Chapter Thirty-Seven

You were about to do the same… weren’t you?

13th of March 2015

“I can’t believe we spent the whole day doing that ,” He grumbled under his breath, back lied down on the floor as he stared up the ceiling with tired eyes. The two were worn out, exhausted and if people didn’t know better, it’s like they went for a full course training program to lose weight because with the amount sweat they’ve shed, it’s possible. Oh, yes, it’s very possible.

“Believe it, because we just did it,” Hee Young snapped, well, she tried but with the amount of energy she used up just stacking everything in place, arranging all the items and it’s not even preparing the props yet, it’s just bringing them in; it’s like there’s much more in store for when the preparation for the dance performance, play, whatever they call it begins.

In the midst of silence, heavy breathing and incredibly tired yawns, there was this certainty lingering in the air. Maybe it wasn’t hate, maybe it wasn’t love either, but maybe it was just a mutual feeling with one another. It’s tiring avoiding someone for so long and it’s even more tiring to keep up with an image because you don’t want them to find out about anything. If it’s anything, Hee Young is tired of covering herself, hiding everything but she just has to keep up with whatever she’s trying to keep under the shade from Kai. Maybe it’s not a smart idea, maybe it’s not a good plan, but that’s all Hee Young is going to bet on; hoping and praying Kai doesn’t find out until her time was done in college.

But what if she still sees him, knows him even after college?

What are the odds of them still being together, friends or not?

The odds were unpredictable and that’s what scared Hee Young even more.

And—hey… did you hear me?

The latter blinked a few times, collecting herself once more and stuffing all her thoughts into a box before tilting her head to the side, noticing his stare fixated on her the moment she met eyes with the guy. She shook her head, n-no… not exactly…

He his lips and through his eyes, she could see that he was trying to put his words together once more, as if he had forgotten what he had said right after it left his lips—he didn’t even realize he was talking to her until he had listened to the words flying out of his mouth. Then again, there was this part of his brain that wanted to know some answers because you can’t just be partners with someone without knowing their… why did you start dancing?

His voice was suddenly so delicate, as if he was testing how deep the water his, what was his limits to his questions that he found himself pondering if that was too personal to ask as he looked at her for a reaction. But, what she answered was completely honest, clear cut and somehow… bittersweet.

My dad loved dancing… he dances sometimes… Well, he used to…

He didn’t know how, but his body slid on the smooth surface and his back was damp with sweat made it easier for him to come nearer towards her to ask, what happened?

She shook her head and glanced back to the ceiling, picturing what had happened, rethinking back to the past and digging out past memories in her mind before she said, he didn’t think he could support my family with just dancing… so he quit, there was a lot of tears, pain in giving up in something he loved but he did it for his family, he did it for her, unknowingly, seeing his passion he had for dancing engrossed her in feeling the same, before she could even learn how to walk, she could already start to ask if she was a good dancer. He said his income as a dance instructor wasn’t cutting it… so, he picked up another job that offered him much more and ever since… he stopped.

Just like that…? After all he’s been loving dancing?

With a quiet sigh, she nodded and turned to look at him, just like that.

Maybe he was overstepping his boundaries, maybe he was crossing the line, but maybe… he doesn’t really care.

You were about to do the same… weren’t you? He cleared his throat, swallowing the lump past his throat to clarify further, that day when I caught you dancing… way before that as well, you weren’t planning to join back the dance class until I… forced you, right?

She managed to scoff out a laugh at the little memory. What seemed to be so stressful back then seem to bring a laugh now, if you put it that way, I guess so…

Wouldn’t that be a shame? His voice, taut, laced with clear disappointment at the thought of her giving up on something that she loved. If anything, if something that they had in common, it would be the passion for dancing. And seeing it with his own eyes from another perspective of someone doing the same… he knows what he’s talking about.

You love dancing so much but just because something happened or whatsoever… you give up on it just like that.

Hee Young found herself treating this as an honest hour, anything she wanted to say, she might as well say it now.

Then what about you, Kai? His eyebrows rose at her name, her tone…her. He blinked at her and smiled a bit, what about me?

Why did you stop…?

He let out a soft ah… before he trailed his eyes elsewhere, feeling something suddenly choking his throat to halt him from speaking properly. It took him a while to get through the bump, shift gears so he could smoothly, hopefully correctly passing through his message without messing it up in between.

My sister died not too long ago… car accident, drunk driver coming at her way, his voice was solemn, feeling the air intensify with this certain feeling as Kai spoke. He sounded so sad… so… depressed but the way he turned to check whether she was listening seemed otherwise. Apparently she didn’t make it out alive… she was dead the moment the ambulance came and… I guess that was my reason to stop. I used that reason to stop.

