The Difference

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Jaemin enters the dance studio tiredly, it was still early and he was working late last night. Upon seeing his hyungs, he smiles.

"Morning hyungs." He drops his bag off in the corner of the room and walks to where his friends were.

Taeyong raises a brow at the boy with baggy eyes. "You look exhausted."

"Wow really?" Jaemin rolls his eyes. Taeyong only smiles, making Jaemin sigh. "I worked later than usual last night, we were finishing a big order out. Some big CEO wanted a shit ton of pastries for a meeting, and he called us to make them." Jaemin rubs his face tiredly.

Minho clasps a hand on his younger friend's shoulder. "You sure you want to practice today? You can always come in later this afternoon if you'd rather-"

"No, I need to be here. I'll be fine hyung, really." He smiles. The three of them turn when they see a few other dancers enter the studio. Jaemin breaks into a large smile as he and another one of the dancers run to each other. "Where have you been you bastard!?"

"Hey!" The other man says, laughing and hugging the (also) laughing Jaemin. "Respect your elders!" He puts Jaemin down and the two boys do a little handshake before laughing again.

"But seriously, Wooyoung hyung, where have you and San hyung been? It's been weeks."

"Ah well," Wooyoung turns to his boyfriend who was unpacking his gym bag. "Sannie and I were on vacation."

San rolls his eyes. "Oh please. Me and Woo were attending our friend's wedding, and just decided to stay an extra week."

"No fair." Jaemin pouts. "You guys left me alone with Ten hyung's annoying ass."

"Excuse you!" The short male says, entering the studio as well as Jisung.

The youngest boy sighs. "Hyungs, please don't start yelling this early in the morning, it's only 8 am." Jisung walks over to Jaemin and smiles, greeting him softly.

"Alright, boys." Their dance coach enters the room, getting the dancers' attention quickly. "It's that time of the year again, competition season. The elimination rounds start in two months, which seems far away, but it'll get here quickly. They are conducting the rounds in 3 categories, each split into two. There will be the Minors and the Seniors. Minors are anyone under 20, and seniors are anyone over 21. So that means that Jaemin, Jisung, Hyunjin, and Beomgyu will be performing as minors. As for the rest of you, Taeyong, Ten, Wooyoung, San, Minho, and Hoshi, will be performing in the senior category." The coach takes out a piece of paper, unfolding it and reading its contents. "There will be three parts each round. First is the solo dance; I pick whoever I think is best qualified for this area and we work on a choreo. Second is a pair/duo. It's self-explanatory, I pick two of you and we work on a choreo blah blah blah. The final part is the group dance. This means all the minors dancing together and all the seniors dancing together. If we make it to the quarter-finals, that's when we combine our team again. If we get there, then I'll explain it in further detail. Of course," The coach raises his head, smiling proudly. "I will inform you all more about this as the tournament gets closer. Now let's get practicing!"

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Jaemin enters the convenience store yawning. He just finished helping Jisung with tutoring and wanted a small snack before he went to work.

Jaemin stalks down the aisles, looking for anything that could lessen his hunger. There were a couple of other people in the store, mainly teenagers looking for an afternoon snack. His eyes land on an iced coffee in one of the fridges. Grabbing it he turns, only to be met with a confused looking Jeno.

"Jaemin, I must say, we've been running into each other a lot lately." Jeno smiles in a friendly manner.

Jaemin raises a brow. "It appears so, what brings you to this part of town?"

Oh." Jeno turns and points to a short, brown-haired male who was looking at the chips in the aisle behind him. "Me and my friend Renjun were passing by to get some snacks. We were planning on hanging out since we finished our exams yesterday."

"Ah." Jaemin nods, walking past towards the counter. Jeno follows. "Well, you two have fun." He takes out his debit card and waits for his drink from the cashier.

"Where are you going?"

"To work." Jaemin takes his drink and thanks the worker. He turns to Jeno.

"You work?"

"How else would I stay alive?"

Jeno raises an eyebrow but says nothing more. "Alright then, well, see you around Jaemin." He smiles.

Jaemin nods, the corners of his mouth lifting into an almost sort of smile. "Right...bye Jeno." And with that, Jaemin leaves the store and heads to his work.

Jeno turns around and walks back to Renjun, who was watching him intently. "Is that the kid you met at the club two weeks ago?"

"Who? Jaemin?" Jeno throws a thumb over his shoulder as an indication to the boy who just walked out of the store.

Renjun nods. "Yeah, if that's his name."

"Mhm, he's pretty chill."

"He seems kinda off to me." Renjun and Jeno walk to the counter, the older paying for the chips.

"Eh, he's not all that weird."

"Are you two friends?"

"I..." The two friends exit the store and walk over to where their bikes are parked. "I'm not sure."

Renjun raises an eyebrow at his friend's answer. "It's a simple yes or no question Jeno. Seriously, you're so weird."

Jeno hops onto his bike and the two begin pedaling down the street. "Oh shut up Injunnie." He rolls his eyes while Renjun just laughs softly.

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Jaemin enters the bakery kitchen, smiling when he sees his boss. "Taeil hyung, how are you?"

"Good now that you're here. It's rush hour and all the orders are stressing me out."

"Well, I'm here to help," Jaemin says, putting on his apron and joining his boss in making pastries and other delicious desserts.

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∆Hey guys, sorry it took me so long to update but here's the next chapter. I hope you like it :) Also thank you so much for getting this book to over 130 reads. It means the world to me! I love you so much <3 see you soon∆