The moon was emitting its bright white light throughout the darkness of the night. The stars twinkling beautifully around it seemed to have increased the beauty of the night. With a pair of worn out, grey-colored shoes in one hand, she sneaked out of the shabby-looking small house, trying her best to not make even the slightest sound in fear of waking up her sleeping father.

“You’re going out again, Hana?” A voice startled her from behind as she managed to climb over the brick wall that separated her house from the street.

Hana turned around to find her best friend grinning gleefully as he made his way towards her. She took a step forward and playfully slapped his arm.

“Of course, Sehun,” she answered as she rolled her eyes, “as if you don’t know me.”

“Oh, I know you quite well, Ms. Park Hana.” said Sehun as he returned a wide bright smile to her. He lifted and offered his hand.

“Shall we go now?” Hana immediately took his hand, nodding in agreement.

They made their way to the abandoned building which was situated not far from her home and where their hideout was located.

Upon arriving, Hana sprinted joyfully towards the middle of the room filled with mirrors as walls. She kneeled down and let her small feet slip into her worn out grey sneaker she brought.

“Start!” she shouted at Sehun as she readied herself in a standing position. Sehun pulled out his MP3 player out from his left jeans pocket and played a random song from it.

From the fast-paced rhythm of the song played, Hana began moving her body in sync with the beat of the music. She would move perfectly and seem to be one with the beat. Every time the music would give a pop sound, she would pop.

As soon as the song ended, a slow paced song was played. Hana instantly changed her pace of dancing and glided across the floor, grabbing Sehun in the process. They waltzed and twirled across the floor with grace.

This was what Hana loves to do. Dancing was her dream. She relished the moment of dancing and anything associated with it.

It was her passion. Not sewing clothes for other people. Not cleaning and polishing shoes for strangers. Her passion was dancing.

-.-.-

“You went out again, didn’t you?!” words of fury and anger were released on the daughter.

“How many times must I tell you?! Dancing will never help us! It won’t get us anywhere!” the father shouted. He massaged his temples to try and decrease the tension built in him. He turned to face his teary-eyed daughter.

Last night was as fun as usual. After hours of dancing with Sehun in the abandoned building, Hana returned home. Feeling tired and fatigue, she immediately lay on her bed and closed her eyes, hoping for a nice sleep.

That morning, she was awakened to the sound of her father ranting on her continuous behavior.

Don’t let these tears fall, Park Hana. You can get through this. She mentally reminded herself and braced herself for the shouts from her father.

“Look at me when I’m talking!” He ordered as he noticed his daughter’s head face the floor. “You know we are poor! It’s just a matter of time till we finish all our money! And you’re dancing and using the money for this useless dancing of yours! Why can’t you act more like your older brother and sister who are now successful people?! You’re just an oddball in our family! I don’t even know if you’re part of this family.” With that, Mr. Park stomped his way out the door and headed to work as a construction worker.

Hana’s life had always been this way. Being yelled at by her own father and getting ignored by her siblings. Her father was right. She is an oddball in the family. When her siblings thought of doing business and living a wealthy life, Hana would think of dancing. Her will to pursue that long dream of dancing on stage was strong.

As she stood in the middle of the rather small living room, her hand reached for her back pocket and brought out a small old picture. It was her most prized position and she would really break down if it were to be lost.

She stared longingly at the picture of the dearest person to her; her mother. That piece of small paper held in the palm of her hand was what she will treasure the most. She knew that if her father finds out about the photo, she would be in great trouble.

Hana didn’t know what happened to her mother. She was only 4 then. Her father would tell her that she died in a hit and run accident, but she had a feeling deep inside her heart that it wasn’t true. A few days before her mother was gone, Hana heard them quarrelling and fighting. She was too young to know what they were fighting about but it was quite serious from the tone of their voices.

A buzzing sound from her pocket woke her up from her daydream. She reached for her phone to see Sehun calling.

“Hey,” Sehun’s voice could be heard from the other side of the line, “are you okay?” he asked as if he knows that Hana was scolded by her father.

“Yeah, I think I’m okay. I’m kind of used to it, you know.” Replied Hana as she exhaled a quiet sigh. She took a glance at the clock that hung on the wall. It was 8 o’clock in the morning.

It was time for work.

-.-.-

After a five minute walk with Sehun, they finally arrived to the café she worked at. If it wasn’t for Sehun and his dad, who was the owner of the cafe, she knew she would be jobless or, worse, she had to do her father’s other work the whole day which was house working at other peoples’ houses.

She took her brown apron off the hook in the staff’s room and immediately started her work. She made sure to mop and sweep the floor before opening the shop.

Instantly, after finishing her work of sweeping and mopping the floor, she told Sehun to open the shop.

With a smile on her face, she greeted all the customers who came to the shop as cheerful as she could be. Hana had worked at the café for two years now and she has become rather close with the regular customers here. Every time a regular would come, her smile would stretch wider.

Having Sehun around helped her a lot in coping with the hectic environment in the café. The shop was a rather well-known shop in the neighbourhood and people of all ages would come to eat there.

As Sehun was busy tending the customers, Hana went into the staff room to take a rest. However, when she was on her way there, she noticed the undelivered set of drinks on the counter.

Should I send it? She thought as she looked in Sehun’s way.

“Sehun, could you take care of the counter? I have to go deliver these drinks.” Hana asked as she speed walked out the door. Before Sehun could answer, Hana was already out the door.

Hana opened the folded paper that was slotted in the box drinks hoping it would lead to an address. She let out a breath of relief to see an address and a name on the blue-colored paper. The house that was meant for the drinks to be delivered to was a new house that was just around the corner.

There must be someone new in the neighbourhood.

She read the name was written on the paper.

Kim Jongin.