HOBI POV:

I look up at Jiminie walking into the living room, still stumbling around in his pyjamas as he makes his way to the couch, plops himself down to sprawl over me, head tucked over my shoulder.

"Morning hyung." He mumbles sleepily, lips messily brushing across the nape of my neck, lips warm and a puff of breath exhaled against my skin.

"Morning Jiminie. Sleep well baby?" I ask, hand leaning back to pet at his hip, hand brushing over skin where his shirt has risen.

He hums, nuzzling close as he peers over my shoulder.

"What are you doing?" he asks and when I turn my head it's to see him blink slowly at the phone in my hands, brows scrunched as he tries to make it out, probably still drowsy.

I peck his cheek.

"Dance practice video. I filmed the last few rehearsals so I can see what we need to work on." I explain.

He nods against my shoulder.

"Press play then. I want to see that move with you and (Y/N) at the centre." he says, draping himself more heavily, more loosely curved over my frame.

I laugh, finger going to press play. To continue the video. And feel his head slot right next to mine, watching as the dance practice video continues.

And when the segment where the two of us move to the centre, I feel Jiminie wriggle with excitement above me, body moving flush to mine, the feel of his soft cheek brush against mine even as the hard muscles of his body rub deliciously distracting.

"That part!" and his finger reaches out to still it. To pause it.

And moves to zoom the video in, pointing at the positioning of my hands. And then at       (Y/N)'s.

I feel my eyes drawn to the way her hand splays confidently as it grips her inner thigh, legs bent downwards as her eyes make hypnotic eye contact with the camera, the weight of the seductive allure in them somehow jumping out through the screen, somehow tugging me forward.

I turn to look at him incredulously.

"How are you like this when you've just woken up?" I ask with disbelief. My words cause a teasing flash of teeth, of plump lips parting with his smile.

"Eyes on the technique hyung." He admonishes, hand reaching to grip my jaw and turn it back.

"Look at the angle of your thighs. You and     (Y/N) are meant to be centres and in that formation, all of us should be synchronised, it'll give a stronger impression. But (Y/N) seems to not be bending fully, there's a bit of hesitance almost." He points out.

And when I try see what Jiminie's pointing out, I see what he means.

See that her thighs don't bend as deeply as ours and for all that the hand is splayed assuredly, her thighs don't dip low enough, don't have that same confidence in that gesture.

"You're right. I'll tell her during practice. Are you two still going over Black Swan after group rehearsals?" I ask.

He nods.

"Make sure not to work yourselves too hard. No dance until you've had a sufficient time break to grab food as well." I say lightly, eyes still closely scrutinising the still, looking at the expressions. Out of the four of us, (Y/N) has the most fire, the most silent sensuality burning in her eyes. It's a look that entices and promises, it's a look that has me gripping the phone tightly. 

This is what the audience would see, what the judges would see. This is what we missed out on during the performance, that we didn't get to see as fellow dancers.

"But her expression..." Jiminie leans in to whisper.

"Is perfect." He finishes, lips pressing to my jaw as he turns his head.

"Jimin...how are you so ready for this when you've clearly just gotten out of bed?" I say, eyes turning to look at him with bemusement, with my lips curving up at the invitation pooling in his eyes, heady and hot.

His smile is nothing short of wicked.

"Whose bed though?" he teasingly asks, hand pulling his shirt up to reveal the low slung shorts, the fresh red marks that'll darken soon, decorating the curve of his hip. Silently telling me to figure out by the marks alone.

My stomach tightens at the sight, at the teasing and intentional riling up. It makes me wonder how much of his shifting, his movements above me had been purposeful as he pointed out 'technique'.

First (Y/N) and her powerful gaze. Then Jimin and his eager movements against me.

It seemed too early for this.

Seemed like the dead silence of the house was just proof, a testament to that we should be quiet for the others.

But his eyes curve with sensual tease and lips part to press against the curve of my jaw, slowly placing hot open-mouthed kisses to my skin.

