Friday had always been Kyungsoo’s favourite day of the week. Not just because it was the last day of an arduous working week, but also the fact that she had a double free for the last two periods for this particular day, which meant that she could go home and begin her weekend three hours earlier.

Recently, there was another reason.

Friday meant a break from the self-restraint. Since that afternoon, Kyungsoo had been looking at the last table more often, wanting to catch the sight of Jongin smiling. It was rather an unintentional action that affronted Kyungsoo whenever she caught herself doing it. As a result, she would deliberately only look at the first and second row to prevent her eyes from wandering to his table. It was quite a tiring thing to say the least and therefore, this was why Kyungsoo welcomed Friday with open arms.

Usually, she would be either lying on her bed with a big tub of cookie-and-cream ice cream and watch her drama or less than often, a night out with her Yixing at karaoke then dinner at different restaurants. However, that Friday, Yixing had called her during recess and invited her to a night out with Kris and his team.

At first Kyungsoo was reluctant as she didn’t want to spend another night in a club again. In the end, she agreed to it by Yixing’s convincing and bribery in the form of ice cream.

Before hanging up, Yixing gave Kyungsoo a list of clothing taboo, threatening that if Kyungsoo was to wear anything in the list, then she would strip them off right in the street. Glancing at the list, except for dresses, skirts and shorts, everything else seemed to be banned, especially her yellow Sponge Bob t-shirt, which had three big X’s next to it.

Kyungsoo went home after the fourth period, took a shower and searched for the black mid-thigh dress that had been neglected at the bottom of her closet for quite some time. She applied on some basic make-up then headed to Yixing’s house around six, with her mother unfailing reminder of her twelve-o’clock curfew.  

'So, did you manage to hook up with any guy over the last three weeks?' Yixing asked as they drove to the Japanese restaurant.

'No, it has been quite a week with my principal forcing us to increase our classes’ average grades. The work load was just crazy.'

'Then this is a perfect opportunity for you to relax and find a guy,' Yixing said. 'How about Minseok? He’s quiet and mature – just you what like. Not to mention he’s older than you by three years.'

'I don’t know. I never thought about it.' Kyungsoo pursed her lips, replying honestly.

'Kris said that he’s a very decent guy. I was surprised when he told me that Minseok works as a civil engineer. I think he would make a good husband for you.'

Grimacing at her friend’s remark, Kyungsoo asked, 'Did you ask Kris specifically about Minseok?'

'Nope, I asked about Jongdae as well. There are no points in asking about your two students and Chanyeol and Baekyun.'

'Why?'

'Well, they’re a couple, thus, no point in asking because I can’t set you up with them.'

'Oh. Oh wait. What? You’re trying to set me up, Yixing?'

The said woman briefly turned to her and grinned. 'I am only helping you to list down the potential bachelors.'

Before Kyungsoo could say anything, Yixing opened the door to the reserved room, which had already filled by Kris and his team.

'Hi everybody,' Yixing greeted loudly while Kyungsoo just bowed wordlessly.

'Hey there, babe.' Kris kissed her on the cheek as soon as Yixing sat down next to him. 'I miss you.'

'Please, it hasn’t even been three hours,' Baekyun scoffed.

'Yeah. And on top of that, you guys live together,' Chanyeol added.

'So? To me, it was like the three longest hours of my life.' Unanimously, Jongdae and Chanyeol chucked peanuts at Kris while everyone else just laughed.

Dinner was pleasant and loud with Chanyeol, Baekyun and Jongdae’s voices booming across the table. Occasionally, Luhan would join in with their playful quarrel. Minseok, Sehun and Kai ate quietly, though it was apparent that they too enjoyed the jokes. A few times of hanging around the group had made Kyungsoo more comfortable with everyone, especially Chanyeol and Jongdae.

Hanging around the group also had also given her opportunities to understand more about her three students. Maybe only two of them because Sehun’s conversation with her never made it passed a simple ‘hello’.

There wasn’t much about Luhan that surprised Kyungsoo. She was like a younger version of Yixing with her mischief and vivacity, and the way in which she poked fun at Kyungsoo at every chance she got.

On the other hand, Jongin was different to her impression. For starters, he could be talkative, especially when the topics were his beloved motorbike, books, music and dancing. Having similar taste in music and books, Kyungsoo found that talking to Jongin was quite engaging and she could attentively listen to him ramble about one thing without getting bored.

