for you page × chensung

one

[ our worlds collided long before you met me, darling ]

Jisung swung his keychain as he walked into the dance studio, kicking at the pebbles on the sidewalk that poor Renjun always managed to trip over. Ten greeted him from behind the front desk with a half-hearted wave and a cup of room temperature coffee. Well, it was 90% french vanilla and 10% coffee, but coffee nonetheless.

The kids weren't scheduled to arrive for another hour, and Jisung lazily lounged on the couch in his booked studio. His phone was on silent, but occasionally the screen would flash with another TikTok notification. He posted a 15-second video last night covering Stray Kids' new song Back Door, and the comments were still pouring in twelve hours later.

Jisung started Tiktok about six months ago when quarantine boredom was beginning to set in. The dance studio closed due to the virus, and Jisung became a complete hermit. He downloaded TikTok ironically months before he started making videos, and never considered using the platform for dance. When he saw the number of mediocre dancers on TikTok receiving thousands of likes, he stepped in. His first video was a short cover of Taemin's Move, and it garnered him about 200,00 followers. Most were teenage girls gushing over his cute nose and sexy body, but other dancers steadily joined his following. 5.5 million followers later, and Jisung was posting weekly covers and back to his studio.

He needed to film his original choreography dance while the studio was booked, but the coffee didn't usually kick in for another forty minutes, and the kids were prancing into the classroom by then. As much as it pained him to stay later on a beautiful, college-free Saturday morning, he would have too.

Jisung tossed his empty coffee cup in the trashcan by the speakers and stretched his legs. Teaching a kids hip-hop class sounded easy in theory, but dancing the same choreography for an hour took a toll on his muscles. He already pulled his thigh muscle breakdancing, and if he wanted to participate in his school's winter showcase, he had to be cautious.

Renjun, the oldest of his kids, requested they learn Ice Cream by Blackpink, which was simple enough. It was crucial to teach the kids to have fun when dancing, so every other week was Say So Saturday. The kids voted on a popular song with choreography the week before, and Jisung taught the top pick. But Sunday was Renjun's tenth birthday, so Jisung let him pick the song without the other kid's input. And maybe Renjun was his favorite, just maybe. He plugged his phone into the speakers and marked through the chorus.

"Chenle is coming to get you later. Okay, baby?" Renjun's mom crouched in the doorway, dark hair flowing down the uncomfortable arch of her spine. She played with the straps of Renjun's Spiderman backpack and placed a motherly kiss on his forehead. They spoke briefly in Chinese before the woman waved goodbye to Jisung and left.

"Good morning, Mr. Jisung!" Renjun chirped, tossing his book bag into the wooden cubbies leaning against the wall. He switched his slip-ons for a pair of neon green Skechers and hopped to his spot in the room. The kids had assigned seats for class, marked by peeling blue painters tape that Jisung slapped against the floor before each lesson.

"Good morning, Junnie! Is Chenle your brother? I've never met him." Jisung asked. He heard tales of Renjun's eighteen-year-old brother daily, both good and bad, but never met him in person.

Renjun giggled as he butterfly stretched on the floor, a goofy grin on his face. "But he's on your phone all the time!"

Jisung froze where he was stretching, staring at Renjun upside-down. "Huh? When?"