Unlike sports competitions, ballet was something that had recitals all year round, but things tended to pick up around holidays, something about people appreciating the art better during those times. That means our resident penguin, mister Myoui Mina, has been dieting and performing for months already and is getting to his wits end about this grueling pace he has been keeping since november. He was used to that, sure, many years of dancing (and martial arts) has shaped him into the danseur he is today, his body formed into perfection for the art, but as a teenage boy, Mina suffers all the time he has to diet and step up on his exercise routine.

The Myouis are known to be big foodies, they look skinny and very well in shape, but they are gym rats with great genetics, the entire family really loves to eat like pigs whenever they can, and the fact they are missing out on the gathering back at Mina’s school with endless food and a michelin chef’s cooking has the family quite saddened. But, a recital is a recital and Mina will do his very best until the end, as he had never failed to do. That, and Mina just wanted everything to finish early so he could get to Nayeon’s game already, sure, there was a program to be followed, but it didn’t hurt to hope.

The good part was that Mina wasn’t in the final act, he had done the opening, but their teacher would be finishing things, so he just took the time to shower and change as soon as he was off the stage. Sure, it would be better to watch his teacher perform, and also part of ballet etiquette, but he had seen it so many times he knew it by heart, and the first few minutes weren’t that much to look at, so he took the chance and missed the beginning in favor of getting to his love a little bit earlier. Well, at least half an hour earlier.

But right now, we still have Myoui Mina getting ready to dance, his partner for the act was already on stage, the woman dancing beautifully and impeccable, she was one of the prodigies from their company, had studied in Russia for her early years and returned with the basics to perfection already engraved in her. Mina, on the other hand, had been sent to a conservatory, the best in Japan, when he was five, after he manifested his desire to dance. He went through grueling training, both for ballet and for martial arts, his body was fine tuned to maximum efficiency in his movements with minimum waste.

The piece had been rehearsed tirelessly, the duo was so well rehearsed that they didn’t need to look at each other to know where to go nor when to move when the first notes for Sugar Plum started to play, both moved so serenely through the stage that the viewers could believe they had been made to dance just that. Their professor had slightly wet eyes when they exited the stage, but the man was a danseur, had lived for the spotlight and wasn’t about to show his soft side to those who were following the same path. His partner, however, had been prima ballerina for years in Milan, had danced to royalty and the cream of the cream of european high society, forced to retire when a bad accident tore her tendon.

The following pieces came and went, some were smooth and well rehearsed, others got the professors wondering when was it that they thought those performers were ready at all. The last piece was a classic, everyone who knew anything about ballet knew it, and all the artists knew it by heart, their professors were performing swan lake, common, but extremely difficult to run through with perfection. The pair had been dancing with each other long enough to be confident in their work, and Mina was always mesmerized when he watched it. But today, he was missing the first act in favor of someone who was more important for him than any performance.

“Where are you going? It’s about to begin.” Chaeryeong, his partner, asked, worried that the boy was leaving the wings.

“I’m going to shower and change, we aren’t in the final act anyways.”

“But we should still watch.”

“I’ll be back when I’m done. But we have seen this more than enough to have memorized every single step.”

“That’s kind of true, but still.”

“Chae, they won’t even notice we are gone. This ‘we have to watch’ thing is just a formality. I’m showering and getting ready so I can go and watch my boyfriend win his first game of the season earlier.”

“You really are the stereotype danseur, huh.” The girl laughs.

Mina chuckles along. “Maybe, but you could take this time to fix your stuff, and get ready to leave as well. It won’t take long since everyone is watching.”

“I’ll follow your lead, then.”

Turned out, everyone who was just lingering around, took turns to get showered, changed and ready to go as the final piece was being performed and Mina, unknowingly, had started a new trend within their company. The teachers didn’t mind much, as it made everything faster for them and the uncrowded showers and changing rooms were very nice for everyone.

As soon as the final bow had been taken, and the curtains were closed, Mina made his way to deliver the professors’ flowers and headed out to find his parents as fast as he could. Mr and mrs Myoui were fairly easy to find, they would always wait by the doors on the left side, something the whole family had agreed upon to make things easier after Mina had gotten lost at his first recital and everyone took a couple of hours to find him crying backstage on his own.

Once reunited, the Myouis headed out to watch a basketball game, see Mina screaming for a change and then get to eat high class food without high class prices. They know to appreciate the finer things in life, shut up.