At the dining Hall Solar and Moonbyul met up with Solar's friends Wheein and Hye-jin or Hwasa as she preferred to be called. They were only freshman but they looked older. Wheein was shorter than Hwasa and had long light brown hair while Hye-jin had short blonde hair. They were roommates and best friends since middle school. They had the same music club with Solar and Solar has mentioned that they were really gifted musically. Moonbyul thought Wheein was really nice and bubbly while Hwasa seemed cold and intimidating. As the friends were busy talking about their plans this afternoon, Moonbyul was busy surveying the hall. Every girl in the dining hall was wearing some kind of skirt or dress. Fear crept into Moonbyul's mind as she thought about the school brainwashing the students into their idea of a real lady. She could imagine Miss Choi saying you are a "Dae RI girl now. You love skirts and dresses." Moonbyul shivered at that thought and decided to focus on her food. Food always made her feel better and she picked up her spoon and slurped her galbitang. With her chopstick, she picked up a piece of galbi and then proceded to eat it with her hands. After she finished, she placed the bone on the side.  She looked up from her food when she realized that everyone had stopped talking. Everyone at the table was staring at her with different reactions. Solar stared at her in amusement, Wheein looked shocked and Hwasa looked disgusted.

"Disgusting," Hwasa whispered bluntly.

Wheein quickly elbowed Hwasa in the side. "Don't be mean," she whispered.  She received a glare from the blonde.

"What?" Moonbyul asked as she looked around the table.

 "You have something on your face," Solar said.

. "Near your mouth," Hwasa stated.

"Oh." Moonbyul used the back of her hand to wipe which startled Wheein and Hwasa causing them to gasp.

"Did I get it?" Moonbyul looked at the group for confirmation.

Wheein and Hwasa both shook their heads as they stared at Moonbyul with wide eyes.

"Here let me help," Solar said as she took her napkin and dabbed it around Moonbyul's mouth. "Ok, done.” Solar smiled at Moonbyul and placed her napkin back on her lap.

“Thanks,” Moonbyul said sheepishly.

.”No problem,” Solar said. “So what are you guys doing today?” She turned and looked at Wheein and Hyejin,

“Hwasa has to clean the room today,” Wheein said as glanced at her roommate.

“I never said I was cleaning today,” Hwasa stated.

“You’re things are all over the place and it is taking over my space,” Wheein replied.

“I’ll do it tomorrow,” Hwasa said.

“That’s what you said yesterday,” Wheein said.

“I don’t remember saying that,” Hwasa replied.

Solar giggled as she watched the two bicker. “Sometimes they’re like an old married couple,” she whispered to Moonbyul who just nodded in agreement. She was a little scared that the smaller girl was going to smack her blonde friend.

“You better clean today, Ahn Hye-jin!” Wheein threatened.

“Ok, ok. Chill out,” Hye-jin said as she held her hands up.

“Good that’s settled,” Wheein said with a satisfied smile.

“So do you guys want to go to dance practice? I reserved a room,” Solar asked.

“Yeah,” Wheein and Hwasa agreed.

“What about you Moonbyul?” Solar asked.

“Yeah, sure,” Moonbyul said. “I do love to dance.”

“We all do, but Wheein is the better dancer in the group,” Hwasa said.

“No, I’m not,” Wheein blushed.

“Yes, you are,” Solar and Hwasa said.

“Thanks,” Wheein said quietly.

“Let’s finished our food first and then take an hour break before we meet up,” Solar suggested.

“Yes, leader Kim,” Wheein and Hwasa agreed.

As Moonbyul reached for her spoon, Hwasa grabbed her hand, surprising the older girl.

“Don’t slurp your soup,’ Hwasa said.

“Um, ok,” Moonbyul answered.

Hwasa released her grip on Moonbyul’s hand and went back to her food.  Solar mouthed an apology to Moonbyul who just shrugged.

 

***

"Lunch was good right?" Solar asked as Moonbyul and her headed back to their room.

“Yeah, it was good,” Moonbyul said with a shrug.

“Sorry, about Hwasa.  She can be a little blunt sometimes,” Solar said.

“No, it’s fine.” Moonbyul wondered if she should unpack.  She really wasn’t going to stay here right? There was no reason to. 

“Yong Sun!” A voice called out.

