2. Kai
Four Seasons
"If you judge people, you have no time to love them."
Last night’s snowstorm has settled but the snow continues to fall as Kai stares out the window. He looks at the snowflakes intently, taking note of the way they flow as they fall from the sky. Ever since he was a child Kai loved to observe his surroundings, something about the movement of nature intrigued Kai, maybe that's why he fell in love with dancing. Mimicking the movements of streaming water, swaying trees and such makes Kai feel more alive than anything else in this world. Kai is a very soft spoken person and rarely ever expresses himself in ways other than through dancing. This is possibly why he has very few friends; Kai isn't the most sociable person but he’s kind, he just needs to learn how to open up. The sound of his laughing classmates causes Kai to peel his eyes away from the window, he looks up and see’s Sehun rushing into class looking like a mess. Uninterested, Kai brings his attention back to the beautiful snowflakes outside. He’s itching to tryout some new dance moves but he’ll have to wait until after class.
Kai took notes and listened attentively to his teacher, he may not like school but he understands that it’s an important part of life. If he is given the privilege to attend school and receive an education that many other’s yearn for, he should give it his best shot even if he dislikes it. Once the bell rang, signalling the end of another boring day, Kai stuffs his books into his backpack and sprints to the school’s dance studio. It’s a rundown room with creaky wooden floors and one outlet for Kai to plug his IPod. The school he attends pays more attention to academics rather than the arts so it’s not a surprise that the dance studio has yet to be renovated; no one else uses this room other than Kai really. The last dance class they had was ages ago, the dance teacher was awful and soon students stopped signing up all together.
Kai set his backpack down and shut the door, he flicked on the lights quickly and started to warm up. Kai takes great care of his body and never forgets to warm up and stretch, the last thing he wanted to do was to injure himself. After he felt ready he the music to “Angel” and immersed himself into what he wanted to do next, dance. He remembers how gracefully the snowflakes fell and did the same with his arms and legs. From his fingertips to his toes Kai, felt, the song, he let the movements speak for themselves, living and breathing the dance.
Hours went by as Kai danced to his heart’s content. His parents know to expect him home after dinner by now; they had no problem with it. He maintained good grades and never got into trouble, staying after school to dance has done him no harm so far, it’s always good to have another skillset as well. Panting, Kai sat down and rested his head against the wall, taking a giant swig of water from his water bottle. After his breathing calmed down and returned to normal Kai swung his backpack over his shoulder and left the school with a smile on his face.
Kai woke up the next day to the sight of more snowfall; his adoration for nature led him to make his bed face the window. Unlike most of his classmates, Kai doesn’t have a hard time waking up nor does he need an alarm. His internal clock has yet to fail him, always waking him up with an hour to get ready. Once he was dressed and satisfied with the way he looked, Kai headed to the kitchen downstairs, the dining table was filled with the breakfast that his maid prepared. His mother had just sat down and his father is reading the newspaper.
“Good morning dad, good morning mom, morning ahjumma.” Kai took his seat opposite to his father and began to eat. The breakfast ahjumma made always tasted amazing to Kai; after he finished his breakfast his father stood up and set his paper down. Kai knew this meant it’s time for him to go as well.
“Bye mom, bye ahjumma. Thank you for breakfast, I’ll be off to school now.” Kai’s father kissed his mother after she fixed his tie, their morning routine has been this way for as long as Kai can remember. It’s not a bad thing though, just very boring and contained in Kai’s opinion.
“Don’t stay out too long after school today Jongin. Your grandparents called this morning; they’re in town and plan to come visit at six. Make sure you’re home, ready and look presentable by five.”
“Yes, dad.” Kai sat in the front of the car next to his father and stared out the windows. This time he was interested in the way dirt clung themselves on the spinning tires of the cars next to his.
Kai shuts the door to his father’s car and bowed as his father sped off to work, respect plays a large role in his household. After his father is no longer in view, Kai turns around heads to his locker. He sets his things inside neatly, only carrying the things he needed for his homeroom and first two classes. Kai sits in the far right hand corner of the classroom, right next to the window. The people around him have gotten use to how quiet and shy he is already; they only talk to him if the situation called for one like during projects and such. No one dislikes him or anything; they just simply don’t understand him.
While Kai was getting his books his classmates got really quiet all of a sudden, a number of females and males began to whisper. Kai looked up and noticed an unfamiliar looking female standing in the front of the classroom. Must be a new student, it explains why everybody is whispering and staring at her. Kai’s homeroom teacher shushed the class and motioned for the female to introduce herself.
“Hi, my name is Choi Min Jung. It’s nice to meet everybody, I hope that all of us will become closer as the school year progresses.” Minjung bowed ninety degrees and smiled as her new classmates clapped and welcomed her. Some of the male students were especially enthusiastic.
“Man, she’s so pretty and her voice is so sweet.”
“She seems really nice too.”
“I dig girls like her. Big eyes, pale skin and long black hair, nice.”
“Dude, half the girls in here look like that.”
“Yeah, but they’re fricken crazy, right Sehun?”
“Haha, they’re not that crazy… whatever I’m not interested anyways.”
