Realistic or Modern 𝓜𝓮𝓻𝓪𝓴𝓲 - 𝓘𝓒

[Stardust Galaxy]

 

[Stardust Galaxy]

KANG SOO-MIN

location: antique shop

mood: my body and my heart aches

outfit: Here

interactions: Minhee Stellar Nursery

For sure today hadn't been a good day for Soo-Min, she was almost late to school and Miss Kyung wasn't making it any easier today, constantly telling her to fix her posture, that she wasn't jumping high enough or that she didn't look graceful while she danced, Soo-Min knew was trying her best but it seemed no one really saw she was really trying, not even her parents who every day that passed started believing that the dream of her daughter would never happen since there wasn't any improvement on her ranking and she was often being called due to her lack of talent compared to her fellow ballet classmates.

She knew that coming to Seoul wasn't going to be easy, she could still remember how many times she asked her parents to allow her to move to the city to be able to fulfill her dream and with a lot of reluctance they accepted, maybe Soo-Min was really stupid to think that because she was one of the best ballerinas in Gangneung, she would succeed in Seoul, but it seemed it was the complete opposite every day that passed, she felt that she was getting away from her dream. It was almost like life was telling her that she was just an untalented person and that she would never be able to make it.

Was she jealous of her other classmates that were able to be on stage? The answer was yes, she always got sad seeing everyone be in awe while they saw the presentation, while she was just still the alternate of the alternate and saw everything from the sidelines, she would do anything in order to be on that main stage even if it was for just one minute, to have someone be mesmerized by her dancing, but it seemed that wasn't going to happen soon, since everyone continued to remind her that she wasn't good enough, something that broke Soo-Min's heart just a little bit more every time she heard those words. Would there be anyone that would believe in her and tell her she was going to succeed and that she just needed to wait a little bit more? Probably no.

Finally, after a long day of practice and being yelled for making the class fell behind, she was finally able to leave the dance academy for the night, she was probably going to return to her small apartment and cry until she fell asleep, thinking why life was so difficult and why she was just a failure, but somehow she didn't want to go home yet, maybe she just wanted to avoid the loneliness and the noise of the city was a distractor, she started wandering around the area with nowhere to go, she saw the smiles on the people and made her wondered when was the last time she really felt that happy.

As she made her way around, she saw all the stores all of them seemed so interesting, but that's when she noticed an antique shop, she felt the necessity to walk and see what was inside, maybe it was just her tired state that made her not think straight, it wasn't like she was going to buy something, as she opened the door she listened to the small bell of the door ringing, telling to the owner that a new customer was here, but it seemed no one came to receive her.

Soo-Min walked around the store seeing all the extravagances, that's when she was faced with a small music box, the design was intricate but elegant, like something that you would think would belong to the royalty, she smiled seeing it, it remembered her at the one she had when she was a kid but that Bomi her youngest sister broke. Soo-Min was devastated when that happened, but seeing the music box it took her at the times when she was a kid and she would play it again once the song was over, when times were easier and friendlier, if only she could go back to those days of happiness.

codebytriples

 

[Stellar Nursery]

HAN MINHEE

location: antique shop
tags: soomin

I probably have no choice but to move on. There’s no way I can turn back time, so I have no choice but to go the full distance. I don’t mind holding hands with these dark feelings. I can even embrace them.

Min-hee hated being poor. He'd gotten into plenty of fights at school before, but he'd always been able to wriggle his way out of any punishment. Considering how shitty his dad was, bailing him out of trouble was the least he could do for his son. But this time was different. This time he didn't have the safety net of money and power, so now he was stuck with two weeks of detention. How fun. After he'd gone to all that effort to stay out of trouble, it was such a shame that his combo had to be broken by something that wasn't even his fault. He hadn't even flirted with that guy's girlfriend. In fact, he thought she was ugly as hell! But apparently that was the wrong answer, so he'd decided to sick his posse on Min-hee like rabid dogs. What an annoyance.

When he left the school, he found his mother waiting outside. She was trying her best to look angry, glaring down at him with her arms crossed. "Come on, I'll punish you when you get home from work." She said, opening the passenger door of the car. She wasn't doing a bad job at pretending to be mad, but he could see pity flash in her eyes when she saw his split lip. He imagined she was thinking something along the lines of 'I feel so sorry for my poor, damaged son. I need to show him what a true mother's love is so he can heal from his oh-so-traumatic childhood.' What gave her the right to pity him? What made her think she could come waltzing back into his life after seven years so she could 'save' him? He threw open the car door without a word and got in. She seemed upset by his silence for a moment, and then she got in and started driving.

She dropped Min-hee off about a ten minute walk from his work. The shop was pretty out of the way, so there weren't any roads around it, only walking paths. It was a little place with two floors, crammed in between two other buildings. It looked rather compressed from the outside, and the inside was equally crowded, with lots of little knick-knacks scattered around the tables and shelves. The second floor was where he and the old man worked, so it was much more spacious. Violins hung from every wall. Some were old and battered, in desperate need of repairing. Others were brand new, made to order by the old man who owned the shop. Despite how beaten down it looked, the shop had a strange charm that seemed to attract people with interesting stories to tell. The owner, an old Japanese man named Rakuma Hiroshi, was similarly charming. He'd been a well-known violinist as a young man, but retired to move to Korea with his wife and set up an antique shop.

