First Sparks
Risk and Retaliations
Jay sat in her seat looking around the empty room. There were about two or three people present in the large lecture hall. She had always been the early bird but this may have been a little extreme. Her Korean class didn't start for another hour. But she couldn't see very well and didn't want to get stuck in the back of the class and become half blind. At least now she could have a seat at the very front, she would be able to see the notes and the professor perfectly. She had also heard that her korean professor was a man and a very good looking one at that which had motivated her to come even earlier. She was very fashion oriented so she was confident that she looked good. Her hair was thick and full. A few years ago she had left it to grow long but moving to Seoul she decided to cut it. Now she wore it in a short and cute pixie bob. She wasn't one for make up so she just wore some organic lip balm. She had on firm fitting jeans with a pale pink blouse that was covered in white lace. A pink ribbon was also tied into her hair forming a bow at the top. Her feet were clad in white converse which were hell to keep clean so she only wore it for special occasions, since this was her first day in school at Seoul and her professor was going to be hot, it was defiantly a special occasion. An hour later the seats finally started being filled. Two people sat by her and she wanted to talk to them. She was just naturally friendly but she was also very shy and didn't know if they would like her so she kept shut and continued reading her book. The class was mostly full aside from the back seats. Jay looked around and didn't find the person she was looking for, her best friend, the one who had come to Seoul with her. At the same moment that was when Aria stepped inside. She looked frightened out of her mind. Jay stared at her hoping to catch her attention. Their eyes meet and smiles spread on each of their faces but then Aria frowned. Jay looked to her side and realized again that the seats were filled. She looked back at Aria.
"Minanhae." Jay mouthed truly sorry that she hadn't thought about saving a seat for her friend.
"It's ok." Aria replied heading to the back of the lecture room.Jay continued to watch her until her friend sat at the back of the class near a wall.
Jay sighed heavily. It would have been awesome if she had saved her a seat, that way they could have talked until lecture actually started. Tomorrow she would make sure to save a seat for her. For the next five minutes she continued to read her romantic novel smiling like a goofball at certain parts and giggling at others. The people sitting around her gave her some strange looks but she was so engrossed in her book that she didn't notice them. Then the lecture room door opened and she looked up to see a tall man walking inside. She put her book away and took out a yellow notebook along with a pink pen. She focused her attention to the man as he set down his materials on the desk near the whiteboard. The man wore black slacks with a white dress shirt paired with a red and black tie. His hair was jet black and a bit spiky. His face was long but his cheeks were a bit chubby. His eyes were small and expressive. He gave off a mysterious feel almost like the characters from the Adams Family, a dark, mysterious, a y yet sinister feel. Jay's heart skipped a beat. He was more than good looking, he could have been a hot model on the cover of every magazine. The professor wrote something on the white board then turned to the class. He gave them a bright unexpected smile that lit up his face brightening his dark features.
"Annyeonghaseyo,Hello everybody, My name is Kim Jongwoon, or in your case Kim seonsaengnim or Kim gyosunim whichever you prefer. This is KORE 4, the last Korean Language class you will ever have to take before you get your BS.” His voice was light yet deep. It didn't match his features. But it was strange and soothing. It was a unique voice.
Jay could hear some girls sigh dreamily over him. She stared at his eyes since he wasn't directly looking at her she felt it would be fine. She noticed that the bottom of his eyes were a little swollen and red. She thought that he must have stayed up late last night preparing for the class. His head turned and he caught her staring at him. Jay's face heated up about ten degrees. He held eye contact with her for ten seconds before breaking it to look at the rest of the class. She let her head fall and took deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
'Whoa, that was intense' she thought putting a hand to her face to feel if her temperature had gone down. 'Really intense.'
Then suddenly the classroom doors burst open he glanced over at the door but only briefly, not pausing his prepared classroom procedures to inquire who it was. He only glanced at the young man and went back to explaining the lecture syllabus. After he finished going over the syllabus he clapped his hands together and a satisfied smile grew on his lips.
“Okay, well today I’m going to take it easy on you guys. So to get things started you all will introduce yourselves in front of the class. And we will start with this young lady….” His eyes scanned the front of the classroom and settled on Jay again. “Right here,” He said.
Jay hadn’t been paying attention. She was still trying to calm her heart down. She had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn’t only her being flustered. Her heart was going way too fast.
