STARGAZING| WEAK HERO CLASS 1

𝘖𝘕𝘌

" ᴛʀʏɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ᴅʀᴏᴡɴ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴏɪꜱᴇ. "

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"Let's go through this one last time okay?" Echos of agreement ran through the studio, the young girls and boys got up from the wooden floor and stood in rows in front of the mirror. An older woman, no older than 18, smiled at her class and slowly walked to stand in front of them, her long brown hair tied in a ponytail as rouge strands framed her lightly flushed face. Her dark brown eyes followed her students as they went through the routine once more, a soft smile on her face as they all completed it with ease.

"You've all done so well today, tomorrow will be assessment day so be on time. That will be all for tonight." Her voice softly echoed through the room, bringing a large grin to everyone's lips as they all cheered and bowed.

"Thank you Ms Lim!" They shouted in unison, Yeong-Ja let out a small laugh and leaned against the wall as she watched her class gather their things and slowly exited the room. She could see many parents waiting outside the room from the small window by the door, taking a deep breath Yeong-Ja slowly slid down the wall. The pain in her feet became unbearable as the adrenaline of her class wavered, Yeong-Ja sighed and carefully took off her pointe shoes and silently stared down at her bloodied feet. This was a routine for her, dance until her feet couldn't take it, clean up the blood, re-wrap her feet, replace her shoes and do it all over again.

"Are you staying late again dear?" Yeong-Ja's eyes snapped to the door where the elderly man stood against the door, he was the owner and was very kind to Yeong-Ja.

"Just for a couple more hours. I'll lock up as usual Mr Kim." She softly said, the old man nodded with a knowing look in his eyes. He knew Yeong-Ja would sleep here most days the reason he didn't say anything is because he had seen the bruises that littered her arms when she would go home, he could see the emptiness in her eyes and pitied the young girl.

"Of course Yeong-Ja. Make sure to eat something." Yeong-Ja managed to send him a faint smile and silently nodded her head. She watched him softly close the door and closed her eyes, leaning her head against the wall she carefully rolled up the sleeve of her leotard exposing the purple bruises that littered her skin. Yeong-Ja pursed her lips and stared down at the damaged skin, screams echoing through her head, she could still feel her hands and shoes hitting her. She had snuck back to the house last night, needing to collect more clothes but her pathetic excuse of a mother saw her and dragged her by the hair to her father's study. Yeong-Ja clenched her hands and took a shaky breath, shaking her head to try and forget. 

"A couple more hours," Yeong-Ja whispered to herself before re-wrapping her feet and putting her shoes back on. Dance was the only thing that could make her forget, that could make her forget about the bruises, the words, the screams, it was her only escape from reality. When she danced, she felt free, like the stars that painted the night sky she would stare up at every night, the cruel world around her, all her buried emotions, all her thoughts, they would fade into nothing when she danced and that's what she wanted. To not feel. To not exist. Even if it was only for a little while.