Chapter Text
“Let's fall in love for the night.
And forget in the morning.
Play me a song that you like.
You can bet I'll know every line.”
WOOYOUNG
This would be the last time he would dance hand in hand with San. The last week they would spend together, rehearsing as if their lives depended on it. The last occasion where he would wonder if San also felt the tension between them growing thicker and suffocating, begging to snap and bring them together in a kiss where they finally admitted that neither of them imagined a future where they weren't together and that they had been too scared to say it out loud, instead of one where they pretended their feelings hadn't grown without control and they were avoiding talking clearly about it.
Wooyoung slid his fingers between San’s while they waited backstage for their turn. As if it was muscle memory, San gripped his hand and tilted his head in his direction, their gazes meeting in the false solitude of a space filled to the brim with cameras and curious eyes.
I’m going to miss this, his heart threatened to say.
No matter what, we will keep in touch like you promised, right? His brain supplied.
“Sad because this is our last day dancing together?” His fucking tongue teased.
San’s thumb glided over the back of Wooyoung’s hand, the loud world around them turning into a buzz that shouldn’t be so easy to ignore.
The idol stepped even closer, invading his personal space, and Wooyoung shuddered when his free hand traced one of the braids he had on the left side of his head.
“Wooyoung…”
Playing with fire, always using the excuse that he needed to take everything he could just in case one day San wasn’t within reach anymore, Wooyoung leaned in until he could practically breathe San in; the confession bit his own mouth, threatening to fall out of it.
“Don’t break my heart and say yes, Sannie.”
For a split second, Wooyoung swore he saw San’s eyes dropping to his lips.
And he wished nothing changed after that night.
“San and Wooyoung, on your position in five!” A voice called out.
Shit .
***
“What the fuck did you just say?” Wooyoung muttered after taking a long sip of his Americano, bare-faced, half asleep and wondering if his friends had decided to prank him because he hadn’t shut his mouth about San participating in Spotlight since it got announced.
Goddamn Choi San, the only famous creature who could almost make Wooyoung tip-toe into the fantasy world; a place where he got a call to work on the choreography of the next music video of San’s group, Ateez, and San discovered that they were meant to be.
As if Ateez hadn’t been working with the same choreographer for a couple of years already.
And as if Wooyoung didn’t know that his infatuation with the idol began with him admiring profusely how hard San had worked to earn his position. How he had been dancing for a veteran group while also fighting for his own debut. And most importantly, how his dance skills only got more and more flawless with time.
“I said,” Seonghwa repeated, “that Yeonjun and Changbin applied for you to be paired with San on Spotlight on a whim and they have emailed you to tell you that you are one of the ten finalists.”
Wooyoung choked on his coffee, his knees buckling and his body falling onto the couch, next to his best friend.
“With Choi San ?” He croaked out. “On fucking national television?”
Seonghwa nodded, slowly, as though he could scare Wooyoung even more.
“What did they even send in for me to get picked?”
“Your ‘Bad’ performance from last year, obviously adding that the choreography was yours too.”
A groan escaped Wooyoung’s mouth. That wasn’t the good morning he was expecting to get on his day off. Perhaps, it was time to go back to bed. He’d had enough.
“But… that was it?”
Seonghwa shifted awkwardly on the couch and rubbed his nape while he avoided Wooyoung’s face. He cleared his throat and shrugged, even though they both knew Wooyoung wouldn’t let him switch topics that easily.
“Spill.”
Finally, his best friend looked at him.
“You also had to write a letter explaining why you should be picked, so I channelled my inner Wooyoung for it.”
Wooyoung drank in silence, his eyebrows raised.
“I don’t want to read that letter, am I right?”
Seonghwa sighed. “It’s cute. Better than any idea Changbin and Yeonjun had.”
Wooyoung leaned back against the couch and bent his knees to hug his legs with one arm, his surprise put aside so reality could run over him like it should have done the moment Seonghwa dropped the news as if it was nothing.
“What am I going to do, Hwa?”
Seonghwa grinned.
“What you do best —dance. Meeting that idol is just the cherry on top.”
***
“Don’t you think I should be more nervous?” Wooyoung asked while Seonghwa drove him to the first meeting with San.
Surprisingly, he had beaten the rest of the finalists smoothly in two rounds. During the first one, they’d had to memorise two choreographies in a morning and then perform them in front of a couple of judges. The second round was dancing in pairs. They had learnt a longer choreography in a few hours, rehearsed it in a couple more and finally presented it before the same judges.
Wooyoung wasn’t going to lie and say he didn’t feel like he deserved to be the chosen one after seeing the other competitors, but it was one thing to feel confident and another thing entirely to actually get the call telling him that he would be Choi San’s dance partner in Spotlight for the next twelve weeks —or thirteen, if they made it to the finals.
