"Hey, bro. Are you seriously teaching a bachata class now?"
Dongha clicked his tongue. Cheol-oh, looking embarrassed, glanced at Dongha and Yoojin before snickering.
"These days bachata is way more popular than salsa. The members begged for it, so I opened a class."
"But wasn't this originally our crew's practice studio?"
"Hey, Dongha, all our crew members got sent as backup dancers for the Inox and Uniex projects. And you're the director. Everyone's at the Hongdae studio now, so we had no choice but to rent this place out."
"Then what about you?"
"I gotta play your role. Someone has to manage the studio. You abandon your responsibilities and then get offended? Unbelievable."
He shot the words like an accusation—calling out a leader who threw down the responsibility and wandered elsewhere.
But Dongha returned a cold question.
"Then do you have a day that's free at 9 p.m.?"
"…Why? Thursday is open, but the salsa performance team asked for it."
"Don't give it to them. I'll use Thursday."
"...Huh?"
Bewildered, Cheol-oh looked once at Dongha, once at Yoojin. But Dongha didn't respond, and Yoojin only peeked curiously through the frosted studio door.
Slow, sensual music—slower than salsa—seeped out through the gap.
"Yoojin, curious?"
Yoojin looked at Dongha and smiled faintly.
"This isn't salsa, right? Some other dance?"
"Yeah. It's a Latin dance. There are formal dances like jive, cha-cha, rumba, samba… And this one is bachata, a social dance."
"Oh, like salsa?"
"Kind of."
But Dongha suddenly cleared his throat, awkward.
Seeing that, Cheol-oh let out a sly grin.This brat… he's way more innocent than he looks.He'd watched Dongha for years.And it was painfully obvious why Dongha brought a girl here today.
"You should try bachata. It's fun," Cheol-oh teased.
"Then you teach Se-ryun bachata," Dongha shot back.
At that moment, Cheol-oh's pale face turned even paler.
"I'm sorry. Last Sunday, I honestly thought I was going to die. I was terrified."
Yoojin still didn't know that Se-ryun and Cheol-oh had played a "love chase" through Gangnam—which, to Cheol-oh, was closer to a survival game.
She only knew Se-ryun had recently taken a liking to someone.
"What's bachata?" Yoojin asked.
It had never been so difficult for Dongha to face Yoojin's bright, innocent smile.
"Yoojin… bachata is a bit… different. Unlike salsa, it has, uh… more body contact. It's kind of… sexy."
"Really?"
Yoojin turned away from him and pushed open the studio door.
"Can I take a look?"
Before Dongha could stop her, Yoojin stepped inside.
The instructor—wearing a flowing dress—was counting softly, "One, two, three, tap. Four, five, six, tap," shifting her weight side to side.
More than ten women and three men followed her in a line, stepping side to side.
Nothing looked particularly suggestive.
Why would this be considered sexy?
Yoojin tilted her head.
When she turned, Dongha was already beside her, holding out the salsa shoes he'd bought her.
"Bachata is something you dance only with me."
The sharp tone made Yoojin laugh under her breath.
She took the shoes and slipped them on, standing at the back of the class, copying the steps.
Each time she tapped her foot and lifted her hip slightly, she felt shy and amused at once.
"Dongha instructor?"
The instructor recognized him and waved.
Dongha rubbed both hands over his face, annoyed.
"Just go," Yoojin nudged him.
"Ugh… I hate this."
"Why? If you don't show me, how am I going to dance with you?"
Dance… with me? Bachata??
Dongha's ears instantly flushed red.
He avoided her gaze and muttered sharply: "You have to promise."
Then he stepped to the front.
"Wow, look who's here—our ever-popular Dongha instructor!"
The woman giggled, barely hiding her delight.
The class members also looked pleased.
Dongha, dressed in a white shirt and semi-dress pants, looked strangely fitting—both out of place and perfect in a dance studio.
"Okay, holding," the instructor said.
Dongha stepped forward, taking her hands.
Music flowed, and their legs crossed lightly as they moved side to side.
Huh? Something feels wrong.
A faint sting of discomfort pricked Yoojin's chest.
It looked like Dongha was guiding the instructor—making her sway sensually to the beat.
The instructor smiled radiantly.
But Dongha's expression was icy, hollow—no emotion.
She stared up at him like she wanted to go further than basic steps.
Dongha immediately stopped.
"We only covered the basic steps today."
"Sure, but wouldn't it be nice if we showed the members a bit more?"
"If the follower leads well, there's never a problem," he cut her cleanly, stepping away and returning to Yoojin's side.
Yoojin glanced at him. Just earlier, he was blushing. Now he was completely indifferent.
Is he used to this kind of dance?
The instructor clapped her hands lightly.
"You heard him—bachata originated from a man holding the dead woman he loved. So the follower just moves softly with the lead, side to side. But don't make too much skin contact. It can be seen as harassment. Well, of course Dongha is perfectly gentlemanly."
Her tone said one thing; her eyes said she wanted more.
And to Yoojin, bachata suddenly felt shocking.
A dance born from embracing a dead lover…
To move with a body you would never feel again—her heart thumped at the tragic idea.
"Dongha, I think… I might really like bachata," she whispered.
Dongha's face went blank.
"No. You must not. You tiny little thing acting so—"
His sternness was so unfamiliar and funny that Yoojin burst into soft laughter.
*
After leaving work early and refreshing her mood a bit, she slept early.
Her complexion, darkened from stress, had brightened again.
On her way to the subway station, her phone rang—Jang Seohee.
— Hey, Yoojin!
"Sis! How have you been? How's your internship?"
— Samho Entertainment? So good. Really fun. What about Samho Apparel?
Yoojin let out a bitter smile.
Still, Samho Apparel had been her dream.
"Not bad. I'm doing okay. But I didn't know you wanted the entertainment side."
— PR belongs in entertainment. You know I've always wanted marketing.
"Oh… right. You did."
— Anyway, Yoojin, the thing is…
It wasn't a casual call—of course.
Yoojin focused.
— I've been put in charge of planning the new employee workshop.
"What? Unni! That's amazing!"
Her shout made commuters glance back at her.
— So here's the thing—I need your help.
"What is it?"
— SamhoElectronics is launching a new home-appliance line. Think of appliances as art pieces inside the home—various colors, sleek design.
"Wow, that sounds like the concept we studied when curved TVs came out."
— See? You always catch the point fast.
"We took that sustainable management class together!"
— Right, right. So for the workshop, we're making a V-log featuring all the new hires—showing the hotel, products, services... basically PR.
"That's such a good idea for a company workshop!"
— So I want you to appear in it. Well, all thirty trainees will appear, but… I know you hate this kind of thing.
"It's just a corporate V-log, right? It'll be on the company website or something?"
— Yeah, yeah. Something like that.
She didn't mention it would also go up on U-Star, the company's public SNS channel—which was definitely not "just the company website."
Still, Yoojin felt oddly lighthearted.
"That sounds fun. Our workshop is next Friday to Sunday, right?"
— Yep. But our PR and entertainment teams go early on Monday to prep. Is there anything you want to do at the workshop?
Yoojin narrowed her eyes, recalling global corporate workshops and elite MBA programs.
Words like technological innovation, organizational design, investment strategy began spilling from her mouth—and Seohee didn't hang up until Yoojin finally stepped back into the office.