"You are wonderful tonight."
The Last DanceTitle: The Last Dance
Characters: Im Seulong (2AM), Hwang Chansung (2PM), Jung Rinri (OC)
We invite you to
Jam Shil High School’s
Halloween Masquerade Ball
Where: Greenville Gardens Function Hall, Jam Shil District, Seoul City
When: October 30, 2011 6PM onwards
Attire: Formal
See you there!
She pouted. “How am I supposed to prepare for that occasion? Seriously.” After rereading it for the umpteenth time, she rolled back the invitation and placed it back to its tube case. She then looked at the calendar rested on her study table, and sighed upon seeing the current date. “Two more weeks. Wow, I am excited.” She sighed and returned back to studying.
After seven minutes of reading, Rinri closed her Chemistry book and lightly massaged her temples. “This is boring.” They have a short exam tomorrow about covalent bonds, and she only has barely half a day to review. But how in the world could she do that? The Halloween Masquerade bothers her so much. Not because she worries about the dress she should wear, nor because she has work to do that day. It’s because of her two best friends.
[flashback]
“Can you be my date for the Halloween ball?” Chansung said.
Rinri’s mind seemed to have stopped working. After some minutes she heard Chansung speak again. “Oy, did you hear me? Please be my date for the ball! I beg of you!”
That was when she regained her consciousness. “I heard that Hyun Sumin from Class C, Lee Minah and Shin Sora from Class B, and many others invited you to be their ball dates. You have many other girls to choose from. Why me?”
“Aigoo. I don’t like them! That Sora is a dummy, Minah is vertically challenged, and the others are just not my type! You should be thankful that you are the lucky one to be chosen by me as my date. Not everyone could have a piece of this gorgeous human being.” He bragged. She could imagine him winking at her. She rolled her eyes (as if Chansung could see her) and spoke again. “And who told you that I’ll be going to the ball, huh?”
“What?! You’re not going to the ball?” Rinri took her phone a few meters away from her ear. “Ya, Hwang Chansung! My eardrums are going to break! I was kidding. But I won’t accept your offer. Those girls would get angry at me. Did you know how crazy they were for you? I might be crushed over by them, you know.” She nonchalantly said. He became silent for several seconds. “Are you still there?” She said. His ego was hurt. She sighed and said, “Okay, I’ll think about it. But don’t expect anything, arasseo? I’m hanging up.” And she did.
Rinri looked blankly at the ceiling of her bedroom. She clicked at her phone again and read the latest message on her inbox. It was from her other best friend, Im Seulong.
“Can you be my date for the ball? ^_____^
- OngOng”
[end of flashback]
***
October 30.
Rinri looked at the other masked students talking with their friends and classmates. They wore black, purple, and other dark gowns that suited the theme of the night. She looked at the interior of the hall. Halloween decorations were decked out all over the place. The chairs had black silk covers, and the tables were topped off with spooky candlelight. The food servers and ushers on one corner even wore costumes. The teachers wore dark make-up. It was really a Halloween ball.
“Students, the opening program will start in a few. Please line up with your respective partners and get ready for your entrance.” The speakers built up on the corners of the function hall echoed.
Rinri stood up from her seat and proceeded to the line. She smiled at her partner. “Hi, Seungbin-sshi. I saw Mirin earlier. She looked pretty in her dress.” She said, referring to his date. He smiled back. “She really does. You look pretty too.”
She removed her mask for a while to fix her long bangs. She looked around; her shoulders fell when she did not see even a trace of Chansung and Seulong’s shadow. Rinri fell deep on her thoughts as she stood there waiting for the cotillion to start.
I’m still not sure about my last dance. Aish. It’s really hard to choose between them, especially now that I have feelings for those two punks. Is that even possible, having same feelings for two different people? Ugh, I’ll just wait for the sign. Remember, Jung Rinri, whoever between Chansung and Seulong wears a watch will be your last dance. Maybe that’ll enable me to choose whom to like more. Hah. How foolish of me to do that. What-e-ver.
The initial song started to play. The students started to dance. She was on the latter part of the line because they were arranged by height. The two punks are still not yet arriving. They still have time.
After a minute, Chansung already arrived, running as fast as he could to be on the line. “Hi, Sunji-yah. I’m still on time.” He said to his partner, panting.
“Lucky you. Where’s Seulong?” Rinri butted in.
“He’ll be here in a minute. He just went to the bathroom. Good thing he’s the last in line.”
She looked at his arms. She couldn’t see if there was a watch because he was wearing a suit. There she thought she already have the chance to ask. “Chansung-ah, by any chance... are you wearing—“
“Ya, it’s our group’s turn already! Let’s go!” He cut her in the middle of her sentence. By that time she saw Seulong running towards his partner. Rinri held her partner’s hands and started to waltz inside the hall.
***
“Thanks for dancing with me, Rinri-sshi.”
“It’s a pleasure to be dancing with you, Junshik-sshi.” She faked a smile and walked back to her seat. She checked her phone. Ten minutes before midnight. She had already danced with a number of her guy schoolmates.
Again a voice reverberated on the walls of the hall. “Everybody, this is the second to the last song for the night.”
She looked around. Her bestfriends were not in sight.
She shrugged. “Maybe they are getting back at me for not accepting their invitation. Who cares, anyway.”
“I’m not getting back at you, Rinri-yah.” Somebody behind her spoke. She turned around and saw the guy who happened to be Seulong. A smiling Seulong. “Ong-Ong! I thought you were already angry at me.” She pouted.
