THE ISSUE

It is a well known fact that Kyori has a seemingly finite number of “followers.”

She enjoys them; she practically bathes in their everlasting attention. Everlasting until she graduates, at least, but she is confident that she’ll accumulate more when she is in college. She is Jung Kyori and the name has a weight behind it. The fact that Kyori understands that she is the girl both genders desire to have or to be is an advantage indeed. In her position, she has learned the uses it has to be a leverage or a disadvantage.

However, she has not always been this static; her persona comes from constant confidence and that kind confidence doesn’t come to you so easily. You're not born with this unnaturally cool persona. Kyori was no exception to the fact and she had done what others did in the circumstance. (Sort of similar to Charles Xavier—a broken man until he gets his pieces back together.)

“I started from the bottom, now look where I am,” she said. Her friends would promptly roll their eyes.

Well, she did have the most awesome tenth birthday party, and when she was thirteen she had her first kiss with the hottest boy in middle school. But that’s not the whole point of this.

The point is Kyori worked hard to be revered infamous Queen of Busan High and all round.

She won’t let it go without a fight.

- - - - - - - -

When Nana murmured the name of the person who held her affections that month, her closest friends were promptly surprised. As they should have been. Nana is nothing if not fickle, particularly with emotions. She hates to admit it as one of her faults, although she prefers to remind herself that a person never has to admit their faults unless they required it. So far, she hasn’t, perhaps until now.

“You still like him?” Seolju asks incredulously. She gives Nana her full attention, instead of engrossing in the philosophy book and listening to her all at once, by looking up to stare at her. “Are you certain?”

Nana pouts, nodding once, and her melting ice cream—vanilla bean from the reliable Feton’s, the only kind that could distract her at the ordeal she was caught in. Well, her internal monologue begins, you did this to yourself ssip-sa-pa.

“The Chinese transferee?” Jinkyung queries with a subsiding snicker. “Nana, Nana, Nana, I specifically told you about his teeth being too yellow or something. Don’t you usually have another guy you like about now? Where’s The List?”

“No! I like Luhan,” Nana asserts. “He’s so considerate, and so, so, so cute! He’s even one of the morning announcers now—no, guys, I get to hear him every morning and it’s wonderful.”

By now, she goes on this admiration-inspired rant that Seolju and Jinkyung have long adopted into their friendship with her. Nana explains all the best qualities of Luhan, the explanation superior to her breakdowns of literature themes in essays. His height, she points out, is ideal for many girls, notably for her. More so, Luhan’s character is something to approve of quite readily, Nana adds, because he helps people without asking for anything in return. All the while, her hands frantically emphasize her points of him in the air.

Jinkyung interrupts to say, “What about INFINITE?”

“I still love INFINITE—all of them. And I still switch my favoritism between members too. Woohyun is always the jokester, my favorite last week and I was sure he was my bias but Sunggyu...”

Seolju allows them a moment. Jinkyung needs the reassuring that Nana remains faithful to the cause—“‘cause it’s the cause to die for,” she once said. That, and she needs to collects all the trivial information she had discovered on those “mindless” searches on the internet. Yahoo was new her friend she had made, in order to ease the desire to know more, whether the source was reliable or not. Often times, the search bar would complete her sentence before she could finish it. (How to—tell if you like a guy; and she ended up clicking that). Out of pure curiosity, Seolju had said—she'd never dare ask that aloud—and afterwards had decided it was useless and utter blasphemy. Nevertheless, the Ten Simple Signs That You Love Him rang in her head since then.

“How long have you liked him now?” Seolju asks, her tone casual, not insistent, despite her inner interest.

“Hmm, well, it’s February now and I really noticed him back in October, so... five months.”

What if it is true, Seolju asks herself, suddenly fascinated at witnessing this conclusion.

“I read somewhere that if you like someone after three months, you don’t consider it to just 'liking' anymore.”

“Huh?”

Jinkyung leans her head back, to say are you for real is this for real and in classic Jung Jinkyung style, laughs.

