“No,” said Sunggyu. “Just no.”

In the band room, the five members of 60 Seconds were discussing their next cover.

“Aw, c’mon! Dubstep’s awesome. We should add it,” forced Dongwoo, shaking his shoulders while doing a cutesy face that did nothing but annoy the leader even more.

“Wob, wob, wob,” Myungsoo imitated. He wasn’t really siding with anyone; he just wanted to say something.

“Dubstep’s getting pretty overrated,” said Sunggyu.

“Kinda,” agreed Yura who came into the room alongside her two roommates. “But some of them sound pretty nice.”

“Hey Yura!” Sungjong yelled and scooted over to her side. “High-five!”

“’Sup,” she said and gave him a powerful high five.

Amused, Dongwoo tried to do the same with CL but as expected, it didn’t turn out so great.

She raised her index finger. “Don’t even try.”

“Feelin’ better?” asked Yura.

“It’s been days, but let’s gauge it at about 95%,” he replied while flashing a wide smile that hasn’t been seen ever since he was crushing on Jieun.

“How ‘bout your back?”

Sungjong nodded like a cute puppy and winked. “Better than ever.”

“Oh, you guys are suddenly getting close now, aren’t ya?” Sungyeol walked over to Yura in which she stepped back. “I thought you’re like the girl who’s terrified of dudes?”

Sungyeol moved closer to Yura; she took two steps back. He asked for a high-five, she gave a slightly soft one. He then asked Sungjong to give her one. It was friendly.

While ruffling Yura’s hair, Sungjong said, “Aw, c’mon, Yeol. I’m just better at this kind of thing.”

“Whatever,” remarked Myungsoo. “Do whatever you want. I’m just happy that you’re finally wearing your own clothes already; we look more cohesive now.”

Having nothing to say, Sunggyu noticed that Hyuna was unusually quiet. To this, he asked her, “Hey Hyuna, you’re the one who likes dubstep, right? What do you think?”

In a very timid voice, she answered, “Perhaps you should stick to a more emotional song.”

Disturbed by her weary tone, he straightforwardly asked, “Are you feeling alright? Is there anything that’s bothering you?”

She heavily sighed and said with a sunken face, “It’s nothing.”

He knew that nothing meant something. A big something but he decided not to press further and let it be. The rest did the same until the bell rang for PE class. In the end, a concept wasn’t decided.

---

“I am Bang Yongguk, your PE teacher but you should address me as ‘sir’. When I want to affirm something, you respond with a salute while yelling, ‘Yes, sir!’ Am I clear?”

The students robotically saluted and shouted, “Yes, sir!”

“Good!” He said enthusiastically. “Today’s sport is volley ball. Girls vs. Boys. Choose your players wisely for they will be responsible for your fate. Losers will clean the dusty storage room and winners will not clean the dusty storage room, do you hear?”

“Yes, sir!”

The students segregated themselves into their respective teams and discussed their techniques and strategies. On the guys’ side, they all had their game faces on—chanting in low sports voices with some growls of some sort. The girls were pretty much chill; most were preoccupied with their own activities as they spoke but easily came up with a strategy regardless. When called, they all gathered around the outdoor volleyball court with the players taking their respective positions. Sunggyu, being part of the men’s team, noticed a particular player from the opposing team and grew worried.

She’s looking worse.

Indeed, she was. She was completely out of it, showing a soulless expression.

“Alright. Players, play fair and practice proper sportsmanship.” He then blew his whistle. “Let the game begin!”

The women’s team served first. Yura sent the ball flying high up in the air which was caught by Sungjong who passed it to Jinyoung who passed it to Sungyeol who directed it just above the net towards the girls’ side. With a slight groan, CL dashed toward the ball, hit it hard enough, and scored for her team. The girls huddled up for a quick motivating team work group hug while the boys gave a mini beating to the guy who missed the ball.

“Hey, how could you miss it like that you jerk!” They scolded half-playfully, half-seriously. The girls giggled at them.

“Guys, get your head in the game!” ordered Yongguk.

“Yes, sir!” the men said except for Sungyeol who broke into song.

