Seulgi spent the next few days running around as quietly as possible. Every time she encountered a "worthy" popular student, she would exchange smiles. If she met Hyeri or any of her friends, she would apologize again before leaving the girls to do as they pleased. She kept wondering why she couldn't take immediate actions, but continued to follow Soojung's order and stood in the shadows.

On one particular day, Seulgi found herself walking home after school with Youngji and Jackson. As expected, she felt like the awkward third wheel in the group. She constantly walked behind the couple on purpose, trying to think of a way to smoothly escape the burdening situation. However, despite Seulgi's attempts, Youngji kept taking notice and slowed down for her with a smile.

"Come on, Seulgi. Why are you being so slow?" Youngji asked her naturally.

Seulgi glanced over at Jackson. "Well, I was just thinking that, well, you know, you two should go on a date or something."

Jackson beamed while Youngji furrowed her eyebrows.

"But I told you that I would walk home with you today. I only invited Jackson because he wanted to tag along. You're my priority today," Youngji said.

Priority? I'm not feeling prioritized, Seulgi thought. "But you two are a couple! Aren't you two supposed to do couple-related things?"

"I can go on a date," Jackson said slowly, examining Youngji's facial expression. He quickly withdrew his statement when he saw Youngji glare at him. "You know what? Our date can wait."

Youngji looked at Seulgi. "Seulgi, I don't want you to think of yourself as a burden. Sure, Jackson and I might be dating, but nothing is changing between you and me, right? We're still best friends, right?"

Seulgi forced a smile. "Well, yeah, but…"

"But?"

"I just think that you two should go on a date. I mean, look at this sunset!" Seulgi exclaimed. She danced around in the orange light and pointed to the reddening sky. "It's beautiful, no?"

Youngji pursed her lips. "Well, it's certainly a beautiful sunset—"

"Exactly! This is the perfect romantic mood!" Seulgi exclaimed. She grabbed Jackson's hand and pulled it to Youngji's hand. "I highly encourage you two to walk under this beautiful sky while holding hands."

"But Seulgi—"

"Go! Have a blast! Besides," Seulgi said, reaching for her phone, "I have plans."

Jackson stared at her. "You have plans?"

"Yep!"

"What kind of plans?" Youngji asked her.

"Plans like…" She looked down and scrolled through her contacts. There was a bitter feeling in her chest once she realized that she only had a few contacts in her list: her family, Jackson, and Youngji. She frowned, but stopped when she remembered that she had Soojung's number. Seulgi looked up at the two with a bright smile. "I've got plans!"

"Like I said, what kind of plans?" Youngji repeated.

"Soojung and I are going to do homework together," Seulgi lied. She pressed the 'call' button. "In fact, I think she's calling me right now."

"I just saw you call her—"

Click!

"Hello?"

Seulgi widened her eyes, surprised that Soojung would actually pick up her call. She quickly composed herself and cleared .

"Um, see? A phone call!" Seulgi exclaimed. She quickly brought her phone over to her ear. "Hello? Soojung?"

"That's me," Soojung said on the other line.

Seulgi smiled, then turned to the couple. She quickly waved her hand at them, then started running off at another direction.

"How are you today?" Soojung asked, still smiling.

"Is this all you called me for? I'm hanging up," Soojung said.

"No, no! Wait!" Seulgi exclaimed. When she disappeared at the corner, she let out a sigh. "I'm sorry. To be honest, my friends were on a date so I needed to use you as an excuse."

"I have mixed feelings about what you said," Soojung told her.

"It's not bad! I wasn't using you for any bad means! It's just that…Sometimes, I think having friends is a bit tiring."

"Well, that's not good, especially if you're on the path to popularity. Want to give up now?" Soojung asked her.

"No! Of course not!"

"Hm. Speaking of friends, if you want to be popular, you're going to need to open up your circle a bit."

"You want me to ditch Youngji and Jackson?" Seulgi asked, shifting her phone to the other ear.

"No, but that decision is entirely up to you. I'm saying that you need more friends."

"Oh." Seulgi stopped walking and looked around. "Does this mean that I'm going to be friends with Hyeri soon?"

"No, but it means that you're going to step up your social ladder." There was a small pause. "Look, I was overhearing Hyeri and her friends talking a few days ago. She was warning her group, Jongin, and Sehun about you. She's obviously aware that you're up to something, but she hasn't figured anything out."

Seulgi widened her eyes. "Wait, why? I apologized a gazillion times for her!"

