Let There Be Peace

Chapter 10

            Paz heard a knock on her dressing room door. She opened it to find Jeong standing awkwardly with a bouquet of flowers.

"May I come in?" he asked.

"Nope," Paz responded. "What's your angle? You show up here with flowers after vandalizing my studio. What gives?"

"I realize that I let the competition bring out a side of me that is very ugly," he admitted.

"Uh-huh," Paz agreed. "And?"

"And I apologize," he continued. "I know Mishin paid you for the damages to your shop. I wanted you to know that I will be paying her back."

"Well, that's your business," Paz replied. "I don't care what you do as long as you stay the hell away from me."

"So, you don't forgive me?" Jeong asked.

"I forgive you," Paz clarified. "But I don't have any desire to reconcile with you. Mishin and I are on good terms. I would hang out with her, but not with you."

"I see," Jeong replied. "I guess that's the best I could hope for after what I did." He pushed the flowers toward Paz who took them from him. As he was walking away, he turned and said, "Good luck today."

"You too," Paz replied cordially. Sometimes civility is the best we can do, Paz thought as she watched him walk away.

A few minutes later, the dance competition began. Soul and Paz watched the other couples from off stage as each couple did their routine for judging. Several couples did routines that could only be described as mediocre. They were not in rhythm with each other. The woman from one of the couples even suffered a fall during the routine. By the time Jeong and Mishin were up, it was obvious that they were the couple to beat.

Jeong wore tight black pants on his slim legs. He had on a shimmering red silk shirt. Mishin looked as amazing as ever in a delicate white bodysuit with a skirt made of thin layers of translucent white cloth. Paz eyed her tiny body, wondering if Mishin would get points for being skinny. Paz rarely was self-conscious about her body, but in Korea, thin was definitely still in, as the old phrase said.

Jeong and Mishin's routine was definitely more put together than those of the other couples had been. Paz saw many marks of Jeong's particular style of choreography which relied heavily on lifts. It was undoubtedly striking. Paz wondered if they should have included a lift in their routine.

Now is not the time to second-guess yourself, she reminded herself silently. She didn't feel a need to beat Jeong and Mishin to achieve some type of revenge. It was more that she felt pressure to win for Soul. After all, it was his dream. That's why he had sought her out in the first place.

Seeing her hands shaking, Soul took them in his and whispered in her ear, "No matter what happens, we are going on a trip to celebrate us, whether we win or not." Paz grinned. The thought of having him to herself for an entire weekend was cause enough for celebration.

As Jeong and Mishin left the stage, thunderous applause filled the auditorium. Paz knew they deserved it. She had to give them their due. They were exceptional. The only hope Paz and Soul had was to touch the judges on an emotional level. If she were going to be honest, she knew that Jeong and Mishin had the advantage on technique. But Paz hoped to be able to dance with Soul from the very depth of her heart because she knew that feeling mattered just as much as formal training.

Before taking the stage, Paz and Soul held hands and took a deep breath and let it out simultaneously. "We've got this," Soul assured her. "If we could weather everything we've been through in the past few months, we can get through this too."

As they walked out on stage, Paz tried to put herself in the state of mind of the song. She had suffered many losses in relationships. So, she had a well of feeling from which to draw. As they began, they focused not only on making the moves look smooth and effortless, but also on using their facial expressions to further the feeling of the song.

When they reached the point with the fabric panels, where they touched hands through the cloth, Paz felt a jolt of electricity. She saw by the widening of Soul's eyes that he felt it too. They undoubtedly had tremendous physical chemistry. But as Paz knew quite well, physical chemistry alone wasn't enough to sustain a relationship long-term. However, for the first time in her life, she felt like there was something more, something higher than the physical that bound them together.

Paz wound herself in the cloth and then spun out again. She noticed that the cloth panel sequence had the judges leaning into each other and whispering. There was no way to tell if that was a good or a bad sign.

When they reached their last sequence, Soul held her tightly, but then pushed her away as they had practiced. Paz fell in a heap on the stage in despair as they had rehearsed. Soul was to merely stand alone at the end, but somehow moved by the moment, he fell to his knees in tears. It wasn't in the routine, but Paz thought it might actually benefit them that he went with his instincts and the feeling of the moment.

Their piece received tremendous applause. Paz couldn't tell which couple was the favorite of the audience. They appeared to be pretty on par with Jeong and Mishin.

Backstage, Soul and Paz embraced. Soul was still emotional from the routine. Paz could feel that he was still crying. She patted his head. "It's just a song, baby. Don't let it get to you," she told him gently. "That's not gonna happen to us," she reassured him.

As the judged deliberated, all the couples huddled backstage. Mishin came up to Soul and Paz. "I saw your routine. It was very moving," she praised. "It's really a toss-up," she commented.

"Yeah, I feel the same way," Paz agreed. "I think it comes down to the personal taste of the judges." Mishin and Paz hugged and promised to go for a meal in the near future. Paz saw Jeong several yards away, but he didn't attempt to approach her. Paz felt glad that he was respecting her boundary.

"Ladies and gentlemen! We will now announce the winners of this year's competition. Everyone has done very well. So, the competition is tight this year," the MC said. He went through several categories including ballroom, tap, and hip-hop. Finally, he came to the contemporary interpretive category. He began with the honorary mentions, and made quick work of passing out those certificates to the couples that appeared early in the competition.

"Now, we have come to the most contested decision of the evening. In the contemporary interpretive category, we narrowed it down to two couples with very different styles. One incorporated tremendous technical expertise and the other brought the emotion and left their hearts on the stage," the MC said. He paused for dramatic effect. "At this time, I would ask the couple of Jeong and Mishin and the couple of Soul and Paz to come to the stage."

Both couples stood before the crowd. Soul grabbed Paz' hand and gave it a squeeze. "And now the first prize winner is --- Soul and Paz from Studio Baile!" he announced.

Soul and Paz hugged each other tightly and passed by Jeong and Mishin, shaking their hands in congratulations for the tremendous routine they had done as well. Jeong looked dejected, and Paz felt a twinge of pity for him that he faced such pressure to succeed that it took the joy away from dancing.

Soul took the large trophy and raised it over his head. "We did it!" he whispered to Paz.

"We did! And now we get to go on our trip," she reminded him.

"I'm so ready," Soul replied. "Oh, by the way, I need you to bring a bathing suit, some hard candy, and a salad spinner," he told a bewildered Paz.

"I think Keeho was right when he said you are a strange kid," Paz laughed.

"As are you, my lovely girl. As are you," Soul answered.