king protea; /kɪŋ ˈprəʊtiə/; courageous change

“courage is a decision”

Morning arrived the next day with the sun rising slowly in the pinkish hue sky. It was nearing half past seven when students could already be seen walking into the school compound. The first period began at eight sharp and being tardy was unacceptable.

As students became of a higher grade each new school year, they arrived to school later and later. Seniors usually reached five minutes before or just precisely on the dot. However, unlike most third-year students, Mark always came thirty minutes earlier. He would take any opportunity to not be at home even if it meant sacrificing his sleep.

He slid the door to his classroom opened, spotting Mi Joo silently reading a book as usual. Besides her, no one else was there. They were always the first two people to be in the classroom.

“Morning.”

“Morning.”

Mi Joo, without looking away from her book, quietly uttered a greeting to him as well. Surprisingly enough, greeting each other was a norm for them. This was the only time when they would be nice to the other. Their minds were not fully awake to pick a fight early in the morning.

After acknowledging each other, it was a routine for Mark to walk to his seat which was two rows behind and at the end of where Mi Joo was. Ever since the start of their last year, this routine has not been broken. And yet it was in this one peculiar morning.

Mark stood in front of the girl who was still doing her silent reading. Whether she was ignoring his presence intentionally or not, he could not be bothered. He would find ways to irk her later during the day anyway.

“Sorry about yesterday. I didn’t mean to look at it.”

“It’s fine. Just forget about it.”

“… That’s all?”

“Is there supposed to be more?”

“N-No. It’s just… I… Never mind.”

“Okay.”

Just when Mi Joo thought he would leave her alone, a gentle touch landed on her forehead. Gazing at her with those soft-looking eyes, Mark had his other hand on his forehead as he mumbled to himself.

“Much better now.”

Mi Joo immediately brushed his hand away. Her cheeks were tinted pink since she was still recovering from her cold. She quickly casted her eyes back to her book as she tried to remember the part where she last read.

It was only when she heard the sound of footsteps getting softer, did she manage to find it.

The annual school festival was one month away. This meant longer rehearsal hours for the next four Thursdays to perfect every steps.

One word to describe the current atmosphere in the dance studio would be passionate. Every club member was burning with motivation even after a non-stop practice of two hours. As each minute past, they got more energetic which led to every new run to be more zealous than the previous ones.

“Let’s do it once more before taking a break.”

Mark, being the president of the dance club, announced to the team.

As they were in the middle of their performance, a sudden yelp was heard and it was from Mark’s dance partner who was a second-year student. The music was immediately halted as everyone gathered around the fallen member.

“Can you try standing up?”

Mark asked his junior while supporting her.

Unfortunately, it was of a no avail as she winced in pain. A notable red appeared on her right ankle, obvious that it was starting to swell. She had sprained her ankle.

“You can’t continue with this injury.”

“But sunbae…”

“No worries. There’s still next year.”

“Sunbae won’t be around anymore…”

“Who says this will be the end? I’ll always be back. Come on, we need to treat your ankle first. Jackson, could you help with it? Everyone takes a fifteen-minutes break before we continue.”