Solar and Moonbyul both turned toward the direction of the voice. A tall girl with long black hair glided toward them.  Moonbyul thought she had to be a dancer.

“Mari, hi,” Solar said.

Moonbyul saw the shorter girl tense up as she forced herself to smile.

“Are you ready for the showcase next week?” Mari asked. Her tone had a fake sweetness to it and in some ways it could be heard as condescending.

“Of course,” Solar said, “How about you?”

“I finished my routine last week and now I’m perfecting it, Mari stated.

“Oh, that’s great,” Solar replied

Mari nodded her head before she turned her attention away from Solar and looked at Moonbyul. “Hi nice to meet you,  I’m Park Mari.”  She held her hand out, but with the back of her hand facing up.  Moonbyul’s first thought was did she want her to kiss it like in the old British dramas?” Moonbyul ended up just shaking her hand instead.

Solar’s eyes narrowed at Mari’s gesture.

“I’m Moon Byul Yi,” Moonbyul said as she let go of Mari’s hand.

“Moon Byul Yi,” Mari said as though she was savoring the name. “I feel like I have met you before.”

“I don’t remember meeting you before,” Moonbyul said as she shook her head.

“You have a distinctive face,” Mari replied with a smile.

“Oh, um, thank you,” Moonbyul said with uncertainty.  Was that a compliment?”

“Are you two friends or something else?” Mari questioned.

“Roommates,” Moonbyul replied quickly.

Solar just nodded because she was surprised by Moonbyul’s quick answer.

“And friends,” Moonbyul added as she glanced at Solar.

 “That’s good,” Mari said.  “I hope to be seeing more of you Moon Byul Yi.”  She winked at Moonbyul before walking away from them. “Oh, good luck on you routine Yong Sun. I know you will need it.” Mari called out.

“What a strange girl,” Moonbyul said as she turned and looked at Solar.

Solar’s hands were clenched at her sides as she stood frozen in her place.

“Are you ok?” Moonbyul asked as she waved her hand over Solar’s face.

“Huh?” Solar shook her head and stared at Moonbyul for a few moments. “Oh, yes.”

“Who is she?”  Moonbyul asked.

“She’s in the same dance class as me,” Solar said.

“You’re in dance class?” Moonbyul asked. They must be rivals then, she thought.

“Yes but I’m not very good.” Solar said.  They continued walking down the hall and toward their room.

“Since Wheein is a good dancer, why doesn’t she help you out?” Moonbyul asked.

“Wheein isn’t much of a teacher and more of a troll,” Solar said with a laugh. “All she did was laugh when I was practicing my routine and then we got distracted and started to do crazy dances.”

“My last school, I was in a dance academy,” Moonbyul said. “I can help you if you want?”

Solar stopped in front of their door, surprising Moonbyul who almost ran into her.

“What are you doing, you scared me!” Moonbyul stated.

“Oh sorry,” Solar said. “That would be great!” She grabbed Moonbyul and hugged her.  “Thank you.”

“No problem,” Moonbyul whispered as she stood frozen in place.

“Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to surprise you.” Solar said meekly as she let go of Moonbyul.

“Oh no,..it’s fine,” Moonbyul stuttered. She could feel her cheeks turning red. “Is it me or is it really hot in here?” She started to fan herself with her hand.

“It feels fine here,” Solar said in confusion.

“Please can we go in,” Moonbyul  asked.

Solar nodded her head and turned to open the door while Moonbyul continued to fan herself.

What is wrong with me? Moonbyul thought.  Why do I feel so nervous when we are close? Moonbyul followed Solar into their room and closed the door behind her.

 

***

When Solar and Moonbyul reached the dance studio, Wheein was already there. She was lying on the floor with her arm over her eyes.

“Wheein, what are you doing?” Solar asked. “Where’s Hwasa?”

“I’m tired,” Wheein said. “She’s still cleaning. She said she will meet us here when she is done.”

“Come on, you said you wanted to practice” Solar stated.  Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Solar clapped her hands together while Moonbyul watched with amusement.

“I might have some energy if, unnie will play some music,” Wheein asked.

“Ok,” Solar happily obliged. She went on her phone and played Ariana Grande’s problem.  She placed her phone on the table as music started pouring in from the phone’s speakers.

Wheein slowly became more energized as her body moved to the music and as she got up she started to turn and glide around the room.  Solar soon followed as she flipped her hair back and forth and started to twirl around the room.  A smile appeared on Moonbyul’s face as she watched the two.

