Making my way up the stairs to the second floor of my high school, I quietly walked passed a couple of chatty teachers and arrived just outside of a small classroom, albeit later than I expected. Peering my head through the open door to take a quick glance, I was met by a room that was filled with students who all eyed me with interest as if they were awaiting my arrival. I took a big and nervous gulp and entered, nodding politely to ease the tense atmosphere. Being late was always a little awkward.

It was at that moment that a handsome boy stood up from the crowd to greet me. “Yoona, you’re here!” bellowed Nichkhun with a particularly toothy smile.

The popular flower boy was always extremely kind to all the girls in school and basically earned himself a whole ton of admirers. I could spot some girls in the back eye me with jealousy. Grinning at him, I could not help but notice other familiar faces in the room but there was one person that immediately caught my eye. The person I was here to see.

Seohyun sat by the classroom window with her eyes gazing out at the vast and colorful expanse of the red and gold leaf covered autumn park just outside the school grounds. She looked lost in a deep reverie, out of touch with the rest of the world.

“Why don’t you sit with me Yoona?” interrupted Nichkhun, as he pointed at the empty seat just by his side. It was pretty surprising that he had saved a spot for me. I could hear the same girls, who earlier eyed me with contempt, groan out of jealousy. Staring at the desk that he reserved with his backpack, I hesitated for a moment and turned my gaze back towards Seohyun's direction. I noticed that she appeared to be back to reality upon hearing Nichkhun call my name for the second time. She gave me her usual bright and beaming smile as she noticed my gaze.

I could tell the girl was happy to see me arrive, which drew me towards her like a bear that smelled sweet honey. Looking at her now in the light of afternoon sun was mesmerizing, her beauty always left me breathless. There was also an empty seat by her side, which I knew she had saved for me.

Realizing my little predicament, it was obvious who I had to pick and apologized, “I'm sorry Khun but Seohyun saved me a seat. Thanks though.”

I heard some of the other guys around him laugh as he sat down, disappointed. The girls in the back were in shock. Regardless, I made my way to the seat by Seohyun’s side, which provided me with a warm and natural feeling of belonging. There was something about being around her that made me never want to leave. Taking out my notebook from my leather bag, I pulled out the Rilakkuma pen that she had given me for one of my birthday years ago. “So are we going to start soon?” I asked, my voice full of anticipation.

Seohyun nodded in reply. She inhaled and exhaled deeply, before getting up from her seat. The girl made her way to the front of the class and cleared , readying herself for her first official introduction. With a polite smile she greeted everyone and said with enthusiasm,  “Welcome to the debate club! I’m Seohyun, the club president.”

She gave a polite bow and continued by delivering a little motivational speech that she had prepared with me last night over the phone. As expected, she delivered it flawlessly, talking about the competitive nature of debate and how it was a sport that required brain over brawn. Everyone had been captivated by her display of charisma.

As she finished, I clapped as proudly as I could which I would have done even if her talk was a complete blunder. However the whole room was satisfied by her performance and gave her a nice ovation. The club president blushed in surprise and I watched as she gave me a quick nod, thanking me for yesterday night.

She moved to far side of the room and began to pass around a clipboard with a paper that asked for everyone’s contact information. As students passed it around, she continued her talk about what debate club was about and how it worked, trying her best to teach many of the new faces. “So, all of you here are interested in debating,” she said with an excited smile. “As a group, we’ll divide into teams each week and compete in a friendly in-house competition." Leaning against the desk at the front of the room she added, "We’ll be talking about plenty of thought provoking topics so be ready to think!”

It was then that a boy behind me blurted out, “Excuse me Seohyun, but how do we get on the school team?” I turned to see Yonghwa who was seated with his usual group of friends near the back row. I never really liked the guy.

Before Seohyun could answer his question, a newcomer stormed into the room completely out of breath.

“I’m sorry everyone!” yelled Jinwoon as he tried his best to gather some air after a furious jog. Composing himself, he shot Seohyun a cute eye-smile which made her smile in return. It made me incredibly jealous seeing them interact like that. This club had a lot of my potential competitors.