"What can I say? I was woken oh so pleasantly by Joon hyung before he left. And Yoongi hyung was perfectly content to hold me through it, he's the one who told me you were awake. Left him alone in bed." He whispers, breath hot and tongue flicking teasingly against my skin, body pressed against my back.

"Jimin." I grit out.

I feel his lips curve into a smile 

"Don't you want to hyung~ don't you feel all riled up? I must not be doing a good job then." He muses, shifting himself off my back to place his arms on either side of me, hips pulling away.

But in that moment when his body lifts off of me I twist, so I'm facing him, peering upwards right into those sinfully dark eyes, phone slipping away to fall to the ground as my hands go to grip his waist.

"Stop teasing!" I gripe, but my lips twitch when my hands tug him down, and he willingly follows, resting on my front this time.

My hands slide up his shirt to brush against his back, lips curving up to taste the sweet mintiness on his mouth.

And when our lips part, barely a hairsbreadth apart, it's to teasingly lean in to peck the corner of his mouth.

"Let's see how quiet you can be."

------

When we enter the dance studio it's to see Kookie already there, somehow having snuck out before we'd realised, missing at breakfast.

And it was Tae who'd sleepily mumbled from around Yoongi hyung, having relocated to find a cuddle buddy, that Kookie was meeting (Y/N) up for breakfast, and there he was right now in a familiar position. His eyes flashing with amusement and challenge as (Y/N) and him face each other to warm up, always pushing and prodding the other to try beat them. Always smiling and laughing as they do the most ridiculous stretches, the most exaggerated versions of them.

It was something I'd grown to become eager to see, even if it was between the two of them, it made my heart quicken, it made me automatically smile because it was contagious to see the two of them so immersed in each other, so easily at comfort with each other.

It has Jimin grabbing my hand as he hastens towards the two of them, a bright smile on his face as he bends to peck both their cheeks in greeting.

"Have fun?" he asks.

Kookie's eyes trail over the two of us, somehow knowing as his lips curve up.

"We did!" (Y/N) pipes up, straightening from her stretch to hug Jiminie and then turn to hug me, smiling when I peck her lips.

I can see the words unspoken in Kookie's eyes.

Not the sort of fun you two got upto.

I clear my throat.

"We're doing group rehearsals, but let's break down the choreography and work through each segment of the song." I say, moving to put my bag aside and heading back to join in stretching them.

I watch as Jiminie moves to stand beside Kookie, so this time there's two pair of eyes following her, one full of mischief and tease and another soft and gentle, the vixen he'd been a few hours ago gone, vanished as he'd slumped into the couch, breathing heavy but satisfied.

It never failed to astound me how he could be so different, never failed to give me whiplash at times when under that sweet smile and oversized stolen clothes was someone who thrived off the attention and the sultry teasing.

But when I saw (Y/N) smile back, face equally as soft and gentle, I remembered her seated on my lap and wriggling around, I remember the breaths shared between kisses and I know that when the two of them will come together to perform, though it be something contemporary and slow, it'll be stunning beautiful and crackling with sparks.

Maybe I should stay to watch their duet rehearsal.

Just to give another eye on their performance. But also because it would be a privilege too.

To see that raw energy and talent coming together.

But first. First we get through this. And the damning song choice that has proven to be my downfall. The same dance practice that had Jimin so eager to tease and push this morning.

If I survived today's rehearsal then I'd stay.

But the words from earlier keep spinning around my head, Jimin's breathy voice and the damned practice video, it makes me suck in my breath, body stiffening involuntarily as I glance over and see Jimin's eyes fix to (Y/N) doing the splits, voice amazed and awed but eyes flickering with heat, with heat that makes her cheeks warm and Kookie elbow him to nudge him out of it.

"We're here to practice hyung. Cut it out." The whisper isn't as hushed and as silent as he'd seemed.

Because it makes (Y/N) exhale, a shuddery breath and then a breathless laugh.

"Glad it wasn't me just imagining it." She says lightly. Her words diffuse the heaviness a bit.

