*Ai's POV*

 

I waited inside the room where we held our meetings. I looked at the clock and it was eight minutes since the bell rang to dismiss the school. What’s taking them so long? 

 

To pass the time, I looked over some documents. I opened the manila folder that was on my left and skipped through the papers. We need to discuss our high school festival, it’s in a month. Oh and there’s an assembly next week. I finally got to a paper that said ‘Student Council President Applications’. I felt my heart skip a beat. Maybe Wooyoung’s own would be in here. 

 

The first paper on the list was from a student named Jang Haneul. I couldn’t care less about him so I turned to the next paper. I kept flipping through it until I reached Wooyoung’s. Which is stupid, because sooner or later, I’ll have to read all those applications. 

 

I picked up Wooyoung’s paper and looked at it. Name: Jang Wooyoung. Age: 17. Grade: Senior. Homeroom: 3201. Achievements: Placed first in the entire school during middle school. Won a singing competition at age 15. 

 

Well isn’t he a talented boy? I was about to read the rest when I heard the door open. I quickly put the paper down and casually flipped to the next application that was in the list. 

 

I lifted my head and watched as Chihoon and Eunmi made their way inside and sat down. “What took you guys so long?” I asked, closing the folder. 

 

“My teacher held us back,” said Chihoon. “Kang really pissed off our teacher today. And because of that, we’re going to have a test tomorrow. Oh happy day!” he said sarcastically. 

 

“I almost forgot there was a meeting,” stated Eunmi. “I was halfway passed the school gates when I remembered.”

 

I rolled my eyes. “Anyways, on to business.” 

 

Once we all got seated, I opened the folder I just looked at earlier and picked the first one. “So the annual Jihwan High School Festival is scheduled for next month on the 25. We should start making the announcements.”

 

“Is it just going to be the usual, café, haunted house, movie room, thing again? How about we have a theme this year!” suggested Eunmi.

 

“Like what?” asked Chihoon. 

 

“Maybe like around the world? Each classroom is a different country. You can have a café in Paris, a restaurant in Italy, an arcade from whatever country. You know, something like that.”

 

I thought about the idea, “That sounds pretty good. We’ll take note of it and discuss the rest tomorrow. Moving on. What’s the assembly about?”

 

Chihoon spoke this time, “Well there’s nothing much to it. We’re just going to be announcing any important events next month, the school’s current ranking among all South Korean public schools, which by the way, we’re in 3rd  place. Oh, and we’re discussing the senior’s graduation.”

 

The word ‘graduation’ caught my attention. I just realized that I’m graduating this year. I never knew how time flew by so fast. I’m going to miss everyone. I looked over to my friends next to me. We will all be graduating this year. 

 

“We’re graduating, huh?” Eunmi said the words I couldn’t say out loud. 

 

“Yup. Seems like it,” I say in a disappointing tone.

 

“Well, this just gives us another thing to do. Elections for student council. We’ll probably have it a month after the elections for the student council president,” stated Chihoon.

 

“Aren’t you going to miss us?” Eunmi pouted.

 

“Not really,” said Chihoon in a leveled tone.

 

Eunmi and Chihoon started bickering. I watched them from my seat and rolled my eyes. They were always like this. Chihoon acts like he doesn’t care and tries to be cool about everything, but if you know the right buttons to push, you’ll see his fun side. And Eunmi has always known which buttons to push. Right from the first meeting. It took me two months before this guy started opening up to me.

I fixed some papers and cleared my throat, “Shall we move on? Yuh seonsaengnim wants to see me after our meeting and I don’t want to keep him waiting.”

 

The two stopped and nodded. “What’s next on the agenda?” asked Chihoon.

 

“Student class council president applications,” I said.

 

“How many applied for the spot?” asked Eunmi.

 

I counted the papers, “Eight.”

 

“That’s a lot,” said a surprised Chihoon.

 

“Not many people want to run for president. Especially since it’s already halfway through the school year,” said Eunmi.

 

I nodded in agreement. We all started looking at each application one by one. Here is how are system works: Students “apply” for a certain position in the class council. The current class council will look over all the applications and pick the best suited ones for the job. They choose two or three for each role and have the school decide who they want to vote for. To be in the student council, you need to be a junior going on senior. You must be averaging a B plus and never had any suspension. 

 

We finally got to Jang Wooyoung’s application form. I took my time reading it and handed it over to Chihoon. “He seems pretty suitable for the job. He’s averaging an A plus, he’s been first throughout his entire middle school. No suspensions, and was always a model student. 

 

Chihoon nodded every now and then, “You’re right. Most students who join in the middle of year usually have some problems, but I think Wooyoung will handle it just fine. I want him for the job.”

 

“Let me see,” said Eunmi, grabbing for the paper. She took her time reading it. “He seems suitable for the job. I like him!” she said with a smile.

 

After looking through all of the application forms, we narrowed it down to two people: Jang Wooyoung and Kim Hyun. If only we could choose the people our selves, I would immediately choose Wooyoung. However, we need the voice from the rest of the students. 

