Powerful (Michaeng)

Sweet Ballerina

... "Are you okay, Mina?" She asked, very worried, kneeling beside the Japanese girl, who was sitting with her hands on her right foot, which she had twisted during the failed jump.

"I think I'll need help to get up." Mina replied, her foot was throbbing, it would probably swell, and she didn't even want to think about something worse that could affect her performance.

"Come on, I'll help you." Chaeyoung placed one hand on Mina's back and the other on one of the ballerina's toned legs, making the girl blush and look at her somewhat startled by the touch. As soon as she noticed Mina's look, Chaeyoung promptly removed her hand from the young woman's leg.

"Forgive me." She spoke with her eyes downcast; Mina probably thought of her as a depraved girl.

Mina said nothing, only placing her left hand on the other girl's shoulder and using her right to push off the ground to stand up. With a small effort, Chaeyoung managed to help her up.

Mina tried to put her right foot on the ground, but the pain was unbearable.

"Please, help me get to my room and call my mom." Mina pleaded, almost crying. It seemed like everything suddenly started to go wrong. Even something she had done countless times in dance class, like jumps, became a challenge for her.

"Alright." Chaeyoung agreed, and the two left the room.

On the way, they didn't exchange a single word, nor could they look at each other's faces. Both either looked down or in the opposite direction of the other. The encounter after the kiss was entirely unexpected and in an unforeseen situation.

Chaeyoung didn't need to call Kimi, as she was leaving her room and was somewhat shocked when she saw her daughter.

"Mina, what happened?!" She asked, worried and approaching the two girls.

"I was rehearsing and ended up falling during a jump, I twisted my ankle, mom." Mina explained, visibly upset with the whole situation. Kimi closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put her hands on her hips, even more upset than her daughter.

"And you? What were you doing?" Kimi asked in an unfriendly tone towards Chaeyoung.

"She was passing through the corridor and heard when I called for help." Mina lied before the Korean girl could say anything. "Fortunately, because I wouldn't have been able to get up without Mariko."

"Who would have thought Mariko could be useful every once in a while." Kimi mocked, and she didn't fully believe Mina's story. Unfortunately, in recent days, her daughter had been acting quite differently from the girl she always was, and this shook Kimi's confidence in her.

"I need to lie down a bit; it hurts too much." Mina said impatiently.

"I'll take care of Mina from here on; bring some ice for first aid." Kimi ordered Chaeyoung and approached her daughter to support her. The other young woman then headed to the kitchen while mother and daughter went to the latter's room.

Kimi helped her daughter sit on her bed and carefully began to untie the ballet shoe. Mina let out a few small groans of pain during the process.

"A ballerina's life is like this, it has its graceful side and its painful side, the latter only we see." Kimi commented as she removed the ballet shoe from her daughter's right foot, then examined the swelling and redness of the area. "Well, it doesn't look too bad, but I'll call Dr. Kawamoto to do a full evaluation and put everyone's mind at ease."

Mina could already imagine Madame Tayoko's panic if she had an accident that prevented her from dancing "Swan Lake." It would be chaos for the woman to find a replacement when the performance was so close, and Mina didn't want that. Her moment to shine was approaching, and losing it due to an accident would be her worst nightmare.