Hard Work

The final two days of practice went without a hitch, Kokyung tried to avoid physical contact with Yoongi as much as she possibly could. Friday morning was rolling around, as she stood in her apartment waiting for her father to come pick her up. He had insisted that they go out to get breakfast/lunch that morning.

She looked in the mirror, she would be able to go from breakfast straight to their final run though of the dance before the exposition.

Her long pastel hair was pulled into a messy bun atop her head. Her eyes traveled down her body to look over her loose hoodie, and then farther to her high-waisted jeans ripped at the knees. Walking over to her shoe closet near the front door she looked through her various options, she finally settled on a pair of very thick soled black ankle boots.

A knock on the door made her look to her right, she quickly opened the door to reveal her father standing before her.

"Appa! You're ready to go?" She questioned.

"Are you?" He laughed lightly.

She smiled and quickly pulled on her boots before following him down to their car.



"Have you talked to her, hyung?" Namjoon's voice filled Yoongi's ears as he laid on his bed, too lazy to move from his spot.

"No." Was all the older of the two said before rolling over to stare at his phone screen.

"Maybe you should? Today is the last time you'll ever see her."

"No it's not."

"Oh? Why do you say that?"

"She works at the cafe I go to."

It was at that moment Yoongi realized what he had just said.

"She does? Is that why you always go there?"

The little information the leader of the group was given sent him into a curious rampage.

"No, it's quiet. We didn't even talk until I met her in class." The elder of the two grumbled.

"You have an extra chance to get close to her, take it!"

"No." Was all he said before completely blocking the younger man out.



"We have an exhibition tonight showcasing all the work that both the idols and the ballet students have put into their pieces."

"Oh? Maybe I'll have to come, you never want me at your recitals." Her father looked down at his jade noodles as the pair sat in a Thai restaurant.

"I-It's not that I don't want you there, I just don't want to disappoint you. I'm not anywhere as good as eomma."

"Nonsense, you're a natural. I'm sure you're a wonderful dancer, would you let me come?"

"If you'd like to. I'm not performing, just the idol group I was working with. But enough about me, how was Thailand? Did you meet any pretty ladies."

Her tone was kept light and joking, she knew the answer to that.

He laughed awkwardly and shook his head, "You know I couldn't do that."

"Yeah." She said softly before looking down at her glass noodles. "Thank you for this meal."

"Thank you for making time to come with me." Her father smiled at her sweetly.

"Always."

"You have a class soon, don't you? Shall we go?" He raised his hand to one of the waitresses that was about to bustle past them.

"Could we get two to-go boxes?"

The small woman nodded and scurried off the the kitchen. She returned a few moments later carrying to small white takeout boxes.

"Gamsa." Kokyung said taking the box from the young woman.



Yoongi let out a sigh, he hadn't had a chance to even talk to Kokyung after he dropped her off on Wednesday. Maybe it was for the best that nothing became of them, they were from different worlds. She was a ballerina, he was a rapper. The logistics of the relationship didn't make any sense. She wasn't anything close to what he wanted his ideal to be like.

Kokyung didn't even listen to hip-hop; but she was so pretty, she had a stunning smile, long beautiful hair. She was shorter than he was, she had a perfect figure. She was sweet, caring.

He had realized how kind and caring she was first when she had been willing to stay late with him and help him learn the dance. It was solidified when she calmly worked with Namjoon and Jin, she cared for their health. He realized that he seemed to already know that she was caring, he thought back to when the young girl and spilled steamed milk all over her self. Kokyung had quickly told her to go change, then she apologized to everyone else in the cafe. She really was a wonderful person.

He shook his head and reminded himself that they didn't know each other so it didn't make sense to be so hung up on her like this.

"Hyung, we're leaving in a few minutes." Jungkook's voice called through the rapper's door.

"Okay, I'm almost ready." He finished buttoning his jeans and pulled on socks.



Kokyung finished hooking her phone up to the sound system, she wanted to be ready for BTS as soon as they came into the room. She thought back to the first day the entered the room, she was intimidated by their fame and their music. She realized just how much she had changed while working with them. She smiled to herself, just as she realized how happy working with them made her the heavy door swung open.

