and contemporary, often incorporating the undulating motions in his merengue routines (even though he wasn’t necessarily supposed to). Modern was a place to move his body in whatever direction he desired, defying the basic quick-quick-slow of salsa and the step-step-quick-quick of cha-cha. He didn’t need to have his hand pressed against the base of anyone’s back nor lead anyone’s body into stressful combos in which he had all the control. 

The class started with its usual warm up— Juho rolled his head, stretched his hip flexors, went into his left, middle, and right splits, his relevés, his pliés, etc. He hadn’t paid much attention to the group of individuals that joined nearly 10 minutes late, making a sort of ruckus as they threw their bags down and ran towards the back of the quiet room; seventeen’s “light a flame” playing in the background as Juho followed the beat with the movements of his body. 

Glancing behind him in slight annoyance, Juho realized that the individuals who had just crashed his end-of-the-day-cool-down-party were none other than the university’s cheerleaders. Rolling his eyes, Juho scanned the new crowd; within the squad of six girls dressed in athletic miniskirts and sports bras were two male cheerleaders; one wore a loose-fitted school jersey and gray sweats whilst the other was dressed in a sleek, black compression shirt and men’s yoga pants. Juho couldn’t help but notice the hair already sticking to their foreheads, indicating they were late because cheer practice had just ended. Turning back around to face the front, he let himself feel a surge of confidence as the chatty cheerleaders struggled to catch up. 

If there was one thing he loved to do, it was to make the cheerleaders feel inferior at his own game— the cheer-dance team was nothing impressive, with their simple routines and repetitive moves; he was pompously jaded, of course. So when one of the sweaty irritants let out a laughter mixed with a snarl, he shot a condescending look towards the back, aiming at no one in particular. He was met with a quick glimpse of a relatively tall and black-haired boy pulling his arm across to the other side of his body in a deep stretch. 

He’d seen him around before, of course. Strolling past the football field and the large indoor field where cheer frequently practiced, he could always make out the sculpted men that filled the vacancies. There were only a few— and Juho could not bother to learn any of their names. If it meant he would be affiliated with the most arrogant performers on campus, he’d take a fucking rain check.

“Looks like we’re all a bit tired today!” His instructor Hani shouted out, stretching her hands to the ceiling in energetic fashion. His modern teacher also doubled as his first ever ballroom teacher— she taught him the steps to cha-cha and country line dancing (which he’d never admit in a million years to being his absolute guilty pleasure— Juho thought he looked good in cowboy boots, anyway). 

“I want to take some time for some across-the-floors and throw in a combo today. But really, I want to try something different!”

Internally groaning, Juho wanted nothing more than to learn a quick routine, push his body to the rest of its limits, and find his way back to his apartment. He loved his instructor but all he wanted to do was let off steam and take a fucking nap— not to mention he didn’t want his energy levels to be thrown off by the morons in the back. He knew Hani was a woman full of joyful whimsy and experimental trials that often ended up in him aiding the rest of the newcomers. 

He simply did not want to be the TA for that particular evening. Last week they had done something along the lines of fluid improv— Hani had shut all the lights off and made everyone slip and glide across the scratched floors (it was quite fun to watch the hip hop dancers). 

“This evening I want to do some more improv, but this time you’re choosing a partner.”

Juho froze in his stance, letting his face fall as he watched Hani’s bright demeanor contrast with the dead silent studio; clearly, no one else jumped at the idea. Like him, the others had been exhausted from their day’s worth of classes and other commitments. Modern was supposed to be an easy end to the day that required anything but functional brain cells.

“I want you all to experience what it's like to feed off each other’s energy. Modern duets are charged with emotion and all things physical. Today we’re gonna have a little bit of fun stepping outside our comfort zones. I want you all to jump into the world of having an extension to your vitality— having a partner.”

On that evening with aching bunions and a sore torso, Juho would’ve rather died.

Charlie Puth’s “How Long” blared in the background as Hani created lines of six along the back wall of the studio, each one containing about five people each. Juho, of course, was the second individual to be used as a demonstration— they counted each other off, starting the front, back, and side grand battements with pointed toes. Juho’s toe thongs were worn and starting to dig into the calluses of his feet, adding to the sore aches that he felt throughout his body. 

On his back battement, Juho got another glance at the black-haired boy wearing a sleek black compression shirt. He avoided eye contact and directed his attention at the ceiling, throwing his hands above his head with energy coursing through his carefully constructed ballet fingers. 

The next round of across-the-floors included a simple chasse into a basic six step and double pirouette. It was one of the easiest combos Juho had done in weeks— Hani was being kind to the rowdy cheerleaders. 

He wished she would be a little meaner for the sake of his entertainment.

After finishing his way across the studio, he ran hands through sweaty hair and watched as the black-haired boy giggled and stumbled his way throughout the combo. Despite his neat extensions and clear flexibility, Juho couldn’t help but scoff at the way in which the cheerleader fell out of his turns. For a quick second, he caught the glance of the boy, his smile quickly disappearing as he realized the cheerleader had smiled back. 

How arrogant, Juho thought. 

The third round of across-the-floors were a combination of basic six-steps into toe touches followed by leaps and a calypso. Watching in horror as the black-haired boy beautifully executed his toe touch, Juho scowled under his breath. His irritance grew as the boy proceeded to pull off the most gorgeous calypso Juho had ever seen— okay, so the cheerleader had other talents. 

While Juho’s leaps and calypsos were always the star of the show, his toe touches were anything but extraordinary; he side-eyed the black-haired boy after finishing his run-through, expecting to see his new enemy roll his eyes at the lack of Juho’s middle-split flexibility. Instead, Juho found the boy to be beaming— his eyes glazed Juho’s torso, then his legs, then his biceps. 

Something about that caused bile to rise in his throat.

Juho might have thrown up on the spot if Hani didn’t continue shouting out combos in rapid fire. Aggravated and somewhat flustered, Juho refused to steal any more glances at the fit cheerleader who kept throwing out sickening smiles. 

“Alright!” Hani clasped her hands together— the sound made Juho’s stomach drop. Whatever followed next, he was going to hate every single second of it.

“I want you all to pick a partner! Don’t be shy. Those of you who came in late, you can always work alongside Juho and I. We don’t bite. And as always, if you aren’t comfortable with physical contact or having a partner, feel free to join alone, ” She continued.

Juho bit the inside of his mouth and squeezed his eyes shut, turning his attention towards the mirror and desperately avoiding eye contact with any of the obnoxious cheerleaders. In the corner of his eye, he could sense the presence of a certain compression-shirt cheerleader nearing his vicinity; he simply inched closer and closer to Hani in hopes that the point would get across.

“Juho! Why don’t you pair up with him?” Hani piped up, the statement making him instantly sick on the spot. There was a deafening silence until the black-haired boy finally spoke up, pissing Juho off even further.

“You know, maybe he does bite.”

Snapping his head towards the boy, Juho put on his signature bitch glare and snorted. The black-haired boy was simply amused, crossing his arms and smiling with all glee. He was entirely sculpted— the clothes he wore clung tightly and perfectly around his hips and waist. Though dancewear was meant to provide unrestricted movement, Juho couldn’t help but think it was a bit overkill.

“What? I’d love to learn from an expert,” sarcasm dripped from his voice. Juho twitched at the sound of it— though he wasn’t entirely sure it was meant to sound condescending. 

Confused, Hani forced a smile and looked at both of the boys in the awkward moment.

“Maybe…maybe I can work with him Juho!”

“Nah, it’s okay prof, I really admire his extensions and very obvious desire to show off. I’m sure I could learn a few different things from him,” the cheerleader cocked his head and smiled, his eyes sparkling. It almost looked as if he wasn’t trying to deliver such a backhanded compliment.

For a fleeting second, Juho considered the possibility that the cheerleader was genuinely friendly— simply playful and somewhat flirty. He shook away the idea immediately, watching as the cheerleader's smirk lingered.

Hesitantly, Hani left the scene— figuring Juho could handle himself. He had been her TA for several terms, anyway. From dragging out students who rained horrific verbal assault to breaking up unnecessary fights, there was nothing he hadn’t dealt with before. As soon as she left, Juho leveled his gaze at the black-haired boy.

“Name is Jaeyoon, nice to meet y–”

“Let’s begin stretching, please.”

Jaeyoon threw his hands up in defense, barely put off by Juho’s sudden rudeness. He gave a tilted smile; that time, Juho felt a bit guilty.

“Jesus christ man, you could have at least waited until I introduced myself first. But stretching is fine too, I guess.” He awkwardly laughed.

Jaeyoon’s happy and unbothered tone filled Juho with rage— if he hadn’t already disliked the cheer team, he might have gotten along with Jaeyoon’s optimistic attributes. Instead, the inability to get a rise out of the cheerleader was severely bothering him.

“So what happens now? Prof is gonna play a song and we’ll…do what?”

Juho refused to answer. Instead, he went directly into a lunge, focusing on stretching the rest of his body out. Jaeyoon followed, positioning himself a little too close for comfort. Unfortunately, Juho couldn’t help but note Jaeyoon’s scent of patchouli mixed with a day’s worth of sweat.

“Could you please move just a few inches away from me? Just a solid few inches would be nice.”

This time, Jaeyoon was speechless. He raised his eyebrows at the stoic dancer. Nevertheless, he scooted away, his eyes never leaving Juho’s stature. The strong yet pleasant scent grew more distant. 

“Cheerleaders,” Juho gently muttered under his breath. To his horror, Jaeyoon suddenly scoffed.

“Is that why you don’t like me? I guess that tells me exactly what kind of teacher you are.”

Juho swallowed, hating the fact that Jaeyoon was somewhat right. He had no reason to be so hostile; he simply found the cheer team to be slightly annoying. Sure, he could admire the work that they put into their football game performances, the showcases, and the club events. But Juho couldn’t ignore that every time ballroom managed to book out the main studio, the cheer team had seniority. Their practices bordered each other constantly; not to mention, certain rumors of a few members circled around the dancesport team. He wasn’t certain what these rumors entailed, but none of them were positive. There had been a strange aura of rivalry between them for decades. He wasn't about to fuck up that dynamic.

Every time the cheerleaders were mentioned, it left a bad taste in his mouth. The idea of ever being on their team made him feel icky inside. 

Juho and Jaeyoon stretched in silence, the playfulness now vacant in Jaeyoon’s disposition. Following that, Hani switched the music back on, proceeding to demonstrate with another student what their next task would be. 

Hani and an unnamed cheerleader with long, black hair began kneeling on the studio floor, their heads pointed towards the ground. An instrumental melody droned on in the background as the two women slowly followed the beat with their hands— letting energy course from the base of their wrists right to the tips of their fingers. Juho watched in a trance as his professor placed her hands on the cheerleader’s torso, prompting a response that matched her energy.

The two silently played off of each other’s moves for the duration of the song as the room watched. One would leap while the other would tumble— they’d find themselves entangled together one way or another, blurring the lines of personal boundaries. As the song progressed, so did their comfortability with one another. As a ballroom dancer, Juho admired the exercise as a perfect way to build chemistry with a follower or a lead. He would have loved to do this with anyone else besides Jaeyoon. 

When the song ended, the class clapped and Hani bowed gracefully. The black-haired cheerleader gave a small smile, having proved to the class that she was well capable of non-pom performances. Hani made her way to the front of the studio, motioning for her students to face one another and begin the activity.

“Ah fuck,” Juho cursed under his breath. He did not want to put his hands anywhere on Jaeyoon's body.

If the cheerleader heard the comment, he pretended not to notice.

The lights were still off when Hani chose another instrumental song. At that moment, Jaeyoon faced Juho while refusing to look him in the eyes. The smell of patchouli once again wafted in the air— Juho was suddenly insecure of his day’s worth of grime and remnants of Versace Eros cologne. Despite being bothered, he secretly liked the idea of moving a little bit closer. Soon, the awkwardness between them had morphed into tension in just a quick few minutes or so. Jaeyoon’s eyes found their way from Juho’s shoes to his chest. Juho instantaneously regretted his decision to act aloof and uninterested. Ostracizing a fellow dancer simply because he disliked them should not come at the expense of ignoring the friendly laws of partner dance— he knew that all too well. Jaeyoon’s words rang in his ears; he really wasn’t setting a great example as a dancesport captain.

The ballroom dancer was jolted out of his thoughts when the music began to play at a much louder volume than before; he refocused his attention to the black-haired boy in front of him. This time, they were finally looking directly at each other. Predictably, Jaeyoon didn’t have much of an idea how to begin. He was a pom dancer after all— sharp moves and lack of flow were all he knew how to perfect. 

Juho closed his eyes and allowed himself to ignore that Jaeyoon was his partner. After all, he couldn’t let some silly improvization activity throw off his cool-down session. He began with a simple pique into an arabesque followed by an illusion. He knew that at some point, he’d have to stop with the tricks and somehow muster enough tolerance to put his hands on the cheerleader. While running the permutations through his head, a warm hand slid its way into his right palm (it was shockingly soft).

Juho watched with wide eyes as the cheerleader used the grip to balance himself as he leaned all the way back— following the slow beats that reverberated around him. Though surprised, Juho refused to allow Jaeyoon to take over his clean improvization. Juho gripped onto Jaeyoon’s hand and pulled him back up— the force nearly causing Jaeyoon to stumble directly into him (but careful not to hurt his back). Satisfied, Juho then snaked his free hand onto Jaeyoon’s shoulder, ultimately pulling him into a ballroom closed position. 

Confused and taken aback, Jaeyoon fought the sudden embrace. 

“What are you doing?” He hissed. “This is not modern.”

Juho smirked.

“No, but I assure you— it's just as much fun. ”

Without having any room to process, Jaeyoon stumbled with Juho’s feet, barely following along to the quick waltz Juho was abruptly leading. The instrumental in the back had shifted to slow in tempo to quick in tempo— perfect for Viennese waltz. After a few seconds, Jaeyoon soon caught on; the leadership skills of Juho were no joke. Jaeyoon glanced down at their feet, memorizing the sequence of swift box-steps.

“Look at me. It's easier that way.” Juho’s tone had softened significantly. He had to prove to the cheerleader that he was somewhat of a teacher.

Jaeyoon looked up, eyes wide— unfortunately he had lost control of the situation as soon as he challenged it. Instead of replying, he unknowingly gave a small smile. As the song continued playing, Jaeyoon allowed himself to be spun and held with grace— they were the only two in the room ballroom dancing (and he kind of liked it). 

Ignoring Hani’s confused and judgmental staring, the two continued to glide across the floor. Juho’s grip on Jaeyoon’s body was incredibly sturdy, hands never faltering from their positions. Though Jaeyoon had never once waltzed in his life, it was becoming quite simple to focus on the straight-faced ballroom boy; he never smiled, but he kept direct eye contact. Jaeyoon felt as if his partner’s focus would burn holes through his forehead.

When the song ended, there was a brief moment of awkwardness before either of them dared to speak up. Juho’s gaze had torn away from Jaeyoon and was now on the large mirrors— he was fiddling with his clothing in a way that made Jaeyoon chuckle. As quickly as he had become confident, he had lost the fire within minutes. The cheerleader took the opportunity to regain control.

“Are you going to explain to me why you did that?” 

Ignoring the question, Juho resorted to stretching once again. 

“I thought I was here to take modern,” Jaeyoon complained, running hands through sweaty hair. He would never admit in a thousand years that he would eagerly steal another dance with Juho if it meant it was as fun as the first time.

“Reduce your expectations to zero. Loud pom dancers are not going to know shit about flow, anyway.”

The bitterness had returned to Juho’s tone, making Jaeyoon’s smile fade immediately. His sharpness after such a tender moment was incredibly uncalled for— Jaeyoon’s brief swooning completely shattered into pieces.

“Is being an asshole your only personality trait?” Jaeyoon spat back, entirely losing his calm demeanor. 

“As if being a cheerleader isn’t your only personality trait.”

Without replying, Jaeyoon shook his head and caught up with his fellow cheerleaders, following them out of the studio. Class had ended and so had Juho’s patience.

Hani didn’t bother speaking to either of them. 

👯‍♂️

“I want him.”

Jaeyoon laid on the floor of his best friend’s apartment, staring at the popcorn ceiling that was illuminated with alternating colors of a night light. Minho, his team’s most talented flier, popped up from where he was sitting. Like always, he wanted nothing more than to drown out his friend’s ranting.

Minho was an unbothered aerospace engineer who also doubled as president of the E-sports team. Not a single soul around him could understand how he juggled his extracurriculars on top of one of the hardest majors in the entire university.

“You gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Jaeyoon sat up as well, cocking his head at Minho— devoid of any thought.

“I spend HOURS in my discord, listening to half of my friends be horny on main and I NOW have to hear it from you??”

Jaeyoon cackled, throwing a pillow at him.

“You are captain of the fucking E-sports team and you’re expecting any of them to pull bitches? Besides, you lose your mind over Jisung every other day, I don’t wanna fucking hear it.”

Minho threw the pillow back with ten times more force. It cracked the fellow cheerleader in the neck, causing Jaeyoon to pout. 

“You are potent, Lee Minho.”

“And you are down fucking bad for some dick with a superiority complex.”

“I’m literally a masochist.”

“Will you SHUT up?” 

Laughing while simultaneously being pelted with a myriad of pillows, Jaeyoon pulled out his phone and headed to Instagram, desperately looking for the dancesport account. Upon finding it, he scoured the posts for even a slight glimpse of the egotistic hottie he’d been thinking about all day. He clicked on a photo from a few months ago, smiling over the lack of vivacity in Juho’s stern glare. 

“God, I keep getting flashbacks.”

“Don’t wanna hear it.”

“Do you think he’s into submissive and breedable cheerleaders?”

“Do you think you could stop slutting out on my living room floor?”

Jaeyoon grabbed one of the pillows that Minho had launched at him and promptly screamed into it. The thought of Juho’s tight grip and swift movements replayed over and over in his mind. The smells of Juho’s masculine cologne clung to his memory like a newborn to its mother. Minho ignored him, listening to a true crime podcast with no readable facial expression. 

The cheerleader had done a phenomenal job at being offended at Juho during their last interaction. He'd be mortified if the ballroom dancer had any idea of what Jaeyoon was truly thinking about in the comfort of his own home, cheesing like an idiot. Sure, he was an asshole, but unfortunately that was Jaeyoon's type. Did he want Juho to be mean to him again? Yes. Was he psychotic for this? Yes!

Minho was already used to Hyunjin (his other best friend) pissing and crying over his crush. Being near Jaeyoon was simply an extension of his misery. Nevertheless, he chose to hear both of his friend’s problems without ever admitting that he truly did care for them. At that moment, he may have regretted it.

“I bet his waist is as skinny as his wrists.”

“Okay you know what,” Minho arose from the couch with the sole purpose of beating Jaeyoon’s head in with another pillow. In typical Jaeyoon fashion, he simply moaned.

Minho surrendered in horror, succumbing back to his place on the couch to finish his podcast as Jaeyoon giggled maniacally. 

Minho only groaned.

👯‍♂️

The large gymnasium was freezing cold and dead silent as captain Kino scribbled on the whiteboard. The only other individual in the room was Yeonjun, lying half awake on the bleachers as the drone of squeaky markers put him to sleep. It was relatively rare for Yeonjun to be at a meeting that early— or to be at a dancesport meeting at all. Luckily, he had no E-sport tournaments coming up that week.

With a loud bang of the heavy door, Juho found his way inside of the gym, already wearing his ballroom attire. The soft clack of his latin-dance shoes made Yeonjun’s tired eyes flutter open.

That particular day was subject to a club meeting that had been announced a few weeks beforehand. Kino had vowed to keep whatever it was a secret so no one could incessantly bitch in his ear as they always did. Competition season had already ended and Juho was relatively certain their team had once again been invited to some sort of performance. 