Throughout dinner, he didn’t talk much, but when he did, it was mostly jokes that nobody understood except himself. She thought it was quite adorable when he started laughing by himself.

'You took the last piece of chicken, ,' Jongin wailed, shoving Sehun aside, who seemed to be pleased with his friend’s annoyance.

Kyungsoo peered over to their side, curious of the small commotion. Chanyeol rolled his eyes from the side.  He made a sneering face as he told her. 'He’s got this chicken craze, don’t mind him.'

She nodded knowingly, looking with great interest at a sulking Jongin. She decided to give him her untouched piece of chicken. He gave her a reluctant look. She said, 'Have it. I don’t plan on eating it anyway.'

Muttering a thank you, he took the plate from her hand and ate away eagerly. The next time they had chicken delivery, Kyungsoo would always give him half of her portion and soon, he learned to accept it without hesitance. It wasn’t that she dislike chicken; it was just she liked the joy on his face more.

After dinner, they headed to the karaoke next to the restaurant. Initially Kyungsoo opted not to sing, still feeling shy around them. However, once everyone had had their go, they turned to her and demanded her to sing.

'I’ll pass,' she said, giving the microphone to Yixing, who shoved it back into her hand instead.

'You have to sing.' Chanyeol pretended to put on a serious face. 'You've listened to our disastrous wailing. So we need to hear yours in case you’re going to use ours to blackmail us in the future.'

She rolled her eyes at him. 'No, I won’t. Mr. Dramatic.'

'I don’t care.' He shook his head. Yixing decided to ignored Kyungsoo’s pleading gaze. Reluctantly, she selected ‘Sunday Morning’ and began to sing. Her uneasiness soon faded away when Baekhyun and Jongdae joined her. In the background, Minseok and Kris clicked their fingers to the song.

Looking towards the back of the room, she accidently found Jongin boldly staring at her in amusement. She diverted her gaze, abashed.

Yixing patted cheeks as she sat down, and she swatted her hands away. The door was knocked and opened; a waitress came in with cups of ice cream on her tray. Taking the cup with green tea and cookie-and-cream, Yixing gave it to Kyungsoo, who received it with a childlike grin on her face. Everyone else took a cup and began eating.

'Hey, next week’s long weekend. How about we go on a mini vacation to the beach for one night?' Chanyeol suggested.

Luhan whispered something to Sehun, who then exchanged a few words with Jongin, then replied in an enthusiastic voice. 'We’re going.'

'So how about the rest of you?'

'Count me in,' Jongdae said. Baekhyun gave a nod of affirmation while Minseok shook his head. 'I need to stay home to work on my new project.'

Chanyeol turned to the remaining three people. 'We’ll go,' Kris said while feeding Yixing a spoon of his caramel ice cream.

'How about you, Kyungsoo?'

Hearing her name, Kyungsoo looked up from her cup. 'Uhm…I’m not sure. Probably not.'

'Come with us. It’s going to be fun. And also, we want to know more about you,' Chanyeol said.

Yixing leaned close to her ears and whispered. 'A lot of hot guys will be there. You might find your Mr. Right.'

Pushing her friend away, she rolled her eyes. 'I’ll think about it and let you know.' She told Chanyeol.

------

Needless to say, it took Yixing very little effort to convince Kyungsoo to join the beach trip. While Kyungsoo was a strong-minded person, Yixing knew that her friend has a soft spot for her and more than often, she would use this fact to her advantages. And she was proud of it.

On the following Friday, Kyungsoo went to Yixing’s house with her tote bag, helping the latter with her late packing up. Kris came to pick them up in his red Mazda CX-5 SUV. In the passenger row was Jongdae, who gave Kyungsoo a warm greeting when she entered.

'How will the other people get there?' she asked, noticing the absence of the rest of the group.

‘Chanyeol is taking them in his car,' Kris replied.

They took turn to select songs on the way. The playlist was a weird mix of rap (Kris and Jongdae’s choice), Yixing’s Chinese pop and Kyungsoo’s depressing ballads. Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s discussion about music quickly evolved into a conversation about different things.

She learned that everyone in Kris’ team, except the student trio, actually had a stable full-time job during the day. Jongdae was a well-known music composer under the pseudonym of Chen, while Baekhyun and Chanyeol work as a pharmacist and computer engineer respectively.