 

“We’ll have our two candidates come in tomorrow and we’ll discuss with them the speech they have to do,” I said packing up my things. 

 

“Okae, better to have it over and done with,” said Chihoon.

 

“I want snacks!” commented Eunmi. “Chihoon! Chihoon! Since Ai is busy, let’s go to a karaoke room!”

 

“I’m busy myself,” said Chihoon coolly.

 

Eunmi pouted, “Geojitmal! You always say that you’re busy whenever I ask you to hang out.”

 

“He’s just nervous about being alone with you,” I said.

 

“BOH! Are you crazy woman?” Chihoon yelled. His face was clearly turning red.

 

“Yeah. Why are you saying such nonsense?” said Eunmi. You  can clearly tell she’s blushing too.

 

“You should just confess your feelings for each other already. I’m tired of seeing you two acting like you don’t care about each other!” I said hitting them both on the back.

 

“BOH?!” They said in unison. They looked at each other and looked away, both their faces turning a tomato red.

 

“Bye you two,” I sang and closed the door to the student council room. I made my way to the teachers’ office and went to meet Yuh seonsaengnim. I walked over to his desk to see him typing something out on his laptop. 

 

I bowed first before speaking, “Yuh seonsaengnim, you asked to see me?”

 

Obviously he didn’t want me to see what he was typing because the second he heard my voice, he slammed his laptop shut. He turned his rolling chair towards me and took off his glasses. 

 

“Oh good. You came,” he said. He tried to hold it back, but you can tell the irritableness in his voice.

 

“Yes. I tried to finish up my meeting as soon as possible. I don’t want to keep you waiting.”

 

“It’s no problem,” he said waving his hand. “I have plenty of time. I just want to ask you about something.”

 

“What is it?” I asked curiously. I looked at Yuh seonsaengnim. He looked tired, like he hadn’t slept for days. He turned back to his desk and opened a folder. He slipped out a piece of paper and turned back to me. I looked at the paper with curiosity.

 

“Can you please explain this to me?” he said. The seriousness in his voice made me nervous. Am I in trouble?

 

I took the paper from his grasp and looked at it. My eyes grew wide. “How… how did you find this?”

 

“I didn’t find this. Jaegyu gave it to me,” he raised an eyebrow to me. “Can you please explain yourself? You’re the student council vice president. You should be better than this.” he wanted to shout, I could tell. But we were in the teachers’ office and I know he doesn’t want to create a scene.

 

“I-- We-- We were in hard times… I… We just wanted to help the school out. Jaegyu offered--”

 

“How many people know about this?” he asked cutting me off.

 

I stumbled with my words, “The student council… and…”

 

“Does the principal know about this?”

 

I was shocked by his forwardness, but I know that I can’t avoid answering it, “Yes.” I put my head down in shame.

 

Yuh seonsaengnim couldn’t believe a word I was saying. His hand formed into a fist and he pressed it against his mouth. “How long has this been going on?”

 

I found it hard to speak, but I managed to answer, “Since last year August.”

 

“I can’t believe something like this has been going on without the awareness of the teachers.”

 

I stood there in silence. I knew this would happen someday. It was a risky choice accepting those illegal funds. But our school was in trouble. Jaegyu had the connections to get the money and the principal agreed to it. What can I say? We were desperate to keep up the reputation of the school. 

 

“You may leave now,” he said. I looked up and he was waving his hand for me to leave. “I’ll talk to the principal about this.” He didn’t even look at me. He leaned over his desk and placed his index fingers at the temples of his head. 

 

Still holding the piece of paper he gave me, I bowed and left. I first started out walking then broke into a run. I tried to get out of the school as fast as I can. I was in too much shock to think straight. That stupid Jaegyu! I knew he wasn’t to be trusted! Why did we even listen to him in the first place?

 

I ran down the flight of stairs and ran into someone. I fell flat on my and my glasses fell off. My bag went flying from me and the folder I was holding dropped and papers were scattered everywhere.

 

I quickly searched for my glasses and put it on. I saw a boy across from me. Even though he was standing up, I’m guessing he fell down as well because he was rubbing his .

 

He looked at me, and boy did he look angry. “Ya! Watch where you’re going!”

 

I quickly stood up and fixed my uniform. “Choesonghamnida!” and bowed. “Are you hurt?”

 

He still looked angry but his face seemed to soften up, “I’m fine.”

 

I bowed and apologized once more and went to pick up my stuff. I gathered all the papers first, not caring if they were in order or not. I’ll just fix them later. I was about to pick up one this one paper, but someone got to it before me.

 

I looked up and saw that the guy I bumped into was helping me. “You don’t have to do that!” I say.

 

“I don’t have to, but I want to,” he continued picking up papers.

 

I wanted to tell him that he really didn’t have to help me, but he was being nice. I shouldn’t refuse a person’s kindness. We continued picking up the papers in silence. Once we were finished, he walked over to me and handed me the papers.

 

“Gamsahamnida. Jeongmal gamsahamnida,” I said bowing a few times.

