P E R F O R M I N G
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C H A P T E R F I V E
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today's the day. it's your assessment and you're performing in front of the park jimin. you're all kinds of scared, worried, anxious, excited, giddy.
but most of all, nervous.
you've spent the last few months practising and tiring yourself out over this assessment. you cannot afford for it to go wrong, no mistakes. you've perfected your performances, you cannot allow any minor mishaps or wrong steps. no off-key notes, no wobbles. none of it.
that's what you're telling yourself as your crowded by fellow first years, all stuffed into one performance hall, with your teacher and two others at the front of the room.
majority of people have gone, done their full set of performances, and you're one of the last ones left to go.
you've watched your friends dance and sing their hearts away, with all their energy, in total awe and utter disbelief. you almost feel discouraged - there are some talented souls here and you have to prove your worthy, just like them.
that's when you're called, as your hands are sweating from the nerves.
"kim y/n." your teacher smiles, watching you stand and walk over towards the three of them.
the way mr. park is looking at you stresses you more;
he's watching you, and only you.
he runs through the rules and everything that's needed to be said and then, "you may begin your performance. good luck y/n." he smiles, nodding his head at you to take the floor.
everyone's eyes are on you, but the only pair that builds any anxiety are mr. park's as he focuses on you attentively.
you fix your in-ear before the first song starts. you'd carefully chosen the order of each song, so that they could perfectly mould and glide into one another.
the music plays and you start, every bone and muscle in your body losing any tension as you let your body go, your lungs opening up to the air as you move. the world is blocked out, it's just you and the music as you sing, letting the beat carry your body graciously. all your energy is concentrated in this moment as you lock eyes with your professor, singing as your body snaps to the drums of the song.
he looks mesmerised in the way you move, the way you sound and the stability of your voice as you effectively recreate his band' performance, in your own, unique style.
as the songs fade into each other, you stay consistent, letting the genres melt together as your body changes accordingly, until 'lie' starts to play.
now your speciality is in spotlight as you breathe, singing your heart out to the song; his song.
your voice is angelic as you sing, harmonising with the music as your body flows elegantly, but so well controlled to the music it exaggerates your passion, the emotion you feel as you let your body and mind go.
he watches you, they all do. until your finished, spinning and ending your choreography with a voice that screams for freedom as you sing.
you've stopped, your breathing clouding your hearing as you focus on your breath. the faint clapping brings you back to consciousness as the applaud grows louder, eliciting a beautiful smile on your face that mr. park watches grow, smiling himself.
"thank you y/n." the three teachers say, altogether.
and with that, you're finished. everyone scrambled to leave the room, and you can faintly hear people talking about you, it makes you shy, blushing at the positive comments. but what really catches your ear is the last person in the room, muttering a faint "wow." as they watch you leave, and you recognise the silky voice, catching a glimpse of the deep red hair in the corner of your eye.
your stomach flips as you turn to head towards your lockers with your friends, to grab your headphones and other equipment so you can head to your practise room.
"you know, we should leave our equipment in our room instead. every group has their own room so it's not like people are gonna come in and take them." chanu mentions and you realise he is in fact right. you all laugh, agreeing as the others head, carrying all the heavy equipment.
"go on, i'm trying to find my key, help the others" you laugh at aeri as you dig through your bag to find your locker key.
finding the key and twisting it into the lock, you open it, only to find a small, delicate white and yellow chain on top of your notebooks.
a small daisy chain, perfect enough to fit around your wrist, as if the person knew just exactly how many daisies to use.
you blush, picking it up but with no way to put it on yourself, so you attach it to your bag for now, before going back to find your headphones.
you notice a small scrap of paper as you go to dig through your notebooks and various other items.
you open the folded paper, only to find a note with suspiciously similar writing.
"loved watching you today ;)"
you knew this must've been mr. park by the daisy chain: this just cemented your suspicions. but regardless you blush, your cheeks tinted by a rosy hue.
shutting your locker after grabbing your headphones and putting the small note into your bag, you turn to head to the practise room and the others, only to be met with a face you did not want to see.
not only are you blushing still, you're still completely embarrassed and shy from performing in front of him. seeing his face up close, so close, was not what you needed right now.