As the co-captain, he was already up by 6 am, going over the steps to Lindy hop (he planned to add a routine into the year’s showcase). Despite being in close contact with Kino at all times, he was more than irritated to find that the captain refused to tell him what the announcement was about. For the past couple of weeks, Kino had routinely ignored his inquiries and incessant questions about the meeting. Usually, the captains would dictate what activities they did as a club together. However, with one captain currently abroad and Kino refusing to tell Juho what was going on, he simply gave up and let it slide. Thankfully, Kino was a very trustworthy individual and Juho was no longer complaining about dodging a stressful announcement.

“Is it a performance?” Juho inquired for the millionth time that month, slinging his backpack onto Yeonjun. Yeonjun simply groaned before throwing it off and rolling over on his side.

“He’s not even a permanent member, ” Juho grumbled under his breath.

“It’s a performance, yes,” Kino was hyper-focused on the salsa routine he was counting, barely paying any attention to the sleep-deprived Juho. The lack of regard bothered Juho endlessly. However, he could sense that Kino was simply anxious and avoiding telling him the truth. 

“Are you not going to tell me anything more?”

“No. Because if I had told you beforehand, you would have dropped the team and maybe killed me.”

Juho felt a wave of nausea rush through his body at the sound of that statement. He racked his brain in desperation— trying to imagine what kind of performance could possibly evoke that much rage.

“Hyunggu. What the fuck.”

The captain simply held his gaze at the ground— counting under his breath and pretending not to notice the growing anger that bubbled within his co-captain.

“Juho~,” Dawon’s voice suddenly echoed through the gym, causing Yeonjun to outwardly groan once again and muster a “shut the fuck up.”

Juho joined Yeonjun’s sentiment, suddenly wanting to rip Dawon’s collarbones out and beat him with them. He was not in the mood for his friend’s loud and optimistic antics.

“What’s popping you sick freak! How did your modern class last week go? What new bones of yours are cracking now?”

Juho rolled his eyes and swatted Dawon’s hand away, tightening his shoes until they painfully hugged his ankles.

“It is 8 fucking am. Will you royally fuck off?”

Dawon playfully glared.

“That is not very slay of you, my man.”

From across the room, Yeonjun tossed one of his shoes directly at the back of Dawon’s head— hitting him right on target. Chaos ensued as Dawon picked up the makeshift weapon and bolted to a now very-awake Yeonjun. The screams between them carried across the gym, no doubt waking up the neighboring classes.

“Why don’t they just fucking kiss or something,” Juho continued to grumble, forcing himself in as Kino’s salsa partner and following the steps with comfortable ease. He chose to shut up and not push the captain any further, too tired to fuss further.

The rest of the morning saw the 30-member club pour into the gym; the constant stretching and chatter warmed the room and slowly aided in Juho’s awakening. A handful of the dancers had been absent for a large and post-season competition held in Vegas the week prior— Juho had sold his soul to get out of that one. Kino was slightly annoyed as the group of four couples had only placed fifth in multiple categories. He didn’t know why Kino cared anyway— the main season was already over and the small events that took place after were simply insignificant to their reputation.

“Man, I can’t really envision you wearing a sports coat and some tan slacks,” Dawon commented after Juho had migrated away from Kino and instead forced his loud friend into a Lindy Hop routine (against much complaining).

“What does that have to do with anything?” Juho responded, pulling him into a basic charleston. Dawon smirked, skipping along.

“I know you like to dress the part. You like to respect the craft, or whatever the fuck.”

Juho ignored him, continuing a gentle swing-out as hit the road jack by Ray Charles began playing in the background. That morning, the meeting focus was on swing— and Juho had made Dawon give into Lindy Hop rather than single-time or west-coast (Dawon’s favorites).

“I like when you Viennese waltz,” Dawon smirked. For a second Juho froze, remembering exactly what had happened in modern— his fingers recalling the curves of Jaeyoon’s waist and hating the way it made him feel. He remembered the scent of patchouli too, suffocating his olfactory senses like he was being brutally smothered.

“I don’t know Juho, there’s just something so charming about a man exuding no visible happiness dressed in a dashing suit. Kind of hot, to be honest,” he continued, making Juho roughly throw him into a sugar push. Dawon simply giggled.

“I will dip you and drop you,” Juho threatened, watching in annoyance as Dawon continued to laugh, his talent never allowing him to be thrown off by Juho’s aggressive leading. No matter how hard he tried, Dawon would always bounce back, sometimes tossing Juho off his basic triple step (against his will).

The next 50’s song suddenly halted abruptly as Kino smacked the whiteboard with his latin-dance shoes, calling everyone’s attention to the front. Though Juho had seen him scribbling earlier, the captain had flipped the board to the other side to keep anyone from seeing what he had written. Yeonjun forced his way in between him and Dawon, throwing loose arms over both of them as they all listened intently for the predictable hell to come.

“None of you may know this but a few years back, the dancesport team held a performance with the lyrical and flag-pep squad for the opening of the football season. Joint performances as you know, are not entirely uncommon with the multiple dance clubs on campus,” Kino spoke, his voice echoing throughout the now quiet gymnasium.

“Our club advisor mentioned that this year, the football coach requested that the ballroom team collaborate with another club on campus. However, none of them were available.”

Juho cracked his neck, thinking more about how much sleep he should get later instead of what Kino was about to say. Maybe if he ignored it, he wouldn't be as stressed. Of course he’d still have his cuban-salsa class at 7— nevertheless, he was far too exhausted to pay attention to Kino’s monotonous tone. Since Kino wouldn’t tell him what this was about, he simply decided to not care.

“As a result, this year we’ll be working alongside the university’s cheer team.”

In horror and shock, Juho snapped his attention back to the nervous captain. Knowing exactly the kind of reaction this would elicit, Yeonjun and Dawon looked at each other in concern. Juho’s glare could have knocked out a whole linebacker— Kino was intentionally avoiding eye contact once again. 

No wonder he’d refused to tell him. The fucker.

Seemingly sharing the same thoughts, a few members of the ballroom team looked around at each other, murmuring comments of distaste— although a few seemed excited at the new opportunity. The vibe was incredibly difficult to gauge— some of the members were friends with the cheerleaders, some had dated, some had hooked up, and some had major beef.

“Hey, throwing around some pretty cheerleaders? Sounds fire to me,” Yeonjun cackled, playfully shoving Juho.

“Don’t be a fucking creep,” Dawon remarked.

“Does it make a difference if I am specifically referring to the men?”

Dawon shot him another glare.

Signaling the silence of the loud chatter, Kino continued his dreadful speech.

“Let’s be respectful. I am very aware that we have butted heads with the cheer team on numerous occasions. However, they were all related to room availability. Let’s not jump to any conclusions, please.”

“It’s definitely more than that,” Yeonjun whispered, receiving a smack from Dawon in return. In fact, everyone knew it was more than that.

“Before you ask, yes, I have spoken to colorguard, pep-flag, hip-hop, lyrical, contemporary, ballet, and the tap clubs. None of them have room in their schedule. Besides, collaborating with the university’s official team is great for our exposure.”

“Damn, no one wants us for real,” Dawon commented.

Juho buried his head in his hands, ignoring the irritating bouts of chuckles from Yeonjun. Dawon was also amused, patting Juho’s back in a poor attempt to comfort him. Something about cheer being the university’s official team sent waves of anger throughout his entire body. Sensing the tension that rose within Juho, Yeonjun immediately dropped his smile to avoid any more assault.

“Is this a fusion performance?” someone asked from the crowd.

“Yes. I’ve thought about it a lot— a pom-ballroom routine would be entertaining. Besides, we can throw in lots of lifts,” Kino gave an attempted smile. He too, was suffering inside. 

Juho groaned, knowing very well that he hated the look of sparkly pom-poms and flashy outfits. The school colors plastered onto poorly-designed cheer uniforms made him nauseous— he much appreciated the sleek, neatly-tailored suits that he loved collecting and showing off at competitions. Not only that, but Juho hated pom facials— the enthusiastic smiles and forced glee exhausted him from afar. He wanted to vomit.

“Bet you wanna die,” Dawon laughed as Kino finished his speech, still vehemently dodging Juho’s looks of distaste and pure hatred.

Juho was too upset to respond, simply sighing and watching as his captain scuttled away in fear. Despite having no idea that Kino arranged this behind his back, he knew damn well he’d be responsible for organizing half the choreography and staging. Though Kino was a kind and sweet leader, he was also a fucking moron and frightened by his own co-captain.

“Personally, I think everyone here is a fat pussy and that working with the cheerleaders is going to get one of you fucker’s laid,” Yeonjun laughed, giggling along with Dawon. 

“I think you should be voided from the performance,” Juho snapped, causing Yeonjun to give a weak smile.

“Be for real, I don’t understand why you’re so pissy about this. I’m not going to sit here and pretend like it's the team’s fault for scheduling over our practice times— everyone knows that university sports’ coaches are shit for brains,” Dawon commented, attempting to ease Juho’s mind.

“Yeah. One of my E-sports team members is a flier on the squad and he’s overwhelmingly normal. I assure you, most of them are like that,” Yeonjun added on, completely failing to bring up the other valid beef the two teams clearly had.

Briefly, Juho remembered that his two friends had no knowledge of his little stint with Jaeyoon. He scoffed, knowing he was going to have to face the cheerleader once again. Dawon and Yeonjun looked at each other in confusion. They suspected something— of course they did.

“Juho…have you ever even met one of the cheerleaders?”

Juho fell silent, debating on whether or not he would warn them about the slutty-waisted boy that liked wearing the manwhore-compression shirts. His mind pointed out far too many details for his own liking. Did he like the slutty waist? Perhaps. He was ready to throw himself in front of a moving vehicle.

“Yes. And frankly, I don’t believe they deserve rights,” he retorted, swiftly leaving the two behind as he heard tango music begin to play. Dawon and Yeonjun didn’t care enough to follow him, leaving Juho to find another club member to partner up with as they waited for Kino to start the day’s ballroom lesson.

Juho failed to think about the joint performance for the rest of the day.

👯‍♂️

Jaeyoon felt unreasonably giddy, his heart palpitating with excitement as Minho looked over and rolled his eyes with pure disdain. 

The cheer coach had just announced their collaboration plans with the dancesport team. The responses were mixed: some didn’t care, some were intrigued, and some hated the idea. Jaeyoon thought about his estranged and hateful crush; he giggled maniacally. 

“Have you accepted your attraction to freaks yet?” Minho remarked, his eyes never leaving the front of the gymnasium. He was deadpan, as always.

“You know one of these days you’re going to discover that Jisung is the freakiest bitch out there and you’re going to be screaming, crying, throwing up on your KNEES.”

“You wish, asshole.”

“My bad. You’ll be on your knees for Jisung.”

This earned a loud smack on the arm that bounced off the walls, causing everyone to briefly stare at the two men. This, however, was a pretty common occurrence. 

“He can’t be that bad, Minho. We met once and the only disdain he has is against the cheerleading team, not me.”

“Truly, I hope I never have to reach your level of delusion.”

👯‍♂️

The first practice between the cheer team and dancesport team could only be described as chaotic hell. 

The constant fleeting eyes of both teams was tiring— Kino and Juho were terrified of how the day would end. Some people had already begun with passive-aggressiveness and cold remarks. Yeonjun (he had begrudgingly committed to the joint performance upon much convincing) on the other hand, was flirting up a fucking storm. He had to be the only loud ass voice within the building— everyone else was struggling to learn each other’s names and remain civil. Despite this, Juho was happy at least someone was making an effort knowing that it absolutely wouldn't be him.

Eunkwang, the cheer coach, had been corresponding with Kino and Juho for the past couple weeks or so. He was relatively young and fairly new— however, his recent performances had proved to be better than any other coach the university had ever had. Though apprehensive, Juho had to admit that Eunkwang was probably the friendliest cheer coach that had ever worked there. The one two years ago was an absolute prick— he got fired anyway, likely the main catalyst for the beef in the first place.

Unlike some of the cheerleaders, Eunkwang was very eager to learn about ballroom and the steps required to create an intriguing show. Though he would never say it out loud, the two captains quite liked his company. They had been expecting the collaboration to be stressful; they did not want to be fighting against someone that would make the performance all about the cheerleaders. Instead, Eunkwang wanted to focus on bringing more attention to the dancesport team, continuously complimenting the work the captains had done in bringing major wins to the club. Juho had no idea how to react to the sudden kindness after the hatred for cheer had already settled within his heart.

He didn’t want to acknowledge his slightly guilty mind as he watched the cheer coach excitedly follow Kino into a turn. The captains and the coach were allowing at least 20 minutes for the teams to get familiar with each other (and to make sure everyone was comfortable with the kind of dance they'd be doing). He kind of hated how serene their teamwork had begun— he started to think his whole reaction to the idea was very over-the-top.

There were nearly 50 people in that room— and he knew very well that Jaeyoon was lingering in the back somewhere, making his rounds through the ballroom dancers. He too, was another (infuriatingly) friendly soul, eager to make new friends. Juho dreaded the moment when Yeonjun would discover him.

Juho’s breath caught in his throat when he noticed the quick glance the black-haired boy had stolen at him. In horror, Juho pretended not to notice how quickly Jaeyoon made his way to the front of the gym. Despite being best-dressed that particular day (and wearing his favorite cologne), he still felt his hair was too messy, that his shoes were too dirty, that his face was too red and that—

He didn’t know why it mattered, anyway. 

“Hi, asshole,” Jaeyoon said with the most disarming of smiles on his face— almost distracting Juho from the rude greeting.

“Fuck you,” was all Juho could muster, still refusing to meet Jaeyoon’s eyes.

“So you don’t have any more words for the cheerleader with a one-dimensional personality then?”

Juho felt a small pang of guilt. He definitely felt bad for the last interaction they had. It was weeks since they had even looked at each other (Juho made an effort to go around cheer practice on the way to class). But it didn’t matter, he would never apologize (this may have been a lie). Thankfully, it seemed Jaeyoon had forgotten where they'd left off.

“You people do nothing else but toss each other around like ragdolls. Godamned fairies.”

Jaeyoon looked disappointed, but also amused.

“I am not a flier, but thanks for the compliment!”

Juho felt horrified in his own practice room. He had no fucking clue what “flier” meant, but he had never intended to make Jaeyoon feel good about himself. 

“I don’t even know what that means,” Juho mumbled under his breath, not expecting for Jaeyoon to actually hear him. Jaeyoon stepped a little closer, sending panic through Juho.

“The flier is the one who, you know…flies. The one doing turns in the air. Surprised you couldn’t figure that out!” 

Juho was embarrassed again. He hated that. Despite the feelings of disdain, he found himself piqued with interest (his mind was screaming at him to ignore the man).

“Then…what are you?” Juho asked, surprised at his own ability to converse with Jaeyoon. Jaeyoon was also surprised— Juho had a lighter tone and he seemed almost…friendly.

“I’m a backspot. If the flier falls or their tricks go wrong, then I’m here to catch them,” Jaeyoon’s smile was pissing Juho off again.

“Oh,” was all he could say.

“So what are you then?” It was Jaeyoon’s turn to ask.

“I’m a lead. I lead the dances. If you turn, it's under my control. If someone doesn’t know how to turn, I guide them. If you don't have a good lead, you don’t have a good dance.”

“So…what would I be then?” Jaeyoon had a sly smirk on his lips.

“It depends. Which end are you on?”

“I don’t know Juho…what was I when you were turning me?”

Juho felt a flash of warmth run over his cheeks. No, absolutely not. He would not be feeling that way. He ran a nervous hand through his hair.

“You were a follower. You followed my lead.”

“Well. For someone who had never done ballroom before…I felt pretty good at it. Maybe you’re a good lead, then.”

Juho was ready to set himself on fire.

“You think we could be partners again? Like if we performed together? I don’t believe anyone else could lead me as well as you.”

“Not a chance in hell,” Juho responded, somehow hating his own words.

Before Jaeyoon could respond, Kino and Eunkwang’s voices reverberated through the gymnasium. 

“Okay everyone! I want to introduce myself as Captain Hyunggu, but you can call me Kino. I am the ballroom-dancesport head captain. I specialize in salsa but I am also a trained hip-hop and contemporary dancer. My co-captain over there is Juho, he’s an expert in bachata, cha-cha, salsa, and waltz. He’s the one you want to go to for most dances,” Kino pointed to Juho— he was still inches away from Jaeyoon.

Juho gave a weak smile to the crowd whose eyes were trained on him. He ignored Jaeyoon’s gaze altogether.

“I’m cheer Captain Eunkwang. My co-captain Changjo is not here right now. I was a lyrical dancer and base-position cheerleader when I was an undergraduate. Changjo was a flier and a ballet dancer. We cheered together at this very school. I am so excited for us to be collaborating this year!” Eunkwang’s high energy almost erased the tension within the gym. He couldn’t read the room for the life of him.

“For the remainder of our practices, Kino, Juho, and I are going to be arranging choreography and a fusion routine. I urge you to find your own partner, for the sake of having some freedom. Having different sections of the routine will also mean that you don't always have to choose the same person. I am very aware that not everyone is excited to be here,” Eunkwang was too honest. At the mention of picking your own partners, Jaeyoon’s eyes snapped back to Juho again. Horrified, the ballroom dancer tried his best to ignore the burning stare.

“This first meeting will consist of the cheerleaders pairing up with a ballroom dancer. The partner you choose today will not be the partner you may end up with. This is for the purpose of learning the basic steps. While cheerleaders will be participating in the ballroom section, the dancers will not be participating in cheer stunts— obviously. However, general lifts and throws pertinent to dance will be included.”

Juho was almost curious to how Jaeyoon would react to being thrown in the air. He could imagine that the strength he had from being a backspot would make him a good flier, too. He imagined that Jaeyoon wouldn’t be that heavy— he would have no issue with shoulder sits and cradles. Based on his clean calypsos, he’d probably look quite elegant in the air, being hoisted up by Juho’s trained and muscled arms.

Once again, he shouldn’t have been thinking about any of that. But still, the thought kept creeping into his mind time after time. To avoid the intrusive thoughts from taking over his day, Juho quickly dashed away from the confused cheerleader and made his way across the other end of the gym. He stumbled upon a bored-looking cheerleader with beady eyes and a straight face. Without thinking, Juho asked to become partners.

“Hey. I’m Juho, co-cap. Would you like to be my partner this evening?”

The dark-haired boy looked entirely unamused and unwilling to be there. Juho noted that he wore nearly the same outfit as his sworn enemy (still lingering across the gym, now looking incredibly lost and disappointed). That time, Juho was a bit intimidated— he had previously vowed to only make one enemy on the team.

“Sure.”

“Uh…your name?”

“Minho.”

“Great! Do you have any experience in ballroom?”

“No.”

Juho felt his insides sour and curl into a ball. He had left one awkward situation and entered another, horrendously more awkward one. Minho was clearly uninterested and tired— Juho assumed that he had made another rival on the cheer team. But unbeknownst to him (and nearly everyone that had ever approached Minho first), Minho was simply the most deadpan man to ever exist. His angry face was his sad face, and his sad face was his happy face. Jaeyoon was the only one besides Jisung (and the rest of the nerd E-sports discord) to know that.

“So what do I do then?” Minho asked, his voice a little less monotonous. 

Juho gently held his palms out for Minho to grasp, letting him get comfortable with the contact first. He decided that he should start with salsa (considering that the joint performance would likely include that and the waltz). Following that, he pulled the cheerleader into an open position, explaining to Minho that when the lead stepped forward on his left foot, the follower would step back on their right foot. It would ultimately set the basics for any other move that would follow. He proceeded to explain half open, closed position, crosshold, and cuddle. As Juho would predict, Minho was an incredibly fast learner. Though silent, he was exceptionally observant— he even paid attention to the way in which his fingers were supposed to be located during each move (most people didn’t notice this the first time).

