The dance studio was silent. The only sounds you could hear were my heavy breathing and the classical music playing softly in the background. I was tired, really tired. I knew that I have lost track of time.

I am 18-years-old. I have gained a little popularity over the years. Most of the people in Korea know who I am and what I do. They know what I dreams are and how I plan on achieving them. The plan? Win an international ballet competition. Something that could happen soon.

Practicing the routine for the ballet competition is taking me weeks—no, months—just to perfect. I've been getting less sleep, and my meals have become forgotten. In the back of my mind, I knew that this was my chance. It was my chance to become a great ballerina: one that's known worldwide.

Panting heavily, I went through the routine in my head. '1... 2... Chassé to the right... Now to the left. Demi-plié and then a pirouette...' I thought as I counted to myself, remembering how the routine goes.

Finishing the routine, I realized that I had made a lot of mistakes. I practiced my pirouettes, making sure that I stop just in time for the next step. When I stopped, I was facing the other direction and almost cursed. "Come on, HyunAe, you can do this," I told myself before trying to do the same step again.

I groaned as I collapsed to the ground, all of my energy had disappeared. The blisters on my feet were killing me. Sweat slid down my forehead as I gasped for breath. I was extremely worried right now. Everything I worked hard for could turn out to be nothing in the end. The competition's in 2 weeks, I have to do this right. 

I forced myself to get up, but my knees grew weak and I fell back down. The longer I stayed still, the more pain I felt. I dragged my whole body towards the bench and grabbed my water bottle. The water gave me more energy and the way it went down my throat made me sigh happily.

'I could do this. Perfection isn't that far away,' I thought to myself when I knew that I felt better. The pain on my legs have started to subside. 'Let's do this, HyunAe,' I said in my head before getting up and changing the track to a more upbeat song.

I tugged on the edge of my leotard before sighing, getting into position. It's time to try some hip-hop. More movements can make my body move better once I switch to doing ballet again.

Nodding my head to the beat, I counted, '5, 6, 7, 8...'

It was time to let all of my feelings of anxiousness and anger out. I let my body do everything. I wasn't thinking or doing anything my mind tells me to do. With my eyes closed, I only concentrated on the music and how my body felt so... free.

This is why I love dance. Nothing could replace dance in my heart.

I was about five-years-old when my mother decided to enroll me to a dance school. At first I only took jazz, but then I started to become interested in ballet. I still remember the day when I told my parents that I'd rather take ballet than to take lessons for some other dance.

Flashback:

I walked through the door of the house, shutting the door closed. I put my shoes away and collapsed on the couch, my hair messy and my face covered in sweat.

My mom peeked in through the kitchen. "Oh, honey, you're back. How was dance practice?" she asked, giving me a small smile before washing her hands and then wiping them with some paper towels. She strode over to the couch and sat down next to me.

I sighed, covering my eyes with my hand. "I'm so tired and sore, mom. Do you think I should give up?" I replied, earning myself a glare from her.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "What are you talking about, Shin HyunAe? You know that your father and I wanted you to become a dancer! You can't give up after we paid for your lessons for two years straight? Do you even know how much money we—"

I cut her off with I laugh. "Mom, I was just kidding. Now I'm convinced that I could be a great actress, don't you agree, mom?" I stuck my tongue out at her as she rolled her eyes. "I was just thinking..." I began before my dad interrupted me.

"Thinking what, honey?" my dad asked as he plopped into the seat next to me.

I gave him a smile before continuing, "I was thinking that maybe jazz isn't right for me." I knew that jazz was easy, but I was up for a challenge. I heard that ballet might look easy, but it was actually really hard. Ballerinas have good balance and were really flexible. I wanted to challenge myself.

My mom gasped, her eyes widening. "B-but honey, I thought you wanted to try jazz first so that you could move on to break-dancing?"

I groaned. "I don't want to try break-dancing, mom." I looked at both of my parents as I played with the end of my shirt. "I want to try ballet," I mumbled, scared of the response that I'll get. My parents have always wanted me to try break-dancing, but I never had the guts to tell them that I wasn't interested.