“Come on don’t be shy.” He said beckoning her forward. Jay jerked up and nodded mutely. She walked to the front of the class and took a deep breath. She was really close to the professor and that wasn’t helping her calm down. Now that she thought about it she didn’t remember having taken her medicine this morning.
“Umm….Annyeonghaseyo! Jeoneun Jay-yeyo…sahangneon-iyeyo )I am Jay…I am a senior)” She said unsure of what else to say. It wasn’t like her classmates were paying attention to her. She bit her lip and looked down to the side of the room.
“It was a pleasure meeting you Jay.” Kim gyosunim said softly with a smile.
Jay’s face starting heating up again, she began chewing on her lip and her eye grew wide. If she opened now she would be stammering like an idiot. She liked the way her name came from his lips. It was smooth, soft and tender. He said some other things to her but she didn't hear him very well. She was trying to calm herself down. Before her heart starting beating any faster she bowed and went back to her seat. The class finished and Jay had barely taken in any of the introductions. She walked out of the room and was going to continue walking when Aria grabbed her hand jerking Jay backwards.
"Jay!!" Aria said a little whinny. Jay turned around.
"Ah, Ary." Jay said still in a daze.
"Are you alright?" She asked. Her friend was usually full of energy. A little too much energy sometimes but right now she seemed lifeless.
"Not too sure." Jay said clutching the lace on her shirt. She looked up. "I don't remember taking my medicine this morning."
"YOU WHAT?!" Aria shouted earning her annoyed glances from others passing by. "Jay, you babo how do you not remember taking your medicine?! Oh my gosh." Aria tightened her hold on her hand. "Come on we need to find a room."
They had walked a couple lecture rooms away from the one they had just one from. The best idea would be to go back to the same room. Aria was sure no one would be there. The reason why Aria was being a little panicky was because Jay's medical condition honestly was not the best. She had asthma that went zany at certain points during the day so she was frequently taking her stabilizer inhaler and pain killers. When Jay had announced that she was going to major in choreography her mom had opposed it so strongly to the point of forbidding her to come to Seoul. It took weeks for Jay to convince her mother to let her go. She had promised to remember to take her medicine, keep a log of her medication as well as go to the doctor every two weeks and send the report back to America. Jay's mother had put Aria in charge of making sure that everything went smoothly with Jay. Aria loved Jay like she was her sister so she didn't take the task lightly.
They got back to their lecture hall. At this point Jay was beginning to wheeze and her steps were beginning to faulter. Aria forced her to sit down and tore her light pink backpack off her back. She rummaged through the front pocket until she found an emergency kit. She took out a circular chamber with a narrow opening and a wider opening on the other side. Aria shook an orange inhaler and put it in the wider opening of the AZ chamber.
"Come on, open your mouth." Aria commanded. Jay complied and put over the smaller opening of the AZ Chamber. Aria pumped the inhaler. Jay in the air and held her breath for ten seconds. Aria shook the inhaler again to repeat the process. Once that was done she turned back to Jay's bag and found a cold bottle of water and made her drink it.
"Shouldn't she go to the emergency room?" A smooth masculine voice asked from behind Aria.
"She'll be-" Aria began then whirled around her eyes widening. No one was supposed to be here. "Ah...Kim-gyosunim. He glanced from Aria to Jay.
"Shouldn't she go to the emergency room." He repeated his eyebrows coming together in concern.
"I'm fine."Jay said taking a deep breath. "Sorry to make you guys worry but I'm ok now." She gave them a small smile.
"When you get home make sure to log the time you took your medicine. And check if you took your medicine this morning. It's a good thing your check up is this week so maybe you just need a stronger dosage,"
"Ary maybe you should study medicine instead of Education." Jay teased standing up.
"Haha very funny." Aria responded dryly. "We're sorry for interrupting you, Kim gyosunim." She bowed.
"Don't worry about it." He said watching Jay carefully. "Are you sure that you are alright?"
"Yes, I'm....." She bowed and then made eye contact with him. His eyes were a light brown and seemed to sparkle in the fluorescent lights. The bottom of his eyes didn't seem as red and swollen as before. Her heart skipped a beat again. "I'm alright." She whispered dry.
