Siyeon studied the long-haired girl swaggering around on stage, who seemed to have had gone through half her song while Siyeon and Kyla were busy. She frowned when she saw her wink towards the audience where a small group of four, whom she recognised as the school band and Yewon, all while maintaining a smug smirk as if certain of victory. Not that she was that far from the truth, what with the crowd cheering even louder than Siyeon has heard so far.

However, what caught Siyeon’s eyes apart from the half-decent performance in front was the sight at of a small brunette who looked very different from the picture she held in her hands. The Yewon that was standing a few rows down sported an uncomfortable expression that she tried to hide but Siyeon could tell even from a few rows away. She was fiddling uncomfortably with her hands, squirming in a subtle yet anxious way.

She finds it ridiculous that Yewon would be stuck with some stuck-up jerk for a first date, if the girl’s performance and actions were anything to judge by. Siyeon isn’t saying that she is an angel (ha, far from it!) but to put a girl in such an uncomfortable position was something that Siyeon cannot condone, or allow to happen. Not if she can help it anyways. Now, if only she can find a way to change things…

“Hey Kyla, do you think we can do something about this?”

“T-this? You mean the situation?”

“Yeah.”

“There isn’t much we can do, really. Unless someone else steals the first place position, which is practically impossible.”

Siyeon pursed her lips, looking to be lost in thought.

“Why would it be practically impossible? You don’t think she’s that good, do you?”

At Siyeon’s doubtfully raising eyebrows Kyla immediately bristled.

“I’m not saying that because I think she’s a great performer! I mean her rhyming and pacing isn’t all that bad, though I’d say her breathing techniques are rather odd, so is her delivery when it comes to the faster lines. She could maybe work on her intonation of-”

Kyla stopped her analytical rant when she finally noticed Siyeon staring at her with pleasantly surprised eyes. Her face burned when she realised that she had subconsciously been rambling.

“Sorry, you must be bored by all this jargon-”

“You’re a rapper?”

“Huh? I mean, no not really… I used to practice a bit… why?”

“That’s great! Me too!”

This time, it was Kyla’s turn to look at the other in astonishment. Never did it cross her mind that Siyeon must’ve been in the auditorium for a reason, she had just assumed that Siyeon had wondered in like her. At the realisation that Siyeon is a rapper as well, she tapped her fingers on Siyeon’s thigh to grab her attention.

“If you’re a rapper, then why don’t you enter the competition for Yewon?”

“Oh you’re one to speak Kyla, didn’t you say this is an ‘infringement of her rights’ too? Why don’t you do it?”

“I-I’m not that good.”

“Nonsense I’m sure you’ll do fine.”

“No, really! I haven’t done it in a long time… besides if no one wins instead then Jungseo will be-”

“Hold up. What’s that girl’s name?”

“The one performing? Jungseo, why?”

“Jungseo? Jung as in Jung Jessica’s Jung? Jung as in Jung Krystal’s Jung?”

“Err, yes it’s that-”

“Jung as PARK JUNGHYUN’S JUNG??”

Kyla wasn’t entirely sure who Park Junghyun is but she still nodded her head in affirmation. At her nod Siyeon stood up from her seat, shoulders squared and back straight. Her grey eyes were once again lit up like molten lava and she spoke with utter conviction.

“No one tarnishes the name Jung. No one.”

With that, Kyla watched Siyeon as she resolutely marched towards the stage, her phone lying long-forgotten in the former’s lap.

Who’s Park Junghyun anyways?

            Yebin rubbed her eyes tiredly as she looked at Yewon with a hint of regret. Admittedly, she had initially agreed with Eunwoo on the plan, thinking that it’ll help the PAC-MAN greatly and as the 3 school band members they could influence the results to find someone that Yewon wouldn’t mind. It seemed like a win-win situation at that point of time but as she glanced at the small girl unconsciously pouting while watching the Jungseo girl perform, Yebin couldn’t help but wonder if things could’ve been different.