Mom opened to speak, but dad beat her to it. "Alright then, if that's what you want. If you want to be a ballerina, then I'll try to be fine with it," he said, giving me a grin. I grinned back before looking at mom. The grin vanished when I saw the look on my mom's face.

"HyunAe, you know that we only want what's best for you. I don't think that this is. We already decided that you'd do break-dancing a few years ago. You even promised to me that you'll continue, no matter how hard it is. Think about it, you're only learning jazz and you always say that it's easy. Don't you like challenging yourself?" she asked, putting a hand on my cheek, her eyes looking into mine.

I sighed. "Maybe you're right, mom, but I know what I want. Everyone looks at me as if I'm weird because I want to take on a dance that only boys do. I know what you're going to say. You're going to say that I shouldn't listen to them and that break-dancing's for everyone. But can't I choose what I want for once, mom? I already gave you guys a chance. I tried jazz, but now I want to try ballet. I find it... interesting," I muttered, unable to look at my mom's eyes.

"She's right, honey. We should let her choose. She should do what she wants. She's seven, she knows what she wants," my dad argued, nodding his head.

Mom was silent for a moment before she sighed. "Fine, you're right. Well, this is what you want, right? You can't change your mind once we do something about it," she said, practically giving me a small lecture. I nodded in response. "One more thing: you do know that you wear tights in ballet, right?"

My eyes widened in shock. Tights? Who said anything about tights?

I was shocked at that time. I wasn't actually a fan of tights. In fact, I hated them. I forced myself to wear them since I had already decided to learn ballet. It took some time to get used to, but I did it. It was fine after a while.

I had finished the hip-hop routine and I panted. I was actually feeling a lot better. The muscles that were feeling a bit tense before had become warmed up. I smiled to myself in the mirror, feeling content. "That's how you do it, HyunAe. Just be happy with what you're doing."

I looked at my reflection and stared at my messy hair, my leotards, my tights, and my knit shorts. "Wow, that's attractive," I muttered to myself before tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. I walked over to the CD player and changed the song back to classical music, Schubert's Country Waltz.

I got back into position and started to do my routine over again. This time, I let my body just flow with the music. I closed my eyes and blocked everything out except for the sound coming out of the CD player. My body moved on its own and I felt one with the music.

Is this what dance is? Is this what I've been missing out on all my life? The reason why I never became as good as I wanted to be?

Ending my routine with a bow, I opened my eyes. I smiled contentedly as my eyes sparkled. "I did it. I actually did it," I said softly, covering my mouth with my hand in shock. 'I understand it now. Perfection is achieved when you let your body do everything while your mind does nothing. Do not overestimate dance. Always become one with the music,' I thought in realization.

"Oh, good job," a deep voice from behind me was heard. "For a prissy ballerina, at least. Well, you're not good, but you're pretty," the male's voice sneered loudly. I heard a y laugh, and I shivered.

I turned around before crossing my arms across my chest. "Excuse me?" I asked in annoyance. No one could go into one of the studios if someone was using it. It was one of the rules. I was contemplating whether or not to go outside and talk to the person that takes care of the practice times or to stay there and listen to what they have to say. I then chose the latter.

I raised an eyebrow when another one spoke. I didn't even see him. "Get out. We're using this studio. You can only use this until 7. Go check what time it is, princess twinkle-toes," he said, smirking. He was sitting down on the floor with his legs crossed.

I did what I was told and gasped. It was almost 7:30. I wasn't aware of the time. They were right, I did have to go, but they didn't have to say it like that. "Fine, I'll go. But tell me, how long have you two been here?" I demanded, glaring at both of them. I didn't like it when people watched me practice.

The guy standing scoffed. "About 15 minutes or so. Now, go. We need to practice. Unlike you, we're actually good at what we're doing," he said with a smug smile.

"How dare you watch me while I practice? Don't you know what privacy is?" I asked, shaking my head at his last comment. I was pissed off. I wasn't going to let these two idiots get the better of me. Just knowing that they were there the whole time makes me want to pull my hair out.

"We do know what privacy is, princess. There wasn't much to see anyway. Just you dancing a lame routine. Do you even think that you could dance? Your dancing is trash. I've seen a million ballerinas and all of them are better than you. Try dancing something you know you could pull off. You're better off quitting and never dancing ever again," the one standing said.

