Finding My Way

Backstage, I pace around impatiently as the other dancers prepare for their piece. My hands won’t stop shaking and my feet don’t stop moving. Why isn’t he here yet.

“Jaemi-ah.” A voice calls for me.

I smile, turning around to the familiar with the voice and unexpectedly receive an embrace. I blink thrice.

“Oppa!” I yell and squeeze him harder.

He laughs and tightens the embrace.

“Sorry to make you worry. I forgot about the time and rode my bike here as fast as I could.” Jungkook smiles as I pull away from him.

“You didn’t come with your parents?” I ask, helping him get his belongings into a locker.

“No, they’re coming later. You?” Jungkook shrugs.

“Mine too… I sorta got into a fight with them. I didn’t want there to be a lecture on the car ride here, so I took the bus.” I bite my lip and he laughs. “Enough talk, go get ready.”

He pouts, but I widen my eyes and tilt my head. Isn't he happy? Why is he acting like this right now.

He sighs and heads for the bathroom to get changed.

It’s our last performance as juniors in dance academy. I want to make the most of it with him before I leave for the states with my parents.

I got accepted into Julliard. One of the best schools in America. Jungkook applied too… but he didn’t make it. Only one person was allowed from our academy to represent us at Julliard. I happened to make the cut, but I feel sympathetic towards Jungkook.

I turn to find him struggling to fit in his shoes. I grin and bend down at his feet.

“Let me do it.” I offer and I wriggle his shoe onto him until it was tight and snug. “Good shoes take you good places. I’m sure one of these days you're going to be the best male dancer in South Korea. And these shoes will take you there.”

He laughs as I pat his shoes and stand up.

“Like yours did with Julliard?” He stands up and cracks his neck. “C’mon, let’s practice once more before we go on.”

“Arraseo.” I follow him into the long, empty hallway.

We practice twice before we get it perfect without mistakes.

“Jaemi, Jungkook, you guys are up!” Someone calls for us.

My heart skips a beat, but we run until we’re behind the curtains.

“Are you guys ready?” Our teacher smiles and pinches my cheeks. “I’m so proud of you two. My best dancers at their last performance together. Your parents must be proud.”

“I hope so. Thank you for being such a great teacher, Minji.” Jungkook says and we both bow 90 degrees.

“It was only because you guys were my best students. I’ll see you after your performance! I want to get a good view of you two in the audience.” She runs away and we laugh at her.

“I’m going to definitely miss her.” I sigh and frown at Jungkook.

“Aigoo.” He ruffles my hair. “It’s not like you're going to be gone for that long. I bet you’ll visit on your vacations and come anxious to see me.”

I flick his hand off my hair with disappointment and he laughs.

“Okay, okay I’m sorry.” Jungkook smiles. He opens his mouth to say more, but the curtain pulls up.

We scurry to our places and get ready to dance. The music starts playing and the spotlight blinds us. A large smiles creeps up my face as I spot my teacher waving.

The dance she gave us was a mix between ballet and contemporary. I wear my pointe shoes, however, contemporary calls for regular ballet shoes. I hope I can pull this off.

Jungkook sets his hands on my hips and we dance synchronized to each other. At several points, me lifts he up in this dance. Smiles stay glued to our faces and our heads never leave the audience. The sharp dance movements make it trickier to stay on beat. I feel my heartbeat accerlate as the song picks up beat. Faster, faster, faster. We turn about thirty times in a row. You’d imagine we’d be so dizzy, but when we practiced for weeks, Minji made us turn one hundred times in a row. Jungkook and I do our final spins and flips and jumps, landing them perfectly. We smile at each other as we finish the dance perfectly.

Once the music stops, there’s a standing ovation. Jungkook grabs my hand and we lift our hands up before we bow twice. I search for the eyes of my parents, Jungkook’s parents, but they couldn’t be found. It was hard to identify them anyways because to us, the audience is all darkness. There should be about 1,000+ people seated here. It is one of the biggest theaters in South Korea.

Our hands stay meshed together as we rush offstage and are greeted by many other dancers. As they congratulate us, I can’t help but keep a smile on my face. My friends… the people I’ve grown up with. I’m going to miss them the most. Maybe even more than my parents.

After the entire performance is over, Jungkook and I wait for our parents in the lobby. We wait until the theater is crystal clear of people.

“Where are they?” I frown and check the empty theater once more.

“Maybe they’re waiting outside for us.” Jungkook shrugs. “Do you have your phone with you? I forgot mine at home, since I was in a rush.”

I grab my bag and pull out my cell.

“Dead battery.” I thin my lips. “Let’s just go outside.”

We wait on the many steps in front of the theater. Late at night. In darkness. The theater closes up, and we're left alone with nowhere to go.

“Oppa, how much longer are they going to be?” I wriggle his arm. He darts an annoyed look at me and I settle down. He softens his expression and pats my head.

“Just wait a little more. They shouldn’t be long, Jaemi-ah.” Jungkook grins.

I straighten my legs and tap my shoes together with disappointment. My lips maneuver to one side of my mouth.

“Kookie I’m bored.” I complain. “Wanna dance for me?”

He heaves a sigh at the floor, but looks up at me with a warm smile. His hands push off of the steps and he stands up. He stretches briefly before walking to the sidewalk under the street light.

