Each of us is special and unique. We all contribute to the world in one way or another; the only difference is how much. You do not have to contribute a lot to be a great person though, because most of the time, just your presence alone is enough to make a difference in others’ lives.

—

Under the morning sunrays and the cool breeze, a young girl was seen skipping down the road with her earphones booming in her ears and her blonde hair flying in the wind. She was leaving for her dance class as usual. In her class, she may not be the smartest, the fastest learner, the best dancer or have the best body co-ordination, but she is definitely the one who enjoys and relax under the influence of the music the most.

Humming softly, she proceeded to walk down the road, but not before glancing upwards to a particular balcony of a house. Catching sight of the girl looking down at her, she gave a smile, followed by a big wave of her hands and a dorky dance. She continued her random dance until she caught sight of a small upturn of the lips from the girl above. It was then that she jumped and gave another wave before skipping down the road once more, humming.

Reaching her dance school, she pulled off her sweater leaving her in her tank tops and training bottoms. The class was about to start as the dance teacher started blasting music from the nearby stereo. Warm-ups they did, starting with the basic movements before popping and locking to the music. It was only till the young girl was beginning to feel tired that the teacher stopped their warm-ups. Warm-ups were never her thing after all.

“Here you go pop pop, there you go lock lock, and then you shake your left and right and then your chest goes in and out. You give a wink and you pose in your y pose…”

The teacher was rambling on about the dance steps, occasionally repeating to let the other students to catch up or correcting on their mistakes. They had danced the same choreograph for the past 3 weeks and it was boring the young girl out. Not that she was conceited, but she took pride in herself to practice the steps everyday, perfecting it in front of a mirror. Hence it came as no wonder how she always managed to portray the choreography so perfect and flawless. Hence, each time during lessons, if the teacher was teaching the same dance again, the girl would pay attention to where the teacher was teaching while she tried to create new dance steps herself, adding it to the choreograph she had at hand, and for that, she always got into trouble. This time was no exception.

“KIM HYOYEON!!!!”

Hyoyeon stopped her movements abruptly and turned to face the teacher with her head bowed low, not daring to meet his eyes. She stared straight at the ground and slouched her shoulders in defeat as she waited patiently for the scolding from the teacher. As expected, the teacher started his ramblings as he talked about how important it is for her to follow the lessons so that she will not get lost during it and to respect the teacher who was teaching so on and forth… The number of times Hyoyeon had heard this particular speech was too many to count, in fact the young girl could already memorize it. As the teacher rambled on, Hyoyeon nodded her head as she lip-synced to the teacher’s words. Those who saw moving chuckled softly, knowing what the young girl was doing.

“So Kim Hyoyeon, I’m expecting to not see you having the same mistakes again. Is that clear?”

Hyoyeon nodded meekly, relieved that the lecture on her disrespectful behavior was about to end. The teacher nodded his head and turned back to face the class. By then, the lesson had already been long over. The other students had already packed up and were waiting for the cue to leave. They did not dare to leave lest they were being caught and forced to stay for another 10 minutes for a lecture. Hence, they waited patiently, hoping that the teacher would stop the lecture soon.

Glancing at the time, the teacher sighed as he dismissed the class, regretting the amount of time he spent lecturing on the girl. He could have used the time to wrap up the dance for the week and teach them a new one the next time, but now he had to drag on to another week.

“I’m sorry Sir.”

Hyoyeon bowed a 90 degrees bow at the teacher who simply nodded. He was too tired to talk to her about anything anymore. Besides, he knew the same thing would start again the next lesson.

With that, Hyoyeon left the dance class and as usual, skipped her way home with music blasting through her ears. Now that she had been warmed up during the lesson, she was in the mood to dance. Hence along the way home, she flailed her arms and rock her feet to the music, amusing the passer-bys who saw her. However, the girl was too in her own world to even notice.

When she was along the same stretch of road where she would meet the girl, Hyoyeon slowed down and glanced upwards to the same story. As usual, the girl was already there looking down at her. Happily, Hyoyeon gave a jump, a wave and a smile to the girl. The girl smiled and gave a shy wave back. Usually, Hyoyeon would then skip back home, but this particular day, she was curious about the girl. All the time, she had found the girl to be sitting down on a chair. Never once did she stood up whenever Hyoyeon passed by, and she would have a sad smile on her face which made the young girl perplexed. If anything, Hyoyeon would rather see people smiling happily than having a sad expression. Hence, when she first noticed the mysterious girl sitting in the balcony with a sad expression, she had the sudden urge to make her smile and thus her cheerful greeting everyday.