His words struck me like lightning. Was I really that bad? When I thought that my routine was perfect, was it really or was I just fooling myself? Should I just quit dancing?

Tears were threatening to fall from my eyes as I stared down on the floor. The anger was quickly replaced by sadness and regret. My confidence level went down as I walked away to grab my things. "I-I'll be going now," I whispered, making sure that they couldn't hear the sadness in my voice.

"Just go, you loser. You're wasting our precious time. You're never going to be a good dancer," the guy on the floor replied. "Just so you know, my name's Hoya. If you ever need a date, call me," he said before winking at me. "That's Myungsoo. That kid standing up. He's single as well."

"Hoya-hyung, don't you think we've said enough? Let's just leave her alone now. We've already made her feel enough about herself. I'd say that's enough," the guy, Myungsoo, said to his hyung, apparently.

'At least you know what you made me feel,' I thought before stepping out of the studio in tears.

--

A week later...

It's been a week since I saw those two. I have stopped practicing for the competition and even told my mom about it. She was mad at me, of course, but she couldn't do anything once I have already decided. I was stubborn, very stubborn.

Now that I think about it, my competition has always been weak. It was easy to win against them because my skills had been much better. Most had also been amateurs. I really was never that good...

I sighed as I thought about his words. 'Your dancing is trash... Your dancing is trash...' Those words kept repeating in my head, burning a hole through my heart. I clutched my head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. I knew that it was futile because no matter what I do, those thoughts keep haunting me. Did I even deserve those words?

Those two... I swear, if I ever see them again, I'd give them a piece of my mind. Even though my mom convinced me that I wasn't a bad ballerina, I still couldn't practice. I didn't want to risk seeing those two faces. But, if I did happen to see them by chance, I won't let anything get in my way.

Listening was easy for me. Them saying that I should just quit made me quit. I grew up never wanting to disappoint anyone. It was hard for me not to believe other people and I always seem to have to pay the price. "You're stupid, HyunAe," I mumbled to myself before grabbing the remote and flipping the channels.

I ended up watching ballet again and sighed. There was no escape. Ballet was my life and giving it up was like giving up a part of me. Wait, no, it was like giving my whole life away and with me ending up with nothing. Ballet had become a part of me ever since I convinced my parents to let me take lessons for it.

"What has gotten into me? What do those boys know?" I asked, but I knew that I would never get an answer. Dancing is now part of my past. They have ruined my future, but who cares? Everyone probably thinks the same way. I was probably just drowning in the compliments that people were so used to giving me.

I have to listen to them though. If I can't satisfy them, how could I satisfy other people? I actually am a people pleaser. But it's not like I could do the same routine over and over again and make people still like it after watching it a million times.

Staring at the ballerinas at the TV, I realized that one of those guys was right. There were ballerinas that are better than me, but without them, how could I improve? Sighing, I decided to watch a movie instead; one that I've watched about three or four times.

--

3^rd Person POV:

"Hey, you two, how's dance practice been? Fun? Exciting? Seen any hot chicks around there?" the oldest of the group, Sunggyu, asked the younger boys. Hoya and Myungsoo were watching movies with their friends. When they didn't reply, Sunggyu complained, "Yah, answer me. I'm your hyung, aren't I? Tell me about practice!"

Woohyun, another one of their friends, put his arm around his hyung's shoulder. "Hyung, don't mind them. Their dancing is nothing compared to our singing abilities. We're the best at singing, aren't we, Dongwoo-hyung?" he asked the rapper of their group with a smug smile.

The guy that looked like a dinosaur, Dongwoo, grunted in response before concentrating on the movie once again.

"Fine then, don't reply, hyung. I love you too!" Woohyun stuck his tongue out at him, showing them his childish side. "Yeol, aren't Sunggyu-hyung and I the best at singing?" he asked the tallest of the group with a smile.

Sungyeol, or Yeol, smiled back before glaring at his hyung. "No, Woohyun-hyung. Why are you leaving me and Sungjong out? We're singers too!" he complained, acting like a elementary-schooler. He stomped his feet on the ground in protest. "I can sing really good, right Myungsoo?"

