Chapter Fifteen

"Do we have insurance?"

1st of January 2015

A/N; As a lot of you know, it's been quite a while since I've written on AFF. I've written more on Tumblr nowadays but now, I've decided. I plan to finish all my fanfictions here and that's the first thing I'm going to finish. What happens after (whether I'll write anymore stories and such) will be decided after. What I'm trying to say here is, my writing style may have changed without me realizing so if any of you find it odd and such, I... apologize? oops.

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With her back against the door, she threw Minseok’s clothes onto the bed before she slid herself down to the floor. Her hands were rubbing her face and she could still feel her heart pounding as if that was the only thing she could do. She wanted out on this; she should have never brought it up to rejoin dancing, she should have never chosen Kai as her date and she should have never go to this college! She shook her head in her hands, mumbling softly, “God damn it…”

With a heavy exhale, she managed to lift her chin up where from a distance an evident photo frame was staring right at her. It felt too cruel to see that, truthfully but her eyes were locked onto it from the moment her eyes were set onto it. Hell, she could even remember how the situation was before the photo was captured.

“Noona! Are you ready to go on stage?” A younger boy chimed, his hands holding onto his sister’s as he looked up to her. She smiled, looking down on him as she patted his head, “I am but… I’m nervous.”

He shook his head and reached at the back of his pocket as if there was something important. And it was, really. She couldn’t help but smile at the younger boy attempting to reach over to her so she crouched down, leveling their heights together. He grinned at her appreciatively and held up a hand with a small smile, “Give me your hand, noona.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a look of suspicion, “What are you going to do?”

He stomped his feet on the ground once, unsatisfied, “Hand!”

“Alright!” She placed her hand on top of his smaller one and he beamed like the little angel he was. In the next, she could see a sparkly, silver string she could make up as a bracelet going around her wrist, in contrast with her outfit but that was beside the point – where did he get this, anyway?

“Don’t ask but this will be your good luck charm. Every time you go out to dance from now on, wear this. Promise?”

“Promise.“

“Kids! Look here for a picture-“

“Stop it!” Her cry was muffled as she plastered her hands on her face, attempting to blind herself from the picture frame and from the flashback that projected in her mind. She pressed her back against the door harder, shaking her head as she realized that she was already crying – how did it get to this so quick?

Her eyes were clenched shut but yet the tears still managed to seep through. Her heart stopped for a second when she heard a knock on the door. She felt her body flinching as she shifted away from the door, looking over her shoulder as if she was trying to make up who it was on the other side. “H-Hee Young?” She heard a familiar voice, a voice that affirmed her safety. She got up to her feet, messily but surely she got up.

The door flung open and Mr. Kang swore his heart was going to stop. Firstly, he didn’t expect the door to open this quick. Secondly, she was… crying. One of the millions of things he thought she wouldn’t be doing; crying. She was trying not to cry but she was failing terribly. Instead of shouting at him or trying to get him away, she did the complete opposite. Her arms almost instantly reached out to him and he was there to hold her regardless of her condition. He held her close and he felt like there were tiny pins poking his heart at the sound of her silent cries and whimpers.

He didn’t know what was more painful; the fact that she was crying or the fact that he could roughly guess why she was crying because of the photo frame that he could see over her shoulder. He doesn’t even know if this was the right time to persuade her or comfort her, so he held onto her, her back as she calmed herself down.

“Do I need to ask?” Mr. Kang spoke up in the midst of silence, raising an eyebrow at her who sat on the bed whilst he sat on the chair, facing her. She played with the sleeve of the sweater she was wearing, shaking her head as she refused to look at him. He exhaled heavily, standing up where he approached her. Along the way, he held onto the photo frame with a familiar yet horrifying picture displayed. He stood in front of her, facing the photo frame at her, “This is the reason, isn’t it?”

Her eyes peeked at it but her movements showed otherwise when she snatched it, protectively putting it aside, “You can’t touch that.”

Mr. Kang swallowed hard but his comeback as firm, “And you can’t just tear a piece of document as important as that but I guess we both can’t always have our ways, right?”

She looked away, displeased as she nudged the photo frame away on her bed, “If Kai told you to talk to me, I want nothing to do with that.”