“Hey!”

Hyoyeon shouted upwards, hoping that her voice would be able to reach the girl. When she saw no expression from the girl, Hyoyeon shouted again. This time the girl seemed to have heard and stared downwards and gave a small smile.

“What’s your name?”

Hyoyeon shouted once more. However, she did not hear any response, instead all she saw was the girl turning her head away and slowly disappearing from the balcony.

Seeing the girl’s retreating back, Hyoyeon pouted in disappointment. She wanted to be friends with the girl, to see the girl smile, but what could she do when the girl refused to talk to her. Taking one last glance at the balcony, Hyoyeon walked back to her house, thinking hard. She would not quit until she makes friends with her.

—

The next day as usual, Hyoyeon skipped down the road, humming her little tune. Upon reaching the same stretch of road, Hyoyeon looked up and tried to see if the girl was there, waiting for her. However, due to the glaring sun, she could only see a dark silhouette of the girl. Knowing that she was there, Hyoyeon did her small jump and wave followed by a dorky dance. Since she was unable to see if the girl had smiled, she did an extra dorky dance for a longer time. It was until she felt that she was running late that she stopped and ran off to the class.

Dance lessons were as usual as well, Hyoyeon did her usual task of disrespecting the teacher and had an extra long lecture from him. Unfortunately for the teacher, the young girl was not listening at all. She was busy thinking of a way to make friends with the mysterious girl upstairs.

“KIM HYOYEON! Are you even listening to me?”

Hyoyeon jolted out of her thoughts and nodded furiously. Seeing that, the teacher knew that the girl had probably not heard a single word he had said. Sighing, she dismissed her to go home, saying that she had to pay attention the next day. Hyoyeon nodded profusely as she quickly bowed to the teacher and dashed out of the classroom.

Within minutes, Hyoyeon was standing on the road looking upwards to the balcony. Only this time, there were no signs of the mysterious girl.

“Hey! Are you around?”

Hyoyeon shouted only to receive no replies.

“Hey!!!”

When there was still no response after a few tries, Hyoyeon gave up and dragged her feet home in disappointment,

For the following few days, Hyoyeon had waited patiently out there on the road to see if the mysterious girl would pop up. She even decided to leave for classes earlier so that she would be able to wait to see if the girl appear anytime, however,
each time Hyoyeon dragged her feet home. Skips were no more part of her steps as she went to and fro from classes anymore.

Just as the girl was about to give up thinking that it would be the last time she will take this route, she looked up on her way back and saw a familiar silhouette.

“Hey! You are finally here! I’ve been waiting for you!”

Hyoyeon shouted and smiled. This time, the girl did waved. Suddenly, An idea struck the girl’s mind. Without a moment delay, she ran into the building and up the stairs, knocking on the door, which she believed was where the girl was staying.

The door soon open and an unfamiliar face came to view.

“Who are you looking for?”

Hyoyeon stood at the door, dumbfounded. It just occurred to her that she did not know the girl’s name.

“Erm… I’m looking for… The girl at the balcony.”

“Oh… I will check if she wants to see you. Hold on.”

The girl by the door gave a nod before disappearing, leaving a nervous Hyoyeon by the door.

“Come on in.”

The voice beckoned her to enter. Upon entering, the girl motioned to Hyoyeon to take a seat while introducing herself as the sister of the girl by the balcony. Hyoyeon gave a polite nod as she introduced herself and sat in front of the girl before her.

“Hi, my name is Hyoyeon.”

Hyoyeon gave a warm smile and offered a hand to the girl who simply stared at her. The sudden change into an awkward atmosphere caught the young girl by surprise as she took the chance to pretend looking around the house.

The house was neat, tidy and clean. Things were all placed in their respective positions. It was a huge difference from Hyoyeon’s own house, which was littered with her clothes, books, CDs so on and forth. Hyoyeon looked back at the girl who was staring at her curiously. Contemplating for a while, Hyoyeon walked towards the girl, extending her hand.

“Hi, my name is Hyoyeon. What’s yours?”

When the girl did not answer, Hyoyeon decided to explain herself lest the girl was afraid of her.

“Erm… I’m the girl who was downstairs… erm… waving at you everyday…”

When the girl still did not answer, Hyoyeon proceeded to do a short dorky dance, but the girl just bit down her lips and stared at her.