“You arrived just on time Jinwoon.” Seohyun replied, telling him to take the empty seat beside Khun. “This is my vice-president of the club, Jung Jinwoon. We’ve been on the debate team together for 3 years. The two of us will evaluate your debates and will select the standouts for the team.” Taking a short pause, she gave everyone a friendly glance and allowed Jinwoon to properly greet everyone. After that she continued, "Our team competes every year in the winter against other schools. It's a lot of fun to compete. I look forward to debating with some of you later in the year."

Yonghwa gave a handsome grin and coolly said, “Thanks Seohyun.” It seemed like he just wanted to catch her attention.

As the clipboard made its way to the far side of the room, the president continued to share more about the logistics of the club and finally moved onto her final plan for the lunch hour meeting. "Alright, since it’s the first day, I wanted to have a impromptu debate for fun,” she said enthusiastically. “So instead of preparing a topic before hand, I’ve decided to let you guys pick our topics for this afternoon's debate. Anyone have any ideas?”

Silence filled the room and for a few moments as Seohyun looked a little upset at the shyness that everyone had. However some clown in the back had blurted out, “Homouals!”

The room erupted with laughter at the remark, which made me feel a little uneasy as I pretended to go along with it. I gazed at Seohyun who had a stern and serious face. She seemed interested in tackling the topic. “Alright, that’s a good start,” she said with enthusiasm. “Instead of debating about that specifically, let’s talk about gay marriage since it’s been making headlines.” The president made her way to the chalkboard and wrote, ‘Should gay marriage be legal?’

Nervously I sunk into my seat. I wasn't quite sure how I felt talking about this topic with a ton of my peers around me. Most of them were still immature and closed minded.

Seohyun continued, “Alright, let’s divide into two teams to make this easy. I want this side of the room starting from Yoona and ending with Nichkhun to debate against it. The rest of you guys will debate for it.”

Looking at the clock she wrote a deadline for us and encouraged us to discuss amongst ourselves.

Like that, people disperesed and began to joke around and chat in their groups. Seohyun made her way back to me with her chin up, happy with how things had gone. I could hear laughter as some of the boys on the other team yelled, “No homo!”

“Great speech,” I said giving her a wide and toothy smile. “I’m really proud of you.”

“Thanks!” she replied with a grin. Seeing me far from the rest of my group, she pulled me up off my chair and led me to Jinwoon and everyone else that were a few tables away from me writing down points for the debate. I felt Seohyun grab my shoulder and lovingly pull me back to whisper into my ear, “Now go talk with your fellow debaters and make some friends.”

Seohyun released me from her strong grip, giggling to herself and ran off to the other side of the room like it never happened. This girl was confusing sometimes. I decided to lean on a desk that was just by the group huddle, keeping myself separate from the discussion, but close enough to hear what they had to say.

“So does everyone here oppose gay marriage?” asked Jinwoon, as he took out a piece of paper from a binder in his bag. People gave mixed reactions.

Feeling a need to speak up, I said, “I think it should be legal. If they’re gay, then they’re gay. There’s nothing they can do to control who they’re attracted too right?”

A few students nodded lackadaisically, but most of the others seemed opposed to the idea.

“Well, our job is to argue against it so even if we think it should be legal we have to look at it critically.” said Vice-President Jinwoon. “That’s part of the territory that comes with debating. Looking at both sides. Anyone have any good arguments?”

Immediately a rather quiet looking individual blurted, “It’s against religion!” While another added, “It’s just not right for people of the same to like each other, I mean, it just seems so unnatural.”

These outbursts only seemed to fuel the fire. Another amongst the group reasoned, “If being gay is legal then it brings a lot of societal problems that could arise like people getting married just for tax breaks.”

Another girl built on this point. “It destroys the traditional structure of a nuclear family. Kids would grow up with two dads or two moms!”

“There would also be a lot of cost of teaching tolerance to children and teens that grow up in a world where marriage is legalized!”

Listening to them bash my dream indirectly was a little hurtful and insulting, but I took it like a champion. After all, Jinwoon was right. We couldn't take debate so personally, topics should be argued and talked about in detail for anyone to really learn anything.

“Yoona do you have something to add?” asked Nichkhun who was eyeing me during the whole entire time. The group looked up at me with expectation.