Juho barely noticed the grumpy stares coming from Jaeyoon from the other half of the gym. The cheerleader knew that in his heart, he would be beating the fuck out of Minho for stealing his dance crush.

Jaeyoon was absolutely distraught at the sight of Minho and Juho dancing together. While not overly jealous (Minho knew that Jaeyoon was very much infatuated with his dance partner), he wished he was on the receiving end— vying to get lessons from the handsome captain and his smooth-talk. He had learned that Juho was much gentler and friendlier when they were embroiled in a dance.

Pouting, he barely noticed the bouncy ballroom-dancer hurling from the front of the gym towards him. The stranger was dressed in a black crop top and spandex, and maybe only an inch shorter in height. He was very pretty, very intimidating, and very energetic.

“Hi king. My name is Yeonjun. Wanna be my partner? I’ll teach you real well, I totally promise,” Yeonjun’s voice was as sleek and approachable as Jaeyoon expected it to be. Smiling, Jaeyoon put his hand out for Yeonjun to grab.

“You wanna be a follower, yeah?” Yeonjun inquired.

“I’d love to be. My name is Jaeyoon, by the way. It's nice to meet you, Yeonjun.”

The friendly man ethusiastically nodded.

“Now, there are many basics we could get started with. But honestly, I think it would best fit the cheerleaders to begin with a waltz. It's probably the easiest and most useful— you ever get stuck at some stupid ass dance or party with slow music playing…here’s your antidote.”

Without thinking, Yeonjun slipped his right hand underneath Jaeyoon’s left arm (as Jaeyoon gingerly put his left hand on Yeonjun’s shoulder blade) and his left hand into the clasp of Jaeyoon’s right hand. 

“This is the starting position for the waltz. Now, when I step forward with my left foot, you’re going to step back with your right foot,” Yeonjun’s voice was calm, collected, and very articulate. For a second, his pretty face distracted him from the thought of Juho’s dark gaze and inability to stop staring directly into his soul.

Jaeyoon’s stomach launched into a million somersaults as he realized he knew exactly what dance they were doing. Much to Yeonjun’s surprise, Jaeyoon immediately fell into the box-steps without needing any explanation. Impressed, Yeonjun said nothing as he swiftly began turning Jaeyoon into gentle spins, cuddles, and even a roll-out. Not missing a single beat, Jaeyoon grinned as he felt the familiar rhythm of waltz (even easier that time, as Juho had literally started him off with Viennese). Despite the 50’s music playing in the back as half the dancers taught swing, Jaeyoon was still impeccable with his timing and pace.

“Bro… I’m for real about to fall in love with you. I thought none of you knew anything about ballroom,” Yeonjun joked, smiling as Jaeyoon locked eyes with him. Jaeyoon remembered not to look down at any point— that also impressed Yeonjun.

“I uh…had some practice with one of your members at some point in time.”

He definitely shouldn’t have mentioned that.

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow, immediately suspicious. Though he was an idiot, he just knew someone on his team was hiding that interaction from him. But more specifically, a certain someone.

“You gonna tell me who exactly you were dancing with?” Yeonjun asked, using the vulnerable moment to quicken the pace that they were moving at. 

Jaeyoon struggled to keep his focus as Yeonjun cocked his head with a sly smirk— the rhythm of their box-steps becoming increasingly quicker and quicker as the dancer waited for an answer. Jaeyoon felt his head go dizzy as he maintained fierce eye contact in an attempt to make Yeonjun give up. That didn’t work— Yeonjun’s grip tightened on Jaeyoon’s underarm as he felt the cheerleader begin to tumble over the steps.

“Uh. I uh. I don’t remember his name,” he lied, anxiety setting in.

“What function were you at? I don’t remember seeing a cheerleader at ballroom night. And don’t tell me one of us was at cheer practice, I’m not stupid.”

Jaeyoon felt heat rise to his cheeks. He panicked— he thought Yeonjun was a nice, sweet dancer. He was dead wrong, apparently (most people were). Why did he care so much?

“I uh…uh…it was a very one-off thing. I don’t remember what he looked—”

“I know damn well you’re lying.”

Without having a minute to process what was happening, Jaeyoon felt himself trip over the quick steps and over Yeonjun’s right foot, sending him forward with great force. He muttered a slew of curse words and flew directly into Yeonjun’s chest with vigor. The gym went silent as the loud thud rang out— indicating that both the boys had hit the ground at a violent speed. Yeonjun groaned as he slammed onto the ground the hardest— Jaeyoon had fallen right on top with his face knocking directly into Yeonjun’s right elbow. 

“Well,” Yeonjun choked out. “That’s the last time I’m doing that…my bad.”

Jaeyoon slowly rolled off the interrogative dancer, his left eye throbbing from pain. His knee was also a bit fucked— he knew he would be bruising in both areas later that day. He felt like an absolute idiot.

“Everyone okay back there?” Eunkwang’s worried voice rang out. Kino looked annoyed, glaring at Yeonjun.

“Dancers, please maintain your patience. We don’t want to hurt any more cheerleaders.” Kino sharply said. Still on the ground, Yeonjun only laughed.

“Yeonjun, what the fuck is wrong with you?” Dawon’s voice came booming from Jaeyoon’s left. His light brown hair glistened with sweat as he reached down to grab Jaeyoon’s hands and pull him up with ease. Disoriented, Jaeyoon gave a quick bow (he stumbled a bit and Dawon kept him upright). 

Jaeyoon was mortified. Even if the fall was entirely Yeonjun’s fault, the rest of the dancers or the cheerleaders couldn’t have known that. He must have looked like the worst dancer there, despite learning quicker than everyone else. He hated the feeling of inferiority and felt himself wanting to sit out for the rest of the practice. Even though Yeonjun apologized a million times, Dawon would not let him continue dancing with Jaeyoon. He was very thankful for that.

“I’m Dawon, by the way. Yeonjun is infected with shit idiot brain fungus. I won’t do that to you,” Dawon smiled, emanating a sense of security (Jaeyoon prayed to fucking god at least). 

The two moved on from waltz (as Dawon was very pleased to find Jaeyoon a natural at) and entered into the basics of swing. Jaeyoon immediately took a liking to it— swing was definitely his favorite style of ballroom so far. It was fun, bouncy, energetic, and much less strict than waltz or salsa. His mood improved tenfold by dancing with the flirty and fun Dawon— even though he liked Yeonjun, he kind of hated that he was already on his ass. He would prefer that no one discover his little crush on Juho.

Despite hearing the crash of two bodies on the other side of the gym, Juho had no idea who it was that had tumbled to the ground. He figured it must have been one of the real newbies— the cheerleaders who hadn’t done any sort of partner dancing in their entire life. He didn’t know that his royal enemy had taken a hard hit to the eye and knee. Instead, he focused his attention on teaching Minho the cha-cha (he had learned everything else so quickly, Juho was getting nervous). 

Despite dancing with the straight-faced cheerleader for nearly 20 minutes, Minho hadn’t uttered more than 10 sentences. He was starting to regret ditching Jaeyoon— at least they could have a conversation. His eyes desperately searched around for Dawon and Yeonjun— anyone to dance near that he could maybe speak to as Minho quietly hummed.

Unfortunately, he had to wait until the two hour session was over (and until he had literally cycled through all of the dances he knew how to teach). It was exhausting, but the minutes the two had spent together in pure silence had killed his spirit entirely. Juho was ready to go right to modern after being released from hell.

“I hope you all had a wonderful time learning each other’s names. Exchange numbers if you can, by the way. By next practice, we will be talking about which styles will be included in our performance. Your homework until next time will be to practice your basic steps— practice them with your friends, your partners, your parents, literally anyone. Do not forget them!” Kino’s voice was almost a remedy to Juho’s suffering.

The gym was only half empty when Dawon and Yeonjun found their way to a disgruntled Juho. Throwing his hands over Juho’s neck, Yeonjun gave a goofy (and guilty smile). Dawon rolled his eyes and shoved Yeonjun off of Juho. 

“You’re a dick, you know that?” Dawon spat. Yeonjun only replied with a giggle.

“You could have given the poor man some time to fucking adjust before sending him flying. You better be fucking glad that Jaeyoon fell on your ass.”

Jaeyoon.

Juho nearly froze in his steps, causing the two boys to look up at him in confusion. He lowered his gaze and shoved the two away from his body, quickly making his way towards the door. To his great dismay, Yeonjun caught the back of his shirt and yanked him backwards.

“Don’t fucking tell me… you’re the one Jaeyoon was talking about,” Juho could hear the excitement in Yeonjun’s voice.

“Man, what the fuck are you on about now?" Dawon groaned, continuing the damage control.

“Oh you know…pretty little Jaeyoon just had to slip up before he fell on me…or maybe for me, who knows!”

“You little shit, what did he tell you?” Juho was slightly delirious, completely glossing over the fact that Jaeyoon was the poor soul that had collided with his partner (he needed a redbull, asap). Dawon tried his best to keep Juho from pummeling Yeonjun with his fists. The three ran in circles— Yeonjun laughing, Juho grumbling, and Dawon trying to keep them apart (but amused, nonetheless).

“He told me he danced with a ballroom boy…but oh no… he wouldn’t tell me who it was.”

“Oh no shit??” It was Dawon’s turn to be giggly. Even if he was trying to hold Yeonjun accountable, he couldn't quite escape his desire for gossip.

“No wonder you were so fucking defensive!” Dawon was incredulous. Yeonjun was annoying. And Juho wanted to crawl into a manhole. 

“I can’t stand you two. I’m going to modern.”

“Nah. You don’t get to leave without telling us what the fuck happened between you two. Why were you dancing with a cheerleader? Oh my god— did you two hook up?” Yeonjun still had a fistful of Juho’s shirt in his hands.

“No! For christ’s sake! Him and his posse of morons showed up to modern a few weeks back…and…”

“And??”

“And we ended up…I don’t know,” Juho ran his hands through his hair and pulled it in frustration. “I don’t know we ended up fucking Viennese waltzing, okay! It was this stupid fucking improv session and he wanted to pair up with me for some fucking reason…and I got cocky and UGH, forget it.”

Dawon and Yeonjun looked at each other before breaking into another fit of giggles.

“That’s sounding very homoerotic to me, king!"

“Viennese waltzing in modern dance…you really are that bitch!” 

“I don’t want to talk about it, you idiots.”

“Why? It’s clear that kid’s got some kind of thing for you. Blushing like a loser when I was asking him to tell me who he had danced with. He’s cute, too. Bro is sculpted like a fucking god and you’re out here scowling over it?” Yeonjun had no idea how Juho could hate the idea of being friends with Jaeyoon. 

“Yeah, he’s cute as fuck. He’s also a good dancer! What the fuck is your problem, Juho?” Dawon added on— already jumping to Yeonjun’s side (what a traitor).

“Will you two shut the fuck up already? I’m already sick of cheerleaders.”

“Oho! So the root of the problem here is that you don’t want to get tied up with a cheerleader?”

“Yeonjun. You are so fucking irritating.”

“That’s not very co-cap of you bestie!” 

“Look. All I’m saying is that your stupid grudge with the cheerleaders is juvenile, and there is no reason as to why you have such random hatred for this hot dude. Eunkwang is a very kind man and you’re out here slandering his team. What the fuck man,” Yeonjun continued— Dawon was aggressively agreeing.

“And yeah. Whatever. We definitely have beef with them or HAD beef with them at some point…but to be honest, everyone I met today was very chill. And even if they were hiding the tension, what point is it to continue this disdain when we all have to be up in each other’s pits in two months, anyway? The more we keep this tension, the worse we’ll look as a team,” Dawon finished Yeonjun’s thoughts, pissing Juho off even further.

“I just…I don’t know. As a captain, I’m just fucking sick of them.”

“All cap no brim you jackass. Something else is up.”

“Yeah,” Dawon chimed in. “You probably think he’s hot too. You always get fucking weird around pretty dudes. You scare every bitch away, you depressing fuck,” Dawon was ruthless. 

Groaning, Juho swept his bag from the bleachers and failed to give Eunkwang or Kino a proper salutation before flying out the double doors. His friends followed— continuing to pester him.

“Jaeyoon is really nice. He’s cute, he’s friendly, he’s a bit shy, and most importantly, he’s definitely into you, dude,” Yeonjun was struggling to keep up with Juho’s quick pace.

Inside, Juho knew that Yeonjun was probably right. Jaeyoon was very cute. He was handsome, his waist was intoxicating, he smelled like incense, and he was talented. He hated that he was talented. The cheer team had been such a needle up his ass for so long— he failed to even consider that the team members would be friendly in any way. He had a preconceived notion of stuck-up pom dancers that thought they were at the top of the fucking university.

As always, he was wrong. His ego— it was always wrong. It just wasn't easy to admit.

“I think you should be nice to him. Don’t let moronic Yeonjun dance with him again. Pair up with him. When’s the last time you got laid, anyway?”

Juho gave up bickering with his friends entirely. He was sick of their repetitive words (even though they were right). The same thoughts would likely repeat for days in his head, anyway. Instead, he focused on making sure his breath was regulated in time for modern. He prayed to god Jaeyoon wouldn’t be there again.

“Anyway! Pull your head out of your ass and be a charming man for once! Go catch a dick!” were Yeonjun’s last words as he linked arms with Dawon and sauntered away. Juho let out a sigh of relief as he watched his friends disappear

When Juho entered modern class, he was absolutely defeated. He didn’t want to think about Jaeyoon’s slutty waist, his nosy friends, or Minho’s emotionless eyes. He wanted to destress and stretch out his sore limbs until they no longer ached; he wanted to take a nap on the floor with all the lights off and a song droning in the back. He wanted to be free from his shackles of confrontation.

Hani was used to seeing a very burnt-out Juho— he was usually bored and uninterested in having a conversation. She only nodded at him when he walked through the door and slung his bag in the corner with more force than usual. To Juho’s glee, it was much less crowded that night; it was a later class, anyway. 

The majority of dancers present were simply there after work or after class (or after practice) with the same purpose Juho was there— to relax. Feeling as if he had finally entered a safe space, Juho plopped to the ground and began stretching out his hip flexor. His mind still raced with ideas on choreography— Kino had just assigned him to choreograph a 1 minute and 30 second section of the dance that was purely just bachata. He loved choreographing, but it was the last thing he wanted to accomplish that week.

He sprawled out on the cold dance floor and closed his eyes, stretching his right leg over his left and letting the multiple pops run up his spine in satisfaction. He cracked his other side and proceeded to starfish onto the floor. Perhaps noticing the low amount of people in the class and the low energy, Hani simply switched on a soft song to aid the mood. Juho was grateful and also very, very tired. Things were going his way for only a few minutes—

“Hello, my waltz king.”

The voice completely scared the shit out of him while also destroying his newfound zen. Jaeyoon was hovering over him, a necklace dangling before him. It took a few seconds for Juho to register the darkening around Jaeyoon’s left eyelid. Juho’s eyes widened as he rewinded to about ten minutes ago when he was yelling at his friends. He had entirely forgotten that Yeonjun’s victim was his very own enemy. Every fiber of his being was suddenly washed over with guilt (for the millionth time). His friends’ scolding was like a broken record in his brain; he wanted to make a good impression for once (to appease his friends only, of course).

“Oh shit. I forget he even— I am so sorry,” he said, immediately leaning upwards to meet Jaeyoon’s eyes. Jaeyoon kneeled in front of him instead— they were now at the same level. Juho was close enough to see the dried sweat and the lingering smell of incense that clung to that damned compression shirt.

“Fuck. Fuck, that looks bad. What a fucking idiot he is,” Juho continued, his eyes tracing the nasty bruise that was forming on Jaeyoon’s skin. It was a darkening shade of purple and red, dragging from the bottom to the very side. Juho wanted to beat himself with a stick at the thought of it looking kind of attractive.

Without thinking, Juho raised his hand to gently inspect the wound, moving Jaeyoon’s chin from side to side as to check for more injuries. Juho was no stranger to treating dancers with injuries as stunts were very common in competitive teams. Jaeyoon closed his eyes and softly smiled, clearly enjoying the warmth from Juho’s fingers. He plopped down in front of the dancer as his smile widened.

“It's okay. I told you I was a spotter, right? I’ve been hit more times than I can count— more feet in my face than I'd like. I’ve had a few black eyes in my time here. Don’t worry about it.”

Juho still felt extremely guilty. Part of him wanted to loosen up and get over himself. But the other part of him didn’t want to give in just yet. Yeonjun and Dawon were like demons sitting upon his shoulders and guffawing at his inability to get over his self-pride.

“Yeonjun isn’t mean or anything, I swear. He’s just a really nosy nuisance. He means well. But the next time we meet for practice you can…uh…you can…”

“I can do what, Juho? What can I do?” Jaeyoon innocently cocked his head.

“...dance with me. You can dance with me. I’ll be your partner.” He had no idea what he was saying at that point— anything to make sure the cheerleader wouldn’t have to pummel to the ground again. He was just being a responsible captain, of course.

Jaeyoon’s eyes lit up with excitement— he’d never expected Juho to actually say something like that. His knees gleefully bounced up and down as he grasped Juho’s two hands, holding them in his own. That time, Juho was glad to feel the warmth course through the two of them. He was so used to holding hands in salsa that he barely registered the interaction. He forced a smile (it was not forced, actually).

“Yeah…you don’t uh…you don’t have to fall again.” He convinced himself this was the only reason.

Juho looked down at their clasped hands and his smile unknowingly grew a little wider. Jaeyoon tilted his head and was very pleased to see that they were finally on the same page— no matter how much Juho masked his feelings. After seconds of silence, Juho had finally realized that they had been holding hands for a few minutes. Instead of rejecting the notion, he simply asked Jaeyoon to get into a straddle position on the floor— trying to play off their welded hands as an innocent initiation for partner stretching. 

He touched their feet together and told Jaeyoon to stretch as he gently pulled his hands towards his chest— effectively stretching out Jaeyoon’s inner thighs. The little gap they had created between the two of them was cozy, tranquil, and comfortable. Of course the cheerleader was incredibly flexible— Juho could barely breathe as Jaeyoon leaned all the way forward, his stomach neatly touching the ground. When it was Juho’s turn, Jaeyoon simply laughed at his inability to go any further than a few inches. His inner thighs burned, but he was happy for the stretch.

When they were finished with straddle, they also helped each other stretch their left and right splits (Juho once again, was very impressed with Jaeyoon’s endless flexibility). Hani looked onwards, absolutely perplexed at the sudden change in their attitudes (contrasting from the last time they were together in her classroom). The two stood up without any words, keeping the distance between them relatively short. Something in Juho tingled— much to his dismay. 

“That was nice.”

“Yeah.”

“Am I still one-dimensional?”

“I barely know you.”

“That’s…fair.” 

“I mean. You…seem nice.”

Jaeyoon gasped dramatically.

“Me?? A cheerleader?? Nice?? No way you would admit that!”

“Shut up,” Juho simply grumbled.

“Well. If you’re curious about my other dimensions, you could give me a few lessons.”

Juho raised his eyebrow at a sly Jaeyoon. They were standing directly in front of each other now— Juho was terrified of their proximity but was secretly inhaling his scent.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Don’t you have private lessons? I’ll pay if it's serious.”

“Why would you want private lessons from me?”

“Why not?”

Juho was lost for words. He didn’t want to say yes, but he also didn’t want to say no. His sworn enemy was looking at him with an irresistible smile— his eyes glistened with anticipation and desire. He thought about his friends' words and the possibility of being companions with a cheerleader (as a good thing). Without thinking, he nodded. He could almost hear the chorus of giggles from Yeonjun and Dawon.

“Is that a yes?”

