It was that time of the year again. The season where aspiring young ballet dancers would get a peek into life at Seoul Royal Ballet.
After weeks of waiting for that one call that would change their summer, the children who were accepted into the programme were already lining the streets, waiting to be admitted into the company.
"Wah! This is crazy! There are so many kids." Hyo Jin gaped openly as they walked past the line.
"How many are we looking at?" Ye Jin asked.
"I'd say a good 50!" Hyo Jin estimated.
"Omo! I'm so excited to meet them." Ye Jin clapped happily.
"Lucky you. Meanwhile, I'm stuck with that b*tch." Hyo Jin rolled her eyes at the thought of being in a room with In Sun for the next ten hours.
"At least Shin Young will be there too." Ye Jin sympathised with her friend.
"If you say so. Enjoy your time with the kiddos and that boyfriend of yours. I'm not there so keep your hands to yourself." Hyo Jin warned jokingly.
"Arasseo. See you later." Ye Jin was still blushing slightly from Hyo Jin's comments.
They weren't that obvious, were they?
Shrugging slightly, Ye Jin let Rose lead them to Dance Studio A where Hyun Bin was already waiting.
"Good morning, my swan." Hyun Bin smiled. His eyes were ever so soft for his girlfriend.
"Good morning!" Ye Jin said in a sing-song voice before she felt herself being pulled into his embrace.
"Aish, someone might see us!" Ye Jin smacked Hyun Bin's chest lightly.
"I checked. Just for a minute?" Ye Jin could hear the pout in Hyun Bin's voice when he said that.
In times like these, Ye Jin would forget that this was a man who just turned 27. When he gets like this, Ye Jin couldn't help but think that he was like a big baby.
This must be what Hyo Jin was referring to.
"One minute." Ye Jin caved as she wrapped her small arms around his torso.
Hyun Bin's smile widened as though he had just won the lottery and he leaned his head atop of Ye Jin's as he held her close. He could feel the gentle thumping of her heart against his as they hugged, their hearts beating to the same rhythm the longer they stayed in the embrace. This was the best way to start the day.
True to his word, Hyun Bin let go of Ye Jin a minute later albeit a little hesitantly. Ye Jin gave Hyun Bin a peck on the cheek before she started pushing him to the door. Hyun Bin entertained his girlfriend and let her push him, all the while slightly amused by how hard she was trying.
"Come on, the children are waiting." Ye Jin said excitedly.
"Arasseo. Let me open the door." Hyun Bin chuckled fondly at his swan girl.
With that, the man opened the door to see the 10 children who were under them for the programme crowding around the new celebrity.
That celebrity was now wagging her tail even harder as she peered up at one of her favourite humans with her tongue hanging out of her mouth in a lopsided grin.
"I see you've all met Rose. Come now, children. It's time." Hyun Bin spoke in a gentle tone solely reserved for children.
One by one, the children walked into the dance studio in their little ballet slippers, upholding the grace and poise that was unique to every ballet dancer.
Hyun Bin observed that there was only one boy out of the ten dancers in the room. It wasn't too surprising considering this was the usual proportion of boys they would have every year. Hyun Bin was sure the other classes were the same.
Hyun Bin and Ye Jin were given the younger age group; children in the 6 to 7-year-old range. The children peered up at their two teachers curiously, their eyes shining with untainted innocence and excitement.
"Good morning, children." Hyun Bin greeted.
The children greeted them back in unison, eliciting a grin from Ye Jin. There was just something different about hearing the voices of children. It makes one heart melt and Ye Jin felt an urge to hug them all.
Shortly after, the class started. Unlike his usual stern demeanor, Hyun Bin was friendly to the point that he was joking with the children or giving them weird analogies when teaching them the combinations. Ye Jin was highly amused but did her best in demonstrating the combinations to the children.
Because of that, the children were giggling and having fun while learning the short combinations.
"Think of it as chocolate dripping down your arm to the tips of your fingers. You want to keep your lines extended." Hyun Bin instructed.
The children laughed at yet another one of his analogies but picked up the combination well enough. Hyun Bin had that proud Papa Bear smile on his face as the music picked up and the children executed the combination beautifully.
During break time, the girls automatically started crowding around Ye Jin, eagerly wanting to get to know her. Ye Jin's bright peals of laughter could be heard amidst the children's relentless chattering. Hyun Bin's eyes were soft as he watched some of the children climb on Ye Jin's back.
Despite having nine little girls wanting her attention, Ye Jin was holding the fort well on her own. After some time, she managed to get them to sit in a mini circle in their corner of the dance studio.
