“Han Sera? Can you please put your attention back to me?” Mr. Noh’s word immediately brought Sera back to the reality, she merely nodded as she mouthed an apology before grabbing her pen again.

“Yah, Sera.” Jihoon whispered, Sera then turned to look at Jihoon who seemed so curious about something. “What’s in your mind? You’ve been zoning out.”

Sera merely shrugged, “I’m just tired.”

Jihoon then nodded, “We better not staying at school for a while today after school, don’t you think?”

“Yeah, I think so.”

The reason why Sera had been zoning out was actually not caused by a mere tiresome. She’s just thinking about the things happened in the balcony earlier.

She didn’t know why she nodded at Baekhyun’s command to stay for a while with him. She didn’t know why she sat back beside Baekhyun and became silent all of a sudden, as if she was scared of Baekhyun. She also didn’t know why Jihoon left her alone with him, only to build a solid awkward atmosphere.

The Baekhyun she saw earlier was not the Baekhyun who annoyed her a lot at the milk café. He had that serious expression on him for some minutes before he started letting out some words, or confession.

“I actually don’t really like the fame I’ve been having.”

Sera remembered him sighing heavily as he threw a soft gaze to the vast savanna, he closed his eyes when the cool breeze blew his hair and face. As if he’s been longing for the peacefulness since a quite long time. Sera was entranced by the serenity served by his complexion, he looks so much better with that kind of expression, even though it squeezed her heart a bit because he seemed sad as well.

“The screams, shrieks, and all. I sometimes get tired of it. But then I realize that I have to be thankful of it, they’re just being supportive.” He paused a bit to take some air into his lungs. “I’m more than lucky to have such a lot number of supporters. I’m just a captain of a school’s soccer team.”

“Why are you confessing your private stuffs to me, if I may know?”

Baekhyun chuckled at Sera’s response, “You’re so boring.”

“It’s not the answer I wished to hear, anyway.” Sera rolled her eyes again, no matter how good he looks –yeah, Sera now admitted that Baekhyun looks good- he will still be an annoying boy.

“I want to know what makes a smart person, and a beautiful person like you, can be so boring.”

“You better do not put the insult at the back since people take the last word of your sentence to the heart really often.”

“Ouch, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to insult you, really. Just take the smart and beautiful one, then.” Baekhyun showed another cheeky smile to Sera which she merely brush off.

Instead of snapping another sharp words towards Baekhyun, Sera started explaining, “I think I’m just too lonely.”

“You have Jihoon.”

“He’s not my boyfriend.”

“I didn’t say~!” Baekhyun said, chuckling. “Jihoon is a very nice person, I bet he will be more successful than you.”

“Whoa, thank you for the wishes, sir.” That’s it, he’s still annoying as hell.

Sera immediately stood up and brushed the dust off her skirt, yet Baekhyun sat still.

“Thank you for the time, I wish to spend more with you in the future, will you grant it?”

“Didn’t you say that I’m boring?”

“I just feel comfortable around a boring person like you.” Baekhyun ended his words with closing his eyes, feeling the softness of the cool wind.

Sera merely sighed before leaving Baekhyun alone, she actually wanted to swear again that she wouldn’t spend more time with Baekhyun. But she couldn’t do that.

---

Baekhyun walked cheerily to his class after having a good short time with Sera. Since they met by accident yesterday, Baekhyun already had that curiosity about how would talking with Han Sera be.

“Hey, Byun-shortcake!” the deep voice of drummer Park suddenly came from behind, stopping Baekhyun’s happy steps to turn around for the giant.

“What’s up?” Baekhyun asked, a happy (rather creepy) smile was plastered on his face, making Chanyeol stepped back a bit.

“What’s with that face… did you just take drugs?”

Baekhyun’s expression instantly changed along with Chanyeol’s previous word, it turned panic and… mad.

“Yah! Do you want everyone to suspect me using drugs? What kind of friend are you?”

 Chanyeol merely let out a dry laugh as he tap the shorter one’s head. “Do you want to join summer festival? There will be dance and sing competition, and another competition too!”

“Ah, really? When will it be held?” Baekhyun said as he slapped Chanyeol’s hand off of his head.

“Less than 2 weeks, if I’m not mistaken. So, do you want to join my group? I can play the instruments and you can sing! It will be great, let’s ask Jongdae and Kyungsoo to join as well. How?”