But already the room had begun to crackle with energy. Already begun to seem warm.

I just didn't see how I'd make it out alive. Or how I had been surviving past rehearsals.

Just had to grin and bear it.

That and start the music up. we needed to get into the zone.

-----

It's facing the mirror that we dance, our bodies moving in time with the music but also in time with each other, in sync with each other, moves fluid and coming to us with practiced ease now that we've run through it a few times. The gazes that stare back in the mirror are determined and burning with passion, bodies moving with precision, sensual and graceful lines of heat as we move, twisting to get into position.

And like it had for the past two run-throughs my eyes traitorously move from observing myself, from sharply scrutinising myself to fall to (Y/N). Straying as they had when it came to this segment, when (Y/N) stepped up beside me at the centre, body twisting and moving to slot beside mine. I watch her as our thighs bend, at the hand that trails from her inner thigh and upwards. Watch as her thighs don't bend as much, not pronounced as much even as arms rise to cover the eyes at that move, shutting her out of sight momentarily before my eyes land on her again, at the way her hand rests at where the buttons of the trousers would be rather than gripping it as we had been.

But before we can continue, before we can transition into the next move, Jiminie who'd been beside her meets my eyes in the mirror, to where they'd slid away with heat burning my gut.

And gives the smallest of knowing smirks before stepping out of formation to cut the music with a press the band around his wrist, connected to the speakers.

The music pauses. Slightly heavy breathing filling the silence.

"Is there a problem hyung?" Kookie asks, throat bobbing as he swallows, peering at him in the mirror through strands of hair that had fallen into his eyes.

"Just a small correction. (Y/N) you need to bend your thighs more and grip the centre of your leggings, like you're gripping the fabric tightly." Jiminie says.

But his voice isn't patronising, far from it. Eyes almost observant as he makes the comment, stepping close to her.

She gives a small nod.

"Okay." She says simply.

But when we run through it again, it's the same. Thighs that don't bend to push her hips out as much as they could, hand still loosely clutching the band of her leggings.

Again the music cuts.

"Grip yourself with more confidence. Bend your thighs so your hips' movement are more accentuated." I say gently.

Her eyes meet mine for an instant before sliding away. Something like hesitance in them. A brief instant but one that I don't miss.

Worry blooms in my mind, wondering if there's a reason why she won't punctuate the move more strongly. Whether she's not comfortable with the choreography.

"Does the move make you feel uncomfortable?" I ask quietly as I step close, voice low so the others don't hear.

She turns her head to turn away from the mirror to look at me, eyes flickering with uncertainty and something else, something quite undecipherable.

"It just feels sort of odd? Stilted almost because of the force in the move, it looks natural with the three of you though." She murmurs, almost as if musing aloud, breaking down the move for herself to examine.

I tilt my head.

Is it coming out differently because of her thinking hard on it? 

"What are you thinking as you're performing the move?" I ask.

The others move close, quietly sensing the conversation is turning towards helping in her improving it.

"That it has to be like yours. It has to be in sync and match the same force you three seem to be putting in." she says with a small scrunch between her brows.

A scrunch that Kookie's thumb moves to rub away, smiling when she raises her head with surprise.

"There you go then. Move with the force your body needs. Not with how much we're putting in. We're all using the force we all think we need." He says.

She blinks back at him.

I laugh at the endearingly confused look.

"Look. Show us how you've been performing the move." I say, stepping back to let her step into position, hands confident and assure as she grips her thigh, as her legs bend and she moves to grip the shirt at her navel, below her belly button.

It almost seems as if she's forcing a certain level of energy into the move, forcing it out hence it looks stilted.

"So instead try this." I say, stepping behind her to look at her in the mirror, bending my thighs down and gripping her hips to guide her down, hands sliding down her thighs to bend them more to make the move pronounced.

But as I do so I'm painfully aware of the warmth of her body seeping through her leggings, aware of the muscles shifting under my touch, at that mix of hard muscle and soft curves.