Hoseok waltzed into the room, he had a large smile on his face.

"Good morning, Kokyung-ssi!"

"Ah! Good morning." She greeted him with a smile.

The rest of the group filed in one by one, Yoongi walking in last closing he door behind him.

"Today's the very last day, thank you so much for participating in this project. I'm very thankful that I was allowed to work with you, I'm sure you will do very well. As for now, lets do well."

She quickly finished so that she wouldn't seem as sad as she felt. It was a truly bittersweet feeling; she was happy they had excelled, but she was sad that it was all over.



The dance finished for the fourth time, Yoongi was breathing heavily. They all held their pose, silence filled the room.

Worry washed over the group, had they done something wrong. Just as they began to think the worst a slow clapping arose from the corner of the room where Kokyung was seated.

"It was wonderful, I'm so pleased." She sounded so happy.

Yoongi turned his head to see her expression, she had the face of a proud mother who was watching their child graduate.

"I think that's enough, if you don't stop now you won't have enough energy for the performance. Oh, speaking of that. What colors are you wearing, I was hoping to somewhat match you."

"Oh! I talked to Minkyong, she mentioned black and white suits probably." Jungkook said, a grin on his face.

"Oh, okay. Thank you." She bowed her head slightly. "At 6:30 your manager will bring you to the main hall here on the campus, I'll meet you there. From there I will take you backstage to the area where you can warm up and stretch."

Everyone nodded.

"I'll see you then." She said with another one of her breath taking smiles. She turned around to start packing her things away.



Kokyung quickly pulled on her uniform, her boss had asked if she was far to busy to fill in for Saejung. She had just finished her final class with BTS so she said she was free until 5:45. He willingly agreed to her terms and asked her to come in.

As she walked into the lobby of the cafe she saw the usual crowd, save for Yoongi.

"Ah! Miss. Jae, I was wondering if you had left us." Ms. Kim said with a sweet smile.

"No ma'am, I've been working on my studies especially hard. I'm sorry to have worried you." She bowed her head and walked over to Mr. Kang and Mr. Jun who were at their usual table with their usual game of Go.

"Is there anything I can get you?" She asked.

The pair looked up to her and large smiles crossed their faces.

"Could I have a slice of cake?" Mr. Kang asked, his smile not fading.

"Of course sir, anything for you Mr. Jun?"

"No thank you." He smiled at her and turned his sharp gaze back to the board on the table top.

The bell to the door tinkled, without looking up from the cake tray she called,

"Welcome." She turned to take the cake to the elderly men, when she did she noticed the new person who had come in.



Yoongi sat at the table he was usually at, she felt a blush forming on her cheeks. She had just seen him half an hour prior but he looked so attractive at that exact moment, his cheeks were flushed from the cool wind that was blowing outside. His black hair was mused. Trying to ignore him she scurried over to the elderly men's table and set the cake down beside the Go board.

Just as she was about to return to the counter Yoongi flagged her down.

"Is there anything I can get you?" She asked, trying not to meet his eyes. She couldn't deal with how cute he looked.

"Could I get a latte?" He asked, she realized how silly she was to ask. He always got the same thing.

"I'll get that right away for you sir." She turned and quickly returned to behind the counter.



Yoongi was extremely surprised to see Kokyung inside the cafe, he hadn't expected to see her there until after the exhibition was over. He realized that she wasn't meeting his eyes, he wondered if it had anything to do with what had transpired on Wednesday night when he dropped her off at her apartment. He pulled out his notepad and began to work on lyrics.

A little while later he heard the distinct thump of his latte hitting the table top, he looked up and smiled at Kokyung. She had a distinct blush on her cheeks, he knew he should probably act like he didn't notice.

"Ah, thank you Kokyung-ssi."

"You're very welcome." She said in a rather formal tone before turning on her heel and scurrying away from him.

He chuckled quietly before taking a sip of his latte, much better than the young girl who had filled in for her.



"Thank you again for being so kind to fill in, I don't know what we would have done without you."

