"The night sky is overcast! Empty. No stars. There is no moon," said Eli in the balcony of dorm after dinner. "Do you like to see the sky at night, Hoon ah?"

            "Eh? Sometimes," said Effie sputtered. Apparently she had been dreaming of. Where are you guys?! Why you guys aren’t home?! Her mind thought annoyed after being repeatedly glance at her watch. She thought Chemi, Redee, Ann J & Lenny would come home earlier and made dinner. In fact, when Effie and Eli arrived, they found no one there. So, Effie made the dinner for them both.

            "Take it easy. I'll stay with you until they get home," said Eli suddenly seemed to know Effie’s mind.

            Effie smiled a little. "It doesn’t matter to me if I’m alone here. I worry about you if you don’t go home immediately."

            "It’s ok. I worry about you more if you're alone. But if you want me to go home, I'm going home."

            Effie was silent. Well... what's wrong if we have a short conversation tonight while waiting the others? He seems like a good person. "So... have you trained anyone before?" she asked him, tried to make a topic for their conversation.

            "Actually, this is my first time. I never trained anyone before," he admitted, smiling shyly to Effie.

            "Really?" asked Effie in disbelief, then Eli nodded. "But, you trained us well! You’re such a professional dance trainer!"

            "Hahaha… thank you. I should teach you guys well. I’m paid for that hehe…" said Eli. "I'm on my day off from my job for a week. Rijin and I are friends and he asked me whether I could teach dance to a girl group. I wasn’t sure, but Rijin begged me continuously. So, I agreed it and I’m your dance trainer now, just for three days."

            "What’s your job, oppa? It must be dance trainer as well, right?"

            "No. It's not. I won’t tell you, Jihoon ah. You will know it sooner or later by yourself anyway," Eli replied.

            Effie frowned, did not understand what the meaning of his replied. Suddenly, a door creaking open. Chemi, Redee, Ann J, and Lenny entered the dorm with some groceries bags in their hand.

            "Finally, they come home," said Effie happily, and then walked away from Eli who was still standing on the balcony. "Where have you been, huh?!" she asked in a petulant tone and the other girls just replied with a grin on their face.

 

***

 

            The next day, Effie came on time to the practice room for having the dance practice. She was still wearing her school’s uniform because she did not go home for changing the clothes first. It was still twenty-five minutes longer to start practicing and no one there. I shouldn’t be in a hurry, but if I go home first, I'm going to be late again, her mind thought.

            Someone opened the door of the room. Eli looked shocked after realizing the presence of Effie. "You haven’t had time to go home?" he asked as he put her bag on the table.

            Effie nodded. "I'm afraid to be late again like yesterday."

            "And you are very on time today, Hoon ah," Eli said with a smile. "How long have you been here?"

            Effie glanced at her watch. "Five minutes, I guess."

            "Have you had lunch?" he asked then Effie shook her head to answer it. Eli opened his bag and took out a paper bag which handed to Effie. "Eat it! I made it by myself. You should have eaten some food before practicing. It will be exhausting, you know."

            Hesitantly, Effie received the paper bag. She stared at Eli with an embarrassed smile. "Thank you, oppa ..." thanked her as she opened the paper bag and ate the sandwich.

 

***

 

            "So, what is your relationship with Kyoungjae oppa?" asked Redee to Effie suddenly when both of them were in the balcony at that night.

            "Who’s Kyoungjae oppa?" Effie asked back with a puzzled look.

            "Your prince, of course! How could you forget his name?"

            "She meant Eli oppa, Effie yah," said Chemi who suddenly had joined them on the balcony. "I'm also curious about your relationship. You guys are dating?" she asked, staring fixedly at Effie.

            Effie did not even look at Chemi. Effie was silent with her cheeks flushed slowly. "No way! It’s not like you guys thought," she replied softly.

            "Your voice is not convincing."

            "Chemi unnie…" Effie finally looked at Chemi with a sulky face. "There is nothing between Eli oppa and I. We're just friends. As you guys with him. Just like that."

            Redee and Chemi looked at each other. It seemed they still did not believe it.

            "Why you asked me that?" asked Effie. A mischievous smile came on her face. "Do you guys like him?" she guessed.

            "Are you kidding me?!" cried Redee quickly. "He's handsome, I admit it. But, I'm not interested in him," she replied.

            "Yeah, me neither. I only respect him because he’s our trainer, no more," said Chemi. She paused, as if she wanted to say something that difficult to say. "Effie yah, do you remember that tomorrow will be the last day? It will be his third day to train us dance."

            Effie's heart beated faster after hearing her words. She did not remember about it. Even she forgot that Eli just replace Rijin for three days. And tomorrow will be the third day. The last day. Suddenly, Effie tightness. She was silent while staring at the sky with a blank stare.

            "I think you're forgetting about it, aren’t you?" said Redee after seeing her reaction. She caressed her back fondly. "We will miss him so badly. He’s a good trainer. He’s a good person," she said, then stared at the empty night sky.

            Chemi hugged Effie’s shoulder from behind. "Forgive me, Effie yah, because I reminded you about it," she admitted. "I'm afraid you will be more shocked tomorrow if I didn’t remind you now. Seeing you two close to each other, you must be so sad when he left us, right?"

            Effie hold their hand. Her hands felt weak and cold. However, she forced herself to smile. She tried to make them not too worried about her. "I'm fine. Believe me! And will always to be fine," she said softly but firmly. But, is it true?

 

***