"Sulli still has the guts to go to school."

"Maybe she has other motives?"

"She must have thought that if she doesn't come, we'd gossip about her."

"Is she still after us?"

"How scary!"

Krystal had just opened the door and immediately, all these whispers were heard by her, invading her thoughts as her eyes narrowed down to where it was all about -- in the middle of the classrom where Sulli was sitting down quietly and peacefully on her desk, as if nothing were happening, with her posture straight and well, but her head was slightly bowed down as she looked at her hands that were on the table, with furrowed eyebrows.

Krystal's eyes then turned into the ones with determination and she quickly put her bag on her desk as soon as she reached it and afterwards, she approahced Sulli. "Choi Sulli." she said, which made Sulli look up at her with nothing but a blank expression of indifference and apathy "For tomorrow's competition, please direct our classmates for me." she continued

There was a hint of surprise and at the same time, suspicion in Sulli's face as she furrowed her eyebrows and slightly glared at the young Jung with caution.

Krystal noticed the slight change of Sulli's facial expression but nonetheless, she continued "Thanks to you, the whole class was able to be together as one for the chorale contest."

"Krystal!" Jiyoung suddenly exclaimed with wide eyes, making Krystal turn to look at her "You shouldn't let her do it for her own gain! She did get us together last time, but she used us as well for her own benefit!" she insisted, making most of the people in the classroom nod their heads in agreement

"There is no one in here who would want a girl like her to direct us!" a guy suddenly exclaimed from the back "You don't want it either right Krystal?!"

All throughout the room, faint whispers and murmurs were heard. Though what the topics of the conversations were about were unknown to due to the sound not being clear, it was pretty obvious that they were whispering about Sulli for the fact that their eyes were fixiated on her.

"How ridiculous." Sulli finally muttured bitterly but her eyes didn't move in the slightest "Do you think that rebelling is cool?" she slowly said, shortly letting out a bitter chuckle afterwards

Jiyoung furrowed her eyesbrows in anger and clenched her fists. "Sulli, you--" but before she was able to say anything nasty, she was immediately cut off

"I'll do it anyway even if you don't say anything Krystal." Sulli continued as a smile started to form on her pretty face when she lifted up her head to face the young Jung that was standing right in front of her, trying her best to ignore the gossip about her around her, she continued "I don't really know anything about a boycott but everyone else can please go ahead and skip. I'll show them a personality wherein I'm courageous and that I'm fighting by myself." her tone was slightly provoking, which she purposely did, however Krystal was unfazed, and then she continued, standing up from her seat "If I say that, would it be easy for you guys to skip?"

Jiyoung clenched her fists in anger as she gritted her teeth upon hearing Sulli's words. "We're not skipping, we're boycotting!!" she defended as she brought up her hand and she was about to slap Sulli, hard, on the face, but Krystal quickly stopped her by grabbing her hand, making Jiyoung gasp in surprise as she turned to look at our young heroine "Krystal!"

"You can't boycott it." Krystal said nonchalantly

Jiyoung could have sworn that her dropped jaw would have reached the floor of the room. "Ya! If you do that, you're going to become the final boss, you understand that right?"

Krystal tilted her head in confusion "Final boss?"

"The toughest bad guy!" Jiyoung replied

"Final boss...." Krystal said, slowly shaking her head as she brought up her hand to her chin "I actually like the sound of that name."

"Huh?!" Jiyoung gasped in astonishment "Are you stupid?!"

"It's fine if I am." Krystal quickly replied "But I can only see being absent as the same as running away. It won't show the world anything about our true intentions. If we don't boldly openly stand ourselves up to the public, no one will seriously watch or listen to us. Even if it's embarrassing or uncool, it's always better to say it yourself than to rely on somebody else to do it for you." she said in determination

And yet again, whispers were heard around the room about what Krystal had just said. It definitely made a lot of sense come to think of it. After all, it would especially look weird and dumb if the whole class wasn't going to do anything about the situation afterwards.

Finally, a girl stepped up and walked closer to the young Jung and said "We understand. We won't be absent on the event."

Then another girl stepped up afterwards with a cheerful and determined smile plastered onto her face. "If we stand properly on stage and show our faces but not sing, that won't be running away, but it would be a sign of protesting right?" she suggested, cocking her head side to side to see the reactions of her classmates

After a few moments of silenece, another guy stepped up with his head held up high and said "Lee Jieun said before, that you say everything straightforwardly, and that you don't hide anything. If that's the case, then I'll do it too! I'll show that I can boldly say that I won't sing to the public. I'll assert that we're right!"