"It's not a problem, I'm glad I was able to help." Kokyung bowed her head to her manager before speaking again.

"I really have to be going, I have to get ready for our exhibition."

He nodded and motioned for her to go, as soon as he did this she turned and quickly left the building. Yoongi had left half an hour prior, most likely to start getting ready.



As she walked down the street she could feel the fall weather kicking up again, the wind was practically blowing through her hoodie. She reached her hands up and buttoned the very top button, it was closed all the way up to her chin but she was still somewhat cold. It wasn't anywhere as bad as it was going to be come winter, but it was chillier than the passed summer weather. She moved quickly towards her apartment, she was trying to figure out what she wanted to wear. She knew she was going to end up wearing a dress, maybe a cardigan over it.



Minkyong stood before Yoongi straightening his tie, her brow furrowed in concentration.

"Thank you Seo-ssi." He said after a few seconds. "You should go help Kookie, he looks like he's having difficulty."

A blush lit her cheeks and she walked away from him over to the youngest member of the group. Yoongi laughed lightly as she refused to meet his eyes. They were leaving for the exhibition, or at least they were supposed to have.

"Okay, we need to go." Their manager called over their voices.

Everyone filed into the van.

A rush of nerves washed over the rapper, he hoped that he would make Kokyung proud. He would hate to be the one who disappointed her.



Kokyung nervously bounced in place, she was waiting for BTS to come into the building. They were a bit late, but they were the last group to perform so it was okay for the time being.

She looked over the roster for the evening that was resting in her hands.

First was BigBang, closely followed by 2NE1, after they had performed SHINee was to go on, f(x) would perform after them.

Her eyes slowly traveled over the extremely well known groups down to the next to last group on the roster, Bangtan Boys. Her name was scribbled next to their name. Her breath hitched, just as she exhaled in an attempt to relax and hand came in contact with her shoulder.

She jumped and turned to see her mentor standing behind her with a large smile on her thin face.



"Milaya, I'm looking forward to watching your baby group perform. I know you've done great things, that's why we saved you for last!"

The pressure that had been building all day started to crush Kokyung's chest, she had the up most confidence that they boys would dance perfectly. It was just the dance she wasn't confident in, what if it wasn't good enough for her mentor's expectations.

"You look beautiful."

"A-ah! Gamsa." She bowed to her elder and smiled at her.

Just as she was going to start panicking over where the boys were she heard a rather distinct laugh that let her exhale.



She looked over her shoulder, away from her mentor, to see J-Hope with a huge smile on his face.

"Is this Bangtan?" Ms. Kuriyakin asked, a polite smile on her lips.

"Y-yes ma'am." She said, "Allow me to introduce you."

The boys finally stood before the pair in the hall of the main building.

"Bangtan, this is my mentor Ms. Natalia Kuriyakin."

All seven boys, and their manager bowed to the older woman showing their respect for her.

"It's so nice to meet you in person! You all look so handsome!" Her forwardness shocked them, Kokyung could tell by their expressions.

"G-Gamsa, you are a very beautiful woman." Rap Monster said bowing his head to her.

"You flatter me! Thank you, I look forward to watching you perform. Kokyung is our brightest star here at the academy."



Yoongi watched as the older, very European, woman complimented Kokyung. The latter of the two looked like she wanted to puke. Nerves, he decided.

"Pardon us, we really should go warm up." Kokyung said trying to end the conversation with the Russian woman.

"Oh! Of course, I'm sorry to take your time like this. Break a toe!" With that the woman walked away.

"S-she meant leg, her translations aren't always accurate." Kokyung said as soon as the older woman was out of ear shot.

The group chuckled lightly, it was touching that she had such faith in their abilities and Kokyung's.



Yoongi looked over at her, she looked stunning. She wore a rather skin tight black dress with a high neckline, over the top of that she wore an almost floor length white cardigan. He realized she was almost as tall as he was, looking down he saw a pair of rather high heels on her small feet. Her colorful hair was pulled into a neat and tidy bun on the top of her head, far sleeker than the one she had during their practice.

