Throughout the day at school, Haesoo had been smiling from ear to ear, the thought of Chanwoo a huge step closer to his dream never leaving her mind. The look on his face, how funny it was, kept repeating in her mind and Haesoo would find herself giggling in the middle of nothing.

In fact, that Friday itself, Haesoo had gone around to at least 13 of her classmates showing the clip of Chanwoo uploaded on YouTube. Bragging was a pastime for Haesoo, and she lavished the feeling whenever her classmates reacted in the way she wanted them to – surprised, and rather jealous, because they weren’t the best friend of a future artist like Haesoo was. This never failed to make humour her.

Yet, of the 13, there was one boy who Haesoo hadn’t even bothered to evoke any reaction from – the cold, uninterested Kim Jisoo, a good friend from school. The two had been free throwing during fitness class in the afternoon when Jisoo pointed out how smiley Haesoo was.

“You’ve been so happy because it’s Friday or…” he trailed off.

Haesoo did another successful throw and beamed even wider. “Did you see Chanwoo on TV?”

One thing about Haesoo was that she was multi-talented, a surprising contrast to her more hardworking best friend, Chanwoo, because Haesoo was clearly the goofball of the relationship. Nonetheless, her charm stemmed specifically from how she was almost good at everything. As long as she tried, she’d fare; as long as it was in her interest to do so. Basketball was amongst the things she was good at.

Jisoo smirked and threw the ball, making a face when the ball didn’t make it through the hoop. “Yeah, I saw it last night. It was so awkward, Chanwoo in particular.”

Haesoo’s talent in basketball was precisely the charm that attracted Jisoo to being friends with the girl, because she surpassed the standard that he set for himself. Aside from being close friends, the two were also friendly rivals in basketball.

Haesoo clucked her tongue at him. “Yah, you watch it. Only I can talk about him like that.”

Jisoo watched as Haesoo did another successful throw, before taking his turn. “It’s cool he’s in YG and possibly iKON too, but… I don’t know if you noticed…”

Jisoo paused as he threw the ball, missing yet again.

He growled, before continuing. “… the members aren’t so thrilled about it.”

Haesoo blinked, her eyes dropping to the floor as she tried to recall the members. She hadn’t really notice how they reacted as she was too busy snapping pictures of Chanwoo. But it did seem quite off, and simply put, unwelcoming of the new arrival.

Just then, a ball flew her way and she instinctively and cleanly caught it, now diverting her attention back to Jisoo.

“I’m just saying, if I were iKON’s original six members, I wouldn’t be too happy about some Jung Chanwoo or Jung Jinhyung suddenly crashing the party,” Jisoo said, taking the ball from Haesoo’s grasp.

“And that,” he said again, aiming seriously. “…is exactly what I saw in those members’ faces.”

This time, he made the loop.

*******

That night, Haesoo went over the episode again, this time paying close attention to the members. Chanwoo was consistently cute and awkward, being his turtle self around new people, but, that night, Haesoo noticed the look Jisoo had been talking about. What she hadn’t heard the night before, she heard now.

“I didn’t like the decision,” the leader had said, followed by the other members.

One of them even said so conveniently, “Less likely to dislike them.”

Her heart nearly plummeted to the ground, her eyes rounding in both terror and anger. But before she could begin her cursing spree, she decided to keep watching, her curiosity about the members Chanwoo was going to be stuck with now riled and active. Haesoo dreaded having to know that Chanwoo was potentially a bully victim in a rising idol group that was yet to even debut.

Just then, the leader had spoken again after iKON’s individual introduction. He began questioning Chanwoo’s experiences as an actor, one that Haesoo placed great pride in, always rewatching the scenes that she downloaded on her laptop with Chanwoo. It was funnily, and quite narcissistically, their favourite pastime. Name any scene, Haesoo could recite it by heart, capturing every emotion Chanwoo had shown. She had dwelled on the videos that much.

Jung Chanwoo’s childhood had been quite a special one, being casted a few times by producers as a child actor for now-famous dramas like Boys Over Flowers, or recently, The Heirs.

This pride seemed to ache within Haesoo when the Hanbin guy had inquired with the question even a mannerless wild-mouth like her swore to never ask.

