All the contestants have some kind of nervous habit they're doing while waiting for the two MCs to call them onstage. Everyone is nervous, even the confident Chenle. He paced around the waiting room and shook his body to release some stress energy. Donghyuck managed to stay calm for a while after Mark had a chat with him but the nervousness came back. It caused him to fidget with the hem of his shirt, which crinkled up the piece of clothing. The only one who is not nervous is in the other waiting room. 

Mark waited for the MCs to call him and Wendy up to speak to the audience for a bit before the contest actually starts. Renjun and Jaemin are with him but they're too busy gawking at the female contestants that walk past their room.

"Damn, I think Joy of the Fine Art Department would win the contest this year," Jaemin commented. "What do you think, Renjun?"

"Sure, she's pretty but you don't stand a chance, ya know?" Renjun smirked. "She has her eyes on Mark already."

"Yet, our boss has his eyes on a freshman male, how hysterical..."

"Shut up, Jaemin."

From the sound of the cheering, the MCs have already started talking and explaining the stages of the contest. They also thanked the sponsors for supporting the contest and the school individually. After that, they introduced the judges which are the high position people at the university, like the dean. The dean said some words of wisdom and the previous title holders of last years appear onstage to say their farewell. Wendy was able to introduce herself without interruption but every time Mark tried to say something, the girls in the audience screaming. The MCs had to calm them down before Mark can finish what he said. Mark looked uncomfortable the whole time because the spotlight keeps on shining on him. 

After the initial introduction, the MCs showed off the male and female contestants. Mark managed to find Jaemin and Renjun in the crowd. He looked so proud as Donghyuck is being introduced. His clapping was loud but not obvious. When Chenle is introduced, Jaemin elbowed Renjun teasingly but the latter glared back. When the MCs finished all the introduction, the contestants changed into their chic clothes to perform for the crowd. The dance they have been practicing the whole time can finally be shown to the audience. The entire time, Mark's eyes did not leave Donghyuck nor Renjun's to Chenle. The individual talent show was more nerve-wracking since the contestant will be alone. However, the one complaining the most is Jaemin.

"Do we have to watch all of them?" He exhaled as the first act came on. "It's not like we're the judges. My legs are numb from standing for so long."

"Fine," Mark pressed his lips together. "We'll come out when it's our department's rep turn... Or maybe when Renjun's babe turn."

"Shut your piehole," Renjun pushed the two out of the crowd. "Same goes to you too."

"Am I the only one who hasn't got a babe yet?" Jaemin pointed to himself. "I'm honestly surprised because I'm a better casinova than you two blockheads."

"Yeah right, Mark could have gotten any girls he wants but he chooses a short freshman," Renjun chuckled as they walked to the contestant waiting room. "But I can't blame him... Oh ..."

The trio was met with a surprising scene. Donghyuck is talking to Jeno and the older engineering student handed him a water bottle. From far away, they seemed very chummy with each other, much to Mark's displeasure. Mark wants Donghyuck to only be chummy with him or at least to someone who is not a potential threat to his relationship. However, before he could approach them, Wendy appeared out of nowhere and dragged Mark to their waiting room, which didn't go unnoticed by Donghyuck. Jeno reassured the freshman that he'll be watching from downstage, which distracts Donghyuck from the fact that Mark is alone with Wendy.

"We need to talk," Wendy closed the door and locked it. 

"Is it urgent?" Mark asked impatiently. "I'm in a hurry, Wendy."

After a moment of hesitation, Wendy sighed and speak her mind. "All the time we've spent together, did you feel anything for me at all? I just want to know. From you..."

"We're friends. That's what I've always seen you as. Nothing more, nothing less."

"I see," Wendy's shoulders relaxed. Her smile showed a bit of sadness but it was hidden behind the fake relief. 

"I'm really sorry if I mislead you in any way, I really am," Mark felt bad about this situation because Wendy was the first girl he befriended that didn't have an ulterior motive that he knows of. It seems like she's the closest girl to ever come near his heart but Donghyuck managed to keep it for himself already.

"Is there someone else? Perhaps, the freshman that live across from me?"

"How did you-"

"You're really smart in class but you're not the smartest cookie. It's fine. I was prepared for this so I wasn't surprised. Just don't let me catch you guys kissing in the hallway so else."

"Wendy, I-"

"I think I heard your friends calling for you. You should go," Wendy looked like she's tearing up, which break Mark's heart. The girl is a nice person. She happened to choose the wrong person to give her heart to. "Please..."

Reluctantly, Mark unlocked the door and walked out. As he closed it, he can hear a slight sniffle. It's best for someone to let out their feeling, whether it's to someone else or alone. In the contestants waiting room, everyone is busy getting ready for their act. Mark looked around for Donghyuck but couldn't find the freshman. The fine art female rep, Joy, gave him the flirty eyes but he was too distracted to notice her. After a while, he asked one of the staff members where Donghyuck has gone off to. Apparently, the freshman went outside to get his outfit and music sheet. The problem is that he went with Jeno. 

