A Place Called You

CHAPTER ONE

It wasn't difficult, Tati had been doing it all her life, but at that moment, she couldn't keep herself focused enough not to spoil the choreography.

It was the fifth time she and Seonghwa had replayed the same part of the first act of Midsummer Night's Dreams, which thanks to her, the two of them hadn't gotten right once.

Three spins and a jump lifting the leg for Seonghwa to hold. It was all she needed to do. The two were getting ready to try the move for the fifth time. Seonghwa positioned himself and Tati spun, spun, spun and spun once more, unbalancing because she realized the mistake, Seonghwa who tried to hold her ended up getting kicked in the face when the girl lifted her leg trying to complete the move and failing miserably.

'Hwa I'm sorry." she said, pulling away from her friend and dance partner's arms, trying to see the damage her foot had done to her face. It wasn't the first time she had accidentally hurt him that day. Seonghwa took a deep breath.

"Ok, let's call it a day." he said, looking annoyed "I've reached the hitting quota I can take for a day."

"I'm sorry...I..." she started but was interrupted by Seonghwa who had sat down on the wooden floor of the studio and was drinking from a bottle of water she held out to the girl.

"I know you're worried, you don't need to apologize all the time." he said, patting the girl's shoulder.

"Yes I do, I'm ruining the choreography." she said, sitting down next to Seonghwa fiddling with the strings on her skirt just to have something to do.

"Yes, you are." he said with a teasing smile -But it's okay, we still have time to get it right.

"It's our big debut." she said. "I can't screw it up because I'm thinking too much."

Tati's head was starting to throb just thinking about the situation. She had been temporarily homeless for three months. She used to share an apartment with another dancer from the company, a duplex on top of a store so old, it ended up collapsing thanks to a pipe that burst causing a huge leak. The wedding created a huge hole in the middle of the room. Tati's roommate ended up coming back to her parents' house, Tati didn't have that option, and with Chris living out of town she had nowhere to go.

So there she was, living in a hotel after tiring of living on a favor with Lia for nearly two months, with all of her belongings stored in a container in a warehouse. And all this during the months of rehearsals for her debut as a member of the ballet company she'd always dreamed of joining, that of course, if she could only concentrate enough to get the damn choreography right.

"This whole situation sucks." Seonghwa said, bringing the girl back to reality, as if she could read her thoughts "Is there anything I can do to help? We're in this together, remember? Do you need money? Can I talk to my parents?"

"It's okay, I don't need money now. I still have a fair amount saved, I just need to find a place that matches my budget to stay. Lia's family is amazing, but I don't feel comfortable staying there practically for free, and the deposit is so expensive if If I keep spending so much just to put away my stuff, I'll really run out of money. But don't worry, I won't let it go that far. And if things get tight I'll call Chris."

"You should have called him by now." Seonghwa said "I understand you don't want to ask your parents for help, but I think you should at least tell Chris what happened."

"He already has a lot of responsibilities to worry about, I'll figure it out."

"I wish I had a place of my own so you could stay with me." he said, visibly worried, and upset that he couldn't help.

"It's ok." she said, squeezing her friend's shoulder "I'll work it out -she said taking a deep breath. "Lia and I are going out for the weekend to look for apartments."