“Erm… I’m sorry for coming into your house uninvited. I just thought that something happened to you when I did not see you for the past few days, so when I saw you again just now, I wanted to come up and see you. I’m sorry if I’m rude.”

Hyoyeon gave a low bow as she watched the girl nervously, wondering if she would say anything. When she did not, Hyoyeon felt like she had intruded the girl’s house. Hence, she gave another bow and started to make her way to the door. Hyoyeon opened the door and was about to step out.

“Sunny.”

Hearing the soft voice suddenly, Hyoyeon stopped in her tracks and looked at the girl quizzically.

“Did you say something?”

Hyoyeon watched as the girl looked up at her shyly.

“Sunny.”

“Huh?”

“My name is Sunny.”

Hearing the name, Hyoyeon lit up into a mega-watt smile. Crossing the room towards the girl, she engulfed the girl into a big hug, shocking her. When she finally realized what she had done, Hyoyeon broke out from the hug and apologized to the girl.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

Instead of answering, Sunny gave a shy smile. Now that they have introduced themselves, the atmosphere became awkward as the two girls just sat and stare at each other, each not knowing where and how to start. It was then when Hyoyeon remembered her mother told her once that the easiest way to start a topic would be asking the person about her interests.

“So, what do you like to do?”

Sunny kept quiet.

“I like to dance. I can’t dance really well though.”

Sunny gave a shy smile, but she still did not talk.

“Erm… I wanted to show you this dance that I came up with a few days ago, but you weren’t around. I can show you now though.”

Having said that, Hyoyeon scrolled through her playlist and started blasting the music out of her hand phone. The music was a child song that was famous among the children, but Hyoyeon loved it. Once the music started, she started bouncing off to the music, showing Sunny the dorky dance that she wanted to show the girl. She kept going until her eyes caught a small smile on the girl’s face. Smiling widely, she proceeded to hold the girl’s hand, wanting her to sway along to the music with her.

“I can’t dance.” Sunny protested, but Hyoyeon would hear none of it.

“It doesn’t matter. Just move your body along to the music. Nod your head and shake your buttocks, like this.”

Hyoyeon did an example, before returning to the girl. Pulling her, Hyoyeon tried to get the girl to stand up, however, the moment she used her strength, the girl fell to the ground with a thud. Shocked and guilty, Hyoyeon kneeled down to the girl, worry and concern were written all over her face.

“I’m sorry. Are you okay?”

Hyoyeon apologized, anxious about Sunny. Sunny, on the other hand, was just looking downwards, afraid to meet Hyoyeon’s eyes. She just gave a nod and a small smile, instantly calming the nerves of the worried girl.

“Come, let’s get you to a seat.”

Hyoyeon started to lift the girl up, however, after countless of tries, Sunny refused to stand up.

“Come on. It’s cold on the floor.”

Hyoyeon had started to become irritated by how Sunny was acting. She could not understand how difficult it was for the girl to just stand up and seat on a chair. Why would someone prefer to seat on the floor?

“Turn around.”

A soft whisper was heard.

“Huh?”

“Turn around.”

This time Hyoyeon heard it clearly. Puzzled, she stood up and turned around, wondering what the girl was trying to do. It was only when she heard the scratching of the chair against the floor tiles and a thud on the floor that she turned around to face Sunny. The girl was leaning against the seat of the chair, her hand pressed hard on the chair as she tried to lift herself. Soon, another thud was heard as she slumped down onto the floor, her face was contorted due to pain.

“Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Hyoyeon asked in concern. When the girl did not answer, Hyoyeon glanced at her. Her eyes unwittingly looked at her legs, which was limp. Finally understanding what had happened, Hyoyeon slung Sunny’s arm across her neck without warning as she slid her arms under the legs and back of the girl. With a small ‘urp’ sound, she heaved the petite girl up and walked slowly towards the couch nearby. For a moment, Sunny looked confused and scared, only when she was laid carefully down on the couch that she finally breathed in relief.

“Is it still painful?”

Sunny looked up to the concerned voice, a sudden gush of happiness well up in her. It had been a long time since she had heard someone who was truly concerned for her and she was grateful for it. Hyoyeon, on the other hand, did not know what the girl was thinking was worried that the girl was withholding so much pain that she could not answer her question. Easing off the couch, she kneeled down before Sunny and started rubbing her legs while observing Sunny.