Aria looked at her professor then back at Jay. She took her hand, bowed and walked out the classroom.
"What was that?" Aria asked a small grin forming on her lips.
"Hm, what are you talking about?" Jay asked walking in a bit of a daze. His eyes still danced in her mind, small, concerned and sparkling. His eyes were mesmerizing.
"Jay!!" Aria hissed. She jumped and looked at her friend.
"Sorry what happened?" She asked. Aria shook her head.
"Nothing never mind. You're choreo class is starting soon right? Lets meet at the cafe near the University. I want to try a cappuccino there."
"Alright! I'll see you soon 'kay?" The girls gave a each other a hug before going there separate ways to their respective classes. Jay had to go across the campus to get to the dance department. In that building each and every floor there was a dance studio. Entertainment companies came very often to scout some students. That was the reason why Jay had wanted to come to this specific university. She went to the bathroom to change into her sweats and a firm fitting black shirt. She would have put on lighter colors but you could see sweat if she wore light colors so she had opted to wear dark workout outfits. She looked into the bathroom mirror and used some pins to put her hair back so it wouldn't get into her eyes. Some girls came inside to use the bathroom. They wore short shorts and tight shirts their long hair in high pony tails. Jay glanced at them sighed and walked out, sometimes she wondered if she would ever have the courage to wear short things like that. She honestly had tried once or twice before but she had felt much too uncomfortable.
"Oh well," she murmured to herself.
She took the elevator to the sixth floor. She entered the third dance studio to the left and stopped for a minute. She was early. Again. There was only one other person there and he was stretching. His legs were spread wide and his torso outstretched in the center. He lifted his body back up then twisted it to the left then right. He sighed as if satisfied and looked at Jay who was still standing at the entrance like a deer caught in headlights.
"Do you need help?" He asked raising one eyebrow high.
"Uh...um...this...this studio is for a choreography class right?" She asked even though she already knew the answer. She just wasn't sure what to say. This guy was just so unbelievably striking. His hair was light brown with blond high lights in the front. His face was a little round with high check bones. His lips pink and full. Then there were his eyes. Jay wasn't sure why but she would always notice a guys eyes before anything else. His eyes was what captivated her the most. They were large and quizzical. It felt like just by glancing at something he could understand everything about it without asking any questions. His eyes could engulf anything and everything.
"Yup. I was just stretching out. The instructor won't give you any time to warm up when she gets here so its a good idea to stretch out now." He explained. His voice was also inexplicably deep. If Kim gyosunim's voice was like melted strawberry ice cream being soft served from a machine, heavy on the tongue, sweet and gentle then this guys voice was like hot chocolate sliding on a wooden surface, dark, creamy and rich.
"Thanks." She mumbled putting her bag near the door. She glanced at him for a moment to make sure he wasn't watching her. Then quickly shook a blue inhaler, not bothering to use her AZ chamber, she puffed two shots of medicine in before quickly putting it away. She turned to him and found him staring at her. "Um, yeah?" She said zipping up her bag.
"You have pretty skin." He said with a dazzling smile. She didn't know what to say to him.
"Thank you." She replied shyly.
"No problem come over here. We can finish our stretches together." He suggested standing up and twisting his torso to the side.
"Alright!" She responded going to his side. "I'm Jay by the way." She said bowing. "Jay Liu. It's nice to meet you."
"I'm Jung Daehyun. It's nice to meet you too. Hey how old are you?" He asked beginning to stretch out his arm. Jay mimicked him.
"I'm twenty years old. You?" She asked as they switched arms.
"I'm twenty two. I was looking forward to calling you, Noona. There goes that. My hyungs would have thought I was lying when if I told them I had a pretty Noona in my class. Well now it can just be a pretty Dongsaeng."
"I get to call you Oppa. " she whispered biting her lip and looking to the side of her eye. He flashed her another smile.
"Yeah you do." He said moving to pat her head and she stepped back immediately, avoiding his fingers. "What? I was just going to touch your head nothing
major." He said pulling back his hand.
"It's nothing against you." She replied shaking her head. I just don't let anyone touch my hair." She smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."
At the moment when he was going to respond the doors of the dance studio opened. Male and female students flowed inside and behind them all came a tall woman. Her legs were long but covered by ankle length sweat pants. She wore a sports bra and a baggy shirt that had no sleeves nor sides so you saw he red bra. Her hair was like every other girl's in the studio, long and in a high pony tail.
