Chapter Text
It was cold in the studio and Jaemin cursed under his breath as he bent forward to stretch his hamstrings. It was always harder to stretch when it was cold, his muscles were taut and it always hurt more.
None the less, the ballerina dropped into a lunge and placed his elbows down next to his foot, breathing into the burn of the stretch, before he slowly dropped into his spit. He repeated the stretches on the other side and then rolled into a middle split before reaching for his phone to distract himself from the pain as he held the position.
Jaemin raised the volume on his phone and allowed the music to fill the empty studio as he came out of his stretch and took his usual position at the barre. He had estimated that he should still have another twenty minutes before anyone else arrived for the 7 am class.
He counted himself into the combination and then his feet were moving out of muscle memory, his arms were following along like it was second nature. The combo was simple, so he took extra care to critique all of his lines and musicality. He couldn’t be making mistakes on easy combinations.
The metal of the barre was cold under his touch, yet it was oddly comforting in its familiarity as he held onto it, not allowing himself to completely rely on it for stability but rather using it as a guide to focus on perfecting his movements.
“Lower your hip, Mr Na.”
Jaemin jumped, almost falling out of his attitude, having to use the barre to steady himself, as Mr Lee walked to his side and adjusted his position.
Jaemin winced as the new position pulled his stiff muscles. He apologised earnestly, upset that he had made such a rookie mistake in front of his teacher.
“No need to apologise,” Mr Lee said as he began absentmindedly walking around the studio, clicking his fingers in time with the music to count for Jaemin to stay in time with the music. Once the music had stopped Jaemin reached for his phone to stop the next song from playing as more students slowly filed into the studio.
“Good morning dancers,” Mr Lee announced over the chattering teenagers, effectively silencing them. “Today we will be focusing on centre work. Please warm up on your own accord, you have fifteen minutes. Oh and ladies, en pointe please.”
The students nodded in understanding and everyone dispersed. Some sat in groups, chattering as they stretched, some warmed up by themselves and others, including Jaemin, placed themselves at their usual spot at the barre.
Jaemin faced the barre and placed his right leg on top of it, hoping it would ease the stiffness in his hamstrings. From this position, he could see the reflection of the entire studio in the mirror.
He watched as Irene pushed another bobby pin into her impossibly tight bun and at that moment he was thankful for the lack of upkeep on his short hair. His eyes moved to Giselle as she slowly laced up her pointe shoes. A small part of him wished that he could put on pointe shoes, that it was acceptable for men to wear them. He had always thought that ballerinas looked magnificent en pointe and he wondered how it felt.
Finally, his gaze moved to Donghyuck as he effortlessly lifted his leg until it was next to his ear. There was a fleeting pang of envy within Jaemin as he admired his friend's flexibility. Donghyuck smiled as he caught Jaemins eye in the mirror and then he briskly walked to the empty spot next to Jaemin.
“Morning,” Donghyuck said as he copied Jaemin position at the barre. “Mark bought you a granola bar for breakfast.”
“Thank you,” Jaemin smiled weakly at Donghyuck before he looked over his shoulder to wave at Mark in thanks. Not in the mood to entertain a conversation, Jaemin turned, so that his back was to Donghyuck, and began slowly rolling through his feet and ankles.
From his new position he couldn’t see much but the wall in front of him, the sign reading, “The Ark School of Dance” glaring at him. Jaemin had always hated the plain font and lack of graphics in the school's logo. He had always felt that a dance school deserved a more illustrious badge but then again, The Ark was in no way a prestigious school.
That’s not to say that the school isn’t worth attending. Jaemin had chosen it for a few reasons, the main ones being that it was one of the only affordable schools for his parents and although the school wasn’t the most prestigious, it was still reputable and often acted as a feeder into companies or academies. That was Jaemins goal, after all, to make a career out of ballet.
Jaemin was pulled from his thoughts as everyone started scurrying around the studio, obviously getting ready for the lesson to start.
“Junk off, everyone,” Mr Lee called out. “That includes your sweatpants, Mr Na.”
Jaemin quickly jumped away from the barre and removed his sweatpants, tossing them haphazardly on top of his tote bag, and leaving him in nothing but his leotard and tights.
