The atmosphere in this particular class was tense like it always was since the first day of school and today was no exception.

"I would like to see your splits this class.” Your teacher announced as she paced at the front of the dance studio in front of the floor to ceiling mirrors. “This is going to determine just what kind of roles or dances you can take on. I am sure all of you can do a decent split so let’s get on with it,” she pointed to one of the girls in the back. “Let’s start with you.” The girl confidently stood up and walked around you and the rest of the girls who all took a seat on the well-polished dance floor.  The teacher took a step back and the girl’s feet slid against the floor until she was seated with her legs stretched out in front and back of her. The teacher walked around her once and nudged the girl’s foot while shaking her head. “Very poor form.” She motioned for her to go back to her seat.

It was quiet as the girl looked at the teacher completely shocked and the girl seated next to you covered with her hands but you caught a giggle from her. The teacher obviously heard her too and looked in you guys’ direction. “It looks like we have a volunteer.” She pointed to the girl who giggled. “You next.” The first girl had gone back to her seat and immediately placed her hands over her face and a girl beside her patted her back sympathetically.

The giggling girl walked forward and when she got to the front of the room she sent a smug look to her little audience before doing the splits. She did hers a little smoother than the other girl and she looked at the teacher expectantly. The teacher only frowned before shaking her head, “I don’t know what gave you the right to laugh at the other girl with even worse form than her.”

If it was possible it grew even quieter and the teacher turned her back to her. “Such arrogance won’t get you anywhere young lady.” She turned to face everyone, “be sure to remember that. As much as I would love to give you more life advice, we must move on.” She ran her eyes over her class before they landed on you. “Your turn.”

You slowly got up and swung your legs to stretch out your leg muscles testing out their flexibility. Although you stretched every morning after you woke up, you still wanted to avoid any chance of cramps.

You took your time to flex your leg muscles in your tights. You made sure you had your balance and your feet smoothly slid across the floor into the splits. You weren’t sure exactly what your teacher was looking for but you hoped she wouldn’t be as harsh and critical on you as she was with the other two girls. You kept your eyes on her feet as they walked around you.

“Much better,” at her words you quickly stood up and bowed to her. “Much, much better.”

You went back to your seat and she called for a different girl. The second you sat down, the girl who had been very smug threw a glare at you before she faced forward once more. You raised your eyebrows at her back but didn’t do anything. In your time working with other girls in dance, you’ve become familiar with girls like her and have been on the receiving end of multiple glares. You’ve become immune to looks like that as well as gossip and cold shoulders. There was always competition for roles or positions and with the competition between girls of all people, it was always going to be bloody. So for the rest of the class, you paid no mind to any other glares or pointed looks in your direction as you became one of the few who were actually praised by the teacher.

After everyone was done, your teacher clasped her hands in front of her, “This is enough for the day. You are dismissed.” You grabbed your bag and water bottle and walked to the exit. You wanted to avoid any possible confrontations so you quickened your steps out of the room.

The bell went off after you took a few steps and you pulled out your schedule. Since it was a Wednesday today you had another dance class but this was for your traditional dancing which would be your last class of the day. You made your way through bodies down the other end of the third floor hallway where all of your dance classes were.

This week would conclude your first month here and you were getting more familiar with the school grounds and a few people. Like Yoora said that first day, the third floor was only composed of the dance studios while the first and second floors were for the regular academic classes. In a different wing of the building, the studios for singing and music composition were situated. Hwami was usually in that wing since that was also where the production equipment was at.

Yoora, on the other hand, seemed to be taking classes for each field which was most likely the school trying to find what she was good at. You never brought the topic in front of her after the first time since she could go on and on about it for hours.

When you walked into the room you quickly slipped off your shoes and fixed your hair while trying to clear your thoughts. This class’s teacher was older than all of your other teachers and was very old-fashioned which was understandable since she was the traditional dance instructor. You pulled on the special socks that had a flexible bottom that didn’t scratch the delicate wooden floor and didn’t make much sound.

The other eleven girls were doing the same as you as they whispered to one another. This was one of those classes where you couldn’t help but be solemn in and you always unconsciously whispered.

This class was the one you paid more attention to than any other. You had to be serious about this and carefully observe the girls. They were the only classmates that you kept track of since you were all planning on specializing and mastering this dance program so they were your main competition. When you finished getting ready and were presentable, you shuffled to your position on the wide floor.

The teacher was not there yet so you took the chance to peek at the other girls. You recognized a few from your other classes but you still didn’t know them by name. From what you’ve seen so far, most of them were a little shorter than you but they were very good. There was one girl that was exceptionally good and she was your biggest rival. She sat next to you and you bowed to each other. One by one, all of the girls made their way to their spots until everyone was seated and it became silent.

“Good afternoon,” you all stood up and bowed. She needed to be paid the utmost respect especially since she was a Human Cultural Property, the highest honor awarded to masters of traditional arts and crafts

“Greetings teacher.”

“Yes, hello young ladies.” The old lady glided to the front of the room, her hanbok skirt grazing the floor. Even at her age, she was very elegant and moved gracefully. You watched her feet and noticed the way she positioned her feet but you couldn’t tell where she put her weight at. Those thoughts disappeared once she sat down at her designated spot at the front of the room and you all waited until she gestured for you to sit too. You saw her eyes take a quick survey of the room before she smiled, “We’ll practice with the fans today as I am sure most of you have some kind of experience with Buchaechum.”

She gestured for a girl by the door that you hadn’t seen. She was also dressed in a hanbok. She quickly started to distribute plain yellow fans with pink peonies at the edges. You smiled at her in thanks and she bowed to you before she went back to her spot alongside the wall. Your teacher cleared , “Since there are twelve of you here, we’ll start with proper holding technique and finish with simple formations.”

She held an elaborate pair of fans that you could tell were expensive and made of silk. She snapped her wrist suddenly in a move that was almost too quick to see but you caught how she twisted her hands to make an illusion. Afterwards she snapped the fans shut. “You’re turn.” She looked at you all expectantly.

You quickly grabbed your fans, eager to try out what you just saw and the other girls did the same. You made sure you had a proper grip on the fans and tried to snap your wrist while twisting it a little to try and mimic what you observed. You frowned, the movement was sloppy and you jumped when one of the girls must have lost her grip and the fan hit the floor. It grew quiet as everyone stopped what they were doing and the girl picked the fan up and quickly apologized.

The teacher clicked her tongue but didn’t say anything. Her eyes said everything and you noticed she didn’t pay attention to that girl for the rest of the class. She skipped her as she went to each student one by one to see how you all held the fan. She either nodded or shook her head and thankfully she nodded her head at you. The girl that had stood off to the side of the room was called over and showed each of you how to place your hands. Most of it was old information to you but you caught on to a few tricks. After her demonstration your teacher had you all stand up and placed you in a loose formation. You were in the back row because of your tall height and your rival was standing next to you.

Each of you had the fans in hand and the teacher a small stereo. The room was filled with the familiar traditional beat of the drum with a soft whistling. The teacher had you all listen to the song twice before moving you all into a different position. Her helper was next to her and assisting if needed.

Your fans remained in your hands and the teacher didn’t give you instructions to use them. For the rest of the class, all you guys practiced was getting from place to place without bumping into each other.

You were very familiar w