“What do you want to be more – a singer or an actor?” the Hanbin guy had asked.

If Chanwoo would put behind his potential as an actor and audition countless times at YG Entertainment behind Haesoo’s back because he knew she would worry relentlessly about him, she knew singing came before acting for Chanwoo. It didn’t constitute as any bit a question because the answer was always knocking on Haesoo’s door, as curious as she was about why. The two best friends kept zero secrets from each other, and when Chanwoo kept this secret, Haesoo knew how much it must have meant to him.

She began muttering about how Hanbin was salty still about the new members and was taking it out on Chanwoo who had a differing background from them all. That was a social situation he had cornered Chanwoo into. Why? Because, of the two, her innocent Chanwoo was easier to pick on. He’s the kind pushover after all.

Those big eyes, emphasised with the smokey eye effect of his eyebags, screamed a deer in headlights. His subservient self that said “yes” to every request, his 17-year-old self – Chanwoo – was the perfect bully victim. This, Haesoo knew best.

The heaving girl didn’t wait two seconds, not even to listen to the more positive things the Jinhwan guy had to say, exited YouTube and speed-dialled Chanwoo’s number. In about 9 rings, the boy finally picked up his phone, panting over the line.

To some extent, Haesoo was quite taken aback, but then she figured he must be practicing. But when her eyes spotted how it was close to midnight, she shrieked.

“Yah, you! Jung Chanwoo! Why are you still practicing at this time!?” Haesoo yelled over the phone.

Chanwoo took a deep breath. “Yah, stop screaming. Can I call you later? Kinda busy.”

“OH, NO, NO, NO. Am I stupid? Don’t you dare hang up! Listen, I just watched your programme for the 7^th time and I’m finally seeing how the members kinda dislike you and that other guy. Channie, I saw the look in their eyes, what the heck was that?! I thought you said I had nothing to worry about but how can you let yourself get smothered by such questions NOT EVEN IN THE FIRST HOUR—” As Haesoo rambled, Chanwoo, in the YG building, heard his name hollered from across the room for the third time.

Panicking, he quickly interrupted Haesoo’s rant with a quick “Sorry” before hanging up and turning off his phone. He dumped the phone in his bag and got back up, returning to practice after a few more sorry’s to the members who had been waiting.

On the other hand, Haesoo hadn’t even noticed that the line had went dead for a good 10 minutes. Once she was done nagging, she realised how the line was quiet. After a few hello’s she checked her phone and realised Chanwoo had long hung up. Almost immediately, the steam returned and she was ready to yell at Chanwoo, except she was sent to his voicemail when she tried to call him again.

In frustration, she dumped her phone next to her, now turning to the picture of her and Chanwoo on her bedside. Her eyebrows relaxed at the sight of a smiling Chanwoo. The picture dated back to a year ago when they had finished their final exams as seniors of middle school. They were so happy and went cycling along the Han River, snapping millions of pictures. But the two shared the same strong interest in the one where Chanwoo had been looking down at the sea and Haesoo was staring adoringly at him.

She remembered how he reacted when the pictures were developed, saying how most of it looked so candid. But the one picture depicted their friendship perfectly.

Chanwoo had said numerous times how lucky he was to have Haesoo as his friend, but as they looked through the pictures that night, he had confessed to something more.

 “I’m seriously so, so lucky that I have a friend who looks at me like that, like I’m her idol. You’re so proud of me, even though I’m not much. I wish we could stay in this moment forever, as kids, and cycle all day long for the rest of our lives!!! I hope we never fight, and stay friends, to the end.”

The memory somehow made Haesoo’s eyes dampen, a smile playing on her lips. She scoffed at herself. Chanwoo had to be the only guy who could make her cry just from thinking about him.

She was a strong girl, but her best friend made her weak whenever she was around him. She cared too much for him and hated the mildest possibility that Chanwoo’s safety was at stake in the pursuit of his dream, that he could be emotionally bullied. She worried that Chanwoo was too blinded by the beauty of the life of an idol to see that he was in for a dark future as an iKON member. She feared so much that Chanwoo might one day disappear because of the hurt he’d suffered from an idol life and his wish for them to stay friends forever would perish along with him. She feared so much of the mild thought of losing him.