            They certainly didn’t expect the last performer to get such an over-whelming amount of support, enough such that it would be ridiculous to suggest the winner as anyone else. Back when they had a mini round of heats Eunwoo, Jieqiong and her had already done their best to sieve out the really nasty people who were here purely to score a date with Yewon (as opposed to having interest in PAC-MAN or any talent at all) but it seemed that the Jungseo girl had slipped past their detection.

            The performance finally came to an end and Eunwoo made her way up onstage amidst loud cheers from the crowd that seemed to have enjoyed the performance. Drumming aside, another of Yebin’s interests is rap and in her humble opinion, Jungseo had done decently well. Not fantastically, but compared to the other participants who were bundles of nerves her arrogance confidence was a refreshing change. She rubbed her eyes again. Worst come to worst she would just have to stalk Yewon’s date like a hawk to make sure their Yewon was fine.

“Right, folks that was our last performance. What do y’all think of it?”

The crowd yelled its approval as Eunwoo gave a small smile. Beside her, Jungseo looked upon the crowd with a smug smirk. Victory was hers, no doubt about that.

“Now, let’s invite our school band to discuss the results. Come on up Pinky! You too Rena.”

The crowd responded with enthusiastic cheers as their drummer and keyboard slash pipa player made their way up on stage. Once they came up Eunwoo encouraged the crowd to think which was their favourite performance as they huddled together to discuss the results. It was Yebin’s shaky voice that spoke first.

“Judging just by the cheers alone… the winner is Jungseo.”

“I know that too Binnie but we can’t just chose her! It’ll be like feeding Yewon to the sharks!”

“Juju, we all know that but what can we do? I hate to say this but we have to be fair.”

“Nunu, are we really going to have to pick Jungseo?”

Both Yebin and Jieqiong turned to their leader, who was furrowing her brows in contemplation. Her heart, like Jieqiong’s, screamed ‘DON’T BE AN IDIOT. DON’T PICK JUNGSEO’. But her brain on the other hand firmly stated in Yebin’s conflicted voice ‘don’t be biased Eunwoo, as a leader and president you have to be objective’. As Eunwoo battled with her thoughts she felt a hand tugging on her skirt. She glanced down and saw a very familiar face staring back at her, eyes bright and glistering

“It isn’t too late to join, is it, Eunwoo unnie?”

Eunwoo stared back at the girl staring up at her. Eunwoo’s brain whirred to process her words. Too late to join? The competition? Holy- Eunwoo suddenly squatted down to put herself at eye-level with Siyeon, who was standing at the foot of the stage.

“I totally forgot you’re in this school too! Keen to join?”

“I’m here to save your sorry unnie, your face was scrunched up like a piece of fermented kimchi. Only if you have my song.”

“And what will that be?”

“Do you happen to have ‘Anck Su Namum’?”

“What?”

Unfortunately, Siyeon’s question was met with confusion. Eunwoo had thought she would ask for Starlight by Taeyeon, or maybe Don’t Come Back by Heize, not some random song that didn’t even seem to have an English name.

“Who’s that?”

Eunwoo turned back to where Yebin and Jieqiong were staring at her with utter bewilderment on their faces. Ah, Yebin!

“I’ll explain later, basically she’s here to save the day! Binnie, do you have the instrumental for… A-An Soo…?”

Eunwoo trailed off in confusion before Siyeon cut in impatiently.

“Anck Su Namum!”

“Oh? By Yezi?”

“Yeah!”

“I do, why?”

“Great! Juju! Binnie! Run to backstage manager, I think its Jihyo, and tell them to plug it in! We’re going to have a last performance!”

Although Jieqiong and Yebin were still mighty confused they turned and dashed off stage. Heck, Eunwoo rarely has good ideas and they prayed that this is one of those rare moments.

Eunwoo smiled at Siyeon, who was still standing at the bottom of the stage.

“Thanks a lot kiddo, I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“Eww unnie you’re still as sappy as ever. I like that haha! Also I’m doing this because that Yewon person looked really uncomfortable. And cute too. Why are y’all selling her off anyways?”

“She was fine with it! And initially we thought that things would turn out more controllably. We had, and still don’t have any intentions to mess with Minkyung unnie after all.”

