They woke without being told.
The body knowing before the mind caught up.
---
The beds made first.
Tight corners.
Smooth fabric.
Fast and without discussion.
---
Then the showers.
Cold water.
The kind that didn't ask anything of you except to stay in it.
Just cold coming down.
Pulling the sleep out through the skin.
Pulling everything out that wasn't useful.
---
Back to the room.
The black tracksuits folded neatly beside each bed.
Same as every morning.
Clean.
Precise.
They had stopped asking about it a long time ago.
Stopped noticing it as anything other than what it was.
It was just there.
Like the lights were just there.
Like the cold water was just there.
They accepted it and put them on.
---
The silence between them different this morning.
Ha Joon not looking at her directly.
His eyes finding other things to land on.
The wall.
The floor.
The middle distance.
---
Then she appeared.
---
The body knew what that meant too.
Braced before she spoke.
Before she moved.
The specific readiness that had been built into them over weeks of mornings exactly like this one.
The body waiting for what came next.
The pain of it.
The brutality of it.
The way it left marks that didn't show on the outside.
---
She put them through it.
---
Then she left.
---
They followed after her.
Down the corridor.
To the elevator.
Just the two of them stepping inside.
The doors closing.
The old machinery engaging.
That familiar noise.
That familiar trembling of the walls around them as the elevator began its descent.
The yellow light blinking above.
---
Eun Byol looked at him.
---
"I had a dream."
Her voice quiet in the small space.
Not soft exactly.
Just quiet.
"About my manager."
A pause.
"Park Han-Soo."
She looked at the elevator doors.
At the old metal of them.
"He's a nice enough person I suppose."
A breath.
"But he always made sure I remembered."
She paused.
Finding the words.
Or deciding which ones to use.
"To be perfect."
Another pause.
"Everything I did.", "", "Dancing.", "", "Singing.", "", "Down to the last detail.", "", "Perfect.", "", "Always perfect.", "",
"I used to dance a hundred times a day.", "", "Sing until I don't know when.", "",
"I hated it.", "", "I still do.", "",
---
The elevator trembled slightly.
Kept descending.
---
"I took some of that out on you."
Her voice finding something harder to say.
"Last night."
A pause.
"I wasn't in the right state."
Another.
"I was thinking too much."
She stopped.
Started again.
"What I'm trying to say is it was my fault."
A breath.
"And I don't want our friendship to be something ruled by that."
---
She looked at him now.
Full on.
---
"I really do like your idea."
Small.
Genuine.
"The eye signals.", "", "The hand signals.", "", "I think it's good.", "",
---
The tears came quiet.
Not dramatic.
Just there.
Moving down her face slowly.
Like they hadn't asked permission.
Just arrived.
---
Ha Joon looked at her.
The elevator small around both of them.
The yellow light catching the side of her face.
Her eyes wet.
---
"In my whole life."
His voice low.
Even.
"I only had one friend."
A pause.
"I'm glad to have another."
He looked at her directly.
"And I'm glad it's you."
Another pause.
"I'm sorry too."
---
He hugged her.
---
Not slowly.
Just did it.
His arms finding her before either of them had decided anything about it.
---
Her eyes went wide.
For a moment just open.
Taking in the ceiling of the elevator above his shoulder.
The blinking yellow light.
The old walls around them.
---
Then she closed them.
And held him back.
---
The elevator shuddered once.
Then opened.
The corridor beyond it dim and waiting.
The two of them still there.
In the dark between where they'd been and wherever came next.