On The Pulse- Chapter 2: Fresh Prince

Title: On The Pulse
Pairing: Sekai, side baekchen
Length: 2/20
Genre: Romance, Humor, College!AU
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sehun's the king of the dance squad, everyone in college knew that. So you can imagine he wasn't too happy when the freshie Jongin showed up and upstaged him spectacularly.

"Next!"

Sehun tried to stifle his yawn as Yixing called up the next auditionee. He knew it would absolutey obnoxious of him to show how bored and unimpressed he was, but that was the sad reality. They had gone through 16 auditions already, and only 2 were good enough to join the team.

One of the fellows even forgot his own choreography and started crying.

Of course Sehun felt bad for the poor guy, but at the end of the day, this was the best dance team in the nation. Of course expectations were going to be high and if you couldn't handle the heat, then you shouldn't be in the kitchen.

"How many more do we have?" Sehun heard Taemin ask Yixing, to which Yixing glanced down at the paper and then held up 2 fingers.

Okay, just 2 more.

When all the auditionees were first gathered in the studio and briefed, Sehun felt like there were at least 30 of them. It definitely sounded like that when they cheered for him after his dance.

Well, this is going to wrap up soon then, so that's good.

The next auditionee walked into the studio, confidently but respectfully smiling at the panel.

His face was definitely not bad to look at, so Sehun propped up in his chair a little bit.

Not exactly his type though, he looked far too prim and proper, but he was definitly handsome, there was no doubt in that.

"Hello there, why don't you introduce yourself to us."

Sehun always admired how Yixing had the stamina to maintain his cheerfulness when the rest of them were droned out by this point. The auditionee returned Yixing's large, dopy smile with his own, flashing his perfect row of pearly teeth.

"Hi everyone, my name is Junmyeon and today I am hoping to secure a place on the best dance team in the nation. I love dance and I may not be the best but I have been training endlessly for this, so I hope you give me a shot and let me prove how hardworking I can be."

Sehun could not help but smile at his earnesty, it was refreshing to hear after countless baseless renditions of 'I'm the best' and 'This team needs me'.

The music started, and Sehun's smile slowly disappeared.

His beginnning stance itself was shaky, then he missed a couple of beats which caused him to spin off time. His lines weren't straight enough and his movements weren't sharp enough. His face was too serious and his moves compromised emotion for the sake of technique.

By the end, Junmyeon was panting hard and his face was still as hard as steel. Sehun knew he was definitely not anywhere near the standard of the team, but still, there was something there, some spark in this kid, that made him want to give him a shot.

"Thank you Junmyeon. That was good, you're not a bad dancer at all. I can see that you really put your all in every move and that's really admirable. But I don't really think it is at the standard that we need it to be for you to be on this team."

Yixing was trying to be as nice as possible, but it was obvious along what line he was going. Junmyeon's face started to fall even though he tried to maintain his composure and respectfully listened to the feedback.

"Yeah I agree. We're looking for the top-notch dancers out there, and while you have the drive, maybe you need to go back and train just a little more and then come audition again. I bet by then, you'll be ready."

Sehun was rather surprised by how nice Taemin was being, because for the other hopeless auditions his usual responses were "are you kidding me" and "what are you even doing here"

But it was understandable, this kid was so sincere and passionate that it was practically impossible to be able to look him in the eye and say something mean.

Finally, it was Sehun's turn to speak.

"Train just a little bit more. You'll get there. You have the spark, you just have to turn that into a flame."

Sehun loved sounding inspiring and wise, it made him feel like a deep and intrinsically mature person even though most of the time his quotes were from brainyquotes.com

Junmyeon pressed his lips into a smile and nodded, trying his best to mask his disappointment.

"I understand, I will definitely work harder and come back stronger next time."

The three panel judges smiled encouragingly at him as he left the studio, and as Sehun watched the disappointed boy leave, a part of him hoped sincerely that he would see him again, indeed stronger and better.

"Alright," Yixing sighed as he crossed off another name on the audition list, "just one left."

"Great, let's wrap this up so I can go read." Taemin yawned out as he stretched his arms over his head.

"You read?" Sehun glanced behind at Krystal, who was looking at Taemin with an amused smirk.

The rest of the club together with Sehun's gang was sitting on the floor behind the judging panel, watching the auditions as well. The system used to be that everyone would give feedback, but having 20 people each take turns took way too long so Yixing decided to just have himself, the leader, and Sehun and Taemin, the 2 sub-leaders, judge the auditions.

"He means his manga, so it's not legit reading." Sehun replied, to which Taemin scoffed, but with a hint of a smile.

Sehun and Taemin didn't get along well at first, as both competed for the title of the best dancer in the squad. But after working together on numerous pieces, they realised they actually got along well enough to be friends. Also, Taemin was most of the time not even able to participate in the activities due to his own work and college commitments, so he let Sehun amicably hold the title.

Well, Sehun wouldn't say he let him hold the title, more so than he just gave up and admitted that Sehun was better than him.

Which one was true, the world would never know.

"Next!"

As Sehun sipped on his chocolate bubble tea (honestly god bless chocolate bubble tea), the door opened and the final auditionee walked in.

And suddenly the most delicious chocolate tea, his most favourite drink in the world and the true love of his life, started to choke him.

Well, it wasn't that it started to choke him more so than Sehun just inhaled deeply which caused it to get stuck in his throat.

