Taeyeon mutters a string of curse words under her breath that are so foul Seohyun would reprimand her if she ever heard her say it out loud. She dunks the mop into the bucket before wringing the material dry. Of course, Yuri, Yoona, Sooyoung, Hyoyeon and Sunny decided to drag the poor girl into their daily prank, and it may have gone too far because their year advisor has placed them all on detention – “Really, it’s cleaning duties,” Sooyoung complains – in different areas of the school. Unfortunately for Taeyeon, she’s designated the largest area; the gymnasium.

She hears some students walking past loudly humming to a mainstream song and it reminds her that the talent show is days away. Yoona had signed her up without her permission and when she was finally told about it, she freaked out. Although she was known as a good singer in the school and had taken part in several musical productions, this wasn’t just a performance in front of her peers; this was a performance in front of the Jessica Jung – her crush.

Of course, it shouldn’t make a difference that Jessica would be in the audience because she had attended and participated in the previous years, but it makes Taeyeon more self-conscious of herself and overly worried that she’ll screw up and humiliate herself in front of the other girl…which she’s done plenty of times over the past year, courtesy of Yoona and Sooyoung. She doesn’t need to add another mortifying incident to the growing list.

Taeyeon scans her surroundings and after concluding that there’s no one around, she decides to sing the first song that she can remember from the top of her head as a warm up exercise.

“Let me cater to you, cause baby this is your day. Do anything for my man, baby you blow me away. I got your slippers, your dinner, your dessert and so much more; anything you want just let me cater to you.”

At the end of the verse, Taeyeon shakes her head.

“Aish, this won’t do,” She mutters, fumbling around her pocket for her phone. She taps on the screen and opens up her messages, scrolling down until she reaches Yuri’s name. She reads the text message containing the song name but her eyebrows at the song recommendation; she’s not going to sing such a silly song at the talent show. Sighing, she goes back to her messages and taps on Yoona’s name. Taeyeon coughs as soon as she sees the title of the song suggested by the younger girl and immediately closes the messaging app. She’s grateful that no one else is in the hall otherwise they would see her fanning her now crimson cheeks.

Deciding that the recommendations from her friends won’t do, she racks her brain for any song that is somewhat decent and appropriate to sing to the audience. When she hears the faint sound of the school band in the background, a light bulb illuminates itself inside Taeyeon’s head and takes her back to a particular Friday afternoon in the music room.

Classes had ended for the day and students began to file out of the classrooms towards the front gate. As Taeyeon placed her maths book into her bag, she felt a vibration in her pocket and pulled out her phone. She read the text message sent to her from Yoona and sighed. Apparently, Yoona was held up at the weekly student council meeting whilst Hyoyeon was being kept back for detention. That meant she had to wait for an hour at school for her sister and her cousin, and she would rather spend the time wisely than sitting on the silver seats staring at the football field.

Seeing that the library was closed and she had no athletic bone in her to go to the gym, she made her way to the music room. As she walked through the corridor, she passed by Tiffany who gave her a smile and then returned her attention to the phone call she was attending to. She wasn’t sure if she heard correctly, but she could hear the other girl loudly whispering into her phone that ‘she’s approaching!’ Of course, Taeyeon had no idea who ‘she’ was but decided to mind her own business.

Taeyeon’s hand made contact with the slightly ajar door and just as she was about to push it open, she heard a piano playing a melody she knew, accompanied by a beautiful voice. She recognised the voice immediately; it was her rival Jessica Jung who had always made it a point to compete against her.

Jessica’s hands were poised on the keys of the piano and moved up and down as she sang along to the song. Taeyeon admired the way her eyes were closed and how gracefully she played the musical piece. She didn’t notice she was staring until the last key was pressed and the player stared back at her.

“Well well well Kim, I’m surprised you didn’t take your eyes off me because you’re usually looking anywhere but me,” Jessica teased, the corner of her lips turning into a smirk. Taeyeon rolled her eyes.

“I came here to practise only to see you playing the piano. Naturally, I’d look to see who else is in the room,” Taeyeon responded, crossing her arms in front of her. Taeyeon payed attention to the way Jessica’s eyes dilated in surprise before returning to a neutral expression.

“Well, the room’s occupied by me. I booked the room for this afternoon.”

“No need to be rude Jung; I’m going to leave. Just close the door next time,” Taeyeon said. She was about to shut the door behind her when Jessica called her back. The older girl turned around to face the girl on the piano stool but frowned when Jessica’s words were too quiet to hear.

“Pardon?”

“I was going to say that you can use the room too,” Jessica shyly said, scooting over to leave some space on the stool. Taeyeon mustered a smile and walked over to the girl. She stopped and reached over to grab the sheet music from the music desk, flicking and scanning through the paper before placing it back onto the desk. She noted that Jessica had made some notes on the margins, but they were all coded in some Jung language that she could not understand.

“I knew you made a pun,” Taeyeon said, pointing towards the title of the musical piece and confirming her suspicions. Jessica grinned at her.

“The song mesmerised you so that you couldn’t take your eyes off me, pun intended,” Jessica replied. Taeyeon giggled and shook her head at the girl before sitting beside her. They spent the rest of their time disastrously playing random songs and singing themselves silly.

Yoona and Hyoyeon ended up waiting for Taeyeon as they stood outside the school gates for her.

Taeyeon shakes her head – it’s a habit she’s been doing too much of lately. She picks up the forgotten mop on the floor and begins to clean the floor again when she realises the perfect song to sing at the talent show.

She checks her surroundings again before clearing . It’s been a while since she’s sung this song (the last time was when she and Jessica were mucking around in the music room) and even though no one else is in the gym, she’s a bit nervous singing the song aloud.

“I love you baby and if it’s quite alright, I need you baby to warm the lonely nights. I love you baby; trust in me when I say…”

As Taeyeon sings, she gains more confidence in herself and begins to use the mop as a microphone stand. Her hands are raised in the air and she moves them freely to the sound of her vocals, as though she's singing in a musical.

Too engrossed in singing the song, she fails to notice two figures standing at one of the open doors to the gym. Yoona had already finished cleaning her area in the school and was walking past with Jessica when curiosity got the better o