“Does it hurt here? How about here?”

At every point that Hyoyeon pressed against, Sunny shook her head. However, the blonde knew better since she had caught sight of the watery eyes. Hastily, Hyoyeon retreated her hands.

“I’m sorry if it hurts too much. I will not press on it anymore.”

“Thank you.”

That was all that came out from the girl as a few droplets of tears escaped her eyes. Stunned by the sudden let out of tears, Hyoyeon immediately wrapped an arm across the girl’s back, patting her while cooing her not to cry. One thing that Hyoyeon hated most was somebody crying. It made her all flustered and nervous, afraid that if she said the wrong things, the person might cry even more. Hence, she just let her arm dangled across Sunny’s neck and pulled her in an awkward hug while cooing her to stop crying. However, instead of stopping, Sunny wailed even louder, her arms wrapping around the blonde’s waist.

“Thank you.”

Sunny whimpered when she finally stopped crying. There the duo laid as Hyoyeon provided Sunny with the support and comfort she could give even though she was at a loss.

—

Ever since that day the duo were finally acquainted with each other, Hyoyeon would frequently drop by the girl’s house after her dance classes. She had finally grown to understand that the girl was unable to walk after an accident, which took away her legs, she also knew how the brunette hated sitting on a wheelchair, so she seldom went out of the house and had very few friends. Hence, whenever Hyoyeon came back from dance classes, she would show Sunny the dance that she had learnt and would also ramble about her days, telling everything that she had seen.