And why did he inhale so deeply, you ask?

Because as he sipped on his most precious bubble tea, the most beautiful creature walked into the dance studio.

And in that moment, Oh Sehun, for the first time in his life, cursed himself for being very gay.

This walking embodiment of perfection just casually walked up to the front of the panel, clad in all black from head to toe which made Sehun so angry because honestly this guy must definitely know how good he looks in black and how it shows off his sexy tanned skin and how the shirt shaped his muscles so well and his pants made his legs look like they went on for miles and just honestly who does this guy think he is??????

"Hi, my name is Kim Jongin."

Oh, and of course his voice must be downright sexy as well.

Sehun was on the verge of crying at just how gorgeous this man was.

NO. REPUTATION. HONOUR. DIGNITY. YOU WILL NOT CRY.

"Hi Jongin, you've been waiting quite a while haven't you? Well, you're the last one so let's hope you end off our day well."

Jongin flashed his ridiculously charming smile at Yixing and then nodded at the whole panel. For a spit second he made eye contact with Sehun, and in that spit second Sehun wanted to jump over the table and ravage this stupidly sexy being.

Okay. Calm down Sehun. Yes this is the hottest man you have ever laid your eyes upon, but you are Oh Sehun. You are the best dancer in the college, heck in the whole nation. You are cool, keep it together and just judge this kid. He probably isn't even that great dancer and- oh. f*ck.

Sehun's jaw literally dropped as the first beat of the music started and the freshman snapped his fingers right on point, as sharp as can be. The next beat came on and he whipped his head to the side, right on point again. As the melody kicked in, so did the shock that Sehun felt as he watched Mr. Sexy dance magnificently. His every move, every expression, every pop and lock and even freaking roll (his roll was so sexy Sehun felt like crying again) was absolutely on point. Even with his technique so clean, he still managed to maintain emotion in his expression and moves, one of the hardest things for a dancer to do.

And he was doing it effortlessly.

By the end, he was on the ground, on his knees, panting hard but his face as intense and strong as ever. The music slowly faded out, leaving the room finally in complete and utter silence.

What.

the F*CK.

WAS THAT?!

The silence lingered on as literally everyone in the studio had their jaws hung open. Sehun peeled his eyes away from the dancer to observe the rest of his team.

And that was when admiration turned into alarm.

Because in all the faces and all the eyes of everyone in his team, he saw utter awe and amazement.

He saw the exact look people had whenever they watched him.

But this time it was not for him.

This time it was for this... this...

This freshie.

As Yixing finally spoke up, bursting into a series of praises and commendations, Sehun clenched his teeth.

This was not good.

This was not good at all.

Sehun was the king of the dance scene, not Mr. Se- no, Kim Jong-whatever.

"You are, undoubtedly, the best dancer I have ever seen."

Hearing Taemins' words made Sehun clench his fist under the table.

Best dancer?! Clearly Taemin was high on something.

Yeah his technique and execution and all were good, fine great, but he wasn't the best by any stretch.

Sehun was.

"Sehun?"

Looking at Yixing, who prompted him, Sehun forced himself to look at the little brat and had to remind himself to look past the sexiness and remember that this was his new threat.

"You were good. Very good."

With that, Sehun looked back down at his fingers tapping on the table, leaned back in his chair and trying his best not to look affected by what had just happened.

"Alright, welcome to the team Jongin!"

Everyone clapped, which meant Sehun had to as well, and Jongin bowed respectfully to the whole panel and then to the whole studio, his bright smile still plastered on his face.

Once he left the studio, everyone broke out into murmurs about how spectacular the last auditionee was.

"Yah."

Sehun felt a large hand clasp his shoulder and turned to find Chanyeol looking down at him with raised eyebrows.

Oh no, now he had to deal with the three baffoons.

"See, I told you someone may surprise you later."

"Shut up! Can't you see he's absolutely broken. It's finally happened guys. Someone has finally come along to replace- OUCH! YAH! SERIOUSLY!"

Chanyeol returned the dagger glare Baekhyun was giving him as he rubbed the back of his head. Sehun couldn't be bothered to deal with the three of them, he already had a headache as it was and he just did not feel like having any human interaction for the next 50 years or so.

So he got up and started heading towards the back to get his stuff.

"Hey!"

As he slung his bag around his shoulders, Jongdae jogged up to him.

"You okay?"

This time there wasn't a tone of teasing or amusement, Jongdae was soft and was looking with pure concern at him. He knew how much his title and reputation meant to Sehun, more than just the reason of fame and glory, so he knew how upset Sehun was.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"Sehun, this doesn't actually mean anything you know. Yeah he's a great dancer, but he has nothing on you. No one's going to respect you any less."

Sehun scoffed, folding his arms.

"You saw him. Even you don't believe your own words. He's...he's better than me. He'll replace me and everyone will forget Oh Sehun. It'll be Kim Jong-whatever, Dance God of Lykos College. I'll fade into obscurity."

Baekhyun and Chanyeol had joined them back again by this point, both now more quiet and serious as they saw the intense scowl on Sehun's face.

"That won't happen, I promise." Jongdae tried to reassure him, rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, we won't let it."

Sehun cocked a brow at Baekhyun, "and how exactly do you have any control over the situation?"

Baekhyun smirked, and it was the same smirk as whenever he was up to absolutely no good.

"I have an idea."