Talking to the moon

Chapter 26

"Where are we going?" Eunchae asked, holding onto Chaewon's hand as the woman walked the two of them into a small building in a part of town Chaewon bet Eunchae had never been into before. She herself had only been here a few times, once when the studio opened, another when Hana's car had broken down and it was late so she didn't feel comfortable taking the subway. The building was nice, a clean white and gold theme with fake plants everywhere.

"We are visiting my sister, you two are going to dance together."

"Is that why I need to wear this bathing suit?" Eunchae pointed at the black longsleeved leotard over white legging that Chaewon had to fight to put her in. Eunchae lived to be in comfy soft clothes, the tight material of both the tights and the leotard was not up to the kid's standards.

"It's not a bathing suit Chae, it's a leotard. You wear it to dance. She wants to teach you ballet, do you know what that is?"

"No."

"That's okay, she'll show you," Chaewon assured, walking past the secretary and into the studio down the hall that Hana had made it clear to go to. Hana was already there, turning around with a smile as she noticed them

" I was a bit scared you were going to get lost." Hana teased, walking over to give her sister a hug. Chaewon saw Eunchae perk up as soon as Hana spoke English, both her and Yunjin had been making more of an effort to speak it in front of Eunchae noticing the girl was more comfortable using it sometimes.

Chaewon playfully pushed her sister, rolling her eyes. She got lost one time when she was twelve, and the dancer to this day would never let her live it down. "Eunchae, say hello." Eunchae was a shy kid, so she half bent down in greeting, still hiding behind Chaewon's leg. Hana squealed, squatting down to meet the girl eye to eye. Chaewon could feel Eunchae digging her fingers into the flesh of her leg, clearly nervous. "This is my sister, Hana."

"Your sister?" Eunchae looked up at Chaewon and she nodded, with that Eunchae took a few steps out from behind her. Hana knew exactly what was going on, from Yunjin and Chaewon's very first night to Eunchae's new attitude. They were close and didn't keep anything from each other. It had been Hana's idea to get Eunchae into dance, both the sisters had started it when they moved to Korea as a stress reliever and something to put their focus on, Hana thought it could give the same comfort to Eunchae.

"Are you ready to have some fun?" Hana asked a gentle smile on her face, "We're going to do a little dancing today. Chaewon told me you like to dance."

"Last time I danced Shrimpy lost his head."

"Shrimpy?"

"Don't ask," Chaewon warned.

After a bit of coaxing, Chaewon was sat on the studio floor, Eunchae next to her as they started the class. "Can you reach all the way down to your toes, like this?" Hana asked, demonstrating. Eunchae took a glance at Chaewon who nodded in encouragement, before following in her footsteps leaning over and touching her toes. Hana cheered, "Good job!"

Eunchae loved praise and attention. Chaewon had noticed that when she would proudly show Yunjin her spelling tests and schoolwork because the woman would tell her she was proud of her and offer her a treat. Eunchae smiled and did it again, gathering more cheers. And just like that, Hana was Eunchae's new best friend. Chaewon watched with a smile, Peng resting in her lap, taking out her phone to film clips to show Yunjin when they went home.

"Chaewon do you want to do this too?" Eunchae asked, running over to her with this giddy smile.

"I'm good, my knee is bad. I can't dance anymore."

"Really?" Eunchae pouted. "How?"

"I hurt it when I was in high school," She shrugged, "Go have fun with Hana, I'm just going to watch, okay?"