“It’s a yes. But you have to promise me not to fuck around,” He pointed an accusatory finger at the eager cheerleader. In response, Jaeyoon simply took his own finger and booped Juho’s. The dancer felt the tingle in his spine again.

“Yes sir!” 

Juho allowed himself to smile once more, genuinely meaning it that time. Without exchanging any more words, Hani began the day’s lesson with a simple contemporary combo. She kept the lights off the entire class, creating a meditative atmosphere. The two rivals danced next to each other, not saying much (but listening to each other’s breathing). It was the most calm their interactions had ever been (and Juho would never admit to really liking the cheerleader’s company). 

When Juho returned home that night he was stricken with a dilemma. Yes, he thought Jaeyoon was a cute man with undeniable talent. And yes, he was very annoying. Yes, the cheer team was not as bad as he thought. But also, how humiliating it was to suddenly become friends with the people he once sought out to destroy.

Maybe he was being a little overdramatic, but nonetheless. 

Juho groaned into his pillow and briefly thought about the way Jaeyoon’s patchouli always wafted in the air, clouding Juho’s judgment and making him imagine PG-13 scenarios. He thought about how Jaeyoon was brave enough to return the solid and slightly uncomfortable eye contact during their dances. He thought about the slight anger he felt at Yeonjun for interrogating the cheerleader and ultimately giving him a black eye. He thought about all the confusion that plagued his thoughts. 

He knew he had to get working on the choreo for their next meet (which was in three days). Grumbling with a mind full of stress, he begrudgingly arose and began his assignment.

👯‍♂️

“I think he’s starting to warm up to me,” Jaeyoon finally broke the silence between him and his best friend. Minho wanted to die at the sound of the fellow cheerleader’s voice.

“What if I killed myself in front of you.”

“Minho. I am not delusional this time.”

“You are so horrendously down bad.”

“You are so mean to me.”

Minho let out a chuckle as he paged through his book. He was drinking a cup of black coffee at midnight— and also de-stressing after an incredibly difficult lab day. Jaeyoon was freshly showered and laid on the floor of the apartment, daydreaming about the interaction he had with his crush that day. It felt like lilies and hydrangeas were blooming within his chest, making it tiresome for his heart to continue beating.

“So, what has convinced you that he has any interest?”

“We were civil today. This guy named Yeonjun indirectly made me trip, hence this stupid ass bruise. Juho was really worried about it though. We even held hands for a bit!”

Minho put his book down and perked his eyebrow.

“God, not Yeonjun.”

“What. Why? You know him?”

“Of course I know him. He’s a straggler in our E-sports discord. We love him, but he's a bit much sometimes.”

Jaeyoon let out a laugh. Of course that would make sense. Yeonjun was everywhere and nowhere at once, bothering people in the most inconvenient ways.

“Apparently he’s a straggler in the ballroom club, too. Not exactly a member. But really necessary to the team. He seems to be close with Jaeyoon.”

Minho rolled his eyes and continued reading his book.

“Yeah. He can be annoying but he’s also the designated Overwatch trainer right now. We’re also in the same major— he’s not that bad. However, he is kinda flirty, so beware.”

“Looks like we have things in common!”

Minho ignored Jaeyoon’s words and simply refocused his attention on the book. Jaeyoon was too lost in thought to even comprehend the learning he had done in practice that day. All he could think about was how excited he was for the next practice— he was ready to make Juho fall in love with him. He had observed just how quiet the ballroom dancer was: he always made eye contact, he spoke with a low voice, he was always grumbly— but he also had a massive soft spot; he wasn't anything like he portrayed his character to be. Jaeyoon smiled to himself, knowing for sure it must be a front for masking his attraction.

“God. He’s my type for sure.”

“I cannot stress to you how much I do not care.”

“For the love of god, please stop being so mean to me!”

👯‍♂️

When Jaeyoon entered their following practice, he had rehearsed every step in his repertoire. The easy waltz, the swing, and the self-taught salsa. The gymnasium whiteboard had a few different things written down on it as Kino sat nearby, scrolling on his phone:

“TODAY’S LESSON”

WALTZ - DIPS & TURNS

SALSA - ENCHUFLAS & HAND POSITIONING

SENSUAL BACHATA - PROXIMITY & KNEE PLACEMENT

LINDY HOP SWING - RHYTHM & BASICS

Jaeyoon’s eyes lit up at the mention of Lindy Hop. After Dawon taught him to swing the last practice, he had gone home and watched endless videos on the different types— Lindy Hop being his absolute favorite. It was so bouncy, so loose, and so different from his usual cheer routines. The dances always looked happy and everybody looked so in tune with each other’s bodies. It was fascinating to him. His own body was full of excitement at the very thought of being close to Juho once again filled his thoughts. He was ready to impress him (and also seduce him, hopefully).

When Juho entered the room he was dressed in a loose, oversized blue t-shirt (unlike his usual gymwear). He was wearing black sweats and looked as if he had just rolled out of bed, his gray-dyed hair fluffy and sticking up in different places. He wore rings and loose bracelets that highlighted the veins on his sleek hands and made him undeniably attractive when they ran through his hair. Something feral churned within Jaeyoon as he watched Juho intently, taking in the beauty of his simple outfit and appearance. 

“You are definitely a whore for that man,” came Yeonjun’s voice, causing goosebumps to raise on Jaeyoon’s already chilled skin.

“Damn, you are not wrong,” was his shameless answer. The two looked at each other and exchanged a fit of small giggles. Yeonjun just understood him.

“I’m really sorry about your eye by the way. That was not my intention. You see, Juho is one of my best friends and I just had to speculate about what was going on between you two,” he continued. Yeonjun suddenly leaned in close as to tell him a secret.

“Just so you know, he told me everything. I think he secretly thinks you’re hot. I can always tell with that man.”

Jaeyoon swiftly covered his mouth to stifle a laugh. He proceeded to shield his face to prevent Yeonjun from noticing the shades of pink that were forming on his cheeks. His intuitions had been right apparently— Juho was definitely masking his attraction. But at least he had some confirmation that his simping wasn’t entirely one-sided. Besides if it had been, why would Juho even agree to private lessons after practice in the first place? 

However, Jaeyoon also hoped that Juho didn’t feel pressured to be too nice to him, or to prove that he needed to be a good co-captain. He’d always been delusional with his past crushes (75% of them turned out to be straight as a pole, anyway). His mind drifted with small doubts as he watched the dancer pair up with Kino to (seemingly) go over the steps he had choreographed a few nights before. He was mesmerizing, truly. Yeonjun jokingly rolled his eyes as Dawon appeared in the room, looking equally as tired and handsome.

“Don’t tell me you still want to be friends with this moron after he made you eat shit.”

“Fuck off Dawon, you know it was an accident.”

“You are the biggest inconvenience known to man, Choi Yeonjun,” Dawon laughed as he slung his bag onto the bleachers. Dawon was also wearing a compression shirt— it outlined the shape of his abs and appeared to be slightly moist. His hair was also damp, indicating that he had just left the gym. Jaeyoon gulped and wondered why Juho hung out with so many hot people.

“If we pair up again I can promise you that I won’t trip you…or interrogate you,” Yeonjun’s eyes sparkled as he tilted his head. He was tempting, definitely; he wore a short, black crop-top and a pair of loose gray sweatpants. His waist was similar to Jaeyoon (but he had the tummy lines that Jaeyoon would die for). 

“Today…uh. I’ll actually be pairing with Juho.”

Dawon and Yeonjun looked at each other and deviously grinned. 

“Oh, is that so?” Dawon inquired, a playful tone ensued.

“Is what so?” Juho’s voice rang out from behind the three, making Jaeyoon jump for the second time that evening.

Like the parting of the red sea, Yeonjun and Dawon stepped aside for a strikingly handsome Juho to walk right through. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion and he was finally eyeing Jaeyoon directly. His hands were on his hips and Jaeyoon noted the small beads of sweat that were coursing down his temple. Jaeyoon felt as if he was ovulating— if someone didn’t chain him to a pole in the next 5 minutes he may have let his inner wolf flourish.

“You promised you’d pair with me today.”

“I didn’t promise you shit, cheerleader.”

Jaeyoon frowned while his mind raced to the last time they had interacted. Civil, smiley, relaxing, and kind of sweet. It seemed as if Juho was constantly hit with a case of anterograde amnesia— he would have to break through the curse every time they met. He’d have to fight his way over the wall to the shy and sweet Juho once again.

Jaeyoon didn’t mind this. In fact, he liked the challenge.

“But you offered it, asshole.” He said with a smile.

Juho stepped forward and raised an eyebrow while Jaeyoon took a small step back. The Versace Eros once again rose in the air and hit Jaeyoon’s nostrils with violent force. The two wolves inside of Jaeyoon were fighting (and they were both homosexual). Juho continued stepping towards him with a glare.

“You’re right. I did,” he was now close enough to see Jaeyoon’s bright pink ears. Before the cheerleader could respond, Kino’s voice echoed off the walls.

“Evening everyone. If you haven’t seen the board yet, I’m going to go over what we’re doing today. First of all: we’re continuing where we left off with waltz. I’m going to be demonstrating dips and what not to do with your partner. Following this, Juho is going to be teaching our salsa and bachata lesson while Dawon teaches Lindy Hop. Please partner up and pay attention, we’re starting official partnering and choreography next week.”

Without saying a word, Juho gently took Jaeyoon’s hand to immediately claim him as a partner. Yeonjun and Dawon giggled once again and took each other’s hands before making their way towards the back of the gym, abandoning the two enemies. Jaeyoon could feel Juho’s already moist and clammy hands, hot to the touch. Jaeyoon was swiftly pulled towards the other’s chest. He let out a scoff.

“You’re eager.”

“Eager to get this over with.”

“You’re capping.”

“You’re delusional.”

Jaeyoon could almost hear the chorus of snickers from Minho. He looked over to his flier friend— he was paired with another ballroom dancer while wearing the most unreadable expression he’d ever seen. His partner was a poor girl that could not decipher the mood between them. 

Bless her soul, he thought. Minho was gayer than gay.

While the two warmed up, Kino demonstrated new turns and tricks with Eunkwang (who struggled to keep up). Jaeyoon had no issue remembering all the turns he’d learned last week; besides that, Juho was easily the best director anyone could ask for. It didn’t matter if Jaeyoon messed up, Juho would cover it up. Half of the time it was impossible to mess up, anyway. Jaeyoon tried to ignore how much he enjoyed the mixing of their scents and the close proximity to each other (they were nearly the same height).

“Dips. These are important. Dips should only be done when you know you have your partner’s clear-cut consent. Don’t ever throw them out of nowhere, you might hurt them, you might not catch them before they hit the ground,” Kino’s voice was suddenly stern, his statue ready to lower Eunkwang’s body dangerously close to the floor.

Jaeyoon watched with pure focus as Kino slowly led Eunkwang through an inside turn, proceeding to direct the coach’s right hand around Kino’s neck and connecting to his right shoulder blade. Kino then placed a flattened hand on the very top of Eunkwang’s back, his right arm secure around Eunkwang’s waist.

“Followers, you need to shift your body weight on the inside leg, angled towards your partner. In this case, it should be your right leg. Your left foot should be forward, absent of weight. Leads, after you turn your partner, you need to place your follower’s right hand around your neck to signal the dip. Place your left hand solidly on the top of their back and then dip. But only to the distance you both are comfortable at. Don’t overdo it or make your partner uncomfortable.”

Eunkwang let out a nervous laugh as Kino gently lowered him to the ground, making sure he didn’t lose his grip. The class let out a small chorus of claps as Eunkwang was swiftly pulled back to the comfort of Kino’s chest. The dancers had seen this instructed a billion times, but the cheerleaders were in awe.

“Now, you try. Dancers, be courteous.”

Jaeyoon felt giddy as Juho began leading him into a slow inside turn, making sure that he was ready to dip with confidence. The cheerleader was breathless as his hand smoothly glided along the backside of Juho’s neck, being placed on the dancer’s right shoulder. Butterflies exploded in his stomach as Juho’s right hand tightened on his waist, making sure not to be too loose. The back of Juho’s left hand was nice and comforting, allowing Jaeyoon to sink to an impressive distance. When he was pulled back up, Jaeyoon swore that he was not supposed to be that close to the dancer’s chest. They looked at each other with intensity for a brief moment before Juho resumed the box-steps.

The two continued practicing the dip a few more times before moving onto the other lessons Kino was announcing from the front. Despite going through the motions, Jaeyoon couldn’t stop thinking about the way Juho had looked somewhat like a prince, seamlessly dipping him with hair falling over his face in a way that framed him like a Duke. The passionate make-out session that Jaeyoon had been fantasizing about replayed over and over in his mind like a broken record. It was stressful and sexually frustrating, to say the least.

Jaeyoon was almost proud to be Juho’s demonstrating partner when it got time to teach the lessons for salsa and bachata. If waltz was one to give him a heart attack, then bachata was about a thousand times worse— he had no idea how to react to the even closer distance between their two bodies, Juho’s right knee in between his. Sensual bachata was horrifying. Jaeyoon was instructed to body roll towards Juho’s chest and complete a series of gentle grindings with their foreheads nearly touching. Of course it wasn’t actually terrifying. He was about to set himself on fire (in a good way).

Dawon and Yeonjun simply stifled giggles while they watched the two men dance in the most homoerotic sense possible. Despite doing bachata for the first time, nobody could deny the obvious chemistry between the two of them. Though Juho would swear on his life that he wasn’t attracted to Jaeyoon, he sure didn’t seem to mind putting their heads as close together as possible. His friends would hound him later on— he was sure of it.

Jaeyoon was almost glad that Lindy hop was right after— Dawon’s lively presence shook away the feeling of sexual tension that lingered in the air. Jaeyoon wasn’t expecting Juho to also be good at swing— he was surprisingly bouncy and even let go of a few smiles (all that immediately disappeared when Jaeyoon smiled back). The pair quickly realized they got along better when no words were exchanged, so it stayed like that for the remainder of practice.

Sweaty, tired, and danced out, the four boys dabbed their foreheads to get rid of the wetness that had accumulated over the past three hours of training. Dawon shamelessly threw his compression shirt over his head and stuffed it in his duffel bag (Dawon’s earlier classes were mainly filled with more liberal arts— he was a theater major and a ballet minor but he rarely told anyone).

“Cover up, slut,” Yeonjun threw his towel at Dawon’s bare chest that glistened with moisture. Jaeyoon couldn’t help but steal a few glances at it (ballerinos were always ripped). 

“Says the one with the slutty waist on full display,” Dawon replied, throwing the towel back with equal force. Chaos ensued as Yeonjun hopped onto Dawon’s back in a poor attempt to take him down.

“Twink versus twunk. What a sight,” Jaeyoon laughed, watching Juho gather his things.

Juho said nothing as he silently checked his phone for missed notifications.

Dawon and Yeonjun were laughing on the ground at that point, beating each other with the wet towels. If Jaeyoon and Juho’s bachata stunt was homoerotic, then Yeonjun and Dawon were on a whole other level of gay. When Jaeyoon turned back to find Juho, he was already making his way out the doors.

“Juho!”

“What could possibly be your problem now?”

Jaeyoon stared at him with a blank expression, waiting for Juho to remember.

“Our…private lessons?”

“Oh.”

“Do you not want to do them here?”

“No…no sorry I just forgot. We can do them here.”

“Whoa, what private lessons?” Yeonjun was sitting on a defeated Dawon. 

“None of your business, twink,” Juho spat.

Yeonjun laughed and simply proceeded to straddle Dawon’s back while he huffed in pain. 

“What do you need private lessons for, anyway? You’ve learned everything I’ve thrown at you and all of your postures are perfect. I’m not sure what else you need me to teach you if you’re fucking good at everything.”

Jaeyoon’s eyes widened as he stared at the dancer. Juho took a second to register all the praise that he’d word-vomited. Jaeyoon felt his cheeks heat up again.

“Actually, your dip is off.”

“You can give people compliments, dude.”

“Eat my ass.”

“I would if you’d let me!”

Jaeyoon was horrified at his own response. Thankfully, Juho chose to ignore it completely. Dawon and Yeonjun were still horsing around on the floor when he trekked over to pummel them with his own towel. The two boys scrambled to their feet and fought back.

“Will you two LEAVE already?”

“Why? So you can have Jaeyoon all to yourself?”

“Or because you want to dance with him in private?” Dawon remarked as he threw his arm around Juho’s neck.

“I need to give him lessons, get off me.”

“Oh, I’m sure you need to give him lessons!”

“Yeonjun I swear to all hell if you don’t get the fuck out of here I am going to kick you out of this performance.”

“Damn. Tough crowd. Fuck you too!” Yeonjun guffawed as he latched onto Dawon’s wrist and proceeded to drag him out of the gym, not forgetting to make references to sexual acts with his hands.

Juho held his head in his hands and groaned.

“Okay. Let’s just get this over with.”

“You seem very thrilled to be here right now. What happened to wanting to expand my one-dimensional personality?”

“I felt obligated to agree.”

“You could have said no. I wouldn’t have cared.”

“I don’t know why you are so adamant on having private lessons with me.”

At that point, Jaeyoon was almost offended at Juho’s stubbornness to give up the stoic act. From what Jaeyoon could tell, nothing major had happened between them since their modern class. He suddenly felt compelled to once again take on the challenge of peeling back the solid layers.

“Can you maybe like not be a dick for like once in your fucking life?”

“Stop bothering me maybe?”

“HOW am I bothering you?”

“I don’t know…maybe I don’t want to give you private lessons?”

“I didn’t pressure you to even agree to it! You immediately said yes! I don’t have to be here right now if that’s what you want. I have no fucking clue what your problem is!”

Juho looked down at the ground. It was apparent that some guilt was hanging over his head but Jaeyoon didn’t say anything about it.

“Let’s just get to the fucking dancing, alright? I don’t have to talk to you,” Jaeyoon hissed.

Without saying words, Juho rolled his eyes and grasped Jaeyoon's hands (with a little more force than usual). Jaeyoon didn’t complain about the solid grip the dancer had on him— he could feel the annoyance and anger coursing through Juho’s system but a part of him enjoyed the rush it gave him. He didn’t mean to push Juho’s buttons, he was just a dick at heart. But he had to admit— he enjoyed their rivalry, but a small part of him just wished Juho would stop pretending to hate him.

Juho didn’t start with bachata, of course. Getting up in each other’s business after a brief argument was not the vibe Juho was going for. Instead, he turned on his speaker and played some random waltz song, pushing Jaeyoon into an immediate box-step. He was going quick again— probably preparing for Viennese. They danced in an uncomfortable silence, trying to avoid eye contact as much as possible (which was difficult, as they were only an inch different in height). Despite being irritated, Jaeyoon couldn’t ignore the intoxicating smell that emanated from Juho— his cologne had mixed with sweat and broke the bonds of molecules; they released in the air and made Jaeyoon fill with desire.

Juho was still annoyed by the looks of it. He was absolutely going off tempo and pushing Jaeyoon into waters that Yeonjun had pushed him— he was about to fall again (despite Juho telling him to dance with him so he wouldn’t fall). Instead of trying to keep up, Jaeyoon simply began to throw off the rhythm as well.

“What are you doing,” Juho hissed.

“You are not the only one who can fuck things up.”

Their legs became entangled in an uncomfortable position— Jaeyoon’s foot kept getting caught and his hands ached from how hard Juho was grabbing them. They stumbled together but both refused to tumble to the ground. They ruthlessly fought for sudden dominance, Juho’s strength still overtaking the cheerleader’s. Without running the permutations through his head, Juho swiftly forced Jaeyoon’s hand around his neck in a maneuver that almost hurt. Jaeyoon nearly screamed as the dancer yanked him into a surprise dip. Jaeyoon wasn’t even in the correct position to be leaning that far down— he glowered at a heaving Juho.