(Visuals of Kim Ji Yu. To my TAOS lovelies, yes it's baby Eun Ae🥰)
"Teacher Ye Jin, eomma says we shouldn't disturb dogs when they are working. Is Rose a working dog?" One of the little ones, Kim Ji Yu asked.
"Well, she's resting now. But yes, she is a working dog." Ye Jin smiled adoringly at the child.
"So we can play with her?" Ji Yu's eyes lit up instantly.
"Maybe after class, sweetheart." Ye Jin said.
"Okay! Teacher Ye Jin, do you think Teacher Hyun Bin will wear a tutu if we asked him to?" Ji Yu leaned in to whisper in Ye Jin's ear.
Ye Jin burst out laughing at the little one's imagination. Children truly say the darndest things sometimes. Her boyfriend in a tutu? Now that was perfect blackmail material.
"Come here, Ji Yu. Let me share a little secret with you."
With that, Ye Jin leaned in and whispered in Ji Yu's ear and the latter jumped up excitedly as she went around the small group to share the plan with them. Just like that, the mission 'Get Hyun Bin into a tutu' was underway.
On the other side of the room, Hyun Bin was having a little one-on-one session with the little boy, Lee Seung Woo. The poor tyke was feeling at odds with the group of girls and chose to stick with him.
(Visuals of Lee Seung Woo)
"You can join them, you know?" Hyun Bin urged him gently.
"What if they don't like me. I'm a boy." Seung Woo's shoulders were hunched forward at the thought of being excluded from a group again.
"You never know if you don't try." Hyun Bin said wisely.
"Maybe tomorrow." Seung Woo sighed, curling into a ball instinctively.
Hyun Bin patted Seung Woo's head gently, silently giving him the assurance that he would be fine. The ballet world was cruel, especially so to boys who haven't quite made it yet. But, with the right motivation, nothing was impossible.
"Teacher Hyun Bin? Is it really worth it?" Seung Woo asked slowly.
"Well, that is something you will have to ask yourself. Do you like dancing?" Hyun Bin peered down at the little one.
"I love it! But..." Seung Woo's bottom lip jutted out in a pout.
"The world isn't particularly kind." Hyun Bin said it as a statement.
"It isn't. I don't understand why." Seung Woo shook his head.
"It's because people despise things they do not understand. Trust me, I've been through it. But if you really love what you are doing, hold on to that passion. I like to think that I wouldn't have shined if I decided to settle for second best. Ballet is my passion and I am who I am today because of it." Hyun Bin shared the little nugget of wisdom from his past.
The funny thing about the world was, everyone was seeking uniqueness. Be it music, dance, or even new innovations, everyone wanted to be original. Yet, when faced with something truly unique, they tend to push it away.
"It's not going to be easy, is it?" The little boy spoke.
"I would be lying if I said it was." Hyun Bin was nothing but honest about the reality.
"I understand. Thank you, Teacher Hyun Bin." Seung Woo gave Hyun Bin a hug.
Hyun Bin could tell that the boy had a bright future ahead of him. In fact, Hyun Bin saw himself in Seung Woo when he was at that age too. He couldn't tell the boy what to do, but he was sure the boy was mature enough to make the right decision for himself. It was a process after all.
Shortly before the break was about to end, Ji Yu ran over to Seung Woo and pulled the boy up. Hyun Bin smiled when Seung Woo followed the girl to the other side. It looks like Seung Woo was breaking out of his shell gradually.
Of course, Hyun Bin wasn't aware of Ji Yu's plans and missed his girlfriend's look of amusement as he called the class back.
"Teacher Hyun Bin!" Ji Yu waved her hand in the air eagerly.
"Yes, Ji Yu?" Hyun Bin smiled, completely ignorant of what was about to happen.
"If we perform the combination right the first time, can you and Teacher Ye Jin do something for us?" Ji Yu fluttered her eyelashes innocently at her teacher.
"Ah, I-" Hyun Bin rubbed the back of his head as he thought about it.
Somehow, he had a bad feeling about this.
"Pretty please Teacher Hyun Bin. Teacher Ye Jin already said yes. " Ji Yu pleaded, using her puppy dog eyes to her advantage.
The rest of the children followed her lead and started pouting and giving him puppy dog eyes as well. A chorus of "please" could be heard distinctively as the children wheedled their way through to convince their teacher.
With ten sets of pleading eyes looking at him, Hyun Bin knew he was in too deep to say no. He just needed that one last push.
"Come on, Hyun Bin. The kids need some motivation after all." His girlfriend joined the little party.
