Xayah is surprised that they’ve managed to get a table at the diner and absolutely no one has come to ask Sett or Aphelios for a selfie. Ever since those photos at the arcade were posted to the internet, people started asking Xayah for her picture as well. She isn’t an anonymous dancer for a k-pop star anymore, she’s Xayah, the dancer who may or may not be dating Sett from Heartsteel (because people cannot imagine Aphelios dating anyone but Sett; the fandom made it clear enough in one picture Aphelios posted with Xayah in the background). Now she’s Xayah, the dancer who may not or may not be dating back up dancer Rakan (depending on who you ask, she broke his heart or he broke her heart or they’re actually married).
There are Xayah fancams now. People love to make short videos where she’s the center of attention instead of the literal idol they paid hundreds of dollars to see. There are edits of the choreographies she’s filmed with different dance studios. There are entire accounts dedicated to sharing every single video of Xayah and Rakan sharing the stage.
This is why she’s more than a little shocked by the lack of attention their party of four attracts. She orders a milkshake and sits back, watching her guys discussing a video game they recently started playing together.
She glances at Aphelios, clearly engaged in the conversation but without saying a word, just nodding and signing his own shorthand that is easily understood for those who knew him. Occasionally, the conversation gets intense enough that he hisses something at them and they’ll stop to laugh together. Xayah is happy to watch them for now, listening, learning, loving.
The waitress comes back to take their food order when someone steps up on the platform at the end of the restaurant and grabs the mic. “Ladies and gentlemen! Now the moment you’ve all been waiting for: our world famous Swing Contest! Sign up with your waitress! The winners tonight will take home this trophy and a voucher for a two-person dinner, valid Monday through Thursday, and Friday until 7 p.m.”
Before the announcer is finished, Rakan turns to her with a raised eyebrow. Xayah and Rakan already have a trophy like that at home. It is 6 years old and they won it during one of their first dates, at this exact location. It makes her wonder if someone will recognize them if they go up the stage. Not that this truly is a world famous swing contest, but restaurants like these are not common in Seoul. Xayah, however, doesn’t recognize the host or the model showing the trophy.
Sett finishes ordering for him and Aphelios, so the waitress turns to Xayah. “And you?”
“I wanna sign up for the contest,” Xayah says.
Without looking up, she flips her notebook to the final page and asks, “names?”
“Xayah and Rakan,” Rakan confirms.
“You’re number 3 in the list. Pay attention because you will be called once,” the waitress finally looks up, as if to register who they are before giving a curt nod and walking away to a nearby table.
By the time their names are called, Xayah has drunk her milkshake and Rakan has stolen half of Aphelios’ fries. Some people turn their heads as they walk to the makeshift stage, but no one seems particularly impressed with them. It tickles Xayah’s competitive streak. She wants to show everyone that they’re by far the best dancers in this restaurant, even if no one will care about their performance 2 hours from now.
Once they’re on the stage, the host beckons them closer. “Xayah and Rakan! Do you like to swing?”
Rakan beams at him as he says “it’s very interesting stuff. It’s been a while since we’ve danced though. I might be a little rusty.”
Now that is a lie. They rehearsed together in the morning. Granted, it was a choreography for the job, but it was dancing.
“Oh, well, hopefully not too rusty or you wouldn’t have accepted the challenge, am I right?” the host says.
Xayah decides to intervene before Rakan says something incriminating. “We’re just happy to participate.”
Out in the public, she sees Sett choke on his burger; Aphelios is looking at them with a devilish smile. After some fumbling, Sett gets his phone out to film because of course he’ll want proof of this.
“Well, guys. Here’s our third and final couple, Xayah and Rakan, dancing to King of Swing!”
There’s a pause before the music starts and Xayah takes the moment to take off her flats and her sweatshirt. Rakan seems to think about it for a moment, then takes off his jacket and throws it on top of Xayah’s clothes just as the drums begin playing.
Rakan reaches for her hand in invitation and she takes it, walking with the beat towards him. It’s a little flirtatious and Rakan immediately notices, standing a little taller to match her energy. His other hand immediately goes to her waist and he guides her first few 1-2-3s carefully, as if they really need to relearn how to dance around the other, but it’s short-lived.
