Chapter Seven
"Don't make me laugh."

"I wasn't trying to."

 

17th of February 2014

"Is that why you couldn't tell me?" Kai spoke up, kicking the door shut behind him as he tossed his bag to the side - he had gained back his confidence now. Mr. Kang stepped aside, letting Kai come face to face with her as he looked down on her with a cocky stare, "Why aren't you saying anything now?"

His hand shot up to flick strands of her hair away from her shoulder - it made her flinch inwardly but thank God she kept it together to not show it on the outside, "Cat caught your tongue?"

She swallowed, gaining back her conscious as her head shot back to glare at him - he isn't getting things his way like he'd always would and there was no way she's letting that happen. She's had enough of it ever since she was four and she has no intentions of letting history repeat itself. She was stronger now. "I don't have anything to say to you."

Mr. Kang hissed, sensing the tension between the two.

It's happening all over again... He thought with a small sigh that he had to take a step forward, a hand attempting to create a bigger distance between the two but Kai remained stagnant and so did she - the two didn't waver one bit. "Both of you, stop."

Hee Young scoffed in amusement, causing Kai to just stand there as she rolled her eyes at him before she glanced at Mr. Kang, her words directly hitting Kai's face, "What's there to stop when there was nothing to begin with?"

"You litt-!" Kai paused when Mr. Kang gripped onto Kai's shoulder, giving him a squeeze. Kai's eyes traveled to meet with his gaze and he bit back his tongue as Hee Young found this as an opportunity to say what she had to say and leave. The longer she stay, the less she can wait. It was better to get this done and over with so she could get out of here.

"I'm quitting," She spoke up again, gaze locked on Mr. Kang's as she said so. Kai could only let his mouth gape as he heard the words she was saying again - she was so determined into quitting that he wanted to say something but he couldn't when he felt the hand on his shoulder had fallen. Mr. Kang was this close to breaking apart as he stared at Hee Young with such sadness. It was the same look Mr. Kang gave Kai when he told Mr. Kang he had lost his passion for dancing.

He never knew how hard it was for Mr. Kang.

But now he could finally say he knew why it was heartbreaking.

Watching someone with such talent give up just like that - it was like burning one of the most precious gems in the world.

"And there's nothing that you can say or do that will make me change my mind. Thank you for all your knowledge you've been giving me all these while when no one bothered to care. Thank you for listening to me and dancing with me when I felt like I was alone for four years. But this is the end for me in dancing, Mr. Kang. It's an honor to be your student."

Kai could see how Mr. Kang shook his head almost too quick with his lips quivering, "H-Hee Young, please. I'm sure we can-"

"I've made up my mind, Mr. Kang. I'm  tired of everything, really." Her voice was strained as she spoke her last word, making him furrow his eyebrows as he took a step forward to grip onto her arm. "Hee Young, we've talked about this."

Hee Young's lips quivered as the same horrifying memory flashed up in her mind. All those faces that had their eyes on her, that faint beep playing in her mind when the music had come to a halt as she was on the big stage - it was her big moment but everything went downhill from the moment she made a mistake. Not to mention, those pair of eyes that suddenly closed out of nowhere and she was ushered down from the stage right after her big night that turned out to be the night that changed her life forever.

It broke her completely.

"I don't want to keep feeling guilty." Hee Young sounded so fragile, that Kai didn't even know if this was the same girl who had been giving him sardonic remarks, the girl who has been glaring at him most of the time and the girl who has been indirectly nice but she just wouldn't admit it.

Really, who is this girl?

"It wasn't your fault!" Mr. Kang resulted to raise his voice, two of his hands gripping firmly onto the sides of your arms where he shook her vigorously, needing to snap some sense out of her, "It was never your fault to begin with!"

"Then why does my heart feel otherwise?!" Hee Young had lost it the moment she shouted back at Mr. Kang, her eyes watering at the thought of her younger brother as she lifted a hand to place it on the space between her upper lip and beneath her nose to hide her lips that made her look like she was shivering out of coldness based on how her lips quivered. There was no way she was going to cry now - especially not in front of Kai.

"Do you think I like being guilty? Do you think I like it very much?! Well it hurts so much that no one can relate to what I feel! I can't keep up with everything! It's too hard. I-..." She paused halfway, eyes flickering down to her feet where she moved them awkwardly, her body trembling suddenly from this moment that she didn't know what to say next but she knew that she should leave by now. Staying here longer would only make her change her mind and dance to her heart's content until she would forget all her sorrows but even she know that it could also backfire and remind her all the painful memories that had occured when she danced. She sighed and looked up to frown at Mr. Kang, her hand falling down along with Mr. Kang's that were holding onto the sides of her arms - it was all as if Kai didn't exist in here.