“No, I think you guys summarized it pretty well,” I replied calmly, hiding my resentment at some of their remarks the best I could.

With that, Jinwoon told Seohyun that they were finished and the president waited until the other side was done before she began facilitating the debate. Watching her up there, I could not help but wonder how she felt about the topic personally. Did my best friend feel the same way I did about it?

The two sides began by exchanging opening arguments, with Jinwoon taking the lead for our team and Yonghwa the other. Jinwoon talked about the importance of a family structure, and the impact that growing up with a normal family can have on a child. Yonghwa and his team countered with the first and most obvious point for gay marriage that people should be able to love whoever they want.

Seohyun absorbed the two points, and scored them according to how well they delivered them and the reasoning and evidence they used to support it. I watched carefully as she gave two points to both sides, pleased with their efforts.

The debate continued with other valid points being delivered. Unfortunately, one of our teammates had gotten us behind our opponents because Seohyun thought that ‘homouality is unnatural’ is not really a valid argument that related to the legality of it. He didn’t have enough evidence to support it and was awarded with a miserable score of zero. Either way, the discussion continued until it was finally up to our team to make a final rebuttal but everyone seemed lost for words. It looked like defeat was guaranteed and I couldn’t help but smile as the side that I supported was about to come out on top.

“Yoona? Do you have anything to say on the subject?” asked Seohyun, who had seen me with a dumb grin on my face.

I saw everyone stare up at me with silent interest.

“Oh? Me?” I asked with a surprised and stupid look, which caused the classroom to chuckle. Playing with my hair and fidgeting as I leaned against the desk, I cluelessly shook my head, and saw Seohyun give a look of disappointment which I always hated to see. I knew in my head that she just wanted me to get involved with one of her interests.

Seohyun continued, slight discouraged. “Okay well if that’s the case then-”

“Wait!” I shouted impulsively. The whole class jumped in their seats and was shocked at my sudden outburst. I had their complete attention.

I had no idea why I did it, but I wanted to at least say something. All these guys were impressing Seohyun with their ideas and I wanted to do the same. Still, I felt like an idiot. Gay marriage was something that I wanted. Something that I dreamed about with Seohyun. What could I possibly say to argue against it?

Everyone stared at me, patiently waiting to hear my answer. I wanted to blurt out that I agreed with the other team, but even I knew that it was a little bold to confess my feelings so strongly in front of others. I wasn’t quite comfortable with my uality yet, especially when I hadn’t even confessed to Seohyun.

“Well?” asked Jinwoon who tried his best to give me an encouraging look. Everyone waited with anticipation.

I gave a big gulp, and thought everything over carefully in my head. Seohyun had talked about arguing the legality of it all, so that’s where I decided to take the topic. “Well…if we’re talking about legalization, shouldn’t that decision be based off of how the majority of society feels about the situation?”

"Go on," said Seohyun.

Clearing my throat nervously, I continued, “This means that the answer to our question lies in the current social environment that we face." Standing up with confidence, I tried my best to talk my way out of a stick situation. "Obviously, if most people are in favour or indifferent towards gay marriage then legislators would have incentive to try to get the court to legalize it and the motion would easily pass. However, if it’s only a minority that approves of it and there exists a strong vocal majority that disproves of it, then it makes sense that the government would be reluctant to let it pass.”

Trying to distance myself from my personal opinions, I continued as logically as I could. “Right now, there isn’t enough tolerance of gay marriage to legalize it. Maybe somewhere down the line when society is more accepting it will pass. But not right now, not yet.”

I watched as my teammates erupted in support, standing behind my idea and applauding my effort. Even the other team seemed impressed.

It was a shame that I felt like a total sellout.

Turning to the only person whose thoughts mattered to me; I gazed at Seohyun who had a beautiful smile of approval on her face. Her eyes said it all. She was proud. Making her way to the board, everyone watched as the beautiful president and judge added two points for our team, giving us the higher score. We won.

My team began to chant my name as they showered me with praise. "Yoona! Yoona! Yoona!"

Seohyun quieted us down and thanked everyone for their hard work and concluded the club meeting. With that, everyone quickly got up from their seats and headed out the door, while I stayed behind with Jinwoon and Seohyun to clean up. After scrounging around the classroom, we stood around the teacher's desk and had a brief little chat.

