SIX

-

Dad?

“Ms. Park?”

Seulgi’s voice was heard from the hallway. Joy immediately threw the picture into the gap under the door again before heading out from that place.

She met Seulgi who was looking for her by the stairs

“I said we’re going to continue our practice, why didn’t you follow me?”

“Ah, I.. umm.. I have a bad eyesight, was bit hard for me to walk in the dark. Yes, that, bad eyes! Ahaha.. ha.. ha..” This is bad, you’re such a terrible liar Park Sooyoung!

“Hmm?” Seulgi squinted her eyes, getting suspicious, but she decided to just shrug it off

“Come downstairs now!”

“Ay ay, Ma’am!”

-

Why was Dad’s picture there? How did she get that?

The blonde was still full of curious thoughts as she walked into her class when suddenly Wendy patted her shoulders from the side.

 “Joy, is there something bothering you? You look uglier today.” The Canadian frowned at her friend

“I don’t even know if you’re really worried or you just want to tease me, get off!”

Wendy giggled at Joy’s reaction. She hugged the blonde tightly by her shoulders

“You know I yof yu Joyie~” An aegyo coming from the latter’s lips

“Eww!” The blonde didn’t expect that coming because Wendy rarely acted cute in front of people. She playfully joked, acting like she’s disgusted by that

Joy stepped onto their usual seats, but this time there’s something unusual on the table. A letter and a green rose.

“Oh, Park Sooyoung, you are no joke!” her hamster friend and suddenly opened the letter before Joy even reacted.

                                                                                                                                                                                    e

Whatever our souls are made of,

Yours and mine are the same

                                                      E

“’Yours and mine are the same’, uugh, sweet enough for me to get diabetes” Wendy started to squirm her body to Joy in the most disgusting way that Joy had ever seen, even worse than her aegyo earlier

“Knock it off, will you?” The blond said, “Give it to me.”

She snatched the letter from Wendy and read it herself, her brows furrowed in confused

E…?

Then, she grabbed the flower, stared deeply at it before smelling it.

Hmm… This isn’t that bad.

Joy smiled with that thought

*****

“Five, six, seven, eight!”

And upbeat song was being played as two people danced wholeheartedly to it. The first person stopped halfway and continued to observe the second one.

“Give it more power, you’re not an elementary student. Chop chop!”

With that, Joy gave more power to her dance, following what her professor had said. Sweats were coming from her forehead, cheeks, neck, and her whole body as if she just got drenched in the rain. Suddenly the music stopped,

“Hold it.” Seulgi said as she went to the center of the room, approaching the blonde.

Without saying a word, Seulgi kneeled down and tied up Joy’s shoelaces. The blonde who got too shocked, froze in her place, staring blankly at the top of Seulgi’s head. Joy didn’t even move for a bit, even when the professor had finished on tying them up.

“Ms. Park?”

Joy jolted when Seulgi was waving her hand in front of Joy’s face. Unknowingly the smell of Seulgi’s perfume got into her nose and that one thing made her mind go crazy as she took few steps backwards and hit the wall behind her.

“What’s wrong?” The professor seemed to be taken aback by her response.

Joy looked away. Her cheeks were burning but she tried to ignore the heat. After awhile, she got hold of herself back, feeling that this fuzzy girl wasn’t her. The almighty Park Sooyoung wouldn’t lose to something like this.

Daringly, she looked up to Seulgi, trying to find excuses of her act. As a result she just muttered random words,

“That… y-you did… d-drama…”

Seulgi frowned, didn’t get what was Joy trying to say. Her eyebrows furrowed in perfect half-circles, making the corner of raised a bit in a cute way.

Why does she look even cuter this close?

Joy gasped silently.

Oh

She unintentionally said that out loud. The cute Seulgi that was there seconds ago disappeared and was replaced by the evil professor Joy had gotten used to.

“Were you just swearing at me, Ms. Park?”

The blonde swallowed hard as she bit her own lip.

“No ma’am, I-” She bit her lip harder but it couldn’t even compete with the sound of her heartbeat. “…that, w-what you did was in the d-drama I like. I was just shocked.”

Yeah, you’re definitely the god of bad liars out there, Park Sooyoung!

