“fight with yourself if you have the guts,
my face will be replaced with another tomorrow—”

Music resounded through the empty studio save for one dancer. The rest of them had already left, done with the day's training. But one stayed behind to practice more.

A thud followed by a frustrated scream rang through the studio, sounding dull outside the door but enough to generate curiosity. Yeonseo, however, forced her shaking legs to stand up and rewind the music only to fall again on the same step.

"You are exhausting yourself," a voice cut through the sniffles of the young dancer. Surprised, Yeonseo stood back up and faced the intruder.

"You should go home and rest, Yeonseo. You'll get injured if you keep going like this." Migyung's voice was gentle, her smile friendly. Mijung and Migyung were identical twins but Yeonseo couldn't help but notice how different they were. Mijung would never smile at her this way; the prima despised her existence, she knew.

Gulping, the younger girl shook her head. "I'm okay, Ms. Kim. I need to get better to be able to compete for Giselle's role." It was the truth. Even if she was good, Mijung had years of experience on her and she was determined to have this one role, to prove that she was a good dancer, worthy of praise.

Migyung sighed, her lips pressing together as she leaned away from the wall, standing straight. "Na Yeonseo, you are going to get changed and leave this building with me in half an hour. No arguments."

The girl's eyes widened, the usually soft-spoken Kim Migyung was stern right now, her face set in stone as she regarded her. And because she respected the dancer so much, she didn't dare cross her again and quickly went to change.

Another hour later Yeonseo found herself sitting in a ramen house, her eyes trying to take in the interior while her mind still processed the fact that her idol was buying her dinner.

"Are you on any particular diet right now?" Migyung asked, her eyes glued to the menu, her eyes almost twinkling at the variety of food.

Yeonseo cleared her throat before replying, still a little stunned. "I'm not eating carbs or anything too oily. Mostly I just eat salad these days."

"Just salad?" Another voice cut in between them, startling the young girl. Beside them stood a tall woman, and if she had to judge despite the apron covering her front she was equally curvy. Eyes traveling to her face, Yeonseo felt her cheeks heat up and her heart thundering when she saw her dimples. She was beautiful.

"Girl, you need to eat more. You can't possibly survive on salad. I'll make you a soup with chicken and lots of veggies in it. If you are here with Migyung, you are definitely a dancer so I won't jazz it up much and make you feel heavy. You want the same, Migyung?"

"No," the said woman replied immediately and looked up at the lady who seemed much closer to her teacher than Yeonseo had judged. "I want fried dumplings and jajjang. I'm feeling very hungry, Sehee."

The lady, Sehee, smiled brightly and squeezed Migyung's shoulder. "I got you," she said, directing the same smile at Yeonseo which made her reach for her glass of water before leaving.

"She's hot, I know but she has a boyfriend,  so calm your tits down."

Yeonseo's eyes widened, her neck and ears heating further as Migyung started laughing at her reaction. The poor girl hung her head down, her lower lip caught in her teeth as she listened to the happy sound.

She wasn't going to lie, Sehee was an attractive woman but what made her smile hard was the sound of her teacher's laughter. For all the smiles and the toughness Migyung showed to the world, her weaknesses had been laid out in the open for a long time.

She was forgotten by the media now. Even in the dancing world, Migyung was naught but a ghost. New stars had soon replaced her but for Yeonseo, she had been the only one, the only light that led her through the darkness. Knowing she could make this woman laugh like this after everything that had happened, she was happy rather than embarrassed.

"I'm sorry," Migyung let out, laughter still evident in her voice. "I just couldn't pass the chance. I have sick humour, I know. I didn't mean anything by it and I also don't mean to assume anything. You are still my student."

Yeonseo looked up then, shaking her head as she gazed at the woman with big eyes. "It's alright, Ms. Kim. I've never heard you laugh like that before, so I don't mind."

Smiling, Migyung knocked her knuckles lightly against her head, muttering, "Silly girl," just as their food arrived.

The two of them ate in silence. Yeonseo hadn't realised how hungry she was till she got the first taste of the food. It tasted heavenly and she wondered how the cook had managed to make something healthy so tasty. Nevertheless, she wasn't too worried about it.

Migyung too ate heartily, not once thinking about the calorie intake. After that night when she had almost overdosed, she had started viewing everything in a different light, with a different appreciation. She had been cautious about her diet and weight throughout her life but these past weeks, she didn't find it in herself to care. Life was too short to count calories.

"So," Migyung started after they scarfed down half of their food, "you wanna tell me why you kept dancing even when your body gave up? The worst thing a dancer can do to themselves is to ignore their body. It's your tool, your whole life saving, treat it respectfully and gently, like a lover."

Yeonseo kept looking into her bowl of soup, her spoon playing with a piece of chicken and her lip was back between her teeth. She didn't know how to admit her fears to Migyung, the person who was the twin of her rival. But looking up into her warm eyes, she felt the floodgates open.

"I hate Mijung," she admitted in a rush, not stopping when she saw Migyung's lips part in shock. "Ever since I got the offer to dance for the academy, she has targeted me. She has bullied me continuously for the last two years. She has taken away all the chances I could have had to perform as a lead. She threatened me and my place in the academy saying no one would believe me over her. She has haunted my life for the most important years of my life and after losing all those chances, I don't have it in me to lose this chance to her. I don't want to lose, Ms. Kim. I want to prove to all of them that I'm a much better dancer than Mijung and the only reason why she's still standing is that she is my senior. I can defeat her and be Giselle. I want to be Giselle because I don't know what else I would be if not her. Giselle is my lifeline... she is starting to become my everything and for that, I need to give my best."

Migyung gaped at her once Yeonseo was done. Her face red, the girl gulped the water with her hand shaking. When she was done, she glanced at Migyung before looking away. "I'm sorry if it hurts you to know how I feel about your sister but I can't lie to you. I don't want to lie to you, Ms. Kim. I've looked up to you ever since you appeared on television for the first time and I haven't been able to look away. And as much as I love you, I hate Mijung just as much."

Migyung took a sip of her water too, the gears in her head turning as she regarded her student...her fan. "Mijung isn't a bad person," hearing her words, Yeonseo frowned and understand her feelings, she was quick to clarify.

"No one is born bad, Yeonseo. I know her behaviour isn't the best, it hasn't been for the past five years. Growing up, things changed as we both tried to make a place in the world. Going from sisters to rivals...it's not exactly healthy. Somewhere along the line stuff happened that made her like that."

Taking a deep breath, Migyung looked dead into her eyes, leaning forward and willing her to hear every word she spoke clearly. "You are fighting against your bully and trust me it's not going to be easy and I will be honest with you, the way you are going ahead with this...you will fail. You are not better than Mijung, Yeonseo, know that. Don't fool yourself. You are not better than her because I know just what Mijung is capable of, we've trained together so I know what you are going against and you won't be able to beat her, not like this."

Leaning back, Migyung didn't let her gaze or expressions falter as she looked at the younger girl's ashen face, the truth and reality making her clench her hands as tears sprang into her eyes. "If you want to be Giselle, Yeonseo, you need to be madder than this. You are not crazy enough about it because you want to beat Mijung and not become Giselle, so don't try lying to me. However, when you come to your senses and when you have decided what you really want, come to me. I am willing to teach you."

A/N:

I kinda like what just happened.
Migyung went from 'Mijung isn't a good dancer' to 'Mijung isn't easy to defeat'

Also, I'm planning to write a chapter from Mijung's pov.
Just letting y'all know to keep you hanging 😉

I hope you liked this chapter

And

Thank you for reading ❤️❤️