Prologue

 

‘Yujinnie.’ Wonyoung said, a smile on her face. 

 

‘Wonnie.’ Yujin replied in the same tone. ‘Can you open your window?’ 

 

‘Oh God, don’t tell me you’re here, right now.’

 

Wonyoung pulled back her blinds and sure enough, her best friend was perched on the tree in front of her balcony. She watched as the girl stepped onto the edge of the balcony to lean her front onto the railings and Wonyoung couldn’t help but draw a parallel to a scene from Aladdin. 

 

‘I can show you the world! Shiny shimmering splendid.’ Yujin started to whisper sing as to not wake up Wonyoung’s neighbours. ‘Tell me princess…’

 

Wonyoung waited patiently for Yujin to finish the line. 

 

‘Yeah, that’s all I know.’ Yujin said and she climbed over the railing and onto Wonyoung’s porch. Wonyoung just smiled and rolled her eyes at her antics. 

 

‘What are you doing here? Cause, I know you didn’t just come here to serenade me with two and a half limes from a song.’ 

 

‘And what if I did?’ Yujin teased. ‘But, do I really need a reason to hang out with you?’ 

 

‘Well, yes if you suddenly came unannounced at…’ Wonyoung glanced at the time on her phone, ‘9:30pm. And why didn’t you just use the front door?’ 

 

‘I wanted a dramatic entrance.’ Yujin said and Wonyoung had to resist the urge to poke the dimple on her cheek. ‘Troy Bolton meets Aladdin. Cool, right?’ 

 

‘You’re an idiot.’ Wonyoung went back into her room to hide the blush creeping up on her cheeks. 

 

‘I know you say I’m Aladdin but no offence I’d kinda rather be Troy Bolton.’ Yujin followed Wonyoung into her room. 

 

‘You’d trade a magic carpet for a basketball?’ 

 

Yujin shrugged. ‘I’m scared of heights, anyways. I’d totally rather be a top basketball player.’

 

‘You’re forgetting one thing. Troy Bolton can dance.’

 

‘He sings too, doesn’t he?’

 

‘Yeah, but i know you can sing. I haven’t seen you dance before. Bet you can’t even waltz.’

 

Yujin narrowed her eyes at Wonyoung. ‘Is that a challenge?’

 

Wonyoung raised an eyebrow, an amused smirk on her face. ‘It wasn’t at first but let’s see what you got, Ahn Yujin.’

 

Yujin quirked her head competitively and picked up a leather jacket from Wonyoung’s pile of clothes. She pretended to adjust her imaginary tie. 

 

(What she didn’t notice was the absolute gay panic Wonyoung went through).

 

Yujin bowed in front of Wonyoung. 

 

‘May I have this dance?’ 

 

Wonyoung pushed her shoulder. ‘First, you have to learn the dance. I’ll teach you the girl steps but when we dance together I’ll have to be the guy—‘ 

 

‘Nah, I can do the guy part. I’m taller than you.’ Yujin stuck her tongue out at Wonyoung. 

 

Wonyoung shrugged. ‘Alright.’ 

 

She stood next to Yujin and straightened her posture. Yujin copied her right away. 

 

‘With your left foot, you want to step out in front and slightly to the left.’ Wonyoung demonstrated the step for Yujin. 

 

Yujin stepped forward with a shrug. 

 

‘Now your right foot does the same but on the right.’ 

 

Yujin copied Wonyoung’s movements. 

 

‘Now you want to bring your left foot into your right and when you do, go on your tippy toes. Like this.’ 

 

It took Yujin a couple tries but she managed to figure out what Wonyoung meant. They continued practicing until Yujin was able to get the hang of it. 

 

‘Hey, this is pretty easy, now.’ Yujin smiled while watching her feet. 

 

‘You think?’ Wonyoung watched with an endearing smile. ‘Great! I guess we’re ready to try dancing together with music.’ 

 

‘Wait wha—‘ 

 

Yujin couldn’t finish her sentence because Wonyoung had clasped her hands around hers and was pulling her onto the balcony. Wonyoung climbed over the railing and latched onto the tree. 

 

‘Come on.’ Wonyoung beckoned Yujin over with her head. 

 

‘That’s too slow.’ Yujin smiled mischievously. ‘Watch this.’ 

 

Wonyoung watched as Yujin backed away from the railing. 

 

‘Yujin, what are you—‘ 

 

‘Here I goooooo!’ Yujin smiled gleefully. 

 

Wonyoung could only watch in horror as Yujin ran towards the railing and leaped over it. Her eyes followed the girl as she flew through the air and towards the ground. 

 

Wonyoung squinted one eye, not wanting to watch but also wanting to. 

 

Yujin landed on the ground and did a little barrel roll upon impact. With a bounce, she sprung back up and onto her feet.

 

‘Ta dah!’ She said with a proud smile. 

 

‘Ahn Yujin.’ Wonyoung said with one hand on her chest to try and calm her still nervous heart. She continued her climb down to the ground with a sigh. 

 

Wonyoung walked up to Yujin and brought one hand up to her ear, pinching it. 

 

‘I can’t tell if you’re a show-off or just plain stupid.’ Wonyoung said through gritted teeth. 

 

Yujin winced but grinned nonetheless. ‘Nah, I’m just Yujin.’ 

 

Wonyoung released her grip on Yujin’s ear. ‘Let’s just get this over with.’ 

