In Another Realm (AU)

18

Late in the afternoon, Yeji found herself seated in the center of the dance studio, facing the mirror, while suited for practice. Since the dance class hadn't started up again until after the holiday, she was by herself. Only two days had passed since Christmas, and Yeji finally mustered the strength to get herself out of her house from locking herself up.

When she returned to the dance practice room, which had developed over the previous few months into her new comfort zone, she realized how much she had missed being outside. She had just had time for a break after dancing for almost two hours.

Because she was never good at dancing in her home world, she had never genuinely considered that dancing would help her relieve stress and clear her mind more effectively than locking herself in her room. However, now that she knows why, she can see why her other self found comfort in dancing.

Recently, on Christmas Eve, she got a message from Karina. Yeji overlooked the fact that she had actually given the woman her contact details. Karina's message wasn't unexpected because Yeji had assured her that she could text her whenever she wanted, but she hadn't counted on Karina to be someone she would at least expect to reach out to. Yeji, though, was pleased.

Yeji felt pleased despite having been engrossed in her own world. Sitting in the center of the studio, blaring a great music that soothes her, something feels refreshing in her head.

As soon as she heard the door of the room open and felt someone enter, she quickly turned to face whoever it was. Once she recognized them, she jumped to her feet and hurried to the computer to pause the music and greet her unexpected visitor.

Yeji brushed her hair back to enhance her look and questioned, "What are you doing here?".

"Obviously, I'm here to see you." Ryujin grinned at Yeji and said, "Here, I brought you something."

"Huh?" Before Yeji even wondered more, she took the present from Ryujin's hands and looked at it when she realized it was a piece of cake.

"I baked it today and I thought about bringing some for you." Ryujin mumbled shyly.

"Really?" Yeji smiled as she looked back up at the girl. "Thank you. This is sweet."

"Have you been dancing for a while?" Ryujin asked as Yeji invited her to take a seat on the couch inside the studio.

"Yeah, I need to get myself back on track. I've been missing a lot from the past few days." Yeji explained while carefully placing Ryujin's present on the table beside her.

"I thought you were having a dance class."

"The whole class is on break, so I'm not teaching anybody. But I'm having my own routine."

"I see."

"How did you know I was here?" Yeji wondered.

"Well, I went to your place to personally give you that cake. I wasn't able to wish you a Merry Christmas, so I wanted to visit you. And your brother told me you're here." Ryujin explained, hesitant to speak but maintaining eye contact with the other woman.

"Is that why you came here?" Yeji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Uhuh..."

"Just that?"

"Well, can't we hang out like we always do?" Ryujin chuckled, even though she was confused.

"I thought you wanted to spend the rest of the holiday with your family. Besides, we wasted a lot of days not hanging out together, so I thought you didn't want to hang out together anymore." Yeji mumbled shyly.

"It's not too late for us to do something for the Christmas holiday, Yeddeong. And why wouldn't I want to hang out with you anymore?"

"Because you were mad at me?" Yeji guessed, making Ryujin burst into a chuckle.