The trumpets enter the song and something snaps inside both of them. Xayah doesn’t need to say a word to Rakan, they let go of one hand at the exact same moment and Rakan turns her around a couple of times before settling his hand back on her waist. Raising an eyebrow in her direction, Rakan asks how far she wants to take this. As an answer, Xayah lets his hands go and dances away from him, letting the beat carry her to the other side of the stage. When she turns around, Rakan is smiling as he freestyles to the rhythm. He never loses his awareness of her though, and the moment Xayah is facing him, they dance towards each other almost mirroring their movements.
She doesn’t need to telegraph her next movement because when she jumps in his direction, Rakan is ready to catch her and spin her around. When he sets her back on the floor, people around them start clapping to the beat, clearly enthralled with their performance. Xayah holds onto Rakan’s shoulders and jumps again, Rakan’s hands on her waist don’t hesitate to guide her body side to side.
Xayah lets her body flow as Rakan manhandles her around his torso, getting some Ohs and Ahs from the audience. Once she’s got her two feet firm back on the ground, she shimmies out of his hold gracefully, twisting and turning until she’s going in between his legs and under. Rakan lifts her up and turns her around once more, guiding her into an energetic sequence of triple steps.
The music is lively and Xayah is having fun, so much so that when she hears the first beats come back around, bringing the song to a satisfying end, she almost feels disappointed. She still takes the performance to its natural conclusion by letting Rakan twist her around a couple more times before he dips her dramatically. Xayah can’t help but laugh out loud when the restaurant explodes into applause.
She goes back to a standing position and turns to face the public. Several people have their phones aimed at them. Aphelios among them, while Sett hoots and hollers next to him, their loudest cheerleader.
“Well, well,” says the host going up the stage while Rakan bows and winks at the audience. “It’s a good thing you guys were rusty! If the stage was on fire now, I can’t imagine how it is with you two at your best.”
Xayah picks up her sweatshirt and Rakan’s jacket as she slips back into her flats.
“I think we have our winners, don’t we,Marie?” the host asks. He doesn’t get to say anything else because the crowd erupts in applause once more. Xayah bows her head at the public once, but she doesn’t want to linger.
Marie, the blonde model from before comes to give them their trophy and congratulates them for their performance. Xayah is feeling a little overwhelmed and she knows that she comes off as rude when she doesn’t say anything in return, but she really wants to get her idiot boyfriends and leave.
Rakan, in his infinite knowledge of Xayah’s moods, notices and jumps down the stage, where he turns and grabs Xayah by the waist and carries her down the stage as if she weighs nothing. Xayah feels herself blushing, but she lowers her head as she walks back to their table holding the trophy.
Once she’s there, Xayah realizes Sett and Aphelios have settled the bill and are ready to leave. Sett puts an arm around her shoulder and another around Rakan’s, beaming. Aphelios raises an eyebrow but says nothing as they file out of the restaurant.
They grab a cab back to their place and after they’re settled in, Rakan says “I never did get that burger we went out for.”
“Don’t look at me,” Sett says. “I’m not the one who wanted a trophy.”
Xayah puts their new plastic trophy next to the old one, where they will attract more than one curious question from visitors. Once she’s moved their knick knacks and photos to her satisfaction to accommodate the new trophy, she goes to find Rakan.
“I can order you a burger if you want… Or I can give you your prize for that amazing performance tonight,” Xayah says.
“Does this mean what I think it means?” Rakan asks, his gaze looking at Xayah from head to toe, tickling Xayah in all the right places.
Slowly realizing Xayah’s intentions, Sett asks, “should Phel and I leave?”
“It’s Rakan’s prize. His call.”
Rakan puts a hand on Xayah’s waist. “They can watch what they’re missing if they want.”
When they kiss, her heart goes into overdrive. It always does. It doesn’t matter if it’s been six years, if they’ve kissed recently, if they just slept together. Xayah still feels like that first time their lips touched: as if, for a moment, everything is right in the world, because nothing can go wrong if Rakan is by her side.
Later, as she lounges between Rakan and Aphelios, she notices her notifications are blowing up. She turns off the phone and decides to deal with it in the morning.