"Hello everyone. I will be your instructor for the rest of the semester. I am Yoo Bong Cha. Line up against that wall and watch me. I'm going to gauge your dancing and memorization ability today. Try to do the whole dance. I will play the music so whatever you remember do and the rest make up."
The class gave a mumbled yes before lining up against the wall opposite to the mirror. As their dance instructor got the music ready many of the students complained that this test was way too hard for the first day.
"Think you'll be able to keep up?" Daehyun asked Jay. She had been intently staring at the mirror. To others around her she looked stiff and rigid signs of being nervous. But she was just getting her mind ready. She had been concentration.
"I'll be alright." She told him give him a slightly annoyed look. "Don't worry about me. I'm majoring in dance."
"It doesn't matter if your majoring in english." The girl beside her scoffed giving Jay a once over. " Yoo Bong Cha is the hardest dance instructor here. You need days just to learn seconds of her choreographed dances." The girl shook her head then focused back up front.
Jay's annoyed look was directed at her for a minute before forward again. It really didn't matter if the dance was hard or not. She just wanted to concentrate.
"Don't let her get to you." Daehyun said encouragingly. Jay sighed mentally. "She's one of the top students here so hearing you say something nonchalantly about Yoo's dances must have given her the wrong impression of you."
"I didn't mean it like that." She said sighing this time outwardly. Why wouldn't anyone shut up? She closed her eyes and took deep breaths and concentrated and that for a few seconds.
"Alright class here it goes." The professor said nodding to a student at the speaker system.
The guy pressed play and a familiar tune flowed put of the speakers. Immediately the dance instructor began to dance. The movement was abrupt. One second she was standing tall, the next she was crouching on the floor. The music was of SM's promotional video for Toyota, Maxstep. The techno mixed with rock and pop along with the sudden quick movements was all together difficult to follow. Just as abruptly as the music begin did it stop and the instructor did her finishing pose. She was literally breathless and dripping with sweat when she turned back to the class.
"Now...I need you to do as much as you remember. If you can't remember follow the music and create your own dance. Just don't stop." She breather out putting here hands on her hips as if pushing the air out of her lungs to more back in. "We are beginning from the right and going down the line. You," she pointed at a muscled boy. "Lets go."
One by one each person tried their best to imitate the dance their instructor had shown them. Each and every person failed less than half way into the choreo they had to improvise. Daehyun was no exception. Then came Jay's turn. She actually hadn't been paying attention to the dancing. She had been staring at the reflection of her eyes in the mirror the entire time, concentrating, remembering every step that the instructor had taken. That's exactly why she hadn't heard her name being called.
"Jay!" Daehyun said shaking her. She gave him a pointed look. You're up." He said.
"I'm what?" She asked again.
"You! Little miss your holding up the class. Come on get up here." The instructor said.
Jay nodded and stepped out into the middle of the dance studio. She took one deep breath to make sure her breathing was in order. Then the music started. Her body shook to the her knees then she popped back up. Exactly as the instructor had done. The music didn't pause or stutter and she followed it flawlessly as if she had been practicing the choreo for weeks. The breakdown section came and she still had not made a single mistake. It was farther than anyone in the class had reached. The girl who was now beside Daehyun gaped. Jay was still dancing her movements just as abrupt as her instructors had been. Her face was starting to sweat as the second breakdown of e song came. Her facial expression wasn't that of pain but confident and a bit flirty as if she was really on stage dancing. The music was almost done and she was still on the ball. The song ended and Jay finished with the some pose her instructor had done. The whole class was silent and a different song began to play. The person at the speaker system was startled and stopped it immediately. Jay bowed to her instructor and went back to her place but she sat down on the floor to catch her breath.
"Alright!" Bong Cha gyosunim said a bit enthusiastically. "Your next Eun Go." She said signaling for the other girl to come out.
She left her spot but not before giving Jay a glare. Jay didn't give her the time of day. She needed water. Suddenly a bottle stuck out in front of her. She looked up and saw Daehyun handing her a cold bottle of water. He kneeled down and opened it.
"That was amazing, Jay." He whispered as she began to guzzle down the water.