“Why am I feelin’ so wrooooong?” He spun for a dramatic effect, knelt in the middle of the court then continued singing in a dramatic tone, “My head’s in the game but my heart’s in the song.” He pointed to Myungsoo who in return, pretended to not be the one being pointed at. “He makes this feel so right.”

Yongguk smacked Sungyeol’s head. “Stop embarrassing your team and boyfriend. Get up and just do it.”

“Nike,” Sungyeol wittingly added then rushed to the court. Almost forgetting to say it, he added a late “Yes, sir!”

Once again, the ball was lifted through the air and another long term of passing commenced. By skill the teams were surely neck and neck and the others watching were simply tense, hoping that their team would be the one to score after a long momentum of back and forths. But there was an obvious black hole in the girl’s team.

“Hyuna, run for it!” yelled one of her teammates.

“Ah, oh my.” Hyuna ran for the ball, but she wasn’t fast enough and let it slip out of her reach.

“Hey, what’s wrong with you today?” asked CL. “You sure you can play? We can get a substitute.”

Hyuna mustered a weary smile. “It’s fine, I can do it.”

CL still heavily questioned it, but shrugged it away. She was never a touchy-feely kind of person to begin with and resisted any kind of drama as much as she could.

The game resumed and the ball was being passed around again. That time though, it was at its peak with the shots being so powerful that the players were evidently growling whenever they’d hit the ball. Hyuna wanted to redeem herself so she always kept a keen eye on her surroundings. When the time came that Sunggyu gave a pretty powerful blow, she tried so hard to catch it but at that moment, her mind shut off and only the remnants of her memories from the day before came rushing into her. A tear escaped her eye.

BANG!

Before she knew it, the ball smacked her square in the forehead. As she came in contact with the ground, her body bounced from the impact and her right cheek slightly bled due to the friction between her skin and a couple of tiny stones.

“Hyuna!” Sunggyu yelled, terribly worried and beating himself up inside. Without sparing a second, he carried her over to the infirmary as fast as he could. When they got there, her wounds were treated and she was told to lie in bed and rest for a while. Sunggyu was relieved that it wasn’t anything serious. But whatever was bothering her was bothering him too. Not to mention, he was the one who hit her in the first place so his chest felt twice as heavy.

“Sung…gyu,” she whimpered, her eyebrows wrinkling from the pain.

“I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to,” said Sunggyu, pouring out all his guilt.

She grabbed his wrist and squeezed it tightly. “It’s fine, Sunggyu. I know you didn’t mean it so stop feeling guilty, alright? It’s my fault anyway for having stepped on the court in the first place.” She scoffed. “I looked pathetic.”

He felt that he squeeze wasn’t just physically stronger, but there was a tinge of desperation there—the want for comfort.

“First Sungjong now you,” he said. “I don’t usually express any strong sentimental feelings or whatever but for your sake, I will openly tell you that I’m really worried for you. You don’t need to try so hard to make everyone think you’re okay ‘cause you’re not. Now, I’m not forcing you to tell me what your problem is, but hear me out—“

“Hyunseung cheated on me,” she said in a half-whisper, faced down and in the verge of tears. “Last night, I saw him slobbering his lips over another girl. It was so disgusting I just ran off.”

Sunggyu stood up so suddenly wearing a face of rage. “You want me to beat him up?”

Hyuna tugged his shirt and shook her head. “No, it’s fine.” She forced a sad chuckle, blinking rapidly to stop her tears from flowing. “I expected it anyway. I knew I wasn’t good enough from the start—“

“But you are good enough, Hyuna. Any guy would be out of his mind to take you for granted.” He tilted his chin upward, balled up his right fist and hit it a few times against his open left hand intimidatingly. “But seriously though. If you want me to beat him up, I’m game anytime. Just give me the go signal and I swear I’ll give him a beating so brutal you won’t even recognize his face the next day.”

“Really, that won’t be necessary, but I appreciate your concern,” she said then as if trying to send him away, she told him to get to class before he gets late.

“Get some rest, okay? If you need me, I’ll come right away.”

She nodded. “Sure.”

When Sunggyu left the infirmary, Hyuna cried beneath her sheets for hours but little did she know that he could hear her shrieks as he walked back to class just outside the door.

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