Mr. Kang sighed, getting down on his knees as he shook his head at her, “Hee Young, Kai just wants you-“

She shot a glare back at him, her eyes finally staring back at him with a certain flare, “He has no right to request for anything. He knows nothing.”

Mr. Kang shot up, eyes narrowing down on her, “Maybe it’s time I said something.”

He saw how her eyes widened and it didn’t take long for her to look away from him with her lips shut – he got her where he wanted her to be. He didn’t want this to be the route he would be taking either but he doesn’t have a choice. Kai had a point and it was a very legit one.

“Alright, everyone, start stretching first.” Mr. Kang announced as he stepped to the side when he knew Kai clearly had something to say. The slamming of the door after Soon Hae had entered didn’t bother anyone – it was normal, really. Mr. Kang dragged Kai to one side of the room where it was definitely far away from the rest. Mr. Kang gave a nod, “Speak.”

“Bring her back here.” Kai stated coldly, his eyes had this glint of determination that he was trying to hide but it was hopeless. This was the Kai that Mr. Kang had been missing; the one whom was so talented but now he seemed like he would have the will, the passion to dance again if Hee Young joins back again – this was his only chance.

Although Kai was his best student, Hee Young was there too. Only Kai was left in the dark about that. Mr. Kang crossed his arms, his eyes staring Kai down, “You know, months ago you wouldn’t bother showing up let alone talk to me about anything. Tell me why now, I should listen to what you want?”

Kai gulped nervously but he didn’t back down – he didn’t know where this flame of determination came from, “Because you need her as much as I do. You’ve seen and you know more of what she can do – she may be better than me for all I know. Are you going to let her walk off just like that when we were so close to getting her back?”

Mr. Kang didn’t want to give into Kai but he didn’t have much of a choice. Not when Kai looked like he had something to fight for again – it was like a new hope for Kai and… Hee Young. As much as Mr. Kang didn’t want to admit that, Kai was right.

 

Mr. Kang got down on his knees, giving the upper hand back to Hee Young as he showed that he didn’t exactly mean what he did. Even she knew that this was just his way of getting her to listen to him and she wasn’t going to lie – it was working.

“Look, Hee Young. We both know what you’re capable of. The amount of passion you have while you dance, the talent you have within you… do you really want all of that to go away? You can tell a million of stories when you dance, you can make people feel things they've never felt before. Let me help you.”

She stood up, reaching over for the photo frame and she walked around him to place it back on where it was which is by her bedside table. From there, she said what she had to say, “Is that all?”

With a heavy sigh, he got up, staring at the back of her head as he spoke, “We both know you have mad talent. Don’t let that all go away, don’t let your father down because of one boy who wasn’t even responsible to why you’re mad.”

In a slow yet torturous pace, she looked over her shoulder to raise an eyebrow at him, nearly piercing his soul with that stare of hers – the look in her eyes had changed.

“Don’t you ever bring my father into this.”

“I just did,” He spoke up, pulling out another piece of paper and he walked around her to stand in front of her. He reached for her wrist in which she retaliated to snatch her hand back. He remained firm, reaching over for her hand again with a stronger grip to put that paper into her hand, “If you want me to shut up, get to class tomorrow. 10.00a.m. sharp.”

He didn’t even wait to listen to what she had to say because in the next, all she could hear was the door closing as he took his leave. With her eyes slowly closing, she hopelessly fell back onto the bed with the piece of paper in her hand. She peeked at what the paper was and like a miracle, it was the transfer paper to change one of her classes back to dancing – as if she didn’t rip this paper earlier on. She shoved the paper aside violently before she let out a groan, “What the …”

She couldn’t go on complaining about this when she heard her phone vibrating by her bed. It was somewhat magical that her phone didn’t get spoilt or anything. She reached on over for it, sitting up on the bed before she answered the call, “What?”

“A-Aren’t you coming?” Minseok’s voice was timid but there was no lie he was worried.

She raked a hand through her slightly damp hair, standing up as she sighed, “Sorry, I just… It slipped my mind. I’ll be right over.”

He shook his head even though she couldn’t see it, “Not back to my dorm, Hee Young!”

She furrowed her eyebrows as she stepped out of her dorm, “Then?”

“The main gate, I’ll be waiting for you!”

“But-“

Beep. Beep. Beep.

