The field were silent, save for a few cooing pigeons and a quietly snoring girl lying down on the furthest corner of the highest bleacher. Her eyelids fluttered as she stirred, vaguely registering her name being called from somewhere across the vast area. "-won! Nam Dawon!" Dawon sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes as a girl came climbing up the metal steps towards. "Dawon! I've been trying to find you for the last half an hour! Were you watching practise again?" The older girl huffed as she sat down next to Dawon, trying to catch her breath. "Sorry, SeolA eonnie..." Dawon meekly apologised, embarrassed to be caught by her best friend as she began gathering her things, "I think I fell asleep while doing my homework." SeolA face instantly softened and she reached out a hand to pat the younger girl on her head. "You shouldn't push yourself so hard, kid. You need your rest too, it's not healthy to keep running on adrenaline like this." Dawon cracked a small smile as she pulled SeolA to her feet and together the pair made their way down the many metal steps. "You know I can't do that, eonnie. My place here is way too important to me."

Dawon was the eldest child of a poverty stricken family and previously had been attending a cram-school that her parents worked night and day to send her too. She worked hard, was the top in almost every subject and finally in her third year, she was offered a scholarship to attend one of the most prestigious schools in the city, WuJu High. Overjoyed would be an understatement and Dawon cried when she told her parents the news, thanking them for allowing her to study and that they would no longer have to waste their hard-earned money on her. That which earned a soft hit from her proud father and what seemed to be an ocean of tears from her mother. Even her younger sister cried, quietly promising that she would get into WuJu just like her sister when they were both huddled on their small single mattress, getting ready to sleep. And Dawon believed her because Dayoung was anything if not smart, probably even smarter than her since she didn't have to study as much to get the same grades as her older sister. Dawon had just hugged sister close and promising that if she did come in, she would treat her to all the food she wanted to eat, earning her sleepy smile into her neck as Dayoung fell asleep cocooned safetly in Dawon's arms.

Honestly her first day had , already feeling the judgemental stares when she entered the classroom with the teacher. "Students this is Dawon, and she will be joining us here on scholarship till you guys graduate." Dawon had been so nervous, hiding behind her hair when she greeted the class, ending with a mumbled 'Please take care of me' and then scurried to her seat, thankfully at the back of the class when the barely there applause had ended. Her seatmate, a Chinese girl who introduced herself as Mei Qi asked her what school she came from and as soon as she answered, she saw the tiny crease between the girl's eyes deepened and that had been the last thing anyone had ever said to her until school ended. Dawon knew she was screwed and had purposely stayed in the classroom during break and only when the bell rang, signaling the closing of school, did she finally move from her seat, homework for the day already completed and packed neatly away under her table. She began singing as she threw her things into her bag, a habit she had since she was child. Dayoung had always told her that she was a good singer and that she should go join a choir or something in her new school but had immediately been shot down when Dawon told her that studies came first. Dayoung could only shrug and nod, she was in the same boat after all, despite being such a good dancer.

She had been halfway through the second chorus of Beyonce's 'Halo' when the classroom door burst open, causing her to utter a short scream. "You should join the choir." Were the first words that were shot her way as a wide-eyed girl came rushing towards her. Dawon had been trying to calm her rapidly beating heart when the girl took her hand in hers, introducing herself as Kim Hyun Jung. "But everyone calls me SeolA and I love your voice." Dawon just whispered a quiet 'thank you', casting a nervous glance at their joined hands. "Sorry!" SeolA grinned as she dropped her hands, clasping them instead in front of her. "What's your name and will you be free tomorrow, we have practice?" Dawon only blinked and slowly shook her head, causing SeolA to cast a confused wounded look in her direction. "My name's Nam Dawon. I just transferred here, today's my first day at WuJu and I'm sorry but I can't join the choir, I kinda need to focus on my studies." SeolA thought for a moment before she suddenly snapped her fingers, "Ah! The scholarship girl?" To which Dawon had winced, with a lump stuck in . "Yeah," she had croaked, "the scholarship girl." SeolA confused look was instantly replaced by an apologetic one, scratching her head as she frowned. "Sorry, you must hate it. Can we start our introductions again? Hi, I'm SeolA. It's nice to meet you Dawon, student of WuJu High." Dawon cracked a small smile as she quietly accessed the outstretched hand. "Hi, it's nice to meet you too, SeolA eonnie. What time is the practice?" SeolA became her best friend after that day.

