Thud. Mina found herself breathing heavily on the glossy floor in the dance studio. The music became white noise in the background as she listened to herself pant.

It had been four months since her accident. Four months since she had been allowed to enter the studio and move around freely.

In the beginning, she had tried everything she could to sneak in, even going as far as to pretending that she was a trainee in the company, entering with a cap and a hoodie.

“Mina-ssi,” the producer sighed when they had caught her in the act for the nth time that week, “Please, just take some time off to heal that leg of yours. It won’t do us any good if the injury worsens.”

“But-“ Mina had tried protesting. The girl group she was usually assigned to had a comeback soon and it was expected that she would be the choreographer.

“No buts,” the producer said sternly. “I will be banning you from the studio until you have the doctor’s approval to return. And don’t worry about the girls’ comeback, we have it covered.”

Mina visibly deflated and finally agreed. 

The last four months had actually been a breath of fresh air. It had been too good. The daily walks and worryfree mind was just about enough to allow her to forget all her responsiblities.

It was so good that Mina had began to dread returning. Where her mind was usually overflowing with new ideas, she found herself drawing blanks while listening to the new music the producer had been sending her. The unease inside of her just built up more and more as time passed and not a single idea showed face in that mind of hers.

She had gotten the ok from her doctor two weeks ago and began spending all her time cooped up in the dance studio. She danced for hours on end to other people’s choreography in hopes of coming up with something of her own. But nothing came.

Mina never settled for a mediocre dance routine, it was either go big or go home for her. It was what made her such a high demand choreographer. But that was also what made it ever so difficult when everything she thought of seemed elementary.

On top of that, she had began feeling a twinge of pain in that cursed ankle of hers again. It was nothing too bad at first, just an ache. She had just dismissed it as what would normally happen when you don’t dance for four long months. 

But it got worse. It would sometimes hurt to the point where she had to stop what she was doing and sit on the floor, waiting for it to stop. There was no way she could take a break though. She had already had a 4 month long vacation and piles of work to do. And so Mina forced herself to get up again, bouncing on the balls of her feet to the beat of the music. 

Only a couple minutes later, she felt a sudden sharp pain shoot up her ankle. “,” Mina cursed as she crumpled to the floor again. She sat down to gripe angrily at the area that had been hurting. Her knuckles turned white as she rubbed it, trying to get the pain to go away.

“. . ,” Mina angrily pressed her thumb down on that spot, making the pain almost unbearable.

“Mina?” A voice called out suddenly. Mina’s head turned to see her manager entering the studio carrying some bag. The older woman’s eyes widened when she saw the dancer on the floor. 

“Mina, what the hell?" The squirrel-like woman rushed over, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Is it hurting again?"

“...I’m fine, Sana.” Mina shrugged the hand off. 

“Mitang,” Sana said in a warning tone. She put down the bag in her hand as she crouched beside the younger woman. “You better not be lying again. You know better than anyone what would happen if that injury of yours doesn’t heal properly.”

Mina felt a lump forming in as Sana continued to reprimand her. “If it’s hurting you should go see the doctor right away and take a break. It won’t be any good if you-”

“I said I’m FINE,” Mina yelled suddenly, her grip on the ankle tightened.

Sana went silent. After observing her friend quietly for a minute, she shifted around and sat down in front of the trembling girl. 

Mina blinked rapidly, trying hard to keep the tears from falling out of her eyes.

She felt a touch on her chin as the other woman lifted her face up. Her watery ones met gentle wide ones. 

“Mitang,” Sana said softly, “It’s okay to not be okay.”

And then Mina broke down into her old friend’s arms.

And so, Mina was back at the doctor’s office again. She was almost starting to hate this place. Dr. Park adjusted his spectacles as he continued talking about the possible side effects of continuing to dance in this state.

Yeah, Sana being the snitch that she was, told on her to her doctor. Unbelievable.

Mina shot a glare at the squirrel who looked back at her innocently as the doctor kept talking.

“Worst case scenario, the wound will not heal properly and you’ll never be able to dance again.”

