“Where’s your holiday spirit?”  Seungwan .  “Christmas is next week and I’ve already decided you’re staying at my place during break.”

It was the last day of school before break.  Coincidentally it was also a Wednesday and the girls had taken it upon themselves to plan out the entire winter break in which she would be going from house to house to stay with them.  Seulgi didn’t really want that.  She just wanted to go to dance practice and then go home.  She hated the fact that they felt obligated to take care of her like that.  

“Guys, I don’t want to intrude.  The holidays should be spent with your families.  I have family left even if it’s not much,” Seulgi said.

Seungwan’s face twisted into that of disapproval.  Sooyoung however understood which family member she had meant.  Joohyun seemed to as well and that only made her look more worried than she should have been.  

“If you see your grandma, will your dad get angry?”  Sooyoung asked.  They’d all seen how he’d reacted the day her grandmother had been admitted into the hospital.  Seulgi knew that nothing would be the same after that night.  She just hadn’t expected things would change as much as they had.

“He won’t find out.  I promised her I’d come more often.  She deserves that,” Seulgi said, more determined.  She felt stronger whenever she theoretically made plans to outsmart her father.  Unfortunately, she had no way of knowing if her plans would actually work.

The girls settled for sitting on the sidelines during dance practice to see her progress.  They’d been pestering her about coming to any of the competitions and Seulgi was always horrified at the thought of them watching her.  She wasn’t exactly shy but the three of them and Kim Hyoyeon were the only ones that ever seemed to have the guts to judge her.  Seulgi just happened to care more about what her friends thought.

She went through the routine feeling like she had something to prove.  Her friends had been treating her as if she couldn’t handle what she was going through in life.  She wanted to show them she was capable of doing something and being able to do it right.  Seulgi had grown the courage to add her own flair to the choreographed moves as Hyoyeon had been trying to get her to do for a while.

The music pounded loudly and she forgot about everything else.  There was nothing but the beat.  Her legs stomped and twisted and her arms moved fluidly through the air.  She could feel the sweat forming on the back of her neck.  Then just like it began, the routine was over.

Seulgi smiled as she glanced at her friends who were at the corner of the gym.  They clapped politely and both Joohyun and Seungwan shot her a thumbs up.  Sooyoung just looked proud of her.  

“Girl, you can do all the drugs you want.  Just keep dancing like that and I might even go lesbian for you,” Min joked, throwing an arm around Seulgi’s neck.  

“Seulgi, not going to lie.  That was a huge improvement,” Hyoyeon commented.

Seulgi nodded awkwardly, not used to receiving that much praise.  Hyuna came forward and backed them away from her.  She smiled at Seulgi kindly.

“You did good out there Seulgi.  Do you want to come eat with us after practice?  Your friends can come too,”  Hyuna asked.

Seulgi didn’t think there was harm in it anymore.  Her father didn’t care where she was anymore so as long as she didn’t go to the hospital.  She nodded and felt a bit happier than she had in a while and she didn’t think it was a bad idea to capitalize on the feeling and socialize with the girls on the team a bit more.  Plus they were also inviting her friends which would make her feel a bit more comfortable.  Sooyoung had walked over, yet kept glancing over to the other side of the gym where the boys were.  Seulgi rolled her eyes and only just managed to keep from laughing.  

“Why don’t we just have a party tonight?  Seungwan’s parents are out of town and the house is up for it,”  Sooyoung said. 

Min threw her head back and pumped her fist.  “Yeah, party!”

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