"K-Kim Ryeowook?" you blink surprisedly. "You're Jasmine?"

"N-n-neh... that is correct," he stammers.

"I didn't know you could write so well!" you exclaim.

"R-really? It was good?"

"Why do you think we'd ask you to meet up if we didn't choose your song?" you smile.

He just looks down at his feet and lets out a little smile. He insecurely fiddles with his fingers.

"So... what did you call me here for?" he asks, keeping his eyes down.

"Uh, because we love your composition and we want to use it in the inter-school band competition!"

He stays silent.

Usually, this guy is so loud and annoying. ._. This is so out of character.

"Do you write a lot?" you ask.

"Neh... but people would say that my songs , so I stopped for a time..." he looks up. "But I kept on writing in secret... Just... not showing it to anyone... because they'll just laugh at it. Like they always did."

"Don't say that, Ryeowook. You've gotten SO MUCH BETTER at it now."

"You're probably just saying that so I'd feel better..."

"NO, I'm not!" This guy is just SOOOO INSECURE it kills me. -_- So many insecure people in this school. God. "If your song , we'd have tossed it in the trash bin like all the other CD's we got that weren't any good."

"Oh... okay..."

"And honestly, I didn't really like you before because you were a nosy annoying little squeaker who was always the president's tail. So I MEANT that compliment. Chill."

Ryeowook sighs and sits down on the ledge beside you He takes off his glasses. "Sorry. I'm just not used to being praised. That's the reason why I joined the student council. So that I could prove to people that I was worth something--anything."

...

"I never knew... I'm sorry for getting the wrong impression about you," you say.

"It's okay, Haneul," he smiles. "I used to think you were a nasty troublemaker but at least not as bad as Cho Kyuhyun in that department..."

Gulp. I don't really want to hear that name right now...

"But talking to you like this..." he continues. "You seem like a really swell guy." And he smiles.

He's kind of like a kid trying to wear his dad's big shoes. Poor thing. Yet quite adorable. xD I think his voice might even be higher than mine. o_O Oh, the weird things I observe.

"Well, thank you and I'm glad you think so," you reply cheerfully. "Anyway, let's get down to business."

"To defeat the huns..." Ryeowook sings softly.

You laugh out loud. "You have a good voice. Why don't you want to sing your own song?"

"I think that someone else with a lower voice would be able to bring out the emotion in the song more. I don't just write for me to sing. I write to tell stories, and possibly share my soul in this little way."

"... You... have a beautiful mind, Kim Ryeowook."

You see him blush a little.

Aw... :D

"ANYWAY, going back to... our business," you chuckle. "We almost have a full band. We just lack a vocalist and, well, now we lack a drummer. I sprained my wrist so I won't be able to play. Would you know anyone who knows how to do the drummer?" Anyone but the student president. Dx

He looks up and thinks with his hand on his chin. "Hmmm..." he says. "I only know one person in the school who can play the drums."

"Really?? Who?"

"Student president Choi Siwon."

=_= Really? REALLY?? I'm not expecting him to say yes at all so I reaaaally need other options...

"Uhh... I don't think he'll EVER agree to this though," you reply.

Ryeowook zones out for a while. Then he looks at you again and says, "I'm actually kind of worried about Siwon."

"Why so?"

"Because he's so uptight and such a workaholic and he has forgotten how to have fun like people our age do."

"Ah well... that's true. I thought you were like that as well," you grin scratching your head.

"I'm like that in school because Siwon is my roommate and I need to keep up with him. I don't like seeing him suffer alone. Even though he's rich and all, his life isn't easy. I want to be a friend to him. A real friend who he doesn't need to talk to formally. Someone who's not a friend just because he's a work-mate."

You look at Ryeowook with awe.

"I can help you," you smile. "I'd like to help you."

"Really? You have any ideas?"

"Oh, I got lots," you say as your smile grows into a grin. "I'd hate to see someone like you give up in any aspect. You have my respect, Kim Ryeowook."

Ryeowook smiles back at you. "You can call me Wookie."

"Awesome~ Anyway, do you have any idea who can be a good singer for your song?"

He nods. "I was walking one time when I passed by room 102. I heard someone with a beautiful voice singing. I pressed my ear to the door but Lee Sungmin came and went in. Then the singing abruptly stopped."

Who is room mates with Lee Sungmin? ... KIM JONGWOON! o_O

"But that's... Kim Jongwoon... my bandmates told me not to even let him find out about this contest because 'his voice and he doesn't even know it'."

"Well, maybe his voice got better after puberty because it's lovely now. You should hear him."

"I don't know how I'm gonna tell my hyungs about this but... fine. Although we might hold auditions for this just in case."

He nods. "Arasso. I'm telling you though, there isn't any other voice quite like his."

You finish chatting with Ryeowook and go back downstairs to Heechul.

ROOM 101

He is playing World of Warcraft on his laptop and is currently fighting a boss monster in a raid. You lie down on his pink bed and wait for him to finish. Then he turns to you.

"Oh, Haneul, you're here. What happened earlier? Who's Jasmine?"