Myungsoo sighed, grabbing the remote before pausing the movie. "Wow, can't you guys just stop asking questions? Seriously. I just want to watch a movie, okay? Not talk about what you're good at," he said as he played the movie, his brows furrowing before he rolled his eyes. "Actually, because of you guys, I'm not in the mood to watch anymore. Thanks, guys, really," he said sarcastically before turning the DVD player off and grabbing the remote.

"You're welcome, hyung," the youngest, Sungjong, muttered in annoyance. He actually liked the movie.

Myungsoo flipped through the channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. He narrowed his eyes in irritation before his eyes stopped on a certain channel. He put the remote down and listened to the man's words carefully.

"Yah, Myungsoo, what is this? Just put the movie back on, you didn't have to overreact like that. You could've just ignored them. You were actually doing a great job until that guy," Hoya said before he pointed at Sungyeol, "asked you a question. Put the movie back—"

He was cut off by Myungsoo shushing him and telling him to pay attention. "Hoya-hyung, listen."

"Ms. Shin HyunAe won't be participating in the international ballet competition that would be occurring very soon.
The reason hasn't been revealed to the public yet, but further information would be delivered in a few days.
The only thing we know is that Ms. HyunAe had stopped practicing. It seems like she's close to quitting ballet for good.
Right now, I'm wondering why Ms. HyunAe would just throw everything away like that when we know how close she is to achieving her goal.
I guess you can say that we're never going to have another ballerina quite like HyunAe. If she does give up now, all hope will be lost.
Why did she change her mind at the last minute? She was clearly the person to beat at the competition.
Evidently, we all have been believing in her, but all we could do now is wait.
We hope that she would be able to change her mind seeing that she only has a week before the competition starts."

'Wow, she's the Korean ballerina that everyone has been talking about? How could I have been so stupid? I made her cry too,' Myungsoo thought in panic. "Hoya-hyung, she's the girl that we saw at the studio a week ago. Look at the picture!"

Hoya scoffed. "As if. The girl at the studio didn't even know how to dance, how could she be that famous ballerina?"

"Hyung! You saw HyunAe in person? I heard she's really beautiful. Well, is she? How good is she at ballet?" Sungyeol asked, his eyes sparkling at the thought that his hyungs know his crush in person. "Is she nice? And did you ask for her autograph?"

Myungsoo rolled his eyes before sighing in exasperation. "Sungyeol, shut up. Hoya-hyung, the girl at the studio is a ballerina and she looks exactly like the girl in that picture," he said, pointing at the TV, "We said all of those things to her when we didn't even know what we were talking about. What exactly do we know about ballet? We don't know . We just judged her based on her appearance since she obviously is way different from us. Can't you see, hyung? We messed up, big time."

"What do you want me to do then? It's not like we're actually going to see her again. The girl had stopped practicing. Do you expect us to just find her on the street?" Hoya practically yelled. It was obvious that he was also worried. He was already starting to regret saying all of those mean things to her.

Sunggyu blinked at the scene. "Hold up, would you mind telling us what happened?"

Myungsoo sighed, running a hand through his messy brown hair. "We met her at the studio and practically insulted her by telling her that she was better off quitting. We didn't know who she was—"

"Everyone knows who she is!" Woohyun yelled, looking like he could almost set a house on fire. "How could you two be so stupid? She is one of Korea's best dancers. She was going to represent our country in that competition. How could you tell her those things?"

"We weren't thinking straight, okay? I was irritated because she left the studio late. So, what's the plan, Myungsoo?"

Myungsoo gasped in shock. "Why are you asking me? You're the hyung, you think of a way to fix this. It's not like we could just go to the dance studio and wait for her to come back," he replied, burying his face into his hands. "I feel so bad, hyung. How could we say those things to someone like her?"

"Right, that's what we'll do, Myungsoo. We'll go to the dance studio everyday to practice and to wait for her. It's going to be weird if we just go there just to hang out and do nothing, right?"  he asked, smiling slightly. "Let's go. We have some waiting to do."

Sungjong spoke up, "Can we come too?"

"No."

--

It's been nine days since I had last practiced my ballet routine. The competition was five days away and my heart was telling me to practice. I tried to stop myself from doing so though, but today, I felt unlucky. Before I knew it, I was already headed towards the studio.

