Remember 1999

Chapter 28 - Dancing With You

"Five minutes."

Son Ye Jin drew a deep breath before running down the road as swiftly as she had flown out of the bus. She almost threw herself in the elevator but she found it almost empty. An elevator attendant pushed the 7th-floor button with a wide smile and Ye Jin returned it with a gentle smile and nod.

Something inside her wondered why the attendant knew her floor but her smile was reassuring.

Once out of the elevator, she immediately ran to the auditorium. She knew it so well that she didn't need to look for it. She glanced at her watch and read six-twenty. 

"Again?" she said softly to herself.

It feels like Deja Vu. The only difference from the last time was it was evening today.

'Okay I'm late but it's better than never,' she whispered.

She checked herself first, smoothing her red bodycon dress- a gift from Ye Seul. The dress revealed her beautiful neckline and perfect body curves. Forgetting her doubts about why she had to wear a dress for today's lecture, she pushed a strand of hair out of her face and opened the back door of the room confidently. 

This time it was not a camcorder that she stumbled upon that made her stop. But a string swinging in front of her with a little paper tied on it, hitting her nose. Aside from that, the darkness in the room completely baffled her.

"Am I in the wrong room?"

She looked over her shoulders and thought of going out when suddenly her curiosity pushed her to pull the paper on the string and read its content.

Stage

"Stage?" she said with furrowed eyebrows, confused about what it means. She looked around the darkness and noticed that the stairs down to the podium had two lamp-post-like poles that were lighted in a bright yellow-orange glint. Although perplexed, she walked towards them so she could walk down to the dark stage. Just as she stepped down to the next level, another two lamp-posts opened which made her stop in awe and wonder. There were fairy lights too, connected from the previous lamp-posts, blinking like stars. 

With a twinkle in her eyes and a smile forming on her lips, she walked down further, and just like what she had expected, another lamp-post lightened her way to the stage. She turned around and looked back and only then she realized that a red carpet was spread on the stairs of the auditorium. 

She walked even slowly, her heart throbbing with excitement while she admired the sight in her eyes. 

"Beautiful!" she uttered softly to herself.

* * *

Tae Pyung squinted his eyes as he maneuvered the crane of the claw machine and with a quick push on the button, the claw stopped and grabbed nothing.

"Aish!" he exclaimed, punching the buttons impatiently. He fumbled over his pocket for another coin and tried again. This time, he was more serious than ever, he would get Ye Jin a teddy bear no matter what or otherwise lose his face forever. With the burning motivation to win, he did not notice Ye Jin had already left his side. She walked slowly with an amazed expression on her face.

"Gotcha! I got it!" Tae Pyung yelled at the top of his lungs when the claw successfully grabbed a small size bear and successfully dropped it off to the hole.

"Ye Jin! Look-" he stopped mid-sentence after finding that she was no longer beside him. He looked around worriedly since the darkness was already settling in. Finally, she recognized her back but before he could grab her shoulder, a beautiful scene captured his sight as well.