Ahri’s face reddened and she dug her face in her palms. “I know I’m shallow! But I had been admiring Baekhyun for so many months and I didn’t even know he was part of a club! All those pictures on his FaceNovel and Instagrain, I thought they were just outings with his friends! So when I saw you in one of them I got jealous and then I heard about the club and I joined on impulse.”

“Did you just say Baekhyun?” Eunji asked, failing to keep the smile tugging at her lips hidden. Ahri hadn’t intended on blurting out his name, but it slipped out and she felt even more embarrassed. The second year student silently nodded her head in response, and was shocked when she heard Eunji let out a squeal.

“That is just so cute! I mean, Baekhyun-sunbae is too cute, so I totally understand where you’re coming from. Ah, young love. It must be great to be in love,” Eunji gushed. When she calmed herself down, she took a sip of her smoothie.

“You mean, you get me?” Ahri questioned, her expression not hiding her surprise.

“Well of course I do! I just said that I joined the club for the guys, as in plural. If anyone here is shallow, sweetie it’s me,” Eunji replied with an air of confidence. “Wait is that something to be proud of?”

Ahri couldn’t contain her happiness at Eunji’s answer. She had told her friends (who are to remain unnamed for the sake of plot) about her feelings towards Baekhyun, but they had either tried to discourage her from crushing on him, or brushed it aside like it was nothing. She understood, to an extent, where they were coming from. Byun Baekhyun was the infamous prankster of the second year students, notorious for his mischief and almost child-like behaviour.

.::.           .::.           .::.

“Guys, I have something to confess,” Ahri suddenly said. She and her two friends were lying on Ahri’s bed, chatting about life in their pyjamas. It was Friday night, and the three friends had planned a sleep-over at Ahri’s house.

“What’s up?” Friend #1 asked.

“You know Baekhyun in our Physics class, right? I kinda have a crush on him,” Ahri confessed, then digging her face in a pillow in an attempt to hide her embarrassment. She had expected her friends to squeal with her, rejoice even.

“Baekhyun? Yeah he’s total eye candy and he’s got some serious aegyo. But you can’t take him seriously,” Friend #2 explained. “He’s basically a 5-year-old in a high schooler’s body.”

“I mean, I stare at him and Yixing all day, but to be honest neither of them are actual boyfriend material. Baekhyun’s such a kid, but I totally get that you think he’s cute. I mean, who doesn’t? Girl, you could say I have a crush on him too,” Friend #1 joked.

.::.           .::.           .::.

“Well, it’s not something to be proud of, but it’s something you can’t necessarily stop either,” Ahri replied. Eunji furrowed her eyebrows at the upper year’s response, before it suddenly dawned on her that she was basically saying that one cannot stop the development of their feelings. “So, you’re kind of into all the guys, then?”

“Well yeah, all twelve are so good-looking. But don’t worry, I’ll try to keep my eyes to myself around Baekhyun-sunbae for your sake,” Eunji snickered. Ahri’s cheeks reddened at the last part of her statement, and she told Eunji she didn’t have to force herself to do so, but the upper year appreciated the thought.

“Well now that you’ve met all twelve, is there one you like in particular? Are you crushing on anyone?” Ahri asked out of curiosity and took another sip of her coffee.

“No, not really,” Eunji replied quickly. She took a sip of her smoothie and looked up at Ahri. When the second year student said nothing in response, Eunji asked, “What? Is there something on my face?”

“No, not that,” Ahri replied, baffled at how quickly Eunji had answered her question. “Really? No one? Ah, it’s because of what they say about those twelve, am I right? They’re a ten until you talk to them. Sadly, their personalities don’t match their faces.”

Eunji shrugged and played with the straw in her drink. “I mean, I’ve only known them for a couple of weeks now. I don’t like one person in particular but I would be overjoyed if any one of them asked me out. Even Luhan-sunbae, so long as he’s serious about it,” Eunji explained herself. “But what do you mean by the whole ‘they’re a ten until you talk to them’? I’ve heard people say things like that about them before, but I really don’t get it. They’re not as bad as they make them seem, heck I’d say they’re a ten even after you get to know them.”

“Well, I won’t go into details about all of them because I don’t know all the members,” Ahri began to explain. “But for example, let’s look at specimen number one; Baekhyun. He looks cute on the outside, but he’s really mischievous which turns most girls off. You can say he’s not one to get serious, which can be a major flaw for most girls.”

“But not you, right?”