“Right, everyone please come to the centre for the new petite allegro combination that we learnt last week.” Jaemin weaved his way through his classmates and found an open spot to stand, positioning himself so that he could see his reflection clearly in the mirror. As soon as the music started, he instantly fixed his posture, ensuring that his back was straight, ribcage pulled in, arms rounded, knees straight, glutes squeezed and feet turned out into a perfect first position. “5,6,7,8,” Mr Lee counted them into the music.
Jaemin instantly allowed his muscle memory to take over, once again, as he executed the exercise full of tiny jumps. He constantly checked his form in the mirror, ensuring that his shoulders didn’t move as he hopped, making sure that his feet pointed to their maximum every time he left the ground. Mr Lee occasionally shouted out corrections as the exercise progressed.
Soon the combination came to an end and the music was replaced by a slight panting as everyone tried to catch their breaths. Their reprieve was short lived as Mr Lee called for everyone to prepare for the adagio combination.
Jaemin sighed, he hated adagio. He felt that his muscles weren’t flexible enough to reach the desired position and that he wasn’t strong enough to hold the poses while keeping the correct form. None the less, as soon Mr Lee counted them in, Jaemin tried his hardest to extend his limbs correctly. He saw Mark behind him in the mirror, his leg up right next to his ear, held strong and Jaemin determined that he needed to stretch more.
After the combination was finished, Mr Lee instructed them to do a few more exercises before he called for a water break and Jaemin made his way over to his tote bag to retrieve his water bottle.
“Dude, are you okay?” Mark asked, squatting next to him, water bottle in hand. “You look like you’re in pain.”
“Yeah I’m fine, just really stiff today,” Jaemin replied after he finished a big gulp of his now lukewarm water.
“Ahh, Just don’t push too hard, okay?” Mark smiled at him. It was easy for Mark to say, Jaemin thought. He was one of the best, good at every aspect with minimal effort, blessed with the ability to turn and jump easily and born naturally flexible. “Oh, and here’s your breakfast.”
Jaemin took the granola bar that Mark waved in his face and placed it into the side pocket of his tote. “Thanks, I’ll have it after class.” Jaemin was spared from more conversation as Mr Lee called for everyone to prepare in the corner for leaps across the floor, causing everyone to fall silent and prepare as instructed.
“Dude, it’s so unfair that you can jump that high,” Mark said as they made their way out of the ballet studio, over filled dance bags weighing them down.
“Shut up,” Jaemin slapped Mark on the arm, almost dropping his water bottle in the process. “You’re good at literally everything and that’s unfair.”
“No way,” Mark chuckled. “Your leaps are way better than mine and Hyucks turns are like unbeatable.”
“Makie,” Donghyuck looked at his boyfriend dead in the eyes. “You’re literally the best ballerina here, so yes, shut up.”
Jaemin drowned out the conversation as his friends continued bickering, choosing rather to mentally review the contemporary choreography that they learnt last week, as they walk down the nearly empty corridor.
Jaemin jumped as a loud scream echoed through the corridor, effectively pulling him out of his thoughts.
“Can those fucking hip hop rats just act normal,” Mark said, rolling his eyes as a heard of teenage boys ran past them, a blue haired on bumping into Jaemin on his way.
“Honestly,” Jaemin replied. “They’re so annoying and unprofessional.”
The biggest problem with the school, in Jaemin’s opinion, was that it also housed other, less esteemed styles, namely all the street styles like hip hop. He felt like the presence of the styles bought down the schools overall image, making it harder for scouts from the top companies to pay attention to the school. It also took away from their funding, leaving some of their shows and productions to look less than professional.
“I don’t even know why they’re here,” Donghyuckk added.
“They don’t take anything seriously,” Jaemin scoffed. “It’s like they don’t even care about their future, always messing around.”
“Look at them, I mean, did you see that blue haired one?” Mark asked as he turned around to take one last glance at the other group of dancers. “How is anyone going to scout him looking like that?”
“Maybe it’s different for them,” Jaemin suggested, part of him feeling a little jealous of their freeness, their ability to not have to conform to anything while still being able to achieve their dreams.
“Whatever, let’s just ignore them like we usually do,” Donghyuck spoke up as they made their way into the designated contemporary studio.
It was true, most of the time the classical dancers and the others steered clear of each other. Using completely different studios and staying in dormitories on opposite sides of the school, it was easy for them to ignore the other group’s existence. The only time they might run into each other was in the cafeteria when their schedules coincided but even then, they sat on different ends and pretended the other didn’t exist.
