The Red Bow [Chaelisa]

38. Sing me to sleep

The sound reproduced Lights by Ellie Goulding, the acoustics creating the perfect environment for the dancers who moved in calculated steps on the wooden floor in front of the large glass mirror. Jisoo walked from side to side shouting instructions and catching the foot of a young man of no more than 20 years of age, with blue eyes and black hair, who had red skin and uneven breathing due to tiredness. Chaeyoung, who watched the entire rehearsal leaning against the door frame, had set a limit for the boy and was watching carefully the moment when the boy would give in and ask to leave. Nobody was crazy about doing that. Jisoo had this reputation as a psychotic teacher and there were some rumors around NY about some torture sessions in her classes.

"You scare me sometimes.“ commented the blonde handing a white towel to Jisoo. The students were now gradually leaving the classroom exhausted from yet another day of torture with Teacher Jisoo. “Have you thought of approaching a less harmful technique?"

Jisoo rolled her eyes and took a water bottle from the Styrofoam holder.

"The difference … is that you give music lessons to children aged 5 years." She said in a pause, her chest heaving. “I teach techniques with the body and discipline, I train them to be the best, dear."

The blonde smiled at the comment, pulling out a chair to sit while the dancer tidied up the ballroom.

"Anyway, I’m glad that things are going well in the gym."

“Chaeyoung, you said the same thing last week!“ the two laughed. “You don’t need to be ashamed to start vent 'the Lisa affair' with me, you know I don’t judge you and all this weird thing between the two."

In fact, Jisoo knew Chaeyoung well enough to know when her friend was flustered or in trouble. They got too close after college and the dancer was one of the blonde’s supporters in difficult times, as were Jennie and Somi. The situation at the time was like a trial by fire and everyone knew it, everyone was aware that Chaeyoung was running out of time to convince Lisa not to get married within 2 months of the Thai being officially married from another.

Knowing that she didn’t need to hide her feelings in that room, Chaeyoung sighed and let her shoulders drop in surrender showing how tired she was.

“She won’t surrender, Jisoo.“ she let the words out and her eyes get lost in any point on the floor. “I saw it in her eyes when we went to Coney Island. It’s like she’s afraid of me, it’s like I’m a stranger."

“You are a stranger, Rosie.“ Jisoo sat on the floor facing the blomde and crossed her legs. “Remember that 6 years is not 6 months. You lived on different continents for so long that you ended up taking on certain personalities that you might not have had at the time of your courtship. Remember how good and easy life was? It is because you were teenagers with no real worries. Today you are women with a history,a burden that, in my view, is quite frightening to each other."

Chaeyoung frowned, thinking about what she had just heard. They were two strangers trying to find each other, trying to find a way back to each other. The blonde’s biggest fear was that she was the only one playing that game, that maybe she was forcing things on Lisa.

“What if she chooses him?" She asked almost childishly, not bothering to show that she was desperate. “I can’t live with that, knowing that the love of my life belongs to someone else. And now more than ever I need to win over not only her, but Ethan."

The dancer smiled at the comment, it was no wonder Chaeyoung was in love with the boy who was supposed to be her son. It was not a difficult task for Jisoo and the others to imagine Chaeyoung and Lisa married and with Ethan running between their legs like a Park. It was always like that, they had chemistry even when they didn’t know each other anymore and that was the kind of thing that makes people believe in love.