“Don’t touch me,” Yura pleaded—her voice had a tinge of tremor as Sungjong crouched down and extended his hand toward her. As he did so, a sharp kind of pain surged up his back.

“Ack!” He yelped. Withdrawing his hand, he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck in guilt making his silver eyes look more innocent on him. “Sorry,” he said. “But look, we have to clean ourselves up.” He extended his hand once again, his doe eyes desperately wide to look as harmless as possible. “Shall we?”

Yura looked at him from head to toe, shook her head and shoved herself deeper into the cabinet. Never had she shown so much vulnerability; she was so scared that she could only manage to shake her head or nod and her foot stuck out slightly as a preparing stance in case he’d try to get near her again.

“C’mon, just at least get out of that dusty thing,” begged Sungjong in the sweetest, most trustable voice he could muster. “Honestly, I’m getting worried.”

She shook her head.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I really am.”

She curled up more in reply.

Leaning his hurt back against the wall, he scrunched up his face. He was running out of options and nonetheless things to say as well. The girl had abandoned all hope in getting along with him.

This , he thought. So much for a good impression.

Recently freed by their classmates, the shirtless duo just happened to notice them as they passed by. Interested by their painted band mate, they normally walked inside as if they had slept for the night.

“I know you change concepts once in a while but this,” Sungyeol heartily laughed, “this just takes it to a whole new level.”

“Put some shirts on, would you guys?” complained Sungjong. “Yura’s here.”

“Where?” Sungyeol searched the room until he finally saw her curled up inside the cabinet. Dumbfounded, he pointed to her and asked, “Why is she there?”

Myungsoo spared Sungjong from an explanation. “You freaked her out, didn’t you?”

With a heavy sigh, Sungjong nodded. “Yeah. Screwed up big time.”

“You sure did,” the two said together then went to look around for Hyuna and CL. A few minutes later, the two came back with them. The two girls shooed the three guys away and helped Yura get out. But just as they were about to their room to rest, an announcement from their PE teacher was heard.

“If you guys think that today will be a free day, think again. Since you made a big mess out of the school, you will spend the day cleaning it up. I should mention the highlights such as the newly purple swimming pool, the powder-filled classrooms, and the y-trapped hallways. Report to the assembly hall in half an hour—which, by the way, has its floors layered with soap and water so have funny slippin’ around. There, we will be assigning you to wherever you will be cleaning. This is mandatory. There will be no escape until the entire campus is clean. Even if it takes ‘till night. Have a nice day.”

“Wow, awesome,” the five sarcastically said.

---

The students came into the assembly hall—most of them staggering and tripping at least once or twice before actually getting in line which made the scene look rather comedic. To them though, it didn’t seem so funny as much as it was mind-numbingly irritating. They were, after all, groggy from staying up all night.

“Why the hell are they making us clean up our own ?!” whined CL, wearing her shades indoors to protect her eye bags from showing.

“That’s the point,” Yura replied, only half as pissed—but still pissed nonetheless. “It’s our , so we clean up after it. Imagine someone else cleaning your actual human … now that’s sad.”

“That’s a stupid analogy,” spat CL, tired.

“Whatever,” Yura spat back monotonously, equally tired.

Dongwoo, in contrast, was still smiling as if he had just woken up from a thousand years of good sleep. He patted CL’s back and as usual, tried to comfort her. “It’s okay. More bonding time for us!”

“That’s a stupid reason,” said CL.

“Ahem!” called Onew, trying his best in holding back his laughter. “If you’re all done slipping hysterically, I will do this quick and dictate your places before I get pummeled down to bits.”

Onew called each class then told them their assigned venue. Their class was assigned to the purple swimming pool so they went there quickly because the sooner they were done, the earlier they could sleep. The intended plan was to barely talk and focus on the work but just right from the beginning, a few of them (Dongwoo and Sungyeol) couldn’t help but catapult themselves into the purple pool. Even Sungjong, whose image (by default) for the day was a handsome supernatural demon-human, dove in. Just like that, he turned back to a normal Sungjong with a shirt filled with lipstick marks. The rest of them followed suit except for their class president who had a reputation to uphold and a few girls who knew better than to let the men see their bras through their wet shirts.