Soon enough, most of the heads in the classroom were all nodding in agreement and determination. They had fully thought that they had just thought of an idea so wonderful, much better than their original plan to not participate. Most of them were already excited for what was going to happen in the event.

"You're right!"

"Yeah, I'm in favor too!"

"Most of us seem to agree to this!"

"So it's decided, I bet that Mr. Choi will cry!"

"And the TV guys will also be upset!"

And soon enough, everyone was exclaiming such words of the same meaning in joy, Krystal, however, frowned at the sight of her classmates. This was not the reaction that she wanted, nor expected "I'm going to sing." she simply said, making the attention of her classmates shift to her, with their facial expressions showing pure confusion and astonishment

After a few moments of silence, they all finally spoke up almost all in the same time.

"What?! Why won't you understand?"

"Yeah, everyone liked the plan."

"Wouldn't it be fine if we sing together?" Krystal asked in all honesty, not even knowing in the first place on why her classmates would even think of doing such a thing

"Krystal, you're surprisingly boring. You just want to do what the teachers tell you to do." a guy exclaimed, rolling his eyes at what seemed to him, was pathetic

Krystal both of her eyes in disbelief, tilting her head a bit to the left "You're the guys who are fussing over such thing. You guys just like the word 'boycott' too much. You guys are easily affected by things." she said, which yet again, silenced the whole classroom.

Finally after all the commotion, Krystal then turned to Sulli when she noticed that she was walking away with her bag on her shoulder as she started to walk away, so the young Jung quickly ran after her and grabbed her arm. "Wait!" she pleaded but Sulli stubbornly shook her head in pure annoyance, wanting to get out of the classroom as soon as possible, however Krystal still didn't give up and as Sulli continued to shake her arm off, her bag that was on it fell and all the contents that were inside fell out all at the same time

"N-no...." Sulli muttured nervously

Krystal observed what had fallen out. She tilted her head in confusion once she realized what they were. "Cough drops?" she exclaimed in disbelief "What are you doing with those?" she asked as she look at Sulli

But Sulli didn't answer. Instead, tears slowly started to form on her eyes and she quickly ran away from the classroom. Krystal was about to chase after her but she stopped in her tracks when she realized that indeed, Sulli really needed some time for herself. She slowly walked back to the silent classroom and approached the candies.

Slowly, she kneeled down, and picked one of them up as she observed it some more. "Look guys, Sulli brought this candy, and she wrote something on each piece on the wrapping." she said, making the attention of the people shift to the candies "The names written on here.....this must be everyone in our classroom."

"That...." Suzy suddenly muttured "....I heard that they were used to make good charms for people in different schools.....somehow, people say that they can make your voices sound better....."

The whole classroom was in confusion. Why would Sulli want to make good charms for them? Could it be that it was yet again, another trick from her? The answer to that was unknown, except for the person that was the only one bowing down to look at the candies

"She....she did it for us...." Krystal finally muttured as she slowly stood up and turned to face her classmates with a sympathetic look on her face ".....she really wanted to make peace with everyone.....but she was too afraid of what you all might say....." she said as she looked down again and spotted a candy with the name "Jung Krystal" on it.

Our young heroine sighed in dismay, slowly closing her eyes in the process ".....there was even one for me.....she really did want to sing with everyone."

"Ah, Krystal, did you find Sulli?" Jieun asked

Krystal pouted. "No, I couldn't." she said, worry clearly evident in the tone of her voice

Some of the people in the classroom were already looking for Sulli, Jiyoung included, due to everything that Krystal had said earlier, so they slightly felt guilty of what they had done so far. They criticized Sulli, even if she really wanted all of it to stop, but sadly, they didn't realize that, not until they heard Krystal's words earlier, and now, as they searched for her, they couldn't find her.

"We've been looking for her all morning but we haven't seen her at all." Jieun said, panting as she tried to catch her breath from running around

"Her phone is turned off too." one of them remarked

Most of them were in the hallways right now and after going to the school auditorium, Suzy quickly arrived with news. "We have to hurry because our class's turn is coming up soon." she said, shaking her head in disappointment "This whole thing is getting intense, what are we even going to do?"

