"yuta, come on... stop crying." kun tried comforting the saddened hybrid.

"they don't care about me anymore..." the lion hybrid continued crying hard despite his hybrid friend's soothing words.

"yuta, of course they do."

sicheng entered the room, surprised to see yuta crying into his hybrid's arms.

"everything's okay?" he asked, not really expecting a positive answer judging by the way the two hybrids were entangled.

"no...! ten and taeyong forgot about yuta... they don't love yuta anymore..." yuta spoke in a baby voice, a pout visible on his trembling lips.

"that's not true, yuta. they do care about you and love you." sicheng told, sitting next to the two hybrids.

"but they abandoned yuta. and they brought him to sicheng and kun's house. they don't want to see yuta anymore."

sicheng and kun exchanged a glance, the human silently asking kun to place yuta on his lap.

kun understood immediately, and he sat up, pushing yuta gently towards sicheng.

yuta continued crying, nuzzling his face into sicheng's neck when the human had him on his lap.

"they didn't abandon you, yuta. they would never do that." sicheng told, caressing the lion hybrid's nape.

"b-but..."

"they are both very stressed about their show, and they needed to work on the last details of their performance. that's why they brought you here. so that you could have fun while they were stressing out about their performance without disturbing you."

yuta's cries softened as he listened to sicheng's melodious voice.

so, ten and taeyong did that for him?

"are you feeling better?" kun asked, caressing yuta's hair softly.

the lion hybrid nodded in sicheng's neck. "but... i want to see them..."

sicheng chuckled. "we'll see them tomorrow morning. we'll go to their performance, and this way, you'll see them dance and sing for you."

🦁

ten and taeyong stood in the middle of the stage, all eyes and spotlights on them.

"hello guys, welcome to the talent show. please introduce yourselves." one of the judges said with a bright smile.

taeyong gulped before approaching the mic from his mouth to speak.

"hello, my name is taeyong, and this is my best friend, ten."

"hello taeyong. hello ten." another judge spoke. "what are you showing us today?"

"we'll be performing a song that we wrote." ten told, visibly stressed by all the attention he had on him.

"i look forward to that!" the last judge told with a smile. "well... boys, the stage is yours!"

the public applauded as the lighting of the stage changed to display warmer colour tones.

ten and taeyong took place at the middle of the stage, standing side by side with their heads down, waiting for the music to start.

and then, they heard it. the first beats of their music.

ten's body moved on his own, following the rhythm of the song, as his mind went blank.

he was the first one to sing, and he felt as if he wasn't ready to perform in front of all those people.

on his side, taeyong danced slowly, following the beats of the music and the choreography ten had made.

in a matter of seconds, the first lyrics came, flowing out of ten's mouth naturally.

neoreul cheoeum bon ihu

modeun sasohan iyuneun piryo eopseojin feeling

choye baekbunwikkaji

neukkyeojineun magic seomsehan one minute

the thai male completely forgot about any type of stress he could have lived the past months as he danced and sing as if he was born for this (because, yes. he was born for this).

nae modeun shingyeongi jeonbu gonduseo

neoreul algireul weonhae

nasseolgo mimyohan jageun tteollimmajeo

jeonbu da jeonhaejine

and soon came the chorus.

taeyong sang, his voice madly low, sending shivers right through ten's spine, and catching the heart of all the people watching their performance.

stop baby don't stop

meomchuji ma baby don't stop

naman arabol teukbyeolhan geu sign

dul ppunin jigeum baby don't stop

stop baby don't stop (don't stop)

dulman aneun eunmilhan sign (baby don't stop no)

hanahana da wanbyeokhan geu sign (cool)

areumdaweo so baby don't stop (baby don't stop)

ten and taeyong felt like fish in the water on that stage, dancing and singing as if their lives depended on it.

they felt so good, performing in front of dozens of people.

they felt so good, knowing that they were achieving their dream.

and they felt so good knowing that they were doing it more than alright.

the second verse went out smoothly.

the two boys danced, rapped and sang, often exchanging glances and feeling their hearts beating out of their rib cages.

they belonged to this stage. and they both knew it.

the second chorus came.

ten and taeyong approached each other, standing face to face and singing while staring at each other, just like the choreography had been planned.

but ten couldn't help missing such an opportunity to improvise.

the thai male used one of his hands to scratch lightly taeyong's chin, as if the korean was his adored pet.

taeyong was a bit taken aback by the sudden change, but he let himself play that role as well, bending a bit so that ten could also scratch the top of his head in such a hot manner.

and after this little improvisation scene, the two boys were back to their usual powerful dancing and singing.

they performed, putting all their energy into the masterpiece they were currently showing to an entire assembly.

sooner than they expected, the last chorus came.

the two best friends kept dancing wonderfully while they sang.

they felt truly good.

this felt like something they wanted to do forever.

they loved every second of it.

the ending of the song was approaching.

ten and taeyong couldn't help but feel sad at this only thought.

their instant of glory was about to end.

but they truly enjoyed it while it lasted.

stop baby don't stop

both boys stayed in their final position for a few seconds, their breathing ravaged and their heats beating harder than ever.

the whole public was clapping.

the judges were standing up.

the crowd was screaming.

and ten and taeyong were going crazy.

they had only two things on their minds at the moment: each other, and yuta, the hybrid for whom they had written that song.