Even though Sunny was envious, but her fear of people laughing at her was too much for her to withstand, hence she would just feel contented listening to Hyoyeon ramble. She felt like she was the one experiencing the things that Hyoyeon had seen from the blonde’s vivid movements and in depth descriptions. Every time Hyoyeon talked about her day, it would end off as Hyoyeon asking Sunny to go out with her, but each time the girl refused. It was only till one day that Hyoyeon finally decided that she would bring the girl out no matter how much the girl would protest.

~~~

“Hyoyeon! I don’t want to go out.”

“Why not?”

Hyoyeon puffed and blew up her cheeks as she crossed her arms. She could never understand why the girl was so afraid to go out.

“Sunny… Let’s go out!! I promise if anyone laugh at you, I would kick them in their .”

Hyoyeon pouted. Seeing that pout, Sunny felt her heart melting. That cute pout of the girl never fails to make her feel weak. Though skeptical, she nodded her head. Immediately, Hyoyeon gave a big smile, which soon turned into a frown. Looking all around the room, she realized that there was no wheelchair in sight. When asked, Sunny pointed to the storeroom, which Hyoyeon had to dig right into it in order to pull out an old rusty wheelchair. Turning her head to Sunny, the girl simply shrugged and gave an innocent smile. Inside Sunny’s heart, the girl was half leaping with joy. She was glad that the wheelchair was unusable, giving her an excuse to stay at home. However, the blonde would hear nothing of it. She kneeled down in front of Sunny and motioned her to get on her back.

Sighing in defeat, Sunny clung on to the younger girl’s neck and the latter heaved her up. Thankfully Sunny was not any bigger than Hyoyeon’s petite body and did not weigh much despite not exercising. Slowly, the latter took small steps to the door, adjusting Sunny’s weight on her back. She was thankful that even though she did not exercise much, her daily dance practice was enough for her.

Once out in the sunshine, outside the comforts of her home, Sunny started clinging on tighter, wary of the various looks of the passer-bys. It was only when Hyoyeon started to complain about being unable to breathe that Sunny loosen her grip by a little. Still, she was still conscious about her surroundings.

However, all those uncomfortable feelings were soon forgotten when Hyoyeon started pointing out to her the various objects along the road, from the cars, the trees, the birds and the houses. Even though she had seen them before, she still stared in wonder as the younger girl shared funny stories and jokes about them.

Not long after, the duo reached a building to which Hyoyeon entered it, laughing and greeting at the people whom she knew so well. Sunny, on the other hand, had started becoming aware of her surroundings, and how people were looking at them. Afraid and uncomfortable of the looks, she hid her face in the Hyoyeon’s neck in an attempt to ignore all the stares. It was only when the duo were alone in the lift that Sunny finally released her face to the concerned girl.

“Sunny, are you okay?”

Sunny gave a faint smile and nodded her head.

“Where are we going?”

“I don’t know. You wait and see.”

“You are not going to kidnap me, are you?” Sunny joked.

“You are too much of a hassle to kidnap.”

Hyoyeon started laughing. Sunny frowned for a few seconds before understanding the joke and laughed.

“I guess so. Nobody would want to carry me everywhere. It’s too troublesome.”

Hyoyeon sensed the sadness in the brunette’s voice and scolded herself mentally for forgetting.

“I will.” Hyoyeon said confidently.

“Huh?”

“If nobody is willing to carry you, I will.”

Sunny gave a faint smile and buried her head deeper into Hyoyeon’s neck. Her paranoid nature was growing onto her, making her believe that Hyoyeon would gradually become tired of her and leave her one-day. She would have to make full use of the time that the blonde spend with her, creating beautiful memories to be stored later on.

The elevator door opened and Hyoyeon stepped out, confidently guiding through the corridors before stopping at a particular door. The sign on the door read, “studio”. Without a moment thought, Hyoyeon fished out the keys from her pocket and unlocked the door, switching on all the lights as she went in. It was then that Sunny realized that the room was a dance studio.

“I take dance classes here. Ssam gave me the keys so that I cam come here anytime.”

“Wow! You must be good then.”

Hyoyeon gave a small chuckle.

“I don’t know. Ssam always scolds me though. He probably wanted me to practice more so he gave me the keys.”

Sunny gave a sad smile. She would probably never know what is it like to walk again, much less dance. Hyoyeon caught sight of the smile and decided to cheer the girl up. She had noticed since the first time she met the girl face to face and performed a short dance that she was probably interested in dancing. Whenever Hyoyeon dances, Sunny would always watch with utmost concentration, her body moving to the beats unconsciously.

“I’ll show my latest dance. Your living room is too small to dance properly.”

Having said that, Hyoyeon walked towards the stereo and started blasting the music, sound waves bouncing off the walls and mirrors. Walking slowly towards the middle of the ‘stage’, Hyoyeon started swaying to the beat, with a series of popping and locking at intervals, her hair dancing in the beat. Sunny watched with concentration, awed with the fluid movements of the blonde. The short but dorky dances that she had seen before was nowhere near this powerful dance that the girl was showing. It was as though another soul had taken over Hyoyeon’s body and started moving the girl’s limbs to match the beat of the music. As Sunny watched, she felt herself falling prey to the charismatic side of Hyoyeon, her head nodding to each beat of the music and her fingers tapping on her thighs.

“Come on let’s dance!”

Hyoyeon ran to the corner of the room and picked 2 chairs and placed them in the middle of the room before carrying Sunny and placing her gently on the seat.

Hyoyeon sat on the other seat and moved her body and arms towards the beat, doing a wave in one moment and punching her fists in the air in another. Sunny, who was shy at first, slowly started following Hyoyeon, who kept on urging the brunette to relax and let her self flow with the music. The best thing about it was the duo was sitting on the chairs so Sunny was not that conscious about moving her body.

An hour past and the duo were gradually panting, the tired part of them wanted to rest, but the energetic part of them seemed to be addicted to the music, wanting to continue swaying along with the music. Another 30 minutes passed and the duo finally collapsed, each gasping for breath as they allowed their body to relax and the music to echo in the room.

“Thanks.”

Sunny said. Even though Hyoyeon was unable to see her face, she knew the older girl was smiling. It made Hyoyeon smile too as she felt that all her hard work was paying off. She had always wanted to bring Sunny out, but for days she was not able to think of a place suitable for Sunny to be comfortable in, until she finally decided to bring her to the studio where nobody was around. She had to beg the instructor and promised on a condition in order get the keys. She was not sure whether Sunny would be willing to go with her, but she took the chance, and now she was sure that Sunny would not regret her decision.

“Let’s go!”

Hyoyeon started to clear up the area, putting things back into its original positions. Ignoring her tired body, she allowed the small girl to climb onto her back as she stood up. Painstakingly, the young girl wobbled as she balanced the body on her back.

“Sorry.”

Sunny mumbled. A sudden thought of burdening her only friend flashed across her mind.

Hyoyeon did not answer and gave a wide smile instead. She knew there was no need to answer as Sunny was still very conscious about burdening others about her problems. It was just a way for the girl to rant out. Slowly but steadily, the two stepped out under the rays of the setting sun as they made their way home.

This may be the first step that Sunny had taken to be out in the open, and with Hyoyeon around, it will definitely not be the last.

-TBC-