- - - - - - - -

Youngmi has been keeping many secrets, to say the least.

She had thought, at first, that only her affinity towards boy bands would be hidden. It is an easy task. All of INFINITE's concerts that she could actually attend, she would plan accordingly in a precise manner. When would she arrive? What alibi would she devise to tell others? Would Jinkyung, Eunji, or Nana be there? It’s similar to planning for Busan High's events. Questions to ask, answers to follow, and activities to plan—it is familiar.

Then, Chanyeol—of all the people it could have been—discovered her secret. What followed afterwards was essentially blackmail, but he only asked for tutoring to help his grades. Simple enough, yes, and familiar too, until he asked her to date him. In fact, he told her to meet him at the amusement park on Friday, but had the nerve to never specify what he wanted out of their "relationship." For now, she decides, she'll keep it under wraps as well. Youngmi will interrogate him about it. She'll go along, as long as her reputation is still in tact.

When another secret she must keep is added to the pile, she is surprised.

“A project, sir?” Youngmi asks Mr. Im. “Forgive me for asking, but why plan so early? It’s only early-March and graduation is in June.”

“Things like these take much more time to plan and this,” he slides a paper with an agenda, “is something the principal and senior class teachers want to incorporate into the usual senior class graduation. But you have to keep it under wraps, save for the students that are going to be involved.”

Youngmi nods before skims through the words. At some point, her eyebrows rise with her eyes to meet Mr. Im's.

“You need Wu Yifan and Shim Seolju?”

- - - - - - - -

Luhan wakes up earlier to go to school, walking to the Newspaper Club's room that held two of the several microphones that connected to every speaker in Busan High. The principal has one as well as the main office, both of which were rarely used unless in emergencies. Yet, it’s Busan, a relatively “country bumpkin” place, where things labelled exciting are lacking. Boring is simply a synonym to the customary morning announcements.

“Hey Luhan,” Jia greets. “Do you have your things ready?”

He nods, showing the papers he’s supposed to read off, and seats himself next to the microphone. Ming Jia is the editor of the Newspaper Club, who is also the voice on morning announcements other than him. And although editor isn’t the term that you’d use for a Newspaper Club leader in high school, Jia just about receives the same respect a legitimate one would.

“Good, you’re ready—unlike the previous one,” she mentions as an afterthought. Another member, Sehun, side-eyes Jia warily.

“That’s a good sign Luhan. Means she likes you,” Sehun points out. Jia kicks him, hard enough to pass on message, but not truly hurting him. “Ow!”

“You were asking for it,” she points out casually. “So what’s up with you, China?”

“The usual. This announcement thing, soccer, homework, and this girl.” The last words earn him intrigued stares and knowing smiles. “Who borders as my stalker.”

“Are you talking about Hwang Nana?” Sehun asks.

Luhan leans against the microphone, inadvertently pressing a button that sends a reverb making the entire school perk up. He nods before continuing, not realizing the girl he’s talking about is listening to him as well.

“I don’t understand her,” Luhan says dejectedly, “She’s clingy.”

Nana recognizes his voice instantaneously and shares a glance with Jinkyung. The latter looks to her, questioningly, but Nana can only shrug.

“You can’t exactly call her clingy if you’re not going out with her.” Another voice replies back—one that Nana can’t pinpoint—causing Luhan to groan over the speakers. “She’s just persistent is all.”

“Persistent is an understatement.”

“Ouch man, didn’t think flower boy had it in him.” There is a silent pause before Luhan’s voice reappears as the student body continues to hear their conversation, unbeknownst to the two.

“I mean, I understand she’s trying to be nice. And I’m sure she is a very nice person!” Luhan says, “But Hwang Nana is one of the most annoying people I’ve ever gotten the chance to meet."

“Get off the button!” Jia exclaims, shoving him away, before realizing how vain her attempt was. “Oh no.”

- - - - - - - -

In the cafeteria—the place where most students would hang around before classes start—they’re sitting in silence, the heads of practically the entire student body facing towards Hwang Nana. Either in pity, or just in awe.

