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Sooyoung was having a good day. For once, everything seemed to be working out for her. She had enjoyed her classes today, in fact, she had gotten an amazing grade at the surprise test one of her teachers had decided to randomly throw at them. So, when she stepped into the lift to her dorm and saw another girl stumbling towards the elevator door, she guided her feet in front of the closing doors’ sensor making it open again.
The other girl was holding a big carton box which she was evidently struggling to lift. She positioned herself next to Sooyoung on the elevator facing the door, but, to her surprise, no word of thanks was uttered.
Sooyoung pressed the ‘Door Close’ button which immediately manifested the elevator door back into action. She was about to ask the other girl ‘What floor?’ and press the button for her, as the other clearly had both her hands busy and was thus unable to do so, but the girl spoke first:
“Fifth floor.”
Without complaint, Sooyoung pressed ‘5’ on the elevator’s panel but immediately regretted it. The other girl was hopelessly in need of help and, despite this, she was still ordering others around and not even thanking them in exchange.
In the time it took for the elevator to go from the ground floor to the second - Sooyoung’s floor-, the girl's mood had completely shifted. She no longer recollected this morning’s accomplishments and instead, the other girl’s rudeness was all that filled her mind.
So, when the elevator finally stopped and the door to her floor opened, on an impulse Sooyoung ran her hand over the elevator’s panel, pressing all the remaining buttons from the ‘2’ to the ‘5’.
“So you don’t miss your stop. In case I didn’t hear you right before,” she said. “You’re welcome.”
With that Sooyoung stepped outside the elevator, confidently walking the steps towards her door.
‘Wait! What-” screamed the petite girl left inside the elevator. She balanced the box in her hands, trying to free one of her hands. However, it was evident that it was impossible.
Any other day, Sooyoung would have pressed the ‘Door Close’ button before exiting the elevator in order to save the remaining people a few seconds of their trip. People usually did the same for her. The elevator door, even if it did eventually close on its own, took its own precious little seconds - sometimes people even wondered if there was something wrong with it. Thus, the action of pressing the ‘Door Close’ button while getting off was a common occurrence, and, during this process, appreciation phrases were naturally exchanged.
Therefore, when Sooyoung had pressed all the buttons except the ‘Door Close’, she sentenced the other girl to eternally wait for the door to close, but not only on this floor but also on every other floor until she reached her stop. On every single floor, the elevator would open for no one at all and endlessly wait for nothing, as she would be unable to make it close by herself.
Smiling as she reached her room door, she mentally gave herself a pat on the back. This had been a perfect act of revenge. Maybe by the time the girl reached her floor, she would have had time to think about being more thankful to the people who tried to help her.
---
Weeks later, Sooyoung still vividly remembered that day’s occurrence. She had told her best friend Jinsol about it and, as she had been expecting, she had reprimanded her, saying that she had acted too harshly and thoughtlessly.
Sooyoung didn’t think so. For her, the reaction had been in accordance with the other girl’s ill-mannered actions. However, she had to admit that since then, she had been more considerate with the other people that boarded the elevator with her.
She hadn’t met the girl again, and it wasn’t something she was looking forward to.
She had concluded that it may be because of the irregular hours at which she used the elevator; coming back deep into the night from dance practice and leaving at the most random times during the day. She also considered the possibility that the girl wasn’t even a resident of the building. Whatever the case, she was a bit thankful for it.
These days she asked ‘What floor?’ even if the person joining her on the elevator wasn’t carrying anything and was perfectly able to click the button themselves.
So, now, when she felt someone stand next to her, she asked “What floor?” without giving too much importance.
“Fifth, please.”
Automatically, Sooyoung pressed ‘5’, but the person next to her proceeded, “I really hope you heard me right this time.”
Sooyoung realized then that both times she had shared the elevator with her she hadn’t really looked at her. If she had she would have noticed that she was smaller than her, her auburn hair or the perfect pout she possessed. Said girl was standing behind her at the moment.
Still, no matter how cute she looked, Sooyoung was still resentful and couldn’t let her have the last word. Perhaps, at that moment, she should have stopped to listen to the voice in her head named Jinsol telling her that what she was about to do was stupid. But, she didn’t.
“You know what? Better be sure.”
And as she said this, she once again ran her hand all over the elevator button panel, making all buttons light up. Not many seconds later, the elevator stopped in its tracks. Another button lit up, this time reading ‘Emergency’.
