Inspiration: 

That the sun will rise and the storm will cease, and the aftermath will not be as messy as the calamity but it will be beautiful, it will be a glorious.

y dance

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Tap. Tap. Tap

Drum. Drum. Drum.

Click. Click. Click.

All around you, students were waiting in anticipation for the announcement that would signal their freedom for the next three months. With every student around you playing with the objects around them, your surroundings turned into a cacophony of mismatched sounds, amplified by a hundred fold. To your left, Jae was continuously clicking on his pen, sending the tip in and out of its casing. To your right, Sungjin was shaking his leg against the table, sending mini tremors to your side. To your diagonal right, Wonpil was drumming his fingers against the table and on the other side, Dowoon was tapping his pen against the table, creating a new beat.

And right in front of you was your best friend Brian Kang, which you can see swaying his head to the imaginary music playing in his head.

As the presiding examiner turned to face the front, the entire hall transited into pindrop silence, everyone waiting with bated breath to hear the words leave his mouth.

 “The examination is over, and all of you may leave now. Happy holidays to all.”

On cue, the dragging of hundreds of chairs across the polished wooden floor filled the entire hall and the excited chatters followed soon after. As you got up to leave, you caught wisps of people’s conversations; exciting plans for the holiday and new year ahead.

As you picked up your bag to leave, Brian’s voice boomed through the horde of students to reach you.

“Y/N! Are you up for karaoke tonight? I’ll call you.”

A smile spreading over your face, you showed him a thumb up sign before turning to leave.

-

“I’M LIKE TT, JUST LIKE TT!”

“Ok Brian that’s enough, you’ve had too much to drink.”

Completely intoxicated and incapable of coherent words, all Brain did was laugh really loudly before collapsing in a heap beside you, hands still clutching the karaoke mic firmly. With your hands, you tried to extricate the microphone from his fingers gently so that he wouldn’t notice. But the alcohol seemed to have heightened his senses instead – so even before you could actually touch him, he had snatched the mic back before screaming into it.

“Y/N…you…NEOMUHAE NEOMUHAE! Don’t take my mic away from me!”

With that being said, he passed the mic to Jae for safe-keeping before taking a swig from the bottle in his other hand.

As you stared at Brian with daggers in your eyes, the boys tried to stifle their laughter in the background although Wonpil was already on the floor, rolling in silent laughter.

Jae was the first one to speak up amidst the chaos.

“You know something, Y/N?”

“Hmmm?”

“Just let Brian let loose for tonight, it’s the end of the exam season and the new year is starting in a few hours anyways so…”

“So…?”

“So for tonight, just let everyone go wild, and you should let your hair down too. I know that you’re naturally a very nervous person but for tonight, just take a break. Don’t worry too much about the aftermath – I’m sure it’ll be better than the calamity.”

Before you could reply him, Brian’s excited voice broke through the system, leaving you to swim in your own thoughts.

Jae’s right, when’s the last time I took a break?

Sinking back against the soft leather couch, you blocked out Brian’s singing and transited into your own world as you reflected upon the last year.

-

As images of the past year flashed past in your head, some brought tears to your eyes but some left a smile on your face.

Having just entered university, you had a hard time adapting. This entire year passed in a blur and somehow, all you remember is sitting down in front of your readings and papers completely exhausted before tears of frustration came. Despite being near your breaking point, you refused any help from your friends, insisting that you needed the time to do work instead of taking a break. This vicious cycle eventually took a toll on your health and you felt your string slowly snap by the second.

But… despite the bad year, there were good moments to look back on as well.

Nights spent with your best friend Brian walking along the riverside as you talked about anything between the sky and earth, being able to watch their night club gigs from the front row and more recently, meeting a bunch of lovely coworkers at your new workplace.

It then dawned upon you that whilst you might have had