“You’ve been dancing for twenty years and you aren't an insecure guy when it comes to it so…”
“I meant,” Wooyoung cut him off. “I’m not dancing by myself or working on choreographies for someone else. I’ll be dancing with someone I’ve admired for years.”
“If anything, he should be thankful you are his partner for the entire competition. You are hard-working, funny and really easy-going. And no matter how much you admire him, you would never make him uncomfortable.” Seonghwa gave Wooyoung’s leg a quick squeeze before gripping the wheel with both hands again.
Wooyoung looked down at his lap, where his fingers were playing with the hem of his sweatshirt. He wasn’t even wearing his best outfit for this meeting. It was a damn miracle that he had even managed to shower in less than three minutes after his morning classes, put on the change of clothes he picked the night before and added some concealer before running to Seonghwa’s car, which was waiting for him outside of the dance academy where he worked.
“Yeah. Okay. Sure. But have you seen him? He’s like… perfect . All smiles, encouraging words, impeccable performances… I’m not saying I’m a bad performer but what if the judges and the public hate me,” Wooyoung wondered. “What if he hates me but he’s stuck with me for three months?”
A soft smile pinched the corners of Seonghwa’s lips.
“The moment you crack your first joke and let out one of your hyena cackles, everyone in the room will fall for you.”
Wooyoung did his best to not torture his lips now that he had applied some nude lipstick.
Time was passing swiftly, not leaving him a moment to process how much his life had changed in just two weeks; his brain rustily catching up before he had to add the meeting with San to the pile of unbelievable experiences he had lived lately.
“But that’s different. I’ll be so out of my comfort zone and he’ll be used to the cameras and the attention and everything.”
“You adore the attention too. Or isn’t that the reason why you always have a solo during the summer show?”
“ Again , that’s different. I’ve been performing there for years. This is just…” He shook his head. “I feel like I should be freaking out because everything will be so different but a part of me is so sure that everything is going to be fine.”
“You’ve always loved a good challenge.”
“Did this one need to come with a fucking Choi San? I feel like I’m gonna make a fool of myself.”
“He’s used to fans that make him meow and flirt with him in fancalls, I’m sure he won’t mind seeing you stutter here and there because you are flustered.”
Wooyoung whined. “Not the stuttering. God. I just hope he doesn’t think I’m a mediocre dancer or something like that. I know I’m not one of the idols of the moment but I’m a good dance teacher and I’ve been the choreographer of a soloist and I nailed it with the debut of that boy group.”
Seonghwa entered the parking lot of the building and Wooyoung considered banging his head against the window to not make himself go through such an embarrassing situation. He was pretty calm about most of this but the prospect of meeting San and dancing with him was something that hadn’t sunk in yet.
Not when dancing was his entire life.
It wasn’t that important to get along with the idol, but Wooyoung wouldn’t take well to San disregarding his effort or not appreciating his skills.
It shouldn’t happen, especially when San was well known for being respectful and humble.
But what if…
“Wooyoung,” Seonghwa said after the car stopped roaring. “At the end of the day, he’s a human like you. Famous and rich and blahblah , but human regardless. Treat him like you would treat any other person you were going to dance with for the first time.”
His temple found the cold window.
“I’m going to kill you all for making me go through this.”
Seonghwa reached out to open Wooyoung’s door and push him out of the car.
“You are gonna be late,” was his farewell.
And Wooyoung closed the door knowing that Seonghwa was just trying to prevent him from getting more nervous inside his car.
***
In all honesty, after going through security and vaguely listening to how to get to the meeting room, Wooyoung had flown across the building. His eyes hadn’t scanned a single detail and his feet had moved on autopilot to save him from turning into a statue inside the lift.
After signing the NDA two days prior, Wooyoung had been secretly daydreaming about this moment, hoping he clicked with San enough to understand each other professionally. He wasn’t looking for a friend or anything of the sort, just someone who was in sync with him; someone who could memorise his body until it seemed like they were part of the same being.
“Jung Wooyoung?” A man asked when he exited the lift.
Wooyoung nodded, albeit hesitantly.
“I’m Choi Jongho, San’s personal manager,” he introduced himself politely, shaking Wooyoung’s hand and guiding him along the hallway. “Thank you for coming to this meeting. We know you have the official one with Spotlight staff in a few days but we thought it would be convenient to meet beforehand.”
Wooyoung nodded again. That meant the meeting would be only San, Jongho and him?
God. He really was on his way to make the worst impression ever while wearing an awful sweatshirt.
Amazing, Wooyoung.
At least, his parents gave him good genes and he didn’t look completely horrendous with his casual outfit, half-tied hair and almost bare face.