Sooyoung had everything already planned. Once the elevator had reached the second floor, she would get out, press the ‘Door Close’ button, and say ‘This time, I’ll press this one too’ before exiting the elevator. The only flaw in her plan was that the doors weren’t opening, even if she pressed the ‘Door Open’ button.
“We are stuck between floors,” the other girl said. “The door won’t open.”
Sooyoung was aware that she was right. She was also aware that she had probably provoked the situation. So, trying to maintain her head high, she moved away from the panel and said:
“If you are in a hurry, you can always use this.” Sooyoung pointed at the emergency button.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m in no hurry,” the small girl said back, leaning against the elevator wall.
Sooyoung, too, leaned back.
---
Enough time had passed for both of the girls to be now sitting on the floor, backs rested against the elevator’s wall.
Sooyoung had been debating for a while if, at some point, she should have interrupted the silence.
Strikingly, it wasn’t as awkward as Sooyoung would have imagined it would be when she finally met the elevator girl again. Which made it even worse.
The silence was hanging in the room waiting for one of the two to finally steal it away. Still, after some thought, Sooyoung had decided she wasn’t going to be the one. If the other girl had nothing to tell her why would she be different.
This decision left Sooyoung a lot of space to think. Was the small girl actually completely unaffected by what happened last time they shared this same space?
Normally, Sooyoung wasn’t worried about making an impression on people, especially on short cute girls like this one. Judging by what she had told her, it was clear that the girl had remembered her. But, was that as far as it went? Didn’t she feel the need to say something?
The thought made Sooyoung embarrassed. She had been thinking about the other girl for weeks; it had bothered her enough to avoid taking the elevators on some days. Hell, she had even told Jinsol about it. Considering this, the idea that the other girl had gone on with her life as if nothing had happened was hard to fathom out.
Still deep in thought, Sooyoung shifted almost as she was getting up, however, just to change positions as her leg was starting to feel numb from her previous pose.
“Wait,” the other girl finally reacted, grasping Sooyoung’s wrist in the middle of the process. “Before you leave, I want to apologize for the way I spoke to you that day.”
This panged Sooyoung’s heart because she wasn’t expecting that the first thing the other girl would do would be to apologize and also because she sounded so earnest.
The girl still holding her wrist really knew how to play with her emotions.
Sooyoung looked at the point where she was touching her. Prompting the other girl to suddenly release her. “I’m sorry. I just-”
“It’s fine, really,” interrupted Sooyoung.
It was clear to her then that the girl was nothing like what she had perceived on their first meeting or the way she had described her to Jinsol. Turns out her friend was right on this one.
“Actually, it’s not. Fine, I mean. It’s not fine,” Sooyoung struggled to structure what she wanted to say. A very weak voice in her head was still trying to convince her she would regret what she was going to say next. One more thing to add to the list then, she thought.
Sooyoung continued, “It’s not fine because you shouldn’t be the one apologizing. That should be me. What I did was way out of line. I overreacted. Please, forgive me.”
In reaction to her words, the other girl smiled. To Sooyoung’s utter shock, SHE. HAD. SMILED. Sooyoung melted. She erased every previous preconception she had of the girl because she would put her life on the line and swear that the other girl with that pure smile had not a single malicious bone in her body.
The girl extended her hand. “Okay. Truce?”
Sooyoung didn’t hesitate to take it.
“Well, now that that’s taken care of, what’s your name? I have to update Jungeun and tell her I finally met swan girl again. She knows I’ve been trying to run into you these past weeks. Anyways, I’m sure she would appreciate a name rather than swan girl, she thought it was kind of weird. Now that I say it to you, it might be kind of weird.”
Sooyoung’s chest was about to explode. The girl next to her was rambling and the way she seemed to be uttering every word that came to her brain without a filter was just really
“Cute.”
She would have slapped her head, trying to punish her last brain cell and its inability to control her mouth, if she had not noticed how red the girl’s cheeks had turned. She seemed to be really affected by Sooyoung’s actions. So, Sooyoung’s ego healed a little.
“I’m Sooyoung.”
“And I’m Jiwoo!”
“Okay, Jiwoo, now it is my time to ask a question.”
She didn’t actually have anything to ask in mind. Well, in reality, she had thought of a lot of things to ask her, for example, ask her out on a date. Instead, she went with something simpler. “So why am I swan girl?”
“Oh. Easy one. After you left me to eternally wait in the elevator,” Jiwoo says tauntingly. “ I was also left to watch you move away into the corridor. Surprisingly, the thing that stuck with me after I finally arrived home was how gracefully you had moved away from me, like a swan.”