“Minkyung unnie? Isn’t she the-”

“We’re back! It’s all set Nunu.”

Jieqiong and Yebin came running back, huffing but with wide grins on their faces. Eunwoo returned their smiles with a similarly wide one.

“Great! Siyeon are you ready to rock everyone’s socks off?”

“Ready as I’ll ever be unnie.”

Eunwoo turned back to the crowd which had turned restless and curious at the wait and running back and forth.

“Folks, we have one last performance for tonight! Wait no more and give it up for PARK. SI. YEONNNNNNNNN!”

            Seungyeon hurried into the auditorium and made her way towards where her best friend was sitting and staring at the stage all alone. She grumbled under her breath, annoyed that the three seniors had left her best friend all alone. As if practically giving her away as if she was some welcome hamper isn’t bad enough. And only to freshies! Who knew what kind of person a freshie was? What if they were some creep? Or violent? Or as unromantic as a piece of mouldy cheese and ruin her first impression of what dates are supposed to be like?

“Won-ah, I’m here.”

“Bae! You’re here!”

Yewon shot her a brilliant eye smile and wrapped her into a tight hug. She sighed, Yewon’s hugs were the only ones she didn’t get all grumpy about. Why? Because she hugs her with care, unlike those other seniors who saw her as a plush toy or something like that.

“How was your writing? Did you finish that song?”

“I got the chorus and first verse out, still working on the second one”

“That’s great!”

“Enough about me, how is the competition coming along?”

Yewon squirmed a tiny bit, an action that didn’t go unnoticed.

“There was this last performance by Jungseo but the unnies seem to be up to something.”

“Again?”

“I think so? I just saw Jieqiong and Yebin unnie running past.”

“Huh? Well, they always come up with crazy ideas, being led by an erratic leader does that to you.”

“Bae! Don’t say bad things about Eunwoo unnie!”

“C’mon Won-ah, you can’t deny this whole thing is crazy! I don’t understand how the other unnies aren’t stopping this.”

Yewon paused then mumbled under her breath.

“What was that?”

The other girl leaned forward so she could catch Yewon’s mumbles.

“I said… most of the other unnies don’t know about this…”

“WHAT? Just wait till I tell Min-”

“Folks! We have one last performance for tonight! Give it up for-”

“Oh look Bae! There’s a performance! Shhh!”

Yewon cut in quickly before Seungyeon could finish her threatening, thanking her lucky stars for Eunwoo’s interruption. Before she could continue her protests she was promptly pulled into the seat beside Yewon’s, the latter’s attention determinedly fixed on the stage in front of them.

            Seungyeon has known Yewon for a long time. Back in middle school Yewon was the first friend she made, the first friend she showed her scribbles of writing to, the first friend to hug her, the first friend that she watched get crushes and crushed on by others. Oh, it had always been the two of them, until they entered high school and were practically adopted by a bunch of seniors who had declared them “THE CUTEST PAIR OF MOCHI BUNS WITH RAINBOW SPRINKLES ON I SWEAR TO GOD LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS”.

            So Seungyeon knows very well what that crinkle of nose and slightly red ear tips means. She very well knows what that soft squeal that she heard halfway through the (really) last performance means. Seungyeon also knows that this means she has to work doubly hard to look out for Yewon’s kind, heart, given that the slightly older girl had already fallen for the girl rapping onstage. Well, not quite fallen, but soon enough.

            When Yewon finally turned to her after the performance ended, she could already see the adoration in her eyes.

“Bae! Did you see that! That was cool!”

“Yeah, it was. You liked the performance?”

“Yeah! I couldn’t follow every single word but it’s the best one by far!”

            Seungyeon could just barely hide her scoff as she was pretty sure the only reason why her best friend didn’t catch every word was because she was too busy thinking about how pretty the rapper was.

Being a music composer and lover means that she is reasonably well-versed in the different genres of music. Despite not being particularly interested in rap or hip-hop (she prefers ballads), she can tell that that was a well-executed performance. Not one that is filled with simply exaggerated gestures or reading of lines. No, the girl in front had perfect control of her expressions and words, spitting out each bar with deadly precision, timing and accuracy. The only thing that wasn’t controlled with an iron-grip was the natural charism and confidence that oozed through with every step she took and every verse that she perfected.

