-^* Are we clear? *^- | Haobin

*^- 1 -^*

The bus arrived at my stop. I pressed the buzzer and stumbled to the door as it came to a wobbly halt at the curb. I smiled to the driver as I hobbled down the step and onto the pavement, pulling at my phone to stare at my maps app even though I knew where I was going. It was one of those things where I wanted to look like I was doing something since I had a few minutes to spare. After swiping through my weather app for a moment, noticing a forecast of rain tomorrow, I headed off to the studio. It lay on the street corner of the next street over with a fast food restaurant opposite and a taekwondo studio next door. On the other side was a laundromat in which the old man who owned it lived above with one too many cats for an apartment of that size. You could tell because they'd linger on the metal balcony or scuttle across the windowsills and meow at pedestrians. Occasionally they'd all disappear if a particularly loud vehicle came past. The studio itself was relatively big with large floor to ceiling windows which lined the outside, meaning you could see into the yoga classes as you passed. The doors were big double doors which would lead into a reception where a small pretty woman would sit typing on her computer, seemingly not to be really typing anything at all. Every time I'd come here all I could think about is how much her typing pattern sounded like she was playing a pc game that only needs WASD and the space bar with the occasional mouse click. Usually she was quiet, the last time I came in was for my interview and before that was when I initially enquired about the job. Previous to that I came in high school trying to get dance lessons but had been rejected due to the popularity of the place. This time, the desk lady glanced up at me with her sly eyes and forced a small smile, telling me to go to the top floor and knock on the managers' office door. I nodded and thanked her before I trotted over to the stairs and made my way up.
A few flights later I ended up on a floor with a couple of smaller private dance studios down a hallway, and at the end a door with a chipped plaque which read "manager" and a poster about healthy eating below it.
I knocked the door gently. I waited a moment without response. After about a minute I knocked again, a little louder. I waited again. Nothing. As I went to knock for the third time, the door swung open. A man stood before me, slightly taller with chestnut brown hair and pouted plump lips. His expression was only describable as frustrated, and without another thought he pushed past me, his delicate handsomeness feeling like a momentary imagination. I watched his back as he faded down the corridor and turned to go down the stairs before a cheery voice snapped me from my trance.
"The new employee! Sorry for the wait." The inviting voice sang.
I turned my head to see the same burley woman that had interviewed me for the job. She was Mrs Kim, the owner of the studio. She was divorced and mother of one, an older teenage son who worked part time at the studio. She was a kind lady, slightly overbearing at times but sweet at heart. She invited me in with a gesture and adjusted the chair in front of her desk before taking her own seat opposite. I eased into the chair and smiled nervously as she took my documents from me.
"I've signed and read them all,"
"Thank you Hanbin, it makes my job a lot easier. Right, let's skip all the introductions and get to the stuff you want to know," She smiled with her rosey cheeks and set down the papers on her desk.
"So we'll be putting you with the kids dance classes for now whilst you get used to how everything works here. After that you can train through every age group with another teacher and after that you'll be on your own, sound okay?"
I nodded.
"Perfect. I was going to have Hao show you around but he seems to be in a mood at the moment so I'll go and fetch Jiwoong instead." She announced before lifting from her chair and striding out of the room hastily. Mrs Kim always seemed like she was in a rush, yet at the same time she had such a carefree demeanour.
I waited in her office for a moment, letting my eyes explore the room and picking apart the trinkets that lay cluttered on the shelves. Awards, certificates, pictures of her son and the occasional picture of herself when she was a professional dancer.
Eventually she returned. I turned my head to see her motioning towards the boy next to her. He was handsome, sharp jawline and pretty eyes. His face was angular and manly with a soft touch about it. He wore a short sleeved white tee and grey sweats. His arms were muscular and his shoulders were broad. I smiled and bowed to him.
"This is Jiwoong, he's been working here for a while now so he can show you the ropes and get you settled in. If you need anything I'm always up here but Jiwoong should help you out as much as he can."
I thanked Mrs Kim and followed Jiwoong out of the room. Mrs Kim shut the door behind us as she began to speak loudly into her landline phone.
"How old are you?" Jiwoong suddenly asked as we stood in the corridor alone.
"20." I replied plainly, smiling slightly out of politeness.
"Call me Hyung, I'm 24. You'll be the youngest except for Taerae."
I presumed that to be the son of Mrs Kim, given the little information I knew.
I nodded at his request and began to follow him as he walked down the corridor.
"Do you like working here?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Yeah, I wanted to be a kpop idol but I never found myself in the right place at the right time. But here is good." He explained solemnly. I nodded, thinking it safe not to ask anymore questions for now. We passed the two rooms, one with the door cracked open slightly now. I peered in out of curiosity. Within the room sat the boy with chestnut brown hair that had passed me before. He was cross legged with his back against the mirror, head in hands breathing slowly.
"We'll leave him be for now..." Jiwoong whispered, clicking the door shut gently.
"These are the private studios for us. It's also used for filming when we do dance videos for our social media's." He explained. We made our way to the stairs.
"This is our staff area basically, so in that door," he gestured to another glass door on the landing, "that's our break room. It's got a coffee machine and some couches but that's about it."
We then went down the stairs to the second floor.
This floor was much busier than upstairs, with multiple smaller rooms and the entrance to locker rooms at the end of the hall. The corridor was littered with couches along the walls as waiting areas and the decor was fresh. The final floor was the ground floor. It had the larger rooms and was where the yoga classes and fitness sessions took place. There were another set of changing rooms on this level and the hall was divided by the desk in the middle.
"This is Kyungsook, she teaches sometimes but she's mostly here at the desk,"
The small lady at the reception desk smiled with the same tone she had when i'd first come in and quickly turned back to her work. I took a peak as we passed to go to the locker rooms, noticing that she was in fact playing a game.
I smiled to myself, thinking it cute. Jiwoong took me around the locker rooms and told me about the cleaning. We then went back up to the staff area and sat down at the table which stood in the middle of the room.
"Your schedule for the week is already on the wall so you can take a picture to remember but you'll be teaching the 7-8 year old kids. I taught them for a while and they're all sweet so you should be fine." He explained.
"Thank you." I nodded as I smiled, to which he finally returned my gesture with a sweet smile back. Smiling suited him. He had pretty teeth and his lips curled cutely.
"Why did you want to start working here?" He asked me. The question caught me off guard, he hadn't asked me many questions prior to this.
"I've always enjoyed dancing. I learned when I was a kid and did it as a club in high school." I replied honestly.
"I see,"
"What about you?" I returned the query.
"It seemed like the next best thing to being an idol..." he sighed, "anyway, we have teachers from all different backgrounds here."
As he went to say more, the door clicked open. I turned my head slowly to see that same boy from before.
"Like, Zhang Hao here, he moved from China to here three years ago hoping to be a violinist. But you don't earn much money from it so he started working here on the side."
I kept my eye on this Zhang Hao, watching how he avoided looking at me and sighed to himself before collapsing onto a sofa and pulling his phone out.
"Hao teaches teens when he's not busy but he's mostly here for the YouTube promotion."
I nodded in response, turning my head back to Jiwoong.
"Mrs Kim's son doesn't come here much. She makes him work here but he's not that into dancing so he teaches the little kids." He continued.
I felt off as he spoke. That feeling when someone's watching you. As if a pair of eyes was staring at the back of my head.
"Aside from that, our staffs small so it's just us really. I think you'll fit in, you seem cool."
I giggled and smiled at the compliment.
"Thank you."
"No problem! Do you want to exchange numbers to talk about work stuff?"
I agreed, so he put his number into my phone, naming his contact 'Jiwoongie Hyung'.

