The Last Dance

1. it started with a scandal

Seul awoke with a start. Her back and limbs hurt, and she soon found out why. She was hunched on the floor at the foot of her bed, her head resting on the mattress and her legs curled under her weight. She tried to stretch out but the movement made the numbness worse. She brushed away the hair from her face and found them sticky with make-up, sweat, and - tears?

Seul stared. The pain on her back did not matter anymore. The events of the day flashed on her mind, and a whole new level of numbness, the kind that clings to the soul, swallowed her. It took a while before she became aware of the soft voices outside the room.

Seul wondered if it would be okay to stay inside the bedroom forever.

In the living room of the Revel's dorm, four girls have forgotten that they were supposed to keep their voices down. New articles were popping out every minute, and the comment sections were too fiery for the girls to keep their calm. Everyone had a gadget of their own, taking turns to read aloud the spicy articles.

Joey was reciting a particularly savage comment when the bedroom door opened. It opened quietly, but loud enough for the girls to turn their heads. They had been keeping an eye on it ever since they got home.

Joey stopped mid-sentence. Four pair of eyes watched a pale girl with crumpled glittery dress and strewn hair, emerge slowly from the doorway.

'Seul!' they chorused. Although they have planned what they'll do, and what they'll say when Seul gets out of the bedroom, they were totally scattered on there and then.

Yuri, who was playing a video on speaker, lost herself in looking for the stop button while saying 'Seul unnie, you have overslept again!'

Joey stared blankly still kicking herself for reading the comment aloud, wondering if Seul heard any of it.

Winny executed her script correctly. She said 'Seul, are you hungry?', 'Do you like kimchi fried rice?', 'I'll start the rice cooker.', 'I'll make ramen as well.' in the span of ten seconds as she talked to herself on her way to the kitchen.

Rene on the other hand, who was supposed to act normal like the rest, found herself walking towards Seul, wiping Seul's face, and wearing a weird awkward smile.

'I'm okay.' Seul said weakly with a small smile. 'When did you guys get back?' she asked.

'A few hours ago.' Rene answered. 'The store launch was good. They had a dessert buffet and manager oppa allowed us to eat most of them.'

'He warned us against the chocolate fountain though.' Yuri mumbled.

Seul thought of their manager Kevin for the first time that day. Does he know what happened – of course he knows. What does he think? What does the company think? Am I in trouble? ...

'I'm going out for a walk.' Seul said abruptly, physically trying shake the thoughts out her head.

She was headed to the front door when Rene pulled her.

'Seul, you're wearing...' she trailed.

Seul looked down on her dress and stockings.

'Why don't you go change and I'll go walk with you.' Rene suggested.

'I'll come too.' Joey and Yuri said.

'Let's all go.' Winny added. She was having a kitchen disaster. Turns out they didn't have rice, or ramen.

The cool breeze immediately lifted Seul's spirits. After a while she was smiling again. She guessed she only needed to see people going about their business, see the birds, the river – to know that the world did not end as she thought it did. Her sisters have noticed it too. The awkward silence soon evaporated – especially when Joey and Yuri started singing children songs to annoy their unnies.

'Hot bar!' Yuri squealed and pointed at a convenience store. She had dared Joey to a mini race and won a free hot bar.

'Let's all get dinner here.' Winny suggested and started asking what each girl wanted to eat. Winny takes dinner duties seriously.

Inside, the girls scattered over the food items. Yuri was trying to negotiate two free hot bars while Winny and Rene looked for dinner. Seul wasn't much of a cook. She strayed at the chips section and found her way to the chocolates by the counter. At the back of the cashier was a TV broadcasting the night's news. The image caught Seul's eyes. She stood frozen.

There she was on the screen with her glittery black swan dress, she's dancing, dancing with him, she should probably look away now, she clings to his neck, he holds her waist, maybe this time it won't happen, he lifts her up off the ground in one swift movement, maybe it was a bad dream, he sets her down on her toes and moves his hand at the back of her head, he wasn't supposed to do that, his face moves closer to hers and covered her mouth with his.

Seeing it boiled and froze her blood at the same time. She rushed out carrying a tub of Pringles with her. The cashier called out loudly. The Revel girls turned sharply, bewildered at first, until they saw the screen behind the cashier. Frozen in a photo beside the news anchor was Hun kissing Seul.