Hard Work

The moderate pace of traditional ballet music coursed through the room, Ms. Kuriyakin's accented voice barked orders to the group of twelve that were lined along the bar.
Kokyung sucked in a sharp breath and waited for her name to be shouted for not being good enough. She allowed the curve of her back to deepen as she bent into the position the Russian had ordered them to complete flawlessly.

"Jae Kokyung, perfect." The small red haired woman said before turning away from her.

The young Korean woman could feel her whole body relax at the sound of the instructor's praise. She held her position just in case Ms. Kyuriyakin realized she wasn't doing it well enough.

"Everyone down." The older woman said.



The whole class came off the bars and stood before the small woman.

"As a sign of good faith, we will be working with YG Entertainment, BigHit Entertainment, and SM. You will be assigned an idol group and you will be teaching them a routine, in this routine you must teach them some ballet. You will incorporate their style that they use in their performances. Based on your talent level we will assign you either a baby group,"

The whole class suppressed a giggle, she had meant rookie.

"Or an older group. I leave it to you to decide how this goes, I won't tell you how we are rating you. You will receive your group tomorrow afternoon during this time. Please go to the main building and wait for your personal instructor to come to you with the information. Thank you."



Yoongi leaned on the headboard of his bunk and let out a sigh, he could hear the younger members downstairs being loud. He stared down at his notebook and wondered how late that cafe was open, deciding he'd take his chances he stood up off his bed and pulled on a shirt. He grabbed his bag and tossed his notebook into it and a couple pens. He zipped the bag shut and walked out of his room and to the stairs.

"Hyung? Where do you go? You go out for hours and come back in the evening?" Jungkook's voice startled him, he turned to see the youngest member of the group.

"Uh? I go to a cafe to escape the loudness of the house."

"Aren't cafes loud?"

"Not the one I go to." Was all he said before he walked down the stairs to the front door. He slipped on his shoes and walked outside into the September air.



Leaning against the back of her chair Kokyung let out a soft sigh, she wasn't working but the owner wanted her there in case the new employee screwed everything up. It was late in the evening, the sun was starting to set over the Seoul skyline. She sat in the corner of the room, looking over she noticed the younger girl fumbling with the french press.

"Don't break it." She muttered to herself, finally unable to sit still she rose from her seat and
walked to where the girl was fumbling with the device.

"Here, let me help." She took the press from the younger girl and set it up.

"A-aah. Gamas, Kokyung-unni." The girl stuttered, her eyes wide in shock.

The older of the two turned to return to her seat but in the place she had been she saw the young man who seemed to come in a lot.

"Who's he?" The younger girl whispered, interest coloring her tone.

"A costumer, he usually comes in while I work."



Yoongi walked into the still open cafe and noticed all of the elderly people he had grown use to seeing there.

The old men were playing another round of Go, he wondered if they knew how to play anything else. The small old woman was knitting this time, it appeared to be a pair of pink mittens small enough for a baby.

Standing behind the counter in a pair of jeans, a tan cardigan and a white top was the girl who was usually working.

Out of uniform? He pondered until he saw that she was helping a much younger girl with one of the coffee devices behind the counter. The younger looking girl was wearing her uniform, Yoongi walked to the table he usually sat at in the corner of the cafe.

"Don't forget your manners." Yoongi heard the older of the two girls say quietly.

"O-oh. Welcome!" Her voice was far louder than what he was use to in the cafe.

"Shh. No need to be so loud." Kokyung said.

Yoongi smiled to himself as he heard her speak to the younger girl. The younger one couldn't have been more than Jungkook's age.



Kokyung scanned for a comfortable place to continue reading her book, a table near the young man seemed comfortable enough. She carefully picked her way across the room and sat at the table, once she was seated she pulled her book out of he bag and set it on the table.

Lifting her eyes to examine the boy across from her she noticed him looking up as well, she felt her face go hot. She dropped her gaze back to her closed book to make it seem like she wasn't staring at him.