"Thank you." She said whipping . "It looks like I'm thanking you a lot, Oppa." She said giving him a sweet smile. "You've really helped me out today."
"Oh. Ummm no problem. " he stammered his cheeks turning red a little. He looked down at the floor. "No problem." He repeated softly.
The girl that was dancing screwed up barely half way through but her improvisation was really good. Jay watched her not really taking in the music anymore. Now that she had done her part there really was no need for her to concentrate so intently. Next up was Daehyun and he was no different. The only person who had done the choreo right without any mistakes or improv was Jay.
"Class I will see you tomorrow. I'm ending class early since this was basically a warm up for the rest of the semester." Bong Cha gyosunim announced once the last person went up. "Come prepared because starting tomorrow I won't be going easy on you."
There were audible groans and complaints as students pulled themselves up from the ground. Daehyun stuck out his hand to help Jay up. She gladly accepted his help and took his hand. She wasn't expecting him to pull her up with such ease. As if she was as light as a feather. Then she took note of his strong muscular arms. No wonder she thought.
"How did you do that?" He asked while they went to get there things from the other side of the room. Jay looked at him quizzically.
"Do what?" She asked back picking up her stuff.
"The dancing! Yoo gyosunim only showed us once. How did you dance without a single mistake!" He said still completely amazed.
"Oh." She said a light bulb clicking on in her head. Then she shrugged. "I've always been able to do that. I can see something once and remember it. Especially with dancing." She smiled to herself. "It helped me figure out what I wanted to do early on so now I'm here."
"What do you want to do?" He asked as the stopped walking. Jay laughed a little bit.
"Haven't you heard that if you tell other people your dreams they won't come true?" She asked titling her head to the side. A smile that lit up her eyes on her lips. Daehyun thought that was the cutest thing he had ever scene a girl do. "Well I have to change. I'll see you tomorrow ok, Oppa?"
"Huh? Oh yeah right. Tomorrow." He said absent minded as she walked into the girls bathroom. "Jay..." He murmured touching his lips thoughtfully. The corners of his lips lifted into a smile. He thought about how small and soft her hands were in his larger ones. The little twinkle she had in her eyes. Her happy and energetic personality. "This year is going to be fun." He whispered to himself as he headed to the boys locker room to change. Another thought came across his mind and he looked back at the girls bathroom door. Why hadn't she gone to the girl locker room to change?
Jay locked herself in a stall and hung her bag up on the door. She took out her stabilizer and AZ chamber and took deep puffs, inhaling deeply then popped two pain killers in making it go down with water. She sat on top of the toilet seat and waited a couple of minutes as the medicine went into her system. When that was done she took out her phone sending Aria a quick message.
'Just got out of class. Meet me at the cafe in a couple minutes. Don't worry I'm fine :D' she texted then pressed the send button.
When that was done she put on her regular cloths and rushed out the bathroom. This was specifically why she got at the cafe before Aria. She just had an uncanny ability to be early no matter what the appointment was. She went inside the cafe and took a seat near a window. She ordered a cappuccino for Aria because she knew she would be he by the time it came. Then some chamomile tea for herself and made sure to ask for extra sugar packs on the side. Jay had a very big sweet tooth. One pack of sugar was sweet to Aria but it would taste like pure water to Jay.
She sat there and opened her book from where she had left off this morning. She had been reading about a woman in early England where Dukes, Queens and Kings ruled. Basically in the story the woman who was only 24 was engaged to a respectable man of parliament but she was beginning to fall in love with her brother. Jay was absolutely captivated by the vivid descriptions. She had been at a scene where the main lead had lost her fiancé in a garden at night. His brother came to look for her and under the night sky full of fire works he had kissed her. Jay stopped reading for a moment, even though her head was down in the book her eyes did not scan the pages. She thought about having a romantic moment like that, not with the parliaments brother but with Kim gyosunim. She imagined how it would feel like to have his pink lush lips on her own. His hands on the small of her back bringing her closer to him. She sighed and shook her head trying to get the thought out. He was her professor. Things like that weren't allowed and she knew that very well. Jay had always been the type of girl to follow the rules. But for some reason she just couldn't stop imagining it. On a night like that, he would be searching for her and then find her only to be angered because she wasn't really looking for him. He would press his lips down on hers angry.