At his workbench, he found a sticky note. "I'm going out on some business, so varnish this and then you can go home." It read. A violin made of dark wood sat on the workbench, accompanied by a bottle of varnish and a brush. Interesting. He sat down, laying the violin horizontally in front of him, and began to work. He'd never been given a new violin to work on — he usually repaired the old ones. He supposed the owner didn't want to leave him alone with a knife. Why was he even working here? He'd originally come to learn how to play violin, not how to make one. Although he had to admit he didn't hate it. He'd always been pretty good with his hands, and the satisfaction of playing a formerly broken violin that you'd fixed yourself was unparalleled.

Not long after he'd sat down to work, Min-hee heard the chime of the doorbell downstairs. Was the old man back? Wasn't he supposed to be out? He got up and stuck his head through the open door at the top of the stairs. "You're already ba- Oh?" The person who had arrived was not, in fact, an old man. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here?" He asked, making his way down the spiral staircase, the rusted metal clanking with each step he took. They didn't get very many customers at all, and especially not ones like her. Most of their clients were hobbyists, ranging from middle age to elderly. Of course they had a few younger customers, but the shop was so well hidden that it was hard to find unless you went out of your way to search for it. She seemed to be around the same age as him, probably a high schooler. She was probably the perceptive type if she'd noticed their shop among all the larger, flashier buildings. Or perhaps she'd heard about it from somebody. Either way, he found himself feeling quite curious about her.

He came to stand beside her, peering over at the music box she held in her hand. "Oh, this? We've had it for years." He commented. "Apparently it was one of the first things the owner put on display when he opened the shop, but nobody has ever bought it. Are you interested in it?"

 

[Stardust Galaxy]

KANG SOO-MIN

location: antique shop

mood: my body and my heart aches

outfit: Here

interactions: Minhee Stellar Nursery

Why thinking about the past was making Soo-Min so sad, was it because life was easier back then. And she wasn't faced with so many difficulties and where she still believed she would be able to accomplish her dream, maybe she was too tired, and that's why she was emotional after all it had been a long day. Were her eyes getting teary? She wasn't about to start crying in the middle of an antique shop just because she saw a music box that reminded her of the one she used to have.

Maybe she really needed to leave and go back to her apartment before she broke down in the middle of the store and when someone appeared they would think she just went crazy and they needed to call the police or something like that, she didn't want to be a burden, more than she already was to everyone around her, she didn't want to add a stranger to the list of people she had upset.

She was about to leave the music box in the place that she saw it when a voice was heard "What's a pretty girl like you doing here?" the voice said out loud breaking the silence that was in the store, she was taken back at the sudden noise that she just jumped on surprise and hold tightly the music box not wanting to break it and getting into trouble, she turned to see where the voice came and was faced with a guy who was making her way downstairs. Was he talking to her? Well, there wasn't another person in the store. But calling her a pretty girl when she could be a potential customer wasn't a bit odd?

As she saw the guy going towards her she noticed that he was young so he couldn't be the owner of the store, he looked around her age so he was for sure a part-timer worker, one that for some reason called the costumers pretty, that was for sure quite the marketing strategy. Before, she had any chance to say something. The guy was already next to her and was peering at the music box she was holding. "Oh, this? We've had it for years. Apparently, it was one of the first things the owner put on display when he opened the shop, but nobody has ever bought it. Are you interested in it?" were the words of the guy.

Soo-Min looked at the guy as he talked, she noticed the split lip and she wondered if he had been in some kind of fight, he didn't seem like the type of bad guy that would get into fights all the time, but he maybe was the type of guy to really not filter his thoughts, but who was Soo-Min to judge him? "Really no one has ever wanted to buy it? Is so pretty though, it reminded me of the one I had when I was a child, I would love to have it, but I don't think I would be able to afford it" she said as she placed back the music box to where it belonged "Sorry for taking away your time, I hope you weren't busy" she said embarrassed.

codebytriples

 

[Stellar Nursery]

HAN MINHEE

location: antique shop
tags: soomin

I probably have no choice but to move on. There’s no way I can turn back time, so I have no choice but to go the full distance. I don’t mind holding hands with these dark feelings. I can even embrace them.

He stared at the girl beside him out of the corner of his eye, feeling concerned. She looked like she was about to burst into tears any second. Did she care about the music box that much? Or maybe she'd just had a bad day. Well, he could relate to that. "Yeah, I guess nobody ever noticed it since it's surrounded by so much other junk." He said. Neither him nor the owner were great at organisation, so the shop was filled with stuff buried by more stuff. They probably should have taken some time to clean it up, but Min-hee had no interest in that. He was here to learn violin, not do retail work.