The black and white graphic design of the cover was written in English, she had taught herself a fair amount when she was still in high school. She was to the point of being able to read in English and hold a normal conversation. Opening the book she began where she left off before having to get up and help Saejung.



"Ah!" A small scream left Saejung's lips, Kokyung's head snapped up from her book.

Standing behind the counter the younger girl had all but thrown the steamed milk all over the place.

"Unni, I'm so sorry. I'm soo soo sorry!" Saejung stuttered as the older girl stood up to go assess the situation.

"It's fine, just go change into your street clothes. I'll clean this."

She could hear the sternness in her voice as she spoke, she sounded like a mother scolding her child.

"A-ah. Yes." The girl bowed deeply and scurried off to go put on clean clothes.

Straitening up Kokyung looked to the crowd that seemed startled, she bowed and frowned.

"I sincerely apologize for the interruption, I do hope that you will continue to remain costumers."



Yoongi stared at the girl as she bowed to him and the few old people, the old men smiled widely and nodded before turning back to their game. The elderly woman stood and rested a hand on her shoulder and before speaking.

"Miss Jae, thank you for being such a responsible unni. You take very good care of her."

Yoongi nodded and looked back down to his notebook, he knew he should order something.

Before he could speak the girl with rainbow hair had made her way to him.

"Is there anything I could get you?"

"Would it be possible for me to order a latte."

"Of course." She said smiling at him.

It dawned on him again how pretty she was when she smiled.



The sun had completely set, Kokyung was suppose to be in the dance studio working on a routine for her class she would be teaching. Instead of doing her school work there she stood scrubbing the floor behind the counter of the cafe, there was only one person left. It was the young man.

He was very concentrated on whatever he was writing. Not wanting to interrupt him she let him remain where he was until she was going to finish locking up. Saejung had been sent home early on her call, she continued to almost break everything that she tried to do by herself. The glass French Press was almost shattered in a coffee dump incident.

Shaking her head she looked up from the milk on the floor and decided she would need to sweep before making the man go home.



Yoongi hadn't even noticed that everyone had left. When he looked up he realized he was alone, save for the girl with rainbow hair who was sweeping the floor around him.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know what time you closed." He said rising to his feet.

"It's fine, you can finish whatever you were working on. It seemed like you were in your head and that seemed like a good thing. I'm just going to finish sweeping, whenever you're ready."

She moved away with the broom and continued to clean, understanding that she was giving him more time in the quiet of the cafe he silently thanked her. Looking down at the lyrics he had he decided to go in and edit whatever he could in the amount of time he had.



"I'm ready to check out, if you are." The young mans voice startled Kokyung from her train of thought.

Moves to unknown ballets coursed through her head as she swept, realizing the young man was ready she quickly moved behind the register and smiled at him politely.

"Thank you for letting me work, it's really quiet here."

"I'm glad to help, thank you for your patronage." She said with a smile again.

"Of course, have a nice night." With that the young man left.

Kokyung put the money in the safe and began to do final lock up, she wasn't even in her uniform so she could leave just after she was done locking the doors up tight.



The silence of the dance studio met her as she unlocked the door on campus, she lived only a few blocks from the Academy she went to. Walking into the room and turning on the lights she plugged her phone into the speakers and let the room fill with some form of pop music she didn't listen to personally.

It was cheerful, something about Ice Cream Cake. She didn't pay much mind to it as she worked out the basis for a routine. She knew with the amount of energy she had left from the long day, it wouldn't be very well thought out.

"I'll just have to figure out with the group." She sighed as she sat on the ground.

She didn't even bother to changing into her leotard, she hadn't brought it with her. She stretched out on the wooden floor of her and Ms. Kyuriyakin's room they used.

She had her theory that the good students would get the rookie groups that had just debuted, she wasn't honestly expecting a rookie group. She knew with her luck she would get someone like SHINee, she wasn't that good at what she did.

Notes

Thank you to the person who mentioned that I used the wrong honorific for girls!