"You'll never believe it, hyung. Jasmine is Kim Ryeowook of the student council."

"MWO???? That annoying four-eyed kid??"

"Neh. But he's actually a nice guy outside of school setting. He even wants Siwon to stop being so uptight and stiffly professional about everything."

"Ahh... He's a good writer. He wasn't before though. I admit I was one of the ones who would laugh at his compositions because they all really just . Something about enjoying ttokbokki. Psh."

"And now, he's fantastic."

"Mhm, I give that to him. So what else did he say?"

"Well... remember that he wanted someone else to sing it for him?"

"Neh? So who?"

"He wants Kim Jongwoon."

"MWO????" Heechul almost falls out of his swivel chair. "WAE???"

"He said that he heard him sing and that he had a good voice."

"But we've been with Jongwoon for the loooongest time and his voice really is just... so bad. Always off-key, always so pitchy."

"Wookie described it in a different way."

"Wookie?"

"Oh, Ryeowook."

Heechul smirks. "Making new friends everywhere, aren't we?"

You chuckle. "Anyway, let's hold auditions like we did for the dance contest. Just in case Jongwoon really is horrible as you say."

"Alright, I'll be the one to get this ready," Heechul volunteers.

"Thanks, hyung."

Later that evening: NEAR THE DORMS

You go out for a brief walk. You hear running footsteps behind you after a while.

"Good evening, president-nim!" you greet cheerfully.

"Good evening to you too, Kim Haneul," he approaches, not stopping his jogging. He continues to jog in place as he talks to you. "Come. Join me in jogging so that you'll get muscles to defend yourself with."

"... U--"

"That wasn't a request. It was an order."

You start jogging in place as well. "Okay..."

"Come," he says as he starts moving.

"How are you, Kim Haneul?" he formally asks as you jog around the campus.

"Doing fine. Sprained my wrist but I'll be okay," you say as you raise your right hand.

"Really?" he stops jogging and takes your hand and examines it. From your hand, he slowly looks up into your eyes. You wipe the sweat off your forehead with the back of your other hand.

"President-nim?"

He doesn't look away and continues to gaze at you. His mouth opens as if to say something. Then he blinks and looks away grinning.

"What's up, president-nim?" o_O

"Nothing, hahahahhah, let's finish jogging."

Once you make a full lap and go back to the dorms, he tells you that he'll be taking his leave.

"Ah, president-nim," you call out to him.

"Hm?" he turns back, smiling.

._. Okay, weird but take this opportunity, Haneul!

"We're joining an inter-school band competition and we need a drummer. Want to fill in for me?"

"... I'll think about it." He turns to walk back down the hallway to his room. You are about to open your room when you take one last glace at him before he walks into his. He shakes his head as if trying to get something out of his mind. On his face, the puzzled expression again but this time with more bewilderment. He sighs and enters his room.

You turn your focus back to the door when you notice someone standing right next to you.

"WAAH!" you shout. "You scared me."

"I like scaring people," Kyuhyun says bluntly. "Come, we need to talk."

ROOFDECK

The two of you go up to the roofdeck. Kyuhyun walks a few paces ahead of you and looks up at the sky.

"No stars..." he says.

You step closer to him and look up as well. You sigh.

"Kim Haneul," he starts. You look at him. "I'm sorry if I freaked out that time at the pool. And I'm sorry for being a jerk."

"That's okay."

"No, it's not. AARGH! You were a girl all this time and I was such a... sigh..."

"Look, even though I hated you and still sort of do because of all the miserable things that happened to me, right now, I think that... that you've got some heart in you. You're a good person deep inside. I don't know why you bully people around but, well, I'm sure you've got reasons. This is pretty awkward for me though. Talking with you like this... Although you still shouldn't do things like that even if I were really a guy."

He lies down on the floor. You sit down beside him. "I'm really really sorry for being an awful guy."

You don't say anything and just look at him staring at the starless night sky.

He continues to speak but in a gentler tone of voice. "My parents have always been so busy. With my dad running this school, they have no more time for me and my sister Ahra. Eventually, she started living in a world of her own and I was left alone. My dad wants me to become a lawyer. But I don't want that. My dream is different but I don't like talking about it to people. I never had any real friends either-- only ones that came to me whenever I had money. That's kind of why I started being a bully. I wanted to see if anyone would try to be my friend even though I was really mean and was the most horrible person in the world. I wanted the world to hate me so I'd see who would still love me then. I must have overdone it. Got rough starts everywhere."

This is so different from the Cho Kyuhyun everyone knows about.

You smile at Kyuhyun. He notices you and raises his eyebrows. You hold out a hand. "Annyeong, I'm Kim Haneul. What's your name?"

He sits up and blinks at your hand.

He shakes your hand. "Annyeong. I'm Cho Kyuhyun."

"Let's be friends," you smile.

He nods. "Mm." He lies back down and stretches on the ground. "Wow..."

You lie down as well and put your arms behind your head. "Oh wow..."

And yet I wonder...

Will this make things better for me or more difficult?