The black dress was neither long nor short. Its flowing ends moved in perfect harmony with the precise motions of the dance.
At times it moved like a dark wind, at others like wings in flight. It felt as though the dancer herself was floating in the air, carried by an invisible breeze.
Her loose, light-brown hair swayed in rhythm with every step. She spun fiercely, her movements fast and relentless.
Drawn in, Geone moved closer to the glass, wanting to see the entire performance. But the dancer kept changing positions, and Geone had to shift his own place outside to keep her in sight.
Geone knew her. No one else could dance with such flawless precision. The music-War of Hearts-reached his ears faintly through the glass.
The strange confidence in her hair, in her posture, made the dance even more extraordinary. Every part of her body blended perfectly with the song.
At times it was impossible to tell whether her feet were even touching the ground.
Sometimes she leaned so far back that Geone felt she might fall at any moment. Yet the movements that looked so intense and dangerous from afar were executed by her with effortless ease, delicate and controlled.
Geone felt as though only someone who had truly merged with the wind could dance like this.
He remembered when he had first seen Hira dance with such mastery when she was in third grade-
on 13th February, 2007.
[ 8 years ago]
[13th February, 2007]
Geone was walking down the street with Charlie, showing him around the city.
He had come to their house the day before.
Charlie and Geone were passing by the dance school. After going a little farther, Geone suddenly stopped. Seeing him halt, Charlie stopped too.
Slowly, Geone walked back toward the glass window. Charlie followed behind him.
That's when he saw her—Hira—wearing a black dress. She was Toha's sister, the reason he couldn't play basketball the day before. His eyes sharpened with anger. Without thinking, he ran straight into the school.
The teacher was in the next room. He went directly into the practice room. For a second, he completely forgot that Charlie was with him.
Hira was standing right in the middle, dressed in black, while everyone else wore white.
He didn't know if she recognized him or not. They were neighbors—he had seen her around before.
But he was sure she remembered the boy who had pushed Toha on the open field.
Before running away that day , he had glanced back once.While everyone was shouting behind him ,she was smiling.He knew that smile was meant for him.
But today, seeing her again, anger flared in his head. He marched up to her and grabbed her dress collar. She immediately grabbed his collar in return .
"Because of you, I couldn't play yesterday!"Geone roared first.
Seeing his anger, her eyes also sharpened, "What did I even do? You're the one who ran away from the field!"
Everyone burst out laughing at her words. He felt deeply humiliated.
"I didn't run away! You stole my place. And you're a girl—can you even play basketball? Bloody Thief!"
Hira tightened her grip on his collar and yanked him closer.
"I can. Better than you."
By then, he had grabbed her collar too, but since she was pulling his, he started tugging at her hair. She grabbed his hair back. Together, they turned the practice room into complete chaos.
The teachers rushed in and, after a lot of effort, separated the two of them. Later, a complaint was filed at Geone's house.
Charlie had been standing behind him the entire time. Poor guy—he probably didn't know what to do.
From that day on, their war began. No matter what happened—whether he won or lost—he would never let her win.
At. Any. Cost.
Continues....