Or if I had to say something,

only a tiny tiny thing. A well-shaped phrase.

Smoothed off at the edges like a child's wooden

cow.

That nobody would get a splinter from.

– Naomi Shihab Nye

Seohyun waved at the front desk personnel before walking to the reserved room. It was a small dance studio with newly furnished, wood flooring and paneled mirrors that stretched from one wall to another. She pushed the switch and watch the lights flicker to life, illuminating the space with a white-washed brightness. After depositing her things on the floor, she used the lavatory to change into proper dancing attire - a slimming, black leotard, leg warmers, and her ballet slippers - and began her warm-up stretches. Concentrated, she spent the next fifteen minutes devoted to the warming of her muscles, stretching out the kinks in her neck and back, twisting her torso until she was satisfied.

It was on her back that Hyoyeon found her, staring at the ceiling as her mind wandered back to the letter sitting in her knapsack. Penned prose and a half-ruined, half-mending heart. She imagined the possibilities of the faceless author, detailed an image in her mind from his hair to his eyes, to the way he must have carried himself. She thought of turtlenecks and feathered quills, skeleton heads and tragedies. And maybe, she thought, he could be ordinary. Most people were, after all.

"Seo-Hyun-Ah!" Hyoyeon enunciated, setting off into a quick sprint and sliding on her knees toward the younger girl. "Hm, what are you thinking about?"

Seohyun blinked. "Nothing."

"Liar. Don't lie to unnie," she mock-scolded. "Kidding. It's not bad, is it?"

Hyoyeon was a wonderful sister figure, eyes wise to the nuances of her personality. And when she smiled, Hyoyeon nudged her playfully without another word. If there was something wrong, unnie would be quick to note it, lie or not.

"Let's see your pirouettes."

She dizzied herself in circles, eyes snapping to the front with each revolution. And so, the world spun with her.

-

"You look lost in thought."

Seohyun snapped her head to the front where the boy from a weeks ago stood. He looked less unsure of himself, and she fancied the idea that he might have grown more comfortable in their bookstore. If she had another book convert, then she was doing her job. She greeted him with an embarrassed hello. "Sorry. Sometimes I do that, um ..."

He chuckled. "We all do. Anyway, I wanted to return this."

"Oh! Did you finish it? Did you like it? Did it help?"

"Yes, I think so, and maybe." At her prompting, he continued, "It took a while; I needed to translate some of it, but it was easy to read. Like you said, it was fun to read, but sometimes - I don't know. The only English I know is when I need to learn a particular word. And I'm not sure a song about hugs is going to cut it."

"Ah, well, maybe you can check out another? You never know what you might find." She returned the book into a to-sort bin and gestured to her shelved corner. "There's more, though anything you check out in that shelf is mostly in English. And French, I think."

"You know French?"

Seohyun flushed. "Um, the cover was pretty."

The boy laughed and nodded in understanding before excusing himself to find another book. She delighted in the fact that he looked somewhat eager, if not a little uncertain in his own choices, as he scanned the titles. Sometimes he would hold up a book and ask her what she thought of it. She observed, with mute interest, that he ignored every self-help book she had stored there. She shook her head and thought, Everyone is missing out.

It took a little over twenty minutes before he returned to the counter. It was a tiny thing but one she noticed was one of the more elaborate and longer poems, requiring more than a translating dictionary.

"Are you sure about this?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"Nothing." She scrunched her nose. "But I would highly recommend seeking out a translator. I don't quite understand what's happening half the time, but when I do, it's quite lovely."

He nodded. "I'll be sure to do that. Every weekend, right?"

"Yes. And also, don't worry about the return date. Return it whenever you're ready or, you know ..."

"What?"

"If you want to find another one."

He arched one brow, eyes narrowing suspiciously, a smile betraying his silent accusation. "You don't think I'll be able to finish this, do you?"

Seohyun pursed her lips and smiled instead, inserting a stamped card under the cover. "Have a good day!"

He was a few steps short of the door, flipping through the pages in curiosity, before he returned, handing her a small sheet of paper. "Found this. Might be the store's. Later, Joohyun."

"Thank you." She watched him leave and disappear out of sight when it occurred to her that she had never offered him her name (nor ask for his). "Since when ..."

"You can thank me later, Joohyun." Ae Sook suddenly shuffled past her, sniggering in what she suspected to be boyish mischief. "A bright girl like you should have a boyfriend!"

He ignored her stammering, laughing as he disappeared in the stacks. A moment later, he reappeared, face stoic and voice deadpan. "I was kidding. Only nosy people into others' businesses, and my nose is too busy trying to breathe. There's a placard on your shelf with your name on it. Figured it was high-time people know that you're responsible for their interest. That, you can thank me for. I expect chocolate, Joohyun. Chocolate!"

▲

NOTES:

I probably won't focus too much on her dance training. It's more like filler information to let you know that she does. I figure that if I want her to find her way into (a late-formed) SNSD, at least the set-up is there. I'm still not sure of that part yet. More likely than not, it won't happen. If so, then not all of SNSD are going to be featured. I don't want too many characters running amok; if anything, there might be cameos.

Ae Sook is a riot (to me). I love the rickety old man.

Anyway, it's going slow, isn't it? Meh, that's what happens when you only have a vague outline of what's supposed to happen. Next update next weekend (maybe).