[ JUNG HOSEOK ]
Our bodies melded together, chests rising and falling in unity. His eyes poured into mine longingly, desperately, yet the distance between us remained unconquerable.
"Please, just take it off," came my broken whisper as my fingertip...
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"What was that about?" Jungkook asked after the masked student finally released me from the clutches of his predatory stare.
"I'm not sure," I answered honestly, unease building up in my chest.
"I've never seen him do that before."
"Do what?" I frowned and turned to Jungkook.
"Stare at someone like that. Usually, he tries to avoid eye contact," he said, rather perturbed.
Suspicious that he was speaking so knowingly about Hoseok, I questioned him, "Are you two friends?"
Jungkook snickered. "He's not the friendly type. He keeps to himself, and everyone is too intimidated by his oh-so-friendly demeanor to approach him anyways."
"But you know him, right? You worked together on that dance," I pressed, only faintly aware that I was being so curious—probably too much for my own good.
Jungkook watched me carefully, eyes scanning over my face before he answered, "I don't know him. We just make a good team when it comes to performances, so we collaborate often." Something in his tone told me not to press further, but I ignored it to ask one final thing.
"Does he always wear that mask?"
"Always," came his swift reply.
"But why would—"
"Alright, we still have an hour left of the period, so why don't we start by practicing some techniques at the barre," the professor's authoritative voice rang out. "If you notice your partner struggling, help them. You two are responsible for each other now."
Jungkook glanced at me once, his expression less friendly than before. His mouth fell into a neutral line and I nearly reeled at the stark shift in his energy. In an instant, he went from a welcoming partner to a controlled and focused dancer. I wondered if perhaps it finally sunk in that he had a newbie as a partner, and there was a chance I would stunt his success with my perceived lesser skills.
Whether that was an accurate guess to his change in mood or not, I knew now was the time to prove myself as a capable performer. We may have just been going over basic moves, but a lot could be revealed about a dancer by their technique at the barre. Strength, fluidity, form, control—the barre provided the perfect opportunity to assess one's ability to create beautiful, powerful shapes with their body.
After we'd changed into our ballet shoes, moved our chairs to the side and cleared the space on the back wall, we all lined up at the barre, placing our hands on the wood as we waited for the professor to instruct us on what to do.
She went to the stereo and pressed a few buttons, then slow-paced classical music flowed from the mounted speakers down to our ears.
We were directed to start with stretches, and once we were warmed up, she instructed us to do basic moves that showed off our stability, positioning, posture, and flexibility. I must've done them a thousand times over the years. It should have been as easy as breathing, but I found myself overthinking, fretting every movement. Then, magnifying my nerves by tenfold, the corner of my vision caught sight of the choreography student, Hoseok.
