The two made eye contact, and Yuho looked at Inhan with a mischievous smile and said.
“Yeah. Just the face.”
“Yuho hyung. Nice.”
At Yuho’s statement attacking Inhan for once, Yeomin excitedly raised his hand and held it out to Yuho. Yuho readily high-fived Yeomin’s palm.
“Wow. This is the first time I’m seeing Yuho attack Inhan. Inhan. How did you fall so low?”
Yeonghyeon said to Inhan with pity.
“Right?”
Inhan answered with a smiling face and went back to sit in the corner. The smile had already disappeared.
It was a joke. Yuho confirmed Inhan’s hardened face and felt guilty. Of course, they weren’t on terms to exchange jokes, but he didn’t know the conversation would end so awkwardly.
“Yuho. Since you’re here, learn the point choreography before you go. We have to do a dance challenge later, right?”
“What? Suddenly?”
Yuho was surprised by Yeonghyeon’s suggestion and asked back. He didn’t know eating one handmade burger would be this difficult.
“I just came to eat.”
“You memorize choreography quickly. Hurry. Deploy.”
“But teacher. I’m not in condition to dance right now.”
“Should I teach you directly?”
“No.”
Yuho quickly got up from his seat. I really just came to eat. It was unfair, but there already seemed to be no escape route.
“Inhan. You teach him.”
“Me?”
“What? Why?”
At Yeonghyeon’s suddenly thrown words, both Inhan and Yuho were flustered at the same time. Yeonghyeon had a face that said why are you asking something obvious.
“Yeah. You still have energy left.”
“That’s true but…”
Inhan trailed off and looked at Yuho. Yuho sent a desperate look to Yeomin for rescue, but Yeomin shook his head and lay down on the floor. Inhan had no choice but to get up from his seat and stand in the center of the practice room.
“Yuho hyung. If you don’t want to, you don’t have to do it.”
“No. Teach me.”
What’s the big deal about learning choreography? Yuho didn’t want to upset Yeonghyeon, whom he was meeting after a long time. The same went for Inhan’s feelings.
“If you’re not tired, of course.”
“I’m fine.”
At Inhan’s answer, Yuho immediately stood right next to Inhan.
“Don’t you need to warm up?”
“Yeah. It’s fine.”
“Then I’ll show you once on the beat first, so just roughly mark it with your eyes.”
“Yeah. Got it.”
Inhan started the choreography right away, even singing along, and Yuho just grasped the overall flow. Then Inhan taught Yuho the movements according to the 8-count, and Yuho mastered the choreography in just one or two tries.
“Is the palm up or down here?”
“Down.”
“Like this?”
“It’s similar but the angle needs to be more diagonal.”
“Diagonal? Like this?”
“No. Wait a moment.”
Inhan approached Yuho and directly adjusted the angle of his arm and wrist. When Inhan’s face came close right in front of him, Yuho urgently turned his gaze to look at his own wrist.
“Like this, so the upper hand and lower hand form a straight line.”
“Ah. Okay.”
“Your legs need to come in more too.”
Not satisfied with just the wrist, Inhan even brought his hand to Yuho’s thigh to correct his posture. Even though this much touch was natural when correcting movements, Yuho was unnecessarily tense.
“Is it okay now?”
“Yes. It’s good.”
“Okay. I’ll remember.”
“Okay.”
Even though Yuho had memorized most of the choreography, Inhan continued to correct the details of the movements.
But do I really need to be this precise? It’s not like I’m going on stage. Yuho was doubtful, but seeing Inhan’s face concentrating with even his brow furrowed, he couldn’t bring himself to show his discontent.
Inhan being picky about choreography seemed to be something that didn’t change even after becoming awkward.
“Let’s eat.”
Just then, Suhyung and Juseung appeared in the practice room with both hands full of burger bags, and Yuho quickly said to Inhan.
“Let’s eat now.”
“There’s still the back part left.”
“I came here to eat though.”
“Ah.”
“I’ll pick up the rest by watching the choreography video. I can ask Yeomin too.”
“Okay.”
And so Inhan’s choreography lesson ended.
Inhan seemed regretful, but Yuho was secretly relieved. His lips had been drying up from tension.
“Yuho hyung. Come quickly. Let’s eat burgers.”
Yeomin grabbed Yuho’s burger too and settled in one side of the practice room. Yuho left Inhan and headed toward Yeomin.
Inhan received a burger from Suhyung and headed back to the corner.
“Inhan. Where are you going?”
It was Yeomin who stopped Inhan.
“Ah, I’m…”
“Inhan. Come here. Let’s eat together.”
It was Yuho who gestured and called Inhan over. First of all, there were many watching eyes, and he couldn’t help but be concerned about Inhan and couldn’t turn away.
“Okay.”
At Yuho’s call, Inhan showed a momentarily flustered appearance but soon moved his steps and approached Yuho.
The three people, Inhan, Yuho, and Yeomin, sat together in a circle and started eating burgers.
If there was a peculiarity, it was that Inhan was holding only a burger. Even his drink was just water.
“But aren’t the kids on a diet? Is it okay to feed them burgers?”