And Dawon could not have made a better choice because when she had entered the theatre, SeolA and a group of people immediately ran towards her, welcoming her to the choir. "SeolA eonnie said your voice sounded like an angel, could you sing for us?" Dawon heard another girl squeal as she was dragged to the stage and after an encouraging nod from SeolA herself, had muttered a quiet 'okay'. When she sang, all the while completely self-conscious of her voice, (WuJu had one of the best choirs in the region), Dawon had been completely unprepared for the thunderous applause that came her way when she finished. Stunned, she could on blink as she watched as the group exchanged high-fives, all the while saying that the championship was in the bag for them. SeolA had hopped up onto the stage, along with two other girls and hugged her. "Welcome to WuJu High's choir."

Dawon begun feeling at ease in this unfamiliar environment, not used to having so many things at her disposal in this school. But some habits were hard to break and it was not long before SeolA asked her why she only drank juice for break and lunch, always buying bread and keeping it to bring home. Dawon had just shrugged and said she was not hungry, clenching her stomach to prevent the growls from getting too loud and that the bread was for her younger sister who had an weird obsession with all things made of flour. SeolA had smiled understanding before pushing her half-eaten bowl of kimchi stew towards Dawon, saying that she was full and that she could finish it. "Don't make me force feed you here, kid." And Dawon knew she lucked out to have made friends with Kim SeolA when the older girl promised to bring food for her everyday starting tomorrow. Because while she was on scholarship, Dawon hated the thought of relying on anyone for money. She had been slurping down the stew, almost done with it, when a group of girls walked past them and Dawon made the absolute worst mistake in her life of looking up. And she came face to face with an angel who thankfully, didn't look her way. The noodle hung limply from as her eyes followed one of the laughing girls, the shortest one with pigtails and an adorable smile, and she knew she looked like a love struck idiot. SeolA glanced at her out of the corner of her eyes and a small soft smile made its way onto her face. "The one with pigtails is Lee Luda, vice-captain of the cheer squad." And Dawon had choked on that stupid noodle, prompting SeolA to burst into a fit of giggles as she thumped on her back. Dawon's taking it back, she didn't luck out at all meeting SeolA.

After that incident, Dawon had taken to sitting on the bleachers whenever the cheer squad had practice, thanking whatever God that could hear her for the huge field and bleachers in this rich establishment because from such a height, Dawon could observe practice without people actually seeing her at all and her eyes would always sieve out Luda amongst the sea of preppy cheerleaders, all of which who looked the same from such a distance. Okay maybe sitting so far was stupid, since she couldn't see anything clearly but Dawon knew better than to attract attention by getting to close. Granted, there was always a crowd whenever there was cheer practice because it fell on the same days as the girl's soccer team's, who, and Dawon quotes, was lead by a stupid meat-head who she doesn't understand how she made it into WuJu (courtesy of Kim SeolA). Dawon would only quietly snigger as her best friend began ranting about Chu Soojung, (but she likes to go by EXY), an inevitable topic that would come up because SeolA would (always) somehow spot Soojung in the midst of the maybe hundred people milling about the vast canteen. But at least in the duration of alternating between completing her homework and watching the cheerleaders (Luda), Dawon would always finish all her homework and sometimes if she was tired, fall asleep while waiting for SeolA to come find her because there was no way in hell she was going to go down alone and risk getting recognised by the cheer squad, Dawon was more comfortable looking from a distance, thank you very much.

