...7, 8, 9... [Jung Hoseok OS].

...7, 8, 9

She crossed the street to the grocery store where she worked, feeling nervous just being in the same place she expected him to be in. She didn't have to see him to feel this tiring feeling, she didn't have to hear his voice it was enough knowing that he was there, working after school just like she did.

She took her coat off revealing the store uniform, before she started to refill the empty shelves: "Minah! You came!" he said almost surprised that she showed up for work today but not for school.

"I'm sorry about cancelling the practice without a warning." She apologized to him, he didn't seem mad at her and she felt much better knowing that he wasn't. He asked: "Is everything alright? Do you need help with anything? You know, you can trust-..." she cut him off: "I'm fine, everything is fine. I was just wondering if we could go the studio this evening after the shift end, I hate to miss a practice and you know how important this is to me."

"I understand, there won't be a problem. I'll wait for you." He told her, giving her his best smile. A smile she couldn't return, inside her mind and so far away from her messed up heart and his chaotic feelings there was her thoughts, thoughts that told her she can't have those feelings for him, she couldn't  accept his smiles, or allow him to walk closer to her guards, she couldn't allow heeself to accept his friendship fearing this will turn to something else. Something she can't deal with, something so precious that she'll eventually have to let go.

"Thank you, Hoseok." She said before she walked to another set refilling the shelves with new cans.

Hoseok wished if he didn't understand what Minah was going through, the fact that he did made it harder for him to watch her without doing anything to help her. He knew what it felt like not be able to afford the things you needed the most in life.

It wasn't the perfect side of a story, it wasn't exactly what he wished to see when he opened his eyes to the cruelty of the world. He was seven when realized that sometimes you have to give love up in order to afford a decent life. He was seven when he was left by the only person that ever cared about him, he was seven when he realized that his own mother didn't believe in love enough to stay with him, he was seven when he was left alone with a chocolate bar, because his mother couldn't afford his living anymore, because she couldn't watch her baby son cold not being able to buy him a new coat, because she wasn't selfish she had to let her love for him go, hoping that someone even if they will never love him as much as she did will be there to buy him that coat he needed.

He was waiting for Minah outside the store feeling the chilling cold of February on his skin, the dark clouds hovering above the city threatening to cover the city with the flakes of the falling snow tonight, Hoseok hoped it was only a threat not giving it much thought as he saw Minah walking out of the store: "Are you ready?"

"Yea," She answered as they started walking together to the dancing studio, it was fifteen minutes away from the store not so far from the bus station. It been a few months now since Hoseok agreed to tutor Minah how to be a good dancer, she thought that he was the best in their school and it was right, he has been winning the schools competition of their district  for couple of years now, he was noted for his talent and his personal style.

Minah didn't need the fame or the popularity that came with winning the district dance tournament, she didn't need to be devoted to dancing, she just needed to do it good for a single time, she needed to win first place in the district dancing tournament to get the only thing she cared about, it was the scholarship that provided her a chance to go to college next year.

Minah understood what she was putting herself up to when she signed up for the contest, she knew that winning wasn't going to be easy specially with great competitors like Hoseok, she knew that she wouldn't stand a chance against him if they were going to put them in elimination tournament, she knew that he was going to be the winner because he didn't lack the one thing she lacked. It was his passion for dancing. She knew without his help she wouldn't form kind of a soul to her dancing, it was the soul he helped her to create. He taught her how to have style, how to make the dance her own.