The five stared at Minjoo when she heard what she said. Their eyes blinking twice as they looked at her in a confused state.

"Uhm... I'm sorry, what?" Yuri asked. She was looking at Minjoo with an eyebrow raised. "Did I hear that right? You think joining the contest is a good idea?"

Minjoo leaned back from her seat, arms crossed, eyebrows raised as she nodded. "Yes, you heard me right. Now, you have a paper or not?"

Sakura chuckled. She stared at Minjoo for a few seconds, waiting for her to laugh and say that she was joking—but it never came. Minjoo didn't laugh. Still, she kept the same face from earlier.

"Oh, wait. You're serious?" Sakura had her eyes wide. It seems like she didn't believe Minjoo's statement from earlier when she said that this contest was a good idea and was now ready to write her name on a piece of paper for submitting.

"Mhm." Minjoo nodded. "Is it too hard to believe? I did say that you guys were right. Didn't you all agree that you wanted to join this contest?"

"Well, yes we did but..." Yuri begins, but trailed off soon after. She looked at her friends for support.

"But you don't have to join just because we're joining." It was Chaewon who backed Yuri up. "We don't want to force you into doing something you wouldn't want to do."

Minjoo looks at Chaewon and pouted. She knew now why they didn't believe her. They still think that she didn't want to join the contest and was just forcing herself. Well, half of it was true but she did want to try and join just to have Chaewon as her partner. That was the real reason why she changed her mind.

"Yeah, Chaewon unnie's right." Yuri added. "You know what you said earlier about being paired with a random person and ending up having them as a partner for life? I think you might have a point there. I don't think joining is as good of an idea that we think it is."

Minjoo sighs. She knew that Yuri was just saying all this stuff again for her not to join, not when Yuri herself has her mind set on joining.

"Hey, it's okay. I know you really want to join. Just... think about it for a while. You might regret your decision later if you decide right now. Besides, we still have three days before the registration period ends. You still have time to choose." Hitomi says, patting Minjoo's head gently.

Minjoo buried her face on her hands, taking a deep breath in then releasing it. "I guess you're right. This contest is making my head all fuzzy. I should probably think about this whole thing first."

--

All throughout the day, nothing but the contest filled Minjoo's mind. Even when she went home from school, used her phone until its battery died, slept half the day until her mom called her for dinner, it was the only thing she could think off.

It seemed like even those people who weren't from their school were excited about it. When Minjoo scrolled through her social media account, there were a lot of students from other schools complaining on why their schools didn't hold contests such as the one that Minjoo's school has. Some were regretting that they didn't enroll for their school this year. They would have been able to join the contest if they did.

Nonetheless, this made Minjoo overthink about it more. Was the contest that good for people to feel about it this way? And what's so exiciting about living with a stranger anyway?

It's not like the contest will be a matchmaker for them that'll help them find the love of their life just by joining it. It seems far too impossible for Minjoo. She believes that there is no cupid—not even this contest can make her believe so.

With all the thinking that she was doing, Minjoo didn't notice her mom calling her. She's been too busy playing with the remnants of her food and overthinking about things to notice.

"Minjoo? Minjoo, honey. Are you alright?" With her mom's last attempt on calling her, Minjoo looked up. She looked a bit startled when she did.

"O-Oh, uhm... yeah. I'm okay. Thanks for asking." She gave her mom a small smile, using her fork to pick up some of the pasta on her plate and eating it.

"You seem to be lost in your thoughts. Are you sure you're okay?" Minjoo's mom looked at her worriedly. Her eyes staring straight at Minjoo.

Minjoo's lips curled into a smile again as she nod her head. "I'm really okay, mom. Just have a few things in mind. You don't have to worry about me."

Her mom nodded hearing her answer yet, she didn't look satisfied about it. "Mind telling me what's on your mind? Maybe I could help you with it."