And that would lead to the two walking out of school and to the busstop after days like this. "Get home safe, okay?" SeolA had said as she waved goodbye when her car came to a smooth halt in front of the busstop, her driver, an old smiling man called Mr Choi, winding down the window to smile at Dawon. The car drove off and Dawon was left alone at the busstop, kicking her legs as she sang along to song she was listening to while waiting for her bus. Since it was late, it was almost 8 for goodness sake, Dawon didn't expect anyone to sit next to her, much less talk to her. Besides, most students (all) were loaded and always had someone fetch then home after school was over so no one took the bus, which Dawon was somehow thankful for, since it gave her some time alone, to finally be herself. "You sing really well." And Dawon had almost dropped her phone in surprise. She had been ready to thank whoever it was, really she was, when she turned to her left and saw Lee-freaking-Luda smiling that adorable smile that caused her to fall head over heels for her, at her. And had instantly closed up, tongue tying itself up in knots as she could only stare dumbly at the cheer leader who was the object of her fantasies for the majority (ALL) of her time at WuJu. Because God forbid her to open and spew something stupid in front of her crush of 8 months.

So Dawon had chose to smile, she really hoped she didn't look constipated when she did so and quickly turned back to her phone, grip a little to tight to be considered natural. Was she shaking too? Or was that an earthquake? "Is that your sister? You guys look really cute together." Oh right, she had been staring at her bright screen for the past minute because her brain was still trying to process the fact that she was THIS close to Luda. Dawon nodded quickly again, still not making eye contact as she gulped inaudibly, praying for her bus to come to save her from any further embarrassment. Maybe the gods were listening to her because her bus came rolling to a stop in front of her and she all but leapt up as if her was on fire, almost tripping in her haste to enter the bus. She was sure Luda was giving her weird looks because the bus driver sure was and scrambled to the furthest seat at the back of the bus, away from the windows. As the bus drove off, she peeked out of the window and saw Luda looking at her phone, fingers moving rapidly as she probably texted someone and Dawon slumped back into the seat, a loud drawn out sigh coming out of . She was sure Luda was telling the entire student population that Nam Dawon was a weirdo and that everyone should stay away from her. Oh gods, how she had royally ed up.

"-and I'm officially screwed!" She wailed into her pillow as Dayoung her head. It was close to midnight, (TGIF everyone so they had no school the next day) and Dawon had just finished telling her younger sister of how stupid she had acted in front of her crush. Dayoung had only sighed as she pulled her sister into a tight hug. "I'm sorry if I'm no longer there when you come in, Dayoung." She sniffled as her younger sister continued to pat her head, shushing her. Sometimes they wondered who was the oldest of the two, since that position was somehow interchangeable between the sisters. "You will not transfer out!" Dayoung said firmly as Dawon pouted at her and her tone softened. "Eonnie, don't you think you're being a little too dramatic? I'm sure Luda is a nice person. Besides, if she judges you after only one meeting then that's the most shallow thing I've ever heard and she obviously doesn't deserve so much love from you. And I will hunt her down myself for spreading such untrue things about my sister." The way her younger sister's voice sudden took on that dark tone had Dawon sitting up straight to whack her. "Don't you dare." She warned when Dayoung rubbed her head, complaining of how she was supposed to be sad. "Anyway, thanks Dayoung." She hugged her sister and planted a wet kissed on the side of her head. Dayoung's whining would have woken the dead but she didn't miss the bright smile that was painted on her face. "Good night, Dayoung. And thanks."

