It was almost as if I had dreamed the words I thought I heard.

….“Because I got to see you tonight”…..

I felt a surge of happiness build up in my stomach, but it was overshadowed by my shock and horror of the news that our farm got “burnt out”. The tears welled up in my eyes and were at risk of spilling over. I continued to stare at Yoseob and he stared back at me with a confused expression on his face. “Chanhi, is something wrong? May I help somehow?”, he asked with his inviting smile. I didn’t know what to say to him, but I had to stop myself from getting all emotional because I promised I wouldn’t cry. I swallowed my feelings and squeezed the bridge of my nose to keep back the feeling. “No…nothing is wrong. Thank you for asking. Good night”, I finally said as I took a polite bow and ran down to the end of the street.

*********

I blinked a couple times as I woke up with a splitting headache. The events of last night were so overwhelming that I didn’t really feel like getting out of bed. When did I even get home last night? I saw Yoseob and then…I ran…away…UGH!!!  I grudgingly got up, pushed the thoughts out of my mind, and trudged to the bathroom and locked the door. I looked in the mirror and saw the dark circles under my eyes, then proceeded to wash my face.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“CHANHI!!! HURRY UP AND GET OUT OF THE BATHROOM!! YOU’VE BEEN IN THERE FOREVER!!”, yelled Suji from the outside.

 Never in my life had I ever felt anger like this before.

“You filthy piece of !”

The words she said came back to me.

“Get out !”

They resounded in my head.

“CHANHI!! PULL YOUR BRAIN OUT OF YOUR UNDERWEAR AND OPEN THE DOOR!!” IF I’M LATE FOR SCHOOL YOU’LL BE SORRY!!

 I felt a nerve pulse in the left corner of my temple, and my blood began to boil...

“CHANHI!!!!”

That was it….

“SHUT UP SUJI!!!”, I screamed back at her as I tore the door open. I stared her dead in the face. “DO NOT YELL AT ME WHEN I’M IN HERE! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF YOUR ATTITUDE!!...Suji stared at me in horror…”WHAT IS IT YOU HAVE AGAINST ME ANYWAY!? IF YOU’RE UPSET ABOUT MOVING HERE THEN TALK TO MOM AND DAD! IT’S NOT MY FAULT!

I slammed the door in Suji’s face and continued my morning bathroom preparations. Somehow, I felt lighter…like…I relieved some of the emotional stress I was enduring. I’ve never behaved like that before and it felt weird, but strangely satisfying…

There wasn’t much to say at breakfast, and Suji still wore that stupidly spaced out expression on her face; so I went off to college by myself. I suppose she came sometime after me, for I saw her at college later that day.

*********

“Yoseob, are you sure you are alright? You haven’t said much all day. If something is the matter then please tell me”

“I’m sorry…what?”, replied a spaced out Yoseob. “I’m sorry Ryeowook, I didn’t mean to ignore you.”

“Tell me what’s on your mind”. Ryeowook persisted in interrogating his buddy.

“It’s just this girl”, finally said Yoseob.

“The same girl?’”

“Yeah…”

*********

I thought back at what happened earlier this morning. Should I have been a little nicer to Suji? Maybe I was too harsh on her in what I said. Something about the look in her face told me something was wrong with her; but she’s not the type to take offence easily so was it really me? Agh! Why is my life so confused??

“Miss Min! Pay attention in my class! This is a high achieving arts college, if you do not wish to do the work, then there are a lot of aspiring young artists who would love to take your place!”

The thought bubble I was in a moment ago popped, and brought me back to the realization that there were now twenty seven people staring at me. I felt my face get hot, was I blushing? I looked around trying to blow off the humiliating moment, only to see Sunny snickering with her little group. I’m pretty sure whatever it was, it was about me. I looked down at my desk waiting for the awkward atmosphere to diffuse.