"And that was a good thing. If you haven't apologized, she would have built a wall between her and you, but you apologized, so it doesn't matter. She's just going to keep a closer eye on you, especially when you approach her."

"Will I get caught?"

"As long as she doesn't figure out that I'm plotting all this, then we should be fine. Make sure you meet me at the abandoned classroom tomorrow during lunch, okay?"

"Why? Wasn't that a one-time thing?"

"Of course not. Seulgi, you want to be popular, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then this new classroom will be your new friend. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Um, okay. Bye."

When Soojung hung up, Seulgi stared at her phone. She let out a loud sigh, then continued walking forward. When she turned at a curb, she gasped and bumped into a random stranger. She was about to fall back until she felt a hand reach for her wrist. 

"Woah there! Watch out!"

Ba-thump.

Seulgi knew who the voice belonged to in a heartbeat. She quickly regained her balance and looked up at the boy with pure admiration glowing in her eyes. She hitched her breath when she saw Jongin stand right before her. He gently let go of her wrist, while her other hand slowly wrapped its fingers around her own wrist.

I'm never washing this wrist, she told herself.

"Are you okay?" Jongin asked her with a small smile. When he smiled at her, Seulgi felt like fainting. She opened to say something, but was completely dry and her mind was blank. Jongin continued to give her an awkward smile. "Um, hello?"

"Aw, you made her lovestruck, Jongin," a voice behind him said. Seulgi snapped out of her dazed moment and finally noticed that Sehun was standing behind the prince-like figure. She quietly glared at him, but turned her attention back to Jongin, who was turning a bit pink at Sehun's tease.

"Knock it off, Sehun," Jongin told him.

"And look who's getting all shy and red," Sehun continued, grinning at his best friend.

"Can I get through one day without you making fun of me?" Jongin asked him. He looked back at Seulgi. "Oh yeah. Are you okay?"

Seulgi's lips started to tremble. Oh god. I'm talking to Jongin. I'm talking to Kim ing Jongin!

Jongin looked back at Sehun. "Is…she okay?"

"I don't know. You're the one who did this to her," Sehun said.

"Does she not understand what I'm saying?"

"Dude. She goes to the same school as us. Look at her uniform. Besides, doesn't she look a bit familiar? Don't you remember her? She was the one who talked to Hyeri and apologized," Sehun reminded him. "She's that girl with brown hair."

"Oh." Jongin gave Seulgi a small smile. "Well, hello, then. I'm Jongin, and this is Sehun." When Seulgi was still at lost for words, Jongin gave her a weird frown. "Are you okay? Did I hit your head or something?"

Seulgi felt her heart squeeze. She knew that she had to say something to him, but the words wouldn't come out. Now that had a good view up-close, she was awe-struck at his detailed and handsome figure.

Was his nose this perfect? she asked herself.

"You do something," Jongin said to Sehun.

Sehun sighed. He gently pushed Jongin behind him and started snapping his fingers in front of Seulgi's face.

"Hello? Hey, hey! Hello?" Sehun frowned and waved his hand in front of her face. "Hello? Are you alive? Are you okay? Do you need to go to the hospital? Hello? Hey, hey! Hey—"

Before Seulgi had the chance to figure out what was going on, she felt something grab onto her shirt. She was swiftly pulled back, snapping out of her little daydream. Seulgi's eyes enlarged when she discovered Soojung stepping up besides her. Not only was she surprised to see Soojung, but she was also shocked to see her wearing sweatpants, a loose t-shirt, and a black baseball cap. 

Soojung bit her bottom lip and glanced at Sehun. "Sorry. I going to take her."

Jongin stared at Soojung, but remained silent. Sehun looked at Soojung, then at Jongin, then back at Soojung again.

"Well…I'm kind of worried about her. Do we have to take her to the hospital or something?" Sehun asked.

"No, nope! She's fine. It's just a bit too hot," Soojung lied. She took off her cap, revealing her messy hair. Regardless of her appearance, she quickly placed it on top of Seulgi's head, trying to cover her face. Seulgi yelped, but Soojung gave her a rough push to keep her quiet. "See? She's good now!"

"I still think—"

"We need to go. I'm sorry!" Soojung exclaimed. She dragged Seulgi away from the two boys as quickly as possible.

The two girls walked in a brisk manner, then started running once they found a place to talk in silence. The girls arrived at an empty park that was a good ten minutes away from wherever the boys were now. Soojung panted and dropped her hands on her knees, while Seulgi tried to figure out what was going on.

