I Wanna Get Love ➤ Zhengkun ✔

chapter five

After countless hours, tired limbs, and accidentally stepping on Zeren's foot for a good number of times, Zhengting is finally able to perform what his group has been working on for two months. (It's almost a miracle, really, because Zhengting could have sworn Zeren was very close to killing him after he stepped on the younger's foot for the fifth time.)

At least Ziyi was less hostile towards Zhengting the further they got along into their dance practices. Of course, Ziyi understands the line of personal feelings and professional feelings. Well, apparently the line was the second the two were out of their practice room, and when Ziyi would growl at Zhengting as his goodbye. Not the most conventional goodbye, but Zhengting decided he would take it anyway.

Deep down, Zhengting understands Ziyi. If anyone were to have the relationship he and Xukun had, for example, Quanzhe, Zhengting knows he'd be pretty pissed at the other person. In a way, Zhengting admires Ziyi for being such a loyal friend, but it kind of sucks that the anger has to be directed at him . It is not Zhengting's fault things are the way they are.

Zhengting knows that Ziyi isn't a bad person at all. On the contrary, he's really sweet. It was hard for Zhengting to see that in Ziyi, especially with how he tended to present himself to everyone, but it was one day in particular when Ziyi's sweetness shined to Zhengting.

It wasn't uncommon for the two to practice alone together. They didn't say much when they practiced together, their focus on making sure all their moves were in sync and accurate. But of course, even after practicing for hours, Zhengting is not perfect -- he makes mistakes too.

Zhengting meant to do the move right, just how he always means to do right, because that is who Zhengting is. But being Zhengting also means that meaning to do something doesn't always have the desired outcome.

So there he was, crouched on the floor while rubbing his injured knee. Zhengting couldn't think of anything besides the throbbing pain on his knee. His eyes and jaw clenched. Everything from missing his step, to falling, to being picked up and cared for, raced by so quickly, even before Zhengting could really understand what was happening.

It wasn't until he had gone to sleep, under painkillers, that he realized that Ziyi had helped Zhengting get up and care for his bruised knee. Ziyi was the one who had taken Zhengting to his dorm and gave him the painkillers.

Zhengting isn't sure if it was because Ziyi was truly worried about him, or worried about their dance, but Zhengting knows one thing for sure: it was a very sweet act. It was an act that touched him a lot, more than he expected it, but it did. He, too, became less hostile with Ziyi.

Being on better terms with each other definitely helped make practice loads less awkward, and it was clearly visible to both Chaoze and Zeren. (Zeren would even interrogate Zhengting later.)

"Zhengting, are you ready?"

Zhengting looks up, seeing Ziyi dressed up in his dance costume. He has his hair tied up in a neat ponytail, showing his smooth undercut. Zhengting has always been a tad bit jealous of Ziyi's hair, as he has only ever had a boring bowl cut hairstyle. It may be boring, but it is comfortablefor Zhengting. Doing anything else, even simply changing up his hair a bit, scares him.

"Yeah, I just need to finish stretching a bit more," Zhengting responds, giving Ziyi a tight smile. Ziyi nods before turning away, and leaving Zhengting alone in his thoughts again.

He looks down on his own self, looking at his dance costume. It's bright, brighter than anything he'd ever wear on his own, but it looks good on him. His hair was also styled up, something he does occasionally for fancy events, and he even admits to himself that he looked good. The additional makeup they put on him helped, too. He always likes dance performances like these because it is the time where people can style Zhengting however they'd like.