********

I hurriedly gathered my things at the sound of the bell, dropping most of my pens in the process and picking them up only to drop my pencils right after. I exited the classroom only to be met by a stampede of college students going from bulletin board to bulletin board. I had almost forgotten, TODAY WAS THE DAY WE SIGN UP FOR ACTIVITIES WE’RE INTERESTED IN!!  Oh my God!!....no sorry…..Oh my Gosh!! I’ve lost sight of why I’m even here!!! NOO!!!! Gotta run fast!!! Where do I sign up for singing??? Ughhh!!!!! Kill!!!!

I hurriedly ran through the halls like a flipping maniac, trying to look for the bulletin to sign up for singing, getting trampled by savage teenagers in the process. Every person I bumped into muttered something under their breath. But you know, maybe it wasn’t me. Maybe they just all happened to talk to themselves (they way I do) after I accidently stepped on their foot…..OH WHO AM I KIDDING!  I’m already the gossip of the school!

I finally found the bulletin to sign up for singing classes!

PERFECT YOUR SINGING ABILITY IN THE FOLLOWING AREAD: POP, R&B, CLASSICAL, ALTERNATIVE. CLASSES ARE MONDAYS, WEDNESDAYS AND FRIDAYS BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 8:00 AM TO 12:00 PM FOR MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS, AND 3:00-4:00 PM ON FRIDAYS.

ONLY THOSE WHO ARE DEDICATED AND HARDWORKING WILL BE ACCEPTED INTO THIS VOCAL TRAINING CLASS. SLACKERS WILL BE IMMEDIATELY RELIEVED OF THEIR SPACE IN THE CLASS.  CLASSES BEGIN NEXT WEEK IN THE 3^RD MUSIC ROOM ON THE 2^ND FLOOR.

AUDITIONS TO DETERMINE WHO WILL BE ACCEPTED INTO THIS CLASS WILL BE HELD ON THE DAY CLASSES BEGIN. PLEASE PREPARE A SONG OF YOUR CHOICE, NO LONGER THAN 5 MINUTES, TO PREFORM ON SAID DAY.

I immediately realized that this was the reason I was here. My purpose for moving into a new neighborhood despite the challenges, and gaining acceptance into this prestigious performing arts high school was to attend these classes. I reached for the pen in my front pocket, and my hand made its way to the signup sheet. The point of the pen had made contact with the sheet when suddenly…

“Look at the poor newcomer. Does she seriously believe she can be successful in singing? With barely any resources, why does she think she can outdo the rest of it?”

“I guess some people prefer to learn the hard way.”

My arm froze in mid-air. I barely managed to catch a glimpse of two of Sunny’s friends, leaving the scene to sign up for other classes.

I felt a lump in my throat. I couldn’t say anything. I could barely gasp for air. Who was I actually trying to fool? Why am I even going to bother? It would only end in failure anyway. I began to hyperventilate and I felt my face get hot. My vision began to blur…I felt the tears coming…I tried to push away the feeling, but it was coming too quickly….NO!..I couldn’t do it…I promised God and myself that I wouldn’t cry. ‘What am I going to do?’

“CHANHI!!”

I heard someone out of breath shouting my name from the end of the hall. I felt my body shaking with the tears that wanted to spill over. I couldn’t let anyone see me like this.

“Chanhi.  Listen, about earlier, I’m really sorry, okay? What I said before was extremely uncalled for and I sincerely apologize.” I turned around to see Suji, bowing at a 45 degree angle. Was she seriously here apologizing to me??...okay she was…BUT WHY?

“I understand why you’re not responding”, she continued, and my hand was still in mid air.

“So…you were going to sign up for singing classes? Well, I know you have the talent. Don’t let my presence here stop you.” It was obvious that she was trying to change the subject. She took the pen from my frozen hand and signed my name on the bulletin for me.

“Well I’ll see you later”. As she turned to walk away, I noticed her face looked much paler than usual, and she looked like she had deep shadows under her eyes. “Huh…”, I thought. I turned back to the bulletin board, remembering Suji had signed my name for me. I just now realized that the feeling to cry had subsided, and it was all thanks to Suji. She doesn’t know how much she just ‘saved’ me. But I do wonder what’s wrong with her though…maybe she has a cold…. That was the nicest thing she had ever said to me in all my nineteen years. I could feel the smile widening my lips. I was actually smiling. For once Suji didn’t insult or berate me and I was actually smiling at her departing figure and for a split second I felt happy. So happy that I could-

“Chanhi?”