For the rest of the day I checked the rota and took a photo of it to remember when I was working. Jiwoong talked to me about certain rules and how the school taught and the kind of things I should be doing in the lessons. Whilst I talked to Jiwoong, the lingering feeling of that other boy, Hao, stayed prevalent. Eventually me and Jiwoong went to greet the kids and I shadowed him in a lesson to get a feel of what I was supposed to do. The kids were nice, though loud at times, they had good spirits and were very eager.

I left the studio at five, coincidentally the same time as Zhang Hao. I bumped into him in the staff locker rooms on the third floor when I was grabbing my stuff from my new locker. He waltzed out from the staff area in short shorts and a tee. His legs were muscular but pretty and long. His face seemed tired, yet he raised an eyebrow upon seeing me. He opened his locker gently and took out some sweats which he pulled over his shorts and a hoodie which he slowly pulled over his head. I was busy trying to fix the keychain on my bag as it had caught itself on the latch of the locker as I pulled my bag out.
Once I unhooked it, I turned and gasped in surprise at the sight of Hao right beside me.
"I like the keyring." He said plainly, expression unreadable. I glanced down at the keychain that I had just saved from certain death and smiled politely.
"Thanks." I replied. The keychain was a small doll that I had made in high school during textiles. It was a hamster with a plump middle. It was poorly made but had somehow survived for this long.
His head turned to face me, I could feel his hot breath against my cheek as he stared at me.
"You're teaching the kids aren't you?" He asked.
"Yeah," I managed to say as my heart rate increased. My skin pricked at the feeling of his air mixing with mine.
"You'll probably not see me then, I'm not down there often."
"I see..." I muttered, unsure what else I could say.
He turned away and pushed my locker closed for me.
"I'll see you tomorrow then, in the staff room for lunch." He smiled softly.
His smile struck me. His partly shy, partly frustrated vibe before had shattered at the moment his lips curled into that small smile. It was gentle and pretty, his pink lips plump and soft looking. His eyes sparkling and the smell of his sweat entering my nostrils mixed with my own.
"Yeah see you..." I managed to whisper back. I didn't mean it to be a whisper, but my voice couldn't do any more than that with the overwhelming feeling of disorientation that was coming over me.
He left first, putting his phone in his coat pocket and waltzing out with confidence in his manor. I followed behind a few moments later after collecting myself. Something about Hao intimidated me to no end, he made me nervous. It was a kind of nervous I didn't feel often, aside from before job interviews. I was a relatively confident person and I prided myself on always being able to start up conversation with most people I meet. Hao had stricken me. He seemed introverted, yet his demeanour reeked in confidence. It was like he was quiet by choice, not by nature, which gave him a magnetising pull. That, paired with his great looks, made him desirable to say the least.