Hankyung's POV

The door of the recording studio clicked behind me. Melinda walked in, dragging herself along. 

     I was going to call her and tell her that our manager said it was okay for her to take a day off, but I forgot to. 

Mr. Chang, our manager, shook his head.

     "Melinda, Hankyung told me everything. You can go home if you like."

She shook her head. "Andwe (no), sir. This will help me get on with my life, but thank you for the offer."

     I wanted to hold her and console her. I wanted to go beat Kim Ryeowook with a large plank of wood, but I couldn't do any of those things right now. I knew that if she ever wanted to get back to her normal life, she had to do this. And I would help her do it.

     Mr. Chang answers his ringing phone. 

"That was Yong. He said you guys should start working on your dances. Jihun says that there's enough music recording for now. You both should go to the dance studio now."

     "Yes, sir," we both bow and leave. 

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     At the dance studio

Melinda's POV

     "Miso-ah, do you think you'll be able to dance today?" Hankyung asked.

I nodded. "Ye (yes). It will be refreshing. Dancing always awakens my soul."

     He smiles, rubbing my shoulder encouragingly. "Man, Maggie. You sure are resilient."

"I think stubborn's more like it," I smirk.

     Yong just stares at me and shakes his head as we walk in.

"Maggie, what happened?" he asks, concerned.

     "Long story, Yong. But I'm ready to dance. I promise."

"Good old Maggie."

     Hankyung and I practice the dances for a few hours.

"Lovely, just lovely," Yong dotes. "You are both so talented."

     We both thank Yong.

A twinkle comes into his eye.

     "You know what would be great?" He leaps up and down and claps his hands. "A ballet number. You both know enough to choreograph it yourselves. So, why not work some magic?" he says, backing off the main area of the floor.

     "Well, I've never seen your ballet, Miso. How about showing us a small bit, if you don't mind?" Hankyung asks.

I nod. I've taken ballet since kindergarten and I took it all through high school. I became a competitive dancer, but gave it up when I decided to go into psychology, but that was before I re-discovered my love of music.

     "It's been ahwile, so I might be rusty," I warn.

Both Hankyung and Yong nod their heads and motion for me to start.

     I begin to move my feet, and it all comes back to me. I turn in circles, go up on my toes, switch my feet, and do whatever the wonderful art of ballet entails. This is the most alive I have felt in days. 

     I finish and bow, with both Yong and Hankyung just staring at me.

"Maggie, you're amazing," Hankyung dotes.

     I feel myself begin to blush. "Thank you. Yong, is there anything I should do differently?"

Yong shakes his head. "I have nothing to say, but that was magnificent!  So amazing! What are we waiting for? Get to it, you two!"

    Hankyung and I start putting a few moves together, but I'm a bit awkward since I never did a lot of dances with a partner. Yeah, competitive dancing requires a two-person dance sometimes, but I did a lot of solos.

     "Sorry. I keep messing up," I tell him. "I never danced much with a partner."

"No. You're doing fine. I usually dance by myself, too."

     After a few more hours, Yong gets up.

"It's looking very good. I think that's enough practice for the day. Now, go home and get some rest."

     We both agree, bowing to Yong and thanking him. 

"Hey, would you like to grab some dinner quick?" Hankyung asks.  "Not-not a date. Just some dinner."

     I laugh. "Sure. I understood what you meant."

He looks at me. "You look tired. How about we just do takeout and go to my place."

     I agree. "Thanks. I guess I'm just worn out, but all that dancing made me feel so great. I missed it."

We order our food, wait for it, and take it back to Hankyung's apartment. It's a bit bigger than mine, but they're only temporary places until we go on tour in China. 

    He gets out two plates, and I go about my normal ritual of prayer. 

"I'm sorry. Did- did I bother you?" I ask.

     He shakes his head. "No, I don't want to infringe on what you believe. But, if I can ask, what are your beliefs?"

"I'm a Christian, which I prefer to call a relationship with Christ. And I'm guessing you're not a Christian?"

    Hankyung shakes his head. "I'm an Atheist, but as long as you don't shove what you believe on me, I won't do it to you."

I shake my head. "No, no. God's not pushy, so why should I be?"

     He laughs. "That's why I like the Christians like you who have their heads on straight."

I nod. "Some 'Christians' are complete psychopaths. I promised myself I'd never be like them."

     After a few minutes with no conversation, I ask him a question.

"Hangeng, would you mind practicing the ballet dance once more? I can't seem to get that one part."

     "Sure. I'm fine with that."

We go to the hardwood floor of the living room, just in out socks. We twirl in the uniform moves of the dance, finally correcting the part that I messed up on.

     "Thanks," I say.

"Oh, no problem-"

     "No. Thank you for everything over the last few days. You've been so supportive, helping me get over this, and just helping me get my mind off things. I guess whenever I dance with you, I feel like I'm dancing on air."

     He doesn't respond for a minute. I feel a blush coming to my face after processing what I just said. 

"Oh, I'm sor-"

     "You're fine. In that case, would you like to finish practicing the dance?" he smiles.

We step, spin, and slide in the direction of the moves. Then we come to the part where I spin into him. But, we don't move on. I stand there for a minute, looking into his dark brown, slanted eyes. I feel his breath on my nose. He begins pulling my head in gently. I feel fear rise in me, but I don't stop him. Instead, I lean in, letting his warm lips meet mine. I wrap my hands around his neck as his arms wrap around my waist.

     This isn't supposed to happen. I'm a Chrstian; he's not. he's 12 years older than me. This is NOT supposed to happen.

Or is it?

     We come up for air, and Hankyung's face is wide with surprise.

"Maggie, I'm sorry," he says.

     I shake my head, smiling. "You're fine. Absolutely fine."

I'm invited to the couch to watch a program to imrpove my Chinese. 

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Hankyung's POV

     As the program progresses, I ask her what simple words mean, and ask for a synopsis of what's going on. She asks me questiosn every once in awhile, and by the time it's over, we're laughing at how many mistakes she's made and at how many weird scenarios she came up with when she couldn't figure out what was going on. After we began to watch another episode, I turn and find Maggie asleep on the other side of the couch. I laugh quietly at how cute she is.

     Cute? What's going on here? Man, my mind...

"Huh? Sorry," she says while waking up, running her hand through her hair. I try to contain myself. Her hair is just so gorgeous.

     Am I really such a ert? Friggin' Heechul. I'll just blame him for the way I'm thinking...

"I should get going." She gives me a hug, but stays with her arms around me. I look at her, but just as she's about to pull away, I smirk and grab her arms, returning the hug. She moves her face in toward mine, and we're kissing yet again. She starts running her fingers through my hair. I wrap my arms around her shoulders. Pretty soon we're making out, and before we turn blue in the face, she backs out.

     "Thanks for everything," she says, giving me one last hug.

"No problem. Do you want me to drive you home?" I ask.

     She agrees, and after I drop her off, I return home.

All night I hardly sleep. I wonder what happened tonight, and what caused her to just kiss me like that. I try not to overprocess it and I just tell myself that what happened, happened.

     Gosh, for two innocent people, we sure kissed for awhile.

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Woah, 'naughty' Melinda and Hankyung... sorry if it was too much 'kissy-ness'...I actually may end up editing it a bit. Sorry if this chapter's dumb. I really am not sure how this chapter was, but I need to start speeding up the story. Is it too slow? Please let me know. Thanks!

~Rachael