"You are not supposed to dip followers without their consent," Jayeoon hissed, sweat slipping through his fingers as he gripped onto Juho's neck. 

"Tell me Jaeyoon,” Juho darted his eyes down to the cheerleader's glossy and exposed clavicles.

"Has anyone ever dropped you midair?"

"I already fucking told you. I am not a fucking flier," Jaeyoon felt the multiple rings on his waist, slowly digging into his skin as they slid further and further down.

"Then you are now."

And Juho let go.

The small thud that followed reverberated off the walls of the empty gymnasium. Jaeyoon was too shocked to even say anything— his crush had just purposefully dipped and dropped him, after telling him he wouldn’t fall under his jurisdiction. Of course the fall didn’t hurt (he was barely touching the ground, anyway), but it was still disrespectful. 

“You did not have to fucking do that. Juho, you were supposed to be helping me.”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Jaeyoon rose to his feet and threw his hands up in the air, making his way to an angry Juho. He stepped as close as he could get, not minding the fact that their noses were nearly touching. Apparently, it seemed, getting dangerously close to that man was a very common theme.

“Apologize. Right. Fucking. Now.”

“Absolutely not.”

“Why are you so held-bent on being a dick?”

“You are annoying!” Juho couldn’t find a viable answer to the question.

“When have I ever been annoying? Is it because I’m a cheerleader, huh? You can’t get over your stupid fucking ego? That you’re better than me because I’m a dumb fucking cheerleader?”

Juho let out a small breath and let his eyes trace down to Jaeyoon’s clavicles once again. Both of them were teeming with fire and heat. Jaeyoon let his eyes trace down as well, following the way in which Juho’s t-shirt barely slid off his left shoulder.

“Yeah. Because you’re a cheerleader,” he sounded defeated.

“You know what. Fuck you. Don’t fucking pair up with me again. Go fuck yourself,” were Jaeyoon’s last words before he grabbed his belongings and stormed out of the gym. Juho simply breathed a sigh of relief and went to rest on the bleachers, regretting his decision to be so mean. 

Instead of chasing after him like a normal person would, Juho simply sat there and stared at the ground. He had blown his chance to fraternize with the enemy, once again.

He let out a frustrated series of curse words.

👯‍♂️

“Good lord, Juho. Do you always have to be such an asshole?”

Rowoon, Juho’s best friend (aside from the two in dance), peacefully ate his lunch, wearing a pleasant smile. He was a friendly baseball player and communications major that had known Juho since they were in high school. Despite never dating before (he’d also come out as asexual once they’d graduated), he’d always welcomed a helping hand to Juho’s tumultuous crushes.

Juho put his head in his hands and groaned for the millionth time that day. It had been a week and a half since he last spoke to Jaeyoon— if he had his number he would have apologized by now. He was far too frightened to say it in person. The last two practices had consisted of the cheerleader vehemently ignoring him and only dancing with Yeonjun or Dawon. He had to admit, he felt a pang of jealousy every time his friends made the cheerleader giggle or smile. It drove him absolutely nuts. Additionally, it stung to think about how they wouldn’t be an official pairing for the waltz section of the performance.

“I don’t doubt that he’s interested in you. I think your friends are right. Why don’t you try talking to him?”

“Not in a million years, sorry.”

Rowoon let out a large sigh and simply shook his head, already giving up. If there was anything he had learned about Juho from the years they had been friends, it was the fact that he would never listen to any plausible advice. Unfortunately, his best friend had a serious case of selective hearing.

“I mean, I feel like it's not even worth it. He’s ignored me the last two practices.”

“Hm. Wonder why.”

Juho let out a frustrated groan.

“Rowoon please…I am a mess.”

“Affirmative,” Rowoon smiled. He took a minute to survey Juho’s incredibly distressed body language and assessed the situation.

“Well. When is your next practice? You’re always better with your actions— why don’t you swiftly pull him aside and just lead him in dancing. You’re irritating like that, anyway.”

“I can’t do that, he'll kill me. I mean, that man is fucking ripped.”

Rowoon raised his eyebrow.

“And how do you know that?”

Juho pondered about maybe shooting himself with a rifle.

“I can see it through his compression shirts…I can also feel them sometimes when we’re dancing.”

“Well. Okay! We’re on a Yeonjun level of whore these days I see!”

“Oh fuck off.”

“So who paired up with your beloved baby boy for the waltz section?”

“He fucking paired with Dawon.”

Rowoon threw his head back in laughter.

“Of all people, of course Dawon would snatch your little crush.”

Juho was nearly on the verge of angry tears, burying his head into Rowoon’s shoulder in the most dramatic way. 

He hated having to fix his own problems.

“I am so miserable.”

“You are the only person doing this to yourself, my guy,” Rowoon smiled and ruffled his friend's hair before laughing once again. He silently finished his lunch before ushering poor Juho to class and running off to baseball practice.

When Juho entered practice at the end of the day, the board was already filled with the night’s tasks. Going over the choreographed and finished waltz section, starting the salsa section (in which Juho had entirely choreographed and created formations for), and touching on what bachata would look like. The cheer team had also been simultaneously formatting their own stunt section of the performance— they also had been creating the cheer-dance section that would feature both teams in unison. 

The day would be tiresome but Juho knew that there was only one goal that festered in his mind. 

“What’s up, you mean bully,” Yeonjun appeared behind Juho, whacking him with his ballroom dance shoes.

“I’m going to fucking kill you one of these days.”

“Whoa dude, use a tone indicator or else I might actually believe you. Are you going to reconcile today or pretend that you don’t want your tongue in his mouth?”

Juho sighed and decided to give into Yeonjun’s teasing. He had no competition, anyway. Dawon would show up and join in on the incessant bullying. Either way he knew that in the end, his friends were always going to be right (and they were always going to guffaw about it).

“Whatever. He’ll like me by the end of this practice, bet.”

“Wow, skipped a few chapters! You are delusional to think that after two weeks of being avoided he would even look in your direction! He’s probably falling in love with another dancer as we speak. I see the way he looks at Dawon.”

“Yeonjun, will you please let me live for once.”

Yeonjun only laughed and threw a comforting arm around the pouty Juho. Even though he loved to tease his friend, he knew his limits. 

Like always, Kino’s voice was louder than the fucking seagulls outside the gym. He started off the two hour session with cleaning the waltz section while Juho longingly watched his Jaeyoon be swept off his feet by a certain Dawon. Jaeyoon’s eyes never faltered away and Juho absolutely hated it. Unfortunately, Juho had been paired with Minho (they were the last two standing because it seemed as though everyone was a bit scared of the expressionless cheerleader). The last two practices had been incredibly bleak— Minho was nice enough but wasn’t comfortable sharing many details of his life. Ultimately, they never learned more than three things about each other that weren’t surface level.

When it came to the salsa section, Juho begrudgingly made his way to the front of the club and began teaching the careful steps to his routine. Unlike others, Juho loved throwing in parts into the dance that weren’t conventionally incorporated into latin dance. Oftentimes his goal was to make things more challenging as well as fun— his choreography took a bit longer to teach as he demonstrated bits and pieces of other genres slotted into the steps. He made an incredible effort to avoid Jaeyoon’s eyes as he did his best to be professional (he partnered with Kino to make things easier).

When they were done, Kino announced that they would pair with random people (and rotate a few times to get familiar) before assigning official partners for the salsa section. Without thinking, Juho immediately made a beeline to the unbothered Jaeyoon. The unassuming cheerleader was facing the other way, clearly looking for someone other than the desperate ballroom dancer.

“Jaeyoon, can we part—”

“Fuck off.”

Juho stopped in his tracks. After seeing how much Jaeyoon continuously ignored his terrible attitude, he was not expecting the ice cold tone of voice. He couldn’t tell if Jaeyoon really never wanted to see him again or if he was just waiting for an apology. Either way, Juho had no interest in harassing him any further. Feeling defeated and somewhat sad, he sighed and made his way to a concerned Yeonjun.

“Looks like you done fucked.”

“Yeah. I get that.”

“You really had ONE private lesson and he already hates you.”

“I get it, Yeonjun.”

Though they had begun dancing, Juho was very clearly distracted and sloppy with his footwork. Yeonjun did his best to forgive the poor steps.

“I have an idea, but you’re gonna have to not hate me for it.”

“Whatever it is, I’m not particularly interested.”

“I’m trying to be your wingman here.”

“I’d rather Rowoon be my wingman.”

“Rowoon has no idea what is going on literally ever.”

The two ceased to speak for a few minutes. Without noticing at first, Juho felt Yeonjun slowly move towards the center of the gym in swift fashion. He had no idea why, but it seemed as if he wanted to get closer to the pile of dancers concentrated at the very middle. Juho didn’t have the energy to ask why Yeonjun was suddenly pushing them around until he watched him whisper into the ear of Jaeyoon’s dance partner. Frozen, Juho gazed in horror as the dancer simply shrugged, nodded, and let go of the cheerleader’s hands. He watched as Yeonjun winked and grabbed Jaeyoon’s partner, leaving the two enemies alone.

“That fucker,” were the only words Juho could muster. On the other hand, Jaeyoon didn’t want to be there either.

“I’m not comfortable dancing with you.”

“That’s absolutely valid and I understand that. You don’t have to,” Juho swiftly said before backing up as his cheeks lit up. It was the first time his tone didn’t sound challenging. 

Jaeyoon only looked on in confusion.

“Okay.”

Jaeyoon looked unamused as he turned to find a different partner. Juho was only reminded of their last interaction and how he failed to run after him and attempt to clear up the misconceptions.

“Jaeyoon.”

There was no response as the cheerleader walked farther away.

“Jaeyoon! I’m sorry. Please. Please just dance with me this one time.”

Frozen in his steps, Jaeyoon whipped around with a small smile playing on his lips. An immediate wave of relief washed over Juho as the cheerleader made his merry way back to him.

“No fucking way.”

“Don’t push it.”

“I wouldn’t say that unless you want me to go back to Dawon.”

“Please don’t.”

“You sound a little whiny, I like it.”

Juho gulped as Jaeyoon snaked his hand around Juho into a closed position. 

“Before I let you off the hook, I have some words for you, dickhead.”

Juho felt dizzy as the cheerleader’s scent of incense was ten times stronger that particular day (or maybe he just hadn’t smelled it in two weeks and the presence of it was intoxicating). He looked down at Jaeyoon’s fitted shirt and let himself trace the outline of his physique. 

“First of all. Do not disrespect me like that again. Don’t go off saying I’m annoying when you agreed to help me in the first place. That is fucking juvenile and embarrassing. Second of all, be a fucking captain like you’re supposed to and get over your little dancer ego. THIRD of all, if you have something honest to say, then fucking say it to my face.”

Despite telling Jaeyoon not to look down at his feet while dancing, Juho did just that. He felt Jaeyoon’s warm fingers grasp his chin and force it up. Juho’s eyes were equivalent to a golden retriever that had just been scolded. Honestly, Juho definitely found the sudden stern tone incredibly attractive.

“Do you fucking understand?”

“Yes. I’m sorry.”

“Then we’re good?”

“We’re good.”

The following minute was incredibly awkward as Juho struggled to remain in eye contact with a confident and smug Jaeyoon (which was out of the ordinary for him). The dancer had been so sloppy that he didn’t even fight back when Jaeyoon suddenly took the lead and pushed Juho into turns he hadn’t done in months. Despite feeling like he was walking on ice, Juho secretly enjoyed being controlled. 

Jaeyoon’s words rang like tinnitus in his ear. If you have something honest to say, then fucking say it. He gulped and broke the silence.

“I’m sorry that I’m sloppy today. You’re really fucking pretty. And you have been pretty. I'm just too much of a coward to say it out loud.”

Jaeyoon nearly doubled over at the sudden compliment. Juho was still looking down at their black and sleek shoes, finally defeated once and for all. If he was going to go for it, he might as well give it his all (seeing as if Jaeyoon would never consider Juho as a potential love interest after their little arguments).

“I’m not sure how to respond to that.” Jaeyoon lied, a smirk playing on his lips. Juho finally made eye contact, silently begging Jaeyoon to forgive him.

 “If you haven’t already noticed, I’m really trying here.”

“Then speak up. What else do you have to say to me?”

“You uh. You smell really nice.”

“I do?”

“Yeah.”

“I burn a lot of incense. I’m glad it doesn’t bother you like it does other dancers.”

“I love patchouli. I could breathe it in all day if I could.”

Juho felt a small part of him die as he felt his walls crumble to the ground and erupt into a fire. For once in his life, he channeled Yeonjun. Jaeyoon raised his eyebrows in shock.

“Why do you know what scent that is?”

“It's one of my favorites. And you’re wearing it.”

“Well for the record, your Versace Eros cologne is a treat to my nose. Male manipulator cologne, my weakness.”

Juho felt a rush of warmth shoot down his spine right from the top to the bottom. He felt his palms get sweatier in the hands of the cheerleader (who was still leading the dance). He let go of a smile (and a little giggle).

“What? You think I haven’t kept tabs on you too?”

At that point, Juho had regained his confidence and overtook the lead once again. He recounted the careful steps to his own routine in comfortable silence, helping Jaeyoon with repetition. He didn’t even deny himself the pleasure of pulling the cheerleader just a little bit closer at every cuddle and dip. 

“You look incredible in those compression shirts, by the way.”

“Slow down with the compliments, I’m getting fucking whiplash. After being a dick to me for weeks you can’t expect me to react well to suddenly getting showered with your inner thoughts," Jaeyoon said, but he was clearly enjoying every minute of it.

Juho apologized once again and cursed himself for being so obvious— of course Jaeyoon could tell he’d been attracted to him all along. He was terrible at acting.

“But thank you. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit I like when you wear baggy shirts. Just enough that I can see your collarbones.”

“You want me to wear more?”

“I wouldn’t mind that.”

“Then you have to promise that you’ll pair with me for the bachata section.”

“Why that section?”

“You know why, Jaeyoon.” 

The cheerleader only smiled in response, pulling himself closer to the dancer. 

“I’ll be honest, too. I actually kind of like when you’re mean to me. It's hot. Plus, poor Minho has been refraining from speaking to you because he knew I’d get jealous.”

It was Juho’s term to look shocked— he could not imagine in a million years how the energetic and flirty Jaeyoon could ever be friends with the most stone-faced man he’d ever met.

“Minho is your best friend??”

“Yes. I know, he hates me too.”

The two shared a laugh as Jaeyoon flawlessly rolled out and back into Juho’s chest for a quick dip. Juho made it linger a little longer than it should have, falling behind in the routine before yanking him back up to where their foreheads were nearly touching. He felt his heart in his throat as Jaeyoon looked down at his lips.

“I can’t believe we could have been flirting like this if you weren’t so fucking dense.”

“You just told me you liked it.”

“Okay well, I got fucking impatient.”

“Sorry,” Juho said as he let his right hand travel from the correct position on Jaeyoon’s shoulder blade to the back of his neck. He watched as Jaeyoon visibly felt chills through his body, feeling each ring in his wet hair.

“Are you comfortable with my hand here?”

“It feels nice. You have nice hands.”

“They are very talented. I have other skills.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Jaeyoon responded, hoping for the salsa section to move faster so he could move onto the beginnings of bachata. The heat between the two was fundamentally changing his brain chemistry. 

As if right on cue, Kino closed out salsa and began explaining the details of their bachata section. After they touched on that, they would officially partner for salsa and prepare to learn bachata choreo during the second hour of their following practice. 

The two men waited in rushed silence, standing shoulder to shoulder as Kino took nearly ages to finish up his demonstration and speech. Once it was finally finished, Jaeyoon nearly stumbled to the ground at the speed in which he was brought to Juho’s chest.

“This is where the real fun starts, I suppose,” Jaeyoon joked, their foreheads finally meeting. 

“Before doing anything, I’m going to need you to guide my hands where you’re okay with them being.”

“Mean and consensual. Maybe you are a good captain.”

Juho’s body tingled as he felt the cheerleader’s red hot hands guide them onto his waist— granted, a little lower than what was normally acceptable. 

“Get a good grip, I don’t mind.”

The two continued to dance in silence, learning each other’s bodies and figuring out what was best for their comfortability. Juho cursed himself for not giving in a little sooner— he could have been having sensual bachata with incredibly high sexual tension weeks beforehand. Finally, he was having fun.

“Can we do a private session today? Like…maybe private private?”

“Well fuck.”

“What?”

“I feel sleazy if I take you to my apartment.”

“Who said I wanted to go to your apartment?”

“Fuck, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that in any way but innocent. I have a mirror in my room, you know.”

“A mirror…in your room. I’m sure it has multiple uses.”

“Jesus christ, Jaeyoon. I was at least trying to be innocent.

He felt the cheerleader laugh as he was pressed up against his body (Juho hoped that Jaeyoon didn’t notice the clear nerves that were coursing through him).

“I meant we can grab the cheer practice room after this. I know it's open until midnight. I can sneak us in.”

“I’d like that.”

“You’re not going to yell at me this time?”

“No, but I might do other things to you.”

“You wish.”

👯‍♂️

“You horny fucks said all that to each other and you didn’t let him kiss you???” Minho was in absolute shock as his best friend pounced onto the couch late that night.

He had just returned from his private session with his new fling, a little extra bounce in his step.

“That would be no fun. He’s wanted to kiss me for weeks but instead he served me attitude. Why would I give in that easily?”

Minho shrugged, his coffee intake already at maximum capacity that day.

“That’s a good point. Besides, I don’t think you’d be able to control yourself if that man kissed you before the performance.”

“Another good point. I’m about to implode but I gotta keep this professional— I can’t kiss him until after the performance or it's going to be all I think about until then.”

“Despite your level of horniness, I’m quite impressed with your self-disciplinary skills. Turning a new leaf I see.”

“I don’t want to rush anything.”

“Well, what the fuck did you end up doing then? Am I supposed to believe that all you did was dance?”

“We did dance, asshole. We’re adults. But I won’t lie and say there wasn’t any grinding or wandering hands.”

“Fucking save it, I don’t want to hear it.”

“You say that yet you came home wearing Jisung’s hoodie last week.”

“You are on thin fucking ice.”

Jaeyoon put his hands up in defense. 

“I am just saying! I am not the only one catching dick out here!”

“You haven’t even kissed him yet!”

“And when I do kiss him, it’s going to be hotter than it would be now so shut the fuck up.”

“How about you shut up— I have homework.”

“And what does that entail? You’re going to be smelling Jisung’s hoodie all night and inhaling his hormones, you lonely omega.”

“First of all, that’s a lot of talk for someone who wants to be bred. I am not an omega. Can we not talk about omegaverse? I’m trying to do differential equations.”

“And the process is negligible!” 

“Just shut the fuck up and accept your little win.”

“Oh I will, since you haven’t had yours yet.”

And with that, Jaeyoon succumbed to the incessant and violent beatings of Minho’s defense pillows— he would have hit harder if his heart wasn’t continuously palpitating from coffee laced with at least seven shots. Besides, he did have differential equations to solve (and the ever-long equation of minsung’s very strange situationship).

Despite the targeted attacks, Minho never heard the end of it that entire night (as he was trying to study through the chaos, Jaeyoon refused to practice his stupid routines in his room and chose to bother his roommate-who-wasn’t-his-roomate-he’s-just-codependent friend).

👯‍♂️

The team’s next practice unfortunately contained significantly less amounts of Juho— they were finishing up the salsa section and only teaching the beginnings of bachata. Juho spent the majority of the class teaching while Jaeyoon ultimately chose Yeonjun as his official salsa partner (much to Yeonjun’s pleasure). However, he wasn’t complaining (Yeonjun had a lot of Jaeyoon-spilling to do).

“He’s actually so gay for you," Yeonjun said with a shit-eating grin on his face.

“I figured that out last week.”