Jaemin threw his bag in his usual corner and immediately started digging through it for his track pants. He was thankful that he was allowed to wear them in this class, feeling less self conscious and exposed than in his plain leggings.
“Oh fuck, do you have spare socks for me?” Mark asked neither of his friends in particular as he continued to dig through his bag desperately.
Jaemin smiled as he handed him his pair of spare black socks and Mark thanked him. “Now you have to rub icy hot on my shoulders to repay me.”
“Fine,” Mark rolled his eyes as took the tube of pain relieving gel from Jaemin.
Mark moved the straps of his leotard slightly off of Jaemin’s shoulders before he slowly started rubbing in the gel. Jaemin winced as Mark pushed slightly harder onto his tender muscles.
“Is it that bad Nana?” Mark whispered and Jaemin shook his head. “You need to stop pushing yourself so hard.” Jaemin chose to ignore him.
Donghyuck walked over to them, pulling them out of the now awkward situation. “Who’s that?”
Jaemin followed Donghyuck eye line to the opposite corner of the studio where a boy stood by himself, arms hugging his front as he rolled out his ankles. He was small, both in his height and stature. The pale turquoise leotard clung beautifully to his lean frame, his thin arms and collar bones prominent under the tight garment. His hot shorts allowed for his slim, but extremely well toned legs to be on full display.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it’s rude to stare?” Donghyuck quipped, causing Jaemin to quickly draw his eyes away from the boy.
“He must be new,” Mark answered Donghyucks question from earlier.
“Well no shit,” Donghyuck rolled his eyes. “Let’s just hope he dances like shit. We don’t need even more competition here.”
“If he arrived here this late, he must decent, I doubt they would’ve accepted him if he was a terrible dancer,” Jaemin finally gave his input.
Mr Dong’s entrance silenced the class, no one daring to step even a toe out of line in his class, not out of fear of the man but rather because everyone was so intimidated by the highly accredited dancer. “Everyone to the centre, please walk through the choreography that we learnt last week,” Mr Dong instructed.
Everyone moved swiftly to their usual positions in the centre, taking their starting positions, only the new boy didn’t move. From the corner of his eye, Jaemin saw him raise his hand.
“Is there a problem,” Mr Dong asked.
“I don’t know the choreography,” the boy answered, no hint of nervousness in his voice at all.
“Of course, how could I forget? Everyone, please welcome our newest student Mr-“
“Huang, Renjun Huang,” The boy supplemented.
“I hope that all of you will welcome Mr Huang warmly,” Mr Dong said briefly, and then he turned back to his lesson. “A reminder that this choreography will form part of your audition for the end of year production that is being held over the weekend, so please do try pay attention. Mr Huang please try and follow along to the best of your ability. I believe Mr Na and Mr Lee are very comfortable with the choreography, you can follow them.” Mr Dong pointed to Jaemin and Mark as he mentioned their names.
The compliment left Jaemin with newfound pride. He was being noticed for his hard work and that was something he wanted greatly. Yet he quickly repressed the emotion, he never allowed the gleeful ones to stay too long, he didn’t want to get complacent, didn’t want to allow himself to stop pushing.
Renjun had decided to stand behind Mark and next to Jaemin, following Mr Dong’s advice. “If you need help just ask” Mark leant over and whispered to the new dancer, smiley and helpful as ever.
“I think I’ll be fine,” Renjun quipped back, voice void of any gratefulness. Jaemin had almost thought he sounded offended that someone would ever think to offer him help. Mark shot Jaemin a final confused look before he turned around as the music started.
Jaemin hated marking or walking through dances; if he was dancing, he was dancing flat out, no exceptions. So as soon as the counts started, Jaemin was dancing flat out, trying to make his turns perfect, making sure to stay silent as he rolled on the floor, not making a thud as he landed a jump. All the while Renjun observed him, moving ever so slightly as if mapping out the moves.
“Everybody full out this time,” Mr Dong called as he restarted the song for their second run through.
Again, Jaemin gave it his all, deciding to only focus on his own dancing this time. He was halfway through the choreography when the stillness in the studio was becoming too hard to ignore. Even Mark had stopped dancing. Jaemin stopped too, and followed everyone’s line of sight until he saw Renjun.