"What, this little thing? It can't be that expensive." He said, reaching out to take the music box from the shelf. He turned it around in his hands, examining it carefully. There was no bar-code. No price tag either. Wait, did it even still work? It had been lying around for years, after all. He turned the crank of the music box and opened it, and a quiet, twinkling melody began to play. Ah, this was Waltz of the Flowers from The Nutcracker. He knew how to play this, although he thought it sounded much better with accompaniment than on its own. "Well, there's no price written on it." He said, shutting the lid again. "But if you're willing to wait, you can sit upstairs in the workshop until the owner comes back."

He made his way through the packed tables and shelves, taking care not to knock anything over. He didn't particularly want to end up in crippling debt by accidentally breaking a precious heirloom or something. Sometimes he wondered how the hell people got around in here, but the owner seemed to know each nook and cranny intimately. It sounded like a waste of brain-space to Min-hee, but he supposed everyone had their hobbies. Leading the way up the stairs, he realised the workshop wasn't exactly in a state for visitors. There were two workbenches beside each other in the top left corner, with a large rectangular table in the middle. Tools hung on hooks on the sides of the table — knives, brushes, the like. The walls were covered mostly in violins, although there were a handful of other items that had been given to them to repair. Clearing away anything potentially dangerous from the workbench beside his own, he gestured for her to sit. "I have my own work," He said, referring to the unfinished violin sitting on his desk, "but you can wait here for now."

He sat down at his desk so that he could get back to work, putting the music box in the corner. The varnish was already starting to dry, and he hadn't even done a full coat yet. He picked up a brush and started to apply varnish to the parts that were still untouched. "Bad day today?" He asked, eyes still glued to the violin. "You looked like you were going to start crying right on the spot a couple minutes ago." He'd spoken out of curiosity, but he was worried he'd just opened Pandora's box. What if she started actually crying this time? He wasn't good at comforting people.

 

[Stardust Galaxy]

KANG SOO-MIN

location: antique shop

mood: my body and my heart aches

outfit: Here

interactions: Minhee Stellar Nursery

Soo-Min had to agree with the guy on why the music box would not be seen around all the things that were around the store that just made the place feel cramped that a small object like that one would just get lost so easily. She was confused about why if he was a part-timer, there never thought of organizing everything maybe, his boss thought it was the best setting, and that was the magic of antique shops.

She thought that after excusing herself saying that she wouldn't be able to afford the music box, the guy would just tell her that it was okay and wished her a nice day like any other person that would work on a store. Instead, he grabbed the music box, and said it couldn't be expensive, wasn't he supposed to know that, to begin with? Maybe the music box was so hidden that they had never put a price or he was just a really bad seller.

He started the crank of the music box, and the sweet melody started playing, she recognized the melody instantly, it was the Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker. It took her back when she had the role of Clara back when used to live in Gwangju, it was one of her favorite ballets back then she was the main role, but now she was far from being even on the stage. The beautiful made her happy, but at the same time incredible sad to realize she was never good enough, she was so lost in her thoughts that it took her by surprise when the guy spoke again saying the music box didn't have a price written on it, but she could wait for the owner, maybe that was her call to leave the store, but it seemed the guy was sure she would follow him.

Should she even follow him, to begin with? He was a stranger and was asking her to go upstairs with him to wait until the owner arrived, didn't that sound like one of those situations in horror movies where the bad guy would lure the innocent girl to kill her, sure he didn't look like a psychopath, but maybe that was his facade to look like a cute guy that would say to a girl that she was cute, and then stab her in the back and hide the body, and she would never be found ever again, was this how her life was going to end?

Maybe she was exaggerating, and she could give him the benefit of the doubt, he had been nice so far, and he didn't seem like a scary guy. So, with a blind trust, she followed the guy upstairs. As they made it to the workshop, she noticed how the guy organized everything as much as she could so she wouldn't get hurt with the tools, maybe he wasn't mean after all. She nodded as he told her he had work to do, she took a seat not knowing what to do. She hoped that the owner wouldn't take that long.

Soo-Min thought that they wouldn't talk, mostly because he was busy with work and also because she was not the best when it came to conversations with new people. She wasn't expecting at all that he would ask if she had a bad day, and how she looked she was about to start crying if she didn't cry before she was sure she was going to start crying right now, she couldn't remember when was the last time someone asked her how she felt and show concern on her, would a stranger be more worried for her than all her friends and family?

She wanted to cry, but she couldn't do it that would only cause more trouble, and she didn't want to be a burden more than she already was. Was it worth it to say the truth instead of lying and making sure that if everyone thought everything was okay she would also believe it? But Soo-Min didn't want to keep secrets, she didn't want to lie she just wanted someone to listen to her and made her believe that everything would be okay. "Was that obvious? I guess you could say so, I just spent all day disappointing people, in school and my ballet academy, but it's been a while since I had a good day, to begin with so being like this has just become on my regular days." She replied as she held tightly her sweatshirt trying not to cry.