'How about Kris?' she asked.

'In his case, the job is more of a part-time one.' Jongdae reached for the magazine in the front of his, flipping to a particular page and gave it to her.

Looking at the page, her eyes widened with surprise. 'He models for Bonds?'

'Well, it’s not exclusively clothing. He does cologne and cosmetics too.'

Kyungsoo spent the remaining time of the car drive gawking at Kris.

------

They arrived at the beach just before twilight. Parking the cars at a car park nearby, they all ran down the beach, wanting to catch the sight of the sun going down. Suddenly, Kyungsoo wanted to be alone. She walked away, not too far from the group, then plopped down onto the sand and looked out to the sea.

The orange sky with hues of pink was beautiful, just like that afternoon. The sound of waves crashing down and the cold breeze blowing against her brought back all the feelings of that day. Standing on this beach, she was rejected by Junmyeon, a senior who she had loved for three years.

She remembered giving him a smile and walking away, then returning soon after she saw him kissing her best friend, Hyorin. Sitting here, she recalled crying for the loss of a best friend and her unrequited love.

'Are you thinking of him?' Yixing plopped down next her, an arm swung around Kyungsoo’s shoulders.

'Yeah.' Kyungsoo replied, leaning her head against her friend’s shoulder.

'Don’t be sad. He’s idiot anyway, choosing that plastic doll over you.'

Kyungsoo nodded absently. To be honest, she was over him a long time ago. But the memory still saddened her a little whenever she recalled it.

She and Yixing sat in silence, basking in the tranquillity of late afternoon for some time before heading to the hotel.

------

'You look so cute in that, Kyungsoo,' Luhan cooed at her teacher. Kyungsoo had allowed her students to refer to her by her given name to avoid unwanted stares and attention.

Yixing agreed, looking at her friend. 'I’m surprised. Who would have thought a flat-board like you could pull off that red two-pieces? Must be the big and thick thighs that did the miracle.'

'Well, now you know that not everyone needs big s like yours to look good in a swim suits. And fyi, my thighs are not big,' Kyungsoo retorted. 'As for you, Luhan, don’t call me cute. I’m your teacher for goodness sake.'

'What’s wrong with calling my teacher cute?'

'I don’t appreciate being called cute,' Kyungsoo snapped as she applied sunscreen onto her body.

Snickering at her friend, Yixing explained to Luhan. 'She’s a little sensitive about that. It reminds her of her childlike body.' Luhan raised an eye in amusement, repeating ‘You are so cute’ and cackling along with Yixing.

'I hate you two,' Kyungsoo said before she stomped out of the room, slamming the door loudly, which only served to further amuse Yixing and Luhan.

They quickly followed her to meet up with the guys. Men whistled at Yixing as she walked past them, calling after her. The music teacher turned her head and gave them the finger. Having seen this, Kris jogged up to her, wrapping a possessive arm around her waist, pulling toward to a different direction. Luhan and Kyungsoo sniggered from the back.

Her eyes fell upon Jongin. The sight of him lying on the sun lounger with his sunglasses on had Kyungsoo’s mouth going dry. His defined abs and golden tanned skin made her blushed. Catching herself staring, she looked away, suddenly finding the sand quite interesting.

Jongdae had disappeared with a woman. Jongin and Sehun relaxed on the chairs while Kyungsoo watched people swimming.

After failing in attempt to move Sehun from the sun lounger, Luhan turned to Kyungsoo and pulled her out into the water. Luhan jumped onto her, causing her to fall face-down into the water. Flailing her hands around, Kyungsoo attempted to stand up, only to be pushed down again and again.

'I’m going to kill you.' She chased after Luhan back to their area. The taller girl ran away from her and toward Sehun, who was in the water now.

Kyungsoo walked back to their area, stopping when she saw Jongin sitting up and looking at her. For some reason, she felt embarrassed by his gaze. She sat down onto the chair next to him, pretending to observe the sea.

'Do you want to do sand burying?' He stood up and stretched his limbs.

'Probably not. I don’t really like the sun.'

'Then give me a hand.' Together, they used paper plates as shovels to dig a big hole in the sand.