"Oh my gosh what am I thinking?!" She whispered to herself putting her hands in her hair messing up her bob. "No!" She whispered again. Things like that couldn't happen. She had just seen her professor for the first time today, having these kinds of fantasies about him was inappropriate. If anything those fantasies should be with a guy her age like Daehyun Oppa.
"Liu-ssi?" Someone asked from her side. She looked up to see the very man she was having inappropriate fantasies for.
"Kim gyosunim....." She whispered completely horrified. "Uh...umm...h-hello." She stammered then bit her lip looking to the side of her eye.
'Thats a cute nervous tendency' he thought a small smirk gracing his lips. He had just come here to get a coffee and get back to work. But he had seen Jay Liu. He had been watching her for quite some time and found it adorable how she acted alone. He could compare her to baby rabbit. She frequently bit her lip and she just looked huggable. He sat down across from her and immediately a waitress came to ask him for his order.
"Black coffee with cream." He said before she opened . He glanced at her. "To go, Eun Ae-ssi. Thank you." He said giving her some bills from his pocket. The girl nodded and walked away.
"Ew." Jay said wrinkling her nose. "Isn't that going to be bitter?" She asked.
"Keeps me awake. " was his simple reply. He looked at the top of her head and chuckled a bit. "You're hair is a mess. Here let me...." He reached out his hand to fix here hair and effortlessly she avoided him.
"I don't let people touch my hair." She said fixing the parts she knew were messed up. "Nothing personal."
"Hmm....That's a very interesting standard you hold for yourself." He said as his black coffee came. Jongwoon watched as Jay's nose scrunched up at the sight of the coffee. He smiled again she was most defiantly a baby rabbit. "I've heard about women who can't have their hair touched by a man besides the one in their family. Other closer females can such as family." He sipped his coffee. Yeah it was bitter as hell but it served its purpose. It was in the middle of the day where he felt his energy fade and his patiences grow short. "Mostly it's very religious women." He raised an eyebrow curiously. "Are you religious, Liu-ssi?"
"I am. But not like the Jews or Muslims. I'm Christin. But I liked that aspect of their culture so I decided to do the same thing." She was surprised he knew that much about other cultures. It made their conversation much more interesting.
"Jay!" Aria called from the front of the store. Jay peeked from her booth and waved at her friend.
"Well I have to get back to the University." Jongwoon said standing up his black bitter coffee in one hand. He stepped closer to her and put a hand to her cheek. Her hair touching the back of his hand ever so slightly. "It was nice talking to you Jay." He said softly with a smile addressing her with her first name instead of her last. She stared up at him the words caught in .
As Aria came in one way Jongwoon left through the other. The moment that he let go of her cheek Jay's face over heated. She put both hands to her cheek and her elbows on the table. 'What the heck is wrong with me?' She questioned herself as Aria took her seat across from her.
"Earth to Jay!" Aria said waving a hand in her face. Jay jumped in her seat and refocused her attention on her friend.
"Huh?" She asked still in a bit of a daze.
"Who was that?" Aria asked watching the person leave through the second entrance. "And what's up with your hair?" She asked reaching over the table to actually fix it.
"That was Kim gyosunim." Jay said her face still ten degrees too hot. "He order his coffee and...left."
"That doesn't explain your hair." Aria asked again. Jay shook her head.
"Uh um..I-I was thinking about something that happened in a book and was imagining...Kim gyosunim and I was trying to get it out of my head and then he came and well......"
"So you were basically caught thinking about him red handed. Did you tell him?!" Aria leaned forward on the table.
"Of course not!" Jay hid her face in her hands. "Your teasing me." She mumbled into her fingers.
Aria giggled a little bit. Jay was easily embarrassed so teasing her was really easy. Aria thought that Jay was just too adorable. A waitress came by put down the cappuccino in front of Aria and e tea in front of Jay.
"D you need anything else?" The waitress asked.
"No thanks that's all." Both girls answered. They looked at each other and laughed.
"How was your first day of classes in Seoul, Ary?" Asked Jay sipping her tea. She stuck her tongue out. She didn't taste any sugar. Aria held in her laughter.
"No, no you first." Aria said. "I have a feeling your day was a bit more interesting than mine." Jay scrunched up her nose then smiled brightly.
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