“Chaeyoung!! Hurry up!!” Sungyeon bellowed from the bottom of stairs, her camera already ready in hand. She had stopped Jeongyeon from dashing out the door and was waiting for Chaeyoung to come down.

“Unnie, we’ll be late,” Jeongyeon whined.

Seungyeon shushed her. “You can’t leave until I get some pictures! Chaeyouuunnggggg.”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming!” The younger one finally got out of her room after constantly checking herself in the mirror. She borrowed some heels from Mina and was having a hard time walking around in them. She descended the stairs one step at a time, holding onto the rails with both hands.

When she emerged in front of her, Sungyeon gasped at the sight. The older one placed her hand on her chest, feeling quite proud. “You look so beautiful. Ahh, I want to go to prom.”

Sungyeon must’ve taken at least 20 pictures, each with the same pose. Chaeyoung and Jeongyeon really couldn’t come up with a better pose than standing next to each other with impatience. After acting like the proudest older sister in the world and finally gotten her share of the excitement, Sungyeon let them go. Jeongyeon took her car and drove both her and Chaeyoung to school.

The path that led from the entrance to the gymnasium was brightly lit. The trees that followed that path had been cleanly decorated and on the sides of the path were lights lined up to cast a glow on the darkening area. The whole gymnasium had been turned into a dancefloor. The bleachers were neatly tucked in and hidden behind curtains. The ceiling was covered up by a black tarp and projected onto it was the starry night. It was just like a scene in those high school dramas. Chaeyoung excepted no more, but being there, she was starting to feel nervous.

She kept flattening the frills of her dress out of nervousness. She knew nobody was looking, but she felt like everybody had their eyes on her. Momo immediately approached her with a beaming smile, her shoes click clacking with excitement on the wooden floor. “You’re here! What’s wrong?” the older one asked as she watched her discomfort.

“Nothing. I’m just not used to wearing these types of things.”

“You look great!” Momo led her to their table where Dahyun and Sana were seated as they talked about the randomest things. “Isn’t anybody going to dance?”

“Later,” Sana told her. “The floor’s too crowded right now. They’ll get tired at some point and clear some space.”

Momo turned to Chaeyoung, gently patting her hand. “Wait here. I’ll get something to drink.” Chaeyoung nodded and she walked to the refreshments table.

Meanwhile, Chaeyoung felt a kind of uncomfort at the top of her back. She reached her hand over to scratch it. It was like the dress was digging into her skin. Just then, a hand from behind reached over the inside of her dress. Chaeyoung yelped and turned around to see Mina.

The Japanese leaned forward and whispered, “Dummy, you still have the tag on.”

“Tag? Isn’t this a rental?” Chaeyoung asked. Mina pulled the tag out by leaning her head in to cut it off with her teeth. Chaeyoung could feel her breath at the back of her neck.

“I bought it,” Mina said with a smile. “No one else should wear it but you.” She looked up and Momo was walking towards the table with drinks in hand. Mina took it as her cue to leave, so she made her way back to where the members of the committee were gathered.

Chaeyoung watched her move across the floor, with her clean suit and neat posture, Mina looked elegant. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail, and her makeup was not too flashy but just enough to match her features. Everybody else in her table wore a suit as well but somehow, Mina stood out from all of them.

Momo caught her staring, and it was only when she placed herself across from her did Chaeyoung realized she was already back. The Japanese handed her the drink and Chaeyoung thanked her. “Do you want to dance?” she asked.

“Uhh,” Chaeyoung glanced over at the dancefloor where students danced without hesitation. It was like they were the only ones in there and didn’t give anybody else a second thought. Chaeyoung wondered where they got all that confidence to begin with. She looked at Momo apologetically, “I’m not really much of a dancer.”

“What are you talking about! I saw you dance. You can’t deny that you can move.” Momo grinned, “I’ll lead you. You can even step on my foot every once in a while.”

The younger one chuckled. Then she looked at her and sighed, looking apologetic still, “Sorry. I’m such a boring date, aren’t I?” She turned to look at where Dahyun and Sana were, already at the floor and laughing at Sana’s ridiculous moves. “You would rather have fun like them won’t you? Than sit here with me...”

Momo turned to look at her friends as well. Dahyun was trying to stop Sana from further embarrassing herself. “I like being with you. But...” She looked at Chaeyoung then, “It’s you who seems like you don’t want to be here with me.”

“That’s not true! I think you’re very relaxing to be with.”

Momo smiled, “It’s okay. I know, you know. You may not realize it but I can tell.”

“Tell what?”

“That you like Mina.” The tone in her words were so nonchalant as if she knew it all along. It wasn’t a question, but a statement, like Momo had accepted it and dealt with it. Perhaps, she wanted Chaeyoung to deny it, to shake her head and prove her wrong, was why she said it in the first place. But upon looking at her reaction, when the younger one didn’t say anything and just kept looking forward, the question she didn’t ask had already been answered.

She heaved a slight sigh with a melancholic smile. “I’m going to go to the restroom.” Momo got up, but before she could leave, Chaeyoung grabbed her by the hand. Her touch would’ve sent Momo with a roller coaster of emotions, but the touch brought a sense of sadness to it. She looked down at her and was greeted by yet another apologetic look.

“I’m sorry,” Chaeyoung said.

Dummy, Momo thought. Hearing that doesn’t help me… “You can dance with her,” she told her. Letting her hand linger within hers, she wanted so bad to hold it back, but she knew she shouldn’t. She chuckled, “When I come back, Son Chaeyoung, your better not still be in this seat.” Then, she freed her hand and walked out of the gymnasium.