“We didn’t know if you would like something to drink so…”
“Water would be fine,” Wooyoung murmured.
Jongho’s lips curled in a friendly smile. “Water then.”
He twisted the doorknob and gestured towards the room to invite Wooyoung to go inside.
Why did he lie to Seonghwa like that when he could feel his heart about to jump out of his chest? He was really worried about his first impression. They needed to make a good team. San needed to trust Wooyoung as much as Wooyoung needed to trust him back.
What if he thought that Wooyoung was an idiot and didn’t give him a chance?
It was pointless being a good professional if San wasn’t willing to cooperate.
The room was a typical spacious meeting room, with an even more typical large table in the middle, countless chairs around it, and a screen with a webcam for video-conferences. The logo of their company was on one of the walls and there were a couple of shelves shoved in a corner, as if they were supposed to go unnoticed.
San was sitting on a chair far from the door, his short black hair tucked under his cap, his chest hugged by a tight, black sweater and his attention focused on his phone. He didn’t even look up to see Wooyoung walking into the room.
Perfect .
Jongho cleared his throat after closing the door.
San set his phone on the table, stood up and, only then, drew a smile that didn’t paint dimples on his cheeks. It was… tight. Not friendly, like Jongho’s had been.
“Let’s kick the awkwardness away. Wooyoung, San. San, Wooyoung.”
Jongho patted San’s back and walked past him to take a seat and pour himself a glass of water, happily ignoring them while they stood face to face, low-key waiting for the other to reach their arm out so they could shake hands or simply bow.
Could the ground swallow him whole?
“N-nice…” Fucking stuttering . This was Seonghwa’s fault. “Nice to meet you, San.”
He ended up bowing ever so slightly and San copied him, though he went straight to the important part as he came back to his seat:
“Jongho told me you’ve worked with other idols before.”
Warming up must be for the weak. Long gone was the attractive charisma Wooyoung was used to seeing in the interviews, this was a San that wanted to get to know what Wooyoung had done before because, truth be told, Wooyoung already knew San’s background.
He sat next to San and his hands promptly cupped the glass of water that Jongho had prepared for him.
“Yeah. I’ve worked with a few small artists but I’m actually a dance teacher. I’m still striving to work as a choreographer full-time.” Wooyoung swallowed the lump in his throat, cursing himself when said lump came back within seconds. “I’ve tried multiple styles but these past few years I’ve been teaching jazz, mostly.”
“Which styles?” San asked, his eyes fixed on Wooyoung’s face, as though he could see beneath his skin.
Wooyoung was struggling not to dart his gaze away but he didn’t want to come off as rude. It was just so… intense to have a stranger —that somehow wasn’t a stranger— looking at him like that.
A stranger that physically looked like someone he had seen too many times to even remember them all, but that talked like someone else.
“I used to do ballroom dancing when I was a teenager because I was curious. I’ve taken some contemporary lessons too but nothing serious. I’ve tried hip-hop and other urban styles but I never had time to dive into any of them. I started teaching different ballroom dance styles, actually.”
San’s eyebrows shot up. “ Oh . I wasn’t… ballroom. Huh.”
Was that a bad thing? Because Spotlight was literally about pairs that competed every week doing different routines. Nobody got eliminated until the semi-finals, where the three finalists were chosen. They would be getting different points per episode and each week there would be a winner that would get more points than the rest.
In the end, the prize for the winners was a pretty crazy amount of money and an important professional opportunity for the non-famous member of the pair, and a smaller amount of money for the famous one that they would donate to the cause they had previously picked.
In previous seasons, the professional opportunity had been tied to the celebrity and the pair had ended up working together again outside of the show. But Wooyoung doubted San or his company were interested in that.
Clearing his throat another time, Wooyoung commented, “I guess we can complement each other quite well since you’ve been doing mostly urban styles lately and did contemporary for so many years.”
He hoped he didn’t come across as invasive. San’s training was public . It only took a moment’s research to find all that information.
San pursed his lips. “H-hm. We’ll see. Maybe you’re right. I’m surprised they’ve allowed two men to go together, though.”
Wooyoung was unsure on how to take the comment.
“As far as I know, there will be more pairs like you,” Jongho chimed in. “Apparently, Yeji, the soloist, will be dancing with another woman, too.”
The manager smiled, exuding a calm aura that Wooyoung wished he could use as a blanket to protect himself from San’s sharpness.
“It was about time that they allowed something like this,” Wooyoung commented.
In other countries, they had been doing it for a few seasons already.
San let out a long sigh, not looking amused in the slightest.
Wooyoung really couldn’t tell if the man before him despised him or just wished he was rotting in bed, instead of talking to the dancer. How could this San be so different from the person he had seen in so many videos before?
Maybe he’s having a bad day .