“I can’t swim,” said Yura. “I hate the water and I hate showing skin.”

“I’m just lazy,” yawned CL.

“They look stupid,” commented Yura, already half-asleep by the benches. “It looks like they’re one big lump of violet people. Gross.”

“Tell me about it,” said CL.

“WOHOO!!!” A few male classmates happily cried in the distance as they jumped into the pool. A big tidal wave splashed directly and the three girls’ direction. Yura and CL ran away in opposite directions whereas Hyuna who couldn’t react fast enough ended up drenched. That wasn’t good for her at all.

A barrage of loud woos and hoots commenced. The two girls cocked their heads at Hyuna’s direction. The water was crashing down her body, her bra vividly seen through her shirt that hugged her skin so tightly to the point that her s were very much outlined for the public to see. Sunggyu shied away, turning his head and trying his best not to look at her direction. As for her boyfriend, well, he took his time in looking chic while wrapping a towel around her and sending her back to her room to change.

If I were him, I’d get her covered as fast as I could, Sunggyu thought. Looking cool doesn’t matter when your girlfriend’s put in that kind of situation.

“Hey!”

An abrupt yell from Onew was heard. The students quickly got out of the pool all purple and messy.

“I told you guys to clean the pool. NOT PLAY LIKE CHILDREN!”

“Onew, duck!” yelled a male student.

“What?” asked the teacher.

“Duck!”

“Wha—“

Splash!

There came Sungyeol the Mischievous, tackling Onew from behind sending his teacher and himself into the deepest part of the pool. The first thing that came to his mind was was that his blazer’s been destroyed. His really special expensive blazer had been soaked in purple. Unable to contain his anger, he gave Sungyeol a tidal wave kick and swam to the edge with hard and powerful paddling. For the first time in school history, Onew got super saiyan mad.

“Cut the crap and get to work.” He then turned to Sungyeol. “And as a punishment, you will buy me a new blazer. Make sure it’s at least in the range of Zara and Marks and Spencer. Any cheaper than that and you’ll have to clean the men’s bathroom for a month. You messed with my special blazer so atone for your mistake or you will be punished accordingly.”

After that, he stormed off leaving a cold tension silence amongst the class that had just been rowdy a few minutes ago. Everyone was speechless.

“Guys, let’s get to work for Onew’s sake,” finally said Jinyoung, the incredibly smart and handsome class president. “Oh, and before you ask, Sungyeol, we will not be giving donations or holding a fundraiser for you to pay for Onew’s blazer. As class president, I hereby use tough love to make you a stronger man.”

Giving no opportunity for Sungyeol to argue, he immediately divided the class into groups then told them their tasks accordingly. They all got the necessary cleaning items and went on working cooperatively with some fun here and there. Once in a while, Sungyeol would even give some fan service and tried to pull his boyfriend’s pants down for fun. At some point, he became successful, but that led him to have not only his pants, but his shirt ripped off him as well. It wasn’t a punishment though because he kind of enjoyed it; Myungsoo was frustrated because of that fact. Sunggyu and Dongwoo on the other hand were told to entertain the rest by performing impromptu songs. With Dongwoo’s rap and Sunggyu’s soothing voice, the class didn’t get bored and even bobbed their heads to the beat including Hyuna whom Sunggyu looked at most of the time when he was singing. As for Sungjong, well, he kept watching Jieun’s class who cleaned the school garden from afar. Eventually though, he shifted his attention to Yura whom he still felt bad for scaring. He mopped his way to her only to have her turn her back on him.

“Go away,” she said.

“But Yura, I’m not even in my scary get-up anymore.” He placed his hand on her shoulder and said, “C’mon, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t touch me,” she said as she slapped his hand away and briskly walked away from him. Amused, Sunggyu and Dongwoo sang a song as homage to Sungjong’s fail.

To the tune of Bingo Was His Name-O, Dongwoo beatboxed as Sunggyu sang, “There was a boy who scared Yura and Sungjong was his name-o.”

