From: [email protected] Subject: Re: JOIN CRESCENDITY!!!   OMG YESSS! FINALLY!!!!
I’ve been waiting for this since forever e_e I knew you’d revive it eventually HAHAHA But I’m definitely in!!!!!! Wait for me! I’ll be back soon!   - Maerin
(Do I even need to sign off this email? You know it’s me XD)   Hyunmi looked at her phone, smiling at the fast reply from her friend. Like Heejin and Jaehwan, Maerin was clearly enthusiastic about the club’s revival. She had gone to her grandma’s house in the rural area, which restricted her internet usage. Luckily, she’d be back next week.   “What’d you bribe her with?” Yerin asked, taking a peek at Hyunmi’s phone. She kept sipping on the super affordable coffee she had bought from the Moonbucks vending machine, making obnoxious noises without meaning to.   “Not everyone needs to be bribed. She joined by her own initiative,” Hyunmi said, lowkey guilt tripping her friend.   “Aw, too bad. She should’ve asked for something while she could,” Yerin said, dismissing her friend’s look of disbelief. “What about your roomate? No reply from Mira?”   “I guess she’s already on the plane to Seoul,” Hyunmi said. Her roommate Han Mira had gone to England with her boyfriend Mark to visit her family for the summer. Once she returned, she’d be a part of Crescendity, whether or not she wanted to.   “Hey Hyunmi, Yerin,” a girl greeted as she passed by, her voice so soft and nearly inaudible. At first glance, one might mistake her for an Asian Barbie doll. From top to bottom, she was dressed in pink: a pink French baret, pink a-line dress, pink bag, and pink mary jane shoes.   “Biah!” Hyunmi greeted, quickly forgetting her intention to head to the teacher’s office. A familiar face could only lead to one thing. Shamelessly, she linked her arm around Biah’s and put up her sweetest smile. “Say, you’re not in any club yet, are you?”   Yerin kept sipping on her straw to the point it wrinkled from her excessive biting. She watched the scene unfold with curiosity, trying to observe Hyunmi’s advertising skills at work.   “No, I haven’t found the right one yet,” Biah said, smiling along with her friend, not knowing she was a current target.   “You know you have to join a club to get good grades, right? We are going to start a club, a show choir club,” Hyunmi began, to which Yerin quietly nodded at for credibility purposes. “We only select the most talented people to join. And you, Lee Biah, are chosen!”   “What? Really?”   Yerin saw the joy fluctuating on Biah’s face. Her eyes radiated with such glee. Poor girl didn’t know she was being scammed by her own friend. Well, as long as it made people happy, she supposed it was harmless.   “Yes, so are you in or are you in?” Hyunmi asked, playfully nudging Biah’s arm.   “ I’m so happy you asked me to join. I’m in, of course. Thank you,” Biah said, and her bliss was clearly evident on her smiling face.   “No, thank you for being talented,” Hyunmi told her, letting her go once she had acquired her target. She nudged Yerin to come with her to Mr. Jung’s office, returning to their first mission.   “You’re giving her false hope,” Yerin muttered quietly.   “The one thing I learned in advertising is to appeal to people in a way that would benefit them, not us,” Hyunmi said, knowing Yerin wasn’t aware she had also been given false hope with the free food promise. There wasn’t going to be a buffet. Until the other found out, they quickly headed to meet Mr. Jung.   The staff office was filled with several instructors who were either grading papers, chatting with one another, or preparing to go home. The two girls immediately headed to Mr. Jung’s desk that was just opposite of Mr. Park’s. He was typing something on his computer, halting his action when he noticed the two.   “Hi Mr. Jung,” Yerin was the one who greeted first. She stopped sipping on her drink, hiding it behind her back in case she’d get scolded. She kept her arms behind her, unconsciously tapping her feet against the linoleum school floor.   “Yerin, Hyunmi, what can I do for you?” Mr. Jung Yunho asked, giving them his full attention, paired with a charming grin which many female students fawned over.   “We have decided to revive Crescendity, our former show choir club, and are looking for the most talented and professional instructor to direct us,” Hyunmi said, her sweet words appearing when necessary.   “We want you,” Yerin added a little quieter, in case Hyunmi hadn’t been clear enough. Everytime Yunho smiled, a part of her died inside.   “What prompted you to make such a decision? The club has been dead for a long time. It will be quite hard to start all over,” he spoke, keeping his smile despite his skepticism.   “Quite hard does not mean it’s impossible. If we don’t do it now, nobody will,” Hyunmi said, ready to argue the case with a teacher. Her words gained Leeteuk’s attention who had been eavesdropping since they stepped into the office.   