Date:  November 14                   

There's a Winter talent show coming up next month. Baekhyun really wanted to join in, and drag the rest of us into it with him, but unsurprisingly, we all are pretty reluctant to do so. It turns out he plays the piano and can sing. He wants to do a band type thing with the rest of us. He got Jongin into it pretty quickly (the kid has performance and dance in his blood), and soon enough, the two of them were finding every single opportunity possible to bug the rest of us to join. I know Junmyeon and Sehun both flat out said no, but Jongin has been attacking like Sehun like crazy (easily done as they're in the same year and have the same classes). Junmyeon has been getting it easy, since he's older. He started blocking KakaoTalk conversations from Jongin and Baekhyun. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo and I had been mostly been getting bugged by Baekhyun. Kyungsoo was already on the edge, about to fall into their ship, I know. I've heard Kyungsoo sing a few times and he sings very well. He's just shy about it when it comes to singing in public. He doesn't even sing much at noraebang. But I know Baekhyun can be very persuasive. He got Kyungsoo in...by doing a duet with him.

"He did what?"

"He pulled me into the music room and locked the door," Kyungsoo shrugged.

"He LOCKED the door?!" I sputtered.

"He shoved me in and then stood at the door with his back to it. Then said he would prove to me it was a good idea."

"So then..."

"He sang. He started singing. And wow. I was pretty blown away. His voice is something, alright."

"He got you to join by singing? Wow."

"Well...he got me to sing with him."

"HE GOT YOU TO SING?"

"...ya...and it was amazing. I felt fantastic," Kyungsoo had a big grin on his face then, "Our voices work together really well...after we finished, he told me that he would play the piano too and we could do the same thing all the time. We would practice, and we would get to show everyone how musically talented we were. He was so descriptive about the feeling he gets while on stage...I don't know. He was just really persuasive. So I'm in."

"I can't believe he got you to agree."

"You should join in too. It'll be great!"

To be honest, I was on the edge too. Not because I wanted to perform, but performing meant practice would be needed, and practice meant seeing Baekhyun a lot...plus I would get to hear him sing all the time! I wanted to hear him sing. The way Kyungsoo made it sound...Baekhyun might as well have had an angel's voice. But I savoured the extra attention from Baekhyun. I enjoyed him hovering around me like a bee all the time trying to persuade me...so I kept up the act. I can't deny I really like spending time with him...those emotions I've been feeling lately have just been getting stronger. Sometimes I wonder if anyone else can notice me reacting to everything Baekhyun does like some lovesick puppy. I actually look forward to school nowadays because of him. I pay more attention in class now too, since I decided I wanted to get into Seoul National. I know at least that part, Kyungsoo and my family have noticed. My mom asked if I was okay because she spotted me actually sitting at my desk reading one of my textbooks last week. That proceeded to bring my entire family standing outside my bedroom door, peering in like I was some kind of animal at a zoo.

"Does he have a fever?" One of my sisters whispered audibly

"Are you sure that's a textbook? Maybe he's just using it as a coverup and actually has a o magazine hiding behind it," My other sister responded.

"Ewwwww!"

"Is he actually...studying???" My dad questioned.

"I can hear you guys, you know," I shouted back at them, "Now scram, you guys are distracting me!"

They spent supper teasing me. I can't do anything right for them, can I? If I don't study, they say I'm lazy. If I do, they say I'm turning into a nerd. Jeez.

Anyway, three days ago I ended up agreeing to join in for the talent show. Finally gave up my little act. The conversation basically went like this:

"I have no talents," I told Baekhyun as he tried to persuade me for the nth time.

"I'm sure you do. Don't even lie. I remember seeing that guitar sitting in your room. And Kyungsoo said you play the drums too!"

"I ."

"I highly doubt that."

"I'm tone deaf."

"Suuuuuuuuure you are."

"I'm shy."

"I doubt that even more! Come on Yeol, it'll be fun!"

"I don't consider being on stage being judged by crowds of people as fun, thanks."

"It's a group of friends getting to spend lots of time together!"

"We can do that outside of the talent show."

"Don't you want to see me sing and play piano?"

"I'll come to the talent show."

"Aw come on! Don't be a party pooper. What will it take to get you to join us? Name it and I'll do it."

I paused then and just looked at him. He had his pouty lips thing going on and I practically wanted to smack him in the head so he would stop doing that. Because it was sort of adorable. OK, because it was straight up adorable. And because I sort of wanted to kiss those lips. I could completely take advantage of this situation since he was asking what I wanted in trade. But what should I say? I didn't want to sound creepy and scare him off by asking for something ludicrous to fulfill my own desires. So I made up my mind.

"Give me a pass. A pass to ask for something from you in the future, and I'll join."

"You're not going to ask me to kill someone, right..."

"God, no!"

"It has to be reasonable!"

"Yes, yes, it will be."

"Alright, fine. Deal. You're in!!!" He suddenly ran out of the bus line and back toward the school.

"YOUR BUS, BAEK! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?!

"SIGNING US UP! I'LL SMS YOU AFTER!"

Sure enough, he sent a group message with KakaoTalk to Jongin, Kyungsoo and I.

We're signed up! We don't have much time so we need to get started as soon as possible. I booked the school music room for tomorrow after school so we can have our first practice. We'll also have to assess our level, what we'll be performing, etc.  So be there or be square (Literally. I will smash you into a brick wall and scoop your remains into cardboard box to ship to Timbuktu if you don't show up.)

Passive aggressive much...I didn't see that side of Baekhyun often. Clearly he was really into this. Well either way, he doesn't have to threaten me to get me to go. I can't wait.

A/N: I'm back! =D Finished finals yesterday afternoon and had a fun night out with a friend that came from out of town~ I have the week off before I start work so I'll try to update more this week to make up for my absence these few weeks. This chapter is sort of short but I'll update tomorrow for the practice. Oh, and hello to new subscribers~