 

Taking out her AirPods, she handed one to Yujin, signaling for her to put it in her ear. Wonyoung put the other into her own ear. 

 

Wonyoung took Yujin’s right hand and guided it gently to her waist. To her surprise, her cheeks didn’t start to blush. She was nervous but she felt at home in Yujin’s arms. 

 

She clasped her right hand onto Yujin’s left and moved their hands to the right place. Wonyoung couldn’t find it in herself to look Yujin in the eye but she could see that the other girl was staring at her intently. 

 

‘This is the um,’ Wonyoung cleared , ‘the dance position.’ 

 

She quickly stepped away from Yujin, hand leaving hers. Wonyoung reached into her pocket to play a song from her phone. 

 

‘Of course it’s this song.’

 

‘You said you wanna be Troy Bolton. Now, bow.’ Wonyoung instructed and Yujin did as she was told. 

 

Yujin’s bow was over dramatic, a little bit cheeky and mischievous, but it was so Yujin and her smile was contagious. 

 

Wonyoung curtsied back in the same manner, giggling quietly to herself. She indicated for Yujin to hold out her left hand and she gingerly placed her right hand onto Yujin’s open palm. 

 

She didn’t even notice Yujin slipping her hand to hold her delicately by the waist. She was too busy marveling the way their hands fit together perfectly. 

 

‘Girl, if I drop you or step on your toe don’t blame me. This is your fault for making me waltz.’ Yujin said. 

 

‘I didn’t make you do anything.’ Wonyoung laughed. She squeezed Yujin’s shoulder. ‘Nor did I make you wear this jacket.’ 

 

They continued waltzing in spot to the music, Yujin focusing carefully on her feet to make sure she was doing all the steps right. 

 

Wonyoung could see the girl counting in her head. 

 

‘You’ll be fine if you feel the music.’ Wonyoung assured her. She laughed quietly at the way Yujin’s eyes kept flitting towards her feet. ‘Don’t worry too much.’ 

 

And with every step together

We just keep on getting better 

So can I have this dance?

Can I have this dance?

 

They kept dancing, Yujin slowly relaxing into the groove by the second verse. Wonyoung had her eyes trained to her hand on Yujin’s shoulder, not having the confidence to look her in the eyes. She could feel Yujin’s gaze on her face but only because she wanted to keep focus. 

 

(Or was it?)

 

‘Yujin.’ Wonyoung said by the time the second chorus came around. ‘Don’t think too hard. I’ll follow your movements.’ 

 

‘What do you mean?’ Yujin cocked her head to the side like a puppy. 

 

Wonyoung found the courage to meet Yujin’s eyes. She smiled softly, to try to reassure Yujin. 

 

‘Just follow your heart, Yujin.’ Wonyoung said. 

 

‘I’m confused.’ Yujin said, waiting intently for Wonyoung to do something. 

 

Wonyoung winked at the other girl and gave her another smile. 

 

Then Wonyoung closed her eyes. 

 

‘What are you doing?’ Yujin stumbled slightly on the beat. Surprisingly, Wonyoung was able to follow her movements, even if they were now out of time to the music. It only lasted a few steps but Wonyoung and Yujin were able to get back to the beat. 

 

‘I’m going with the flow.’ Wonyoung said with her eyes still shut. 

 

‘Oh, God,’ Yujin said when she stumbled on the beat again. ‘I think you should open your eyes before you get hurt.’ 

 

‘You could never hurt me.’ 

 

Yujin stared at Wonyoung’s smiling face, her eyes still shut. Her hair was in a ponytail and Yujin took notice of just how pretty the shape of her face was. She noticed how Wonyoung’s cheeks have lost its baby fat, the fluffy baby cheeks no longer visible on her face. It made her face look a little longer, and her cheek bones a little more prominent. 

 

When did that happen? Yujin wondered to herself. 

 

Wonyoung was always just a kid. More specifically she was her kid. She’s been her kid since she first met her when they were 8 years old. At least that’s what Yujin thought. That was the only explanation as to why Yujin felt the need to protect her all the time. 

 

(No. It was because Yujin loved her.) 

 

Let it rain let it pour 

What we have is worth fighting for

You know I believe that we were meant to be

 

It’s like catching lighting the chances of finding someone like you

It’s one in a million the chances of feeling the way we do 

 

‘Yujin!’ Wonyoung broke her out of her thoughts, ‘you’re doing it! We’re doing it!’ 

 

Wonyoung was smiling brightly at her but Yujin was too distracted to smile back, still stuck in a trance. 

 

They locked eyes and Wonyoung’s smile faded slowly to match Yujin’s look of wonderment. Like both of them were discovering something for the first time.

 

Even after the music ended and the last notes had died away, Wonyoung and Yujin stayed staring at each other. 

 

Wonyoung was sure she saw Yujin’s eyes flicker down to her lips but she shook the thought out of her head. 

 

She cleared and stepped away. 

 

‘You did really well!’ Wonyoung said. 

 

Suddenly, the trance Yujin was in faded away and whatever serious nature that was surrounding her was now gone. All that was left was Yujin’s happy smile.

 

‘I didn’t even notice I was dancing at the end.’ Yujin said. 

 

‘You were perfect.’ Wonyoung said, blushing slightly. 

 

………..

 

(The words ‘you’re perfect’ were on the tip of Yujin’s tongue, but she just couldn’t bring herself to say them).

 

……..