"it was definitely a surprise." he says, voice low and teasing. "i knew you had to be good, but i didn't know you'd be that good."
you don't know how to react, so you just let him continue as he steps closer to you.
"and i don't know whether to feel cocky because i got to watch you perform my work, or flustered at how well you did it."
excuse me?
"you're quite enticing, you know that?" he strides towards you, forcing you to move backwards to keep the distance he's closing big enough. his lips are upturned, cheekily smiling at your reaction. your back hits your locker unexpectedly (and it hurts) as he traps you. his hand cages you, laying flat against the metal by your waist as his other moves towards the fabric of your cargos by your thigh, rolling the material in this fingers.
dangerous territory.
"i'd love to see it again" he whispers low, in your ear, before humming and grabbing the chain of flowers from your bag, stepping back and taking your hand. he ties the bracelet around your wrist, then leaves just as quickly as everything happened.
he leaves you there shocked, confused, hazy.
what the fuck is going on?
shaking your head in a bitter attempt to shake away all your racing thoughts, you head to your practise room.
your day is nearly over. only two hours left, then your free.
well, you thought you were free. you had spent the last free lesson of the day singing, dancing and having fun with your friends to wind down from your assessments before heading back to form.
form is where everything went downhill.
and it was all because of mr. park.
the bell had just gone, and you were so close to near-freedom, until his voice pierced through your body, your soul, igniting a fire inside you.
can he not leave you alone for one minute?
"y/n, a minute please?"
fuck off.
"taehyung told me to tell you that his mum told him to get you and take you back to his." he says rather quickly that it completely throws you off.
"come again?" you say, utterly confused and brain hurting. he sighs.
"your parents are out, i'm taking you home. my home." he smiles cutely at you, tilting his head and allowing his crescent eyes to shine at you.
it's so hard to hate him when he's that pretty.
"oh well, i was gonna go to the practise room for a bit so i'll just meet-"
"perfect! i have marking to do so i'll come get you when i'm ready to leave. off you go then." he says, clapping his hands lightly as he ushers you away, too quickly you can't even argue.
so you do - off to the practise room, letting the music boom and you practise your own choreographies for nearly two hours, letting the music consume you as you forget any worries, freeing yourself.
you let your body roll to the music, barely thinking about what you're doing, it comes completely naturally as you dance yourself away.
the music is loud, filling the room with warmth as you move, swaying to the rhythm, your hips twirling sensually as you let the music express you, falling to the ground gradually as you twist, your hands accentuating your moves with their own dance.
you're so focused and wrapped up in the music you don't even hear the door open, don't see the taller man, leaning against the door frame, arms crossed as he watches you; amused with hooded eyes.
he watches you for a solid minute before pushing himself off the door, walking carefully towards you after shutting the door quietly.
"loosen your hips, you'll be able to move more freely." he whispers behind your ear, placing his bigger hands on yours, by your sides, which only makes you rigid.
"let go, less tense." his lips move closer to your ear, shivering your body as he tilts his head to fit into your neck better, getting as close as he can. he moves your hands slightly, creeping lower as he places your hands there, keeping his grip firm on you, digging his fingers into you lightly.
"lose control."
something about the way he speaks to you, so low, so smooth, so sensuous, almost lustful: it eases your body, completely breaks you as all tension withers.
you melt under him as he sways your hips, matching the move of your choreography to show you how much better this is. he compels you to keep moving, with more passion now, as if this isn't totally wrong.
you keep your head down, staring at his hands holding you, scared to look up and into the mirror and see the scene with your eyes.
"see?" he grins as you slyly, spinning you to look at him as he continues to dance with you, leading you.
he pulls you closer, chest to chest, "hm?" as you look away, blushing as you continue to dance, letting the song finish as you complement each other, dancing together, as a pair, as if you're both made to do this. it comes so naturally, as if you've practised this together a million times before, it's so easy, so perfect.
but now the room is silent, only your breathing heavily filling the room as you feel light, completely stunned at what's just happened.
chaos. chaos clouds your head.
he smiles at you, moving to grab your hand as he drags you to the door, "let's go."
you don't even answer, you just let him drag you away, head fuzzy and heat beating uncontrollably, desperately trying to break out of you.
• • •
a/n:
shorter chapter but done! please let me know your thoughts, thank you! i love you <3