"I'm really sorry." She muttered under her breath before she brushed past the two of them, dashing out the door where the two of them stared at her figure disappearing in less than ten seconds. Mr. Kang kept his eyes shut for a brief moment, causing Kai to stare at his teacher worriedly - for once, as he held onto his teacher's shoulder with one hand.

"M-Mr. Kang... you alright?"

Kai emitted a gasp when Mr. Kang fell to the floor, lifelessly sitting down where he didn't feel pain at all - he didn't know what to do anymore. He had fail to keep the promise he has been keeping for his deceased good friend for years and now, it was all crashing down. A promise that he was so positive he was able to keep but it seems like it was all not going the way he planned or the way he hoped it would be. He felt so guilty for allowing his best friend's daughter make the decision to let go of the one passion she had in life so quick and so rash. He felt guilty for not being able to bring her to her senses.

What's worse is that now, he had lost two of his best students...

Instead of feeling bad for Mr. Kang, Kai had a smirk forming on his lips when he gave Mr. Kang a squeeze on the shoulder.

Mr. Kang sighed, shaking his head where he didn't look up to meet with Kai's eyes, "Just go back to your dorm, Kai. Being reminded that I've lost two of my best students now isn't a good feeling." He rasped, unable to sort out his feelings even though Kai was literally being here for him. Kai let go of his teacher's shoulder, but he managed to catch his teacher's attention when he said, "I'll dance... again."

Mr. Kang's eyes grew wide like saucers, head darting at Kai with parted lips. This felt so surreal at the moment. One minute he lost Hee Young, the next he gained Kai back. Just what on earth is going on?

"W-What?"

"If and only if," Kai breathed out quietly, inching closer where he smirked at the teacher deviously, "I get Hee Young to be my partner."

"So you're not going to dance anymore?" Minseok asked meekly, earning a shaking of the head from the girl sitting opposite him who was more focused on sipping onto her carbonated drink in a plastic covered cup with a straw. "After all these years, you're just going to... stop?"

Minseok's voice contained so much disbelief, it was as if he couldn't even believe Hee Young's choice. Think about it, how could someone give up on something to quick? So soon as her especially when she is the last person he would ever think would give up on dancing. She pulled out the straw from her lips with a pop, only to lift her chin where she eyed Minseok for a while. She then gave a nod a few seconds after before she proceeded to just look around the cafeteria with her slurping onto her drink quietly. Minseok gulped and looked down where he quickly sent a text.

'Noona! She said she's really not going to dance anymore! Please please please talk to her about this!'
To; HM-Noona || Sent

"H-Hee Young, are you rea-"

"If my sister wants to know, tell her to see me herself." Hee Young deadpanned, standing up where she kicked her chair back just so she could step away from it with a blank look that bored into Minseok's soul. "H-How-?"

"You should really try putting your phone on silent before you start typing your texts." She spoke with one breath, making Minseok gulp nervously but before he could even make up to say anything to her, she waved a hand, "Leaving." With that, she spun on her heels only to come face to face with Kai who didn't waver when he was suddenly so close to her. Indeed, he could notice how her eyes were slightly red along with the puffness underneath that she tried to hide but it wasn't working out well. Kai could see through it all clearly as he cocked his head sideways, hands shoved into his pockets where he tried to come off as 'nice'.

"I need to talk to you."

She rolled her eyes at him, "I don't."

When she brushed past him, he instinctively turned around, making his way after her as her pace was quick to leave the cafeteria. Just as she exited the cafeteria, he yanked her to the side by her arm, making her come closer towards his face where her breath hitched when their faces were suddenly so close - he smirked. "Then listen to me speak."

She swallowed hard, tugging her arm away from him where she gave him an evident glare, "I-I don't want to listen."

He chuckled sarcastically - reminding her who he was, "I'll make you listen."

His hand shot down to grip onto her wrist where he hand tightened around it, "You're coming with me."

"What are we doing here?" She hissed when Kai shoved her into the dark room that she knew very well, rubbing her wrist as he slammed the door shut behind them and the next minute, everything was black around them but yet, she showed no fear. "Do you know where we are?" His voice echoed in the room, her eyes tried to make up where he was but it was impossible. "Are you expecting an answer from me?" She snapped back, earning a chuckle from him and just like that, her breath hitched for the second time today when she was shoved against the mirror, his lips so dangerously close with hers as he let his breath hit her skin, his legs tangled with hers as he pressed them together with hers, "Yes."

Even with the darkness enveloping them, he could somehow make up the way her eyes were fixed on his. The vagueness of her eyes were visible to him as he stared at them attentively, waiting for an answer as his hands were gripping onto her arms tight, keeping her in place against the mirror. "I'm not letting go until you answer my question."

She hesitated blurting out the answer as she stared back at his eyes that were visible to hers now as she got used to the darkness in this room. His lips nervously out of instinct when she managed to shove him off, "Dance practice room."