“No, I for one think his jokes are funny,” Ahri smiled shyly. “He’s like a ball of sunshine; don’t you think? I always find myself laughing around him and his smile oh my god, if smiles could kill his should be labelled a serial killer. Anyway, let’s examine specimen #2; Yixing. He has a handsome face, and great dimples but honestly the boy makes no sense sometimes. He comes to class with red eyes, and considering how he always seems so out of it, everyone say’s he’s high. Most girls don’t dig that.”

“True, but Yixing-sunbae doesn’t do drugs! He’s not high! He seems clueless and says weird things sometimes because he’s from China and doesn’t know Korean that well!” Eunji argued back. She knew Ahri wasn’t targeting Yixing in any shape, way, or form but her blood began to boil when she heard those comments. Yixing had been so kind to her; who in their right mind would suspect him of drug abuse?

“Whoa, calm down Nelly,” Ahri said, raising her arms in the air as if she had committed a crime. “I’m not the one saying those things, they’re just things I’ve heard floating around my grade.”

“I know,” Eunji sighed. “Sorry, Ahri. I just got so angry when I heard those comments about Yixing-sunbae. He’s such a gentle soul! Honestly, I’m surprised he’s not surrounded by girls given his looks and sweet personality.”

Ahri nodded her head in agreement, not wanting to admit that she had believed some of the rumours about Yixing. “Specimen #3; Kyungsoo. He looks handsome and mature, but when you speak to him he’s extremely passive and can act rather cold. It’s like he has a heart of ice that no one can melt.”

“Wha- that’s bull!” Eunji yelled and slammed her fist on the table. “Kyungsoo-sunbae can be passive, sure, but cold? I wouldn’t say that. Heart of ice? What is that? He’s always smiling around the other members and sure, maybe he’s not the biggest fan of Baekhyun and Chanyeol sunbaes, but he laughs and fools around just like anyone else! How can you say that someone like that has a heart of ice? Heart of ice my foot that’s what it is.”

“Wow, you sure are protective of them,” Ahri teased the younger student. “They’re like your boys, or something.”

Eunji became flustered at the comment. She hadn’t thought too much about her responses; she simply told Ahri how she felt. Each member had their own flaw, sure. But they were human, and humans were built to be imperfect. She didn’t see why people had to point out the After School Club members’ flaws, as if they had never met anyone imperfect. Was it because they were each so handsome that any small flaw was all the more detrimental to their image?

‘But then again, who cares what the other girls think. If they’re turned off by their personalities; if they all went from a ten to a one after speaking with them, then so be it. More for me,’ Eunji thought to herself. She huffed a breath and crossed her arms. ‘If you’re going to hate, then don’t appreciate.’

.::.           .::.           .::.

Later that evening, Eunji uploaded a photo to her Instagrain account. It was a selfie she had taken of her at the café she went to with Ahri in the afternoon. She held her smoothie in her right hand and used her other hand to tug at the eyebag of her left eye. She stuck her tongue out and looked straight at the camera. A slight tilt of the camera here, a filter there and voila; the perfect picture to compliment her theme. The caption of the picture was, “If you’re going to hate, then don’t appreciate.”

Upon first glance, one would pass the photo off as a basic, tumblr shot with an equally basic quote meant for self-appreciation. Some might argue that the photo and caption were rather narcissistic, but that was not Eunji’s aim. Eunji had taken the photo as a way to mock all the girls who not only refused to get to know the After School Club members, but were spreading rumours about them. Her post had also been a way for her to declare to everyone else that it was their loss for not snatching the opportunity to get to know the twelve guys better.

The photo received a decent amount of “likes” and a plethora of comments such as “SLAYYYY GURL”, “Queeeeeeen Eunji”, and “You’re honestly so beautiful it hurts” (the list of basic comments could go on forever). Of the many “likes”, one of them belonged to Sehun. He had been scrolling through his Instagrain feed when the photo popped up on his wall. He examined the picture for a few moments, which then turned to tens of seconds, and eventually minutes. Realizing that he had spent more than enough time staring at one picture, he gave the post a quick “like” and moved on.

A/N: What was with that last line? I don't know, you tell me~ I'm starting to feel like this story is gonna become less drabble and more rom-com heavy lol (which wasn't my intention at first, but let me know what you think/want!). Also, someone kill me because last night I was suddenly inspired to write another story. Hopefully it won't distract me from writing this one! But don't worry, I won't publish any of it until I get through a good portion of this one ;)

\\ xoxo