Jongin jumped into the whole, testing the depth of it. With his back to her face, Kyungsoo noticed a tattoo imprinted cross his shoulders. Leaning a bit closer, Kyungsoo mouthed the name ‘Han Sunmi’. Curiosity and a tint of jealousy plagued her mind. 

'Is it your girlfriend?' she asked.

'Who?' He looked at her, confused. She pointed at his back. He looked over his shoulders and replied. 'That’s my mum.'

'Oh,' she said dumbly, feeling a little silly. 'You must really love your mum to have her name engraved onto your body.'

He said nothing in reply. Instead, he watched her with intense eyes the whole time. Kyungsoo berated herself for being nosy as she tried to ignore his gaze.

'There, I finish.' She grinned at him, swatting down beside him.

‘Sit down,' he commanded in an irritated tone, eyes not meeting hers. Although confused, she obliged. 'Why?'

He raised an eyebrow at her and she did the same. A sigh escaped from his mouth when he realised that she really did not understand.

'Hey, Jongin. I just want to say thanks for your effort to improve your results.'

His irritated expression morphed in amusement as he laughed softly. 'Why are you thanking me? Isn’t it my duty as a student?'

'It is. But you wouldn’t try if you did not want to. You’re not that type. So really, thank you.'

'Honestly, you’re the first teacher who actually gave a damn about my results.'

'Really? Don’t other teachers bug you about it?'

'No. They don’t really care. Or I should say, they’ve been paid not to.'

She was deadpanned. 'What do you mean by paid?'

'My dad doesn’t like them bothering him about my marks. It stains his reputation as a senator, you know? So he pays to shut them up.'

'Then why hasn’t he paid me?' Seeing his frown, she quickly explained, 'Not that I’m going to take it. I’m just curious.'

'Probably because you haven’t called him up to complain about my marks yet,' he said. 'Help me to get out. I’m starting to burn.'

She began to dig out the sand with her mind still trying to join the dots of information together. 'Jongin, what did you mean when you told me that if you had a choice, you wouldn’t do Biology?'

He jumped out of the whole and retreated into the shade. 'My father wants me to become a lawyer or a doctor so he forced me to take up those subjects.' She scoffed, 'Your father doesn’t really look at your report, does he?'

'He does. But I couldn’t care any less about what he thinks,' he said, diverting his gaze to the sand around him.

'Jongin, why do insist on coming to classes instead of skipping them when you don’t really care about your dad’s opinion?' she asked. 'I just find it really strange.'

'I could if I really want to, but I won’t,' he said. 'I made a deal with my dad, as long as I don’t attend classes, then I can live outside that hell of a home.'

She waited for him to explain more, but didn’t press for it when he prolonged the silence. Instead, she changed the subject of their conversation.

'Why did you choose Kai for your stage name? Why not just use your real names like everyone else?'

'And risk the chance of my dad knowing? He would force me to go home,' he said. 'And Kai is just a random choice. This good friend of mine chose it for me and I just went along with it.'

'How long have you been dancing for?' His eyes lit up a little at the word dancing. He replied proudly, 'Since I was seven.'

'Whoa. You have been dancing for at least ten years. No wonder why you dance so well,' she gasped. 'What inspired you?'

'My mum did. She was a professional ballet and jazz dancer. She taught me when I was young.' A fond smile grew on his face as he talked about his mother. 'I only loved those dances until one day when I saw Michael Jackson on television. That was when my passion for dancing began to expand. I want to learn about the art of dancing, the different types – everything about dancing and perform to the world.'

Kyungsoo was shown to a new side of Jongin. She discovered that under the indifferent exterior, he was a passionate man with a dream. Admiration filled her eyes as she looked at him. Turning to her, he asked, 'Did you always want to be a teacher?'

'Not really,' she replied, feeling a slightly embarrassed.

'Then why did you do it? Didn’t you have a dream career? You look like the type.'

A sigh left . 'I never had a dream career. I chose education because of the stable nature of the job – I like routine and schedules.'

'Don’t you have other dreams?'

Pursing her lips, she became silent for a second before giving a reply. 'I’ve always wanted to start a family and be a mother.'

'Who would have thought?'

She slapped his arm playfully. 'Hey, don’t be mean.'

'No, it’s just I didn’t expected that.' He looked at her with fondness. 'But I’m sure you would make a good mother.'

Astounded by his words, she asked, 'How do you know?'

He smiled at her confidently.

'I just know.'