The rest of dinner was disappointing.

Yoojin was in the bathroom when Youngmi left because of an emergency at work. When Yoojin got back, her parents were waiting for at the door. They rode back home in their car in silence. No one spoke a word.

The next day at school, things were usual. Jeongguk paid attention to the teacher and listened to his lesson but his eyes began to wander towards the girl sitting a few rows in front. *I wonder if she’s okay... What am I saying? It’s none of my business anyways.* He quickly shook his head to snap himself out of it then returned his eyes to the teacher.

It was break time and the students were either talking with one another or doing their own thing. Jeongguk laid back in his seat and had his headphones in his ears. He closed his eyes and listened to his music in peace. That’s what he usually did during his breaks.

“I was thinking maybe blonde but I my mom insisted a red color so I just went with her decision.” Cherry went on about her experience with dying her hair and Yoojin was listening to it all. “Hey if you plan on dying your hair, tell me and I’ll get you a discount at my mom’s emporium.”

Cherry’s mother was the CEO of the biggest beauty emporium in Seoul. They have nail salons, hair salons, massage parlors, and more, all in one building. As the CEO’s daughter, Cherry has access to free treatments and resources.

“That’s really considerate of you Cherry.” Yoojin smiled while reading her book. “But I don’t plan on dying my hair anytime soon. My parents would never allow it anyways.”

Cherry pouted. “I think a purple color would really look nice on you though… Omo!”

“What?” Yoojin wondered why Cherry looked so shocked all of a sudden.

Cherry pointed towards the door with a shaking finger while her other hand covered . “T-Taehyung and Jimin are here. Why are they here? Upperclassmen never come by here!” She took out her phone and looked at her reflection why fixing her hair.

She turned to Yoojin. “Do I look okay?”

Yoojin nodded without looking up from her book. “You look fine.”

Cherry fixed her position and watched Taehyung. She smiled at him, hoping that he would take notice of her. *Please, please notice me Taehyung.*

Jimin and Taehyung went to visit the lowerclassmen’s classroom wanting to find Jeongguk. As they walked in, they felt the stares and heard all the whisperings from the students in there.

Jimin found Jeongguk in the back of the classroom with his eyes closed. “Ayyo Jeongguk!”

Since Jeongguk had his headphones on, he couldn’t hear him.

In the corner of Taehyun’s eye, a blob of red caught his attention. When he turned his head, he saw a cute girl with red hair smiling at him.

She wasn’t the only one who was smiling at him though. Lots of other girls were there staring at Jimin and him. She was just the one that caught his attention the most. He smiled back at her then looked away.

Jeongguk felt a nudge on his arm. He opened his eyes and took off his headphones. “What?”

“Jimin called for you.” Jaejoon, who sat next to him, pointed to the two people standing at the door. “How does he know you?”

Jeongguk looked up and saw Jimin and Taehyung wave at him. “I met him after talking with Ms. Park when we were backstage in the auditorium. I’ll go see what they want.”

The two boys walked out and Jeongguk followed.

Once they were out of the room, Cherry squealed. “Did you see that Yoojin?! He smiled at me!”

“What’s up?” Jeongguk leaned on the wall in the hallway. Jimin and Taehyung stood in front of him.

“Do you have plans after school?” Jimin asked. “Suga wanted to show you some things that might interest you over at our place.”

“J-Hope also really wants to meet you,” Taehyung added.

“J…hope?” Jeongguk raised his eyebrow.

“His real name is Hoseok but we call him J-Hope. You can’t imagine how happy he was when he found out that we added a new member into our group.” Jimin laughed. “So, are you up for it?”

“I’d like to but…” Jeongguk remembered that he had tutoring after school. He had promised his parents that we wouldn’t ditch no matter how much he wanted to. “I have plans.”

Jimin crossed his arms. “Don’t tell me you’re part of the 95% of the school who go straight home to do homework because considering the fact that you have good dance moves, I don’t believe you spend all your time studying.”

“Well to be honest…” Jeongguk rubbed the back on his neck. “I’m kind of falling behind in my studies. My parents found out and they’re making me take tutoring lessons after school until my grades go back up.”

“Dude, that ,” said Taehyung.

Jimin patted Jeongguk’s back. “No worries. We’ll find time.”

Jeongguk returned to the classroom and went back to his seat.

“What did Taehyung and Jimin want from Jeongguk?” Cherry wondered. “Do you think maybe they’ve become friends with each other?”

“Possibly,” Yoojin replied while writing in her notebook. “Maybe instead of thinking about things that aren’t any of your business, you should finish writing your essay.” She pointed to the half writing paper in front of Cherry.

 “You’re right. It’s not any of my business and I should get back to work.” Cherry sighed.

“So?” Jaejoon asked curiously.

Jeongguk shook his head. “It’s nothing.”

“What do you mean it’s nothing?” Jaejoon complained. “Two of the most known kids in this school just called you out to the hallway and you say it’s nothing?”

 ♫ Ding, Dong, Ding ♫

“Break times over.” The teacher came back in the classroom and began writing on the chalkboard for the next lesson.

Jeongguk just shook his head another time and paid attention to what the teacher was writing.

Jaejoon gave him a suspicious look. *He’s hiding something. I just know it.*

School was now over and Cherry jumped in front of Yoojin excitedly. “Yoojin! School’s over now! Let’s go to the mall together!”

“Sorry but I can’t. My parents don’t allow me to go anywhere after school besides the library or home,” Yoojin said while packing her bag.

“Aww! Come on! Just this once please?!” Cherry gave her the puppy eyes look while holding up a finger. “Your parents don’t have to know.”

Yoojin stopped what she was doing and gave an apologetic look. “I can’t.”

“Pooey.” Cherry pouted. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. Bye!”

Yoojin waved goodbye and Cherry left.

“Arasseo umma, I’m going to the library right now.” Jeongguk held the phone to his ears while leisurely walking to the school library.

“I’m just making sure you don’t ditch your tutoring,” his mother said on the other line. “Work hard dear!”

He finished the conversation and entered the library. When he tried to find the old man that was his tutor last time, he wasn’t there. Instead, there was a lady in her thirties waiting for him.

It turns out that the man from before was a substitute tutor since the actual tutor had a family emergency and couldn’t come. Now that she was back, Jeongguk managed to actually catch up and do his work correctly like he was supposed to.

Just like last time, Yoojin was at the library as well and Jeongguk noticed.

When she came through the door, their eyes met. Yoojin recognized him and turned away. She recalled seeing him at the restaurant the night before and still felt embarrassed knowing that he had seen what had happened to her.

She quickly rushed past him and walked over to the other side of the library behind the shelves so they wouldn’t be able to see each other.

Yoojin hit her head lightly with her fist. *Aish, why do I care so much about what he thinks. I shouldn’t let this get to me.*

With that, she isolated herself from everything else and began her studying.