Hani was humming to herself while continuing to draw. She had been working on this portrait drawing for 3 days, and it’s still half-way done thanks to her procrastinating. The due date’s getting nearer, though she’s not in the mood to draw, she had to get it done before Professor Lee removed her from the course. Hani glanced at the picture, and at her drawing simultaneously. Annoyed, she erased the right eye she’d been working on for 2 hours. God, bless me with an ocean of patience so I can draw this eye in peace, she monologue. Hani began to sketch the eye, and it was almost perfect before her ringtone surprised her. She took a quick glance at the sketch – it’s completely ruined. “OH MY GOD!!!” Hani threw her pencil and answered the call.

“Hello—“

“God damn it you ruined my drawing!” Hani raised her voice, feeling annoyed to be disturbed in the middle of drawing.

“Excuse me?” the caller asked, feeling dumbfounded of being scolded.

“Urgh, ignore it you just wouldn’t understand no matter how many times I told you,” she paused to take few deep breath. “So, what’s up?” she continued.

“I heard we’re getting a new student in our design class!” the caller screamed in joy, but her high-pitched scream made Hani to feel even worse.

“Mika, take a chill pill. Why are you so excited about a new student anyway?” Hani replied while rolling her eyes.

“He’s an idol, of course I’m excited!” Mika screamed again. “Heard he’s from the new group? Alphabet? Eh, Alphabat? But man oh man, he’s so fine!” Mika began to talk faster as she’s so excited and expecting her best friend to feel the same way too.

“Alphabat? Bat as in batman? Hahahaha okay that cracked me up. They must be running around wearing capes like batman!” Hani began to laugh as she imagined a group of boys performing on stage with capes on. That would be extremely silly, she thought. “Thanks for the news, Mika. And sorry, I’m going to continue with my ruined drawing, bye!” Hani ended the call, ignoring her friend’s high-pitched voice.

Hani picked up her pencil after erasing the sketch of the eye she drew before. She was still imagining a group of boys singing and dancing while wearing capes, and it made her mood brighter. She began to draw happily, as her inspiration to draw finally came in.

***

Hani saw Mika, who was at the other end of the hallways, running towards her with a big smile on her face. She waved to her, and signaled to Mika to run faster. Class was going to start real soon, and no one wants to be late for Mr. Choi’s class. Him and his absurd assignments that everyone avoided to get. They saw what happened to their senior last semester, and man, though the design class is boring as hell, they need to obey his rules to avoid being punished. Hani and Mika entered the class at the same time with Mr. Choi, which was lucky for them as whoever entered after Mr. Choi would definitely be punished.

“Running late, girls?” Mr. Choi said, seeing Hani and Mika who dashed to their seats. “Absolutely not, sir!” Both of them said at the same time, feeling anxious if the old lecturer going to give them assignments. “Okay, let’s continue with topic 2,” Mr. Choi said, and he was about to continue when a good-looking man entered the class, panting. “Is this DE232 class?” the man who was still short of breath asked Mr. Choi. The lecturer began to smirk. “Yes, it is. And you’re…?” knowing he’s new to class, Mr. Choi demanded for his name. “I’m Hayong sir, Ji Hayong. Sorry that I’m late for my first class,” Hayong apologized.

The rest of the class noticed the evil grin of Mr. Choi, and everyone pitied the new student as he’s going to get the most ridiculous assignment ever. “And why you’re late?” Mr. Choi asked, his fingers were rolling the marker pen on the table. “Our stage ended a bit late and I caught in traffic,” Hayong replied, looking sorry that he’s already late for the first class. “Oh, an artist,” Mr. Choi paused. “I’m impressed,” he grinned. “Since you’re late for your first class, I’m going to give you a task to make up for it,” he paused, looking at his students. Hani, who was drawing instead of giving attention to what the lecturer was saying to the new student, caught his attention so he pointed to her. “You’re going to have Im Hani as your partner for this task.” He took a long pause to think of the project to give to both of them. Hani, on the other hand, began to feel cold. Why her? Why out of sudden a partner for a punishment task? She felt frustrated, afraid, angry, and all the emotion mixed up that her fingers were cold but her face was burning hot.

Mr. Choi then found a great task for them, so he said, “I want both of you to design the interior of a house for a couple that never know each other.” Hayong was so surprised that he dropped his bag to the floor. A couple that never knows each other? Hayong thought, trying to process the main idea of the task he's going to do. Hani, who couldn’t hold it much longer, stood up and asked, “Why suddenly a paired task? You usually do this individually!” Mr. Choi chuckled. “You weren’t paying attention to me at all just now, so I decided to punish you as well.” Hani was speechless so she ended up not saying anything. Frustrated with herself, with Mr. Choi, but nothing she can do since he’s her lecturer. Hayong who had been quiet for a long time, began to ask, “How exactly do you want us to design a house interior of a couple that never know each other? That’s just ridiculous.”

Upon listening the word “ridiculous”, Mr. Choi’s face turned red. “In my world, there is nothing ridiculous, Hayong.” He paused. “In designing world, anything is possible. Even the most ridiculous ideas could turn out to be the most amazing design that no one thought of doing them. And since this is ridiculous to you, Hayong, and most probably to you too, Hani, I’m going to add few details to make it even more absurd than the original task.” Hayong bit his under lip, while Hani began to clench her fist. “You need to design the interior of the whole house according to the couple’s characteristics. Imagine yourself as the couple, and get the design done that fits both of your characteristics. The twist is Hani's characteristic is for the hero, and Hayong's for the heroin. The due date should be in 2 months’ time.”

Both Hayong and Hani were quiet, knowing that the task would be harder if any of them objected the rules. “Take your seat, Hayong, I have a topic to teach,” Mr. Choi said, while flipping the notes he had next to him. The frustrated Hani then sat, losing the mood to study. She wanted to cry, and felt like this day’s going to be a very harsh day for her. Meanwhile, Hayong steps felt heavy for him. He literally had to drag himself to his seat, while his mind was arguing whether he had enough time to complete the task. He’s an idol after all, and they’re going to make a comeback with a new album soon. Unknowingly, both Hayong and Hani sighed at the same time, then thought of the same sentence – “What a bad day.”