“I have no music to dance to.” He shrugs.

Without hesitation, I start singing. He laughs at my gesture and begins to move his feet. He dances as I sing. Unfortunately, my voice isn’t fit for hip-hop, his favorite style of dancing. However, he still manages to sink into the song and dance so gracefully. It amazes me. I’m surprised he isn’t the one representing our dance academy.

He pauses mid-song and looks at me with hope.

“Ah, I have a phone charger in my bag.” Jungkook smiles and runs for his dance bag.

“You just realised that now?” I laugh and plug my phone in as he hands me the charger.

“My bad.” He shrugs and sits beside me. Our shoulders touch. “I don’t think our parents are going to be here anytime soon. Wanna go get some dinner?”

My stomach rumbles. “I have a twenty on me. Is that enough?”

“I have a hundo (hundred).” Jungkook winks at me, but I can’t tell in the darkness. “I was hoping I could bring you out to eat before you leave tomorrow. I guess this is just fate taking control. Let’s go somewhere fancy.”

We walk a few blocks until Jungkook finds a restaurant he’s satisfied with.

“Here? Isn’t this too expensive?” I say with a concerned look on my face.

“No, it’s the best goodbye dinner you’re going to have. It's even better because I'm here.” He smirks and pulls me gently by the arm into the restaurant.

We order korean beef with side dishes and lettuce. A huge meal for two people. Almost enough to feed a whole family.

“You’re going to eat all of this right?” I ask, motioning the huge amount of leftover food we had with my metal chopsticks.

“We’ll take it to go. My father especially likes this dish.” He grins and gestures our waitress for a check.

I smile at his friendly gesture. We’ve been friends ever since the first day we set foot at our dance academy. Three years ago. Since then, we did everything together, even summer vacations. Our families would come together and we’d go camping out in the woods. The food was amazing, but being with him was my heaven. I could never ask for a better friend.

He smiles at me as he hands the waitress the money for our food.

“I’m glad you enjoyed dinner tonight, Jaemi-ah.” His low voice soothes me. “I’m so happy to’ve met you. I don’t know what my life would be without our friendship.”

“I’m glad we’ve been friends all this time.” I smile wider. “My time in the dance academy wouldn’t be the same without you.”

For a minute, we just stare and admire each other. I memorize his features so I remember what he looks like when I’m gone. But, it’s not like I’m going to forget him. He’s really made a mark on my life.

Ring. Ring. … Ring. Ring.

“Oh, my phone turned on.” I reach for my bag and pull out my phone. “It’s my mother.”

I stand up with excitement. I slide my phone to answer her phone call.

“Eomma! Where’ve you been? Did you see our performance? Wasn’t it great? Jungkook and I are-”

“Hello? Is this Kim Jaemi? Are you related to the owner of this phone?” An unfamiliar voice makes me quiver.

I slouch and my voice loses its happy tone. “Yes, this is her. What’s wrong…”

Jungkook looks at me with concern, but I avoid his eyes.

“I’m sorry. We- my husband and I found her and three other people in a car accident. We took them to a hospital and… I-I’m so sorry.”

My heartbeat gradulates and I sit down. My hands begin to shake and I look up at Jungkook. He leans in closer.

“What happened?” He mouths.

------

Buses don’t run at this hour and taxi’s never come around this area. The only option he have is to run. My heart aches, like it’s being squeezed and compressed by a million hands. I have an unsatisfactory feeling. Once we arrive at the hospital, I call my mothers phone number once more.

I see a woman sitting with a man answer a phone and I immediately run towards them.

“Are you Kim Jaemi?” She looks at me surprised.

I nod, panting and struggling to catch my breath. Jungkook follows and pats my back.

“What happened.” Jungkook asks, desperate.

“We were on our way to the local market. When we turned onto a street, we found cars toppled on top of each other, on fire. We tried to save all of them, but were only able to get a woman out safely.” She pauses and shows pity towards me. “Let me take you to where you they are.”

We cautiously follow them, walking a meter behind them. Jungkook rubs his hand on my back, comforting me. I look at him and force a weak smile. We walk into a hallway where the rooms are visible through glass. The woman and her husband stop us at one point and puts a finger on the glass.

“Here.” She says weakly.

We slowly turn our heads to find four hospital beds parted a few feet from each other. Three of them have a thin white sheet covering their entire body. There’s only one of the four alive. The woman lays on the bed in a hospital gown. There are minor injuries and few cuts on her face. Her face and lips are pale. She looks weak, but within weeks and a few classes of rehab, it looks like she’ll make it out okay. But… it’s a familiar face. A mother to me. My other mother.

My heart sinks.

“Mom.” Jungkook whispers.

Notes

Hey reader <3

I'm coming back with another story. I'm getting bored of writing about EXO, so I've decided to take another route and make a BTS fanfiction. I hope this beginning isn't too... cliché or whatever. Crossing my fingers that this story is to your liking.

Vote///Comment///Subscribe if you want to read more! Let me know what you think :D

*Will make a schedule for the day's I update this story, just unsure yet.*

Thanks for checking out this story. If you haven't read any of my stories before, click on my name and read away~! It won't bore you, I promise.

See you in the next chapter!

~Alexis Thao