Now it was Sooyoung’s turn to become red, both from the compliment and the embarrassment of her past actions.
Jiwoo continued, “Anyways, I was actually a bit thankful to you on that day. I was in the middle of moving in when we first met each other. You gave me something to occupy my mind other than my girlfriend cheating on me and leaving me homeless.”
Jiwoo shut her mouth tightly. It seemed to Sooyoung that Jiwoo hadn’t expected the last part to escape from her lips. But rather it was more of a result of contained anger. Deciding it was better to move away from the topic as it was obvious Jiwoo was still too affected, Sooyoung spoke:
“Maybe it’s because I’m a dancer. Well, I’m actually a business major but that’s only because my father made me do it. I want to be a dancer so I go to a dance studio almost every afternoon.”
Jiwoo seemed relieved that she hadn’t pressed on the other topic mentioned. Legs crossed and leaning into Sooyoung, she preened further:
“What do you like about dancing?” She too had nonchalantly avoided the more severe topic.
Sooyoung responded sincerely to the question and all the other ones that came after.
“Now, to make this fair, you need to tell me about you,” declared Sooyoung before Jiwoo could question her again.
“Oh! So, I also want to work with something related to music. I want to produce and sing my own songs. Have total creative freedom, you know?” Jiwoo said hugging her knees close to her, looking somewhere in the wall in front. “My friend Jungeun and I have kind of like a small music studio back at her house. But the equipment is quite expensive, and now I have to pay rent by myself so I took up a part-time job at a coffee shop near the University campus.”
“Hey, tell me the address and maybe I’ll stop by sometime.”
Jiwoo turned to her and beamed. Sooyoung hoped it was real happiness at the prospect of them meeting again outside of the damned elevator because she was hundred per cent serious with her proposition.
“Sure, I promise to make the best coffee you have ever tasted, or tea, or whatever it is that you order.”
This made both girls smile at each other.
Then, the silence took over again.
Sooyoung wondered if she should get up and finally press the ‘Emergency’ button of the elevator. She guessed Jiwoo was thinking the same, as she was fidgeting with her fingers and shifting in place.
Sooyoung didn’t want it to end yet.
“I-” Sooyoung’s voice died down. “Jiwoo… Can you- I mean, would you... Would you maybe sing for me?”
She could already hear the laughs of her friends, all of them having a field day when she told them. Did she really ask that? The moment it was out she had realized how cheesy it was.
What did she think they were? Movie characters?
Jiwoo hadn’t moved, not even an inch, almost as if she hadn’t heard it which was close to impossible considering the quiet small space they were in.
Sooyoung didn’t scrap the idea that maybe she was pretending, trying to avoid what would be a very awkward situation for the both of them.
That must be it, Sooyoung thought. Take this opportunity to press the damned button and maybe she will have forgotten by the next time you meet.
She was ready to just do that but then, Jiwoo started singing.
All of Sooyoung’s worries went away because, even if she had tried with all her will, the girl didn’t think she would have been able to focus on anything rather than Jiwoo’s voice. So, she closed her eyes and fully rested her back and head on the wall behind her.
Jiwoo’s voice was angelic. It was soothing.
---
The elevator eventually started moving on its own, almost as if it had been as enchanted by Jiwoo’s voice as Sooyoung had been.
Still, Jiwoo didn’t stop until the machine stopped too, and finally, the doors opened back at the ground floor. Sooyoung took in until the last second.
Outside the elevator was the woman in charge of the building. Surprised of seeing them there.
“I didn’t think someone was stuck inside. The ‘Emergency’ light wasn’t on. I’ll have to call someone to check the button after they look at the elevator.”
The young girls wordlessly reached the agreement that it was better not to tell her the whole story behind the incident.
After exchanging a few words with the woman, they both said their goodbyes and moved towards the building’s stairs.
Sooyoung followed Jiwoo, or at least it felt like it. She wasn’t sure at what stage they were in now. She still didn’t want to let her go but it was harder now that she didn’t have an excuse such as the elevator breaking down.
When they reached her floor and saw that the other girl wasn’t planning on stopping there, Sooyoung decided to act without thinking for the nth time that day.
She reached for Jiwoo’s wrist like the other had done maybe an hour before, softly without putting too much pressure but in a decisive manner.
“Jiwoo, before you go, can I have your number? I would really like to try that drink you promised me.”
Jiwoo took the phone Sooyoung was holding with her other hand.