Sungyeol continued the song. S-U-N-G-JONG!”

Myungsoo chimed in, “S-U-N-G-JONG!”

CL followed. “S-U-N-G-JONG!”

And the entire class sang with glee, “And Sungjong was his name-o!"

“Hey be quiet!” yelled Sungjong, completely embarrassed. It was a good thing that Jieun’s class was far enough not to see it. “My image!”

“What image?!” Myungsoo laughed. “You don’t have a definite one.”

“Guys, I’ll drain the pool now,” warned Jinyoung abruptly. He was very sleepy and did not care about humor anymore. Not long after, the pool was vacated and the students just lounged around the area ‘till the pool was completely out of water.

“Alright, let’s clean it up,” he added sluggishly.

“It’s about time, I’ve been waiting.” Desperately wanting to sleep, Yura jogged down the pool’s stairs holding a mop but as she trudged down the slippery steps, her feet fumbled and her body slipped backwards.

“Ack!”

“Yura!”

Bang!

The moment she opened her eyes, she was in someone’s embrace. Sungjong took the fall. His back against the bluntly curved edges of the stairs, he groaned in pain, squeezing her hand tightly. His back throbbed with even more pain given that he was already hurt earlier that day. Still, he managed to ask weakly, “Are… are you alright?”

“Yeah…” she replied in a weak whisper as she rolled aside. Despite being her bitterness during the entire day, she couldn’t fathom why he still saved her. All her fear and anger toward him turned into guilt and worry in a split second.

“Sungjong!” Sunggyu came rushing in and without a moment to waste, carried Sungjong to the infirmary. “Lee Sungjong! If you die I swear that you will NEVER get a keyboard or guitar solo! Ever!”

The leader was overreacting, but his concern was heavy. The nurse said that there was nothing wrong with him, but he should rest for a few days with a few walks every now and then. When Sungjong woke up in the clinic a few hours later, Yura was sitting on a chair beside him—head faced down and frowning.

He mustered up a smile. “Hey, don’t be worried. I’m awake now, see?”

“If I wasn’t so careless, then…” She sighed. “Thank you and I’m sorry… for kicking you and burdening you like this.”

“It’s fine, but it hurts a lot to be quite honest,” he said with a groan. “Looks like there was a use for my exemption after all; I wouldn’t want to catch up on missed school work.”

“By the way, Sunggyu told me to give this to you…” Glancing over to her side, she handed the huge white teddy bear with a pink ribbon tied around its neck to him, its chubby arms and legs wobbling in the process. He hugged it tight and exhaled a breath of comfort. She couldn’t lie to herself that seeing him cuddle the bear like that made him look really cute.

“Y’know, you’re nice,” she said, smiling. “It’s a shame she doesn’t even notice you.”

“That’s because all I do is hide behind a wall and swoon over her,” chuckled Sungjong at his own bittersweet joke. Inside, his gut hurt and the corners of his mouth sunk.

Quick to realize this, Yura comforted him by saying, “You have nothing to be afraid of. There are plenty of douchebags out there, but you aren’t one of them.”

“Thanks.” He smiled. “I know there are creepy guys out there, but at least you should give us a shot.” He extended his hand for a handshake, but she felt a bit hesitant so he got his teddy bear and told her to shake its hand instead. “Let’s try to get along, shall we? And perhaps, have a more normal handshake next time?”

“Sure,” she said. “Even if it may take some time, sure.”

For the next half hour, the two did nothing but talk about the simplest things—yet it amused them to an infinite extent. Their simple exchanging of words had become a moment of utmost bliss. When time came that Sungjong was able to walk, she helped him get back to his room. Before she left, they exchanged numbers. He was the first guy, aside from her father, to have gotten her number. While it wasn’t really a big deal for an average person, it was for her.

Taking a step forward, she thought.

Little steps can eventually lead to a brighter path. During those moments, the two have decided to move forward for the better.

And finally, Jinyoung appeared!

Thank you for reading and I hope you guys enjoyed it~! :D