“It took you fucking long enough.” Yeonjun cackled.

“Well like, I kind of figured but also he also could have just been trying to be a good dance teacher.”

“No dance teacher would agree to private lessons with a cutie like you and pretend that it's innocent.”

“Okay well, a dance teacher who’s a complete dickhead might just do that.”

“It's so funny how different your impression of him is from mine. Juho is a big baby who pretends to hate people but is the first person to help them. Don’t let that big frame distract you from the fact that he wants to be held and doted on, I swear.”

At the sound of that, Jaeyoon felt warm chills run through his arms. He definitely considered Juho to be that type of boyfriend, but now it was canon. 

“Try complimenting him and see what happens,” Yeonjun dramatically winked before pulling a flustered Jaeyoon into a perfect inside turn. 

The two days before the bachata practice were incredibly grueling for Jaeyoon as he didn’t even have Juho’s number yet. He couldn’t even flirt with his newfound crush if he wanted to and the fears of their little stint being unrequited started to haunt him. He was a relationship person through-and-through and got the feeling that Juho wanted something along the lines of a friends-with-benefits situation (which Jaeyoon had tried before but ultimately caught feelings every time).

So when he entered ballroom for bachata day dressed in his best manwhore outfit, he was extra scared than usual. Immediately, the twink and the twunk were quick to jump to his side, letting his nerves calm a bit.

“I’m betting you’re just as excited to grind as Juho is,” Dawon said playfully as he threw sweaty arms over Jaeyoon’s clean shirt.

“And man I'm telling you I didn’t hear the end of it! It’s funny how he always denies he’s whipped until we figure it out,” Yeonjun was also sweaty (and also had his arms around Jaeyoon).

“I’m so stupid for not even grabbing his number last time. What if he doesn’t want me?” Jaeyoon expressed his concerns, leaning his head onto Yeonjun’s shoulder.

“Bullshit. Juho is too pussy to ask you for your number. He thinks you have a roster and doesn’t feel like competing unless you make a move.”

“Yeah, he’s giving you the power, dude,” Dawon continued.

“I’ve won, but at what cost?”

“I don’t know king, figure that out when you’re sucking face!”

And with that, the music turned on just a bit too loud (and Kino frustratingly turned it down). The team collectively went over their completed waltz and salsa sections before reviewing the bachata they had learned the practice prior. Jaeyoon felt his bones jitter as they finally finished the painstaking moves (he was annoyed that other cheerleaders needed more time than usual to finish any dance).

When they were to find partners, he was half-shocked to find Juho already feet away from him, dressed in the hottest clothing yet. His hair was pulled up into a small pony-tail to prevent his long bangs from getting in the way and he wore big, oversized gray sweats that made Jaeyoon’s mouth water. He also wore a large, oversized shirt that exposed his glistening clavicles. 

Once again, Jaeyoon felt like he was drowning in attraction. One thing was for certain— they had both dressed to cater to each other’s desires.

“God, you look good," Juho choked out.

“Well good evening."

“Sorry Jae…you just look good,” Juho made an effort to trail his eyes from the bottom of Jaeyoon’s latin dance pants up to the gray compression shirt complete with the loose choker. 

“Jae?”

Juho stumbled over his words.

“That’s uh…that’s what I tend to call you in my head.”

“That’s cute. Do I plague your thoughts that much?”

“You’re in there quite often.”

Jaeyoon couldn’t lie that he wasn’t also like that— he replayed their little dance session a million times before sleeping every night. He couldn’t get over the way Juho always let his hands travel up and down his waist and how he put his lips dangerously close to his neck without ever making contact. Even though it was driving him nuts, he still wouldn’t give into kissing before the performance.

“Do you like my bachata routine?”

“Did you make it suggestive on purpose?”

“I asked you a question first.”

“I like it. But I wouldn’t have liked it if I was dancing with someone else.”

“Then I made it suggestive for you.”

“Juho, I swear to god.”

The dancer laughed as he swiftly pulled Jaeyoon’s body close to his and immediately began falling into the crafted steps of his routine. Jaeyoon followed along with ease and focused his attention to the way in which Juho’s eyes were anywhere but Jaeyoon’s face.

“Stop being a whore, it’s painfully obvious.”

“It’s important to know your dance partner very well, Jaeyoon.”

“Do you need my waist size in inches, too?”

“Well, it would help conceptualize these tight little shirts you’ve always got on.”

“We have a performance in two weeks, get a fucking grip.”

“You’re not gonna let me do anything before then, are you?”

“You’ve got quite the nerve, Juho.”

Juho laughed and let his hands wander to the back of Jaeyoon’s neck once again.

“I don’t mean to push your limits.”

“Can we start with some lore first, for fuck’s sakes. I don’t even have your phone number.”

“Sorry. I didn’t even know you wanted that.”

“Are you fucking stupid?”

Jaeyoon smiled as he pushed their foreheads together and let Juho’s knee slot in between his legs. Juho didn’t respond (he was panicking).

“So I was a competitive cheerleader in high school, too— if you hadn’t already guessed that.”

“Impressive, I certainly could have guessed. I’ve been training as a ballroom and contemporary dancer since I was a kid.”

“It seemed as if both of us were unapologetically gay.”

Juho chuckled as he played with Jaeyoon’s hair.

“My parents were lawyers and were barely home. I was raised by nannies. They didn’t care what I did as long as I got good grades,” Juho sighed.

“I was a shit student but my mom is a history professor while my dad is an environmental activist/lawyer. They were hippie “cool” parents that were supportive of me. I guess I got lucky.”

“History professor? Of what?”

“Art history. Before that she was a counselor— part of the reason I’d like to become a therapist.”

“God, you’re so much more interesting than me,” Juho sighed, noticing how Jaeyoon was very much enjoying the hair-playing.

“What’s your major, Jae?”

“Counselling. I have a minor in human development, though. I want to be a therapist that specializes in counseling queer youth.”

“That is genuinely the most attractive thing you could have ever said. I appreciate that a lot— I was really closeted when I was younger and it took me years to figure out I didn’t like girls. I had therapists but I wasn’t comfortable enough talking about my sexuality. I figure if I had someone like you around I would have been less misguided.”

Jaeyoon smiled and nearly tripped on a turn.

“What about you?”

“I’m much less interesting than you. I’m an independent man who wants to become a dance professor and choreographer. My major is education and of course, minoring in dance.”

“Bullshit, that’s totally interesting. At least you’re not a STEM major.”

“Don’t insult Yeonjun like that.”

“Don’t tell me that kid is a STEM major.”

“Aerospace engineering. Don’t even react, I was gagged when I found out, too.”

“What the fuck.”

The two shared a laugh as they ignored Kino’s additional instructions at the front of the gym. The rest of the club felt invisible as they continued to fill in each other’s blanks.

“Are you in any clubs or other sports?” Juho asked.

“I’m in a few environmental activism and queer clubs. But no other sport— cheer is enough. But I did play volleyball off and on in high school.”

“I can see you doing that. Predictably, I was a competitive ballroom dancer in high school and did literally nothing else.”

“Any hobbies besides dance?”

“I like to go to my friend’s performances and sports’ games. I also enjoy reading history books.”

“Okay nerd,” Jaeyoon poked.

“I’m sure you have more hobbies than me.”

“That might be entirely true.”

For the remainder of the practice, the two continued to exchange facts about their lives and how they lived them— Jaeyoon was reeling from success and happiness. By the end of the day, they knew more about each other than they’d ever thought they’d know. Jaeyoon had no problem with oversharing and neither did Juho. Finally, the two exchanged numbers.

“You better text me,” Jaeyoon said, walking shoulder to shoulder with an exhausted Juho.

“Do I have permission to contact you at the most egregious hours of the night?”

“I’m always up. Go ahead. Send a photo or two.”

Juho raised his eyebrows.

“Selfies. I want selfies.”

“Yeah, I’m sure that’s all he wants!” Yeonjun said as if on cue, linking arms with Jaeyoon.

Jaeyoon blushed as Juho only giggled, somehow moving his body closer to him. The excessive heat and sweatiness didn’t seem to bother the both of them.

“I’ll send selfies as long as you send selfies, Jae.”

“Deal.”

“Are we having a sesh today by any chance?” Juho asked, his eyes gleaming with hope.

“Only if you send me a selfie fresh out of the shower when you get home.”

“Deal.”

“You guys fucking reek of homo,” Dawon said, breaking away from the two whilst dragging Yeonjun with him. 

“I was joking about the shower thing.”

“I wasn’t,” Juho retorted.

“Damn, ok.”

“Can we dance now?”

The two decided to practice within the gym that day, going over the bachata routine with a shocking amount of professionalism and avoidance of their clear sexual tension that rotted the air. They permeated the gym with mixed scents and heavy breathing driven by both arousal and exhaustion. The session ended once again— very dangerously blurring the lines of situationship and friendship— Juho had been resting his head in the crook of Jaeyoon’s neck for at least a minute before finally shaking out of it. Jaeyoon didn’t even fight it— he simply ran comforting fingers through Juho’s gray hair and played with the rings on his fingers. It took everything in the both of them to not close the distance between their lips.

“Tired?”

“God. I’m going to kill myself.”

“Not without me.”

“That’s gay.”

Jaeyoon gave a loose tug to Juho’s hair. Surprisingly, Juho let out a gasp.

“Don’t do that again.”

“Why?”

“Because I am dying to kiss you.”

“You will not be doing any of the sort.”

Juho let out an exasperated sigh (not serious, of course— he was there to respect boundaries).

“I’ll wait as long as you want me to wait. I don’t mind. You’re worth it, anyway.”

Jaeyoon felt himself smile uncontrollably, immediately throwing his forehead against Juho’s heaving chest. Not in the three years of college had anyone ever said something like that to him. God, he would have rather died than be caught in another failed situationship.

“Don’t flatter me like that.”

“Why? You’re an intriguing person and I’m trying to make sure you know that. Trying to make it up to you.” Juho swiped his thumb over Jaeyoon’s cheek and ruffled his hair. 

“What the fuck, dude.”

“What? I don’t even know why you like me. I’m a dick for how I treated you.”

“It wasn’t that serious. You were just really petty and stubborn. Besides, it was really hot.”

“Just because you happened to be gently masochistic doesn’t make my attitude okay. I’m really sorry for being like that. I'll try not to be such a dick from now own.” Juho continued to caress Jaeyoon’s face, making note of the smudged, loose eyeliner that was now permeating through the droplets of sweat.

“You don’t have to be so professional, you know. I mean, I really, really appreciate your attempt at healthiness but you can be a little mean to me sometimes. I already forgave you the day you told me I looked good in compression shirts.”

Juho smiled and silently kissed his fingers before pressing them to Jaeyoon’s lips. Jaeyoon returned the favor before ultimately breaking away from his body (but clasped onto his hands instead). Before the two parted ways that night, Juho gave the shorter one a quick back hug and a small kiss on his shoulder blade. Jaeyoon felt his mind race as he simply ruffled Juho’s hair and kissed his collarbone. Anything to avoid a kiss on the lips.

“I like this.”

“What? Us? Or kissing each other in unconventional places?”

“Both.”

“Then make sure to text me that shower selfie. Only if you want to, of course.”

“I want that and more.”

“Good lord, fuck off already.”

Juho smiled once again before slinging his duffel bag over his shoulder and trekking to his car. He’d walk Jaeyoon to his off-campus housing but the cheerleader had argued that he wanted to go over some salsa steps (some of it was confusing to him and he didn’t want to fall behind or Yeonjun would trip him again). 

“Oh, and Jaeyoon?” Juho whipped around for one last moment, catching Jaeyoon in a trance.

“Yeah?”

“I apologize for dipping you without consent. That was fucked up.”

Jaeyoon cocked his head and smiled affectionately.

“That’s the one thing I was hoping to hear from you. From now on, just dip me whenever. Unfortunately, I liked it.”

The two exchanged one last bout of smiles before Juho made his way home for good.

By the time Jaeyoon got home (to Minho’s apartment that wasn’t his home), his aerospace friend had already knocked out on the couch. However, Jisung was nestled by his side, complete with a flurry of day-old hickies. He simply laughed to himself and threw a blanket over the two of them and switched off the lights and tv. 

He’d barely brushed his teeth when his phone pinged—

Unknown number sent you an image.

Jaeyoon giggled to himself as he swiped to see Juho in his wet glory— smirking with a towel around his neck and showing off a nicely-toned stomach. It was only at that moment when Jaeyoon noticed his sleeper build (and huge, veiny arms). He quickly added Juho’s contact to his roster and immediately changed his name and contact photo.

Jaeyoon: i would do unspeakable things to you in his moment

Ballroom papi: i’d let you too

Jaeyoon: no sexting before the football performance i will block u

Ballroom papi: how about suggestive photos of my body that aren’t my dick

Jaeyoon: i want collarbone photos pls. i’ll send u suggestive cheer shots

Ballroom papi: i knew you had a thing for collarbones

Jaeyoon: i will not deny or admit to anything

Ballroom papi: i have a thing for your waist. we’re even

Jaeyoon: i figured

Ballroom papi: by the way what am i in your phone

Jaeyoon: the cia could not even get this info outta me

Ballroom papi: glad we’re on the same page

Jaeyoon: i will find out sooner or later you manwhore

Ballroom papi: okay good night baby boy

Jaeyoon: hey???

Jaeyoon: what the fuck!!!

👯‍♂️

“So, Dawon stole your boy for swing, didn’t he?” Rowoon was laughing once again at a distressed Juho.

“Leave me be,” Juho said, burying his face into his arms as he rested on the table.

“Aren’t you supposed to have different partners for each section, anyway? Why are you moping?”

“What if Dawon steals him from me? Yeonjun already got him for salsa.”

“You are insufferable.”

“It is a totally valid thing to fret over!”

“You’re sending private, suggestive messages to each other complete with specialized contact names and you’re worried that your friends are capable of stealing him from you?”

Juho dramatically screamed into his arms. Rowoon only shook his head and laughed.

“What if he just wants to be friends with benefits? I mean, we only recently learned things about each other.”

“I’d say the feelings are probably mutual given your weird enemies-to-lovers slow-burn history. I don’t know why you can’t just ask.”

“I’d rather die.”

“You’d always rather die than take the easy suggestion. God, why do you ask me for help when all you do is whine and ignore me?” Despite Rowoon’s tone, he was grinning. Sighing, he patted Juho’s head and gave it a good ruffle.

“Just focus on your performance for now and figure out your little fling afterwards.”

“That’s sickening. Now I’m just going to anticipate rejection.”

“Can you anticipate any confidence while you’re at it?”

Juho only groaned again. 

“For christ’s sake Juho, your friends are your friends for a reason. They may be mean in theory, but they have no interest in cockblocking you. They’ve been yelling at you for ages to get laid.”

“You are totally right, but I cannot fathom being wrong.”

“God, you're annoying. I hope Dawon beats you with his jazz shoes.”

Juho grumbled into his arms and hoped the warmth of Rowoon next to him would ease his mind just a little. A comforting presence is all he really needed before facing his crush after the series of text messages he and Jaeyoon had exchanged the night before.

Just then, his phone pinged. Juho felt his body freeze in response.

“Oh? Could that be your 'baby boy?'” Rowoon raised an eyebrow.

“Why do you have to put it like that,” Juho groaned, pulling out his cellphone.

Sure enough, Jaeyoon’s contact name flashed on the screen.

slutty-waisted dreamman: how do you feel about private lessons from me?

Juho: huh

slutty-waisted dreamman: what, you think you’re the only one who can teach?

Juho: okay so what are we learning

slutty-waisted dreamman: how do you feel about pom?

Juho: i’d rather you hate-crime me

slutty-waisted dreamman: perfect! you free after 6 today?

Juho: what if im not

slutty-waisted dreaman: okay see you in the gym at 6! xoxoxo

Rowoon was simply giggling as he hovered above his best friend. Juho hadn’t noticed that he’d been reading all of their texts.

“Slutty-waisted dreamman? That’s a little objectifying.”

“Believe me, he’d love this name,” Juho smiled to himself before immediately shaking his head. 

“And stop reading my messages, you bitch.”

Rowoon gave an apologetic smile and sat back down.

“Tell me how your pom date goes, you big fucking pussy!” Rowoon said while rising from the table, giving Juho a gentle bonk on the head. “Love you!” Were his last words before heading off to baseball practice.

👯‍♂️

Juho joined his class with his heart stuck in his chest as he once again let his mind wander in places that were currently banned. Part of him loved the control that Jaeyoon had over him— something about his own dominance being challenged was exciting. Finally, he had competition in a gratifying and somehow warm way.

He smiled to himself the entire day, putting his normal “resting-bitch-face” at ease and completing his assignments faster than usual. He knew that both of them had to conjure enough self control to not cut the dance practice and opt to makeout on the indoor bleachers instead. Tempting— but partner dancing was about body control. Juho could at least handle that.

He nearly bolted to the gym the minute his last class ended— he was already 30 minutes early. He half expected the room to be empty until he heard the sounds of the floor reverberating loud movements along with deafening pop music. He grinned before excitedly pushing the double doors open to find a sweaty cheerleader immersed in an exhausting warmup.

“Hello beautiful." He smiled, trying to be flirty. Jaeyoon gave him a look of disgust.

“Don’t ever speak to me like you’re frothing in my dms like a middle-aged man again.”

“Point taken, damn.”

Jaeyoon only smiled before making his way to Juho, giving him a warm embrace and resting his head upon Juho’s shoulder. He was sweaty, but the dancer enjoyed the hotness of his body as it had been chilly outside. And of course, he smelled fantastic. 

Jaeyoon pulled back but did not release his hands from Juho’s neck. He was positively glowing— something about the simple interaction gave Juho a spark of hope. Surely, an fwb-bound relationship did not look like that.

“Are you ready for stiff-straight arms and pom-poms?” Jaeyon said with glee, running his hands through Juho’s cold hair.

“I’ll be honest, Jae. I really, really hate pom.”

“Well, that’s because you’re a prickly bitch who sneers at the cheer team. I bet your ass you’ve never once taken a pom lesson. And yet here you are, talking shit about it.”

Juho stuttered and struggled to maintain eye contact.

“See! You bitch!”

“Okay, you got me there.”

“You are so incredibly easy to crack. What happened to cool and bitchy Juho? Can I have him back for like one moment so I can relive my fantasies?”

Juho felt his cheeks dust over with pink. 

“I am not about to push you up against a wall like a Thai bl.” 

“No but like, you can degrade me a little bit.”

“Okay, that’s enough. Chop chop stunt boy.”

Jaeyoon rolled his eyes before whipping out a pair of bright golden pom-poms, relevant to their university colors of sparkly gold and black. Juho could suddenly imagine the cheerleader in his element— dressed in school colors with golden glitter plastered all over his face and dark eyeshadow embellishing his eye-smiles in the most flattering way. He visualized the wide beaming and the perfect hits to the beat, the strength he exuded to flip girls in the air and catch them safely with commanding arms. 

He had no idea when cheerleading suddenly became so intricate to his eye or when he stopped hating the sport so much. 

“Watch me first. I choreographed about three eight-counts to a Loona song.”

“God, you are gay.”

“Eat shit!”

Jaeyoon laughed and set the center of the gym as his stage— head down, poms behind his back, feet stanced apart in parade rest. It suddenly occurred to Juho that he had never once seen Jaeyoon actually perform a cheerleading routine. He felt his heart jump in anticipation when Loona’s “Girl Front” blasted from the speakers.

There were no words to describe the flow of Jaeyoon’s movements. Juho had always considered pom to be a stiff, straight-forward, happy-go-lucky genre but neglected the elements of quadruple pirouettes, tight arms, and rock-solid ab control. He had totally brushed away the fact that Jaeyoon too, was a trained dancer.