Our eyes still meet in the mirror, hers are equally fixated on mine.

"Good. Now keep your thighs like that." I say, mouth feeling slightly dry as she nods without tearing her eyes away.

My hands move to her hips again, gently pushing them out slightly, to help make the move emphasised, her hips easily pushing out in a sensual curve.

I swallow at the sight it makes, at the way she so easily allows her body to be moved and shifted into place. And when my eyes move to take the other two in, they're so starkly different, Jimin watches with an almost calm look had it not been for the way his body is shifted and turning to face the two of us, if it hadn't been for the way his lips are pressed together tightly, eyes burning. And Kookie, Kookie looks at my hands on her hips, looks at them with heat in his eyes.

And his eyes follow not the movements as much as they follow my hands when I move to take her hands, when I take one to her navel and curl my hand around hers, draped over her fist to press it more tightly against the low of her stomach, taking her other hand to direct it to cover her eyes, arm blocking them from sight.

There's a fierce look of satisfaction in Kookie's eyes as he watches me help her break down the move, as I tell her to keep her arm there.

"Remember the slightest pressure against your navel. And remember that this move is full of confidence, you're touching your body as the person who knows it best." I say, lips brushing across the shell of her ear, feeling electric sparks rush through my blood when her lips part in a breathy exhale, wavery as she nods.

"Good. Now...let's try the move all together. With music." I say, her arm falling away to meet my eyes, and the pure consuming emotions in them has my gaze unable to tear away, has my body so much more aware of hers pressed so intimately to mine.

There's the briefest moments of charged silence before her hips move back, straightening out to normal and brushing against mine. A moment where our hips meet and that electric need floods my veins once more, her teeth sinking into her bottom lip as her eyes widen and realise.

I bite back a groan, hand falling away from her fist and brushing against the outside of her thigh as I move myself away.

"From the top of this section then." I say, voice slightly hoarse.

She nods.

But it's not only the two of us affected. It's that dangerous glint in Kookie's eyes, throat bobbing heavily as he steps to move into position, it's in the way Jimin's eyes flit back and forth before he breathes deeply, tension bleeding out of his posture as he rolls his shoulders and steps aside.

It seemed like dance had become a dangerous game. One where we were playing with fire.

And one where we didn't seem to care if we got burned but rather gladly followed the lure of the flames.

------

The moment the song comes to an end, as Kookie tilts his head, eyes meeting his reflection in the mirror, they slide away as his lips curve into a victorious smile.

"Done! That's a wrap!" he yells excitedly, body immediately shifting out of the fierce pose to become the bouncy, exuberant person he'd been at the beginning of rehearsal.

Just with a sweaty sheen of exertion on his face and the shirt slightly clinging. With hair he hastily pushed away, long dark strands that he tucked behind his ear.

"You aced that move (Y/N)!" he says brightly, eyes no longer satisfied as they were enthusiastic and supportive, leaning his body to curve over hers, hands looped around her neck.

Her hands come to squeeze at his wrists.

"Well...I had a lot of help. That was a good rehearsal." She adds, lips curving up with satisfaction, skin glowing with proof of our hard work.

"And you're seriously going to stay and rehearse more?" Kookie asks, lips brushing against her neck, head curved towards the side as he faces her, breathing heavily into her skin.

Her hands tighten.

"It'll be a shorter rehearsal." She says, fingers moving to card through Jungkookie's hair, seemingly content and unbothered by the small kisses he presses to her skin save for the way her eyes flicker to him, to the way her stance seems to firm.

"We'll get some food and a long break first though." Jimin assures me, eyes full of promise and concern.

Not a single one of us had been able to forget the sight of her dancing with abandon, dancing without regard to her body, controlled by an inner urge.

And I knew Jimin was never going to let her dance to that extent, never let her dance to exhaustion. It was good that she was performing a duet and with Jimin, one of the most emotionally perceptive out of all of us, he knew just how to enter a situation and diffuse it.