"Trying to find Donghyuck?" Jeno glared at Mark. He stood next to his car with the back hood raised up. 

"Is he here?"

"I saw you went somewhere with Wendy."

"And?"

"What do you really want, Mark? Catching two fishes with one hand?" 

"For a smart guy like you, the answer should be pretty obvious as I'm standing here and not wherever Wendy is. I made my choice and you should make yours."

"And what are my choices?"

"Give it up and we can salvage the friendship status or make a big deal out of it and fight an uphill battle for Donghyuck's affection. Just so you know, if you pick the latter, I will make it a very steep path."

"I'm not scared of you."

"You should be. A man in love is a very dangerous person."

Jeno thoughts about it for a moment but deep inside, he knew he already lost the battle. "Just remember one thing, you're a dog who doesn't know the value of the gem. If you look away, just for a second, this alley cat will steal the gem away from you."

The engineering student walked away, leaving an oblivious Donghyuck behind. Jeno and Mark whispered the whole conversation so the freshman couldn't hear it, not that he paid attention. Donghyuck had his head deep inside the car to get his outfits and music sheet. He jumped a little when he saw Mark standing next to the car instead of Jeno.

"Why are you scared? I'm not a ghost," Mark grinned.

"What happened to Jeno? Did you kill him? I will report you," Donghyuck made Mark carried his stuff. 

"He called me a and left," The sophomore summarized his conversation with Jeno.

"What? That's rude, I should talk to him," The freshman was about to walk away when Mark held his wrist. 

"It's ok, what he said was true though," Mark pulled Donghyuck into a tight hug. His whisper sent chilled down Donghyuck's spine. "I'm a lowly dog who doesn't understand the value of a gem."

"What? You sophomores keep on speaking in riddles. Speak the normal language, would cha?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"You're distracting me. I need to concentrate on the show."

"I know what you're mad at so let clear it up before you start bottling your emotion again," Mark set the outfits down on the table in the waiting room and pulled Donghyuck to the side. "Wendy dragged me to talk in private. It would be rude if I pushed her off. You're so observant so didn't you see my unwilling face?"

"No... You two are the power couples in the school, what chance did I have?"

"Well, you and I would be a better power couple. The tsundere paragon and the male lover that's head-over-heels for him. A bit cliche but it summarized up our relationship pretty well."

"Well..."

"don't think too much. You already got my heart a long time ago. Every piece belongs to you and only you."

That seemed to satisfy Donghyuck as a cheeky smile spread to his cheeks. When the freshman went to change, Mark regrouped with his friends. Renjun was completely mesmerized by Chenle's martial art performance. When the engineering freshman's performance end, the MC introduced Donghyuck onto the stage with the piano ready.

"H-Hi, I'm Donghyuck, the male rep of the biology facility," Seungkwna tried to smile through his nervousness. It didn't help that he spotted Mark in the crowd. "I will be singing a song about loving someone who is unattainable. I have a person like this in real life so I want to express my feeling. Hopefully, this person will accept me for who I am, which is a tsundere paragon. And maybe, we can grab dinner later."

The crowd erupted in cheer for Donghyuck and the "mysterious" person who is smiling to himself. When the crowd quiets down, Donghyuck inhaled and exhaled deeply. His fingers danced across the piano and the sweet love melody filled the auditorium. Not long after, his voice serenades the crowd. He sang about how ordinary he is and how lucky he is to find a star in the dark universe that light up his day. The star did not see him at first and he couldn't come near it, in fear of burning from its brilliance. However, the star noticed him as well. The star allowed him to come closer until they were next to each other. 

"Mark," The senior who took care of Donghyuck walked up to the group. "You know, I want to pick Donghyuck as the male rep at first."

"What?" Mark stared at the senior in shocked.

"I had a talk with him afterward and he told me about you. He attends this school because of you and he became the male contestant because of you. everything he does revolve around you. Although it was a little creepy, I would admit its cute. The dedication he has for you shouldn't be wasted. I hope you accept him and take good care of him."

"Don't worry, Sis. I already plan on it."

"Good good good. You might also want to buy some roses for him for the Popularity vote."

Mark looked at her with wide eyes. He has completely forgotten the Popularity vote come before the ceremonial selection of the best reps. When Jaemin and Renjun offered to go get him roses for Donghyuck, Mark got out his wallet and gave his friends all the cash he has. 

"A bouquet would be enough," Jaemin looked at his boss friend like he's crazy. "No need to buy the whole garden."

When the two friends left, Wendy approached him in the crowd to tell him that the staffs want the two of them on standby. Luckily, Donghyuck's performance finished and he disappeared to the back of the stage. Mark disappeared backstage as well. The other contestants finished their performance and the Popularity vote commenced. For each rose, it counted as one vote. Everyone from the biology department gave Donghyuck a dozen roses and pinched his cheeks. His cheeks hurt from the pinching but also from smiling so much. A couple of girls and guys from the other department also gave him roses and asked to take a picture with him, which he was happy to. A boy from the Physic department gave him a teddy bear along with a handful of rose. He introduced himself as Hendery and left. 