He thought about the first day he’d ever seen him— the perfect toe touches and the hyperextension of his legs. The comfortability of entering a class he’d never taken before, the ability to initiate the partner-improvization with full confidence. Everything clicked all at once and as he suddenly felt the overwhelming respect and guilt course through his body, every breaking wave crashed with emotions. He felt like tearing up at the sight of his newfound crush performing for just him— just him. Jaeyoon’s eyes were dead-set on the front of the gym and he was accentuating his movements as if there were a crowd of drunk university students watching and cheering him on from afar. Jaeyoon, he thought, would always go full-out. 

When he was finished, his shoulders heaved up and down but Juho could only stare at the wide smile the cheerleader had locked in place. He was kneeling on one knee while his other leg was planted solid on the ground; he had one hand behind his back and the other shooting straight up, pom-poms shaken and full of month-old glitter. Without speaking, he waited at least five seconds before pulling himself up, bowing, and marching off the stage in national-guard style. 

Juho was only speechless, reeling from the performance he had the honor of seeing. Jaeyoon only smiled in response.

“You look like you just fell in love with me.”

“I think I just fell in love with pom,” Juho said, covering his face with both hands, finally accepting his reality. “Man…you were truly meant for this, huh?”

Beaming, Jaeyoon flew over to the dancer with speed. He cocked his head and ruffled Juho’s chilled hair in loving fashion. 

“I’ve always been insecure about my lines and my appearance. Your feedback means a lot to me.”

Jaeyoon felt cozy as Juho brought both hands to the side of his warmed cheeks and brought his lips to each side of them. They plopped down together, criss-crossed, and directly facing one another. 

“I want you to teach me everything. Don’t hold back. I can handle harsh criticism.”

“Teaching isn’t about harsh criticism. Ignore the parts you’re good at and remember the parts you wouldn’t want the audience to see, even if they couldn’t tell the difference for the life of them,” Jaeyoon nearly whispered. “And don’t forget, the crowd has never seen the routine before— the missed steps you take, the messy arms you stress over, and the poor formations mean nothing when you’re smiling.”

Juho could only grin like an idiot.

“Because in the end, they don’t notice anything but what they enjoy the most.”

“Jaeyoon. Not to be insufferable, but I’m glad we hated each other.”

“Bitch, you hated me.”

The two laughed and butted their heads together, hands clasped around the other. The rest of the night consisted of a confused Juho and an entertained Jaeyoon— they went over the first eight-counts for nearly two hours as the ballroom dancer struggled with the perfectly straight lines and horribly difficult dec-tuples of flawless turns.

For once, he was humbled.

👯‍♂️

It was a few days before the performance when the two men had entirely refocused their attention to the stress of the major collaboration. The teams had finished all sections of dance as well as the team section— the tension between the dancer and cheerleader had cooled down; emphasis was heavy on footwork and teamwork. 

Juho was a little bit sad— Jaeyoon had periodically stopped giving him forehead kisses after their little pom date; the last time was after their country swing dance date. Jaeyoon had given him a wet cheek kiss and promptly told him he was going smooch-celibate…whatever the fuck that meant. Even though he knew it just had to do with the performance, part of him couldn’t help but worry that Jaeyoon was losing interest. 

Jaeyoon on the other hand was just as worried— he still couldn’t tell what Juho’s intentions were with their relationship; he had gone back to strict coaching and furrowed brows instead of shy giggles and gentle touches. 

On the bright side, both were only concerned with the way in which their team would perform–—Jaeyoon didn’t want to make the cheerleaders look stupid, and Juho didn’t want to make the dancers look stupid. Though clearly whipped for each other, they were all about business. 

So when they had their final rehearsal, emotions were mixed and confused— the room was heavy with tension and anxiety. Jaeyoon and Juho had last sent cute messages two days prior— which was out of the ordinary according to Yeonjun. 

Out of every section, it was apparent that bachata was the most challenging for the cheerleaders. The dancers didn’t have much trouble with team choreo yet the cheerleaders struggled with steps weeks into their practicing. While the coaches appeared enthusiastic, it was clear that a great deal of frustration was being hidden.

Juho had corrected nearly five different people that day— their practice started early in the morning and would run until around 9 at night (in the dance world he called it a hell day). Though he was aware most of it was probably due to nerves, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly apprehensive for the football performance. They had been practicing for weeks— if the performance didn’t turn out well, he couldn’t imagine the two teams would remain in harmony afterwards.

Nevertheless, he pressed on, sternly correcting foot placement, quick tempos, and sloppy arms. 

From the other side of the gymnasium, he could hear the soft chatter of conversations get louder and louder— softness elevated to yells in a quick second. Rushing over in a hurry, Juho found a cheerleader and a dancer bickering over footwork; he quickly calmed the situation and dealt with the two as best he could. The entirety of the gym was watching (now silent). 

Kino’s voice boomed from the front.

“I need you all to be in good morale…a reminder that we have a performance tomorrow night. While the main goal is to have fun, I need everyone to be civil with each other as you have for the past several weeks. I know you have it in you,” for the first time that month, his voice had no hint of friendliness. Eunkwang only stood by in agreement. 

Juho turned back to the disgruntled pair.

“Behave,” was all that left his lips before traveling back to his original position.

“Whoa, angry Juho…kind of sexy.”

“Go away Yeonjun, I’m not going to hold back just because we’re friends.” 

Yeonjun raised his eyebrows and silently stepped away— seemingly to find Dawon. The air was thick with tension and the dancers didn’t want to disturb their co-captain any further. Similarly, the cheerleaders followed in suit.

Juho barely noticed the presence of his soon-to-be-boyfriend venture up towards him— his eyebrows were furrowed and deep into concentration as he watched a cheerleader perform a series of steps.

“Hello my latin dance king.”

Startled, Juho whipped around in annoyance to find a happy-go-lucky Jaeyoon, complete with a day's worth of sweat. He was heaving alright— but he was still smiling. Apparently he couldn’t read the room.

“Jesus fuck, you scared me.”

“Sorry…it feels like we haven’t talked in a few days.”

“Yeah. We have a performance.”

“Yes, but you fail to consider that I’m insecure.”

“You have no reason to be insecure. What you should be worrying about however, is the handful of your teammates that can’t seem to get shit right.”

In a second, silence washed over both of them as Jaeyoon’s grin dropped. Immediately, Juho felt regret pouring over him. He didn’t mean it— of course he didn’t mean it. The frustration had ultimately got to him (and it was no excuse). They had a routine to nail and he couldn't be getting distracted so close to the performance.

“Well. Maybe if your teammates weren’t so fucking uncoordinated we would have been able to pull off better stunts…but you’re not trained for those, of course.”

Juho cocked his head, genuine anger pooling in his stomach. He was so sick of himself constantly starting fights for no reason. He thought they were finally past this.

“Oh, so you want to play that game? I could point out every flaw in every member of your team at this moment.”

“You think I couldn’t do the same for yours?”

Jaeyoon stepped closer, once again feeling the warmth of their danced-out bodies colliding. 

“You know. You don’t have to be like this. We fucking talked about this, Juho. You have a serious dickhead problem.”

“Don’t talk about my problems.”

“If you want me to be near you ever again, you have to take accountability for your rudness.”

“You’re pushing it, Jaeyoon.”

Running over in a panic, Dawon separated the two before the entire gym could realize what was taking place. Once again, Juho had no idea how to set the bar for being a good captain. He cursed himself— but he couldn’t get over the anger and frustration of how Jaeyoon was making him feel (and how the cheerleaders were driving him mad). He didn't mean it, he was just angry. Being strict would benefit all of them at the end of the day. 

“You can’t be pulling this shit a day before the performance, you two know that, right?” Dawon’s demeanor had never been so serious before— Juho swore he must have been a different person.

Jaeyoon nodded his head towards Juho.

“He wanted to comment on how my team sucks ass, so yeah, I'm going to bite back. There’s a reason we’re a university-official team and you’re not,” he spat back.

Juho's mouth dropped in fury. “Jaeyoon, I’m going to fucking kill you.”

Dawon bunched up both of their shirts as the furious dancer thought about lunging towards his crush in fervor. Even Yeonjun was too afraid to step between the two of them.

“Jaeyoon, too far,” Dawon warned.

For a split second, Jaeyoon’s eyes softened as he figured he had royally fucked up for good. Jaeyoon knew that Juho’s biggest reason for hating cheer was the seniority they had as an official team— how they were priority over the dancers. It made him fiery to the core— and Jaeyoon had taken a jab at that insecurity. 

The cheerleader's eyes fell soft. He gave it a moment before opening his mouth again. “Okay, I’m sorry that was too much, I—”

“Just leave me alone right now, please,” Juho had lost all the power in his voice, opting to give up instead— even though he had started it.

For the rest of the night, the team practiced in silence. Jaeyoon and Juho kept a large distance between them except for their bachata review— in which they avoided eye contact and awkwardly completed the moves with zero chemistry. Juho shut down any chance Jaeyoon may have had to apologize. He was more hurt than anything— no longer feeling anger.

When Jaeyoon returned to his roommate that night he was awfully upset. However, it had been his fault that time (or maybe, both their faults).

“What did you do? And could you stop crying on my living room floor? I just cleaned it.”

“I fucked up.”

“Clearly.”

“I said mean things about his team and I really shouldn’t have. But to be fair, he fucking started it. He has anger management problems and it's really making me think twice.”

“Maybe you should run.”

“On second thought, it's still kinda hot.”

“No. Shut that shit down. The school offers free therapy sessions. Aren't you training to be one, anyway?”

“I simply am not fumbling him.

“Stand on business you twat.”

Jaeyoon grumbled into the floor before popping up and wedding himself against the couch and a disgruntled Minho. Asking him advice was no use, Minho was brutal.

“Get off me.”

Ignoring that statement, Jaeyoon laid his head upon Minho’s lap and proceeded to fake cry (or real cry— Minho couldn’t really tell). The aerospace student gently pushed Jaeyoon’s head off his body.

“First of all, touching is reserved for one person and one person only— we’re all very aware of who that is. And second of all, I’m sure if you kiss him for real after the performance all will be forgiven.”

“There’s no way he wants to kiss me now.”

“I highly doubt he’d refuse sucking your face.”

“You are so grotesque.”

“And you have got to start developing a personality that doesn’t revolve around men.”

“Lee Minho, you are going to hell.”

“And I know who I’m taking with me.”

👯‍♂️

The air was crisp and dark as the football players tackled each other to the ground with great force— their breath forming clouds of fog against one other. It was a freezing night; but the players’ were full of warmth, sweat staining their uniforms.

Juho watched with deep guilt as the cheerleaders performed stunts along the sidelines, creating entertainment for the half-sober, half-drunk college kids that cheered them on. He watched Jaeyoon flawlessly lift girls in the air and catch them when they fell. The smile that spread on his face never faltered— even if he was hurting inside.

The dancer was sandwiched between Yeonjun and Dawon— all three of their faces painted with intricate makeup. Their theme was a satin black paired with the cheerleaders’ bright red. The dancers wore dark, smokey makeup, black-painted nails, black chokers, and flared pants. The cheerleaders wore deep-red uniforms, roses decorating the girls’ hair and the boys’ collars. The two colors were meant to create contrast on the field— almost as if the dancers were there to highlight the cheerleaders performance.

The boys had let the girls on the team decorate their faces in silver glitter and rhinestones, having a carefree time in the locker room (in which they were not supposed to be, but the girls loved them too much to care). It was the most fun he’d had in ages— despite the looming circumstances before him. 

The stubborn men had not spoken at all after the fateful night. Juho had thought about it but Dawon advised him it was best to let Jaeyoon come to him first and apologize for what he had said. At that moment, he tried to enjoy the blinding lights of the football field and the university spirit that enshrouded him. He enjoyed the feeling and the rush of being around so many students like him— it made him all the more excited to perform for them.

When the first half of the game ended, the cheerleaders crowded onto the bleachers right in front of the row of dancers. Juho’s heart ached as he watched Jaeyoon’s smile immediately fall as he joined the rest of the girls. He never glanced at him once— his eyes staying on the ground. Even so, Juho had time to study the features of Jaeyoon’s makeup.

Only some of the male cheerleaders had heavy makeup on— Jaeyoon was one of them. His eyes were sparkly, almost glossy. There was a light tint of red on the outside of his eyes and a deep shade at the corners. He was wearing black eyeliner and some sort of lip tint, complete with blush. 

Juho wanted to die.

“Stop looking at him, like, for real this time,” Yeonjun whispered, glitter cascading off his nose.

“I can’t help it. I want him so bad.”

“Do you still think he wants you?” Dawon’s voice was semi-serious. Maybe it was due to nerves, but Dawon hadn’t dropped the sternness since the day before and it was starting to scare both his friends.

The loud chattering of half-awake university students seemed to drown out Juho’s thoughts as he waited for Kino to signal their entrance onto the field. The football players were slowly making their way off the turf and drowning themselves in water. Juho’s heart was thumping against his chest— he was never nervous for performances…but that time was different.

He thought about how terribly it could go if Jaeyoon still held the grudge against him. They hadn’t practiced on good terms (which was possibly the worst thing they could have done). His hands were clammy as he thought about the dips and gentle lifts he’d have to subject his crush to. His heart stopped in his throat once he saw Eunkwang signal the cheerleaders. He quickly stood up and latched onto Yeonjun’s wrist.

“You’ll be fine. Just act like you’re in love with him and all will be forgiven,” Yeonjun smiled, a genuinely comforting smile.

Juho took a deep breath and put on a wide grin as he marched onto the field, the students roaring behind him as the speakers announced the collaboration between the university cheerleaders and the trophy-winning dancesport club. A wave of euphoria rushed over Juho as the sudden excitement to perform reminded him of why he was on that turf in the first place.

As soon as the song started, he jumped into character. 

It started with a waltz, of course. Kino had opted for the routine to start off slow and boring, almost tricking the crowd into thinking the entire performance would be bland to watch. The dancers dramatically stretched out their hands to roll their partners into their chests. Jaeyoon’s first partner (waltz) was Dawon— and Juho’s waltz partner was Minho. Though Minho had routinely been deadpan, Juho was almost shocked to see that he had the most pleasant expression he’d ever witnessed. He was smiling in a strangely romantic way, charming both Juho and the crowd.

When the switch-up to salsa occurred, he felt his chest glow with the screaming of the bleachers. He was still salty that Yeonjun had stolen his boy for that part— instead Juho was paired with a pretty boy with long hair (he had forgotten his name but he was one of the only other male cheerleaders besides Minho and Jaeyoon). His nervousness grew more intense as he realized the bachata section was right after, meaning he’d have to face Jaeyoon (and look directly at him or it would break the performance rules).

He felt his world stop when the music switched up for a second time, the partners transitioning to their new ones in trained fashion. He tried his best to keep his body loose as the familiar scent of Jaeyoon washed over him. Juho took a deep breath and kept his hands sturdy on the cheerleader, finally facing him directly.

Jaeyoon was smiling, of course. Even if it wasn’t real— he would still give the students a good show. It wasn’t until the tightening of Juho’s grip did he provide some sort of jolted reaction, somewhat hissing in surprise. They refrained from speaking but anybody would be blind to ignore the closeness of the two as opposed to the couple next to them— Juho was purposefully pulling the cheerleader closer than he should have been, grazing his hair against Jaeyoon’s. 

Even if sensual bachata was designed to be intimate, they were about five times worse. Juho could feel the enjoyment radiating off his partner, finally starting to see a hint of genuine forgiveness. At the first cuddle, Juho heard the soft giggle coming from Jaeyoon. Pulling him back around, Juho pressed his forehead against the cheerleader’s and could almost feel the crowd’s eyes on them (they had started screaming louder at that point). 

Dawon and Yeonjun (they were partners for the bachata section) laughed together after stealing a quick glance at the steamy couple, their giggles drowned out by the deafening music. The entire team seemed to know what was going on. After the bachata ended, Jaeyoon gave one last deep smile before twirling off to his final ballroom partner.

The swing section flowed flawlessly until the finale— all dancers and cheerleaders banded together in perfect fashion to execute the conjoined choreography. There were cheerleading stunts, dance lifts, hip-hop, and a mix of jazz thrown into the bunch. A couple of yells were added in at the very end to keep the energy going— eliciting a mighty response from the bleachers. When the music ended, the combined teams screamed a final “hah” before posing in the turf.

Juho had sworn he’d never heard the students be so loud before. It made sense, normal dancesport competitions were incredibly calm (as most of the dances were slow waltz performances). Kino and Eunkwang signaled the team to get together for a quick bow before lining up into single file and heading back to their spot on the bleachers.

Before that could be done, however, Juho had barely steadied himself when a certain cheerleader came bolting from the other side of the field. Turning to face him, Jaeyoon cupped the dancer’s face and pressed his lips against his own. If the crowd was loud before, it was even louder then. Despite the certain cringe of the situation, it was a perfect ending to the students cheering them on.

Stumbling backwards, Juho finally processed what was happening and wrapped his fingers around Jaeyoon’s neck, pulling him in for a second kiss. He could hear the cheers of his friends and the rest of the team absolutely living for their long-awaited kisses. They finally subsided after the seventh or eighth one, the idea of professionalism settling back between them.

Jaeyoon was rather timid as he reached the bleachers, trying to bury his face into Juho’s chest. A few of the members squealed as they peppered the two with questions about their speculated relationship. It appeared that no one had expected the two “enemies” to ever be into each other. Even Minho looked as if he was enjoying the moment.

Little words were exchanged between the two as they sat for the second half of the game, hands clasped tightly together despite the buckets of sweat that slid off of them. There was only the comfortable silence filled by heaving of chests and deep breaths. Yeonjun and Dawon looked at each other, grinning ear to ear. Despite having done nothing to further their relationship, the two felt as if they had accomplished something.

“I think they liked it,” Jaeyoon had broken the silence once the game ended and the students began pouring out of the stadium.

“We may have just single handedly solved the war between the teams.”

“You might be right about that.”

“I don’t know, cheerleaders are kinda hot,” Juho giggled, brushing a loose off Jaeyoon’s face. "Something about the way they move..."

“Okay, come through character development! Jokes on you, I’ve always found dancers to be hot.”

“Took you sluts long enough,” Yeonjun laughed, already hanging off of Dawon’s back. Both of their makeup was heavily smeared from the screaming and sweating. They had been drinking the last half of the game and their words were happily slurred.

“You guys are now the montague-capulets of the fucking school. Your gay ass kiss is gonna be on the barstool sports page in about one hour.”

“They better get this one too,” Jaeyoon said before grabbing Juho’s face and leaving a wet kiss on his cheek, complete with smudged lip tint. Juho gave one back with equal force.

“Homo!” Yeonjun screamed, clasping his hands together in joy.

“Truly, I cannot believe you were able to hold back,” Dawon said, pushing Yeonjun off his shoulders. 

“I was gnawing at the bars of my enclosure, respectfully,” Jaeyoon remarked.

“There is nothing remotely respectful about that statement.”

“Suck my ass, Dawon.”

“You have another ass to suck,” he said before deviously scurrying off with a more-than-tipsy Yeonjun. 

The new couple simply ignored the comment and laughed alongside each other, holding hands like middle school lovers. It was as if all had been forgotten— the night before erased with the birth of their desire for each other. It was as if peace had settled over the long-standing opposition.

For a moment, the air became still— it was nice, but something felt unresolved.

“Juho.”

“Huh?”

“It's my turn to apologize. We clearly have issues…you more so than me, I’m not going to lie. But I was awful to say what I did to you yesterday…I know how annoying it is for cheer to have more importance to the school than ballroom does, despite you guys proving that you deserve more funding and respect. If anything, I hope this performance opened the university’s eyes to this. You didn’t deserve that, I’m sorry.”

“Oh? That was arousing.”

Jaeyoon furrowed his eyebrows.