"Did you had a rough day too? You know, because of your split lip" she asked him, not sure if he was willing to talk about his day just like she was "Sorry, just ignore me, I don't want pressure you to talk to me about your day." She added embarrassed not knowing what else to say "Building violins is fun?" She asked him trying to change the subject, she was sure embarrassing herself, socializing was not Soo-Min was good, but was she good in something, to begin with?

codebytriples

 

[Stellar Nursery]

HAN MINHEE

location: antique shop
tags: soomin

I probably have no choice but to move on. There’s no way I can turn back time, so I have no choice but to go the full distance. I don’t mind holding hands with these dark feelings. I can even embrace them.

"Was that obvious?" Yeah, it was pretty obvious. Glancing at her, he realised she was on the verge of tears again. This was bad. He really had opened Pandora's box. He could only imagine the scolding he'd get if the owner came back to find a crying girl in his shop. As he listened to her speak, he started to understand why she was so upset. "I see..." He said softly, the hand that held his brush slowing down as he concentrated on her words, "So you do ballet..."

He didn't have first-hand experience, but he'd learned a fair bit about ballet during his studies to take over the family company. Ballet was a brutal industry. It was filled with injuries, eating disorders, endless practice, ruthless competition, and they had to dance through all the pain with a smile. And even after that, you could be replaced at the drop of a hat if you fall behind even the slightest bit. "Do you want to be a pro ballerina?" He asked. Did this girl have the passion to continue on in spite of all that? Or did she intend to give up?

Min-hee raised a hand to brush his lip when she mentioned it. "This? Oh, I got into a fight." It wasn't really something to get worked up over. Sure, he'd been trying to lay low ever since he'd moved, but a fight wasn't exactly an unusual occurrence for him. No, what had really put him in a bad mood was his mother's disgusting pity. He knew that she was going to give him a sickly sweet speech about peace and friendship when he got home, a speech that he had already decided to block out of his head. "Well, I guess you're right to say it's been a rough day. But if I let this much get to me, I'd never get anything done." After all, if he spent all day moping, he wouldn't have any time to come up with a plan to escape detention.

It was a relief when the topic of violins came up. He was pretty sure he was in safe territory now, now he just needed to try not to upset her further. "I'd rather be playing a violin than making one," He said with a grin, unable to hide his delight at being able to talk about his passion, "but this isn't too bad either." He finished off the coat of varnish, holding up the violin to admire his own handiwork. It looked good! Maybe the old man would be so impressed with it that he'd finally let him get his hands on the knives. He didn't want to sit around fixing broken violins anymore, he wanted to carve one out himself. "Pretty good, right?" He boasted as he showed her the finished product.

Min-hee got up out his seat, making his way to an empty wall mount so he could hang the violin to dry. At that moment, he heard the ring of the bell downstairs, followed by heavy footsteps on the wooden floor. "Oh, this is probably-" He began, walking to the door to see who had arrived, "Ahjussi, you're back! Get up here, there's a customer waiting." He called down to him.

"You're working me to the bone, Min-hee." Chuckled the owner of the shop as he hung his jacket on the coat rack. His boots clunked dully on the stairs, and his face crinkled into a smile when he saw the girl sitting in the workshop.

"She wants to know how much this costs." Said Min-hee, picking up the music box from his workbench and tossing it to him. "Here."

The old man was unsteady on his feet and barely caught it with two hands. "You need to be more careful with these things." He said as he regained his balance.

"And you need to start labeling your things." Min-hee grumbled. Who was he to be lecturing him when he couldn't even run his own shop properly?

"Ah, I remember this music box. You have a good eye, young lady. May I ask your name?" The owner said with a smile, either having not heard Min-hee's comment or having decided to ignore it. He seemed like a nice old man, but he could be pretty rude sometimes. But then again, he would never deign to work under a man without a backbone. "This would be... 200,000 won." He said as he turned the object around in his hands, admiring the intricacies of its design.

"200,000 won?" Min-hee snorted. "That's nothing." The engagement ring his dad had bought for his step-mother had been one billion won, and that thing was tiny. 200,000 won was practically pocket money. "So, are you buying it?" He asked expectantly, turning back to the girl.

"200,000 won is actually quite expensive for a music box. Please don't feel bad if you can't buy it." Said the old man. Expensive? It was? As if reading his thoughts, the old man added, "After all, I don't believe you'd be able to buy this either, Min-hee."

"What? Of course I wou-" Oh. Right. He didn't have that kind of money anymore. It felt like forever, but it had only been a few months since his dad went bankrupt. It was easy to forget that he was what you would call working class now. "-ldn't." He'd been slapped in the face with his poverty twice today. It was pretty humiliating. "Sorry I kept you waiting for so long. Guess I wasted your time..." He trailed off, swallowing back his embarrassment.

 

[Stardust Galaxy]

KANG SOO-MIN

location: antique shop

mood: my body and my heart aches

outfit: Here

interactions: Minhee Stellar Nursery

Soo-Min wasn’t sure if the guy was being hesitant when she told her she was a ballerina, would it be too hard to see on her because when you thought of one you would think on someone that was collected but also had that fierce side to go against the odds in order to be on stage, maybe she being on the verge of tears didn’t help at all in her case.