The pout on her lips looked all too familiar and Hyun Bin knew exactly what happened instantly.
Ye Jin planned this. The children were using his weakness to their advantage. How on earth was he going to say no now?
"Arasseo, but all of you have to do it right. That's the deal." Hyun Bin caved easily.
Cheers of joy filled the room before the children were serious again. With the promise of the reward, the children were doing their best to memorise the combination.
Of course, one party emerged more victorious than the other. The children lifted their hands in the air in triumph when Hyun Bin determined that they executed the combination well enough.
Hyun Bin was honestly proud of the children but, he was half-scared of what they had planned for him too.
They were children. Surely whatever they were going to make him do wouldn't be that bad.
"Alright, calm down. What do you want me to do?" Hyun Bin admitted to his defeat.
"Wear a tutu, Teacher Hyun Bin. A pink one! And Teacher Ye Jin has to wear one too!" Ji Yu giggled.
He froze. Out of all the things they could have dared him to do, he didn't think that they would ask him to wear a tutu. But, a promise was a promise and Hyun Bin was a man of his word.
"Give me some time. I'll have to get it from the costume department."
"Yay, Teacher Hyun Bin!" The children cheered.
Ye Jin's laughter soon joined the chaos in the room before she accompanied Hyun Bin as he took that walk of shame to get the tutu.
Moments later, Hyun Bin walked in with the promised pink tutu flaring down from his waist. It was hilarious especially since the tutu looked tiny on him. Ye Jin followed after him, wearing one of her own.
The children were in various states of laughter when they saw him, and Ye Jin couldn't help but laugh as well. With how contagious laughter naturally was, the whole room was soon dying with laughter – Hyun Bin included.
The group took a photo together before the children were due to leave for the day. The couple was in the center with their tutus in plain sight.
Ji Yu was hugging Hyun Bin while Seung Woo was leaning against Ye Jin. The rest of the children were in various poses around the couple, some doing splits while others had their legs in a leg hold as the picture was taken.
After the children left, Ye Jin helped Hyun Bin tidy up the dance studio. The couple found that they were completely relaxed after spending the day with the little pills of joy. Deep down, they couldn't wait to see a future with children of their own. It was a heart-warming reality to think about.
"Ice cream?" Hyun Bin asked when they were done.
"Let's go." Ye Jin agreed easily.
And that was how they ended up at the secluded ice cream shop a few minutes' drive away from the company. The couple shared a sundae together, conversing happily as they shared some funny moments with the children.
Outside of the ice cream café, the first signs of summer rain could already be seen. The warm droplets of rain dripped down onto the ground, kissing the earth in its moment of reconciliation with nature. Rain was the bridge between the sky and the earth.
The rain was light, barely evident through the glass windows where the couple could be seen feeding each other chocolate ice cream. It was peaceful and tranquil to have the summer rain as a backdrop to their little moment of love.
So there they sat, Prince Charming and his swan, enjoying the end to another day well spent.
"You know, I was around Ji Yu's age when I first performed on stage. It was a duet too with a dear friend of mine. I wonder how he's doing now..." Ye Jin spoke wistfully as she leaned on her elbows.
Hyun Bin smiled as he ate another mouthful of chocolate ice cream, simply choosing to stay silent as Ye Jin shared one of her childhood stories. He couldn't help but feel that had he known her when they were children, he would have been head over heels for her too.
"Back then we danced to Soldier. I think it was a piece about a pair of siblings. The brother was about to leave for war but the sister wanted him to stay. Now that I think about it, it is a rather difficult piece to perform for two six-year-olds." Ye Jin recalled fondly.
Now, that did sound a little familiar to Hyun Bin. Slowly, the memories were coming back to him as well and he froze. That same set of crescent moons stared back at him in the abyss of his memories. Except, this time, it was a younger child staring back at him. He remembers her well...Eon Jin, his best friend in kindergarten.
As Ye Jin continued sharing the story, Hyun Bin was bombarded by images of his childhood days spent with his beloved friend. That performance was their first and last together. He could still remember the way they danced together on stage.
(This is the dance by Izzy and Easton. For this fic, they are 6 so all the crazy lifts will not be possible for Ye Jin and Hyun Bin. But you get the idea. This is a brilliant dance so I wanted to share it with everyone too.)
The way she trusted him. The way they moved together. The applause.
Even back then, Eon Jin had been an incredibly flexible and strong dancer.
He remembered how they ran off together after the performance. That day, she ran to her eomma with the proudest grin on her face. Vaguely, Hyun Bin could remember that woman's face too. And that was the last he ever saw of the two of them.
