Chapter 80 - Prince and Princess of Tap Dance 2

The memories had come in a vivid and violent stream, and Jun Hyeon simply detached himself from the present and immersed on what he was talking about as he saw the images in his mind. Just as he stopped to take a breath, he remembered that he was not just living it, but recounting some of his memories to a listener. More consciously, he continued,

"When we get to new school," Jun Hyeon said, amused as he was still able to recollect it as if was a memory scrapbook of some sort, as he narrated to Ye Rim, "me and my sister really didn't expect our previous fame to act against us. Moving to a wealthy neighborhood, travelling abroad and making some family-dreams come true, was the good part of becoming riches overnight."

He gave a little mocking laugh, continuing,

"Being new-rich in a elite high school, and everyone knows that, was part of the nightmare."

"Was it that hard?" Ye Rim asked. He found himself wondering if it was a surprise to her that he had a low-born background. But he continued where he left off,

"We had been subtly and openly ridiculed in a number of ways: because our simple language; because we were considered ostentatious and kitsch and because our poor education. For dancing, and for being, according to some, nationally-prodigious children. They started calling us the 'Twin Kims' because of an English mistake Ji noona made. We were hated even for being tall. Apparently even our appearance offended them."

"I can relate…" she seemed to empathize.

"Boys and girls, with a few exceptions, seemed unable to stand the presence of emergents in their midst. My sister and I, well, we were already united, but I remember that at that time this was even more evident to me_ because we were no longer children.

We were united also by war and survival in a hostile environment."

On the other side Ye Rim made a sound that seemed to be of astonishment and understanding, so Kim Jun Hyeon continued,

"Not that neither of us were excellent students. In fact, we both struggled with our grades and that was more fuel for bullying. They said,

" 'You can't buy intelligence with lottery money.' "

" 'You might be in the school chair next to me, but that's all. "

"People seem to cling to how little they have and feel threatened for no reason ..." she said.

"Uhm. We didn't go to TV shows anymore. The time of star children was behind us… Thanks Heavens, haha. It would have been hell."

"Oppa… Did you enjoy dancing and going to TV shows, as a child?"

"Uh… " Kim had thought about it many times before, and it was a difficult answer. "I think I liked it in the beginning. I was just a little kid, anyway. People were delighted, we were appreciated… It was nice. I did not fully understan what was going on, when I was little, to be honest. All I knew was that I knew how to do something right, and that people liked it. Only later did I really enjoy dance as dance… And it was around this time, actually."

"Ohh…"

"In fact, our peacetime was in the dance studio, away from school. We had a sort of 'siblings project': we were going to study dance abroad, in New York, and when we returned we thought about opening a dance company. It was a Ji noona project more than mine, but I liked the idea…"

"Why 'more of her'?"

"Because... Because she was more of a planner and was also quite determined. I was a kid at 16, to be honest. I liked the idea, could see myself doing it, but I didn't think much of it... I think I was still too busy thinking about having fun in my free time. I was a boy, that's it!" he justified himself, at first in a thoughtful tone, then realizing that his analysis of reality only made him seem childish to any listener. In retrospect, he was far more childlike than his sister; he was able to recognize now.

It was good to talk about her and that time. He didn't talk much about it, or his sister_ only when he was forced to.

"But when did you meet Dae Won oppa?" she asked, which made him raise an eyebrow, puzzled. Does she still remember that I and hyung had met at high school?'

"Do you want to know about Noona or Dae Won hyung?"

"Go on, go on," she said only, avoiding opinion. Jun Hyeon even considered stopping talking, both because he didn't know how interesting his reminiscences were, and because he had been in a huge monologue for some time now. He didn't know why he was talking about his teenage years to Ye Rim.

Was the fright of the train car part of this story that had begun so many years before_ was it something in his memory?

"Well, there's something interesting, Ye Rim. Maybe it's related to why I had this nightmare on the train."

"Is Oppa already convinced it was a nightmare? That's good… I mean, you don't think you're really being haunted."

"Yes. I think everything has an explanation, doesn't it?" How could he say differently? he was a doctor and a man of science. Ghosts do not exist. Some stupid mechanism had caused a horrible nightmare, among many, right there. And of course, stupid as he was, he'd called a girl on the other side of the world to play a ridiculous role. But this girl… She never tired of surprising him.

"Should I continue? Aren't you tired?"

"Ahhh, if I say I'm tired, you're going to say I'm not being a good friend. But no, I'm actually holding back because I'm dying of curiosity."

"About me?" he teased, suddenly amused. Jun Hyeon was feeling well enough now to remember why he was free to call her anytime he wanted, after all. He stretched at the sound of her voice. He would soon have to get up and prepare for the first day of the medical congress, but he still wanted to continue the conversation.

"You said what you were going to tell was linked to the nightmare."

"Good. I think so. During a winter break, I was about 16 years old, our family came skiing in Switzerland. It was something I was looking forward to… Well, I always enjoyed sports and at that time I had a lot of energy… And my father was equally looking forward to this trip to Switzerland…"

"Which is where you are now…"

"Yes."

"From what you said earlier, there is still a lot of oppa energy! You can do surgery, squash, carry a girl on your back, and go out for a drink all night without getting tired!" she sounded impressed, and he held back his desire to laugh and say what came to his mind. Something totally inappropriate between two friends of different genders.

"Well, I'll answer your question that night, then."

"What?" Only by the tone of her voice did he know she was quite curious.

"That winter, this smart guy here crashed all over the ski slope. I was in the hospital for three months, interned. I had some bone repair, as well as jaw and nose surgery, which badly broke. So, yes, I can say I went on plastic surgeries even before thinking on becoming a plastic surgeon myself."

"Ohhhh!" A silence followed, and she asked, "So while you stayed in Switzerland did your sister leave at the beginning of term?"

Kim was surprised that she could deduce it so quickly, and seemed to quickly come to conclusions, for those who were hearing the story for the first time.

"Yeah, that's right."

"And oppa got sick and feeling lonely in a strange country without his twin?"

"Ahh… Probably. Probably," he reiterated a second time, after all he couldn't remember his own feelings back then. But the view of the Swiss mountains would always remind him of the accident and the winter months in a hospital bed, like a prisoner.

None of that was comparable to…

He shook his head, and got up from the bed, pushing that train of thought away. Across the line, Ye Rim was strangely quiet. He went to the window, pulling back the curtain and watching the dawn rising over the buildings of Zurich.

"Still there?" he asked.

"Yes," she said simply.

He realized they probably thought the same thing: their nightmare was about being in a place where he had a bad memory of. But he couldn't really convince himself of that.

"Things changed after this incident_ or rather accident," he continued. "Something fascinating happened that year when I came home and to school. Actually, a lot of things."

"What? Don't keep the suspense, oppa!"

"In my absence, in those three months, overnight Ji Hyeon became the prettiest girl in high school. And that changed everything. I met hyung Dae Won… And also the girl that was my first love."

"…!"