BLUE ROSES.| CYJ

first

First impression on Choi Yeonjun?

Kang Sohee was fourteen when she met Yeonjun—at the dance club during summer camp. Sohee's late uncle ran a dance club studio and she stayed back after class to lend an arm. She was more mischievous than she was with an image of a good girl in the front. She would often prey on the boys for some extra help to clean the studio.

She'd lure them to play a game of rock-paper-scissors but only at a single spot in the studio. She'd wait for the evening to arrive as the boys would line in front of her for the challenge every single day after class . They often feared that as the relative of the dance teacher , she would complain to him if they didn't agree to her words. She would then make them stand in front of the mirror with their backs facing the mirror before they played the game. Sohee would easily predict her win and happily drag them to work while she ran across the room in gleam . The loser would have to clean the room instead .

That day , a lanky boy walked right up to her for the usual gate pass. He was a year younger than her . He had a bright smile laced on his face , sunken eyes and an atrocious bowl cut . He was drowning in his gray hoodie .

" Hey, you're so cool.." , he smiled.

Sohee glanced at him emotionless as she rested her hand on his shoulder , " Let's play, chicken.."

He smiled as she walked him inside the dance practice room , guiding him to stand in front of the mirror with his back facing towards it . Sohee leaves her hands on his shoulders and he misses a strange sense of weight on his shoulder because he felt lighter , as though levitating in the air when she agreed to play with him. Yeonjun was floating in the air , he just couldn't land down after being addressed by an angel in front of him. Or perhaps a devil . A cute devil who made Yeonjun feel ticklish in his stomach , he just couldn't wait to go back home to tell his mother about this girl he admires in class. Sohee screams in victory when she wins an easy rock over scissors two times in a row . She turns towards the boy to nag at him to work but his smile stays lifted on his face. It was the first time she had ever seen someone so happy after losing a game of paper.

He happily obliged to clean the room on his own. Perhaps the little boy thought that it was a good excuse to spend time with the girl he thought was cool.

Yeonjun thought she was cool because he was the complete opposite. He had messy hair, clothes worn out and unwashed for two days straight , he was always clueless nor did he ever think about learning to be free . Sohee was glamorous in his eyes , she wore long straight hair , she walked around boldly with face paints and leopard prints , she was always confident when she spoke . He looked upon her because she had something that he didn't find in himself .He never envied her beauty unless he did one time she made him take a picture of her on the last day of summer camp . Yeonjun wondered how a fourteen year old could look so beautiful at her age .

Yeonjun lacked freedom .

He felt like he was a burden to his family when he first began dancing. He assumed that while his other friends scored well and listened to all of their classes , his mind always wandered towards dancing and performing on stage. He felt burdened feeling different . One day he was called to his principal's office for scoring the lowest in his class where he truly expressed to the elder that he longed to perform on stage . The principal had warned him that he would never be able to achieve his dreams . When Yeonjun reported this to his mother , she didn't hesitate a moment more to scrap him out of school so that he could focus on his dance. He was happy about entering the summer camp after school , but at the same time he was healing from the mess he was at the age of fourteen.

Sohee was free .

She was never burdened to dance because her uncle owned a studio. She preferred to balter under the evening skies until it emerged into a palette of deep ocean blue . She was free because she never had dreams that sunk her down in the pool of life , she never worried about swimming ashore , she rowed boats through storms in ease which he thought would drown .

" Guess Mr. Kim hates me for life , he would never let me in his lectures again if I'm late again..", Sira sighs loudly .

" You know he takes class early every Tuesday , can't you make it to his class early for one day? Ms . Kang is so sweet , she 'd let you sleep in class for the sake of attendance..", explains her friend , Yeo Bomin . Sira had dragged her to get ice coffee to celebrate the occasion of officially risking her degree for the sake of attendance . If she was late for one more class of the good old Korean language professor , she'd be blacklisted into those students with an attendance shortage .

" I have a theory against being late.." , Sira rambles to her uninterested friend , " In my opinion , reaching your destination is more important than being late , just imagine—

"Shush!"

Bomin grabs her wrist dragging her friend outside in a hurry all of a sudden . Sira yelps confused as she hears her friend command her to follow her .

" Hey! Where are you taking me ? What about the ice coffee??", Sira yells in panic but calms down observing a group of people march down the street as them .

" Let's go!" , Bomin slips through the crowd to the absolute front to stand across the pedestrian walk across which they were not allowed to move beyond.

" Why here?", Sira gasps as she catches a hold of her friend's arm and they stop to hear an announcement. She whips her head at the name she has frequently heard in the media. She looks at the crowd disperse when they see a familiar figure emerge from his car with a mask on .

He raises his arm up high to greet the gathered audience .

" Hello everyone , This is Tomorrow by Together's Yeonjun..".

Yeonjun .

Sira observes him from a distance for the first time in her life. Having heard of his name in the media but never paying attention had led her to stare at him in curiosity. He has a small voice as he bows to the audience. He was someone who made the best first impression with his gaze , sharp , unwavering and direct when he acknowledge the bounty screams that fill the air , he speaks of his modish blue jeans and casual white tee on his chest in blasé , he rather condemns that he failed when it came to his forte. Yeonjun walked through the audience like a burning star in haze  , left the girl wondering if she witnessed him glow or burn down in front of her. 

" He's from the famous boyband , right ?", Sira asks Bomin who nods .

" It's him."