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>>HA RIN'S POV<<

Our second day of the school retreat went without any incidents. Towards the evening, the four of us got the opportunity to practise one more time before the talent show. Min Jae and Chanyeol were both equipped with their guitars but were sadly without any drums. We were already thinking about how to substitute for that but couldn't think of anything else. Initially, we prepared two songs to perform. A Sseiren style song and a pop song; something the other students would be more familiar with. Both exciting songs to lift up the atmosphere. Now that our plans have fallen through, we decided to go with two pop songs. It wasn't really a competition, but Chanyeol usually wanted to win because of his competitive spirit. Most of the students probably prepared a dance or song cover.

"I'm not a great singer." Dong Hyuk declared, being disappointed the most at the fact we couldn't go with our initial choice of songs. "But we've prepared for the worst case scenario. Two song covers, right?"

"A duet. Don't worry, I got you." I grinned and patted his shoulder to cheer him up. "I didn't choose to be the vocalist either. It's going to be fun!" Performing was fun.

"Exactly, we're going to rock this!" Chanyeol commented, followed by Min Jae who as the leader of Sseiren gave us some extra encouraging words. It was our first performance after Chanyeol became an idol trainee as well. I wanted to see if his training had paid off so far. Maybe we should've gone for a dance cover instead, it would've been hilarious to watch.

We joined the other students down on the floor and watched the first team starting with a dance cover as expected. A good way to get the crowd excited. When it was our turn to go up, we did a little cheer and went on the stage. While Min Jae and Chanyeol prepared chairs to sit on, Dong Hyuk and I fixed the height of the microphone stand. I noticed Dong Hyuk getting more nervous about having to sing. He usually doesn't sing unless he has to so I understand him. Chanyeol even offered to do some subvocals to add to our duet. With his sudden growth spurt last year, his voice didn't change too much but there was a slightly more deep tone now.

Dong Hyuk turned his head to me. I gave him a smile and waited for the crowd to get quiet. The first song started lively and when Dong Hyuk started singing, it seemed he regained his confidence. Exciting cheers, clapping and shouting. The other students had a good time and appeared satisfied with our choice of songs and our performance. The crowd went wild at some point. I swear I heard a few girls scream stuff like 'Handsome!' and 'You're so cool!'. Pretty sure they meant Chanyeol.

Our performance ended, the last note fell and we took a bow before going off the stage. The adrenaline, the atmosphere, the fun. There's nothing better than that. Good for Chanyeol to make it his job in the future, but a big no for me. Simply listening to his stories, I wouldn't be able to be a trainee for even a day. No thanks. After the very last performance was shown, a teacher walked up the stage and announced the winning team. We placed fourth, not a big deal for me. Chanyeol on the other hand kept his smile, but his shoulders slightly dropped in disappointment.

As we were about to leave the auditorium, some female students came up to my three friends to tell them how cool they were. Kind of awkward. I waved them goodbye quickly before rushing out. I've met some schoolmates briefly on my way back to the dormitory, complimenting us on the great performance. Now for the last part of the day, the campfire. After collecting some branches from the forest, the teachers started the fire and we formed a circle to sit around it. Since we were a lot of students, not everyone fit into the circle so some either sat extremely close to each other or formed little groups to sit elsewhere. It was peaceful for a moment until everyone started talking. To my left, I had an unknown student sitting and when I turned to the right, Dong Hyuk met my eyes.

"Where did you leave Min Jae and Chanyeol?" I questioned him confused since they rarely went anywhere without at least one of them. 

Dong Hyuk shrugged his shoulders and scratched the back of his head. "After the performance earlier, some girls came up and they kind of separated us. I have no idea where they are."

I nudged his elbow lightly and couldn't help teasing him. "You got yourself some fans already?" Dong Hyuk pushed my arm away with a sheepish grin. "I bet today they just found out that you aren't only a great athlete but a singer as well. And if they realise you're actually a drummer, you'll have your own fanclub."

"Tch, you're exaggerating, stop it." Dong Hyuk brushed it off, his ears slightly turning red. He was still proud of himself, I could tell. "Let's be honest, if someone's gaining a fanclub, that'll be Chanyeol. Remember how he suddenly had a growth spurt last year and older girls came to see him?"

Yes, right. Chanyeol used to be short. Shorter than me. He was so short that he and some other shorter friends had to fight about who was shorter. I remember him getting bullied a lot from the other kids. As a result, he often felt discouraged and insecure. Chanyeol's mother forced him to eat breakfast and made him jump rope; neither of us believed he would grow much taller. Yeah, until last year. He surpassed us all in height. 

"Of course. Was it during PE class or during lunch? We played football outside and some girls from the neighbouring high school flocked in to the fence to watch Chanyeol." I recalled being super flustered about their sudden visits every time we played outside. Turned out they came to see Chanyeol, I couldn't believe it. It was hilarious.

"It was so serious that a teacher had to ask Chanyeol not to play at that side of the school." Dong Hyuk added and shook his head laughing. Middle school was so much fun, I kind of missed it. "He got so popular." True. Chanyeol does still feel insecure about his ears since they stick out a lot, though.