Silence engulfed their surroundings. All of the heads present were starting to feel very nervous, Krystal included, maybe due to the fact that Sulli was nowhere to be seen and that they were coming up next. They sure dreaded the possibility of going by the school's plans though, but they didn't really have a choice.

After a long moment of silence, Krystal finally broke the ice. "There's still time." she said, making all the heads turn to her as she stared at them in determination "She definitely had something to show to everyone, especially with all these candies that she wrote on hand. We'll keep on searching for her until--" but the young Jung immediately stopped talking when she noticed something at the corner of her eye

There was Choi Sulli, standing outside, clearly seen due to the transparent glass windows. Because all of them were in the first floor of the school, they were able to chase after her outside quickly, reaching her.

"SULLI!" Krystal shouted as she continued to run after her "It's almost time! No one else is going to lead all of us but you right?!" she exclaimed in the same loud tone which made Sulli's feet finally stop from going and further

As Krystal had finally reached her, only a few feet away from her, she came to a halt. "Sulli.....everyone is waiting."

"Why would anyone want to sing with me?" Sulli simply replied "They're the ones that made me look bad. I don't want them to stain me any more than they already have."

Jiyoung felt a prick on her heart. She quickly walked closer until she was already standing slightly in front of Krystal. "Th-that's what you have to say...?!" her tone was slighly unstable as she bowed her head "Look right at me and say it! It's because you won't have to hear what we have to say, that's why you don't w-want t-to do it.....r-right?! Everyone already knows on how hard you worked on those candies!"

Krystal stared at Sulli's back, hopefully waiting for something better to happen next.

"Say something Sulli!" Jiyoung continued but this time, in a louder tone "Don't just stand there, say something!"

"It's okay to be sad." Krystal spoke up but with a soft and sympathetic tone "Don't hold back Sulli. Cry if you want to."

Silence finally surrounded them as all of the attention of the people present was turned to Krystal.

Krystal sighed. "Choi Sulli, you're a sentimental person by nature. Because you are like that, you can easily show your smile or our tears to anyone around you. If you cry in this sort of situation, people might think that you're scheming something again. It's also quite possible that you're faking it just to garner some sympathy and pity. If that's the case then just deal with it and make sure that it can never happen again." she paused before contiuing as she gave an even softer look "Just don't let them defile your tears. Your tears are beautiful and it's perfectly fine to express your emotions, so make sure that you properly show them to everyone." she smiled "Turn around now, no one will take your candy." she said, slowly reaching out her arm

After a moment of silence, Sulli finally spoke. "N-no one.....will take anything away....from me...?" she said, but with a trembling voice very different from before and in a few seconds, the students started to her soft whimps and sobs "But....I'm diry.....I-I don't w-want anyone to s-see me like th-this..."

Jiyoung then quickly ran after Sulli and hugged her from behind as Sulli continued to cry and to cry.

Although I perfectly know that not everyone can exactly get alone, I still want to make it happen.

And in that blessed moment, strangely enough, I felt that everyone was connected in the same circle.

"I'll be the conductor?" Krystal asked in pure surprise, raising an eyebrow

Sulli nodded. "Yes.....you were the leader to start with....I was just a temporary replacement anyway......." she chuckled softly "....I understand that the conductor's stand....is where you have to stand and you alone, it isn't where I should be and it isn't where I want to be." she smiled as she turned around, slowly dragging her feet away

"Sulli--" Krystal exclaimed but was quickly cut off

"I'll give you one more piece of advice Jung Krystal." Sulli said, stopping in her tracks "As a conductor, what you need is.....likability." she finally said, before walking away out of the hallways, leaving a confused Jung Krystal

Likability? the young Jung thought in confusion That's pretty much what I don't have....if I need it to be the conductor then I've definitely got to do something.....

Her thoughts were filled with confusion, trying to think of good and useful ways of improving herself in her situation as she started to walk down the hallways, on her way to the auditorium. Earlier, Sulli had called her to be alone with her down the hallways. All throughout their conversation, Sulli had only asked if Krystal could be the new conductor.

What could it be? she mentally asked herself as she held the railing of the stairs with her right hand The students are probably at the auditorium by now. I've got to hurry. she thought as she started to walk up the stairs

I guess I understand what Choi Sulli is saying, musical skill is important.

However, what is more important is feeling.

We cannot possibly start unless we trust each other and have faith in each other than we can do it together.

If they don't trust me then....

Krystal's thoughts were interrupted when huge amounts of black ink was dropped on her from above. She immediately stopped midway at the staircase and stood completely still, as she examined herself below, afterwards hearing a soft chuckle coming from above.

