life feels different when she’s standing on the balls of her feet. the ghost of the classical song begs her to curl her toes en pointe, to fold her arms into a pretty bow, and to spin as though she is the earth and all its inhabitants depend on her to keep twirling on its axis. this time, she ignores the piano concerto, stays her heels close enough to kiss the ground.
and life, on the balls of her feet, feels a little like this: the gust of wind against her cheeks, the haphazard sweeping of chocolate locks across her face, and always, constantly feeling out of breath.
that is to say, these days, bitna feels like she’s always running from something. there’s a ghost on her heels and her path forwards is an unlit void, and she’s always running into it. even now, as she’s standing lifelessly in front of the academy’s bulletin board, she feels its gale sweep her strands of hair onto her cheeks. but she pauses at the dramatics, tries to blame it on the students breezing past even though the sensation churns something vicious at her core.
“hey—” bitna turns to the call, doesn’t even think to question if it’s addressed to her, but suppose it’s all a moot point because now she’s staring into another fairy’s gaping eyes. bitna shakes her head reflexively, “what?”
“wait— you’re that girl, aren’t you?”
and there it is again, the running out of breath. confusion rests on her brows, but her eyes dart haphazardly around in panic. she spots the fairy’s phone in her hands. from its speaker, the classical song plays.
“yeah, you’re that ballet dancer who puked and fell—”
and there it is again, the burning lungs. these days, bitna feels like she’s always running from something.
( but apparently, not when it counts. no, her heels stay just close enough to kiss the ground. )
sometimes it’s enough to flirt with the possibility of being a hero rather than make bedfellows with it. it’s a mantra that stitches tiny incendiary stars to the paper white of the ceiling, smattering the cornflour blue of dawn in glitter and gold. most mornings, as he lies there willing each muscle to awaken, he thinks about the futility of it all. the world is too thin then and so such predilections are warranted.
but the bucolic blaze of day elicits a change in tone, lend it perhaps to the endorphins post- the morning run or the warrior’s lunch he scarfed down after simulation class. mayhap it is in the way sun rays kiss the smooth of his brow. you know, vitamin d, and all that jazz. whatever it is, all it takes is the first few bars and soon cognisance becomes a slow ember, a young flame.
“ i think that’s quite enough, don’t you ? ” his voice leaves him with more baritone than he originally intended so he follows up with smile. alas, he can’t help the fire in his eyes and as he stands between the two, he can’t help but think about how this must look to an outsider. at what point did his meditations transition from caped hero to cloaked vigilante ?
he watches the fairy’s expression crumple, chagrin a dusting of blush against the bridge of their nose. they say chivalry is dead but minjun would proffer that sometimes you just got to sever the solitary limb before it goes gangrene. he turns to bitna, the contours of his face softening at the sight of her. dare he confess that those big brown eyes of hers send him into a momentary pause or that he feels a little too comfortable wrapping an arm around her shoulders as he steers her way from that ever so fateful song ? it’s midday, he reminds himself.
he comes to a halt in the quieter portion of the hallway where he adorns her with the warmth of his gaze once more. “ if it isn’t song bitna… if i didn’t know any better, i would think you’re trying to avoid me. ”