Jungkook closed his eyes and opened them again. It was still there. The small sheet of paper that announced that Park Jimin was searching for a base. Straining his eyes, he tried to read the smaller print underneath the one liner that told the main story. Apparently, it did not matter which department the base was from. Jungkook read again just to make sure he did not misunderstand that.

"Park Jimin? THE Park Jimin?" Hoseok asked next to him with raised eyebrows.

"Yeah," was all Jungkook could breathe out. This was his chance.

"Dude, that's your chance!" his best friend cheered and slapped his back. "Go get your guy!"

"Sht," he hissed at his friend. Becoming Park Jimin's base, fine, letting the whole school know that he was gay, not good. Ballet might be used to the stigma, but he was in hip hop, for god's sake. The others would never let it go.

"Okay, okay," Hoseok whispered with raised hands. "But honestly, go get him. This is the one opportunity you've been lamenting about all those months."

Jungkook's face twitched. "Don't make me sound so pathetic."

"You are pathetic," his friend deadpanned. "But it's fine now. Just spare me the details, O.K.?"

Jungkook groaned and grabbed his friend's neck to pull him out of the crowd that was hoarding around the announcement board. "I won't be sleeping with him," he whisper-growled.

"But you want to," Hoseok taunted although Jungkook still had a tight grip on his nape. He grunted noncommittal, trying not let the dirty scenes of his dreams play out in his mind. He could be better than that. He would earn it.

"I bet he's super flexible," Hoseok said when Jungkook finally let go of him.

"You fucking-"

With a giggle his friend ran off and vanished in the crowd of students.

Well, time to watch some ballet to get a proper idea of being a base. He could not embarrass himself if he wanted this to work out.

><

Jungkook's heart was hammering against the inside of his ribcage like it wanted to jump out of his chest. He was sitting outside the studio with the handful of other candidates who were willing to try their luck, and to his discouragement they all looked like ballet or contemporary dancers and they were dressed in skintight outfits that made Jungkook's skin crawl while at the same time he felt intimidated. They all stood straight and gracefully, and he was here in his training joggers and a billowy t-shirt.

To his defense, he had come straight from practice and had at least exchanged his sweat-soaked shirt with a fresh one. That still did not protect him from the confused side-glances.

"Gentlemen," a stern-looking woman said through the gap in the door that had opened. "We will begin the assessment now. One after the other, please. We'll start with Mr. Kim Namsong."

Said man vanished behind the door and the silent torture continued.

After Kim Namsong came Kim Dongkyul, then Kim Samyong, Choi San, and finally Jungkook. The last suitor who would follow after him gave him a small smile and a nod, and for some reason that was enough to calm Jungkook's heart. He had the blessing of a ballet-contemporary-whatever student and that must mean something.

"You are?" the lady asked as if she had not just called him in.

"Jeon Jungkook," he answered confused.

He eyebrows furrowed when she scanned him top to bottom. "Which department?"

"Hip hop, streetstyle," he replied, and the lady's face told him everything he needed to know. She did not trust him to do this.

Trying not to be discouraged he looked over at Park Jimin who was leaning against the table she sat at, dressed in the dance outfit Jungkook knew all too well. Had Jimin worn anything else, he might have felt estranged, but this, this he knew, felt at ease with. And he was smiling. Park Jimin was smiling at him. Jungkook's heart was screwed.

"Well, Jungkook, what brings you here?" the man of his dreams asked and Jungkook once again experienced the music flowing through that man. His voice was dripping like dew from the leaves of a musky forest.

And Jungkook was a soppy idiot. He should concentrate. "To be your base," he answered, only then realizing that he had stated the obvious and made a fool out of himself.

Jimin's chuckle and the lady's small shake of her head told him that they thought the same.

"Okay," Jimin hummed, the amused smile still on his lips. "I'm a friend of practice rather than words. Lift me."

And then he was running, running straight towards Jungkook.

Hips, Jungkook reminded himself just in time to place his hands where all the videos had taught him to, slightly bent his knees, and used Jimin's momentum to lift him above his head. And now he was flying, flying on Jungkook's hands and the younger could not stop himself from smiling like an idiot. The quiet gasp from the dancer told him that he had not expected this, and Jungkook felt his ego building up again.

"Let me down," Jimin demanded and Jungkook, feeling cocky with his triumph, retracted his hands only to catch the falling body bridal style. Huge brown eyes stared at him from his arms, and he reveled in it for just some second before lowering the dancer's feet to the floor.

"He looked like..." the lady began, breaking their moment, "I don't even have a word for that. Like a troll lifting a fairy. Like a- a construction worker lifting a bag of cement." She looked pained.