She didn’t specifically seek out Yewon to send heart eyes or flirty winks (something every single contester had been doing, according to Jieqiong’s texts), but took the time to seek out one other specific contester, just in time to snarl her last verse,

“I never got anything for free, my mean streak that I got later in life too

I realised it early in life- forget being the main star

I will just play the villain- I’ll be the one to be cussed at

I will live however I want; I will ignore everyone else.”

            She then turned and strode to the front of the stage where Eunwoo, Jieqiong and Yebin were cheering as if their lives’ were dependent on it. As she returned the microphone to Eunwoo Jieqiong pretended to wipe her tears on Eunwoo’s shirt, who made a face at her and tugged her shirt away before return back onstage. Eunwoo invited everyone, including her band members, back up before starting the voting. To start off, she invited the crowd to cheer for the contesters that they liked. The audience responded with polite clapping as each name was called, up till 2 names were left. That was when Seungyeon started to pay attention.

“Let me hear your cheers for Ted Jungseo!”

Eunwoo was met with loud clapping and some whoops.

“Alright then, last but not least, if you think it was a good performance make some noise for Park Siyeon!”

Expectedly, the crowd roared its approval. Standing at the end of the row of contesters, the girl let out a small yet proud smile. Ah, so Siyeon’s the name. The rest of the show passed quickly for Seungyeon, who really was just here to support Yewon and to find out the results, which was quickly determined as the band members too, unanimously voted for the charming rapper that stole the show.

            Once the results were announced and Eunwoo thanked everyone for coming, the crowd dispersed quickly. It was fast approaching evening and everyone was eager to grab dinner. The three band members were surrounding Siyeon, scrutinising her while still praising her to the high heavens. Seungyeon and Yewon lingered at the seats while waiting for them to calm down enough to have intelligent conversations instead of shouting embarrassing stuff like “SWAGGY BAGGY THAT’S COOL YO” and “YO SIYEON BRO YOU’RE MY MAN YO”.      

            Seungyeon felt a light tug at her sleeve and turned to her best friend who looked nervous all of a sudden. She immediately understood that she was shy to meet the charming junior, a stranger that she didn’t know anything about after all.

“Shy, Won-ah?”

Yewon nodded wordlessly, looking down at her lap.

“Don’t worry, I’m sure she won’t bite. You two are going on a date soon remember? You’ll get to know her soon enough.”

Seungyeon’s teasing was met with a cute pout from Yewon and a nudge that made Seungyeon laugh in response. She looked up as the Yebin, Eunwoo and Jieqiong started to make their way over, finally calm enough to talk intelligently.

“They’re heading towards us, or rather, you, just saying.”

“They? Now? What?”

At the prospect of having to talk to them Yewon started, her eyes flashing around as if looking for a place to hide. Her best friend noticed and proceeded to grab her hand and squeeze it, which led to her relaxing immediately. When Yewon looked into her eyes, they were exceptionally loving and understanding. Seungyeon always knew her best.

“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine. Let’s meet them.”

With that, Seungyeon pulled her up and led the two of them towards the front of the stage.

            Yewon’s heart was doing somersaults and cartwheels in her chest as she watched the cool junior walking up surrounded by her unnies. She is confused as to why her heart is beating so quickly, is it still from the excitement of the performance? Nevertheless, she beamed once Seungyeon pulled her all the way to the middle of the aisle where the two groups finally meet. She couldn’t help but to admire her face, now that they met each other up close for the first time. Involuntarily, a sentence popped up in her mind.

Wow, she’s really pretty.

A chuckle. “Thanks.”

Yewon looked at Siyeon in confusion for a second before her hands flew up to cover . She turned to Seungyeon, who was looking at her with an amused smile. She then leaned to whisper in her ear, forgetting that they were all standing close together and everyone could hear her words.

“Did I just say that out loud?”

