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"Aand we're done for today." the dance teacher yelled. The room groaned in relief. "Don't forget your partner exam next week." He added and the room groaned in annoyance.
Half of the students dragged themselves to their bags to make their way to the showers and next classes maybe, the other half slumped onto the floor in exhaustion and refused to move. Yugyeom's bones screamed for him to lay down too, but there were more important things on his mind. He walked towards his bag and pulled his phone out of it.
"Bam, let's go through our performance again. You do have time now, right?" He said, after checking it. Behind him, Bambam groaned.
"Yugyeom~! We already got this all down and we still have a week to perfect it."
But Yugyeom ignored him, he was typing on his phone with an uncomfortable frown. Bambam stretched to look over his shoulder.
"It's okay, I actually can't either. need to practice w bam" he read. "Aww, have you been stood up by Youngjae??!"
"I'm not- I haven't been stood up! It's just that recently our schedules don't match at all. The last time I saw him was 2 weeks ago.” Yugyeom bit his lips and pushed the disappointment away. He couldn’t blame Youngjae, in the last 2 weeks it had always been him cancelling their dates.
Now that this was done, he had more time to concentrate on his panic about the exam.
“But, that's not the point, Bam! We need to practice!” Yugyeom whined. “This performance is important and we're still so insecure in everything!” He grabbed their bags and dragged Bambam out of the room. "Let's see if we can find a free room!"
"Oh, come on Yugyeom, chill! You've been freaking out the whole 2 weeks! You know why you haven't seen Youngjae in 2 weeks? Because you've hidden in trainings rooms the whole time!" Bambam chastised him, but it didn't help. Yugyeom wasn't listening. He searched for an empty room they could use and as soon as he found one he connected his mp3 player to the stereo.
"Come on, Bam! Stop fumbling with your phone and start practicing."
"Coming~" he said exhausted. He put his phone away and started to pretend practicing. It was just incomprehensible. They had been working so hard the last week that Bambam could do this choreo in his sleep. And the choreo Yugyeom had created was amazing and if it couldn't get them an A, nothing could. There was no point in stressing about it. He wondered why Yugyeom was panicking so much. Was he afraid of the exam day or did it have something to do with Youngjae? There was only one person who probably could lift the mystery.
"Hey~" A loud cheery voice greeted the room and Yugyeom jumped.
"Youngjae! Wha-what are you doing here? You said you don’t have time?" He was shifting back and forth uncomfortably.
"Surpriiise~!" The other grinned, "I wanted to surprise you, that’s why I lied, sorry! You've been working so hard the last 2 weeks, so Bambam and I decided to make sure that you take a break!"
"You both-?" Yugyeom looked flabbergasted between his boyfriend and best friend. Then he sighed. "I'm sorry Youngjae, but we really need to practice! Our choreo is a mess and it's still insecure and- Ouch!"
Youngjae had stalked towards him and flicked his forehead with his finger. "Show me, and I'll decide if it's good or not." He said sternly and sat down expectantly. Yugyeom sighed and started the music anew.
Youngjae did his best to not scream in amazement like a fangirl and keep a straight face instead. Their choreo was awesome and it fit them so well; they got in synch, both excelling at the movements and it was so well put together that it made a great picture and Youngjae didn't want to look away. He had seen Yugyeom dance before and had been stunned by it. But that was nothing against the performance he was currently showing.
When they finished Youngjae let go of his own restraint and screamed a lot of "OH MY GOD!"s and "AMAZING!"s. Yugyeom blushed at Youngjae's outburst and in his vulnerability he didn't see the glance Youngjae exchanged with Bambam. With a surprised squeak he was dragged out of the room and along the hall by them.
"My stuff!!" He yelled, remembering his mp3 that was still connected with the stereo.
"Oh, right." Bambam run back to get it.
Yugyeom stepped awkwardly in place, Youngjae still hadn't let go of him. The older boy's grip loosened, his hand slipping down his arm and he played with Yugyeom's fingers.
"Gyeom-ah," he almost whispered, "what's wrong, why are you avoiding me?"
Yugyeom took Youngjae's hand and intertwined their fingers instead. "I'm not avoiding you. I'm just really scared of that exam." But Youngjae looked unconvinced. Before any of them could say anything else, Bambam was back with Yugyeom's and (which also had been forgotten in the moment of attack) his own stuff.
"Let's go!" Bambam said and went ahead.
After following him for a while, Yugyeom wondered, "Where exactly are we going?"
Bambam and Youngjae turned to him with wide grins on their faces. "The swimming pool!" They cheered in unision.
Yugyeom stopped. "But I have no swimming clothes with me."
Youngjae held up a large bag Yugyeom hadn't noticed before. "I packed your stuff!"
A fearful thought gripped Yugyeom and he could feel his cheeks heating in embarrassment.
"Di-d-did you snoop around my panties?!" He almost screeched.
"Well, actually, Jinyoung-hyung helped me packing, so there was no snooping around." Youngjae blushed. But from Yugyeom's face the whole color had drained.
"I somehow feel like that's even worse."
Yugyeom's suspicions turned true as he unpacked instead of his usual swimming trunks the speedos his mum insisted on taking along and which he had hoped to have hidden deep enough in his dressers. Apparently not. He stood in the changing room, feeling incredibly naked. "Thank you, Jinyoung-hyung..." He sighed and took another 5 minutes to gather his courage and stepped out.
