The Accident

"Shall we go ahead and watch Hyunji? She's the star today."

"Right. We ought to see our daughter."

"......Could you not call her our daughter? I feel terribly guilty."

"What kind of guilt is that? You're too cute."

Lee Hyesun burst into a bright little laugh at that. I liked that she didn't so much as glance around to check who might be watching, and the laugh itself wasn't loud enough to pull every eye in the hall. I let out a short chuckle of my own and turned back to the stage. Three couples who looked like the leads were still dancing, and at the center I could make out Lee Seol-ah's face—and that ballerino everyone said was so nasty.

......Hm. I win.

I couldn't help myself. My eyes drifted, of their own accord, down to the ballerino's lower half, and I gave a small, quiet nod. I watched him lift Seol-ah, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a faint twitch passing through his brow, then toyed idly with Hyesun's hand as I took in the performance—and before I knew it, the three couples had vanished from the stage.

"Looks like they're about to come out."

"I see. I don't really know ballet."

"Neither do I. I never had time to enjoy the arts. All I ever knew how to do was make money......"

She murmured it with a faintly self-mocking edge. Fair enough. I still didn't know the details, but between the talk of the company and the matter of Hyunji's father, I knew she was no ordinary wealthy woman. Live like that, and culture is hard to keep up with—unless you've cared about it, or had it drilled into you, since childhood. There simply isn't enough time. Hyunji's grandmother does theater, so you'd think Hyesun might know a little; hearing her say she knew nothing at all, I wondered if she simply had no interest in art whatsoever. I didn't know much either, so perhaps that was for the best.

"......Then we can learn it together from now on."

"......Are you really trying to keep me from concentrating?"

"I already know you can't."

"......I'm ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠starting to understand Hyunji more and more."

Color rose in Hyesun's face as she muttered it, and I was smirking when a long file of ballerinas swept across the stage like a wave.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"They're beautiful."

"They are. Wonder whose daughter."

"Thank you for having such a beautiful one. I'm so grateful."

"......I told you I can give you another, didn't I?"

"Wait for it. Even if you don't want to, I'll make sure you do."

I'd known I was going to lose that exchange. When I leaned in and whispered something bolder still, Hyesun's face flushed as if it might burst. I was smirking when my eyes met Hyunji's. The moment she saw me she smiled, and that pretty face turned my heart to mush. God, I wanted to brag. That she was my woman. Sitting there, toying with Hyesun's hand while I watched the Hyunji I had held in my arms—the whole situation was far too stimulating, and I tried hard to scrub the heat out of my head.

Hm?

Then my gaze met Hwang Jiyoung's, standing at Hyunji's side. Right—it hadn't seemed as if anyone had come to see Jiyoung. I smiled quietly and waved, and even under those bright lights I could tell her face was reddening.

Anyway.

They were still students, so razor-sharp unison wasn't a phrase that fit. Heights ran all over the place, the line wasn't especially pretty, and some of them moved sluggishly. Even so, a few ballerinas shone all the brighter for it. Hyunji and her friends.

......They're all conspicuously good.

In one line, Hyunji and Hwang Jiyoung stood out most; in the line opposite, it was Mi-ji. Mi-ji was so small that only her head seemed tucked down into the formation, and yet her jumps rose about as high as everyone else's. And on the other side, Hyunji and Hwang Jiyoung—

So that's how wide the gap is.

Talent really is a strange thing. It doesn't show at all in ordinary life, and then, the moment the setting is right, it begins to shine. Even setting looks and hours of practice aside, I had seen people at university do the same work as everyone else and still glow. That had been because of Eunchae. I felt the same awe here. Hyunji and Hwang Jiyoung jumped so much higher, and the elegance in the very lines of their dancing was so much more beautiful, that they seemed a whole class above the other ballerinas.

......They're good to watch.

I let my gaze rest softly on Hyunji and Jiyoung, lovely enough that I forgot Hyesun for a moment. I could feel the satisfied look Hyesun turned on me from beside me, but I didn't look away. As the performance went on, though, the smile on my face began to fade.

"......"

Something felt increasingly off-balance. No—not balance so much as harmony, coming apart. On top of that, the ballerinas' expressions were hardening, so something really was wrong. I kept watching, and then I understood why.

......They can't keep up.

The others looked desperate, unable to match the height of Hyunji's jumps and the flash of her lines. Even Hwang Jiyoung kept glancing at her, straining to stay with her. I knew nothing about ballet, and even I could tell Hyunji was the one on the music. Unlike Hyunji, who seemed to be giving off light from her whole body, everyone else felt like embers on the verge of going out, moving on a knife's edge.

......Hyunji's too deep in it.

In a case like this she ought to match the people around her, but she didn't seem to see them at all. Her eyes were hazy. Lost in it, she felt like an artist—elegant as a single white lily—so much so that I almost believed she was the true star of the stage.

She needs to realize they're scrambling just to follow.

The other ballerinas seemed to be under some kind of pressure. Or maybe the dieting and the brutal rehearsals had simply worn their stamina too thin. Hyunji, by contrast, had told me more than once that my massages left her overflowing with energy. A strange feeling began to creep over me. It wasn't the tension of music climbing toward its climax. I could feel it myself. The house grew restless. Something started to feel wrong.

......At this rate, they're going to ruin it.