That’s when the entire cafeteria erupts in laughter. ‘I guess not every boy likes her.’ ‘Wasn’t that her latest crush?’ ‘She had it coming anyway.’

Nana's face flushes—her entire body flushes with the scarlet color of embarrassment, confusion—and she stands with Seolju and Jinkyung, unable to truly process it all. It is then that her usually one-track mind splits at the crossroads and she doesn’t know if she should choose her heart or her head.

For now, she chooses away, away, away.

- - - - - - - -

Kris rests his chin on his hand, an expression of mild interest painted on his face once the announcement ended. Unlike the rest of his peers, he was sitting in the empty student council room, save for Youngmi.

“That is certainly something to think about,” he comments, imagining the reactions of those around Nana. Somewhere, he felt pity for the girl. It isn’t as though he knew her well enough to empathize with her, but to be told they were annoying, not to themselves, but to the entire school, should be hugely embarrassing to anyone.

“That was Luhan, wasn’t it?” Youngmi asks.

Kris nodded noncommittally. “Prez, who are we even waiting for?”

Youngmi stares at Kris with her answer written over her face once Seolju arrives.

“Youngmi, I was with Nana and—” Seolju’s tone turns curt at the sight of Kris. “I forgot, sorry if I’m late.”

“It’s fine,” Youngmi replies. “We have a lot to talk about anyways. Just sit down. Let me drop the bomb on you first: you guys are doing a project—together.”

Now that is a weighted sentence.

“On what?” Seolju asks, frazzled from what has happened. First, Nana. Now, she has to deal with Kris. “For how long?”

“Until the year ends, pretty much,” Youngmi supplies. She shifts in her seat. She is gauging a reaction from both of them, and although she expects little of it, she knows the wheels are turning in their heads. Both are analytical people, they’re going to calculate.

“What’s this project about?” Kris finally speaks up. “And why with her?”

Seolju shoots him a warning glance. She has to bite her cheek to not retort.

“Uh, well, you both are tied for having the highest grades in school. It’s around this time that they choose who are the valedictorians and since you both show no intention of, you know, slipping from your grades, they chose you two. They’ve got this idea that you both represent Busan High in the best way possible so obviously they believe you should help plan the most important events of senior year. Aside from coming up with speeches, you’re also going to plan the senior homecoming and the festival, together. The student council will help you two in setting it up along with volunteers, but the planning, theme—all on you guys.”

Seolju leans back in her chair, processing all this information in.

“Until the end of the year?” she asks.

“Unfortunately,” Kris mutters. Seolju merely ignores this one.

Youngmi looks at the two pitifully. “I mean, you could not do it, but it's implied that you should do it.”

Kris sighs. “So we haven’t got a choice, quite frankly.”

- - - - - - - -

“You see those two guys over there?” Jongin points out to Kyungsoo, while waiting in the lunch lines. He’s keeping his voice low, despite the typical noise of the cafeteria.

“What about them?” Kyungsoo replies. He doesn’t look the least bit interested, instead focusing on the food waiting for them. However, he still listens and Jongin is aware of that.

“They’ve been following me around the whole day and they’re Kyori’s fanboys.”

Kyungsoo considers his statement. “Maybe they’re turning into yours.”

Jongin leers at his companion. “I’m saying that maybe she told them to follow me around. She’s like religion to them.”

“You’re not aware of the fact that your fangirls do the same thing?” He seats himself at an empty table with Jongin sitting across from him. “If you’re going to keep up with this, rumors have been going around that you and her starting the next Civil War. This hasn’t happened in Busan High since 1973.”

Jongin arches an eyebrow, looking past his friend’s shoulder, and staring at Kyori curiously. The girl sits with the rest of her group, laughing at something he isn’t a part of.

“That might be the case, Kyungsoo. History might repeat itself.”

AUTHOR NOTES: WE'RE BACK ON TRACK AND HELLA LATE