“Your choreographer, Yunho, and I,” Jongho interrupted them again, “have rented a different rehearsal room for you both in a quiet area. We’ve heard that Spotlight only has certain rehearsing slots available each day and we supposed it would be more comfortable for you to have an alternative. Especially considering your busy schedules.”
“Thank you,” Wooyoung mumbled. “I’ll talk with the director of my academy tomorrow to see what we can do about my classes but, in theory, I should have enough flexibility to work on every choreography.”
Jongho took some notes on his phone, nodding to indicate to Wooyoung that he was listening.
“Okay. I’ll send you Yunho’s email info so you can send him your schedule and he can work around you both to teach you the choreographies and check how the rehearsals are going.”
San’s attention was back on his phone, as if this part of the conversation didn’t include him. Jongho had likely already informed him of all of this, but it cost nothing to pay some attention and engage in what they were saying for the sake of their future partnership.
Maybe Wooyoung was just really sensitive that evening and everything would go smoothly between them in the future.
He had to keep a positive mind to not turn towards San and yell at him.
“Each episode will be filmed and aired on Friday. You are expected to get there after lunch and leave around eleven. I know it’s pretty late and that it sounds exhausting but I have no power there.”
San sighed again and Jongho glared at him, making the idol straighten up in his chair, pour some juice in his glass and sulk in silence while he took sips.
Was Wooyoung missing something?
“Also, you will be filmed during some of your official rehearsals at Spotlight installations, and after you are done on Thursday, you will have a brief interview so they can prepare your introduction video for Friday. Nothing out of the norm; they will ask you about your week, the choreography…”
Wooyoung was starting to get seriously concerned about the limited hours a day had. It was clear that on Friday they would only have time to mark their positions and check that everything was ready for their performance. He guessed they would have a decent rehearsal on set on Thursday. So that meant that they would learn the new choreography on Saturday and had roughly until Wednesday to perfect it.
He had dealt with packed schedules in the past but the stress of working while doing this would get suffocating in no time.
“If it’s a problem for you to get anywhere on time because of your work, Spotlight staff told us we could get you a car, but we can talk about it in detail when we meet with them,” Jongho assured, still oozing a perfect mix of professionality and friendliness, unlike the idol sitting between them.
“Thank you. Is there anything else?”
Jongho poured more water, clearing his throat with it.
“One of Ateez’s bodyguards will wait for you outside when you go to the private rehearsal room. And we recommend you lock your current social media accounts and use the one that the Spotlight staff will give you after the meeting.”
His stomach twisted and it took him a few more seconds than usual to nod.
Would some fans say something to him because he had been paired up with San for a damn TV show? It wouldn’t be the craziest thing he had ever seen but it didn’t sound appealing to turn into the new punching bag of a fandom that should be more concerned about San and the other members of the group.
“I did a live this morning to talk about you,” San commented, adjusting his cap. “I said that we would be a team and that I hoped they could support us throughout the competition.” It had to be the longest sentence he had said in a warm tone since Wooyoung arrived. “Hopefully, most of them will.”
Most of them .
Why hadn’t Wooyoung considered that? He had been so caught on dancing with San and making a good team with him that his mind had completely ignored the idol’s fanbase.
Another fear to add to the list.
Fucking fantastic.
“I promise they are amazing,” San whispered when he seemed to understand that Wooyoung was far from relaxed. “You just need to ignore the bad ones because those ones will always find something to hate or something to complain about. If it’s not you, then it’s me going on a TV show or who knows what.”
For once, San smiled tenderly enough to show his dimples but, this time, Wooyoung only stared blankly at him.
He was no one , if for whatever reason the fandom decided to hate him, he was screwed.
“I’ll make sure they treat you well,” San promised with the dimples still in sight.
The freaking whiplash this man was giving him, going from indifferent to reassuring in the span of fifteen minutes. He was aware of how much celebrities had to put on their best faces in front of the cameras but after this meeting, Wooyoung couldn’t tell what parts of San were the real San and which ones were part of that act that was already engraved in his skull after so many years.
“Thank you, San.”
His smile widened imperceptibly but the gesture disappeared from his face in a blink when his phone buzzed in his hand. His body tensed when he looked at the screen and Wooyoung could see how he visibly held back a groan.
“I need to pick up. Sorry,” he informed, promptly storming out of the room.
Wooyoung stared at the table as if it was the most interesting item he had ever laid eyes on and Jongho stood up, taking the empty seat beside him and gently palming Wooyoung’s arm.
“I promise he’s not always like this. It’s going to go well.”
A sigh escaped Wooyoung’s mouth.
What a start.
“I hope you are right.”
Jongho grinned before gulping down the rest of his water.
“You’ll soon learn that I’m always right.”