They followed her back to the back of what seemed like a auditorium, it was huge. The wing they stood in had a door leading off it, through which Kokyung led them into a hall way with many other doors. She stopped in front of one and swiped a card over the lock, it whirled and
clicked open.



Kokyung felt her chest tighten as waited for Girls' Generation to finish performing, she was preparing to introduce her group.

"Hey, are you okay?" Yoongi's voice fell into her ear.

She whirled around to see him right behind her, she felt her cheeks redden.

"Y-yeah. Just nervous, not for your abilities. Just mine." She dropped her gaze.

"You're amazing at what you do, it's going to be great. I would be more worried about Namjoon-ssi."

She held back a giggle and smiled at him, "Thank you Yoongi-oppa."

"Of course."

She felt relaxed for at least a moment, the moment she thought she was calm the song ended and SNSD filed off the stage.

"Miss. Jae, the stage is all yours." The young man who was working the curtain said looking over at her.

"Oh. Yes. Thank you." She said quietly.



"First of all, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to the companies that have allowed us to work with these amazing groups. I came into this not really knowing what we were supposed to do. I was intimidated by my groups music, but the best part of dancing is there is no barrier between genres. I was kindly given the opportunity to work with BigHit Entertainment's Rookie Group of the Year; Bangtan Boys. They are amazing artist, their dances are so well put together. Everyone was very cooperative with the process; some stayed late to learn more, others asked pointers in their free time. I would like to bring to the stage Bangtan Boys; they will be performing a ballet inspired rendition of their song No More Dream."



She carefully walked back stage to the wing they were waiting in prior to her going on. She smiled at the boys and motioned for them to go onto the stage, they slowly made their way out. They all looked so sharp.
White suit jackets with black button up shirts beneath them and varying white ties. They were all styled differently but the basis of the outfits was the same idea. They all got into formation and the bass line started to flow across the auditorium. She carefully watched their steps from her spot in the stage left wing. From there she could see Namjoon and Seokjin, their steps were perfect. T

They all looked so animated in their steps, it was wonderful to watch. A smile crossed her face, they were doing so well. It reminded her that if this isn't what her instructors were looking for she was going to fail out; her dream never realized. A nervous sigh escaped her lips once more, it looked perfect. Nothing out of place, every step perfectly timed.



Yoongi stood in the final pose until the stage lights went out, as soon as they did the entire group quickly left the stage.

Kokyung was waiting for them where they had been before they went on. A large smile gracing her thin face.

"It was beautiful. Thank you so much for being so willing to work with me, it was a pleasure."

Before she could say anything else Jimin threw his arms around her in a large hug.

"A-ah. Jimin-ssi." She stuttered, only before wrapping her small arms around his shoulders in a return hug.



The whole group grinned at her praise, she had been a tough teacher but a kind one at the same time. Yoongi felt pride that she had complimented them so. Just as they were discussing what they had almost messed up, the small Russian woman from before ran up to the group.

"Kokyung! I'm so proud of you milaya! You've done such a beautiful job! You passed this with flying colors! Thank you for putting together such a beautiful dance! Please go rest, you aren't required to come for the next couple weeks. I do hope this break allows you to finally rest, I looked at the practice room key log and you've been there all the time! You must be exhausted, rest!"

Like a storm, within moments the woman was gone.



Kokyung blinked, stunned into silence.

The group around her cheered loudly, they all seemed so excited to hear those words from her mentor.

"You did it!" Taehyung cheered.

"I-I did?" She blinked again.

"You did. It was amazing." Yoongi's voice shook her from her state.

A large smile crossed her features, she couldn't believe it. She had done it! She had impressed the her professors, she was one step closer to entering the Seoul Ballet.

"You mentioned going out for dinner after this the other night, does that offer still stand?" Yoongi questioned with a slight smile on his lips.

"Yes, of course." She said bowing her head.

"Yay! Let's go!" Seokjin looked very excited at the prospect of food.