I knew (Y/N) was in good hands.

Knew but yet still.

Still I wanted to linger. Wanted to remain to see their dancing.

And Kookie's eyes are lit with a similar urge.

To stay. Especially given how his arms don't unwind from around her and he clings on tighter, winding himself around her further.

But I find myself caving in to Jimin's words of needing time to sort through moves and choreo, that he didn't want us to see the really early stages. He was calling a few weeks into practice, early, but his gaze drifts to (Y/N), to the slight nervousness to her when it had seemed as if we'd stay.

Not at us, but at that vulnerability of us seeing her dance, of seeing her perform to a song that seemed to mean so, so much to her.

It had erased any need to stay.

We'd stay when she wanted us to. All of us could relate to the feeling of apprehension of sharing a dance in such early stages. Knew because it came with being a dancer, it was like showing an extremely exposed side of yourself to show a dance in the tentative stages.

"Once you've got the choreo down together, once you feel comfortable to, then we'll stay." I say to her when I move to hug her, whispering to her and realising she knew exactly why, she knew that we'd understood when her hands tightened around my neck to keep me closer for a few more moments.

"Thank you Hobi. You always seems to know." She murmurs.

My hands draw her closer despite myself, that soft worry making itself known.

"Trust yourself. Trust that dancer's soul." I say.

She nods.

And when she moves back I see determination in her eyes, see it battle alongside the concern. And I know that the determination will win, will always win.

She can do this.

I know it.

And I know as I see the determination that this is going to be one of her strongest and fired up rehearsals.

Dance is in the very essence of her. She just needed that extra nudge to stop doubting herself, to stop worrying and give in to the lure of the music. To the calling of the melody.

And when she followed it, when she learned to control it, there was nothing stopping her from conquering the stage with Jiminie.

Nothing at all.

(SO!! INITIALLY THERE WAS MEANT TO BE THE DUET PRACTICE IN THIS CHAPTER TOO BUT FOR SOME REASON HOBI WAS JUST REALLY PUSHING TO BE THE DOMINANT PERSPECTIVE THIS CHAPTER AND ENDED UP REMAINING! AND I HOPE YOU CAN SEE TENSIONS AND LONGING BEGINNING TO BUILD, MINNIE WAS JUST BEING THE BIGGEST TEASE IN THIS CHAPTER AND I WONDER HOW THAT'LL FOLLOW THROUGH TO THE NEXT CHAPTER. THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL BTW BE THE DUET SO I'M SORRY MY LOVELY MIDI BUT HOLD ON JUST ONE MORE CHAPTER!! LET ME KNOW ALL YOUR THOUGHTS AND REACTIONS MY LOVE...I DON'T KNOW Midiiplier IF I DID THE SCENE JUSTICE BUT LET ME KNOW IF IT WAS AS SPICY AS I HOPED AND YOU IMAGINED IT TO BE! BABY SIREN IS JUST A TEENSY BIT INSECURE ABOUT PERFORMING TO HER OLD SONG BUT OTHERWISE SHE WOULD KEEP THE BOYS THERE BUT MAYBE THERE'S JUST THAT MUCH MORE FUN TO BE HAD TO BLOW THEM AWAY WITH THE FINAL PERFORMANCE! THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS WILL BE DANCE CENTRIC SO BEAR WITH ME...I DON'T INTEND TO NEGLECT THE OTHER BOYS BECAUSE OF IT, I WILL STILL TRY INCORPORATE THEM IN! LET ME KNOW AGAIN IF IT WAS ENJOYABLE TO READ! TAKE CARE AND STAY SAFE LOVES!)

QUESTION...SOMETHING YOU DO AT NIGHTS THESE DAYS THAT YOU DIDN'T USUALLY DO OR MAYBE DIDN'T DO AS MUCH BEFORE?

Mine is...I'm going to bed later, I'm writing later (whoops), catching up on my notes at this time, having a hot drink and I've finally learned to multitask!! So work and watching dramas at the same time- a double win!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3