Dawon resolved to avoid Luda at all cost when Monday came around. Which was super easy, since the cheerleaders made a hell lotta noise where ever they went and Dawon would immediately turned around and speed walk in the opposite direction, drawing confused looks from all her friends. The only one who understood and gave a brief explanation to the rest was SeolA and she would shake her head and hurry after the rapidly disappearing Dawon. "She's just gonna notice you more, ya know." SeolA had told her as they sat on the stage after practice, legs hanging off the side while the rest goofed off behind them. Dawon had only scoffed as she rubbed her arms, "No way, eonnie. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even remember me from Friday. I didn't even tell her my name." SeolA rolled her eyes as she nudged Dawon,"No one needs to, you idiot. They'll know you and maybe she even likes you back." At that, Dawon had turned to SeolA with an incredulous expression on her face. "No." She replied flatly, "She's way out of my league and I'm not wasting my time with something so hopeless when examinations are like in 3 months!" "Which you will do magnificently in since you basically study everyday. Live a little, Dawon-ah." SeolA had patted her head before standing up to chase everyone home.

Dawon still didn't know why she came to watch the cheer squad practise because she wanted to avoid Luda (right...) but she ended up sighing as she watched Luda command the practise with such authority (the captain was sick apparently). How can someone so tiny and adorable have such a commandeering presence on everyone, Dawon would never know. But she decided to file it away in her list of reasons why she fell for the girl in the first place. And her file on why Luda would never be hers. Because Dawon wasn't dumb, she knew almost everyone had a crush on Luda, what was there not to like about her? Smart, witty, able to hold her own against the most ist of guys ( who somehow ended up with their homework missing the next day, ah the joys of being a class representative) Free reign over everyone's homework was something Dawon never knew she would have so much fun exploiting, something she told SeolA only to have her shake her head at her. Luda was Dawon's dream girl. However, so many other boys and girls chased after her, all of them were richer, smarter and overall much more suited to be with Luda than she was. And it was only when a pigeon landed next to her did Dawon snap out if her reverie (scaring said pigeon away) and remembered that she had homework to complete. She still fell asleep when she was done, she guessed some old habits never changed.

Dawon didn't even know how long she slept for but she was awoken by someone shaking her awake. "Five more minutes, SeolA eonnie." She had mumbled, batting the offending hand away when the person giggled, causing her eyes to shoot open in alarm. SeolA didn't sound like that and that was the laughter Dawon had first heard and fell for as well. She sat up so suddenly that Luda jumped back in surprise and Dawon was sure she never moved so fast in her entire 18 years of living on this earth which was probably going to end very very soon. "I'm sorry! I was just leaving!" She squeaked in fear as she grabbed everything she could see and ran down the steps 3 at a time, her bag ped and papers in a haphazard mess in her hands. By the time she got to the busstop, she was panting mess, totally red in the face. She saw SeolA sitting alone and charged towards her, steam practically coming out of her nose and ears. "Eonnie! Why didn't you come wake me up?" She cried as she stood in front of the smirking SeolA, who just started laughing. "Not funny! Why did Luda come wake me up?" SeolA patted the space next to her and Dawon immediately plopped down next to her, still panting from her dash. "I wanted to, kid. But when I got to field, guess who was sitting next to you?" If Dawon's face had been deep red mere moments before, it was completely a pale white now.

"A ghost?" She tried weakly, burying her head in her arms when SeolA just started laughing again. "Eonnie! You should have just came to wake me up! You know I can't function properly when so much perfection is near me!" Dawon couldn't stop the betrayed tone that wormed its way into her voice as she glared at her best friend. "And miss this chance? No way, Dawon!" SeolA laughed as she stood up, waving at the car that was approaching. "My ride is here. You can kill me tomorrow. Although, I don't think you would." When Dawon just raised her eyebrows, in confusion, SeolA smiled and waved to someone behind her. "Bye idiot kid, bye Luda!" And Dawon was ready to spring up again to run all the way back to her house (30 minutes away was nothing compared to this) when SeolA said, "I'm just kidding!" Causing her to sit down again with a sigh. "You're going to kill me one day!" Dawon shouted after the retreating car as she angrily shoved her papers into her bag, pouting as she waited for her bus. "She wasn't kidding." The lilting voice behind Dawon that always gave her tingles down her spine caused her to sit up so straight she looked exactly like the lamppost next to the busstop. Yep, Dawon's life was officially over.