Or maybe he was just trying to be nice and comprehend her pain, even if he didn’t know about the ballet world, she felt thankful that someone seemed to care about her and tried to understand her. Soo-Min was caught up on her own thoughts, that she almost missed When the guy asked her if she wanted to be a pro ballerina.

Did she still had that dream? The Soo-Min of a couple years ago would have said yes without thinking and with a smile on her face, but the actual Soo-Min was still holding on the last thread of that dream trying to protect it as if her life depended on it while everyone was trying to cut that thread. But was it worth it to still continue to reach for that dream when everyone around her continue telling her she wasn’t good enough?

Should she lie and say yes even if she wasn’t completely sure or just tell the truth that she wasn’t sure she would even make it? “That’s what I always wanted since I was a kid, but as every day passes that dream just gets far away from me. Is hard to keep up a dream when everyone keeps telling you, you are not good enough.” She replied sadly “Sorry, I didn’t want to bother you with my problems.” She added, Soo-Min didn’t want to be a burden to someone else, they had better things to do than listening how she was a failure.

Soo-Min got surprised when the guy said he got into a fight as of it was the most common thing in the world, wa she kind of a troublemaker that loved fighthing people just for the rush of adrenaline. She wanted to ask if he got into fights constantly, but she also knew it was better to keep her distance to avoid misunderstandings. Soo-Min was sure that his words of not letting things get to him weren’t directed to her, but still she felt the pain, that all her failures were thanks to her, because she was weak and didn’t believe in herself more.

When he mentioned that he would prefer playing the violin and not making one, Soo-Min wondered if he played the violin. Did he wanted to become a violinist or it was just a hobby? She was about to ask him when he spoke to show her the violin he was working “It does look good, looks like a new one.” She said with a light smile. Just as she saw the guy hang the violin the bell of the store was heard would it be the owner or another costumer? But the way he addressed the newcomer it was for sure the owner.

Soo-Min listened to the old man as he talk to the guy, so Min-Hee was his name, then he told the owner that she was wondering how much the music box cost and as he said that she saw him throwing the music box at the owner. Soo-Min was sure she almost saw everything in slow motion and how the music made her way to the hands of the old man, she was sure she was going to start crying right there if the music box broke, couldn’t he be more careful? And the owner of the store said out loud what she was thinking.

She smiled shyly when the owner said she had a good eye, she just thought the music box was cute she didn’t have a clue about antiques. “Soo-Min. Kang Soo-Min” she replied to the old man when he asked her about her name. Then he said out loud the price of the music box and once again Soo-Min’s dream fall apart 200,000 won was the price, the amount of money was just a dream for her. How much money did she had save? Probably around 30,000 won and that was what she saved in a year. There was no way she would be able to buy the music box. Why she was so dumb she knew from the beginning that she wouldn’t be able to pay for it and still she stayed just to reaffirm what she already knew.

She wasn’t expecting that Min-Hee would ask her if she was going to buy the music box. Did he really think she would have that amount of money? In the other hand the owner knew it was expensive and for a high schooler it would be impossible only if you were rich, something that Soo-Min wasn’t.

Once Min-Hee realized the situation he apologized for wasting her time, he didn’t waste her time, just having him asking her about her day was more meaningful than anything, it was the first time in a long time that she felt seen, but would it be weird to say that to him, when they were complete strangers? “Is okay, don’t worry I was expecting it would be expensive. You didn’t waste my time I had fun seeing you work on that violin it really looks interesting” she said with a light smile trying to light up the mood and cheer up Min-Hee “I guess, I should get going, it was nice to meet you Min-Hee and sorry for the inconvenience. ” She added.

codebytriples

 

[Stellar Nursery]

HAN MINHEE

location: antique shop
tags: soomin

I probably have no choice but to move on. There’s no way I can turn back time, so I have no choice but to go the full distance. I don’t mind holding hands with these dark feelings. I can even embrace them.

Min-hee brightened up a little when Soo-min said she'd had fun. At least it hadn't been a complete waste of time. He saw her off as she left, the doorbell chiming one final time as the door shut behind her. Kang Soo-min, huh? She was a pretty interesting girl. As he turned away from the door to go back into the workshop, he paused for a moment, and wondered if he would ever see her again.

∘₊✧──────✧₊∘​

Han Min-hee did not like weekends. Why was that? After all, most high school students looked forward to the weekend because they could finally get a break from school. Well, for Min-hee, weekends were 'family bonding time', also known as his mother's emotional torture. Last week they'd gone out to dinner and she'd attacked him with an endless barrage of questions about how he was doing, whether he was settling into school well, whether he was having a hard time, everything. Why did she care so much? It was annoying.

