Earn it

Debris on the way

Chapter 14

Ryujin

I haven't felt this much relief for a long time. After my talk with Yeji, I felt so eased up that I was able to take a relaxing nap once I got to my room.

I was woken up by a light knock on my door. Huh.

I opened it, one eye still closed. When I saw that it's Yeji, I tried to quickly fix my hair and appear fully awake.

"Hey-" she halted when she saw me.

"Oh no. Sorry to wake you up" She said, flustered. When I saw her dressed in my favorite hoodie, I didn't need to fake it anymore. My senses woke up on cue.

What I mean is, she looks especially good in this hoodie. It's not mine, but it's my favorite one that she wears. She likes to wear baggy clothes and pullovers when she's at home but this one stands out the most to me. She looks so cute and her hair stands out perfectly in white.

"Oh no, it's alright. I needed to be awake half an hour ago, anyway." I lied. "Is everything alright?"

"The nurse called me and said Chaer's all good to go."

I quickly changed into decent clothes and put my hair in a messy bun before going.

When we reached the clinic, I could tell that Chaer was frustrated.

"Hey", I greeted. She looked up, a flash of confusion in her face.

"Ryuu. You're here", she greeted. "And Yeji" she looked at us, trying to make sense of things.

"Yeah. Yeji told me you're fine to go so I came with her".

"Yeah", she sighed. "I don't feel so good, though. Ten and Miss Momo asked to talk to you, by the way. They just left when you guys arrived".

What do they need me for?

"Oh. You go ahead, Ryujin. I'll take care of Chaer from here", Yeji smiled at me and I involuntarily smiled back.

Chaer coughed and I felt embarrassed for staring.

We said our goodbyes and I proceeded to Miss Momo's office.

When I got there, Ten was there, too. Great timing. The door was open so I started to step inside and knocked on it.

They both looked up from what seemed to be a serious discussion.

"Ryujin. Come in", Miss Momo directed me to sit on the couch opposite theirs.

They started telling me about how serious Chaer's sprain is. The doctor said she might need to rest for at least 3 weeks and even undergo minor therapy because of how high she fell from.

"The dance off is in 4 weeks", Ten continued.

"And we do not know if Chaer's gonna be fine by then. So we need to have a plan B..."

There's a pause.

"You will need to be her understudy. Well, sort of. We're done with the choreography so she pretty much knows everything. She can attend practices to observe if she can, and you're going to spend the next weeks learning everything from the beginning".

I was a bit shocked by the news. One, because Chaer has been working hard for the past month and it must be frustrating for her. And two, because I realized that actually came this close to being chosen that I have to be the understudy.

"However, we wouldn't want to get your hopes up. If she gets better by the time of the event, she gets to dance. But if she doesn't, you're taking her place."