Bambam and Youngjae were already sitting at the rim of the swimming pool and were laughing and talking animatedly. They looked like the best of friends and Yugyeom felt a wave of happiness. He creeped quietly closer, careful that they wouldn't notice him. When he stood behind them, he could hear what they were talking about.
Youngjae laughed loudly as Bambam said "and he was so obvious about it! You know how Yugyeom is. He has that awkward smile when you hit the nail on the head." "Haha, I know, what you mean! It is totally impossible for him to lie! Once he-" Youngjae stopped as he felt Yugyeom's disapproving gaze on him. He turned to throw him a sheepish smile, but froze when he took in Yugyeom's appearance. He noticed everything but Yugyeom's mischievous smile, before he was pushed into the pool.
Yugyeom laughed in victory until Bambam interrupted him. "It doesn't look like he's coming up again..."
"But he can swim-"
"Yeah, well, this sight, I mean, I'm not your boyfriend but even I am flabbergasted. He’s probably completely unconscious."
Yugyeom shook his head and jumped into the pool to save Youngjae from drowning.
"Thanks." He coughed, unable to find Yugyeom's face. Yugyeom tried to hide his body with his hands, "I swear I have normal swimming trunks! This was Jinyoung!" He blushed heavily. But Youngjae's face didn't look any better than his and his mumble of "I-i- uh, yeah.. well, that, uhm, anyway-" wasn't much convincing of his coherency either.
A sudden yell cut through the awkward atmosphere.
"BAMMATTACK!!!" And Youngjae was submerged again in the water as Bambam jumped onto his back. Yugyeom came to help his boyfriend, throwing Bambam down from him and felt betrayed when Youngjae attacked him in his turn. They fought, they laughed, tried and failed to submerge each other under water, measured who could hold his breath the longest and swam races as far as the small space between the people allowed it. Bambam tried to cheat, attempting to slip off Yugyeom's trousers, but Youngjae was quick to defend him, ending in Bambam almost losing his own in an embarrassing accident. They took a break as Bambam announced he needed the toilet. Yugyeom and Youngjae stood at the rim of the swimming pool and caught their breath.
"Now, tell me, what's up with you." Youngjae said as soon as he felt calmed down.
“I don-”
“Gyeom-ah, I know you’ve been avoiding me. It’s not just this exam. Whatever it is, I’m not going to judge you. I just want to know why.” Youngjae fumbled with the tiles, tracing their pattern, and waited for Yugyeom to speak.
"Well,” he hesitated, “mainly I really am nervous because of this performance. I want it to be perfect. But partly I was also afraid because this,” he motioned between them, “it’s so serious now and I am afraid you might realize you could have gotten someone better than me, I guess, and-" Yugyeom was interrupted by Youngjae's sudden, loud laughter.
"Someone better? Yugyeom, if I thought there actually would exist someone like that, I- I wouldn’t-... well, actually, I’d still be with you, but that’s not the point." He chuckled and continued in a low voice, "Actually, I’m glad. I was afraid too. That you found I'm not what you want. And that you’re avoiding me because of that." He looked up at the younger one and Yugyeom saw his own insecurities reflected in his hyung's eyes.
It was not just him who had doubts, Youngjae was the same. That thought gave him comfort and let his fear look far less scary. "Hyung. I never want anybody else. You're more than I ever could have wished for." At this, Youngjae started to smile shyly and Yugyeom couldn't suppress his own grin.
"I said you won't get rid of me now. So don't let me go either, you hear?!" The older said.
"I won't, I promise."
They giggled shyly together and intertwined their hands.
"Urgh, you two are gross.", came Bambam's voice from behind. “You know, if you guys have performance anxiety, there’s stuff for it.”
Together, Yugyeom and Youngjae pulled him into the water and started to tickle him when he came up again.
"Two against one is unfair!" He giggled, but barely made a move to defend himself.
(Yugyeom was in the showers when Youngjae spoke to Bambam. "Thank you for planning this today." He said genuinely happy.
Bambam grinned at him. "No problem, hyung, I had a lot of fun too. I like you and I'm happy that you two are well now. Yugyeom can be a real dickhead sometimes. But really, you’re almost on par with him." He chuckled.
"You little!" Youngjae laughed and ruffled Bambam's hair. He ruffled it stronger the more the younger boy protested. Being the youngest in his family, he never had a little brother to take care off, but he thought, if he had, he would want one like Bambam.)
(On their way home they stopped at a street food cart and got themselves some kimbab, spicy rice cakes with sundae and fishcakes.
“Wow this kimbab is really good!” Bambam exclaimed, holding it up for Youngjae to taste. The oldest ate the small piece right out of Bambam’s fingers.
“Mmh! You’re right! What is in there?!”
Yugyeom nibbled at his fishcake as he watched the two hyungs in front of him bicker. “Hey!”, he yelled when he got enough, “why am I suddenly the third wheel?!” He pushed himself between them and grumbled as the other two laughed.
Youngjae cupped his cheek and pulled him down, “A third wheel wouldn’t get this”, and kissed him on the lips.
“Ewww!” Bambam said mockingly and ran away giggling before Yugyeom could hit him.)
((Yugyeom sighed when they stood in front of his door, ready to say their goodnights. “You know,” he said, “this was really fun and all but somehow this was more exhausting than the last 2 weeks.”))