Luckily, this week he'd been able to weasel his way out of it. He was going to a ballet school. One of the teachers at the academy had reached out to his mother because they needed a violinist to accompany one of their dancers and it seemed that they wanted him for the job. Well, they weren't going to hear any complaints from him. It had been a while since he'd done a proper performance. When he was younger, he used to play in competitions all the time, but ever since he'd moved in with his mum, he'd been keeping a low profile. He kind of missed it. The white, hot stage lights shining on his face as beads of sweat rolled down his neck, his pulse beginning to race as he reached a particularly difficult section, and especially the thunderous applause resounding at the end as a reward for his hard work, he loved and longed for all of it dearly.

He was rather curious as to who he would be working with. Whoever it was better not be wasting his time. He refused to play for an amateur. It seemed that there were going to be auditions, so he was hoping he'd have at least some input on the final decision. After all, he would know best who would suit his style. Any dancer he was accompanying would have to have overpowering stage presence. Otherwise, Min-hee would end up hijacking their performance. After all, he was the kind of guy who liked to shine. If he played for someone who couldn't keep up, then his music would end up swallowing them whole. Well, ballet was such an intense art form that it was almost like a sport, so he supposed the brutal competition would have whipped them into shape by this point.

When he reached the doors of the ballet school, he took a moment to survey the outside. It wasn't that anything in particular had caught his eye, but even he needed a moment to compose himself before going into a school full of top-class ballerinas. Clutching the strap of the violin case that was slung over his left shoulder, he pushed open the door. His head went in before the rest of his body, checking to see if there were people inside. Little clusters of boys and girls in leotards peppered the corridor. A few of them turned their heads to look at him, before quickly dismissing him and returning to their conversations.

Min-hee grabbed a crumpled up paper out of his pocket, roughly unraveling it to read the contents. Who the hell gave information on paper nowadays? He wished the teacher would have had the decency to just send him a text instead. The room number of the class was written on the wrinkled paper. Now... what the fuck did that number mean? He looked around the corridor, hoping to find a lone student that he could corner until they told him how to get to the classroom. Ah, there you go! He spotted a girl standing alone, staring at her phone like her life depended on it. "Hey, you!" He called out to her. She took no notice. Well, that was irritating, but he couldn't blame her. He shifted the violin case higher on his back so as to better support it, and approached her.

As he drew closer, the girl raised her head to look at him. "Where's this room?" He asked, thrusting the paper out in front of him to show her. Probably surprised by his directness, she fumbled for words for a moment, before giving him the directions to the correct classroom. "Hmm, I see..." He mumbled, stroking his chin. "Thanks!" At least one person here was helpful. Or perhaps that Miss Kyung lady was just supremely unhelpful. Either way, he started his march to the classroom immediately, not wanting to waste any more time.

He walked the halls, occasionally peeking through the classroom doors to see students practicing. It seemed like hard work. He had to admit, ballet looked pretty cool. Dancers were always doing crazy things with their bodies in order to make beautiful shapes. Well, ballet wasn't as cool as violin though. All those ballerinas would probably look like idiots if they were dancing to silence, after all. Music was a key part of any performance, whether people realised it or not. That feeling of being able to control the audience's emotions and reactions without them even noticing it, like an invisible puppet master... it was addictive.

Arriving at the classroom, he rapped on the door. A beat passed, and then a woman he didn't recognise opened the door. Was this the 'Miss Kyung' he'd been told about? She greeted him and moved to make space for him to come in. He stepped into the room and scanned the faces of the students, wondering which of them he would be accompanying. At that moment, his eyes came to rest upon a very familiar face. "Oh! Kang Soo-min!" He yelled on reflex, his mood immediately lifting. So she hadn't given up on her dream just yet, huh? He wasn't sure why, but that made him kind of... happy. Despite the fact that they were complete opposites in personality, he saw a little bit of himself in her love for ballet.

 

[Stardust Galaxy]

KANG SOO-MIN

location: ballet school

mood: what are you doing here?

outfit: Here

interactions: Minhee Stellar Nursery

Even if she was disappointed couldn't buy the music box at the end, everything wasn't bad sure she couldn't change the past and avoid getting scolded by her ballet teacher or almost not making her to class because she was running late, but at least talking to Minhee made her day bearable and even he brightened it just a little bit as crazy as that sounded, she wondered if their paths would find each other again or if it was only a coincidence that would never repeat.

For Soo-Min, the weekends were just another regular day going to her ballet class and later returning to her place to do homework, it sounded boring, but she was, already used to it she didn't have time to hang out with friends and not because, she didn't want to, but because ballet and school used all of her energy and because she needed to save every penny she had for ballet shoes since her parents were really strict with money, she still believed it was a miracle that she hadn't told her to move back. But she wouldn't think about that now that only meant she still had some chances to make her dream come true, she just wasn't sure if that would happen in the first place.

That weekend was different from the rest since they would be holding an open audition for their next presentation, this time instead of doing the usual ballet showcases like the Swan Lake or the Nutcracker the performance was going to be focused on a violinist and a ballerina, one lucky dancer would have the opportunity to have performance all by herself and be the star of her show along with the musician, getting that role would only prove that Soo-Min was able to shine, but desiring something was not the same as actually obtaining it.

