Chapter 9

A few days had passed since the audition and Ji-yeon's parents saw that their daughter became livelier and seemed happier than before. Park Eun-hye realised that her daughter's mood changed since she met Soon-young again.

''Kwon Soon-young... that boy seems to be really good at making our Ji-yeon happy.'' Eun-hye ate dinner with her husband since they could both leave work early today and their daughter was still at school. ''After all, they used to be really good friends. And didn't Ji-yeon start dancing because Soon-young wanted to dance and didn't want to do it alone?''

Ji-tae, Ji-yeon's father, remembered it clearly. During that holiday, a bit more than ten years ago, there was a dance performance nearby. Ji-tae had heard that it was a nice event for families, so he told his wife and Soon-young's parents about it. They all thought the kids might like it too, so they decided to go. Funny actually, how they had never expected what an important event it turned out to be for their children's future. Or at least for Ji-yeon, since Hong Ji-tae had yet to learn that their decision to watch the performance was something that eventually led to Soon-young's career choice.

''I still remember that Ji-yeon came to me after that dance performance ten years ago. She told me that Soon-young wanted to try doing what the people in the performance did and asked if she could join him. After that, they danced every time they met...''

''...until we moved...'' Eun-hye finished her husband's sentence.

''Yeah...'' Ji-tae replied with a sad look in his eyes. ''Did I make a wrong choice back then? Would it have been better if we didn't move? Maybe Ji-yeon wouldn't have been so afraid of making mistakes. Maybe she would have been happier with her best friend by her side.''

''We don't know what would have happened,'' Eun-hye responded wisely, ''but if you feel like we have to make it up to her, we should have a talk with Soon-young.''

''What do you mean?''

☆☆☆☆☆

"Dad, where are we actually going?"

"You'll see when we get there." Ji-tae answered while grinning.

"I was thinking of going to the library to study, but it looks like we're going to Seoul." Ji-yeon said, pointing at the traffic sign saying 'Seoul 30 km'.

Ji-yeon looked at her father and saw that he smiled. "Are we really going to Seoul?" She asked in surprise.

Her father nodded. "Tomorrow is the first day of your vacation. You've studied hard the past few days, you deserve this."

"But dad-" she started.

"Your mom and I decided it. I had some free days left so I thought it would be nice to use them now. We'll stay in an apartment in Seoul for six days. There's a swimming pool and a dance room as well. You can practice whenever you want. It's been a while since the last time we did something as a family."

"What about mom?"

"Your mother could only get three free days, so she'll come later. Her stuff is already in the back of the car, together with your and my stuff."

Ji-yeon still didn't understand why her parents wanted to go on a holiday suddenly, but she didn't want to refuse either. Her parents seemed so happy recently and she actually thought she could use a vacation too. And maybe... maybe she would be able to meet Soon-young again, since he had told her he lived in Seoul.

☆☆☆☆☆

"Ji-yeon, can you help me out here?"

"Coming, dad!" Ji-yeon quickly put her baggage in the room that would be hers the next six days and walked outside to help her dad.

"Here." Hong Ji-tae handed his daughter some food that he had brought. "Can you bring this to the kitchen?" He looked at his watch. ''After that, you can have a look at the dance room."

"Okay. Thanks, dad."

After putting the food in the kitchen, she walked out of the apartment again and started to look for the dance room. It didn't take long before she found it. She opened the door. It was dark inside, but she could see that the room was really big.

"Do you like it?"

Ji-yeon was startled because of a voice coming from a person behind her. While she tried to turn around, the other person passed her and walked into the dance room. Suddenly the lights in the room were and Ji-yeon could see the face of the boy in front of her.

"We can practice here the next few days." He continued and smiled. When he saw that Ji-yeon didn't say anything, his smile quickly disappeared.

"W-why?" He asked. "You don't like it?" He looked really disappointed.

"What are you doing here?" Ji-yeon looked at him with big eyes.

"I wanted to see my dance buddy." Soon-young grabbed Ji-yeon's hand carefully and brought her into the dance room. Imo, samchon*, thank you for giving me the chance to help your daughter, he thought as he showed Ji-yeon a beautiful and warm smile. I will help you, Ji-yeon. To conquer your fears. To dance in front of people with confidence. And to fulfill your dream.
 

* Just like imo, samchon (which actually means 'uncle') is used here to refer to a friend of Soon-young's parents. So 'imo' refers here to Park Eun-hye and 'samchon' to Hong Ji-tae.

pizzahutdeliverygirl, weishanlove, sootae, neonfluffyunicorns, Iluvcupc8 and mvicente31, thanks a lot for subscribing!!!