Staring at it from afar, my heart began to beat fast. I really wanted to dance, I really did. Good thing I brought my stuff with me. "Well, here goes nothing. Remember, HyunAe, you're just here to dance, not to practice for the competition. The competition has nothing to do with you. You already said that you weren't participating."

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the building and walked towards my usual studio. Before I could walk in, I saw the backs of two guys dancing to an upbeat hip-hop song. Their bodies pulsated with the music, and watching them made my mouth drop. They were amazing.

The song ended and the two guys turned around. I gasped when I realized that they were the boys I saw before and that they were shirtless. I almost drooled at the sight of their chiseled abs. I couldn't help but stare. One of the guys, Myungsoo, noticed me staring and I glared at him, walking out of the building.

I went back to the studio the next day and was lucky. Those two weren't there and I could practice by myself in peace. I change into my ballet attire, and smiled to myself when I saw my reflection in the mirror. It's been days since I've worn these.

Walking over to the CD player, I put on some classical music before warming up and controlling my breathing.

I then started to dance and let my body flow with the music. I had missed this feeling. I may have given up on the competition, but I realized that I can't quit ballet. It has been a part of my life for too long. I can't just let go of it.

While dancing, my eyes remained closed. I didn't even notice that the door opened and that two people had walked in. I was concentrating on my dance, my inner feelings. It's been a long time since I danced like this. I felt like I could dance to any song and still do it perfectly. Nothing could ruin this moment for me, absolutely nothing.

The song ended and I took a bow as the song came to an end. I sighed to myself before turning around and opening my eyes. I almost fell over in shock when I saw two boys sitting there with smiles on their faces. "Oh my god, what are you two doing here? I thought I already told you that I like privacy?" I asked before glaring.

"Look, we only came here to apologize. We didn't mean what we said before," the pretty one, Myungsoo, said. "We actually didn't know who you were at that time, and we were in a rush. We had to perfect this dance—" he shook his head before continuing, "We just wanted to say we're sorry."

I raised an eyebrow at them. "So, after finding out who I am, you say I'm not bad at ballet? Wow," I replied in a harsh tone. "Some say that people tell lies when they find out that you're someone else, someone well-known. People say the opposite of what they used to say. I guess they weren't wrong about that."

The other one, Hoya, I think, spoke up as he shook his head. "No, not at all. We know nothing about ballet. We really didn't know what we were saying," he explained, sighing as he saw the look on my face. "Look, HyunAe-ssi, all we're trying to say is that we want you to participate in that competition. You know how great it would be for you and our country if you won."

"You're only saying that because you have to. You're not saying that because you mean it," I whispered, turning around, unable to look at them. "And even if I want to go and join, I can't. It's too late. There's only like five days left before the competition starts."

"It's not too late. We even checked," Myungsoo explained. "The judges are going to go over the entries three days before the whole thing starts. You have two days. You can still do it."

I thought about what he said, and sighed. "I don't think that I have enough strength and willpower to do what you're saying. I'm sorry. Can you please go? I didn't come here to listen to you tell me that I should do something that I clearly have given up on," I said, pointing towards the door.

I heard a shuffling of footsteps so I turned around. "Alright, we'll go. Don't think that this is the last time you'll see us though. We'll come back until you decide to participate in the competition," Myungsoo muttered. "Keep in mind, though, almost all of Korea want to see you dance. They want to see you win, HyunAe." With that, they left, shutting the door closed.

How dare he just call me by my name? I stood still, letting their words sink in. I didn't want to listen. I willed myself not to listen. Slowly, I smiled before muttering to myself, "No matter how hard you try, you can't make me. What you said before; don't think I stopped thinking about it."

--

Whenever I go to the studio to dance, I always see the two of them there. I always ignored them and just continued to dance. They never said a word to me though, and I don't know why. It started to bother me, and the way Myungsoo looked at me was distracting. His piercing gaze gave me goose bumps.

I shook the feeling off, but I always stopped to look at them, more specifically, Myungsoo. Something is just pulling me towards him. I don't know what it is, but the look on his face as he watches me dance is... mesmerizing. He always caught me staring, but he'd never care. He'd just give me a small smile; a smile that is enough to make my heart beat.