He patted her head. “Will you stop pouting? You do it a lot. You’ll get old easily.” Seulong shook his head. “You’re my bestfriend, why would I be angry with you? I understand that. I’m sure you’re confused whom to choose between me and Chansung.”
Rinri was surprised. “How’d you know Chansung asked me as well?”
“Simple. He told me.” He scratched his head and laughed. That was when Rinri saw his left arm, with a gold sort-of-bracelet worn on it.
Is this... Oh my golly. Is he wearing a... watch? Omo. Wasn’t this the sign I was waiting for?
“You have a watch?!” She exclaimed, startling Seulong.
“Oh, yes. It’s rare, right? Wow, you even know that I don’t wear watches that often, huh! You’re really my bestfriend.” He put that left arm around her shoulders. Rinri was still looking at it, shocked.
“Rinri-yah! Let’s dance!” Chansung came bouncing towards them. He grabbed her arm and pulled her at the center of the stage. “Come on, I’ll tell you something.” He wore a great smile that night, didn’t he?
“Did you know that you are my last dance for this night, Rinri-yah?” Chansung suddenly spoke up. Rinri was dumbfounded with what he just said. Last dance? She was his last dance?
“I could not make it until the last song for the night.” He smiled. There was a look of disappointment on his face. “Mom said I already had to go home. I just convinced her to let me dance with you for a while.”
She was thinking of something to say first. Her ideas were on a complete chaos that time, and what she said was, “Why me?”
“Because you are my bestfriend, silly!” he chuckled, shifting his mood. “But you know what, Rinri, Seulong really likes you. He likes you a lot.”
Rinri shifted her gaze from Chansung’s necktie to his eyes. She smirked. “You must be kidding.”
“I swear to the highest heavens that I’m not.” His eyes were smiling as he looked back at her. “Probably he likes you more than I do.” He whispered.
Her feet stopped sliding steps on the dance floor. “What?”
“It’s true. I like you. Hehehe. More than a bestfriend. But it’s okay if you don’t like me back. You know, it’s just... a small crush.”
Was he blushing? Rinri thought to herself as she saw Chansung’s slightly reddened cheeks.
“Psh. I know you’d be surprised by this.” He laughed.
Rinri moved a step away from him. “Ya, were you joking about that just now?” she asked angrily.
“That was not a joke! It’s true, I really like you.”
The song was about to end. Chansung pulled something from his pocket. “For you. Sorry if it’s already ruined, I forgot to remove it from my pocket earlier.” It was a rose, petals flattened up and the stem cut halfway. She took it from his hands. “Ya, is this rose even sincerely coming from your heart? Look at it, it’s more pitiful than a beggar in the street!”
He did not answer the question. Instead, he patted her head and spoke before he left. “Remember this. If Seulong hurts you in the future, just tell me and I’ll beat him up for you. Got that? Bye. Goodnight Rinri-yah!” he waved while bouncing away from her. “And what is that supposed to mean?” she crossed her arms.
“Everyone, the last song is about to start. It’s now your chance to dance with the people you like. Grab the moment now! Make your last dances memorable, okay? Here it is.” The school director spoke on the microphone.
“Wonderful Tonight” by Eric Clapton started playing.
[youtube link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC04ZZploBE]
Rinri was thinking of looking for Seulong. But before she could, he was already walking towards her in the dance floor. “Rinri-yah, be my last dance for tonight.” He handsomely smiled. For Rinri, it was the most handsome-st smile she had ever seen from him.
As soon as she nodded, Seulong lifted her left hand and placed it on top of his, and his other hand on her waist. Rinri’s heartbeat rate seemed to have increased a hundredfold. She never noticed that she was still holding the rose in her hand. Seulong looked at it and raised it a bit. “Chansung is very late.” He laughed.
Rinri was lost. “Late...?”
He nodded. “I asked him a favor and told him to give that rose to you after our entrance dance. But it seems like it already suffered a lot before going to its respective recipient.”
“S-So this rose was f-from you...” she stuttered. She could feel Seulong’s arm grip her waist tighter since the dance floor was already getting crowded.
I feel wonderful because I see
The love light in your eyes
Once again, he nodded. “I won’t beat around the bush anymore, Rinri-yah.” Seulong sighed before he continued. “I have a big... crush on you.” He managed to say and bowed his head in shyness.
And the wonder of it all
Is that you don’t realize how much I love you
Those were the words she was waiting for him to say. “You... You do?” she said.
“Actually both of us—I mean, Chansung—like you more than a friend. He’s been crushing on you since the first year of high school and I...”
She looked at him, waiting for what he has to say.
“I like you since... I think, middle school? I’m really not sure because—“
He was interrupted by Rinri’s sudden burst of laughter.
“Middle school... that was when I started liking you. And I started liking Chansung when we were in high school. Isn’t it funny?” She tried to make the tension between them fade.
Seulong scratched his head with the hand holding her waist. “Why hadn’t I known better then? Really... I wasn’t able to get even a hint that you like me.”
And then I tell her, as I turn out the light
I say, "My darling, you were wonderful tonight.”
There were a few moments of silence between them. The space between their bodies was only a few inches away, the music was on its peak, and they felt awkward more than ever.
“Aigoo, this feels awkward.” Rinri broke the silence.
“I agree. Hahaha.” Seulong laughed nervously. “But, Rinri, can I ask you one more thing?”
She nodded. “What is it?”
“Can I... Can I...” Seulong was intently looking at the eyes beneath the glittering mask.
...
“Can I court you?”
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