dancing with a stranger

VI

hyunjin looked at the calender he had posted up on his wall. exactly 2 months until the submission of this assignment. which meant that he had to contact jaerim about it really soon. he looked at the unreplied text from jaerim and sighed. "maybe ill come up with a solid plan first then reply her" he thought to himself 

the assignment description was to produce a "5-min max dance production". dance majors were graded on the technicality of the choreography and the storyline behind the dance. while media majors were graded based on their filming and editing techniques, incorporated to the production of the video. seemed pretty simple on both our ends right? wrong. 

hyunjin hadn't an ounce of inspiration in his body. he didn't even know how to begin or where to start. 

a few hours went by and he was still at his table, staring at the screen. he tried watching videos to gain inspiration but all he could note down were dancing techniques. he needed an impactful story to tell and a melody that resonates with that story. but he had nothing. 

just then a notification went off on his phone. no, multiple notifications. all by the same name, jaerim. 

rimmie 

hello 

are you free today? 

want to discuss about the assignment?

i tried to brainstorm but i think the bulk of the ideas have to come from you 

am i disturbing you? 

you're probably busy aren't you?

okay sorry to disturb 

text me when you see this

or call, its up to you :>

hyunjin looked at all the texts from her. "i mean its a duo project. i need to get ideas from her too. two brains are better than one" he sighed and decided to call her. he didn't like texting all that much, it wasn't efficient. 

"hello?" a voice at the end spoke. 

"hey jaerim, its me, hyunjin" 

"i know" 

"what?"

"no, i know its you. you saved your number as dancing major, hyunjin remember"

hyunjin recalled the day they officially became partners in this assignment.

"sooo what did you save my number as?" jaerim voice perked up. 

"i haven't saved it" hyunjin replied, a twinge of guilt in his voice. 

"tsk. please save it after this. anyways, have you have lunch?" jaerim asked. 

hyunjin looked at the clock on the wall. he didn't realise it was already 2pm and he hadn't had anything to eat for the day. 

"nope" 

"well then, lets meet for lunch! we can discuss a little better when we're together" jaerim's voice lit up once again. 

hyunjin thought for a second too long but agreed. "i don't have any cravings so you can choose the place" he said before hanging up. 

soon after jaerim texted with the address of the cafe that she wanted to go and off hyunjin went, his feet heavier than they already were. 

--------

hyunjin arrived at the stated cafe and went inside to save a seat. he looked around the interior of the place. it was furnished from top to bottom with themes of autumn. there were 2 huge fake trees in the center of the cafe. the leaves mimicked the orange and red leaves of autumn. there were wooden accents scattered throughout the cafe and he didn't know if it was placebo but he felt the cafe was much cooler than other cafes, to mimic the temperature in autumn. 

it felt nice. it was peaceful. autumn was his favourite season after all but he could never quite appreciate it as he once had after the incident. the incident in winter that took his father. 

"hey! oh my gosh im so sorry im late. the bus app fooled me and made me miss the bus, TWICE" jaerim broke his thoughts with her voice and her choppy panting. 

hyunjin frantically waved his hands awkwardly. she was one loud girl. he noticed the other customers turning their heads at the sound of her voice and he instantly felt a flush of red wash over him. he hated being the center of attention, IRONIC, considering his looks. 

"i already know what i want to have, you should look through the menu" hyunjin pushed the red coloured menu towards the girl as she put her things down. he noticed the umbrella he gave her neatly wrapped up and tucked away in her tote bag and couldn't help but smile. 

"what made you choose this place?" hyunjin took a sip of water that the waiter gave earlier. 

"i just missed the autumn weather" jaerim shrugged and signaled the waiter over with a smile. 

the two gave their orders and waited patiently for the food to arrive. to say it was awkward was a serious understatement. hyunjin scrolled through his phone aimlessly as if there were many people hitting him up. we all know he only talked to 3 people maximum... 

and jaerim was looking all over the cafe as if it was so interesting. even as extroverted as she was, she couldn't find a common topic for the two. 

"so-"

"erm-" 

they both started and stopped at the same time. "you can go first" hyunjin sheepishly broke the silence. "any ideas so far? we need to come up with a storyline for the dance but i have absolutely nothing " jaerim sighed. 

"me neither. maybe we can think of some songs and make up a story from there?" hyunjin suggested while taking out a notebook. he jotted down some of the songs he was listening to while jaerim waited patiently. 

songs hj likes now 

- train wreck by james arthur 

- paper hearts by tori kelly 

- arcade by duncan laurence

- when the party's over by billie eilish 

jaerim took the notebook once hyunjin was done writing. "are you okay? like honestly speaking. are you dealing with something right now?" jaerim asked wide-eyed. all these songs were so sad and she never knew why someone willingly listened to songs like these. 

"they're nice.." hyunjin frowned. 

songs jr likes now 

- sippy cup by melanie martinez 

- bad guy billie eilish 

- man's world by marina 

- good boy gone bad by txt

"okay so from our very extensive song list, it seems we both like billie eilish" jaerim noted down. "we can do a song from her collection of songs and create a back story from it." 

"i think it would be better to use a past experience instead of creating a story from nothing" hyunjin spread out the food as the waiter finally came serving their meals. 

jaerim though about her past. her parents and their careers. her grandmother. she shook her head. "i have lived a painfully boring life. what about you? we can use something from your life because you know, dance and everything. it'll be more impactful that way" 

hyunjin thought about it. he thought about everything that happened during his nearly 20 years of living. none of them seemed to go right. especially that winter when he was 16. he too, shook his head. 

the atmosphere within the table darkened slowly. despite the warm tones in the cafe and the strong late afternoon sunlight that pierced through the window onto their table, both of them, were shrouded in this dark, looming entity. 

the two ate their meals, in a comfortable yet sullen silence. 

-- 

author's note: how did you all like this chapter? not so proud of it :"