Yunho did not expect anything less from the reputable teacher’s pet student. “I understand your passion, but with a new semester starting, you should focus on your studies and grades. I have other classes to prioritize. So I apologize, but I won’t be able to help you out.”   His words struck like someone had pushed her excitement into a cliff of abyss. What she had considered a brilliant idea for less than 24 hours was reciprocated as nothing more but a child’s greedy wish. She could not mask the disappointment on her face, but decided to thank her teacher before leaving.   “I’m really sorry,” Yunho apologetically told Yerin who remained there.   “We understand you’re a busy man. Please do let us know if you could recommend anyone else,” Yerin told him, slightly bowing before she left to chase after Hyunmi as well.   Yunho watched the two leave, and exhaled deeply. He anxiously tapped his fingers against the desk, wondering if he had made the right decision. From his peripheral vision, he noticed Leeteuk’s curious stare. “What?”   “Nothing,” the English teacher said, immersing himself back to his work.     The others had no idea of the recent failure and continued with the mission they had been given. Heejin wasn’t all too keen about finding empty classrooms, afraid she’d open the door to accidentally find a couple in the middle of a steamy makeout session. So luckily, they had explored other options too.   “Do you think it’s possible to practice in the gymnasium?” Jaehwan randomly asked after he had suggested a bunch of weird locations. This location was the most realistic one by far.   “A gymnasium? Won’t it smell really bad because there are a lot of sweaty people?” Heejin asked, making a disgusted face. Just by being there for several seconds, the sour smell had entered her nose.   “Yeah, but the echo here is amazing!” Jaehwan said, proving his theory as he began to loudly warm his vocals up like a real professional. “Come on, burn it up! Burn it up!”   Heejin slowly backed away, covering her ears from Jaehwan’s loud—albeit impressive—vocals. What an odd way to test out one’s vocal. What was he trying to burn?   “I like this place. Let’s make this our basecamp,” Jaehwan concluded after he had sang four bars about burning something up.   “But, how will we get the instruments here? We can’t go a capella everytime we practice,” Heejin uttered, humming to herself as she rubbed her chin in thought. Of course she would remember the small details everyone else had forgotten.   “Oh right, we need instruments!” Jaehwan gasped in shock, but soon afterwards regained his composure. “Okay, calm down, calm down. I can easily carry all the instruments back and forth.”   Heejin raised her eyebrows, studying Jaehwan’s frame in a non-erted way. He was too skinny, a bit too short, and definitely too weak based on looks alone. She couldn’t imagine him carry a drum set—or worse, a grand piano.   “I think it would be better to find a room that already has all the instruments,” she suggested.   “The music room! Follow me, I know exactly which room we could use,” Jaehwan said confidently, motioning Heejin to trail after him.   She should’ve known better than to trust a bluff king. Ten minutes in, and they had found themselves outside the school building, right in front of the soccer field. This was in no way anywhere near a music room.   “Odd, I remember the music room being somewhere around here,” Jaehwan muttered, staring around him like a lost lamb.   “I am pretty sure a music room would be inside the school building,” Heejin corrected him.   “Nah, our school is quite innovative, you know,” Jaehwan said, unwilling to admit his mistake.   Heejin sighed, letting him try to figure out the direction as she stared at the soccer field. She did not even realize a game was going on and ended up watching a bunch of sweaty guys running around chasing a soccer ball. Suddenly, her eyes sprung open at the realization.   “It’s him!” Heejin yelled out loud, watching the guy wearing the number 34 jersey.   “What?”   “The guy I gave my broccoli to.”   Jaehwan raised his eyebrows. “What?”   Heejin’s face suddenly turned red, remembering her embarrassing mistake and stupid clumsiness. She couldn’t bear having the guy notice her, afraid he’d scold her for failing his class because of her. So without Jaehwan’s consent, she her heel and immediately ran away from the scene.   All everyone heard was a loud “I’m sorry” lingering in the air as she left.     Seulyi knew she was doomed when she didn’t say no to the mission she was given. She stood in front of the photography club, knowing Myungsoo was a part of it. Would he even want to join show choir when he was already so busy? If he rejected her now, would he reject her if she ever decided to confess her love?   For several minutes, she had been pondering in front of the room, flinching when the door suddenly opened. In front of her eyes stood no other than Kim Myungsoo, the heavenly human being. From up close, he was even more surreal than his Instagram pictures she had secretly stalked, but made sure to never like. She tensed up.   “Can I help you?” Myungsoo asked, noticing the way her face stiffened as if she