Luda came to join her on the bench and Dawon felt the feeling of deja vu come over her again. She kept her eyes glued to the road, trembling at the close proximity. 'Holy holy our shoulders are almost touching, holy shi-' "Hi, I'm Luda. I don't think we've been properly introduced." Dawon knew that it was just formality sake, no one didn't know who Lee Luda was and gulped as she forced herself to whisper, "Nice to meet you." She heard Luda giggle and her stomach dropped to her feet, now she was being made fun of (note to self: Apologise to Dayoung when you get home. If you even get home). "Isn't it polite to tell me your name too?" Dawon was already dead, she was now just burying herself. "Nam Dawon." "Well, Dawon, I think you sing really well, can you sing something for me?" Dawon's brain screeched to a halt (error 404. Dawon exe. is not responding) because did she really hear that? "Sorry?" She croaked out, fist clenched so hard, her palm was sure to have tiny cresent marks from her nails. "Sing something, anything you like." Luda was looking at her expectantly now, she could see that much out if the corner of her eye and chose that moment to become drier than the Sahara Desert. "Anything?" She ventured, hesitant as she bit her lips. Luda nodded excitedly and Dawon felt her heart melt and seep out from under her feet. So she sang, shaky at first but her voice slowly going back to the way it was before. And when she finished, Luda was smiling so wide that Dawon felt herself falling for her all over again. "That was so good though, even if your voice cracked abit! No wonder SeolA took you in instantly!"

Dawon blinked before apologising immediately, "Sorry, my throat's just really dry now so I can't really hit the notes." "Why?" Had Luda always been this close? Dawon was practically breathing the same air as the shorter girl. "Er," She shifted back, catching herself before she did something drastic, like kissing her. "I ran just now so-" "It's not 'cause of 'perfection'?" And Dawon felt her lungs collapse into itself, reminded that she did admit her feelings to her just minutes before. Once again, was Luda always this close, didn't she just move back? "It's not because of me?" Luda asked again and Dawon felt her world stop spinning, all she could focus on was Luda's pink lips. She gulped, scrambling for at least some purchase over her brain and vocal chords when her bus appeared in front of her. Dawon jumped up, ready to run into the bus when she felt Luda's hand clamp around her wrist. "Sorry, uncle. We're not taking this bus!" Luda cheerfully called as Dawon turned her wide eyed gaze towards the hand that belonged to the person that had such complete control over her heart. As the bus left, Luda tugged on Dawon's hand, causing her to sit down and face her. "Dawon?" She was too close, Dawon couldn't even back away at this point, her body was already completely under Luda's control. "You like me, don't you?" How can someone who looked so cute be so capable of sounding so seductive.

"SeolA told me." And Dawon felt all sense flowing back into her. Sure, she loved SeolA and all but she would have to go and Dawon herself would also need to transfer schools, change her name and probably her looks and- "I'm not out of your league, Dawon." Wait. What did she just say? "You're out of mine." And with that, Dawon couldn't help but scoff. "No, I'm not. You're smart and nice and pretty and adorable. Everyone secretly loves you, even the teachers and those idiot ist boys." "I'm pretty sure they only started because their projects and homework suddenly disappeared." Luda's laugh told Dawon that she knew of what she did as well, causing her face to burn a bright crimson red. "Anyway, I can't match up to you, everyone looked down on you those first few months but you still didn't back down. I'm not strong enough to take that pressure. Plus, you're smart too, and nice and pretty and adorable." Dawon never knew her face could get any redder but it did. "Hey, Dawon." "Hm?" "Can I kiss you?" Dawon buried her face in her hands, making unidentified noises as she felt her brain melt out of her ears. "Hey," Luda lifted her hands away and Dawon found herself staring at pools of sparkling brown that she just got lost in. "Close your eyes." And when they finally kissed, Dawon seriously felt like she was flying. Maybe SeolA wouldn't have to die and Dayoung would get her food after all were some of Dawon's last thoughts before she felt Luda smile into the kiss and her mind became blank.