Chaeyoung watched her back disappear for a moment before she turned to Mina’s table once more. The Japanese sat there, listening to her fellow peers talk and laugh. She sat there, her back straight and her knees slightly bobbing up and down as if preventing her legs from falling asleep.

For as long as she could remember, Chaeyoung had never been one to initiate. She was a follower, not a leader. And in most cases, she was an outsider. She didn’t want to dance, especially not in a room full of strangers with their precipitating sweats making the air humid, in a dress that she could barely see herself in and in heels that made her look awkward when she walked. If things went her way, she would’ve stayed at home that night watching dramas or sketching or strumming her ukulele. This sort of loudness with this kind of crowd, it wasn’t her scene. She didn’t want to dance. And yet…

A slow song started to play and people quickly switched their lively dancing to an intimate dance with their partners. The younger one got up from her seat and slowly made her way to Mina. The path to her seemed so long, or maybe she was just having that much trouble with her shoes. Mina noticed her right away. She turned her head towards her and smiled.

“Were you bored by yourself?” Mina asked, trying to .

But instead of answering, and with a smile on her face, Chaeyoung leaned her head forward. Her face was so close to hers that Mina couldn’t help but pull back a little. “Dance with me,” she whispered.

Mina couldn’t hide her smile. She tried to compose herself. “Since when did you get so confident in asking such questions? Forget it. Go dance with Momo,” she teased.

“It wasn’t a question,” Chaeyoung stuck out her tongue and grabbed her by the hand. She didn’t even have to pull her, because Mina got up and followed her lead. Chaeyoung walked backwards, not taking her eyes off her, and when they reached the middle of the dancefloor, Mina let her start the slow dance.

Standing a distance from the two was Momo. She couldn’t help but chuckle at the situation. So, she really listened to me, she thought. She couldn’t even bring herself to be upset. She saw the expression Chaeyoung wore and she knew then she could never bring that same smile to her face the way Mina did. No matter how hard she might try, one can’t force the heart to steer away from what it wanted. Love was something nobody could control.

Momo stood there for a moment, watching them, she didn’t even notice the person who had been watching the same scene alongside her until that person spoke. “Are you jealous?” Tzuyu asked.

The Japanese quickly looked at her, surprised. “You scared me,” she said as she held her chest. “How long have you been standing there?”

“As long as you. Your prom date ran off with someone else. Does that make you mad?”

“Nope. I told her to. But, it does feel a bit lonely.”

Tzuyu looked at her. She then glanced at Jihyo from their table who was gesturing for her to go for it. She made a face as if to ask her, How? Jihyo only kept nudging her head to one side and then she placed her feet on Tzuyu’s chair as if to say Don’t come back. She sighed, and turned her attention back to Momo. “Why would you do it then?” she spoke to her again. “What kind of person would send the one they like away? Are you a martyr?”

“Maybe so. But what kind of person would force the one they like? There are times when you have to be selfish, but there are also times when you have to be selfless. That’s how it is.”

The younger one watched her and she remembered the first and only interaction they’ve ever had. She was in line at the mall’s foodcourt and had ordered food, only to find out that she had left her wallet at home. And like a knight in shining armor, Momo came up from behind her and paid for her. It wasn’t until after she had eaten her food that she overheard her and her friends speak that the money Momo spent on her was the only money she brought.

A girl being so kind to a random stranger she never even saw in her life moved her. And how fate liked to play games that they would see each other again in the same school. Momo probably didn’t remember it, but it was something Tzuyu could never forget. That small act of kindness showed her that not everybody needed a reason to be kind. Some people just are.

“You want to dance, don’t you?” Tzuyu asked. Momo gave a light nod. “Then… if it’s okay with you, I can be your partner.”

The Japanese turned her head to look at her. She furrowed her eyebrows as if confused. Then, after what felt to Tzuyu like forever, her lips went up to a slight smile. “Will you?”

Tzuyu’s face lit up. She held out her hand in which Momo took and they made their way to the dancefloor. This was their second interaction that she would treasure with all her heart.

As Tzuyu felt rather awkward about it, she didn’t know where to place her hands. Momo looked at her and snickered. She then took her arm and placed it on her shoulders, while she placed her own on Tzuyu’s waist and they started to slowly sway. “I’m thankful and all,” Momo said. “But who are you?”

“Eh?” the younger one looked at her in surprise. “Are you serious?” But Momo looked at her rather seriously that Tzuyu knew she wasn’t kidding. “Yah, that’s a bit harsh. How can you not know your own vice president? I know all about you and yet you don’t even know my name. You talked to me so casually too...”

“I’m sad. Sad people just want to consult with somebody.”

“Do they just dance with anybody too?”

Momo shook her head. “It’s because you offered so sincerely that I couldn’t turn it down.”

“Chou Tzuyu. That’s my name.”

“Ohh. Where are you from?”

“Taiwan.”

“Then, as somebody whom I’m dancing with the first time I met them, you’re obligated to at least tell me half of your life story.” Momo smiled, feeling herself lighten up with the mood.

“Only half? I can tell you all of it.”

“Would you really tell a stranger your whole life story? Just like that?”

Tzuyu smiled, feeling her tensed nerves finally relax. “You’re not a stranger to me.”

With Chaeyoung’s hands on her waist and her own around her neck, Mina couldn’t be any happier. Looking back on it now, she couldn’t remember the last time she wanted to hug somebody so badly. But right then and there, she wanted to wrap her arms around the girl in front of her. With the yellow dress on her and the beauty she held despite the awkwardness of her moves, it reminded her of a fantasy she once saw on television. She never wanted it to end. Mina watched Chaeyoung carefully look down at their feet from time to time, making sure she didn’t step on them.

Mina closed the slight gap between them and pulled her closer. “Yah, I can’t dance,” Chaeyoung told her.

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