“You were great Yoona,” stated Jinwoon who was impressed with my last minute argument. “I’m glad you did a good job separating your feelings on the topic.”

I gave him a smile, and realized that he knew that I seemed to be in favour of the other side. I looked at Seohyun who seemed to be flipping through all the names on the clipboard with a frown.

“Some people didn’t sign up!” she yelled giving a cute pout to me and Jinwoon. “I counted 26! There's only 12 signatures! Unbelievable. I thought everyone wanted to be a part of the club.”

Jinwoon chuckled. “I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them were here just to be around Yonghwa or Khun,” he reasoned. “I swear I saw their fan club in the back holding signs.”

Seeing Seohyun disappointed and pouting, I approached her and put a friendly arm around her shoulder.

“You’re so cute when you’re upset,” I joked, although it was actually quite true.

Hearing my little comment, Seohyun changed her pouting expression to are more curious one. “Speaking of fan clubs, Yoona, didn’t you notice how Khun wanted you to sit with him? Why didn’t you go?” she asked.

Letting go of her shoulder, I pretended to be offended by her question. “What? You’re asking me why I chose to sit with you, my best friend, instead of some dude?!” I gave my most outraged gasp. “I’m hurt!”

Seohyun laughed at my answer. “Unnie, it’s obvious he likes you.”

Scratching my head, I confessed, “Really? It never crossed my mind.”

At that moment Seohyun opened her arms to give me a big hug out of nowhere. Her embrace was warm and I could feel my heart racing as it always did when she embraced me. Patting my back she gently said, “Thanks for coming today Yoona. I know that this isn’t what you’re interested in but it means a lot to me."

I smiled hearing her kind words, unable to hide my happiness. Jinwoon gave me a funny grin, as he watched the two of us have a little moment.

“Thanks, and I’m interested in anything that you’re interested in,” I replied, as I started rubbing her back in affection.

The younger girl continued her praise, “I’m so proud of you for sharing your idea earlier. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you sound so cool”

I didn’t think it was possible but my grin got even wider. Seohyun had just made my day with a few compliments. My heart was now pumping quick beats of happiness. “Thanks, I just tried to imitate you the best I could.”

Seohyun laughed at my little joke and broke our little embrace, which made me frown for a brief second. I wanted it to last much longer. Getting back to her paperwork and me to the cleanup, the three of us continued to chat until Jinwoon politely excused himself for a 'prior obligation' as he so eloquently put it. We watched as he exited the room, closing the door behind him to give us some privacy.

The two of us were now alone in the classroom, and oddly it reminded me of a dirty fantasy of mine that involved Teacher Hyun. Again, I had to snap out of it and get back to reality. Just what was I thinking?

Taking up a seat on the desk just by Seohyun’s side, I looked at her with curious eyes. There was a question that I was dying to ask her. “Hey Seohyun, what did you think of our debate topic today?”

She had finished her sorting and was packing away the papers to give me her undivided attention. “Gay marriage?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, are you for or against it?”

“Well I like the point you raised and I think you guys really argued against it well,” she replied, her face was full of concentration. She faced me, looking me right in the eye. It caught me a little off guard.

“But?” I questioned, sensing she was about to reveal her true feelings.

“I think it’s-”

Just as Seohyun was about to finish her sentence, the lunch bell rang, causing the nerdy girl to panic. Watching her quickly glance at her watch, she said, “Oh geez, we’re going to be late for class! We’ll talk about this later. Come on let’s go!”

I could feel her practically toss me out the door in a rush to get outside. I wasn’t ready to leave. Trying to continue our discussion, I yelled frantically, “But…but…we’re not done talking!”

Collecting herself in the hallway she closed the zipper of her bag and gave me an apologetic smile. “Like I said, later.”

“I hate you,” I replied with a hint of bitterness.

Seohyun chuckled at my obvious lie. “I know," she replied sarcastically. "I’ll talk to you soon.” I watched as she sped off to class, leaving me behind in the dust.

The object of my affection had avoided the discussion topic this time, but I was determined to get her answer as soon as possible. There was no way that I could leave this stone unturned.