Unknown to her, it was a male teacher who held the name of Mr. Choi who had done the shameless act to her.

"Hey, what happened to Ms. Jung?! The TV crew is already here and we're about to start!" Mr. Choi exclaimed to his studnets

Everyone was at the auditorium now that was filled with fine and fancy decorations. There were almost a thousand seats lined up where people were seated on and Krystal's classmates were already backstage, nervously preparing for their performance. Krystal, however, was nowhere to be seen.

"So she ran away huh?" Mr. Choi scoffed, rolling his eyes "Well, I thought this would happen. This ensemble is a huge event. It's too bad that she wasn't the type to get serious." he said, chuckling as she shook his head

"It's got nothing to do with you songsaeng-nim." Suzy blurted from behind, emphasizing the last word that she said in mockery

Mr. Choi gasped. "M-Ms. Bae, you--"

"Krystal is definitely going to come you idiot!" Jiyoung blurted, smirking in victory which made Mr. Choi even more angry than he already was

He clenched his fists together and faced his students with angry eyes. "I'm encouraging you guys! Things have been sorted out so that nothing will go wrong if you do it without Jung Krystal!" he exclaimed in a louder tone

"What do you mean by that?" a voice was heard from the side

As soon as they heard that voice, all of them quickly turned their heads to where it came from, perfectly knowing who had said it. They were surprised, however, when they saw Krystal's uniform drenched in black ink, along with her long brown hair that was also drenched and with the black spots that was perfectly visible on her face. They all gasped in astonishment.

Jieun was the first to say something afterwards, finally recovering herself from the shock. "Krystal, what happened to you?!" she exclaimed in worry as she quickly ran to Krystal "You're all in black!"

"The ink fell on me." Krystal said as if it were nothing

"Fell onto you?!" Suzy gasped as she too quickly approached her friend

"Well, most likely, somebody in this class did it." Mr. Choi sighed from behind which quickly made Krystal turn to look at him "You were being bullied weren't you?" he asked sternly, crossing his arms "I'm pretty sure that Ms. Kang was the one who started it right?"

"Hey, I--" Jiyoung protested, trying to defend herself but Mr. Choi quickly cut her off

"Isn't Ms. Kang always the one leader fully responsible for what might happen to you?" he continued in the same calm tone "In the same sense, all the females in class are suspects. The males however are just noisy, useless idiotic boys that they are." he smirked as he turned to face Jieun "Or how about Ms. Lee? Making such threatening facial expressions nowadays that you didn't even used to have, when you would always smile, that is, until Krystal came here."

Jieun crossed her arms and glared at Mr. Choi.

"Or unexpectedly, it could be Ms. Bae." he smirked, turning to look at Suzy "She's a big fake to everyone, pretending to be happy and helpful all the time, getting along with everyone. Being very popular and all that throughout the school, she could have felt threatened by your sudden arrival. After all, you are quite the candidate for being the most popular in this whole school Ms. Jung, especially with your looks."

Suzy widened her eyes in disbelief. She was about to say something but Mr. Choi continued to speak.

"But definitely, the number one suspect is Ms. Choi." he chuckled, turning to face Sulli "What was she doing, always sticking and clinging onto me, it was so annoying."

Sulli shivered.

Nothing was heard and after a moment of silence, Mr. Choi looked at his whole class. "All of you are dirty demons under your pathetic masks." he laughed "What you guys just did is about to be revealed in front of the cameras. Unfortunately, I am a teacher of this very prestigious school and I have a duty to protect Gwangju High School's students. It would be much better if Ms. Jung, a symbol of bullying, isn't seen." he said, turning to look at Krystal with a victorious smirk plastered onto his face "If you cannot rub out the stains, then all you can do is hide them."

Krystal furrowed her eyebrows and for a moment there, she gritted her teeth but then spoke "I don't think that it was someone from this class who did it." she paused for a moment before continuing, obseving her classmates who all had their heads bowed down "There isn't really one person in my class who would do such a mean and dirty thing in secret anymore."

"Anymore?!" Mr. Choi stammered "So this means that there was someone who was like that before?! That's quite the terrible thing to say to my students Ms. Jung." he then paused as he brought his right hand up to his chin "Ahhh.....I see." he slowly nodded his head "You were the one who covered yourself in ink! Pretending to be the victim in front of the cameras, most likely, you intended to blame this class!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Krystal exclaimed, anger evident in the tone of her voice "Who would want to blame their friends for such a thing?"