I was getting used to seeing them, and I don't like it. I couldn't even imagine not having them there watching me anymore. I expected them to be there, especially Myungsoo. It's like I wanted him to be there.

Three days before the competition, I walked into the building and breathed a sigh of relief. Neither of them were there. I smiled to myself as I headed to change.

Once I was done changing, I walked into the studio and almost had a heart attack. There, sitting on the floor as he drank coffee, was Myungsoo. "Yah, what are you doing here? How many times do I have to tell you that I don't like it when people wa—"

He cut me off with a small smile. "Hoya-hyung can't accompany me today, so I decided to come alone."

"That wasn't my question."

He sighed, patting the seat next to him. I shook my head and he laughed. "I just wanted to ask you if you forgive me. Just me. I realized a long time ago that saying those things to you just because I didn't know you were wrong. I should've stopped myself before I said such hurtful words. I'm sorry, okay? I know you might be sick of hearing those words, but I'm not stopping until you forgive me," he said with a hopeful look in his eyes.

I thought about what he said, and decided that it must be time to forget about everything. I nodded at him before saying, "Yes, I forgive you. I understand what you're saying. I'm willing to forget about everything if you want me to, Myungsoo. I just want to continue dancing."

"I know you do. And thanks for forgiving me," he uttered, smiling at me before walking towards where I am. The smile on his face gave me butterflies and made my heart pound in my chest. "I honestly didn't mean anything that I've said before. You're a really good dancer, HyunAe, and I would really like to see you perform in front of the whole world. The competition... Today's your last chance." He took my hand in his and gave me a small smile.

I blushed slightly before pulling my hand away and I sighed, "Yes, I know. I don't know if I should still join. I don't even have the forms."

He laughed slightly before pulling something out of his bag. "Look at these then," he said, taking out what looked to be application forms. "I thought of doing this since I've said the meaner comments. Anyway, just fill these up. I'm guessing you already paid for the fee, so this is all you have to do now. Hand these in as soon as possible, okay?"

I almost jumped up and screamed. A huge grin formed on my face. "Oh my god! You've got to be kidding! Thank you, Myungsoo. You just made my day," I happily told him, running towards him and giving him a hug. "Myungsoo, because of you, I'm finally going to have a chance at living my dream. Thank you," I said, pulling away, blood rushing to both of our cheeks.

He scratched the back of his neck as he stepped back. "I-It was nothing. I h-have to go now, see you, HyunAe. Good luck, I'll be cheering for you," he stuttered before running out the doors, clutching his chest.

I can't believe he did this. 'If I win, it's all going to be because of you, Myungsoo,' I thought before practicing my routine.

--

Competition Day:

The competition was held in the USA. I flew to the States two days before the competition, spending time with Myungsoo the day before.

I had made the finals, and today, we're going to perform before they decide the winner. I was nervous, very nervous. I was up against the world's best ballerinas. The pressure was killing me and I felt sick, like I had to throw up.

"Ms. Shin, you're up next. Good luck!" one of the finalists told me. She seemed nice, and she looked Japanese. "I hope you do well, Ms. Shin."

Her saying those things made me feel more nervous. The song was about to end. I was soon going to be dancing my routine on that stage. I smiled at her. I think her name is Sato Amaya, definitely Japanese. "Thanks, Ms. Sato. I wish you luck as well." My name was called up and I froze. I breathed in as I tried to relax.

I felt Amaya put a hand on my shoulder. "Relax. Calm down. Everything's going to be okay. I've seen you dance before, I know you're good. Much better than me, I must say," she laughed, "Now go, you're up. I know you'll do really well."

I smiled in thanks before heading towards the stage. 'Just remember to stay calm, HyunAe. You can do this,' I thought to myself with a smile. 

I got into position as the music started to play. I let my body do what it knows, I didn't let my nervousness get to me. I danced like I've never dance before. My body felt so light, and it felt as though I was flying in mid-air. I was having the time of my life on that stage. The music ended and I bowed, smiling widely. The sound of the screams and the applause made me speechless and it gave me tears in my eyes.