He was perfectly executing the choreography, not a single beat missed but he wasn’t just remembering the moves, he was dancing exquisitely. His turns were sharp and controlled, his jumps high, his lines perfect. Jaemin had never seen anyone else at The Ark dance with such fluidity, such confidence. It was incredible to watch.
Once the music stopped everyone gave him a round of applause. “Mr Huang that was incredible! How did you pick up the choreography that quickly?” Mr Dong seemed slightly shell shocked, something that happened only on the rarest occasions.
“Some people say I have an eidetic memory,” Renjun didn’t buckle, even under the many watchful eyes of the whole class.
“Keep it up and you’ll be in the running for a lead role in the end of year production,” Mr Dong smiled one of his earnest smiles, one that the class didn’t see often.
Jaemin felt his heart drop. He had been so mesmerised by Renjun and his dancing that he hadn’t even thought about what this would mean for him. He had more competition now.
“Oh my god, he’s definitely not a shitty dancer,” Donghyuck blurted out as soon as they were out of earshot of any of their classmates. “He’s insane. Also kinda hot.”
Jaemin rolled his eyes at the added comment.
“Don’t act like you weren’t staring at him for a solid few minutes,” Donghyuck ridiculed.
“Anyway,” Mark butted in, “did you hear what Dong said? He’s our new competition . I mean, auditions are this weekend and if he retains choreography that fast he’ll be ready to audition.”
Mark had hit the nail on the head; this was exactly what had been plaguing Jaemin’s thoughts since he had seen Renjun dance. Renjun had come out of nowhere and now he had a chance at a solo role in the major production. The end of year production was the classical department’s biggest event of the year. Many company scouts and choreographers came to the show to scout new talents and the best way to capture their attention was to have a main role.
But there was only one solo role and even demi solo roles were limited, which meant only the top of the top were awarded them. Jaemin had hoped that he’d be given a demi solo this year, he had worked hard, harder than he had seen anyone else work and he believed that he deserves it.
Now, with the arrival of Renjun, he could see himself being shoved, once again, into the corps to become one of the many bodies that mingled together and form the chorus work of the show. Not seen as an individual. “There’s nothing wrong with being in the corps,” Jaemin could hear Mr Lee’s voice ringing in his head, “without the corps there would be no show.” Which was true, but it wasn’t what Jaemin needed now. He needed to be seen to even have a chance of a future and this was his last year, his last chance.
“Earth to Jaemin,” Donghyuck waved his hand in front of Jaemin’s face.
“Uh sorry, what?” Jaemin drew himself back into the conversation.
“Are you coming for lunch?” Donghyuck asked, clearly unimpressed that he had to repeat such a simple question.
“Can’t, I’ve got some homework to catch up on,” Jaemin replied, earning him a sceptical side eye from Mark. It wasn’t a complete lie, he did actually have some homework to do, much to his dismay. He hated that they still had to do actual classes in addition to all of their dancing. It wasn’t much, just a few basics but it still took time out of Jaemin’s day that he could spend dancing, and he detested that. Jaemin had found using his lunch period was a perfect way to finish his work and keep extra time open for practice.
“Okay, see you later then,” Mark sighed, defeated.
“See you,” Jaemin sighed back as they parted ways. Mark and Donghyuck took the left path into the cafeteria, hand in hand while Mark muttered furiously, probably about Jaemin, and Jaemin took the right path towards his dorm.
He had decided to finish off his work as quickly as possible and try squeeze in a much needed nap before heading back to his second ballet class of the day. But his plans were ended as he opened the rickety door of his dorm room.
“What the fuck are you doing in my room?” Jaemin nearly shouted when he saw Renjun sitting on the floor of his room, unpacking his suitcase.
“Uh, they told me this was my room,” Renjun replied, just as confident as he had sounded in class earlier.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, I do not need a roommate now,” Jaemin whined as he threw his dance bag onto his bed. “You can’t stay here.”
“Wow, it’s nice to meet you too,” Renjun slammed his suitcase shut. “This was the only room with an open bed, so I guess you’re stuck with me.”
“Awesome,” Jaemin said through gritted teeth. Just what he needed, another person, not just in his way, but also in his space.
Renjun stood up and stuck out his hand. “I’m Renjun.”
I know, Jaemin wanted to say, but he kept it to himself. “I’m Jaemin.”