After graduating from elementary school, Chanyeol and I were basically separated and put in different middle schools. My parents made me attend the same middle school Yoo Ra had also attended, a private school, while Chanyeol stayed closer to our neighbourhood in a public one. It didn't last long and we both transferred to another private middle school, though ending up in different classes, and that was where I met Dong Hyuk. I actually enjoyed the time at my previous school. The problem was that I got way too comfortable there and my grades went down.

"Shall we go look for them?" Dong Hyuk questioned me and tried to look around. "It's so dark here, too. I can't see anyone else except those who are sitting around the fire. Oh wait, I can see Min Jae there!"

"No Chanyeol?" At least we had found one of them. Chanyeol probably ran off somewhere, or he was still with his fangirls. "He'll be fine. There's no need to look for him."

End of the campfire. We quickly caught up with Min Jae before heading to the dormitories together. He was the last person out of us to see Chanyeol yet he also didn't know what happened to him afterwards.

"You're all worrying too much. Chanyeol's a big boy, he will come." I reassured my two friends as we stood in front of the buildings. 

"Yeah, and he got a warning from the teacher yesterday, so I'm sure he won't be late when they check the attendance again." Dong Hyuk chuckled. "Alright, we'll go then. Good night to you!"

I waved them before disappearing into my own dormitory room. Time to sleep, tomorrow is another day, our departure.

>>CHANYEOL'S POV<<

"You were so cool on stage!" Some schoolmates praised us after it was time to wrap up the talent show. They surrounded us, making it hard to leave the auditorium. I watched Ha Rin waving at us, distancing herself and leaving the hall first. I turned to look at my friends who were just as flustered as I was. I didn't mind getting some attention but it made me feel really shy and embarrassed for some reason. "Yes, your performance was awesome!"

I scratched the back of my head shyly and smiled. Of course, we were thankful for all the compliments and praising. I had the feeling we only showed them a small part of what we were capable of. We could show them so much more, especially our usual style of music. I need to practise a lot more to be on stage.

Dong Hyuk managed to escape the awkward situation and rushed out a while after Ha Rin did, leaving Min Jae and I with the girls. I'm so bad at this. I can't possibly go now.

"We want to see more of your playing!" One girl said and the others agreed excitedly.

"We'll perform on all the school festivals and events, so you can look forward to the next time." Min Jae assured them and explained we had to go the campfire. We headed there together and looked for a good spot to sit while still being able to warm up near the fire. And I didn't know how that happened but that was the moment Min Jae and I got separated. When I had suddenly turned to my left to ask my friend where to sit, he wasn't there. Most of the seats around the fire were already taken. Before I sat down a bit further away, I tried searching the place for either Ha Rin, Dong Hyuk or Min Jae, mostly Ha Rin, but it was dim and too crowded. My shoulders dropped in disappointment. I should've gone right after Ha Rin left! Now I can't even sit next to her. I joined a group of students from my class.

I heard a slight cough nxet to me and turned my head, only to see another girl. I roughly recalled seeing her in the hallway but didn't know which class she was from. Like all the other girls who came to us after the performance. All of them were strangers to me. I greeted the girl and focused on scanning the place for my friends.

"Um, excuse me, Chanyeol?" The girl began and tapped my shoulder. "It's Kim Soo Young from class 10-7. You might have seen me around before? There is something I wanted to tell you. Privately." She looked at my classmates and it took me a while to understand what she meant. I got up to follow her. What would she have to tell me privately? We didn't even know each other, or at least I didn't recognise her.

I followed her innocently until she thought we were far enough from the others. Soo Young shot a glance at them before turning back to me again. However, it didn't seem as if she could meet my gaze for longer than two seconds. "So, what did you want to tell me privately?" Soo Young wouldn't speak and I wanted to wait and stay patient until she'd talk first.

"I've actually been interested in you since a while back." Kim Soo Young confessed shyly. "When I saw you just now, it was clear to me. You looked so cool. I know we've never hung out or talked much and I'm not asking you to start dating rightaway. But do you happen to be interested?"

Wait what? It wasn't my first time receiving a confession, considering I got pretty popular in my last year of middle school. I didn't want to brag. Some older girls from other schools nearby would come to see us playing football. I didn't believe they were coming for me back then but the guys kept teasing me. It was honestly boosting my self confidence a lot, I enjoyed the positive attention. Every time I did receive a confession though, I'd get so flustered. Now even more since I've never interacted with this girl before. It doesn't hurt to be friends and get to know to each other. But I don't want to get her hopes up.

I smiled at her and was about to continue when she quickly cut me off.

"Wait! I told you so you can have some time to think. Please tell me your full answer after the school retreat, is that okay?" Soo Young smiled apologetically. "I'd like to make only good memories on this retreat and I feel like it'll be a rejection, but please do consider it." Then she quickly went back to her friends.

Being kind of awkwardly left alone, I t