Yoongi sat in the back seat of the black car their manager had let them use to go out for dinner, their manager had stayed back to talk to the manager of BigBang. He had told them to return to the dorms after dinner and not to stay out to late. They excitedly took the car, Hoseok was behind the wheel.

"I was so sure I was going to mess up." Namjoon laughed.

"You did beautifully, Namjoon-ssi." Kokyung said glancing over at the rapper.

Yoongi watched as she shifted beside him; their shoulder were squished together, their legs touching. Beside them sat Jungkook who was practically taking the entire seat to himself. Kokyung sat between him and Yoongi, she was to polite to tell him to move over.

Hoseok pulled up to a hibachi restaurant that was practically all you can eat.



Kokyung felt the blush on her cheeks darken as they all got out of the van, she had been halfway tempted to ask Jungkook to move. The other half of her was kind of happy she was so close to Yoongi, he was warm. The group walked into the restaurant and were seated quickly.

"I can't believe this is the last time we all get to spend time together like this!" Taehyung said, a frown present on his youthful face.

"It's settled, Kokyung-ssi will just have to come live with us." He said childishly.

Kokyung giggled softly at his suggestion.

"No, I don't think your manager would like that." She smiled softly.

"Nonsense! You can just stay in Kookie and my room! It'll be great!" Taehyung insisted.

She let another laugh leave her lips at his cuteness.

"Maybe we can go out to dinner some other time, Jin-oppa has my phone number. I'm sure we'll be able to spend time together."



Yoongi tensed up as he listened to Taehyung speak, he casually glanced over to the girl beside him. A smile ever present on her face.

"Promise?" Jimin joined in on the act.

"Hm? Yes, absolutely." She replied earnestly.

Yoongi smiled to himself as he looked down at he bowl waiting for their waitress to return with the beef.

Kokyung shifted next to him, he looked up to see her smiling over at him.

"Yoongi-oppa, could you pass me the squid?"

He dropped his gaze and passed her the small bowl of fried squid beside him. She had called him 'oppa', she called Jin oppa too. Something about hearing her call him that made him wish to hear it more often.



Their dinner had gone well, they dropped the ballerina off at her apartment. Just as they were pulling away from the building Yoongi felt everyone, save for Hoseok, turn their eyes to him.

"Hyung! You like her, why don't you just ask her out?" Jimin sounded personally offended by the rapper's lack of action.

"Aish, what are you even talking about."

"You're normally so straightforward, what's so different about her. You're lying to us now." Jin commented.

"I don't know what you're talking about, I'm not lying." Yoongi shot back at the older man.

"It's not really any of our business, but you've been so captivated by her we can't help but comment." Hoseok commented from the driver's seat.

"If it's not any of your business, butt out." Yoongi grumbled, folding his arms over his chest.

"You act like a kid around her." Jungkook commented from beside him. "You were blushing the entire ride to dinner, all because she was next to you."

"No! I was blushing because she was pressed right up against me, all thanks to you!"

"It was thanks to me, wasn't it." A look of pride flashed over the maknae's face at the realization he had caused his hyung to blush, albeit unintentional.



Yoongi laid on his bed, staring at his ceiling. Thoughts consumed by the ballerina, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes. Her face flashed through his mind as he tried to relax into sleep, frustrated he stood up and left his room. He walked down the stairs into the kitchen were he saw Jin seated at the table on his laptop.

"Jin-hyung." He commented before walking to the fridge.

"Problems sleeping?" Jin asked without glancing up from his laptop, "That's unusual for you, you're the king of sleep."

"Yeah. I guess." With a sigh he pulled out some mochi.

"Is it Kokyung-ssi?" The older man's comment startled him.

"Yeah." He finally admitted.

"Maybe you should ask her out on a date, she has the next few weeks off. I could give you her number."

"N-no." He cursed himself for stuttering.

"No? Why not? You seem to like her a lot, why not try a date? I think you would hit it off well. I mean; if you could see you two around each other, it's pretty obvious that you like each other at least a little."

"We can't we don't know each other."

"You don't have to know each other to like each other." The older of the two reasoned, he finally looked across the table to where Yoongi was seated slowly eating his mochi.

Notes