The image of Hyunji grieving over a performance she had worked so hard to prepare rose in my mind, and worry began to settle in. But it was not going to end at mere worry. The lines of the ballerinas, jumping without pause, started to fall apart. And the accident came in the instant the two lines crossed at center stage, still jumping.

"Huh......?"

Hwang Jiyoung's arm, suspended in the air, lagged half a beat and shoved Hyunji beside her. Hyunji lost her balance in midair all at once, and her body spun until it lay horizontal to the stage. The ballerina next to her collided with Hyunji, lost her own balance, and they began to topple like dominoes. The problem was that they had not simply fallen.

"Ah!"

The other line, leaping in from the opposite side, found everyone already down in the very spot where they were meant to land. Hyesun screamed, and the hand that had been holding mine flew up to cover her mouth. Anyone could foresee what was about to happen next.

"Kyaa!"

"What do we do!"

Screams shot up from all over the house. The moment I saw the incoming ballerinas crash down on ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the ones who had fallen, the curtain rustled and swept across, hiding the stage. I understood that they meant to spare the audience the wreck of it, but there was something more important than that. The instant the curtain began to billow and flow, I shot up and kicked my chair back. Jaw clenched, I looked at Hyesun—her face gone white—and vaulted the seat in front of her.

......No. It can't be.

I could feel that Hyunji's balance didn't match everyone else's. The vitality pouring off her had been like a flower in full bloom, while the ballerinas around her were like wildflowers about to wilt. Don't tell me this accident—

Is my fault?

I clenched my teeth. Sparks seemed to fly in my eyes. Above all, the pale, terror-stricken look on Hyunji's face as she went down was seared into my vision like a brand. I ran for the stage, sprang up onto it in one bound, and shoved through the curtain. The sight that met me stole the words right out of my mouth.

"Ugh......"

"Ow......"

The ballerinas who had been as elegant as swans lay tangled on the floor, groaning. Crane-long legs were knotted everywhere, but I didn't spare them a glance. I searched frantically for Hyunji. At the spot where she had been, ballerinas were piled up, and my heart seemed to drop. I rushed over and cleared them off one by one. They might be hurt too, so I was as careful as I could be.

"H-Hyunji! Hyunji's under there!"

"Ah!"

"Get up! Pull yourself together! Sunbae isn't even hurt!"

"W-wait!"

Hwang Jiyoung, fallen nearby with a hand clamped on her shoulder, groaning, went pale at how frantic I looked and cried out.

Damn it. Damn it.

The ballerinas moved so slowly I couldn't even bring myself to curse, and I didn't dare handle them roughly. Every bit of my manner would become Hyunji's reputation. Teeth clenched, I gave no answer; I hurried, lifting one girl after another and setting her aside.

"I-I'll help."

Jiyoung had just spoken to me in a rush when the house address cut in.

In the middle of this—an intermission announcement, instead of anyone coming to the wrecked stage. For a second I felt something close to disgust, but I forced myself to understand. The audience mattered too. What mattered to me wasn't that. It was Hyunji.

"She'll be all right. Accidents like this happen sometimes......"

"Move."

"Ah......"

I spat it out coldly before I could stop myself, at Jiyoung trying to comfort me. Then I caught sight of Hyunji's ballet costume underneath, and my heart lurched. I quickly cleared two more, and when I moved the last of them and Hyunji appeared, my heart seemed to drop.

"Hyunji."

"H-Hyunji!"

Her face was white, and she wasn't coming to. Pale—bleeding, then? Nothing external. Her arms and legs weren't twisted, so it wasn't a fracture. No Ailment Shadow. Nothing particular on the neck or the spine either. There was a faint shadow, but it was blurry enough to ignore. If she'd been crushed, breathing first. I turned my face toward hers. She was breathing. But it was thin. Internal bleeding, then? The worst case in a crush is a ruptured organ. I pulled my smartphone from inside my coat at once and dialed 119. The line connected before it had even rung twice, and I spoke to the dispatcher immediately.

"Ewha Womans University Grand Auditorium. During a ballet performance, one person was buried under the cast. She's unconscious, and her face is pale. She is breathing. But it's thin. There are also several patients with bruises."

"Besides that......"

The mouth that had been hurriedly examining Hyunji snapped shut. A pitch-black Ailment Shadow filled her lower abdomen. Instinct told me it was internal bleeding, but I couldn't say that. And in the instant I bit down on my molars, I saw the white panel of the ballet costume between her legs blooming red.

......Damn it.

Not the gut. It was the front. If her bladder had ruptured, urine would have come first. So it was hemorrhaging from below. Uterus, or a tear inside the vagina. A rupture like that was truly serious. And the bleeding was coming fast. Underwear, tights, and the ballet costume—three layers—and it had already soaked through to the costume. I looked around in a hurry. By now the ballerinas were clutching themselves and groaning, at a loss, staring down at Hyunji. They didn't seem to have noticed the bleeding yet; they were only looking at her face. I had to be quick.

"......One moment."

I switched the phone to speaker and tossed it roughly onto the stage. Then I tore off my coat and covered her body. At the very least, I didn't want her friends to see her like this.

"Should I bring her out to the entrance?"

"I'm with her. Can I go along?"

"I'm this woman's boyfriend."

Korea's 119, as expected. The best there was. The moment I'd named the place, they must already have sent them out.