“You may start eating already.” Jiyeon gave the cue and everyone started digging in.

Cho Hee looked in the direction of Hoya who was eating slowly and coolly. She felt her face heat up like a Degree Celsius as she stared at him a second longer. When Hoya looked up from his food, Cho Hee hurriedly shot her head down and shoved the plastic spoon into . Swallowing the whole mouthful of food down, she felt the food got stuck in . Cho Hee tried coughing but the food refused to clear the airway. Dropping her spoon, she began making difficult noises.

“Park Cho Hee is choking!” Someone shouted.

Everyone diverted their attention to Cho Hee whose face was turning red.

“Pass her some water!” Someone shouted.

As Cho Hee was flushing the water down, she felt a hard blow on her back. With the force of the certain someone who hit her, water and saliva, accompanied with the choked food spluttered out on the table. Before her was a mess of food remains mixed with her saliva and unclear water. The girls screamed as they jumped out of their seats. The guys flashed disgusted glares before getting up too. The table was left with only Cho Hee sitting there before the mess she created. She looked down in embarrassment and disgust.

“Ewww. That’s so freaking disgusting.” She heard someone say.

“Gosh. I totally lost my appetite.” One of the girls added on.

“Was she that hungry? Couldn’t she eat slowly? Geez. Now everyone can’t eat peacefully.” One of the boys spat.

“Yah. Clean up the mess, including yourself.” Jiyeon said as she threw some tissue on the table before backing away.

With her head down, Cho Hee hurriedly wiped the table clean and threw the rubbish into her dirtied food before disposing it away altogether.

“I will go get cleaned up first.” With her head hanging low, Cho Hee ran off.

Reaching the dorm, she grabbed a set of clean clothes and changed out of it. Looking at the toilet mirror, she frowned.

“Why can’t you do anything right?” she questioned her reflection and a tear escaped.

Throwing the briefly rinsed clothes into a plastic bag and stuffing them into her bag, Cho Hee ran back to the cafeteria. She saw only some members packing up the area already and there were no food left. The extra packets of food were all gone and no food was left for her. She heard her stomach growl softly as she sighed.

“I should have known it.” She thought.

“I am sorry but where did the others we-” Cho Hee was interrupted.

“The music hall.” He said before walking off with the broom.

Cho Hee muttered a soft thank-you which had no reply, as usual. She was used to it anyway. A smile, a thank-you, a sorry or a bow from her was seldom reciprocated. Everything she did was taken for granted, ignored or best detested by others. Sometimes she wanted to just walk off knowing they wouldn’t respond but she knew better than to do so. She didn’t want to become the ‘Disrespectful, annoying and useless fat girl’.  

“Obviously, those who are on duty are in bad mood since they can’t join in the fun.” She attempted to brighten herself.

Climbing up the stairs, Cho Hee could already hear the blasting music that was playing from behind the doors. Pushing the door open slightly, the roaring music filled her ears and all she could see were her group mates dancing their hearts out on the hall floor. It was as if the hall was transformed into a club with all the lightings flashing in all directions. Everyone was jumping with their hands in the air and shaking their bodies to the beats of the music. Joining the crowd, Cho Hee’s bulky form obviously bumped into others with the considerably short distance left between one another. She earned glares from a couple whom she recognized as her juniors despite the dark environment.

Cho Hee spotted a distinct group crowding around at the centre of the dance floor, cheering and screaming away. Curious, Cho Hee moved closer and stole a glance. She saw Hoya who was breakdancing away causing the girls to scream even louder when his shirt slipped a little showing off his abs. She felt her face heat up as her eyes couldn’t leave his performance. Hoya dancing made him look even more charismatic and attractive than ever. All eyes were on him and he was the limelight of the night, as expected. Seeing how the others were amazed, Hoya smirked and continued dancing.

“Move out of the way.” One of the girls said as she shoved Cho Hee who was blocking her view.

“Ahhhh~” She screamed as she fell to the ground.

Everyone dispersed and no one bothered breaking her fall. With a loud thud, she crashed to the ground like an uprooted tree in a storm. Within the next second, everyone burst into laughter as she ended up lying on the ground in an awkward position. Hoya resumed his position and sighed as she spoilt his performance and now everyone’s fullest attention was diverted to Cho Hee. He rolled his eyes and left the hall.

“Stupid fat girl.” He thought as he sat down somewhere near the school pond.

Picking herself up from the ground, Cho Hee suppressed those tears from pouring out and barged her way out of the crowd. She didn’t understand why she was always the embarrassment, the outstanding black spot which stands out for the wrong reason. She felt stupid and lousy. Why was everything going the wrong way even when she tries her best to make everything go smoothly? It was as if even god was against her. With those tears blurring her vision, Cho Hee sat down at a desolated corner and brought her knees to her face. She cried into her knees soundlessly as all the negative thoughts sounded in her mind.

“Why are you so stupid?”

“Why are you such an embarrassment?”

“Why are you crying like a loser alone here?”

“Are you crying?”

Then, Cho Hee realized the last thought was definitely not from her mind. Wiping off those tears quickly, she looked up and saw Hoya standing before her with his hands in his pockets.

“Are you crying?” he repeated his question.

“Ah, no.” She lied as she looked down and away.

He did not reply but instead, he walked till he was beside her and sat down.

“Girls are ugly when they cry so you shouldn’t cry no matter what.” Hoya said.

“Is he comforting me now?” she thought as a shy smile played on her lips.

“Th-Thank you… For comforting me.” Cho Hee tried hard not to stammer.

Hoya looked at Cho Hee suspiciously and kind of guessed that she was blushing with the help of the faint lights illuminating the area.

“Do you like me?” he asked straightforwardly.

“What?! Er-Erm… No. What made you thin-” She was flustered so she began denying readily, saying complete opposites of the answer in her heart.

“Good.” He interrupted.

He then stood up and started walking back in the direction of the music hall.

“Because I won’t like someone like you.”

Cho Hee thought she heard him mutter those words under his breath before leaving. At that moment, those salty liquid flowed down without her knowing.

“Girls are ugly when they cry so you shouldn’t cry no matter what.” Those were his ‘sweet’ words which were etched in her mind.

Unlike dramas where the female characters would say they were feeling so much pain till they thought they were dying, Cho Hee felt nothing. She felt numb and all she managed was to let those tears flow as if they were speaking her heart. She just felt extremely suffocated as the scene which just happened replayed in her mind. All this while, she thought her affection for Hoya was just a little crush. However, now she knew she had liked him much more than she expected. It was funny how everything Cho Hee expected and hoped for turned out otherwise all the time. The thunder roared above her as the gloomy clouds gathered together and the weather seemed to be fitting her mood so well, so ironically.

Author's Note:
WHEEEE~
New update from me ! :D
Did you guys like this chapter? (: I took quite some time typing it up :X
Hope you people enjoyed reading and will comment below ^^
Thank you for reading ~