“Why? Why my baby sister?” your brother groaned, slightly exasperated.

It was Tuesday and you were collecting your papers together on your desk for school. At your brother’s dismay, you giggled. “What do you mean why?”

“Since when does mom let something like this pass? Dad is already wrapped around both of your little pinkies so I understand his approval at least. But mom?” he made a sound of frustration.

“Oh?” you placed your phone between your cheek and shoulder so you could finish your task faster with both of your hands because your dad was waiting. “Mom is only okay with it until she meets his parents though.”

“So? She was my trump card. She should never have let you start dating so young. Why my baby sister?”

You frowned, “I’m not a baby.”

“You are,” was all he said.

“Hmph, I’m going to hang up now. Dad is waiting.”

“Yeah, yeah baby.”

“Bye Hyuntae,” to show him you were serious, you hung up before you could hear his reply.

Your dad was at your door and he chuckled letting the sound fill your room. “Is your brother teasing you again? And so early in the morning?”

You automatically pouted, “He is.” You zipped up your bag and grabbed your already packed duffle. “He keeps calling me a baby.”

Your dad chuckled again as you both walked down the length of the hallway to leave the apartment with him also being weighed down by his briefcase. “You are the baby in the family though?” he lightly teased you.

“Dad!” your exclamation made him laugh again as you both exited the apartment. The door closed behind you both as he walked over to push the button to summon the elevator. “I’m in high school now,” you grumbled while crossing your arms.

Your dad didn’t lose his cheeky smile the whole elevator ride down to the garage. He kept chuckling to himself for the duration of the drive to your school and it was mirth in his eyes did he bid you goodbye for the day. Thankfully he didn’t call you a baby as you left his car.

Jinsik was waiting for you as has become a familiar and hopefully a lasting sight. You both held hands as he didn’t take a detour to the same nook and led you directly into the school.

The two of you spoke much of nothing except what was expected for you and your respective classes for the day.

It wasn’t until lunch did you find yourself with your two friends once more and an absent Jinsik who decided to spend the time with his friends. Yoora was ecstatic at the news while Hwami was rather indifferent but you’ve come to accept these personality traits of theirs.

“So, I thought we could spend the weekend together by going to watch a movie or probably go shopping. I need a new skirt for my dad’s company dinner and I need both of your opinions.” Yoora stated as she stabbed at her salad with her fork.

“I can make it,” Hwami supported the idea.

Both of their eyes directed questioning gazes on you. “I’m sure my family has nothing planned for the weekend. I can make it as well.” You smiled at them both and it was returned.

“Cool. I’ll ask my sister if she can take us to the mall.”

Hwami’s eyes narrowed, “Which sister?”

Yoora rolled her eyes, “The better one, duh! Do you think my other sister would actually take us?”

The two girls obviously had shared memories or something about this and you smiled obliviously. You suspected that with time you would come to understand too.

“Just checking,” Hwami shrugged. “You just never know with her.”

Yoora only nodded and it was settled.

At the end of lunch, you threw away your trash and got back to the dancing wing in time to see Jinsik surrounded by boys. There was absolutely nothing wrong with the sight, but you didn’t want him to see you. It didn’t have anything to do with him but you just didn’t want the others to notice you and give you attention. So you took your time going up the steps and you were lucky enough to make it to the changing room free from any attention when Jinsik’s group continued their way down the hall.

Jooae smiled at you as you walked in and you easily returned the expression. “Are you ready for the spinning classes?”

You nodded. “Yes, though I suspect we’re just going to be working on our footwork for the upcoming dance recitals.”

“Most likely,” you both walked down the length of the hall which just so happened to be boy-free.

“So,” she trailed off and now she had your full attention.

“Yes?”

“Do you have your answer for the get together I have planned?” When you looked at her with confusion, she smiled. “The theater visit this Friday?”

“Ah!” you exclaimed before you settled your feelings into worry. “I’m so sorry, Jooae!”

She laughed lightly. “It’s fine, Taeri. I figured you might have forgotten about it what with your new boyfriend.”

Her words drew an immediate blush as you ducked your head and this made her laugh a bit more lively. “Still,” you mumbled. “I’m sorry for forgetting.”

She patted your shoulder and the action reminded you of both Yoora and Hwami. Looking up at her, she shrugged. “Like I said, I understand but I really do need an answer for travel purposes.”

“Um,” you dug inside your duffle. “If I can have your number, I can text you my answer as soon as I ask my mother.”

She nodded while accepting your phone once you found it. “Then I guess I can accept your request as a tentative yes?” she asked as she inputted her phone number to create her contact on your cell.

You nodded. “Yes. It has been a while since I’ve seen a stage.”

She handed you back your phone and looked at you expectantly. Smiling obliviously at her for a few seconds, she finally prompted, “Aren’t you going to text me your name so I can save your number on my phone?”

Blinking in confusion, her words dawned on you. “Oh! Right,” you giggled nervously, “I’m sorry,” you quickly composed a simple text to send to her. “I’m still getting used to this.”

She held the door open for the both of you. “No problem, Taeri.”

Feeling embarrassed, you nodded without replying more. You were now beyond flustered but knew you had to rein in your emotions for class and figured you could do that during your stretches.

After warming up and doing the opening stretches, all of the girls stepped into their appropriate spaces with calm determination in the studio just as the door opened and both instructors made their entrance. It was quiet as the head instructor made her way to the front of the mirrored wall where her audience was facing.

“Now is the day that we work on your steps. To take a step is to take a chance. What that chance may be is entirely up on the person who takes that step. It is interchangeable and so it is up to said person on what he or she wants to convey through the chance that is taken.”

The old woman gazed out at her crowd with a stern expression to accompany her words. You felt each spoken word touch on the principles you’ve accepted since the beginning of your dancing career. Translating a story or an emotion was the basics of dancing, especially for dances that specifically tell a story based on culture and its history.

“With this in mind with each motion of movement to the silence and very essence of the beat we are letting out audience know we are accepting out fate as a dancer.”

Her assistant took a step forward. “Get into formation.”

You all flitted into place until a perfect line was form on the left side of the room.

You were sweating by the end of the class but so was everyone else. They were all in the same condition as you as they chugged down water and you were sure their arches of their feet were aching just like yours. But still, you felt more invigorated as ever knowing that you had improved your stepping a great deal with this one class.

Exiting the studio was refreshing as you escaped the stuffiness of the dance studio for a short brea