Song suggestion: You Better Know- Red Velvet

"For the first time, I would like to introduce my family to the public. It has been a pleasure serving the people that have consistently voted me back into office, so I feel that now is the proper time for me to openly present my wonderful family"

The crowd cheered for congressman Kim, who received much love from the general public for his kindness and constant push for improvement. He felt it was time since Hyuna was at a mature age, plus it wouldn't hurt to campaign as a family man now that he could appear to grand political events with his wife and daughter.

Hyuna bowed 90 degrees before standing straight up again. "Hello, I am congressman Kim's daughter, Kim Hyuna. Please look over me kindly."

Compared to her look at school, she had toned down her makeup and wore a refined, feminine outfit that emphasized her beauty. She smiled and waved to the crowd, which received her very well.

"She's so pretty. I never knew his daughter was a visual killer."

"I heard rumors that she's smart too, she even goes to Seoul High."

"The true definition of beauty and brains."

"Well we shouldn't just stand here, let's go! We should be a part of this rally and show our support too." Suho wrapped his arm around Chorong's shoulder and led her into the center of crowd, keeping his arm around her to ensure she wouldn't be easily shoved by the large number of people.

Hyuna watched the crowd nervously as her eyes darted back and forth between her father, who had taken over the mic, and her mother, who put on an elegant smile and continually waved towards the crowd. 

She thought about how pleasant and glowing her mom looked for once, probably because the family could comfortably be open together in public now. The mother daughter pair hadn't officially reconciled yet, but Hyuna's mom was no longer hostile and was constantly trying to change her attitude and actions towards her daughter with baby steps. Hyuna knew her mom was trying and appreciated the thought for what it was at least.

As Hyuna scanned the individuals in the crowd, she noticed Chorong and Suho standing together. 

"Do you see me?" Chorong slightly raised her notepad when she noticed Hyuna's darting eyes between her father and the sea of people.

Hyuna nodded her head at the same time her dad made an argument in his speech so the nod looked natural, as if she was agreeing with her father's statement.

"Should we wait for you downstage after the rally's over?" Chorong was shocked at the revelation of Hyuna being the daughter of the one and only congressman Kim, but then again, Hyuna had to have been someone important considering her status at school. None of the students exactly knew of Hyuna's identity at school except for administration. The students figured she must be an important person since the school was so uptight about her image, hence her reign on top of the food chain.

Again, Hyuna naturally nodded her head while making eye contact with Chorong. Suho made a quick wave at Hyuna and forced a small smile into his greeting, to which Hyuna could only smirk at his silly gesture. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Hyuna peeled Suho's arm off Chorong and greeted her with a hug. She had signalled the two to come backstage after the public rally, notifying security beforehand so they wouldn't be stopped.

"Let's not get touchy touchy now." Chorong lightly patted Hyuna's back before breaking the hug. "Who would've known."

Hyuna sighed. "It's a long story, but now everyone at school will officially know my identity. I'm not a powerful chaebol like they thought, I just have the stronger political connections, that's all. I'm surprised that my family managed to keep this under the wraps for so long."

"Are these two your friends?" Congressman Kim noticed his daughter warmly interact with the two from a distance and couldn't help but smile at how bright his little girl looked for once. He observed the handsome young man and charming lady next to him, making note of the notepad in her arms. His wife followed along his side as he walked towards them, keeping an eye on Chorong as well.

Hyuna's eyes widened since she had never introduced friends to her dad before, let alone the fact that Chorong was the mute girl her mom disliked simply because of her brains.

"This is Chorong, the top student of our grade, and that's Suho."

The two formally bowed towards Hyuna's parents, with Suho introducing himself first with a handshake.

"Hello, my name's Suho. It's such an honor to meet someone as influential as you."

Congressman Kim gladly accepted the kind words and patted Suho on the shoulder. "Thank you for thinking that way, young man."

"Hello, my name's Chorong. Likewise, it's a pleasure to meet you in person. I would've never imagined to be able to meet someone like you."

Congressman Kim shook hands with Chorong and gave her a warm, fatherly smile. "I've heard about how smart you are, plus you're a scholarship student. Very impressive."

Hyuna bit her lip out of nervousness when her mom approached Chorong, who froze, not knowing what to do.

"Don't worry, like my husband, I don't bite. So, you're the top student that permanently knocked my daughter off first place. Impressive, since I know my daughter has quite the brain too." Mrs. Kim genuinely gave Chorong a hug, feeling bad for all of the times she had badmouthed the mute girl she had never even officially met. 

Watching her mother act kindly made Hyuna sigh in relief. Wait, did mom just imply I'm smart for once?

"The scholarship students aren't causing any new troubles at school, are they? I heard from my daughter that you guys pulled quite the show at school and got expelled, but I haven't heard any news since you guys were readmitted back so I'll take that as a good sign. My efforts weren't wasted. I hope that same bravure from the performances stays with you all and I expect to see something bold again soon." He noticed Chorong and Suho exchanging odd glances at his words and smiled to himself. "Well then, I'm pretty sure you kids have a lot of things to ask and discuss amongst yourselves so my wife and I will go and head home. Make sure you all don't stay out too late."