At the calling of my name, I whirled around to see him of all people. “Yoseob?” My tone was filled with disbelief when Yoseob stood in full view of my vision.

“What are you doing here?”

“What are you doing here?” We both asked simultaneously only to contribute to an awkward atmosphere. My stare fell to the ground as I tried to understand what was really happening but his stare, was definitely on me. Not that I saw him staring at me with those glistening blacks eyes but I felt it.

“Do you go to school to here?” he asked, his voice full of mirth.

I opened my mouth to reply but nothing came out.

“Chanhi? Are you alright? You’ve been acting strangely.” He took a step forward and I did the exact opposite, with eyes still glued to the floor.

“Chanhi?”

“It’s ummm……. I began and slowly raised my head. “Uh… I do…well, it’s kind of-

“Yoseob!!!!!!!!!!!” Sunny screamed, running towards us, her lustrous hair bouncing with each step. Upon reaching, she took Yoseob in her arms, enveloping him in a hug that caused my jaw to fall to the flow with a loud bang. Well, in my head, my jaw disintegrated to a heap of ashes the moment she yelled his name so affectionately. Yoseob in turn, wrapped his arms around her and really wished the earth would swallow me whole.

“Hey Sunny.” He greeted as he repelled from the brief moment of intimacy. A giggle emitted from her lips. I’d become invisible. Wasn’t she the one who had tried to start a conversation with me on the first day of school? Was she really thee one I saw as a potential friend?

“What are you doing here?”

“Well, I was just about to sign up for the singing classes, Sunny. You should too.” He said with such enthusiasm. I clenched my teeth so hard that I thought they were about to break any blessed second and my poor dad would have to worry about taking me to the dentist.

She smiled and retrieved a pen from her handbag and paced towards the sign that hung on the wall. She raised her hand but froze suddenly. I noticed her once bright smile slowly faded.

“Min Chanhi!” she said with such venom and scorn.

“Oh you two know each other?” Yoseob asked.

“Yoseob, well-

“You!” She interjected, glaring at me with eyes of fire. “What a brave commoner you are to have the audacity to contaminate our school with your filth! What makes you think you have the talent-

“Sunny!”

“Don’t you dear defend her Yoseob. Obviously, she has been misleading you. She one of the commoners who has infiltrated our paradise here at Seoul Leigh School of the Arts.” She sneered as she scratched out my name with her pen, tearing the paper in the process.

“I-I ………….I tried to say something but to no avail. Who was she to attack me?

Oh man, Yoseob’s face was bursting with bewilderment. “Chanhi… he began.

“I don’t need to explain anything to you.” I snapped as I stomped aside and ran down the hallway, with completely dry eyes. For once I had stood up for myself but how would I face tomorrow? That was my only chance to improve my vocals and she ruined it as I stood by and watched.

*****

I wound up in an empty basketball court, not too far from home. My chest was heaving from all that running. I’d never run so much in my life. My bag fell to the ground with a loud thud and began to pun in small circles. Until I couldn’t take it anymore. I began to do what I loved to do the most in the world: sing.

I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past
I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need them again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love

“Beautiful! Bravo!” I heard someone shouting and clapping in the distance.

I turned around to see a male approaching with hurried steps. “Yoseob?”

“With a voice like that how are you not famous yet?”

“Yoseob.. why. I couldn’t go on when he took me in for a hug.

“Why did you run off?”

“Yoseob, Sunny is true. I’m one of the commoners and my sister is too.”

“Chanhi, I don’t care about that. Let’s just enjoy this moment together.” He whispered in my ear. “Where have you been all my life?”

A/n: Sorry readers for being away for so very long. This chappie was written mostly by Nellie-Chan and so i give her the credit. I love my coauthor, Nellie-chan, for putting up with me.

OOOp, and i hope you enjoyed this chappie. And please comment, if u wish.