But when I saw you dancing like that, and also noticing that you didn’t want to pursue dancing made me mad because you were mad talented. I guess… I was also fighting for myself when I fought for you.

She bit the inside of her cheek whilst giving a slight nod here and there, acknowledging his words and letting it sink in because it was so… true. And for him to admit it like this, out of the blue when she asked, maybe there was this mutual agreement of finally being able to cooperate with one another because hey, hating someone is stressful, tiring and a lot of work. Maybe that’s over now.

Or maybe, it’s just like this, for now because… something bad always happens when something good comes around.

But for now… she’s going to appreciate and enjoy this, while she still can.

Thanks, Kai.

His ears perked up, meeting her gaze when the two turned heads, what for?

She offered him a smile, one that after a long time, shone with gratitude, for fighting for the both of us.

“Don’t you want to head back and shower first? We could meet up and eat together.” Kai freely spoke however he wanted, feeling that hey, the feeling was mutual now. A couple of minutes left speaking in the dance practice room, the two had left with truce coming out of their mouths to agree to not go at each other’s throats anymore. Hopefully, that’ll last for a while.

“That’s so tiresome—“

“H-Hee Young?” A voice, someone that she wasn’t expecting to show up at this moment had spoken. Hee Young huffed and mumbled a soft speaking of tiresome… Before the two of them looked over shoulders with a puzzled look for a second or two because the people, or that person who had called her out was currently in the dark. One, two, three steps later, they appeared under the light, causing Hee Young to instinctively take a step back, catching Kai’s attention as he turned to look at her before facing front to say, “P-Principal Hong…”

“No need with the formalities,” The man smiled, showing a hand before Kai straightened his back, giving a nod before looking at the woman, giving a slight bow as well but Hee Young snapped her hand on his shoulder, dragging him away from the two people staring at them, at Hee Young, actually.

 Kai let out a soft yelp but he silenced himself, allowing her to tug him to stand behind her because she’s not in the mood for this .

“H-How was class?” The woman asked, the same question again and again and again but then, there was no other proper question she could ask without overstepping the boundaries. Hee Young’s eyes moved from looking at her mother, then to the man beside her before deciding to look away. She saw that somewhat terrified look in her mother’s eyes, as if Hee Young could transform into a tiger and snap her head off so, whatever, Hee Young will give her the benefit of the doubt.

“It was fine.”

Kai’s hand, hidden from their view but acknowledgeable to Hee Young had rose up to her shoulder, giving her a gentle squeeze and she found the strength to look back at her mother, trying to see the words coming out from , or hear, actually.

“Have you eaten yet? H-How about we all go for dinner?”

In the middle of her thinking, Kai somehow tried to lighten up the atmosphere by, “Hey, that sounds like a great—ouch!” He ended up retreating his hand from her shoulder they never saw, his arms clutching onto his stomach as he exhaled out the pain silently, mentally taking a note that these or this matters should not be played around about. But, she was grateful for the fact that he was willing to go for dinner with these guys—though, there was no saying he was invited, anyway.

“We all could go for a dinner—“

“After you guys take a shower—“

“That’s not necessary, we should just go and when they come back they can do that,” Her mother said, being the opposite of what a mother should be when usually they would want their children, their daughter to be clean and smell good for a dinner meal outside but in this case when her mother rarely has time or hasn’t been normally meeting up for meals together, she’ll take anything she could have, even if her daughter is drenched in sweat that probably had dried up by now. If it hasn’t… well....

“Y-Your friend can join us, too.” Hee Young’s mother added and Hee Young glanced over her shoulder, looking at Kai who was back to normal, standing a step away from her just in case but the look on his eyes displayed that I’m fine with whatever you want.

Without trying to put them down, no matter how many times she’s been by them, she looked at her mother, to the principal and back to her mother.

“Whose car are we taking?”

Suddenly, out of the ordinary, the principal raised his hand, a nervous grin on his face as he said, “M-Mine! I’ll go start the car, come,” He held onto his fiancée’s hand, the two leading the way of where the car is parked at even though the two knows which car it was. Kai followed up by her as the two walked side by side, trailing behind the couple ahead and Kai leaned in to whisper, “Do I want to know why?”

Why being the reason why the principal was nice unexpectedly, why was Hee Young’s mother here when all the while he was pretty sure she wouldn’t be, why this was happening now…

“Even I don’t know.”