After making sure that the practice room was locked, the boy swung his backpack on his shoulder and simply carrying his guitar with his right hand, going out from the school after practicing for his next school performance. It was already dark outside, and not to mention the extreme chillness happening these days. The heavy snow kept falling down, and that was no wonder the ground was already thick with the ice crystals—he saw the ground when he glanced down, as the practice room practically situated at the third floor.

When the boy got down on the second floor, the ballet room at the end of the corridor was still bright. He held the urge to go home and curiously turned his heels to walk to the opposite direction. The faint sound of orchestral music was getting clearer as he got closer to the room. The boy could see someone was still inside when his eyes followed the dancing shadow from outside of the blurred glass. Quietly, he turned the knob, wanting to see who was it that still diligently practicing until late—like himself—despite the unfriendly weather. Well it wasn’t that he was diligent, the boy just didn’t have choice.

The boy practically smiled when he saw the familiar figure that was drowning in the song, legs swinging here and there, skipping some steps cheerfully, and spinning the body following the cheery rhythm. She was enjoying herself too much she didn’t realize that someone was watching her intensely, not until she heard a happy clap when she finished dancing and the music stopped. She took a look at the giant mirror in front of her and found a tall friend of hers, leaning on the doorframe, clapping like a proud father. And the girl chuckled.

“You scared me, Chan.” She said while walking to her bag, taking her small towel to wipe the sweat.

“That was amazing, Aerin.” The boy shook his head in amazement. He still remembered the very first time he watched her dancing, in the same place around a year ago. He was curiously peeking inside the room after a whole day of practicing, only to find a petite figure twirling her body along with the bittersweet melody, the school’s ballerina star he used to see from afar.

“I know,” She answered smugly before gulping the water from her bottle. Chanyeol only scoffed at her cockiness. “Why are you still here?”

“Just finished practicing. You didn’t tell me you were still here, so I took a look inside.” The boy said as he placed himself in front of the mirror, sitting down beside her bag. “Go on, I want to see you dance once again.”

“Tsk. Getting so sneaky all over again like the very first time?” She said while throwing her towel at him. Chanyeol just chuckled at her remark, remembering the very first time he got to know the petite ballerina.

The boy drowned on the dance as soon as the girl started moving. She wasn’t the best for no reason. Her moves could bring her audience to dance together with her, diving into the deep as she retold the story behind the dance with all her sharp and detailed moves. This dance was different from the one he watched before. She already told him about the audition for the biggest play in the city, and this was probably the one she was going to do there. Chanyeol could feel the painful story she was telling through her moves. The boy didn’t know anything about the dance, but he could tell that the girl was doing a great embodiment of pain and its beauty. Aerin ended the dance, and there, Chanyeol found himself gaping at the beautiful sight in front of him. As expected from the school’s ballet star, he couldn’t help but amazed. “You’re the Swan Princess, Aerin. I’m pretty sure you’ll be.” He smiled to the girl. “What was it again?”

The girl chuckled hearing her friend’s reaction. “It was The Dying Swan. I actually got a bit trouble to dwell inside the story, because it should be full of hurt and pain of a death.”

“You’re doing great! Is it for the audition?”

“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s tomorrow, Chan. I’m so nervous I’m afraid I can’t do it well.” She said while taking the towel he was giving her. The boy could hint a slight frown formed on her face. “I really want to play this character.”

“I know you will do well, Aerin. Trust me, believe in yourself.” He cupped her face with both his hands, slightly pushing her cheeks to make her pout. “You are not the best ballerina in this school for nothing.” Chanyeol pinched the girl’s cheek playfully, earning a slap on the chest from her.

“You’re going to be there, right?” She asked, no, to Chanyeol it sounded a lot more like a pleading. Of course she would want her best friend to be there. Her face was full of hope as he could see it clearly. And not to mention the slight pout which present on her face. Oh how Chanyeol really wanted to kiss that pout away. It had been a while since he realized that he fell in love with the ballerina. And he thought it was finally the right time.

“Of course I will.” He replied. “I’ve already prepared a present for you. But, it is only if you pass the audition. So you better get the role, or the gift would be wasted.”

The boy grinned, and Aerin couldn’t help but smiled at the encouragement the boy gave her.

The bright crystal sparkled as the sunshine hit the small ballerina figurine on Chanyeol’s desk. He was already in class, taking the seat right beside the window, and currently watching the figurine moving in a circular motion. That beautiful thing was supposed to be given to his favourite girl a long time ago. The boy still remembered he put it inside a box and wrapped it nicely with her favourite colour. He was holding onto it tightly while waiting inside the venue, watching as the participants one by one taking their turn to amaze the judges. Chanyeol waited and kept waiting, but unfortunately, his favourite girl never appeared.

The boy snapped back into reality when he heard everyone rustled as the teacher took his seat and cleared his throat, seeking everyone’s attention. Chanyeol smiled to himself. He didn’t choose to move to this school with her for nothing. He really couldn’t wait until the school ended. He really wanted to see Aerin.

Chanyeol was the first one to flash out from his desk when the last bell rang. His friend called him out when he was about to reach the door, stopping him before he actually got outside, asking the said boy if he wanted to go to the arcade together later that night. But he only screamed a clear ‘No’ to them. He went out from the class, skipped some stairs to get him to his destination quicker.

The class was almost empty when he got in front of her class. He peeked inside and found his favourite girl was still arranging her things while talking to a girl. Aerin probably didn’t know how happy Chanyeol was to know that she made a friend—when he knew that the girl actually didn’t have any friend at her class. He knew he could always ask to transfer class, but life didn’t always revolve around her, that’s what he thought. He was afraid that being in the same class with her would make him lost his focus. After all, he realized that he was head over heels with the girl.

“Someone is waiting for you,” Hana, the girl that was sitting next to her, nudged on Aerin’s shoulder when she caught a sight of Chanyeol peeking inside the class and landing his eyes on their desk. Aerin looked up to the direction her friend was pointing at and smiled. “Aerin, I have an appointment, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess?”

Aerin waved her goodbye before turning her heels to reach Chanyeol. “Hi.” She smiled sincerely.

The boy watched as she closed the distance between them, but he reached her first before she did and threw himself at her. Chanyeol engulfed her tiny frame with his long arms, bringing her closer to him, making sure that there’s no more gap between t