 

“No problem. I should have looked where I was going,” he said with a small smile.

 

“No! I was the one who wasn’t looking where I was going!”

 

We both laughed at our foolishness.

 

“Well, ill be going now,” said the boy. He walked passed me to go up the stairs when I stopped him.

 

“Wait!” I turned to face him. “What’s your name?”

 

“Jung Jinyoung. I’m a new student.” he greeted and bowed.

 

I bowed as well, it was the respectful thing to do when meeting someone for the first time. “It’s nice to meet you Jinyoung. I’m Kwang Ai. Senior and student council vice president. I hope you have a great time here at Jihwan High.”

 

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” and with that said, he walked away.

 

We parted ways and I walked down the stairs. I remembered the incident that happened in the teachers’ office and felt like running away again. I picked up my pace when I heard a voice called my name.

 

“Ai?”

 

I looked up and saw Wooyoung standing in front of me. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn’t realize he was there. 

 

I greeted him and bowed, “Annyeonghaseyo.”

 

He bowed to, “Annyeong.” 

 

We kind of stood their awkwardly for awhile, not saying a word. I then realized something. “Why are you still in school?”

 

“Oh, me and a group of friends are practicing a dance for the school festival next month.”

 

“Already?” I was amazed. We haven’t even announced the official date for it, but he’s already preparing. “I never knew you could dance.”

 

“Actually I do. I won a local dance competition in my freshmen year,” he said with confidence. 

 

I was amazed. Smart, sweet, talented, and cute. “That’s amazing,” I said with admiration. 

 

“You have a meeting?” he asked.

 

“Huh?”

 

“A meeting for the student council.”

 

I snapped back into reality. I was caught up by his presence. “Oh… that. It’s already done. I’m on my way home now,” I said, blushing. 

 

“Oh. Okae. Well, I’ll see you tomorrow then,” he smiled and walked away.

 

“Oh wait!” I turned around and caught up to him. “I wanted to tell you that you are one of the two candidates to become student council president.”

 

“I am?” he had a big smile on his face.

 

I nodded my head. “Yup! You have to go to the student council room tomorrow so that we can discuss the speech you have to do and other stuff,” I said happily. 

 

“Wow,” he said. You can tell that he was genuinely surprised and happy about the news. He turned to me and bowed, “Gamsahamnida.” He looked at his watch and noticed the time. “I have to go now. See you tomorrow?”

 

“Oh, yes. See you tomorrow!” I waved at him and he waved back. I watched as Wooyung walked away with a big smile on my face. I could tell that I was blushing, but I didn’t care. 

 

I turned around and started giggling. I held up the folder I was holding to my face to cover up the big, idiotic smile I had. I left school with the conversation with Wooyoung in my head. Replaying over, over, and over again.

 

*Jinyoung’s POV*

 

“You are free to leave now,” said Moon seonsaengnim.

 

“*Annyeonghi kasayo Moon seonsaengnim,” I said. I bowed and left the classroom. 

 

It was sunset the time I stepped outside the school. I looked at my phone and realized the time, “Shoot. I’m late.”

 

I ran to the nearest bus stop and hitched a ride there. The bus ride lasted for about ten minutes before I got down and ran back to my house. I pushed open the metal gates and locked it behind me. I ran up the paved walkway up to the porch and opened the front door. I took off my shoes and placed it on the shoes rack on the side.

 

“I’m home!” I announced. “Eomma! Appa! Are you home?”

 

I walked into the living room and saw that it was empty. I heard noises coming from the kitchen. I walked inside and saw my mom at the counter making dinner.

 

“Eomma, I’m home,” I said.

 

She turned to look at me, “Oh. Hello son. Why did you come home late?”

 

“My teacher wanted me to make up some work. She doesn’t want me to be too behind.” I walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. I searched for something to drink.

 

“Well okae,” said my mother. “Listen, Jinyoung. Appa will be coming home late today.”

 

“Doesn’t he always?” I say while taking a bottle of ice tea. 

 

“So it’ll just be us two eating tonight,” she stopped what she was doing and looked at me. “Will you be alright?”

 

“I always am,” I say, avoiding her gaze. “It happens all the time.” I didn’t want to talk anymore so I ran upstairs to my bedroom and locked the door. I threw my bag on the floor and untied my tie. I can finally breathe again. 

 

I jumped onto my bed and lay down. I put an arm over my eyes. My dad is rarely ever home now. He practically lives at the hotel. 

 

I lay there for awhile when I remembered the paper from earlier. I reached for my bag while my belly is still planted on the bed. I’m lazy okae? I grabbed the strap and pulled it towards me. I the zipper and pulled out the paper I picked up earlier when I bumped into that Ai girl. 

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Ooohh, seems like Ai is in trouble! What do they mean by "illegal funds"? And what is that paper Jinyoung stole from Ai? Hmmm....

Oh, and the picture seems irrelevant, but I thought it was pretty so yeah! :D

*Annyeonghi kasayo - A way of saying goodbye. I'm not sure if it's correct though. I just found it on Google! xD

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