He snorted sardonically, "Smart girl."

She scoffed, crossing her arms in front of her chest, "What do you want?"

"Simple." His voice was dark, and soon, her eyes widened when he switched on the lights in the room, making her eyes squint before they focused on Kai's silently. "You," He pointed at her, "Get back to dancing." 

Her lips parted, mostly because of how absurd his words were.

"Don't make me laugh."

His smile fell in an instant.

"I wasn't trying to." His reply was suddenly cold, allowing her to sense how deeply serious he was. "I'm tired of watching Mr. Kang being sad even if it was just for a while. That frown he gave, it's not a nice sight to see. It's so obvious that you don't care based on how you never see him around here anymore."

She stiffened at the thought of hurting Mr. Kang's feelings but she didn't mean to. She was so into protecting her feelings, she had forgotten about her own teacher's feelings who cared for her deeply as a teacher - pouring her the love she should receive from an adult that she failed to receive. Her lips trembled as she blinked at Kai and somehow, Kai felt that Mr. Kang was more than just a teacher as his eyes gave her a softer look at the sight of her nearly breaking to pieces.

How was she able to just mix around with his emotions like this?

How dare she?

And in the next second, she was back to blasting at him with coldness, "You have some balls to say that to me considering you did the same thing I did. We're not saints here, Kai. You did the same thing I did - so why can't I?" Kai gulped nervously at her words. Not because she was being cold, because she was dead on right as she had hit the bullseye. His heart palpated as he stared at her, hands becoming sweaty as he wasn't expecting things to go down this way.

"I... I care about him..." His voice was soft as he tried to fight back, telling her that he does care about Mr. Kang - the dance teacher that had been teaching for years now. "Then why don't you get back to dancing?"

Her heart skipped a beat the moment he gave a firm nod with his voice raising up to her, "I am!"

Her lips parted as she gaped at him in disbelief.

What?

She blinked at him and he continued with a confident voice, "And you're joining back with me."

She clicked her tongue in the most sarcastic way, "You must be out of your mind."

He faked a smile, "Clearly I am when I'm actually doing this." Before she could even try to argue back, he had quickened his pace in speaking. "But I'm doing this for the sake of Mr. Kang."

She knew Kai inside out but he doesn't. Or at least, she thinks he doesn't realize it yet. From what she remembers, Kai is the type of person to use someone else as a scapegoat to hide his true intentions. So obviously, there must be a catch for him here somewhere in between his words. "And who will I be partnered with if I do join back?"

He gave her a sly smile, striding up to her where she was caught off guard when his hands planted on her waist smoothly, "Me, obviously."

There it was - so that was his catch.

Her eyes widened, glancing down at his hands before she elbowed him at his chest, making him grunt in pain as he hastily stepped away from her with his eyes glaring at her. "What the hell?!" He hissed at her furiously, not liking this rough side she was showing him again. Just when he thought that he could open up to her, coax her a little after what he had witnessed yesterday... it seems like all of everything he had saw vanished into thin air.

"If you think you can come around here, touch me and such just to get what you want, whenever you want - you're wrong. I don't have time for this and I don't have time for you." She tugged on her shirt, managing to give him a strong glare before she brushed past him as she made her way towards the door where she froze when he called her name out. Why did she even stop walking in the first place? Stupid, she thought. You're so stupid... her heart grumbled.

"Can you stand leaving Mr. Kang to be miserable like this? How can you think of making him live this way with two of his best students out of dancing?"

Her eyes widened at the thought of him figuring out but considering he had more left to say, she kept quiet. 

"Based on how important you are to Mr. Kang... you must have mad talent. And with that talent, don't let it go to waste. I've seen what you can do."

Her hand inched closer towards the door knob but the will in her wasn't strong enough to grab onto it when she had already, fallen into Kai's trap. He spun her around, locking eyes with her where he looked down on her. "Don't let all of that go to waste." Kai's voice was hushed, as if it was sending soft kisses on her skin. The furious and angry him had evaporated, replaced with a much sincere one now. "I'm leaving this key here on this floor." He spoke up, pulling a key out from his pocket to place it in between them on the ground. He stood up straight, still keeping eye contact with her. "And if you don't take this - someone else will and they will have the privillege to use this as their own personal dance practice room. So if you take this key, I'll know what your answer is. Everything else will be discussed after you take the key but if you choose to run away like how I'm running away from it all - we'll never make it to the end. So do me a favor as well."

The thing that had drove her off the edge to taking the key is when she heard him whispering, "Please..." just before he left the room.

And in that exact moment, he felt as if his insides were tingling - as if someone was messing with his body internally and his heart when he peeked through the gap, only to see her bending down just before she stood back up.

She had taken the key.