"Stop it already!" a voice was heard from behind

The attention of the whole class then turned to the owner of the voice, it was none other than their classmate, Park Luna's. The young brunette was already feeling quite hysterical of everything that was happening, with Mr. Choi's accusations, not to mention the fact about Krystal's appearance.

Krystal turned to face Luna with an astonished expression. It only took Luna a few seconds of silence before she was able to speak again. "D-Don't....don't sing Krystal...." she said with a sad expression clearly writte on her face "....we'll apologize for everything that has happened to you so far...."

Jiyoung's eyes widened. "Why?! Was it you who spilled the ink on her?!" she asked in a hysterical tone

"That's not it!!" Luna quickly denied, turning to face Jiyoung with the same sad expression "....it's just that if people hear about what happened, we get into nothing but trouble! Krystal wasn't even a part of us to begin with so I guess it doesn't really matter whether she takes part or not." she said, but this time, in a lower voice

Jiyoung raised an eyebrow as she brought her index finger up to point at Luna. "Hey, are you really that cruel?"

"Stop it Jiyoung!" another girl exclaimed from the back, trying to defend Luna, who still had her head bowed down in guilt "You're the one who hated Jung Krystal the most and now you're pretending as if nothing happened, defending her?" she exclaimed in an obvious angry tone

With the same tone, Jiyoung replied "Well what's wrong with changing my mind?!" she hissed "....and right now is definitely not the right time to be giving our own personal opinions about that matter!"

"You will get what you deserve Kang Jiyoung you hypocrite!" another girl exclaimed from the back

"Don't pretend now, even you were annoyed by Krystal all the time!" another girl exclaimed

Then another guy stepped up to stop the scene. "That's enough girls! We're in the middle of--"

But he was quickly cut off by another girl who glared at him in annoyance. "At least we're not deceitful like you guys are! Aren't the guys also guilty for thinking it was fun to stirr things up?!"

And soon enough, most of the students in Krystal's class were already arguing with each other -- boys and girls. After hearing the remark of a girl earlier, the boys quickly joined in the argument to defend themselves but of course, their defenses were of no use as the girls started to argue with one another, going back to Jiyoung's attitude, then from time to time, blaming all of the class's problems on the guys while the guys did the same to the girls.

Krystal just stood there, looking at the pitiful sight. She was clearly upset, as her facial expression showed it. It was one of those times when she honestly didn't know what to do. She knew that her class's turn was coming up in just a few minutes, but here they were, arguing over so many things.

Suzy turned to look at her with a sympathetic expression. "Are you okay Krystal?"

As Krystal was about to reply back in all honesty about what she really felt, Mr. Choi's next words stopped her from doing so when he approached her. With a confident smirk, he said "Tell the audience that when you came to this wonderful school saved your personality and it was most especially thanks to your teacher."

"Hey, that's not fair!" Jieun exclaimed in disblief. She definitely did not like where this was going and Mr. Choi's next words put her in an even more astonished state.

"If you do that, I'll take responsibility for the ink being spilled on you." he continued with the same tone and facial expression ".....that I dropped it by accident. That will make the others calm down too, and they won't make such a fuss over singing...." he said, cocking his head to the arguing bunch just a few feet away from them before putting his gaze back to Krystal who now had her head bowed down "....you really do expose the ugly side of a person's personality. They weren't even such cruel people to begin with. Ms. Jung, it is only reasonable that you take responsibility." he said, as he walked closer to the curtain of the stage

"Next is class 2-A. Please get ready." the speaker said

Mr. Choi smiled. "Now Ms. Jung, is there really anything else that you can do in this situation?"

Suzy gritted her teeth as she looked at Krystal with a worried stare. "You don't have to go Krystal! None of what he's saying even makes sense!"

Jieun quickly nodded in agreement as she grabbed Krystal's arm. "Yeah, Suzy's right Krystal! This stupid thing doesn't matter anymore if it's all just going to be a lie anyway!"

Nodding her head after hearing Jieun's and Suzy's words, Krystal then turned her head to face her classmates who were still arguing. As a matter of fact, if she hadn't done the action sooner, her male classmates probably would have been beating the crap out of each other already. "Everyone! I'll be waiting!" she exclaimed with an indifferent facial expression which immediately made all of them stop what they were doing as they turned to look at her in a surprised expression

But Krystal only stared at them, with the lights of the stage reaching her, hitting her face, as she turned around and walked to the stage.