Just the thought of sharing a stage with a violinist made her remember of Minhee and how he said he mentioned he preferred playing the violin that making them, have the violin that he varnished that day already sold or it was just a learning project? Maybe she should have asked when she had the chance that day instead of wondering days later. But right now she shouldn't be thinking about Minhee, she needed to focus on the audition, they learned the combination during that week and she practiced for it like her life depend on it, she just wanted an opportunity to be on stage and as time passed it was almost as her opportunities were getting away.

As Soo-Min saw more and more of the ballerinas making their way to the practice room, it just made her even more nervous than she already was, as she rehearsed, she could feel some stares on her, she was sure everyone thought that it was crazy that she continued trying when she was classified as one of the worst dancers of her class, Soo-Minwas sure she was known more about how much she got scolded by her teachers than her actual talent, maybe it wasn't a good idea to try for it, she should have stayed at home that wasn't her place, she was just wasting everyone's time and she would just embarrass herself even more.

Was she going to start crying? She couldn't do that she didn't want to be a crybaby, but maybe she was one, after all, she needed to calm down it wasn't the end of the world, but miss Kyung was already there and Soo-Min was sure she would get in more trouble if she left than just messing her audition, she just needed to take some deep breaths and calm herself and everything would be okay, she could do this, right? Her nerves were getting the best of her that she jumped out of scare as she heard her name being said out loud, it didn't take long until she identified the owner of that voice, it was no one else than Minhee.

Soo-Min was happy to see him again, but at the same time, she just wanted to disappear. Why did he have to say her name that loud? Now everyone was looking at her direction she just felt her face getting red that wasn't the type of attention that Soo-Min wanted "Do you know him? Is he your boyfriend or something like that?" One of her classmates asked her curiously "What! No, he is just... a friend?" Soo-Min replied not sure if her words were believable but saying that they knew each other because he was the guy that listened to her when she was on the edge of crying and that he wanted her to buy a music box that she wouldn't be able to afford anytime soon didn't sound better.

Should she go and greet him? Or just ignore it? Wouldn't that make things more awkward than they already were? Maybe a quick hi wouldn't hurt anyone, she walked cautiously towards him, once she was in front of him she really didn't know what to say she was conscious that everyone was watching them if she knew she would end in this situation she would have just worn a cuter leotard "What are you doing here?" She asked shyly, not really knowing what to do or say that's when she noticed the violin case on his shoulder, how were the chances that Minhee could be the violinist that would be the companion of the lucky ballerina that would succeed in the audition?

She was going to ask him, but instead, she was interrupted by Miss Kyung "Miss Kang if you have time to talk to boys maybe you should use that time instead to improve your technique that had been lacking constantly" Afters those words Soo-Min apologized, she was already getting in trouble, it didn't take long until her ballet teacher announced that the audition would start and that they would choose some girls to be the possible companion of Minhee who happened to be the violinist that would be their companion.

Soo-Min rushed back to her place and wished for once that she could be one of the candidates, she just wanted a chance, she just needed to prove herself in front of everyone and show that she could do it and maybe having Minhee there could help her to have more confidence, she just needed to give it her all, and show that she could be on the stage for the first time.

codebytriples

 

[Stellar Nursery]

HAN MIN-HEE

H

e paused when everyone turned to look at Soo-min. Maybe he had been too loud? Her cheeks did seem unusually flushed. He guessed he had embarrassed her. So she was the type to get flustered easily... cute. "Do you know him? Is he your boyfriend or something like that?" Min-hee held back laughter. They had only spoken to each other once. Well, their first encounter would be pretty confusing to explain. How do you tell someone that you wasted a customer's time by making them wait to find out the price of a product they couldn't afford? At any other job, that would've gotten him fired.

She approached him meekly, mouse-like, asking what he was doing here. "Can't you tell?" He asked, flashing his violin case. "I'm doing a performance with one of the ballerinas. Never thought I'd see you here though." He said. He broke into a smug grin. "Maybe if you're good, that ballerina could be you." Obviously not having seen her dance before, he was curious as to how skilled she was. Last time he'd seen her, she seemed less than confident in her ability. That wasn't a good sign. But he'd have to see her dance first before he could make any judgements. Perhaps she would impress him. Although he didn't think it would be all that difficult to impress him — he barely knew anything about dancing.

Then Miss Kyung decided to make a snide comment about her. Wow, his opinion of this teacher was dwindling every time she opened her mouth. And the fact that Soo-min immediately apologised, as though it was second nature, made his blood boil. "If you have time to be insulting your students, maybe you should use that time to improve your teaching skills instead?" He retorted nonchalantly, not even turning to look at her. "I'd say a lack of skill is more reflective on the teacher than the student." Would she be angry at him for his insolence? Almost certainly. But he doubted she could just get rid of him — it would take time and money to find another violinist. And if they were hiring a teenage boy instead of a professional, he only assumed that was time and money they didn't have.

