___

The doctor was gently grabbing your shoulder, trying to see where the pain was coming from.

Which was everywhere.

"We're going to have to take an x-ray." He sighed. "It seems serious."

You shut your eyes. If your shoulder was fractured, you would cause a scene at school. No doubt about it. Sometimes, you didn't have a filter - something else you learned from Hyunjoon: sometimes, you can't be nice.

The doctor took you to the x-ray room and had you do all the steps that needed to be done beforehand. You were shaking as the medical screen showed you what your shoulder looked like.

Absolutely fractured.

"It's a good thing I'm right handed." You mumbled angrily as you walked towards the playground. "It's a good thing I can manage without my left arm."

But even so, it was still difficult. Your left arm was a part of your eccentric performances, your whole body was part of it. You felt like crying. After so many months of preparing, it would be different because someone pushed you into a wall?

You kicked some rocks as you came along the maypole spinner. With your right arm, you grabbed onto it and successfully hoisted yourself up onto the rim. You placed your hands on your chest, right over your left to keep your arm in place, then you leaned back and allowed yourself to hang upside down.

You had always had weird coping mechanisms, maybe because the circus had been your safe place for so long. Sometimes during practice, you'd play on the lyra's and the aerial silks. It brought you to a very happy time with your family.

You were still a very happy person, just angry at your current situation. You felt the maypole start to slowly spin and opened your eyes. You saw Sunwoo, Haknyeon, and Jacob.

"Fractured?" Haknyeon asked.

"Yep."

You popped the p as you sat yourself up, turning to the outside and facing the guys. You reached out to them, and Jacob was the one to carefully help you down. You felt like if you jumped down, the impact of the ground would somehow hurt your shoulder.

Sunwoo patted your head. "Do you hang upside down often?"

"Only when I'm angry." You replied and kicked at the small pebbles under your feet again. "I would do anything for this to go away for at least a week."

"Why's that?" Jacob asked.

"I have a busy schedule coming up and it's going to be really hard to manage. I might just suck it up and take the sling off for a little while."

"No!" They all yelled.

You flinched and Sunwoo put his hands on his hips. "That'll make it worse, you know?"

You looked down - you wouldn't shed a single tear in front of them. "Yeah, but I'm not about to let her ruin the thing that I'm looking forward to most."

You turned on your heels and they didn't want to push what seemed like an already bad mood, so they didn't ask anymore questions.

Except for, "How did you get here?"

"I walked." You sighed sadly.

"Well, one of us can pick you up in the mornings?" Haknyeon told you. "That might be a little easier on your shoulder."

You couldn't imagine not riding your motorcycle to school, but you knew he was right. You'd still ride it to get to your circus, but that was twice a day, and better than three times a day.

"I'll do it." Jacob smiled. "Is that okay, Minji?"

You smiled and nodded.

"It's fractured?" Hyunjoon pouted. "Sick that girl, Minji."

You looked at your phone that was propped up on the counter across from you. You were holding an ice pack to your shoulder. "I want to, but if I do the reveal, I don't want to have an immediate bad image."

"But she fractured your shoulder? I feel like people would understand?"

"What am I supposed to do? It's going to be so hard with an immobile arm."

Your brother watched you angrily rub your eyes. "Remember when Dad broke his collarbone after a trick gone bad? He still managed."

"Should I just take the sling off for the two hours that I'm there?"

"Are you crazy!" He tapped his camera. "That'll make it worse, and that adds up to ten plus hours without your sling."

"Yeah," you sighed. "That's what Sunwoo said."

"Hey," Hyunjoon's voice turned soft. "Don't stress too much, okay? Do what you think is best. I know that whatever you choose to do, you'll pull it off beautifully. You're too good at this to let some random girl ruin it because she's jealous. You hear me?"

"I hear you." You smiled.

"Good. Now, go get ready for school, it's almost seven."

You hummed and waved bye, so he waved back and hung up. God, your shoulder hurt so bad. You took a quick shower, following the doctors instructions carefully, and managed to get an outfit on. Your jacket would be too heavy, so you stuck with a white t-shirt and some bracelets, that way, your arms wouldn't look too bare.

As you finished gathering your things, your phone buzzed.

NEW MESSAGE FROM
BAEJOONBUG

baejoonbug
good morning! whenever you're
ready, your carriage awaits
you right outside the door, sporting
a dark grey and an open sunroof.

minjinjja
wow, i bet a sweet prince drives it :)
i'll be out in a couple minutes.

___