“Whoa, what a nice idea, Mr. Park! But…” Baekhyun’s words trailed off as he signed Chanyeol to move closer.

“What?” Chanyeol said as he ducked a bit to make the shorter able to whisper something to him.

“Mmm… Will there be y girls there?”

“Yaish, this rascal.” Chanyeol laughed. “Of course, the theme is summer, of course they will use less clothes, right?”

Baekhyun merely tapped Chanyeol’s shoulder with a meaningful smile, “You know me really well. Okay, I will join it then!”

“Good! Let’s start practicing today after school.”

“Aye Aye, Sir!”

As the bell rang, signing that the school has ended, the students immediately ran out of their classes to their own destinations. Most of them went to do some activities with their clubs, and the rest may just went home.

The school is known as the best school in Seoul, most of the students are either academically smart, really good in sports, or stands out in arts. Yet their credibility in arts were something to be treasured since the students always win in every art events. That’s why so many people from music industries often come to the school to look for precious talents.

Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Jongdae, and Kyungsoo, were actually one of their targets.

“What?! How can there be such an event like this?!” Baekhyun suddenly jumped from his seat after finding out about something in his phone.

Chanyeol merely gave him a confused look while he was going to take another gulp of orange juice, “Why? What happened?”

“Stop drinking the juice, Chanyeol. Why didn’t you tell me that the summer festival competition is just for a couple? I mean, boy and girl!”

“WHAT?!” The taller one accidentally spit his juice right on the face of the captain Byun, who of course got furious in instance.

“Ya ya ya, what are you doing, huh??” Baekhyun said as he wiped the juice off with his coat’s sleeve. “Just see it by yourself, argh.”

Chanyeol immediately took Baekhyun’s phone and started reading the rule of the competition which resulted in a great disappointment, “Ah it’s done, all done….What should we do? We need to bring a trophy again this time but… this is crazy. Who should I ask to accompany me?? I have no girl!”

They fell into a thick silence for some minutes until Chanyeol said something good,

“Let’s just find some random girl to have a duet with us, how is it?”

“Mmm, not bad…” Baekhyun shrugged.

“You have many fans, right? Just ask them to gather in the theater room and ask them to sing one by one, like an audition, how?”

Baekhyun chuckled as he tap his best friend’s shoulder proudly, “I never knew that you are as smart as your sister. C’mon, let’s do it now as the school is still full with students.”

Baekhyun and Chanyeol immediately sent an announcement on SNS right away, telling all girls that they need someone to be their couple for a duet.

And of course, the respond was real quick. Who would miss the chance to have a duet with good-looking popular guys?

“So, everyone knows about the summer festival right? This year, they applied a new rule for those who want to join, they want a couple as their finalists, not solo nor bands. And we’re here to listen to your voices and decide which one of you could be our partner in the event, got it?” Baekhyun finished his explanation with his renowned smile, and the girls could only reply it with a scream that could be heard by the entire school.

But…

Since the audition started, the soccer captain couldn’t do anything besides yawning or putting a surprised face. The instruments slave also did the exact same thing, only he still could give some positive reactions. None of the girls could sing, Baekhyun thought that it’s only wasting their time.

“We can’t do this Chanyeol, no one could sing like what we wanted… they came here only to see us, not to sing.” Baekhyun said when the last girl has walked out of the theater room.

“Right… ahh then what should we do? We—ah wait a sec, Baek.” Chanyeol walked away as he got a call. Baekhyun merely nodded and decided to walk to the grand piano. It’s been a while since the last time he saw this most beautiful thing in his life, yeah, after the soccer-ball actually.

“Ah, seriously?? Thank you! Yeah, thank you so much, I’ll see you tomorrow after school, okay! --Baekhyun! I got a good news!”

“What what? Tell me.”

“Mmm,” Chanyeol suddenly stopped being excited, he scratched his neck before explaining. “Actually, it’s just for me…. You know Kim Jinhee right?”

“Ah, that girl who you have a crush on, right? What happened to her?”

“She heard about this audition, and… offered herself to be my partner, she called me to practice tonight at her house. What a perfect day right?” Chanyeol chuckled.

“What?! So you’re going to left me now? It was you who asked me first but then you leave me so soon? Don’t you want to help me find my partner??”

Chanyeol merely shrugged as he smiled, “Bye baby, just call me whenever you’re hungry, I will treat you hehe see ya, shortcake!”