After a few moments, Soojung quickly glared at Seulgi. "We need to fix that."

"Fix what?" Seulgi asked innocently.

"The way you approach boys like Jongin," Soojung said tiredly. She let out a sigh. "Oh god, I'm exhausted! I never felt so scared in my life!"

"What was wrong with the way I acted around Jongin?"

Soojung dropped her jaws. "Are you serious?"

"I'm always serious," Seulgi said in a calm manner.

Soojung pointed behind her. "You think there's nothing weird about how you stood still, stared into his eyes, and didn't respond to anything he said?"

"I was listening. It's just that his voice made my heart jump," Seulgi said, foolishly grinning to herself.

"I'm working with the impossible here," muttered Soojung. She glanced at her. "Anyway, we're going to fix that."

"Shouldn't Jongin know what kind of person I am? Shouldn't I act like myself?" Seulgi asked, blinking her eyes.

"Do you want Jongin to think you're a freak?"

"No."

"Then you just follow what I tell you to do," Soojung said. She glanced behind her shoulders, then sighed and scratched her head. "Man, I don't know how I'm going to do this…"

"What's the problem?"

"The first problem is you," Soojung said. "The second problem is Jongin's little buddy."

"Sehun?" Seulgi asked. She saw Soojung pull out her mini notebook.

"Yep, Sehun. He's number two, Jongin's childhood friend, and Jongin tends to listen to everything he says. So if Sehun thinks that you're weird like now, then Jongin will simply believe that you're weird, too."

Seulgi frowned. "Well, that's a little unfair."

"He's good at these things. He's also good with the girls and extracting information with the girls. He isn't too close with any other guys besides Jongin. Sehun is a smooth-talker, and people say that he doesn't lie to women," Soojung said, reading her notes in her notebook.

"Then isn't it a good idea?"

"Of course not." Soojung closed her book and shoved it back into her pocket. "This just means that Sehun can easily manipulate a simple-minded girl like you, and that he has total power of Jongin."

"So what should we do with Sehun?"

"Get on his good side and don't act dumb like before," Soojung told her. "Don't get too close to him, though. He's not a good guy to be messed with."

"He looks nice—"

"Seulgi," Soojung said sharply, landing her cold gaze upon the girl. "Don't get too close with Sehun. Just be close enough to get him to favor you, but not too close."

"How do I that? That sounds almost impossible," Seulgi grumbled.

"It's like a spider and a fly. If you're the fly, just look at the spider web from afar. Don't go to the spider web, or else you're the spider's food," Soojung explained. "Don't get too entangled with Sehun, okay? I'm serious, Seulgi. I've done enough spying on him, and he's not a good person. From what I know, he could be hiding somewhere nearby and listening to our conversation right now."

"Sehun wouldn't follow us all the way here," Seulgi pointed out.

"I know. I'm just saying that he could. That's the kind of fox-like personality he has."

/ / / / /

Oh Sehun, who was hiding behind a tree, couldn't believe his ears. He had followed the two girls just to check up on them (Jongin's order), but instead ended up listening to their secret conversation. 

This makes sense, he thought. This all makes sense.

He pressed his lips together, carefully listening to their dying conversation.

"Anyway, be careful, okay?" Soojung repeated.

"Okay, I understand," Seulgi said, sighing. "Geez, popularity is a pain."

"I told you that it's going to be troublesome, but you wanted to be dragged into it," Soojung said. The two girls started waking away, talking about some other subject.

Sehun continued to hide behind the large tree until he was sure that the girls were gone. He moved his head in order to check. When the girls were nowhere, he stopped hiding and stared at the street where the girls went. He slowly his lips, then turned around to walk back to Jongin.

Jongin, who had been waiting for him at the same place, looked up from his phone when he saw Sehun strolling over to his side.

"Are the girls okay?" Jongin asked him.

Sehun blinked his eyes. "Um, yeah. They're fine. No hospital."

Jongin let out a small sigh of relief, but frowned when Sehun remained still. "Did something happen?"

A wicked smirk slowly appeared on Sehun's lips. The smirk quickly flashed into a brilliant smile, causing Jongin to feel confused about the situation.

"Nothing happened," Sehun said. "I just found a new game that I want to play." He slowly placed his arm over Jongin's shoulders "Jongin, tell me all about this black-haired girl, and maybe the brunette, too…"