Her question was met by a bemused eyebrow raise. Seungyeon glanced at the three seniors, who looked equally amused, and at Siyeon, whose eyes were crinkled in mirth. She looked back at her best friend who was still waiting for an answer.

“Yes you did and… Won-ah, you know we can all hear you right?”

Comically, Yewon’s eyes widened again in realisation and she whined before burying her head in her best friend’s shoulder as everyone burst out in laughter. She doesn’t understand why she’s behaving like a fool right now, especially in front of that pretty junior!

“Thanks for the compliment Yewon-sshi, you’re pretty too, if I may say so myself.”

Siyeon’s casual response and wink prompted Eunwoo to roll her eyes.

“Alright, alright that’s enough flirting for today. Just exchange numbers and continue at your own time, okay?”

“We’re not flirting!”

Yewon squeaked in protest before pulling her phone out of her pocket. Siyeon merely snickered in response before reaching into her back pocket to pull out… nothing. She frowned and patted her blazer pockets too but couldn’t seem to find her phone.

“That’s weird, I can’t seem to find my phone.”

“Siyeon-sshi, here.”

A low voice shyly sounded from the side. Everyone turned to look at the dark-haired stranger who was looking down at the floor and holding out a phone which Siyeon took with a grateful smile.

“Thanks Kyla! I forgot it was with you.”

“It’s okay, I’ll be going off first. Goodbye.”

At that she turned and tried to beat a hasty exit from the rowdy crowd that she was almost too nervous to approach but a grip on her wrist stopped her from running off.

“Wait! At least give me your number, we can still contact each other you know.”

Siyeon smiled again before handing her phone to Kyla, who shyly took it back to punch her number in. While Siyeon waited for her phone to be returned, she heard the disapproving clicking of a tongue.

“Tsk, tsk, Siyeon, how many numbers do you plan to get? Getting Yewon’s one isn’t enough for you?”

“Ay Eunwoo unnie! Kyla here is just a friend, and a rapper too!”

“Really? Hey our Yebin here is a rapper too!”

“I know unnie, why wouldn’t I?

“I’m not talking to you kid, I’m talking to Kyla here.”

Kyla returned Siyeon her phone, only to look up and see the funny golden-blonde emcee that she saw just now smiling at her. She shifted her weight from one foot to another, unfamiliar with the attention.

“I’m not really a rapper… I just play around sometimes… I’m not good.”

“Doesn’t matter, if you want to be a rapper than you’re just as much a rapper as Yebin is, and our Yebin is the best.”

Kyla blinked and mumbled a thanks at Eunwoo’s convicted tone and strong words. Beside her, another girl with chocolate brown hair nods enthusiastically. Before she could launch into a speech on her amazing rap skills a taller girl with straight black hair spoke up.

“Now, don’t get Binnie started. I think Yewon and Siyeon are done exchanging numbers, let’s go! I’m hungry!”

“Juju is right! We should stop third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh wheeling, lego!”

Eunwoo shouted back animatedly and quickly ushered them all out leaving Yewon and Siyeon at the back. She herded them all out of the auditorium while shouting a freakishly long menu that she was planning to order. A shorter girl that that had chubby cheeks up a conversation with the straight black-haired senior (that resembled a big flightless bird in Kyla's humble opinion). Beside her, the chocolate-brown haired senior began to animatedly ramble about rap and her favourite artists amidst the general talking over each other. Somehow, Kyla found herself swept up with the group as they jostled each other and made a huge din. Somehow, Kyla doesn’t find herself minding the crowd or constant chatter, not one bit.

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Hi again! Really sorry this took so long, I honestly think this is my most erratic piece of work so far... I hope the multiple changes in POV and focus aren't too confusing XO Also I tried to include the different characters and personalities in this piece but I'm not sure how this turned out...

Ay! Enough with negativity! Thank you for everyone who has taken time to read, comment, subscribe and even upvote!! I'm like floored by the response *deep bow* Please don't hesitate to ask anything at all, really! Remember to take care of yourselves! Stay hydrated this summer y'all!

Till next time~ *hops under the Invisibility Cloak and shuffles away*