Letters On Our Skin || BangChan

2

"Dad, are you home?"
I close the front door with my foot behind me and hang up my jacket.
The hallway is quiet and empty, as is the rest of the apartment.
It's Friday. Dad should be home, but as so often he is not.

In the kitchen, I take out a cup and fill it with water from the tap. My eyes travel over the picture frames in the window sill.
The one to the far right shows my father the day he became detective in Seoul's crime fighting unit. It's a happy picture, him in his uniform, me beside him. I had just turned seventeen and we had lived in Seoul for no more than two years. That was almost three and a half years ago.

I place the cup onto the table and grab the sticky notes by the fridge.
I write a quick note that I was here and that I'll be home later tonight for dinner.
Ever since he became detective, my dad does not spend a lot of time at home. It became even less since I moved out two years ago.
I take my jacket from the hook and leave the apartment, after I leave a sticky note on the table.
I'll be home for dinner, love you! O.
I got off work a little earlier than any other Friday, so I take the remaining minutes to be at the park sooner than usual.

My car is tiny and old, but it holds two of my jackets, a bag with dance clothes and work out gear, three bottles of water I started somewhere in the past, and my huge speaker that I take to the park each week.
My dad bought this car for me and I love it  more than anything else. Not more than dancing, but anything after that.
I park the car and grab everything I need, before crossing the green areas and plant myself beneath a tree by my usual spot.

My class will start in thirty minutes.
I watch as a group of girls takes pictures of one another, and then cross the pathways towards the tea shop. It's a sunny day, puffy white clouds covering the blue sky.
My eyes drift over the trees and I follow a small dog running around, when suddenly, my attention gets drawn to a group of young men.
Particularly, one of them in a big hoodie and a basecap.
They're not standing too far away from me, laughing with each other.
I think I recognize Chan by the way he shimmies his wide shoulders and grab my stuff to get over there.

"Chan?"
I approach him from behind, and he immediately turns to face me.
"Olivia," he says and I can see his cheeks turn pink, "You're already here."
"As are you," I chuckle and my eyes wander to the group of boys standing a bit further behind him, watching us carefully.

When they see me looking at them, they pointedly turn away, staring into the trees and bushes. I laugh a little and turn my attention back to Chan, who scratches his neck with one hand, hiding his face behind the other.
"Are those the friends you were talking about?"
"Yeah," he puts his hands into the pockets of his shorts, "They are. Please excuse their weird behavior, I specifically told them to be normal."

I eye Chan's friends again.
Most of them are around his height, though only two are build as muscular as he is. The others are lankier, more slender and leaner. Only one of the seven is a lot taller than Chan.
Some of them are wearing hats like Chan, one is wearing a pair of sunglasses. 

One of the bunch steps closer to us, his blonde hair sticking out from beneath his beanie. 
"It's so nice to meet you," he says and the freckles on his cheeks dance, "I'm Felix."  
That's interesting.
Felix is not a name you hear often here in South Korea.
How did Chan introduce himself?
Christopher. But call me Chan.
Felix. Christopher.

"The pleasure is all mine," I respond, "If you don't mind me asking. Are you from here? Felix is not a Korean name."
Felix grins, "Neither is Olivia."
I nod and smile at him. He is not stupid.
"I'm from America, actually. We moved here around seven years ago."
"No way!" Felix excitedly punches Chan on his  shoulder and says in English, "We're from Australia!"

His accent is thick, even those few words much softer and rounder than they would have sounded out of my mouth.
"Really? Oh, that's so awesome! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, we're actually-..."
"We're here for university." Chan interrupts him loudly. "Just typical school."
Felix eyed him with a raised brow but then turned towards the other guys. He calls them close and they introduce themselves to me.
Jisung, Changbin, Hyunjin, Jeongin, Minho, and Seungmin gather around us, each of them shaking my hand.

Chan next to me explains, "Minho, Lix, and Hyunjin-ie are actually huge dancers. They're the best in the group."
"Is that so?" I pull up an eyebrow. "I hope you taught them the choreography from yesterday, then. Wouldn't want our esteemed dancers to embarrass themselves."
Chan chuckles and his shoulders etch into mine.
"Of course I did," he says then, "We practiced it all night last night."
"Is that so?" I take a look at my phone to see what time it is.
Showtime.
"Then let me see what y'all got." I wink at Chan and slowly back away, grabbing my things and making my way to my usual place on the grass.

Everything goes according to plan. I gather the people, Chan and his friends standing towards the middle of the crowd, and we start off with a little warm up.
Then we go over the choreography one more time before I call out, "Now let's have some fun with this! Are you ready to speed this up?"
The song plays from the speaker and I get in position. We dance through the choreography before I turn down the music once more.
"Now, I see you're all professionals at this! But it's the weekend, so it's time to party! Let's do some freestyle!"
I play the song again from the start and leave my place at the front to join the other dancers.
I shimmy through the rows, stepping between the dancers. They're all having so much fun!
The song continues and I finally let myself go.

My body moves without me thinking. I drive my hands into my hair, the soft strands curling around my fingers. I'm spinning, fast and secure in my shoes. I jump and clap and bend my knees and twist my hips just the right way.
Dancing feels like flying, feels like floating, feels like soaring through the sky.
When I open my eyes, I can see Chan and his friends dance a few feet away. I watch them for a moment, Felix and Jisung laughing at each other's stupid dance moves. Minho and Hyunjin dance for themselves a bit farther away, their eyes closed like mine were. Jeongin and Seungmin dancing with Changbin and Chan.
The sheer joy on their faces makes me giddy. This is exactly what I am doing this for.