"Hey, don't forget about us," Donghyuck was about to leave but Renjun's voice stopped him. "Mark would kill us if you don't win the Popularity vote."

"Thank you hyung," The freshman received another handful of roses. The staffs had to step in to help him. 

"And you know who this is from..." Jaemin smirked and bent down to pull out a giant bouquet of roses. Everyone gasped as he did. "99 roses from the mysterious person. We know you would win but he wants to make sure."

The MCs held a small talk to give the staffs some time to count the votes. Soon, every contestant was gathered onstage for the ceremonial awards. Donghyuck's hands got sweaty as the MCs talk more and more. Yeri, his partner, rubbed his back to calm him down and it helps only a little. The girl was also nervous as well because she slightly bit her lips. However, neither of them was as nervous as Chenle, who has a very prominent reason to win the contest. Although he was certain he will, seeing the other contestants performance make him rethink the possibilities. 

"For the Popularity vote, the female winner is Yeri from the Biology department," The MC announced. The crowd erupted in cheer as Yeri smiles and walked to the front of the stage. One of the judges handed her a giant certificate and the clicking of cameras filled the auditorium. Yeri stepped back a bit to let the MCs continue. "Now, for the male winner of the Popularity vote is... Donghyuck, also from the biology department."

Donghyuck's head snapped to the sound of his name. Although he suspected a little bias on Mark's part, he was surprised that he won. Chenle and the other male contestants had a lot of roses from what he saw. His best friend pulled the stunned boy by the elbow and pushed him to the front of the stage. Donghyuck stumbled a little and the MC joked about how surprised he looked. 

"Wow, the biology department must have messed around with the DNA of these two for them to be so easy on the eyes," The crowd laughed at the lame but creative joke of the MC. "Our sponsor will present the award to the winners and our previous school reps will hand them the sash."

After the sponsor took pictures with them, Yeri and Donghyuck were wrapped with a sash by Wendy and Mark respectively. It was clear that Mark was very pleased with himself as he purposely leaned closer to Donghyuck as the younger get sashed. "Just so you know, I did not rigged the votes. At least not in a way they can disqualify you for."

"Obviously," Donghyuck whispered back. He wanted to kick the older male right now. Because of Mark, Donghyuck will never know if he can actually beat Chenle in a popularity vote. 

More pictures were taken before Donghyuck and Yeri walked back to the rest of the contestants. The MC explained some more about the importance of being the school's overall representatives. The two students must be the face of the school and go to events or be in advertisements. Basically, they are models that are shown as the epitome of perfection from the university. Donghyuck's heart pounded harder as the second ticked by. It only got worse as the MCs opened the beige envelope and pulled out the paper with the winners' name.

"Before we announced the winners, we will present the runner-ups. Once again from the biology department... Yeri is the female runner-ups. And the male runner-up is Chan, from the medical department."

Once again, Yeri stepped up and bowed to the audience as a second sash was wrapped around her. The boy from the medical department stepped up and received the sash as well. Donghyuck was surprised he didn't know who the boy was, especially since Chan was in the same department as Mark. Both of them belong to the medical department, even though they're in different years. 

"For the moment, you've all been waiting for..." The MC held out the envelope again. "The female contestant that will represent our school is...  Joy from the Fine Art department!"

The girl that was going after Mark during the beach trip happily step up. She bowed to the crowd and graciously received her award and sash. When she steps back a bit, the MC continued. "And the male winner for the school's representative competition is... Chenle of the engineering department!"

Chenle grinned brightly and jumped a little into the air. He stepped up and received his award and sash from Mark. Afterward, Joy and Chenle stood next to the dean, Wendy, and Mark to get their picture taken again. Then, everyone huddled together to get a group pictures. However, Donghyuck and Mark were in their own little world as their eyes meet each other. A smile grew on their face. 

If anyone watched the original series, they will find that I change little things in this part of the story. Originally, Wendy character reacted very negatively to finding out about the relationship between Mark and Donghyuck character. I changed it to make her more likable. My problem with it is that in any BL storyline, the writer always created a hateful female love rival. Her characteristic is always y and unbearable and I hate that. Most of the time, she will be the only relevant female character and she's always hated. It annoyed me so much so I change it here. 

Sorry, it's my personal problem because I see so many female hating themselves and it irks me that it also in my reading and shows. Like seriously, it's never a male love rival. Always a female. I promise myself I will never write a female character like that unless there's a reason for it. Anyway, rant is over.

2moons season 2 is confirmed so a second book to this story is also confirmed for me. It's probably in late 2018 or early-mid 2019. Look forward to it. And there's one or two chapter left to this story. Afterward, I will start on a new series that followed another show called "Love by Chance". 

FIGHTING!!!