“What was? I’m just trying to apologize.”

“I know. Accountability is hot. Speaking of that, I’m sorry, too. I need to stop start starting shit. But thanks for apologizing. Yeah, it sucked. But I know you didn’t mean it. It's not your fault, anyway. Tensions were high. We all wanted to kill each other yesterday. But the performance turned out okay."

Jaeyoon rolled his eyes and gently slapped Juho’s shoulder. 

“Even if it's not my fault I still shouldn’t have said it. And yes, I forgive you. Never again, yeah?” Jaeyoon said.

“Never again.”

Another silence settled— but that time, it was comfortable.

“Another thing. If we’re to continue whatever we have going on…whatever relationship you prefer us to have…I want to know that I’ll be with someone that is actively working on himself. I don’t want to be subjected to apologies from you blowing up on me every week. Is that clear?”

“Yeah—you're right. I don’t want to let my ego get the best of me anymore. The goal is to be self aware. I have to be a good captain, or whatever.”

“So you promise me you’ll try not to be a dickhead at every disagreement?”

“I promise. I’ll go to therapy for you. Since you know better than anyone what that means.”

“No, go to therapy for yourself.”

Juho smiled in agreement.

“Deal.”

👯‍♂️

“No way,” Rowoon’s voice was cheerful and full of glee— he’d seen the crazy performance and the blurry video of his best friend locking lips with his long-time enemy. He figured he missed quite a few chapters since their last meet up.

“I fucking know, dude. Not only that, we got some praise from the university president and the student body. I’m thinking they’ll finally put some respect on our name.”

After the major performance, the two teams had a huge celebratory dinner that included some of the university board members (courtesy of Eunkwang). The night had some interesting outcomes— Minho had brought Jisung (they had a weird fight that ruined Minho’s mood for weeks— they hadn’t spoken much since), the dance team advisor had found more offerings for team collaborations, and more funding for the dancesport team was discussed.

“That’s wonderful news. How’s the situation with your boy?”

Rowoon’s question was meant to be gentle— but it made Juho gulp. Though they had kissed after the performance and gone home together for a romantic evening once the dinner was over, the boundaries between them were still unclear. The idea of a fwb-relationship still floated around in Juho’s head and frankly— it frightened him. Though he was about 50% sure Jaeyoon wanted to date, he couldn’t fully agree with the sentiment that his crush was reciprocated. 

Rowoon immediately noticed the distraught on his best friend’s face.

“You cannot seriously be overthinking again. You are so hopeless. Jesus christ, just ask him out. You’ve received every single signal on the planet. You kissed, you hooked up, you danced together, you talked about your anger management issues, etc. etc.”

“How’d you know about that last one?’

“Nevermind that, ask him out you coward,” Rowoon said— once again with a sickly sweet smile plastered on his features.

Though every conversation with Rowoon led to despair, Juho thought it would be the best time to finally listen to his friend. He had collected all the hints and mewled over them a million times. Besides, their texts had gone back to sweet and cheesy gross shit. They had a supercharged fwb-relationship with blurred lines that drove Juho to near murder. It had only been a week.

“OKAY!” Juho suddenly slammed his fists down on the table, causing Rowoon to jump and hold his head in his hands.

“You are intolerable.”

“I’m going to fucking do it! I’ll ask him out after ballroom night on Friday.”

“Oh, I was going to go to that— Dawon asked. Can I film it?”

“Eat shit.”

Rowoon only laughed.

👯‍♂️

“Your presence is agonizing,” Minho said, watching in irritation as Jaeyoon laid face-first on his floor (what a surprise). Minho’s living room was his frequent moping area— the fellow cheerleader just expected his friend to be there when he came home from the lab.

“I don’t think he wants to date me.”

“It's been a fucking week. A week. ”

“He doesn’t want me.”

“You have gone into detail about every hookup you’ve had with him. It's. Every. Single. Day.”

“We’re just sleeping together.”

“Oh and your little pet names, movie nights, good morning texts, and dance dates are just friendly?”

“It means nothing if we’re not dating.”

Minho slammed his book down onto the coffee table. Jisung must have really gotten to him that month.

“We are not having this conversation a tenth fucking time.”

Silence fell over both of them as Minho continued reading his book. Jaeyoon proceeded to roll around on the floor. It was a few minutes before either of them said anything.

“Okay. Fine. I’ll do it.”

“What, kill yourself?”

“No, asshat. I’m going to ask him out. But if I get rejected, it's your fault and I’m going to use you as my emotional support dog.”

“Like you already don’t?”

“Okay maybe I will kill myself.”

Jaeyoon screamed into a pillow and proceeded to launch it at an unimpressed Minho.

“When are you going to do it then?” Minho asked, launching the pillow back.

“First of all, Ow. Second of all, I’ll do it on Saturday night if I don’t hang myself first.”

“Bring flowers, be romantic.”

“And what the fuck would you know about romance.”

“Jaeyoon. Do not start.”

Jaeyoon threw the pillow back one last time before realizing he was fucked— Minho had gotten up to tackle him. For the rest of the night, the two bickered incessantly. Thankfully, Jaeyoon was too happy to care about his millionth beating.

👯‍♂️

“Well, don’t you look dapper,” Dawon squealed as he looked Juho up and down.

He was dressed in a full ballroom outfit— complete with the sleek black shoes, the slick-back hair, the dark makeup, the silky white shirt (with a plunged neckline), and the shiny black pants that accentuated his figure. 

It was Friday night— the monthly ballroom club event in which everyone was invited to dance in the gymnasium was taking place. It was a two hour event that included every type of partner dancing; they would rotate for hours— ranging from waltz, bachata, salsa, tango, hustle, and even polka. 

Juho had planned to look stunning that evening in order to properly ask out his crush. He had invited Jaeyoon in the most annoying way (according to Rowoon). He’d sent a bouquet of flowers directly to his door, inviting him to a club event that was so unofficial it had been plastered onto the pegboards of every classroom. Charming, he was.

“I’m betting money that man is going to show up to outdress your ass,” Rowoon appeared from around the corner, making his way over to join his friends.

“Ah, the gentleman made it. Welcome to a sport other than baseball.”

Rowoon gave a little bow in response to Dawon.

“Can’t wait to watch you eat shit.”

“Oh, Dawonie. I’d like to see you try.”

As always, Rowoon looked as if he wouldn’t hurt a fly (despite the terrifying things that came out of his mouth at all times).

“I may shit my pants,” Juho said, his hands clamming up. The nerves and fear of rejection had been slowly creeping up on him— especially during his classes that day.

“Your nice dance pants? Shameful. Maybe you can sell them on reddit afterwards.” Dawon cackled.

“Foul. You are foul.”

“Is Yeonjun coming today?” Rowoon asked, changing the subject.

“No. He’s getting laid.”

“Thank god. If I had to deal with him and Dawon together tonight I would have shot myself point blank,” Juho breathed a sigh of relief. He watched as Dawon pouted.

“That’s my ride or die. Fuck you.”

“Your ride or die is ditching us for dick.”

“It's a girl, actually!”

“Wow. What a switch up. Love our bi king!” Rowoon clapped.

Juho grumbled as he messed with his hair, double checking his carefully procured black-painted nails. He’d wanted to be as professional as possible— maybe even steal the cheerleader for a dance right in the spotlight. It was traditional for a lead to pluck a follower from the crowd (completely random stranger) and bring them forth to the dance floor. He’d ask Jaeyoon at every round, of course. He wanted to stretch out his manicured hands and gently bow. He wanted Jaeyoon to feel prized.

His thoughts were interrupted when his friends gently nudged him.

“Dicks up! Your femboy has arrived.”

Emerging from the large doorway was Jaeyoon— perhaps dressed even more extravagant than his counterpart. In direct opposition to Juho, he took the sparkly route. His loose-fitted silk shirt was an ombre of baby blue and lavender, complete with shimmer. He wore black pants and brand new latin dance shoes (that Juho immediately noticed and could appreciate the effort) as well as shimmering highlights on his collarbones and cheeks.

His hair was also done up, his eyeshadow following the theme of gentle glow. Dawon, Rowoon, and Juho looked on in complete fascination, mesmerized by the sheer confidence that radiated off the cheerleader.

“You know, I haven't actually seen him before. You chose well, dude,” Rowoon whispered under his breath.

“This might be the moment I throw myself in front of a train,” Juho replied back, visibly panicking as he watched his crush make his way directly towards him.

“We’re leaving,” Dawon said quickly.

“No wait! Introduce me you co—” Rowoon started.

“We’re leaving!”

And with that, Juho watched in horror as Dawon dragged his best friend to the other side of the gym in distress. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath before meeting with Jaeyoon’s eyes.

“Hello my slow-dancing king.”

“Lord, please stop greeting me like that.”

Jaeyoon cocked his head, the shimmer on his cheeks slightly blinding Juho.

“You’re no fun. You look nice though. Scrumptious, even.”

“And who was it that forbade me to talk as if I am a starving man in your dms?”

“It doesn’t count if I’m doing it.”

Juho rolled his eyes. The silliness of the moment was abruptly thrown off when Jaeyoon stepped forward to gently run his hands through Juho’s gelled hair.

“You really went all out.”

“So did you.”

“I aimed for us to be the main characters this evening.”

“With those colors, you’re the main character, Jae.”

Jaeyoon only giggled. He reached forward to interlock their hands together as well as pressing a quick kiss to Juho’s cheek. The dancer could feel the sticky gloss of residue it left. He liked the feeling.

“Even your lips are sparkly.” Juho was simply staring at his features in awe.

“Do you like it?”

“You could wear a trash bag and I would still beg for your attention.”

“You know, for someone who comes across so dominant, you sure like to bow down.”

“I’ll admit it's difficult when it's with you.”

Jaeyoon only smirked, moving shoulder to shoulder with Juho as he waited for the event to start. More people had begun pouring in— all wearing some form of ballroom attire. There were professionals, students, teachers, and those who came for fun (and those who were dragged alongside their dance-happy friends). The lights were dimming as Kino and Eunkwang (who merrily asked to volunteer) fiddled with the speakers at the front of the room. 

The giant white board had “waltz” written upon it. It would be the first dance rotation of the day. A perfect beginning to a perfect night, Juho had thought. Just as he had planned, the dancer held his hand out for the cheerleader to gladly take. A slow song blared on as soon as Juho brought Jaeyoon close to his body.

“This is incredibly romantic,” Jaeyoon commented.

“More romantic than two nights ago? That bath recharged my whole soul.”

“Shut up, not in public,” Jaeyoon hissed (although he secretly loved the mention of their candle-lit bath).

“We can do it again tonight.”

“What? The bath… or …”

Juho only laughed.

“You knew exactly what I meant. We can set a new round goal this time.”

Juho let out an “oof” as his partner rammed a knee into his groin. Jaeyoon simply covered his act of violence with a sickly sweet smile.

“Okay, noted. I’ll shut up.”

“Thank you.”

After the waltz, the rotation swiftly moved onto salsa, tango, samba, and cha-cha. While the two mostly danced together, Dawon just had to abandon Rowoon and steal a few dances from the twinkling cheerleader— smirking at Juho every time (he was going to kill him). It was almost attractive to see just how great of a ballroom dancer Jaeyoon had become.

He had no issue moving his hips in all the correct ways, hitting every beat with ease. He picked up combos so fast that it made Juho’s head spin. He thought about all the ways he could throw his partner off— but to no avail. The cheerleader took every surprise-move with grace. Juho wanted to makeout with him then and there.

The entirety of the event consisted of poor Rowoon barely following along to Dawon’s intricate steps whilst the star-crossed lovers danced in perfect unison that disgusted the other two. Kino was giggling over the fact that Juho refused to choose anyone else to dance with— despite the general etiquette of ballroom. He was supposed to choose a different partner each time. However, he barely even let Dawon steal a few dances.

The majority of people had trickled out of the gym by the time the two hours were up. Despite that, Juho and Jaeyoon were still endlessly dancing— thanks to Kino keeping the speaker blaring. Dawon and Rowoon had simply chosen to watch the two dance as if they were a product of a Disney feature film.

“This is horrendous,” Dawon commented, receiving a smack from the baseball player.

“Shut up. This is where it gets good.”

“Rowoon, we have got to leave.”

“Absolutely not, I'm staying put. I listened to him complain way too much for me to miss this shit.”

“Fair. But the minute they start locking lips like starved sailors I am out.”

“Great. I’ll enjoy the show.”

“Freak.”

Their bickering could hardly be heard by the two boys that still remained on the floor. Really, they had been having emotional conversations during their entire dances. They could only stare at each other lovingly for so long— it started to get weird. However, they remained immersed in their own little world.

“You ate every dance, for real.”

“Courtesy of your training. Your harsh, harsh training.”

“Don’t remind me.”

“You’re so cute when you want to impale me. Be mean to me tonight and I’ll be yours forever,” Jaeyoon blurted out, causing Juho to briefly stop their waltzing.

“Is that so?”

“You will no longer hear any more of the sort.”

“Jaeyoon.”

It was the cheerleader’s turn to abruptly halt. Juho had slid both hands down the sides of his waist and held him firmly against his pelvis. The room was quiet besides the droning of music in the background— they both knew that their friends were paying attention. It didn’t matter anyway, everyone knew what was going to happen.

“What?” Jaeyoon appeared puzzled.

“I just want you to date me. Can you date me?”

Juho could see Rowoon shoot his hands up in happiness from his peripheral view. He so desperately wished his friend would simply fuck off. Kino was staring from afar, his hands slapped against his mouth. Humiliating.

“No fucking way.” Jaeyoon's mouth hung open— in shock or in disgust, Juho couldn't really tell.

Juho nearly bursted into tears at the sound of the words. He had no idea how to react at that point— looking towards his friends in a panic. Dawon only shrugged while struggling to restrain an excited Rowoon.

“No fucking way you get to ask me first.”

“What?” Juho’s tears were still caught in his throat. They hadn’t made it out just yet. 

“No. Absolutely not. You’re saying yes to me. Will you go out with me?”

Juho took a second to gather his thoughts before a huge smile grew onto his face. Something devious followed.

“I’m not succumbing that easily. I’m supposed to be the lead, right?” Juho said, brushing his lips gently against Jaeyoon’s, thankful that his love was reciprocated.

“Dance to the death, morons!” Dawon’s voice was like nails on a chalkboard. However, he had exactly the same thought that Juho did.

“You’re literally not going to win this,” the dancer cackled.

“Cap, colossal cap. Kino, play something.”

“Don’t involve me in this,” he shouted back.

“Play something or I will cyberbully the dancesport account on Instagram again,” Dawon griped back.

“That was you???”

“Shut up and fucking put something on.”

Scowling, Kino haphazardly threw on a cha-cha beat, making his way over to Dawon in order to rip him to shreds. It was the perfect distraction for the dancing fools stuck in the limelight.

Of course, Juho started. He led Jaeyoon through quick turns and footwork— appreciating the fast pace Kino had set for them both. He knew that cha-cha was one of the cheerleader’s weaknesses. It was one of the fastest styles of dance and he would frequently screw up the quick feet. However, the dancer was surprised to see how well he was keeping up. Competition had begun rising as he started to feel the pushback from his partner. This was their natural habitat.

“You’re never going to get away with this, Jae.”

“Watch me.”

In a split second, Juho felt a foot gently kick him off balance— forcing him to fall out of tempo. Jaeyoon immediately took the opportunity to take control, taking the lead position with ease. Juho had no idea where he’d learn to practice the lead position, or how he’d gotten so good at it.

“You fucking cheated.”

“And? I’m not here to play nice, since you never did with me.”

“Okay. Hot. Fair. Jesus christ.”

Jaeyoon snickered as he expertly pulled his own mentor in and out of dizzying turns. Juho had only followed Kino before (and Kino had always gone easy on him). It was suddenly difficult to keep up with the movements as he felt himself being outdanced by the one he had taught. A humbling experience, he thought.

The song ended with a rapid dip— Juho gripped Jaeyoon’s neck so tightly that it left deep red spots in his glistening skin. They breathed heavily for a few seconds before hearing the loud cheers from the three boys behind them (they had forgotten their presence, anyway).

“God. Fuck you,” Juho panted.

Before he could bring himself upright, Jaeyoon gave a quick smile before gently letting go of his body. The dancer felt himself plunk onto the floor below him. 

“No way.”

“You deserved that.”

“You know what, I totally did. How long have you been waiting to do that?” Juho laughed, his head hitting the floor.

“As long as I’ve been practicing to lead.”

Juho let out a guttural laugh as he sprawled out on the floor, accepting his defeat in glory. The ground was cool and inviting— he was happy with the view of his crush looming above him.

“So. Will you go out with me, Juho?”

“I will.”

And with that, Juho allowed himself to be pulled from the ground, directly into his lover’s arms. There were only hoots and hollers from the room— the two boys immediately interlocked fingers before bolting out of the gym to escape the teasing.

They barely got home before their hands were exploring every inch of each other’s bodies. 

👯‍♂️

“You better be fucking ready for this game, man!” Yeonjun pounded on Juho’s bathroom door months later.

“Yeah, your boyfriend is performing a routine today during halftime. Don’t bail on his ass,” Dawon added on, joining the pounding. 

“Both of you need to die,” Minho’s voice could only be heard in the distance (he was sitting on the couch reading— predictably). But there was still a smile on his face.

The two boys nearly fell through the door as Juho opened it in a hurry. His makeup was done and so was his hair— he’d been perfecting his new mullet for the purpose of impressing his boyfriend. Jaeyoon had a special pom solo he’d be performing at the basketball game that evening.

“Okay. Get in the car losers.”

Arriving at the gym on time was a problem— the four boys poured in right as the first half was ending. They were joined by multiple members of the ballroom club all there to support the cheer team’s performance. Kino and Eunkwang sat at the very front— they held a little sign that said “Dancesport loves Cheer.”

Over the past few months, the two teams had routinely supported each other in both competitions and performances. The bleachers always had a reserved spot for the dance team— and the dance team always had a reserved spot for cheer. The cheerleaders had learned the shouts for every dance routine (and vice versa). Not only did it boost morale, it also boosted the importance of the dancesport team at the university. More people (especially the school board) had finally begun to take the team seriously— providing studio options for off-campus practices and sufficient funding for their competitions.

Minho, Dawon, Yeonjun, and Juho looked on in glee as the cheer team made their way to the middle of the court. Rowoon had rushed in at the last minute, squeezing himself between Yeonjun and Dawon. Even Jisung (Minho’s boytoy) had somehow made it, only earning a side eye from both Yeonjun and Jaeyoon. They said nothing about it.

The performance was dazzling— Jaeyoon’s solo was complete with perfectly executed turns and killer smiles. Juho was suddenly thrown back to the day he had performed directly in front of him. His cheers were louder than anyone else’s as he proudly announced that he was his boyfriend (which made the crowd even louder).

By the time the cheerleaders had left the court and mingled with the dancers, the basketball game had been entirely forgotten. The focus was on the team's strange bond that seemed to capture the attention of the students that cheered from the bleachers. Even though most weren’t aware of their strange rivalry, their interest was piqued. 

“That was fucking incredible, you’re so incredible,” Juho cupped his boyfriend’s cheeks and left kisses all over them.

“If you can’t tell, I was only staring at you.”

“How could I not?”

Jaeyoon only giggled as he sat down on Juho’s lap— making the others coo at them. Minho only rolled his eyes (but he was secretly screaming for his best friend’s happiness).

The game continued on— and the teams continued to talk. They continued to bond and find friendships and relationships with one another— erasing the damage that had once brought them apart. 

Jaeyoon laughed excitedly with his friends as Juho only looked at him with desire.

“I love dance, but I definitely love you more,” he said, eagerly waiting for a response.

Laughing, Jaeyoon responded with a kiss. "I love you, too."