She put her phone into her pocket, shaking her head as she closed the door behind her. With a very disoriented mind and state, she walked down the corridor, making a left turn and a few more turns after that to head towards the two large doors with the word ‘EXIT’ above.

“Are you serious?” Hee Young raised an eyebrow, not believing what Minseok had prepared to where they were going to ‘go’.

He grinned and nodded, “Hop on!”

She crossed her arms in front of her chest, “Min, we could easily take my motorcycle and it’ll be way faster than this.”

Minseok had a frown on his face as he stared at her, “Your motorcycle will be too fast and I’ll lose my balance before I can even take the perfect shot!”

She scoffed incredulously, “Oh, you’re complaining?”

He had his back slumped as he patted the camera on his lap, “C’mon! You’re strong enough!”

As much as she didn’t want to, she had to. She saw that look in Minseok’s eyes and it looked like she would be a sinner if she rejected what he was trying to get. Photography was one of Minseok’s passion, something that Minseok loved a lot and the fact that he was finding her for help must mean that he really trusts her – and she knew that. She saw that glint of glee in his eyes when she made her way towards him and lightly poked his head, “You better treat me something good after this.”

He tapped his camera excitedly, “Whatever you want!”

He shifted back on the back seat, giving her enough space so she could get on the bicycle. She swung a leg over and her hands got comfortable on the handlebar almost too soon. She looked over her shoulder, “Do we have insurance?”

He nodded excitedly, “Even way before we entered college.”

She groaned and faced forward, “Where to?”

He smiled, leaning forward with an arm around her waist. Although she knew this would come, she couldn’t help but glance down to see that his arm was firm around her waist. She was rather surprised that he didn’t even flinch or hesitate to do so. It was an instant reaction he had when she was in front of him, as if it was a natural thing to do. Pretending not to take note of anything and to play cool, she cleared , “Yah, I said, where to?”

He grinned sheepishly, shifting front a bit to put his chin on her shoulder, “Anywhere.”

She faked an overdone smile before letting it fade into a boring look, “I’m serious.”

“Han River.”

She nearly flipped when she heard where he wanted to go – it was far away from where they were now! And the fact that she needed to cycle there? Is he trying to get her to lose weight or help him out?

She snapped her head over her shoulder and the way her eyes looked at him made him flinch as he shifted back. Her eyebrows raised in partial shock, “Han River?” She cleared , lowering her volume, “Do you know how far that is from here? And have you noticed what ‘ride’ we have?”

He frowned at her and his eyes gazed down to his camera – his main goal is to get shots nearby a river for this assignment. She saw how silent he became and she nearly felt bad from her sudden outburst. Han River was pretty famous but needless to say, it would have amazing shots for Minseok to take. However, thinking about it, if the assignment was based on ‘rivers’, many of his classmates would already think of Han River – it would be the main spot, no?

To save him from that (and her legs), she straightened her back and face forward, one of her feet on the pedal of the bicycle, “I’m taking you somewhere else… maybe not Han River but… somewhere with a river. Does that sound good?” Her head tilted over her shoulder a bit as a sign she wanted his confirmation first before she would take off and his mood was lifted up immediately. He got comfortable behind her and his arm around her waist was still there, allowing him to gain confidence in replying her, “Sure!”

“Thank God…” She mumbled under her breath, gripping onto the handlebar properly before she announced, “I’m starting.” With that, she gave the both of them a light push and both of her feet were soon finding a way to stabilize the bicycle before it was beginning to move on a stable pace. Minseok couldn’t exactly process all of this just yet as this felt surreal – the both of them have not done this in a very long time. He was almost too sure that she would reject this idea and the fact that she agreed to this made him feel good – he was happy.

Her voice, however, snapped him out from his little trance, “You better have some pictures to show me when we get there or you’ll have a new mark on your body.”

Quickly, he found a way to balance himself on the bicycle and he retreat his arm from her waist to hold onto his camera with both hands. “C-Can I lean against you? You know, for support?”

She didn’t really take to mind of what he said but she hummed a sound back in return. She was in the middle of taking her mind off things as well that she wouldn’t really mind anything at the moment. He took that as an agreement and he leaned against her partially with his eye looking through the view finder. He had this certain smile on his face as the first shot he took wasn’t a shot of the scenery that was slowly passing by but it was a side profile.

Deep down inside, there were just these few words displaying in his mind.

Today is a good day.