Minjung chuckled to herself at how the males in the back reacted, her teacher tapped on her shoulder lightly and pointed to an empty seat in the back of the classroom.
“Minjung, you can sit back there with Jongin. He’s really quiet compared to the rest of the class so you’ll be perfectly fine back there.” Minjung smiled at her teacher before heading to the back, all eyes were on her as she sat down next to Kai.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you Jonginshii; I guess we’ll be desk buddies for the year.” Minjung held out her hand in a friendly manner and waited for Kai to shake her hand.
“Uh yeah, hi Minjungshii, you can call me Kai.” Kai shook her hand awkwardly then looked away. Minjung cocked her head to the side at the way he acted.
“Kai, hmm, that’s a cool name.” She noticed a blush form on Kai’s dark complexion.
“Thanks, my friend’s from Junior High gave me that nickname.”
The next month went by quickly for both Kai and Minjung. They didn’t speak to one another too much after their initial meeting, Kai isn’t the type to mingle with others and Minjung’s bright nature helped her make many new friends. Truthfully, Kai’s silence during class is starting to get to Minjung. Is he really that shy? A part of Minjung was worried that her desk mate didn’t like her but she noticed that he doesn’t have any other friends at school either. Maybe he just thinks really too highly of himself.
Minjung decided to stay after school to get some extra studying done today. Most of her friends got bored and left by five which meant she was on her own. Feeling the need to stretch out her stiff limbs, Minjung put her homework into her backpack and took a stroll around the school. She looked at the many achievements displayed on the walls and the awards in the cabinets. She couldn’t help but notice that they were all academic. Doesn’t anybody here like musical theatre or dance? Doesn’t anybody draw? How about some sports? Now that Minjung thinks about it, for the past month her and her new friends would only talk about school work and the things about each other’s personal lives. No one seemed too interested in extracurricular activities. The high school Minjung went to back at home is completely different from this. Grades were important but extracurricular activities were strongly encouraged. Almost everybody was a part of a club; Minjung herself was a part of ballet and soccer. An odd combination indeed but those were the two things Minjung enjoyed. As Minjung continued to walk around the school, the sound of music and squeaking runners caught her attention. She turned around and walked towards the door where the sounds came from. She put her hands on the doorknob and turned, curious about the person inside. Maybe she’ll be able to make friends with the dancer. Once the door opened Minjung’s eyes widened in shock. Dancing in the middle of the room is Kai, her awkward and shy desk mate. His eyes were focused on the mirror in front of him, scrutinizing himself and every movement he made. Minjung didn’t want to admit it but he’s good, no he’s amazing. Minjung felt the urge to dance while watching him, he made everything seem so easy, so natural. Without even realizing it, Minjung made her way inside the room, her bag falling down onto the floor and catching Kai’s attention. His head whipped back and stared at the flustered Minjung.
“Ah, sorry… I just heard some music and wanted to see who was dancing in here. Nobody else I know here likes the arts…I’m just um… gonna go now I guess.” Minjung grabbed her fallen backpack and headed towards the door only to stop when she hears Kai.
“Wait! Minjungshii, do you... like to dance?”
Weeks have gone by since the day Minjung saw Kai dancing; they became closer and spent quite a bit of time with one another after school. He treated her the same way as before in class though, he doesn’t like talking about anything really and was still quiet most of the time. Minjung figured that this is just who Kai is. He’s a man of few words and she’s grown to love that about him. The two of them headed to the dance studio again after school today, Kai plans to teach Minjung some hip hop moves. She’s done ballet all her life and some contemporary dancing so it was refreshing to try another style.
“1 and 2 and 3 and 4. Nice! You catch on fast Minjung; alright let’s try that one again. This time though, make sure you extend your hand fully, don’t get lazy. You have to give every single move everything you’ve got.” Minjung nodded her head and continued to dance, following Kai’s lead. They spent the next few hours finishing up the hip hop routine Kai choreographed and added some new moves to “Angel” as well.
Panting, the two of them fell over and lied down on the wooden floors. Minjung glanced over at Kai and asked him something she’s always wanted to know.
"Kai?"
"Hmm?" Kai took another gulp from his water bottle before looking at Minjung.
"If you could describe dancing in one word, what would it be?" Minjung noticed a small smile beginning to form.
"Free." Kai stood up abruptly at this moment. “Dancing is equivalent to freedom to me.” He then proceeded to dance again, a giant smile plastered on his face. He never stopped moving but his head turned towards Minjung “You?”
Minjung was caught off guard and thought about it for a few seconds before replying.
“Everything.” Kai stopped dancing and the floors squeaked under his runners. He looked at Minjung’s face seriously and walked over towards her.
“Everything?”
“Yeah everything. Dance is like the air we breathe and the water we drink, it’s everything and everywhere you know?” I know. It’s like she took those words straight from Kai’s mouth he looked at her in wonder before grabbing her hand.
“Come on; let’s try something you’re more comfortable with. I’ve done ballet before as well.”
The two friends laughed as they did the one thing they both love together. They danced for hours on end and left school that day with a sense of happiness they’ve never felt before. Who knows, maybe the love they have for dancing will foster and blossom into something more but for now, they were content in having a companion to share their passion with. Let's dance.
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