Miss Kyung began briefing everyone on the audition process. Apparently this first round was only to narrow down the pool of candidates, and there would be another audition later on. So why was he here again? This teacher continued to prove her incompetency. He took a seat next to her, scanning the faces of the ballerinas auditioning. Seeing all these people competing to perform with him sure was an ego boost. Normally it was the other way around. He had been competing with other musicians all throughout his life, and he hadn't always won. So seeing people who wanted — no, needed his skills? It was a rush, to say the least. I guess I'd better work hard. I'll give these losers a performance of a lifetime.

It was time for the audition to begin. Who among these students would be his partner? His gaze landed on Soo-min... was he hoping it would be her? It seemed he was more attached to this girl than he realised. Why did he care whether she was any good or not? It was probably just because he'd heard her whole sob story already. He couldn't care less about most people's lives, and yet here he was, completely emotionally invested in this random girl. Was it a biological thing? Maybe men felt compelled to protect crying girls, or something like that. There had to be some kind of explanation for why he had taken an interest in her, and yet it remained a mystery to him.

永遠

"

No matter who it is, I won’t let you catch up to me, let alone get ahead of me.

 

[Stardust Galaxy]

One thing was to perform in front of her teachers, she was already used to their glares as she danced and how they would point out even the smallest mistake, sure it was harsh, but Soo-Min was already used to it, or at least that's what she wanted to believe, but it was a completely different thing to dance in front of Minhee, it was obvious that he didn't know anything about ballet and the technique, but she was confident that he was the type of person that wouldn't sugarcoat what he was thinking or feeling, she could almost picture him telling her that her dancing was awful and that she should do a favor to everyone and give up in that dream, it was a harsh scenario, but that didn't mean it could not happen.

Maybe she shouldn't be so pessimistic and with his lack of knowledge in ballet he would think she was good, but that wasn't kind of sad? Has she already given up on impressing her teachers and classmates and she would be satisfied with having a guy she had only seen once telling her she was good? She was sure she couldn't be lamer.

As soon as she apologized after Miss Kyung's statement it didn't take long until Minhee snapped back, she wasn't expecting that at all, in other circumstances she would be happy that he jumped to defend her, but in this situation, it just only made everything worse, it was obvious that Soo-Min wasn't on the list of good students of her teacher and now adding that she was mostly the person that could make or break Soo-Min into a professional ballerina didn't help her case now that she would have this idea that she and Minhee had some kind of relationship, maybe it was time to pack her stuff and move back to Gwangju and faced her parents as they told her she just wasted a lot of money and she should have focused on entering university.

As the words continued to left the mouth of Minhee, she wondered when he was going to shut up, the more he spoke the more he was digging her grave, on a desperate attempt to shut him up she pressed her hands against his mouth, and there went the formalities, but desperate situations needed desperate actions and right now it was a desperate situation. "Please, don't speak anymore" she begged almost in a whisper.

After the small incident that Minhee caused, Miss Kyung announced that the audition was going to start now, Soo-Min took her position, she reassured that the number that was in the front of her leotard was attached. As soon as the audition started she was no longer Kang Soo-min instead, she was just number 56 and that would be the name she would have if she was rejected or selected. Once she was in her place she patted her stomach three times a habit she developed through the years to calm her nerves and once she did, she set her mind to the sequence they were supposed to present.

The process of the audition started with all the ballerinas doing the basic skills on the ballet barre, and surprisingly some students didn't make it past this stage, it didn't take long until numbers were started to be saying out loud, and everytime she heard a number that was in the row of fifty, Soo-Min's heart stopped every time. Once that was over they were meant to show the ballet sequence that they were taught, during this time, she could felt her nerves on her stomach wanting to be free, but she couldn't let them free, she needed to do her best, as soon as the music was heard, her body started moving on her own, arabesque's, relevé's and grand jetes were part of the complicated choreography.

Once it was over, it was time for a decision, the rush of adrenaline that Soo-Min felt at that moment was making her even more nervous than she already was, would she be able to make it? She was sure she messed up and her pirouettes were not clean enough or that her relevé was not high enough, just like every time she embarrassed herself in front of everyone. "We have made a decision and five of you would be moving to the next round for the audition, where you would have to perform with our guest so we can evaluate your teamwork" Miss Kyung started saying, as soon as she started talking it was obvious that you could cut the tension with a knife, Soo-Min closed her eyes praying so she would hear her number "The follow numbers that I mention would be the ones that are going to be moving on, number 27, 16, 73, 42 and... "Please say 56, just this time 56, congratulations you are moving on with the audition" the teacher said.

As soon as Soo-Min heard her number, she stopped listening to everything else Miss Kyung, she couldn't believe what was happening. Was that a dream and she was going to wake up at any moment? She just wanted to cry from happiness, is this how it felt to be acknowledged? Once the indications were over and everyone started leaving, Soo-Min still stay there still not believe what had just happened once she realized that the room was completely empty, Soo-Min broke down in tears, crying could be odd for some in this kind of situation, but that was the opportunity that she needed to continue with her dream and not giving up, she couldn't remember the last time she actually felt this happy.

Location: Ballet School | Mood: happy crying
Outift: Here | Interactions: Stellar Nursery

Kang Soo-Min

Code by Stardust Galaxy​