“How can you…”

Baekhyun could only let his temper out by playing the grand piano. And suddenly an idea came along when he’s done playing.

He dug into his trousers’ pocket to take something which is no other than…

“Give me a chance, Han Sera.” Said the boy who play piano as perfect the way he dribbled the soccer-ball, he gave a meaningful look at the cold girl’s nametag and smiled.

“She is so freaking genius yet clumsy as hell. Why you always left anything like a dog who left their ‘mark’ after peeing, huh?” He said as he smiled again at the nametag, as if it was the owner herself.

---

“Hey, stop looking at him like a hungry dog can you?” Jihoon protested after clicking the pause button on his Nintendo.

“Song Jihoon, this is the way to refresh my mind, now can you just sit calmly and play your game again? Just let me focus on watching him, you don’t want any bruises, right?” Said Sera nicely while pinching her bestie so hard.

“I got it, I got it aaaargh stop it geez, it would turn into green soon oh my God.”

“Good boy.” Sera tapped Jihoon’s head softly before paying her attention back to the basketball field. She couldn’t stop staring at the tallest player there. Even though the Wu guy plays very well, the yells and the crowds are not as same as in the soccer field. She couldn’t even comprehend why, she always thinks that Yi fan deserves more of it than that annoying kid.

“Uhm… Sera, I need to go home now. My mom said I need to do the laundry and cook. Bye, see you, coldy!”

“Hmm, just go, just go.” Sera didn’t pay attention to him at all, not realizing the fact that Jihoon had just lied to her, Jihoon couldn’t cook at all.

[In a restaurant, an hour later]

 “Thank you for coming, Jihoon.” Baekhyun said after sending his order off to the waiter, Jihoon was still confused about what to eat so that he postponed his order.

“Ah no, it’s such an honor that you invited me to a dinner.”

“So, she didn’t know that you’re here right?”

“Nope, she won’t know. Don’t worry.”

“Good.” Baekhyun nodded, “Now I wanna ask you a simple question. Umm, so you heard about the summer festival competition right?”

“Whoa, wait, Mr. Captain. Are you trying to ask me a favor to persuade that cold girl to be your singing partner?” Jihoon said as he fixed his glasses position, Baekhyun’s way of thinking is way too easy to be read.

Baekhyun merely chuckled at Jihoon’s assumption, which is true, “You are as brilliant as your cold friend, right? Yeah, it’s just came into my mind that I should ask her to be my coup—ah, I mean my singing partner, even though I never heard her voice before.”

“Mmm,” Jihoon shifted his attention to the menu book again, “how about an ice cream? Waffle? I will give you some suggestions after that.”

“Just order anything you want, Jihoon, my friend.”

Jihoon could only laughed, which was followed briefly by Baekhyun before finally sealing their deal with a handshake.

“So… hello? Can you pay attention at me first? The ice cream won’t go anywhere, though…”

“Huh? Ah, I’m sorry, I love this so much until I lost my focus. Mmm, so you want to ask Sera to be your singing partner without getting any bruises on your precious face, right?”

“Whoa, tell me, are you a mind-reader?” Baekhyun chuckled in disbelief, Jihoon has been reading his mind and it was actually kind of creepy. But… Jihoon is the only one who could help him.

“Nope, your way of thinking are just too easy to be read. Anyway, she’s actually an expert too in singing.”

“R-really?” Baekhyun couldn’t do anything besides being blank. He has never met a girl who is an expert in so many things like her, plus, she has a different charm compared to another girl: he’s cold and mean.

“She’s good in acting too, and her paintings are just too good to be seen!”

“Is she that good?” Baekhyun tried staying cool since he didn’t want anyone knows that he start to give a special attention to this girl.

“But you know her, she is actually an ice covered with a perfect shape of human body. I guess you will still get a little bruise, hmm, maybe on cheek, is it okay?”

“Is it that hard to deal with her?”

“Yeah, sort of, it’s like catching a fly without any hands.”

Baekhyun could only let out a heavy sigh and put his head on the table soullessly. He really had no hope.

“She will surely do it.”

“Wait, what??” Jihoon is really annoying, he kept on putting Baekhyun’s hope down and then lifting it up again.

“Mhm, but only if you were Wu Yi Fan.”

“What? Wait, isn’t he the tall basketball captain?”

“Yes, she likes him so much. She will do anything for him.”

