"sir, i'm sorry, can i leave the class a bit earlier please? i need to rehearse for the talent show." ten explained to his teacher.

the coach glanced at his watch, widening his eyes when he realised the time.

"oh my god! yes!" he exclaimed. "you should have told me before, i would have freed you way earlier."

"no, it's okay." ten politely smiled. "taeyong finishes his rapping classes right now."

"well, good luck then." the coach patted ten's shoulder. "train well, our school needs to win this talent show!"

ten smiled at his coach before waving at sicheng and leaving the practice room.

he walked through the corridors of their music art school, wiping the sweat of his forehead with the bottom of his shirt before entering another training room, the one that had been given to ten and taeyong for their rehearsals.

when ten entered, taeyong was already here, stretching by the radio.

"finally. i thought you would never get here." he spoke.

ten didn't answer, instead, he sat down next to taeyong and did similar exercises.

"what are we training today?" ten asked nonchalantly.

"first, half an hour of only singing. we need to change some arrangements and everything. then, dance. and when we'll be good, we'll do both at the same time." taeyong explained earning a nod from ten.

when both boys had stretched enough, they took half an hour to see what was good and what wasn't in the song they had made.

taeyong had written the song, and he was the one who had helped composing the song. on his side, ten had sorted their parts and made – plus, taught – the choreography.

they both had done a lot for this project. it was a goal they had since childhood. and so, this had become a dream for the two best friends.

after a long hour of training, both boys decided it was time to do a real rehearsal.

music and dance.

so, ten set the instrumental version of the song, and they started their choreography, singing when it was their turn.

they trained for what seemed like hours.

the sky had started to turn dark, more sweat was dripping down their foreheads, and yet, none of them stopped what they were doing.

it wasn't perfect, and they both knew it.

the show was a few days away. they needed to be better.

both boys couldn't bear it anymore. they were conscious of it.

they were tired, they were sleepy, they were hungry, and even thirsty.

but they kept dancing and singing.

and obviously, it was not the best idea they had...

"ten, concentrate!" taeyong rolled his eyes, putting back the song at the beginning.

ten – whose voice had messed up because of his ravaged breathing – tsked at the way taeyong had talked to him. he was tired as well; all this training had been hard.

"what? it seems like you're making zero efforts!"

"i had a whole dance training before this. i didn't spend my day rapping the same lines over and over again. i actually danced a lot." ten retorted, defending his position.

"great, well, stop messing your singing. it's not that hard."

"i am a dancer not a singer if you didn't know... be happy i made the choreography at least."

taeyong scoffed. "i could have made it myself."

ten rolled his eyes, trying to keep his calm, but it was very difficult.

"you're a rapper taeyong."

"yeah, and i also know how to sing... but apparently you don't"

"excuse me but it's pretty difficult to hit a high note while moving everywhere around." ten noted, moving his arms like a robot.

taeyong nodded uninterested by what ten was saying. "at least jaehyun knows how to do it"

ten's eyes widened on their own, not really sure he heard what he heard.

"i'm sorry?"

"jaehyun does it, why wouldn't you?" taeyong repeated.

so, he had heard it right.

taeyong had brought jaehyun inside their conversation.

jaehyun here, jaehyun there. that's all he could hear about these days. well, more than hearing it from taeyong directly, he heard their late-night conversations.

"you know what? why don't we integrate jaehyun?" ten sassed.

"oh... that's a good idea." taeyong replied. "then he'll sing your parts and you'll only dance. i'll ask him right now." he added on a way too serious tone in ten's mind.

"taeyong? are you serious?"

"ten, i want us to win."

"us, taeyong US. not jaehyun" ten tried to remind his best friend.

"and why can't he be part of us?" taeyong raised a brow, his phone already in his hand.

"we are ten and taeyong, we are best friends. this has been our project since childhood."

"well, projects evolve, and in these circumstances, maybe having an actual singer could help."

ten's eyes got filled with tears at taeyong's harsh words.

so, that was his best friend? this guy?

"you know what?" ten asked, holding his tears in.

"what is it ten? can't you see i'm trying to find solutions here? you keep messing it up!"

"do that talent show with jaehyun then, forget about me." ten told, not managing to keep his tears from falling out.

"what?" taeyong asked, a bit taken aback by the sudden declaration.

"of course. this way you'll have a real singer that knows how to sing. and i'm sure he knows how to dance too!"

ten's face was now full of tears, and his voice was barely stable.

"ten... you know- "

"goodbye." ten spat, leaving the practice room faster than lightning speed.

he burst out in tears in the middle of the corridor, kneeling down and holding his face in his hands while sobbing loudly.

and when ten was on the bridge of passing out, arms circled around his body and hugged him tight to comfort him.

"i am very sorry, ten..."