A/N - Another chat-heavy one, but I promise, we're getting to the meaty stuff! :P

 

The next morning, I woke bright and early, eager to finally see who was texting me. By 9am, I was dressed and heading out the door, making it to the café in record time. I was about to enter when I heard the familiar beep. Fishing the phone from my pocket, I saw his number and felt my stomach drop. I unlocked the phone and, sure enough, saw just what I had been afraid of.

“I’m so sorry, Robin. I can’t make it today. I got called in to work.”

“Don’t be mad though, I promise this doesn’t happen often. How about tomorrow?”

I smiled a little. At least he was making an effort.

“Sure thing. I have some stuff to do today too anyway, so it just means I can start early.”

“Okay… Not mad?”

I chuckled softly.

“Not mad. Promise.”

“Thanks my little butterfly! I’ll make it up to you.”

“Dork”

I slipped the phone back into my bag. I hadn’t entirely lied. I was disappointed, but I did have plans that afternoon. I texted my friends and let them know that I was bored and soon we were on our way to our usual haunt a little earlier than planned, gym bags over shoulders.

We ducked in through the back door and quickly made our way down the stairs to the basement level. It was a bit louder than usual, but nothing we couldn’t deal with. Heading for the changing rooms, we made quick work of getting into our workout clothes, my friend Megan and I finishing much quicker than the others, something we never tired of teasing them for. We were waiting outside the changing rooms when I heard voices behind us and turned just in time to see a couple of people heading into the studio across from ours. It was unusual to see someone else using the floor, since the studios were much more exclusive than most. The only reason we were able to use them for free was because Megan’s uncle worked there and was able to get permission for us to use them on the condition that we left no trace that we had done so. Still, if we had been able to get such an arrangement, it stood to reason someone else probably had.

Finally the others had finished changing and we headed into our studio. Megan wandered over to the stereo and started to sort out the music while the two guys and I worked on our stretches. We had been working on the same routines for weeks and were finally ready to…well, we didn’t know what we were ready to do. We had been dancing together since not long after I arrived in Seoul, since I had known Megan for years, but we had never really bothered to do anything with it. It was always enough for us to simply rehearse until we felt it was perfect and then move on to the next routine. None of us had any real aspirations in dancing. I wanted to be an English teacher, Megan wanted to act, Darren wanted to finish university and Kian was perfectly happy working in a café. Being all born overseas, we had met online during high school and become friends due to the similar backgrounds. Megan and Kian were brother and sister and had been born in Ireland, while Darren was American and I was English-born, but raised in Korea like Alice. Now, we had a comfortable friendship. We weren’t close like Alice and I, but we knew we could count on each other if we needed help, while not oppressing each other with clinginess.

Finally, we were ready and Megan grabbed the remote as we all took our positions. She counted us in and pressed play, tucking the remote into her pocket as the intro started. We began to dance, Megan counting the beats and moves as we did so. Before long, we had made it through three routines and were already starting to feel tired. Megan had set up her playlist so that, instead of playing once, each song played four times, meaning that instead of three practices, we had done twelve. Eventually, Kian tripped, sprawling on the floor with a groan. We all stopped immediately and Megan crouched beside him, her hand on his shoulder. He cradled his ankle, and I could make out from the quiet discussion between them that he had twisted it slightly. I hurried from the room and along to the little snack room that also served as a relaxation lounge.

Calling a quick apology to the few people that were in there without really bothering to see what they were doing, I jogged to the freezer and pulled out one of the ice packs we had started keeping in there the previous summer. A quick glance along the counter saw a tea towel tucked over my arm and I rifled through the drawers, looking for some kind of fastener. Finally, I found a package of safety pins and grabbed a couple, fastening them to the tea towel before rushing from the room, waving over my shoulder at the people I had interrupted. Once back in the studio, I quickly set to work, wrapping the ice pack in the towel and safety pinning it around his ankle as tightly as I dared. Soon, I was left alone in the studio, Darren and Megan helping Kian walk home. I changed slowly and made my way home, hearing a chime from my phone a few minutes from my door. I pulled it out, expecting to see a message from Megan letting me know they had arrived, and instead saw a notification from Pikachu. I pulled it up halfheartedly and stared in disbelief at the message.

“You’re a great dancer!”

I was officially unnerved now. The only way he could have known that I danced was if he had been at the studio.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t following you”

I was starting to wonder if the guy was a mindreader.

“Then how do you know I dance?”

“Because I was at the studio for work when you ran past my friends and I like a bat out of hell”

“A cute bat”

“A butterfly out of hell”

I facepalmed. Literally.

“A butterfly out of hell? Really? What are you, Meatloaf’s weirder brother?”

“No, but that’d be a fun album title”

I found myself smiling despite what had happened and realised I had been standing still in the middle of the sidewalk, no doubt looking somewhat odd. I started walking again and was soon home.

“So what do you do for work that meant you had to be there?”

“A little of this, a little of that”

“Well color me enlightened”

“Bad day?”

“Not really, just a bad experience”

“Wanna talk about it?”

“My friend twisted his ankle while we were rehearsing”

“Oh no! Is he okay?”

“I think so. He’s tough, and he has weak ankles, so things like that happen a lot”

“Ahh, I see”

“Yeah, so it’s not major, just inconvenient for all involved”

“My poor little butterfly :(“

“Oh for…”

“Hehehe, you know you love it”

“I don’t have much say in the matter”

“Nope”

“Maybe I can help cheer you up”

“How?”

“Well, we still have most of the afternoon. I can probably get away early. How about that meeting?”

“I was kinda just thinking about taking a nap”

“Please?”

“I just got home”

“Pretty please with pancakes on top?”

“Are you buying?”

“Naturally”

“Fine then, one hour. Don’t make me walk all that way for nothing again”

“Not a chance, angel”

I rolled my eyes and took a quick shower, changing into a dress since the day had warmed up considerably. Tying my hair up, I grabbed my things and headed out the door and to the café, sinking into my seat with a quick smile to the owner. She seemed surprised that I didn’t look sad and grinned at me, bringing over a glass of lemonade before I had even had a chance to flip through the menu. I thanked her and began perusing it as I sipped.