Joy just wanted to take a one-way flight to Akuahalalu and bury herself there.

“Huh?” Seulgi couldn’t hold her smile for that absurd reason. “Are you disappointed that I’m not your-so-dreamy guy?” Her smile became wider and wider

“NO, OF COURSE NOT!”

Joy slapped her own mouth to shut herself off.

Gosh, this stupid mouth becoming more stupid each time I open it.

“Kids these days got stuffed with an irrelevant show like that for their future. You guys should be learning about how this cruel world works before something hit you in the face and all you left with is just regret.” Seulgi turned away and went to her mac.

Somehow Joy felt that Seulgi was saying that to herself.

“You haven’t watched that show yet?” Joy asked, purely curious about it

The professor got halted on her way. And at the place Joy was standing now, she could slightly see pink color gleaming from Seulgi’s cheek.

“I’ve watched it.”

Seulgi quietly said that while looking at the floor, making Joy laugh out loud at her –she had admitted it- cute professor’s honesty

“Shut up! Get your down here, we’re doing it from the top!”

The blonde zipped her own mouth, doing exactly what Seulgi said. She got ready for the dance again.

***

“Power!” Seulgi yelled.

The practice was started with a good vibe. Joy had improved so much compared to the first time they’re practicing. But somehow, she felt her mind get drowsy and suddenly pain hit her head from the inside.

“Ouch!” Joy shrieked as she  fell on the ground and kept panting desperately for the air. “Haah… haah… haah…”

“Hey, are you okay?”

A soft voice Joy had never heard before coming from her professor as the latter kneeled down and put one hand on Joy’s arm.

“I- I’m alright” She tried to stand up and ended up fall again

“You’re definitely not.” Seulgi caressed Joy’s upper arm and helped her to stand up before sitting her down with her back leaning on the wall. “Just sit here for a while, okay?”

Joy was too dizzy to even answer that, she nodded. She saw Seulgi coming to her mac and being busy with stuff.

Joy stared at the whole studio. Ever since that day, the day when she found her dad’s picture, they never did practicing at Seulgi’s house again. They often went to studios or sometimes to Joy’s house. Even at Wendy’s.

Joy wondered if her dad is Seulgi’s acquaintance from a long time ago, ‘cause in that picture her dad looked years younger than now. But she never got a chance to know that as her dad was always not home when they were practicing.

“Hey…”

Joy looked up and found Seulgi who’s all ready with hers and Joy’s bag.

 “Where are you going?” Joy asked.

“Have you eaten yet?” Seulgi completely ignored Joy’s question.

“No, I- I haven’t.”

“That’s why you don’t even have any power to dance, Ms. Park.” Seulgi smiled. Kind of endearing smile Joy had seen for the first time. “We call it off today, come with me.”

Seulgi grabbed Joy by her wrist, making the blonde stand up. She then opened the door and headed out to the street.

Seulgi put their bags in the backseat of her car and began to start the engine on.

“Why are you just standing there? Get in, let’s have some foody with Seulgi.” The professor gave Joy a wide grin

That was also the first for her. All of a sudden she got to see the first of everything good in Seulgi. How endearing her smile was, how cute Seulgi’s face when she blushed, how her heart was beating fast when Seulgi’s slightly worried for her.

Still with a smile plastered on her face, Joy got into Seulgi’s car. She had set her mind to follow wherever Seulgi wanted to go.

***

They arrived at the parking lot of a restaurant. The place looked clean and neat and was dominated by brown. Looking at it again, the place somehow gave her the vibe of ‘couples in love’.

They got in and found seats near glass windows.

“The food here is the best in town I’ve ever tasted.” Seulgi flipped the menus.

“And when did exactly you move to this town again?” Joy lifted her brows, giving Seulgi her mischievous look.

Seulgi was still flipping on the menus. “I’ve eaten in at least half of the restaurants in town, and this place is still the best one”

Joy grinned, enjoying Seulgi’s deed in picking her food. The waitress wrote down their orders and took her leave. Seulgi grabbed her phone and typed something on it. She put her phone back but the thing suddenly started ringing,

“Hello?”

Seulgi answered it in a split second. “I’m eating right now… uh-huh… with…” She glanced at Joy