“Ah…” See, Jihoon had just threw him really hard to the ground again. “I see then. Thank you for telling me. I will go home first now. Bye, Jihoon!” Baekhyun left the café directly after hurting because of Jihoon’s information. After paying for the dinner too, of course. He wouldn’t dump Jihoon, it wasn’t his fault anyway.

But, it’s a triple shot for him today. First, his best friend left him for his crush. Second, he couldn’t get Sera to be his singing partner, because he isn’t that tall guy who plays basketball. And the last one… he knew that Sera likes that guy.

“What a nice day huh? Hahaha no, Byun Baekhyun, no… you shouldn’t have put any interest on that mean girl from the beginning… wait, what? Am I trying to tell myself to stop chasing her? It’s definitely not you, Byun Baekhyun. You always get what you want, come on, wake up. You can get her!” Said the famous flower boy to himself, not caring about the passerby throwing him weird gazes, as if he was someone who’s out of mind.

---

“Jihoon, can you do something for me? Another ice cream is enough, right?”

“Sure! Just tell me what I should do.”

It was such a good weather in a Sunday morning. Han Sera who always wake up early, suddenly jumped in disbelief when she got a text.

‘Hello, Sera. It’s me Wu Yi Fan, I just changed my number. Anyway, let’s have a dinner together tonight. How is it? Just send me your address, my driver will pick you up, see you soon.’

Sera could do nothing besides making her parents awake because of her scream in the early morning. She was so happy until she treated everyone nicely that day. What a fine day!

When the night came, she directly ran to her cupboard to find any clothes for her special dinner. She found a calm burgundy dress which looks so elegant for whoever wearing it. After trying it on, she looked for a pair of matching shoes then beautified herself. It was actually the first time for her applying make-ups –exclude the formal event, she had never been so excited and happy like how she felt that day. Too excited until she skipped her lunch only to see some make-up tutorial videos in her laptop.

“Ah, what to do… it’s almost the time.” She looked at herself for the umpteenth time at the mirror, wondering how she could transform into a very beautiful person. It’s really not her, and it’s all because of that basketball player.

“Geez, his charm is not kidding. Did he put a spell on me?” Sera chuckled as she fixed her hair once again.

“Sera, someone is picking you up, come here.”

“Yes mom! Whoa, what’s wrong with my heartbeat… come on, just relax, Han Sera.”

Someone with suit and tie came to pick her up, he was about forty and super polite. Sera could only hold her excitement inside as she bowed to the man. Yi Fan is so amazing. Really, really amazing.

“Are you Han Sera? Ah, so it’s true that you are beautiful.” The man smiled politely before opening the door, “Come in, young master has been waiting for you.”

Sera tried her best not to blush at the fact that Yi Fan told the man about how beautiful she is. “Ah, no, I’m not that beautiful. Mom, I will go now, okay? I will come home soon. See you!”

“Okay, okay, don’t come home getting married, okay? Your dad is still in his office.” Sera’s mom talked jokingly, which resulted in a light pinch on her arm by Sera.

“Young master has prepared anything very well, hope you will like it, Miss Sera.” The man said once again before

“Ah, really? Of course, I will really like it.”

After 45 minutes, the driver finally told her that she’s already arrived and asked her to go inside. It was such a fancy dining house, Sera could have drowned in excitement if she didn’t remember that she has an appointment with her dream boy. She immediately asked the waitress about the place that Yi Fan had reserved for them.

“Whoa, he reserved a VIP room just for this? What did I do to deserve it, actually?” Sera walked slowly into the room, and she saw a guy sitting on the only table in the room, back facing her.

Gosh, I’m so dead. Heartbeat please be calm.

Sera walked shyly to another chair while bowing to him. As she was done greeting him, the guy asked her to sit.

It was the time when Sera got shocked, as she found no tall, cool Wu Yi Fan sitting in front of her, but that annoying, dumb Byun Baekhyun.

Yes. That Byun guy. The guy who made the Han girl yelled in the fancy VIP room until everyone got startled. The guy who finally succeed in making her come to him. A playful smirk was plastered on his face.

“Hello, Han Sera. You look really beautiful. Had the driver ahjussi told you?”

.

“Hello, Sera! Mmm, what happened? Why are you so weak today? You usually answer Mr. Kim’s questions but why I didn’t hear your voice at all today?”

“I hate you Jihoon, go away.”

“W-wait, what? Why?”

Sera didn’t give him any answer, she left him and went directly to the library.