But Jimin did not care for her. He was only looking at Jungkook. "I will do this again, but this time I'll do pirouettes and you'll catch me in motion for a full 360 swing. Do you know where to put your hands?"

He looked expectantly at Jungkook, who felt slightly overtaxed now. "Uhm, can you show me again."

The dancer nodded and turned his back to him. "Hand," he demanded and Jungkook stretched out his left. It was placed around Jimin's waist. The other went underneath Jimin's thigh. Jungkook had seen that in one of his videos. He could do that. It was all about timing, the rest was about using Jimin's momentum.

"Ready?" the small dancer asked him and Jungkook nodded.

Assuming a position to his right, Jimin gave him a nod and the started spinning. For a moment, Jungkook wondered how the other did not feel sick after that, but then he forced his focus onto the task and looked for the right moment.

When the dancer was at the height of his right foot, he bent his knees, tried to place his hands in the right position, and spun with Jimin on his next pirouette, putting him back down afterwards. His right hand had slipped.

"Don't stand with your legs so far apart," the lady criticized him. "Lift your right arm so that you elbow is supporting the leg. Again."

After a deep breath and a nod toward Jimin, they did it again. This time was better. The new angle of his arm stabilized his hold on the dancer.

"Again," the lady demanded. "This time I want you to look upwards when you lift him. Like you admire him, not like you're doing weightlifting."

Ignoring the obvious jab, that was nothing Jungkook needed training for. He had been ready to do that the moment he had first watched Jimin dance. Eager to do another round he looked at Jimin. The man was smiling at him again. But not the soft one from before but a curious mischievous smile that did something to Jungkook's stomach. He was beyond redemption.

But then Jimin was spinning, and all that was left was the music of his body that Jungkook had learned to read over the months. One, two, three, now. His hands slipped in place and his eyes lifted to catch a glimpse of stretched neck and a sharp jaw. He wished he could look into Jimin's eyes.

"Okay, this will do for now," the lady said sternly when he had placed Jimin back on the ground, both of them breathing a tad bit labored.

"Thank you," Jimin breathed and smiled his curious smile again. "We'll contact you tomorrow. Leave your number."

Jungkook nodded like on autopilot and took the pen from the lady to jot down the digits, giving Jimin side-glances while doing so.

Once he was outside, his head began to spin with everything that had happened. He could still feel Jimin's body against his, the flexing muscles under his hands, the compact strength of the body he had held. It was a heady feeling. Much too real for his pining brain.

><

"He lifted me like you do," Jimin said breathlessly into the phone.

"No one lifts you like I do," Taehyung protested half-heartedly.

"But he did. In worn-out joggers and a baggy t-shirt at that," Jimin told his best friend and chuckled amused at the memory.

Taehyung gasped at the other end. "What a barbarian did you get yourself?" he wanted to know in mock shock.

"He's a hip-hop kid," Jimin announced. "A damn side cut and top knot kiddy." He snorted. "But he feels it. He knows how to touch me."

"Touch you?" Taehyung asked suggestively.

"Tae! You know what I mean," he protested.

"Wouldn't be the first time you continued a dance in bed," his best friend chimed happily, and Jimin wanted to punch him through the phone.

"No, Tae. Stop it! I will not sleep with hip-hop kiddo."

"Why not? Is he ugly?"

"No, quite the opposite," Jimin confessed. "But still."

"Why not, then?"

"Because you know how that can ruin everything," Jimin said, mood dampened by memories of the past.

"Jaegum was a crazy obsessive bastard," his friend said angrily.

"I know, so what tells you that that Jeon boy is not the same?" Jimin argued.

His best friend sighed defeated. "Okay, no tete-a-tete with sexy hip-hop kiddo."

"Who said he was sexy?" Jimin stopped his friend from assuming.

"Aren't all hip hoppers?" Taehyung said, sounding almost bored had it not been for the small smile Jimin could hear in his voice. "Maybe the pining will make your performance all the better."

"Stop it, Tae! This is not funny," he whined. He could still feel Jeon's hands on his skin which made it exceedingly hard not to think of him in another context but dancing. He did not need his best friend for that.

"A little bit," his friend insisted amused.

"I hate you."

"I'll come to watch the show."

"What about you?" Jimin asked quietly. This should have been Taehyung's big chance as well.

"I'll follow you in summer," his best friend assured him, but Jimin could hear the disappointment in his low timbre.

"Shouldn't have drunken your brains away, idiot," he scolded his friend once again.

"We all make mistakes," Taehyung sighed. "I'll get over it when I see a hip-hop kiddo dance contemporary." He chuckled. "Isn't that a nice way to soothe my soul?"

"Idiot," Jimin said lovingly. He liked how Taehyung could always see the bright side. Whenever he was down, his best friend would pull him out of his dark thoughts. He was a true treasure.

>><<