You wished that you could say your whole life changed after you joined the musical, but to say so would be a lie. It had been a few weeks since you were casted, and you barely had any free time on your hands. Which was probably a good thing, so you didn't have as much time to think about useless things, things that hurt. You also didn't have to spend as much time in your room.

...

Walking into the cafeteria, you gripped the lunch tray tightly in your hands. Seokjin had invited you to eat with his friends since the two of you were now 'acquaintances', but you weren't sure what to expect. Since they were the main 'popular' group at your school, you figured that they'd be similar to Areum, but boys. Actually, since Areum was the 'girliest' girl that you knew, they couldn't be too similar. Still, you were skeptical, especially after meeting Hoseok - the irritatingly flirtatious one - the other day.

Seeing you walk over to his table, Seokjin waved at you and exclaimed brightly, "Hello! Guys, guys, this is the girl who's playing Eunhye!" Though he was the eldest in the group, he seemed to give off the aura of a young child. To you, it was both annoying and endearing at the same time.

"A-ah, hello..." you dipped your head, not wanting to spill your lunch while attempting to complete a full bow. Internally, you facepalmed, as your voice was coming out to be meek and shy, as it normally was around large groups of people.

One of his friends chuckled at you in a low voice, grinning. "Wow, she's cute."

You looked at him, rolling your eyes slightly. In contrast to your nervous words, you were still quick to put on your defensive, sassy 'mask'.

His grin only grew wider, revealing two prominent dimples on both sides of his face. "Sorry if that made you uncomfortable, I just found your nervousness to be kind of, well, cutely funny. Y'know? Anyways, I'm Namjoon. Nice to meet you." Promptly, he placed his earbud comfortably back into his ear, staring at his phone to avoid more conversation.

"O-oh..."

"Hey... you don't have to stand, you know... there's an empty spot here," Jimin informed you with a sideways smile. He patted the empty spot next to him.

Feeling more comfortable hearing Jimin, you nodded gratefully and shuffled over to him, setting your tray down before sitting. From your backpack, you heard a small dinging sound. "Thanks..."

Someone else sitting at the table giggled, looking at the two of you with an amused expression as he remarked, "Jimin-hyung's being awfully gentleman-like today."

"Yah, Jungkook!"

Seokjin crossed his arms, eyeing the two of you. "I dunno, Jungkook. They just seem like friends."

Sitting opposite you was someone who was in your math class, Kim Taehyung. He was beaming at the others, flashing his boxy smile. Though he didn't comment on the present situation, a light of amusement danced in his eyes.

You swallowed nervously, wanting to change the topic. Your eyes fell on a boy sitting to your right, who seemed to be concentrating on moving his fingers across his section of the table fluidly, as though he were playing an air piano or something of the sort.

"Hello... who are you?"

In reply, he grunted, "Yoongi," before returning to what he was doing.

"Ah..."

Looking in your direction, Seokjin questioned, "Have you memorized your lines for Act 2, yet?"

"Yes, I have." You relaxed, the tension in your body being released at this simple question. Finally, something that was familiar to you.

"Good." He blinked rapidly, as if he were trying to get something out of his eye, before asking, "Did it work?"

"Did what work?"

"Well...  did my winking look, ya'know. Cool? I have to set a good example for all of them."

"Erm..."

Snorting, the friend who went by the name of Jungkook muttered under his breath, "Weirdo."

You laughed, taking a small spoonful of rice from your lunch tray, though you stopped right before it entered your mouth. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Areum walking over, a coquettish smile on her face. She stopped walking once she was behind you, eyeing the boys at the table.

"Hey. I noticed that she was missing from our lunch table today, and that she was here. So, I wanted to say hello."

Seokjin's friends waved at her, their eyes widening with surprise. To them, she was beautiful.

Hoseok grinned and spoke up, "Are you not that one beauty who accompanied her a few weeks ago?"

Flipping her hair back, Areum upturned her lips coquettishly, "I am. Mind if I sit with the rest of you~?"

"Sure, you can. Right, Jin?" Hoseok replied, giving Seokjin his signature puppy-eyed smile.

"Yeah, sure," he answered in an authorative tone. Areum cheerfully sat in the small space next to Seokjin, their arms touching. Her expression immediately became bubbly, and she attempted to be cute by squirming in her seat.

Ugh, she's so cringy. This is uncomfortable, I'm getting out of here.

You stood up from the table and cleared your throat before hastily announcing, "I'm going to go practice my lines, it was nice sitting with you. Thanks!"

Seokjin blinked and tilted his head slightly. "Want to sit with us tomorrow?"

"A-ah, sure, if you wouldn't mind. Thanks!" Swiftly, you left, putting the rest of your food into a disposal area. You walked quickly into the hallway and slid down, putting your hand over your heart nervously. For some reason, it seemed to be pounding. That would explain the throbbing you felt in your head.

Why...?

You slid your phone out of the front pocket of your backpack, remembering the sound you heard earlier.

[Unknown Number] Yah, what business do you have sitting with our prince? Stay away from him, or else.

a/n: ...or else what? I'm so sorry for the late update, I got a bit of a writer's block, and school's been tough. Thank you for reading, and I'll try to update again this weekend! (btw, sorry if this seems rushed. I'm trying to keep it as a 'short' story. ^^)

Edit (11/28): Made minor changes to phrasing.