“W-what?” To be honest, Mina hadn’t really been listening for the past ten minutes, but this caught her attention.

“It’s the worst case scenario,” Dr. Park put up his hands. “But if you follow the proper procedure, you’ll be up again in no time.”

“… Alright,” Mina grumbled.

“Great,” the doctor beamed, “Then you may go on your way, Mina-ssi. Don’t forget your crutches on the way out.”

Mina rolled her eyes as Sana giddily handed her the newly acquired walking sticks. 

“What am I suppose to do with my time now?” Mina complained from Sana’s bed.

The older girl was flipping through her closet looking for clothes for whatever event she had been invited to this time. 

“Well,” Sana’s voice came out muffled as she bent down to search in some box. “You can take this time to find your motivation again.”

“Dance is my motivation. I like to dance. That’s why I dance,” Mina said.

“You’ve been dancing for two weeks but anyone can tell that you’re anything but into it.” Sana said. The older girl turned around holding a long black dress against her body. “What do you think of this?”

“You look like you’re going to a funeral,” Mina deadpanned. Sana pouted and turned back to her closet.

Mina sighed, “I just can’t think of anything. The usual ideas aren’t coming to me as easily as they used to. Am I just washed up?”

“Of course not,” Sana frowned turning towards her with another dress in her hand. “I think you’ve just forgotten what you liked so much about dancing."

Mina stayed silent.

“You know what?” Sana finally said, breaking the silence. “I know just what you need.”

“What?”

“Come to the reunion with me.” 

Oh. 

Mina had totally forgotten about the annual high school reunion. Not that it really mattered because she hadn’t been planning on going anyway. It just didn’t interest her. If anyone wanted to meet up, they could’ve just arranged it anytime of the year. 

Seeing Mina’s reluctance, Sana began to prob at her. “Come on, it’ll be fun. We’re going to the bar and loosening up. Your old dance crew is going to be there.

At that, Mina raised her eyebrow.

“High school is where you discovered how much you liked dance,” Sana shrugged, “It wouldn’t hurt to talk to your old friends again.”

Mina flopped down onto the older girl’s bed as she contemplated.

Not even a minute later, her view of the ceiling was suddenly blocked by Sana’s face hovering over her.

“So?” Sana asked hopefully, large eyes looking at her expectantly.

“…Fine,” Mina sighed. “It's not as if I have anything better to do.”

“That’s the spirit,” Sana cheered. “Oh! And I’ve got the perfect outfit in mind for you.”

Mina groaned, wondering if she was going to end up regretting this.

“Are you sure about this,” Mina tugged at her skirt. It was much shorter than she was used to, considering all she wore to work were leggings or sweatpants. 

They were almost at their destination and Mina wondered if it was too late to back out of this.

“Don’t worry, Mitang,” Sana said with a grin, “It’s just a tad shorter than you’re used to but it’s going to work like a charm. You look smoking hot.”

“Whatever,” Mina rolled her eyes as Sana pulled up the car. “Let’s just go.”

“Oh my god, it’s Mina!” That was the first thing that greeted them when the two girls entered the bar.

Mina waved shyly as eyes darted over to look at her.

The fact that everyone was loitering around the entrance greeting each other was annoying enough, but having everyone’s attention on her? An introvert’s worst nightmare.

Mina was sure that it was only a matter of time they would garner the bouncer’s attention. 

“Excuse me,” a rough voice interrupted. Yup, there he was.

Everyone stopped their conversations to let the bulky man through. “It would be great if you all would stop blocking the entrance.”

“Oh sorry,” a man spoke up, probably the coordinator of the event. “I guess we were all too excited in seeing each other again. We’ll get moving.”

And with that everyone began shuffling in. Mina found herself swept into the tight crowd, losing sight of Sana. It was suffocating to say the least. She felt somebody pushing against her from behind, way too close for comfort. She was already having trouble walking with the bulky cast she had on. Mina squeezed her eyes shut hoping the moment would pass. 

Her eyes flew open when she felt a hand grab hers and pulled her in front of them.