Could it be?
"Hyun Bin? Hyun Bin." Ye Jin was shaking him when she realised he stopped listening to her.
That effectively snapped him out of his trance as he looked at his beloved girlfriend. He was dazed and confused as he tried to connect the dots. Eon Jin...Ye Jin...The story...
Taking a deep breath, he uttered the name he never thought he would ever get to say. Not after she disappeared when they were six. "Eon Jin?"
Her reaction was instantaneous. One minute she was biting her lips in worry, the next, she was frozen in her seat like a deer caught in the headlights. No one has ever called her by that name since...
"H-how did you find out?" Ye Jin whispered, her voice sounding far away even to her own ears.
To her, it was a distant past. Eon Jin died that day when her eomma was sent back to heaven.
"I was that boy." Hyun Bin swallowed hard.
He couldn't comprehend what he was feeling either. Was it relief that he has found her again? Or was it sadness that he now knew why his ray of sunshine left him without any warnings?
All along, he had been content assuming Eon Jin was probably off living a better life. But now, she was seated next to him as Ye Jin, a ballerina still fighting for her dream after that tragic accident.
Did it happen that night?
"How is that possible? Y-you're Kim Tae Pyung?" Ye Jin was having trouble understanding this as well.
"Yes. I moved to Seoul when I was 7. Hyun Bin is my stage name, Ye Jin. I simply chose not to use my name anymore after..." Ye Jin reached out for Hyun Bin's hand, conveying her understanding of his situation.
Ye Jin didn't need any further explanation. She knew why he decided to stick with his stage name too. After all, it was the same for her.
"I can't believe I found you again." Ye Jin sniffled, feeling the intense waves of emotions over their reconciliation settle deep within her heart.
To think all this time, Kim Tae Pyung had been beside her. She found him and he found her. Was this fate?
"You have no idea, Ye Jin. Growing up, I would occasionally wonder how you were doing. You left without an explanation. I thought you moved." Hyun Bin confided in her, cupping her cheek to catch the tears rolling down her face.
"I'm sorry...so much happened after that incident." Ye Jin whispered, only for Hyun Bin to hush her.
"Stop. It's not your fault. I'm just glad you're okay. And I truly am sorry about what happened to your eomeoni." Hyun Bin whispered tenderly, careful not to break the precious moment between them.
Ye Jin shook her head stubbornly, feeling the hot tears of longing for her eomeoni slide down her face. It was nobody's fault but that drunk driver who slammed into them that night.
"She was the best dance teacher. I owe her one too." The man smiled sadly at his swan.
He remembers now. Ye Jin's eomeoni was the dance teacher who taught him when they were three. He found his love for ballet because of her.
That three-year-old who would always hang out with him at that dance studio was the same girl he met at kindergarten three years later. And that girl was Son Ye Jin.
Fate surely worked in ways unimaginable to man.
It took him years to piece these puzzles together and now, he doesn't plan to let go of her.
"She would have been proud of you, Hyun Bin. I know it." Ye Jin smiled back bravely.
"And I'm sure she is immensely proud of you too, Ye Jin. You're amazing, do you know that?" Hyun Bin stroked Ye Jin's hair affectionately.
Nothing else needed to be said as the two childhood friends enjoyed their moment of reconciliation.
After a long, arduous journey, they have found each other once again. Two ruptured souls, weighed down by their pasts could finally begin their journey of healing together as old friends and now, as lovers.
That comfort and joy they gave each other – a largely intangible force – was something tangible to them. They could feel it, taste it, and even hear it because it was them.
With the truth of their past out, it has only solidified their love even more, bridging the gap between their past and their future together.
Be it as Eon Jin and Tae Pyung or as Ye Jin and Hyun Bin, they saw the future in each other.
So they fight on, ceaselessly into the future. A future that was ready for Prince Charming and his swan girl.
Soldier keep on marching on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N
Hello lovelies! Fluff 2 is up and hehe my mind is wilding with the images of mini binjin ballerinas running around. For now, this is the closest scenario I can give you to that. Things are starting to get a little interesting and I wonder if any of you have picked up the hints yet🧐 Hope everyone enjoyed the read! This will probably be my last MC update for the week so see everyone next week!🥰 I'm also going to use this opportunity to thank everyone for the 10K reads. I truly did not expect it and I am still in a celebratory mode over it hehe. Gamsahamnida!
P.S. This chapter is dedicated to mahgadahling for inspiring me with those HB visuals. You really gave me the inspiration for this chapter! As promised, here's the children's summer programme. Hope you liked it!