Solar beckoned Moonbyul to join them and with a shrug, Moonbyul did. She slid over to the group as they all pumped their fist in the air and started to jump around. 

“Aww, you guys started without me!” Hwasa shouted as she came into the room.  She quickly ran to join her friends.

The music switched to Beyonce’s Crazy in Love and they all started to sashay around the room. Wheein dropped to the floor and started to kick her legs up in the air as she rolled around. They continued dancing crazily for twenty minutes before Solar went over to her phone and turned the music off.

“Ok, I think that’s enough for a warm up,” Solar said.

“That was fun,” Moonbyul said.  

“Of course it is, you’re hanging out with us,” Hwasa said with a smirk.

“I didn’t expect this here,” Moonbyul said.

“What do you mean?” Wheein asked.

“Well I thought everything here is like prim and proper,” Moonbyul said.

“When school is out, it’s play time,” Hwasa said.

“Unnie, have you finished your routine yet?” Wheein asked Solar.

“Nope, I’m still working on it,” Solar answered. “Moonbyul is going to help me with the routine.”

“You dance?” Wheein asked Moonbyul.

Moonbyul nodded her head.

“Show us what you got,” Hwasa said as she shoved Moonbyul to the front.

“Oh ok,” Moonbyul said. “Can you play a song for me?”

“I’ll play the song that I’m going to dance to,” Solar said. She pushed the play button on her phone and Ciara’s body party started to play.

Moonbyul started to feel the beat and moved with precision. She incorporated hand flows and ticking to her dance as she glided around the room. The rest of the girls watched in amazement.  A huge smile was on Solar’s face as she watched Moonbyul danced.  It didn’t go unnoticed by Hwasa who elbowed Wheein’s side to get her attention.

“What?” Wheein said as she glared at Hwasa.

“She’s crushing,” Hwasa whispered as she pointed at Solar.

“Crushing what?” Wheein said as stared at Hwasa in confusion.

“Ugh.” Hwasa placed her hand on her forehead.  “Never mind.”

“Tell me!” Wheein said.

“I will later,” Hwasa said.

“No, now,” Wheein pouted.

“Later,’ Hwasa  said,

Wheein crossed her arms together in disappointment.

Moonbyul finished her dance with a bow, earning applauds from the group.

“Daebak,’ Solar shouted. 

“You’re really good,” Wheein added.

“I’m impressed,” Hwasa said,

“Thanks,” Moonbyul said with a smile.

Hwasa glanced over at the clock on the wall. “I have to go. I still need to finish my algebra homework. Come on Wheein.”

“I finished my homework already,” Wheein said.

Hwasa pointed her head toward the door, while Wheein just stared at her blankly. Hwasa closed her eyes and clenched her fist to keep from yelling at Wheein.  “I think I accidently broke your Beenzino cd.” Hwasa ran out of the room.
 

“Ahn Hye-jin!” Wheein ran after her friend while Moonbyul and Solar watched in shock.

Hwasa ran down the hall and stopped around the corner as she waited for Wheein in to catch up. Wheein in ran toward her, with her fist raised.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Hwasa shouted as she held her hands up.

“What!”

“I didn’t break it.  I only said that so that you would leave the room,” Hwasa said.

“Why?” Wheein placed her hands down as anger disappeared from her face.

“Remember that thing I was going to tell you.”

“About Unnie?”

“Yeah, I think she is crushing on Moonbyul.”

“No,” Wheein said as she shook her head.

“Yes.” Hwasa nodded her head.

“How do you know?”

“The way she looked at her during lunch and when Moonbyul was dancing.”

“Looked at her how?”

“Like oh you are so cute, I’m falling for you type a way,” Hwasa explained.

“Aww, I didn’t know you felt that way,” Wheein said as she placed her hand over her heart.

“Yah, don’t joke.” Hwasa said as she smacked Wheein on the arm.

"Lelelelele," Whein laughed. "Yes, I saw it to."

"You know what this means?" Hwasa said with a smirk.

Wheein just stared at Hwasa like she was dumbfounded.

"Jung Wheein!" Hwasa glared at her friend.

"Ok,ok," Wheein said with a playful smile. 'Time to tease the unnies."

"Yeah, let's go!" Hwasa high-fived her best friend.