[ D O R M I T O R Y ]
22 : s e r e n d i p i t y

Yuju's POV

"Check your hand mic, Yuju." Jihoon, one of the third-years who's also in show choir, opened the mic for me.

"Mic check, one, two, three." I can hear my voice, so this is good, I guess.

He glanced at my duet partner. "Seokmin, yours?"

"It's working."

Jihoon nodded before standing up. He's not taller than me, though. "Very well then, excuse me. I have to check the head mics now." He left the two of us and Seokmin and I scooted closer to each other. These days, I'm being cautious about something.

I don't want to doubt her, but I'm cautious towards Dawon. I mean, we're good friends and all, but this is my boyfriend we're talking about here. I may be tough-hearted, but Seokmin is my vulnerability. "Seok." I called him out. I need to tell him.

"Yes, Yuna?" He called me by my real name.

Wow, he really knows how to make me fall for him.

"After this contest, if we win, let's come out to our friends." I sighed. "I want to establish a wall between us and the girls who like you."

"I was going to suggest the same thing." He pulled my hand and began playing with it. I can see him hesitating about something.

I raised a brow. "Tell me what you want to say."

I heard him heave a sigh. "I get jealous, too. I can see the way Han Gyujin looks at you during practice, I don't think I can tolerate it any longer."

I chuckled slightly. Oh, dear, if you only knew.

"Here you are!"  Suddenly, a head-mic clad Jaehyun, Rose and Gyujin -- just who we were talking about, appeared in front of us, making both me and Seokmin retreat our hands back to our sides. Jaehyun furrowed his brows knowingly. "What were you two doing before we got here?"

I rolled my eyes. "I was fortunetelling. Do you want me to check yours?"

Jaehyun seems to have bought my story, because he changed the topic immediately. "Hey, I heard from the higher-ups."

Seokmin and I looked at each other before looking back at them. Of course we know what it means, we're not stupid. Seokmin got off the crate we were sitting on first, before catching me to go down. I straightened my skirt, fixed my hair and tapped my shoes. "Later, bring all the Thunder Fang kids in the nearby Chinese restaurant. We can talk there." I looked around and noticed Jiho throwing us a glance. We have to be cautious. I tapped Jaehyun's shoulder before walking out. "I'm going."

Us and Thunder Fang working together doesn't seem like a bad idea, too.

Sicheng's POV

Seriously, what's taking Minghao so long? We have to go to Cooper University and watch the show choir kids perform but we're still in the dorm and we're going to take the train to get to Cooper!

"Dude, sorry I took so long." Look who just arrived. The great Minghao.

With Kyungwon and Mingyu? "What's with them?"

He blinked before giving me an answer. I think he processed it on his head before giving me an answer. "Ah, we're going on a CLYDE dinner after this."

Suspicious. I raised a brow. The thing is, CLYDE doesn't have dinners together as a whole. I mean, Seokju and Minghao and Mingyu. I've never seen them together for dinner after show choir battles. It's always just Seokmin and Yuju. They'd be with the other show choir people, not with these two. "Sewoon?" I asked.

"Sewoon's coming over after the contest." Kyungwon began. "He says he's gotten trauma on Im Nayeon and seeing her would totally ruin his day, so." She shrugged and I raised a brow once more.

"He has Im Nayeon trauma?" We began walking to the elevator and Minghao pressed the down button for us.

Minghao actually nodded to what I asked. "Yeah. He auditioned for the show choir earlier this term but he choked the moment he saw Im Nayeon staring deeply into him."

“He said it felt like she was judging his soul."

I can relate. I once saw Im Nayeon at school and she glared at me. I thought I was going to die.

When we got to the first floor, before we tapped our ID cards to exit the dorm, I saw a familiar figure and smile.

Of course, it's Jung Chaeyeon. Who else can make my jaw fall, anyway? I think there's no one but her.

But she's with Sewoon?

Why?

Am I going to lose again?

Mina's POV

I held Eunwoo's hand. I don't know if what I'm doing is right or what -- but I can't let my mother hurt me and my siblings as she pleases. My siblings are young. Mayuri's only in high school, Mari's still in middle schoool. I'd be okay if she's hurting just me, but I can't tolerate the pain she's causing my siblings, too. “Am I doing the right thing?” I asked Eunwoo before I stepped on my house’s porch. The rest of the kids are either in school or in the show choir competition. Everyone, except maybe me and Eunwoo.

He nodded, giving me assurance. “You want it to stop, right?” He held my hand. “I don’t like seeing you hurting, too.”

I smiled sadly before opening the door. My siblings are in school right now, so I only saw my drunken mom, half-passed out, watching TV. “Mom.” I called her out, and she looked up to meet my eyes.

“Why, if it isn’t my dau