The rest of the finalists have performed as well. Now, it was time to announce the medalists. I kept playing with my tutu. This is it. This is what I've been waiting for since I've become a ballerina. However, I knew that medal or no medal, I'll be happy. I gave it my all. I was satisfied. 

"Now, for 3^rd place..." the judge paused for dramatic effect, "Alisa Anderson!" Loud screams broke out when her name was called. I began to clap when Alisa got her medal and a huge bouquet of flowers. She looked so happy. I was happy for her since I knew that she deserved it.

A female judge took the microphone. "For 2^nd place... HyunAe Shin!" she yelled, turning to look at me. I won second? I won second? At first I was shocked, but then, the information sunk in. I screamed as I started to jump up and down. "Congratulations, you did great."

I ran forwards and received my medal and my bouquet. I didn't win first, but looking at the crowd, I saw them all giving me happy smiles and a standing ovation. What was occurring right now was my dream. People of all races and nationalities were happily cheering for me. 'I did it,' I thought as a tear slid down my cheek. I was happy, really happy.

They announced the winner and I smiled. I knew that Tia Lewis was really good. I was happy for every single one of the finalists. I congratulated all of them, and even had conversations with them. They congratulated me as well. Some of them even said that I deserved the gold medal, but I told them that Tia deserved it.

I was happily chatting with some of the girls when someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and gasped. "Myungsoo! You're here! In the States!" I yelled in shock. I've been talking to him these past few days since we've already exchanged phone numbers. 

"Why? Aren't you happy to see me?" he asked as I shook my head. "Congratulations on winning 2nd, by the way. You deserved it. You were awesome. You looked beautiful on stage." He blushed, looking away.

I blushed at his words, giving him a shy smile. "Thank you. I wouldn't have won if it wasn't for you, Myungsoo." He gave me a 'what?' look and I laughed. "First of all, you convinced me to participate and helped me practice. Second, you made me believe in myself. And last, you gave me strength by supporting me," I replied softly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

He took my hand and gave each of my fingertips a kiss. "Why wouldn't I come to support you? You didn't deserve any of the words I've said, HyunAe. Coming here to support you isn't enough to make up for the words I said to you," he explained, looking me in the eyes. "To make it up to you, I want you to agree on something. Come."

He lead me to an empty room, shutting the door closed slowly. "W-what is it?" I asked, blushing when he began to lean in, a smile on his face. 

He put his lips close to my ear and whispered, "I like you. No, I'm probably in love with you. All the time I've spent with you... were perfect. You're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen, HyunAe." He kissed my cheek before pulling away, a smile on his face. His hands never let go of mine. "HyunAe, will you be my girlfriend?"

I was shocked. This day was starting to become too good to be true. Myungsoo, the guy that made my heart beat faster than ever, was asking me to be his girlfriend. "How could I say no to that?" I asked out loud, pulling Myungsoo into a hug. I could feel his heart beating against his chest.

Before I realized what was happening, he tilted my head up and gave me a soft, lingering kiss. I closed my eyes as fireworks began to go off. I've never felt like this before. He tilted his head as he deepened the kiss, making me wrap my arms around his neck. He pulled away, breathing heavily.

"I love you," he said, caressing my right cheek.

I felt dizzy. I just gave away my first kiss to him. "I love you too, Kim Myungsoo." With that, he pulled me in for another kiss, supporting me when my knees gave out on me.

Kim Myungsoo was the guy that I met about two weeks ago. I may not have known him for a long time, but our hearts were meant to be together. Our actions made us become closer to one another. He made me believe that he was the one for me. A person could fool me, my mind could fool me, but my heart could never fool me. And you know, my heart's telling me that he's the one I've been waiting for all my life.

He made me give up my dreams, then he gave me a chance to live my dream. He might've been rude to me at the start, but he's becoming sweet now. He made me feel like I've lost everything, but he paid me back with a bonus: him.

Who knew that dancing would make all of this happen to me?

 Sorry it took so long.
I don't really know a lot of ballet, so don't hate, haha. Sorry if this story is too unrealistic and boring.
It took me a while because I kept writing and writing. Is that bad? I planned on making this story be 4,000 words, but it ended up having 6,415 words... :/
I hope omo904 will be happy. I made this for her anyway, LOL.
Her story's better than mine though.