"What is she wearing?"

"Her clothes have so much black in it!"

"And look carefully, her face is also dirty."

"Like it got dirty because she was being bullied...."

The same kind of whispers with the same kind of meaning were heard all around the auditorium as soon as the young Jung showed up in the middle of the stage. Unsurprisingly, she just stood there, with her arms crossed and her head held up high, along with the very intimidating air around her.

"It's not dirty." she announced in a loud tone, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear "It's just a costume." she said, raising an eyebrow at the audience, surprising them even more

Mr. Choi, however, was the most shocked out of them all but at the same time, he was more furious than he was shocked. "What the hell is that brat talking about?! That's not what she was supposed to be doing!!" he exclaimed in frustration

"Now, let me explain the song that my class is going to sing for you." Krystal continued in the same tone but this time, with more excitement into it as she smiled ".....the song was written by a priest who regretted his sins and as a result, he wrote it to repent for them." she said, now catching the attention of the audience "....he was a slave trader and kept a straight face even if he hurt so many people." she continued ".....he wasn't really aware that he was bad and he didn't realize his sins. To put it this way, he was like a dark demon."

A loud 'oooooo' was heard in the audience as they listented intently.

"However one day, the ship that he was in encountered a huge storm and because he didn't want to die, he prayed for help. Then by some miracle, he was saved." she said, pausing for a few moments as she examined herself "....h-he looked at his worn out self.....and it was the first time that he had realized the pain of the people that he had hurt.....at least that's what I think...." she said but this time, in a lower voice afterwards letting out a bitter chuckle "....h-he realized....he realized how dirty he had become.....and from that day on, he decided to change.....and before long....he became a priest......"

After a moment has passed, Krystal looked at the stick that she was holding on her right hand. Slowly, she lifted it up and turned to look at all of her classmates who were backstage looking at her with surprised faces. Slowly but smoothly, she gave them a soft and sincere smile. "Let's sing....!" she loudly exclaimed as she started to sing the first notes of the song

Her classmates however just stood there, staring at the young Jung as she sang, with wide eyes. It didn't seem as if they were going to approach Krystal and because of this, her heart sank as her smile faltered. She had experienced these sort of disappointments so many times before.

However, this time, she was definitely not going to give up. Slowly, she turned to face he audience as she continued to sing her heart out.

I thought that I had become better. I thought that I had finally changed.

But it's no use at all. It's just no use.

However, even if it's like this, I'm definitely not going to run away anymore. I'll face my fears, disappointments and failures earnestly.

Because I know for sure that they are there to improve me as a person.

And after a few more moments of singing, the young Jung finally stopped with her head held up high.

I.....I sang the whole piece.....how ironic that it was even meant to be an ensemble.....but I guess I could never have that anyway since I'm alone....

But her thoughts were suddenly interrupted when she felt someone hug her from behind. She was startled by the sudden action and she quickly turned her head, noticing black hair on her shoulder. As she observed the person behind her some more, she widened her eyes when she realized that it was none other than Lee Jieun.

She was about to speak but then Jieun stopped her from doing so by speaking first "......sorry....hearing your singing.....it not only captivated me.....it captivated all of us......'

And then the young Jung felt someone else pat her shoulder. She looked to her right and saw Suzy with a wide smile on her face. ".......going out there and approaching you, joining you, it all seemed like such a waste to interrupt you and spoil your singing......" she said in a low tone

Krystal's eyes widened some more as she turned to look at her left. There, she noticed all of her classmates looking at her with happy and proud faces as some of them nodded to her in approval. It was not long after she heard the audience's hands clapping and cheering, giving a standing ovation. Afterwards, she looked back at her classmates but all of them were already running to approach her with wide smiles.

"Krystal!! Jjang!!"

"You did amazing!"

"You were pretty confident, well, you always are anyway!"

Krystal's facial expression deeply softened. "B-but....but I...I--"

"We understand. But don't worry, we have all always believed that we would sing together." one quickly spoke up

"Hey, I've got an idea! Let's sing together in the classroom sometime in the near future!"

It was then that Krystal suddenly did what she had never done in years.

To cry tears of joy.

Then I'd be happy with just that.....

But it seems to me that that happy feeling......was also felt by everyone else.

I had finally reached them.

And I thank them for reaching their arms out for me to hold onto.

.