Without Yuho even needing to ask separately, Yeonghyeon expressed doubt about the dinner menu. Thanks to that, both Suhyung and Inhan flinched at the same time. Suhyung hid his flustered appearance and said.
“Oh well, one meal is fine.”
“Didn’t you say Inhan needs to lose at least 3kg more? The music video shoot isn’t far off.”
“He can just starve for a few days. Inhan usually starves well.”
A kid who usually starves well is eating a burger in the middle of a diet? Yuho thought there was a contradiction in Suhyung’s words, but Yeonghyeon seemed to accept it. Only Yuho felt unnecessarily uncomfortable.
“Maybe because I said I wanted to eat a burger for no reason…”
“I said let’s eat first though?”
“I also happened to want to eat, so I asked them to order it.”
Because Yeomin and Inhan spoke at the same time, Yuho couldn’t understand what the two were saying. Inhan looked at Yeomin’s face, and eventually Yeomin stepped forward and started making excuses.
“I was the first to say let’s eat, and Inhan just agreed from the side. Hyung just got caught up in it.”
“Right. Today is my cheat day.”
At the two’s excuses that felt flimsy, Yuho had many thoughts. Now they’re even luring me out with food. But he thought he was also responsible for falling for such a shallow trick. Maybe he knowingly let himself be fooled.
Instead of digging deeper, Yuho asked Inhan a question.
“What about a drink?”
“I didn’t order one. If I drink a beverage too, it’ll really be hopeless.”
“Still. Will water be enough?”
“Yes. It’s fine.”
“If it gets greasy while eating, have mine.”
Saying that, Yuho pushed his precious strawberry shake toward Inhan.
“Yes, thank you.”
Inhan stared intently at Yuho’s face with a surprised expression, then nodded.
Yeomin, who was watching the two from the side, asked Yuho with a face full of complaints.
“Hyung. What about me?”
“You have yours.”
“Still, what about me? Why don’t you worry about me?”
“Yeah. Yeomin, you too, make sure to drink your beverage if your throat gets dry.”
“Okay. Got it. Thanks for worrying.”
Yeomin was satisfied and started eating. And he spoke to Inhan.
“Inhan. Want to go to the dorm with me today?”
“Why would I go to the dorm with you, hyung?”
“Tomorrow is choreography practice anyway. Sleep at the dorm and come out together.”
“No. You come sleep at my house, hyung.”
“Forget it. Don’t come. You’re banned from the dorm from now on.”
“Is the dorm yours?”
“Yes. It’s mine.”
Watching Yeomin and Inhan bickering as soon as they were together, Yuho decided to quietly savor his burger. He even had the random thought that friends and enemies were only a hair’s breadth apart.
Inhan touched Yuho’s strawberry shake exactly once during the meal. Normally it was a drink he would never drink, but he couldn’t refuse Yuho’s goodwill that was difficult to obtain.
“Hyung. Are you leaving?”
Inhan asked toward Yuho, who was getting up from his seat after finishing his meal. Yuho answered briefly.
“Yeah.”
“Yuho hyung. How long will you be at the company?”
This time Yeomin asked Yuho, and Yuho explained his schedule for going home.
“I have the vocal room reserved until 9, so I’m going to stay until then. What about you, Yeomin?”
At Yuho’s question, Yeomin showed a gloomy expression instead of answering. It won’t end until dawn. Yuho expressed his sympathy inwardly and said to Yeomin.
“Okay. Fighting.”
Since it would be strange to only cheer for Yeomin when everyone was watching, Yuho also sent encouragement to Inhan.
“Inhan, you fight on too.”
“Yes. Hyung, get home safely too.”
“Yeah.”
Yuho didn’t forget to say goodbye to Yeonghyeon as well.
“Yeonghyeon teacher. I’ll be going.”
“Yeah. Yuho. See you again.”
“Contact me when you arrive at the dorm.”
“Yes. Hyung. See you at home later.”
After finishing his greetings with Suhyung too, Yuho immediately went back to the vocal room. He had wasted 40 minutes of the vocal room time he had reserved just to eat one handmade burger, but he didn’t feel regretful.
It’s okay not to diet. Yuho was just concerned about Inhan’s face that had become gaunt in just a few days.
After dinner ended, Inhan and Yeomin’s choreography practice continued.
“Inhan. What’s wrong?”
Yeomin asked Inhan, who was making repeated mistakes unlike usual during choreography practice.
“Jung Inhan. Are you not getting it together?”
Yeonghyeon also scolded Inhan in a sharp voice.
“I’m sorry.”
Inhan bent his upper body with a blank face and caught his breath. At Inhan’s action of taking rough breaths and breathing deeply, Yeomin was surprised and asked Inhan.
“Why? Are you not feeling well somewhere?”
“My heart is just beating fast.”
“Don’t you need to go to the hospital?”
“No. It’s not that serious.”
“Inhan. Don’t overdo it too much.”
Suhyung also added words, worried about Inhan.
“No. I’m fine.”
Inhan reassured Suhyung and raised his upper body again.
After a brief rest, practice started again.
But even though there was nothing more to be out of breath about, Inhan’s heart continued to pound wildly.
Without realizing what that sensation making his whole body breathless was, Inhan continued to carry on with practice.