Chorong and Suho continued to look at each other before both turning towards Hyuna. How does he know everything?

The three bowed as Hyuna's parents left. Hyuna watched the car leave, and without turning around asked, "Do you guys want to head to a cafe or something?"

"It was you, wasn't it. You were the one who helped us scholarship students back into school. The principal accused of us playing a power card but we had no idea about what the hell he was talking about, it must have been you." Chorong looked at Hyuna intently, the latter using both hands to hold onto her warm hot chocolate. 

"Long story short, yes."

Chorong looked at Suho, who understood what she wanted to ask.

"Why did you help them? At that point, you and Chorong still weren't close and it's not like someone forced you to help them. You never stopped caring for her, did you?"

Hyuna looked out the window and continued to fidget with her drink. "To be honest, I felt guilty. A part of me was telling myself good riddance, but another part of me was saying that it would to not have anyone to mess with."

"You don't mean that, I'm sure you had good intentions." Suho tapped on the table to force Hyuna's attention on him. "It must have messed you up a lot, to bully a person that you actually care for."

"No matter the fact that I still cared for her, I was still a . You can't see what I think, you can only see what I do. I still went ahead with the bullying despite what my mind was telling me. Doesn't matter how I felt when my actions were completely the opposite. I'll admit it myself, I made so many mistakes that can never be erased. Through it all, I'd like to think that helping you guys get back into school was the turning point for me."

"Why didn't you tell us? And how did you even get your dad to help?" Chorong asked with a puzzled face. Just how much did Hyuna do behind the scenes?

"Why should I have told you guys? From the point that you guys entered the school entrance and made a comeback, it didn't matter anymore. Who helped, who lifted the expulsions, all of it didn't matter. It's not like you guys would've worshipped me like I was Jesus anyways. I told my dad about your stories and he just called up the principal to see if his two cents would affect the situation."

Suho raised his eyebrows. "But if you had to tell your dad about their stories..."

"I told him literally everything except the graduation speech. There was no point in me hiding the  that I've done, he knows about my past now. My dad looked the most pissed I had ever seen him, at me and at the situation, but he was glad that I had the courage to tell him and said he would see what he could do. I knew right then and there with his reaction that he really cares for me me. I doubted him and thought of all of the worst possibilities if I told him the truth, like he'd yell about how his career would be over as congressman if people know is daughter's dark past, but praise Buddha he didn't. Let's just say I'm no longer the most innocent princess in his eyes, but it's whatever." Hyuna paused to take a sip of the hot chocolate. "I'm sure he would've preferred me to admit my wrongdoings and change from them than continue to be a fake ."

"She must have really swallowed her pride to tell her father." Chorong looked up at the dark night sky filled with stars and Suho walked next to her.

Suho nodded. "She acted nonchalant, but I'm pretty sure she was putting up a front so you wouldn't be worried. There really are a lot of things you can't tell about a person, nor will we ever find out the reasons behind everything that happens in life. I honestly didn't expect Hyuna to be behind the lifted expulsions considering her attitude at that point in time. The thought never even occured to me once." 

"To be honest, I think I'm starting to feel the pressure." Chorong opened the door to her home and ushered Suho to come in.

"Need to get something off your mind?" He walked into her house and took a seat on the modest couch. 

Chorong naturally sat next to him and started to write down all of the thoughts and feelings that had bottled up inside of her. "You know, I don't know if I feel confident about the whole idea of using my speech. I'm really, really worried. There's a lot of pressure and I don't want to let everyone down, but what if my speech doesn't live up to everybody's expectations? You, Eunji, Mr. Kwak and Ms. Lee have all done so much to help but I don't know if I'll be able to deliver in the end. What if I end up wasting everyone's efforts with something that has zero impact? It's as if the fate of all the scholarship students lies within the words of my speech. My voice that exists on nothing but paper is what will make or break our futures, yet those words will be spoken through the lips of someone else."

"Hmm." Suho stared blankly at the notepad, reading the worries over and over again. He didn't realize just how doubtful Chorong was of herself and of her abilities to deliver. He glanced at her eyes and could tell they were shaky, unsure, and full of hesitation.

"Remember how I told you to write whatever you want and what your heart says?"

Chorong nodded and looked into Suho's eyes, slightly tilting her head as if to ask, "What about it?"

"Well, that's all you need for the perfect speech. Don't think of it as a burden, maybe approach the speech like it's the last thing you'll ever be able to communicate to the world for the rest of your life. What would you want your final words be? What story do you want to tell? Don't doubt your voice just because it's through pen and paper. Trust me, your voice is just as powerful as a spoken one. If anything, just remember this one thing."

Suho took Chorong's notepad and grabbed a thick black marker.

"I believe in you."

A/N: even after one year i still love exo. ko ko bop is literally a bop and so is the entire album, bless. anyways, thanks for reading and the welcoming comments!