Junhee couldn't think of anything worse when she had Chanyeol sit next to her as her new neighbor. As this might be most girl's dream, this wasn't for her because the table next to theirs had Jieun, who just happened to be Chanyeol's crush.

Ah, how annoying, Junhee thought, staring out the window as she listened to Chanyeol try to strike up a conversation with Jieun. Surprisingly, Jieun was actually continuing the conversation with him and avoided talking about Hyunwoo. Whatever happened between Jieun and Hyunwoo wasn't her business, but she knew that if the two kept this up, then they could end up to be a couple. 

Her heart throbbed as she irritatedly looked down at her notebook to review her notes. There wasn't much on her notebook, but it was enough to keep her distracted.

"Hey," Chanyeol whispered, poking Junhee's arm. "Did something happen to Jieun?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Junhee asked. She refused to look at him. "You're in the same class, and you sit next to each other. You don't need me to be your communicator or anything."

Chanyeol blinked his eyes. "I just wanted to ask you if there's something wrong with Jieun. She looks upset."

"Have you tried asking her?"

"No."

"Then try."

Chanyeol pursed his lips. "Are you mad?"

"At?"

"Are you mad at me?"

"Do I have a reason to?"

"I don't think so."

"Then I'm not," Junhee said, closing her notebook. She glanced up at the board, then back at her notes. At the corner of her eyes, she saw him tap Jieun's shoulder.

"Hey, is Junhee mad at me?" he whispered to her. Junhee frowned, but she didn't look at him anymore. She stared down at her notes, scribbling.

"Why would she be mad?" Jieun whispered back. "Did you say anything bad? Junhee doesn't get mad at anyone for no reason."

"I don't know. She's not talking to me."

Jieun giggled. "She never really talks to anyone. You don't have to worry. This is her being herself."

As Jieun went back to taking notes, Chanyeol couldn't help but feel that she was wrong. As far as he knew it, Junhee could be pretty open and talkative. She wasn't very expressive, but she could talk to him just like any other classmate.

So why wasn't she talking to him now?

"Junhee," he called her softly. Junhee flinched and felt her heart throb. "Are you sure you're not mad at me?" He placed his head against the table. "If I said something wrong, then please tell me. I won't know unless you tell me."

"Hey! You in the back!" the teacher exclaimed, directing his attention to Chanyeol. "Put your head up!"

Chanyeol groaned and raised his head, then pretended to take notes. He glanced at the teacher, making sure that his back was facing the class. Then, he elbowed Junhee's arm.

"Hey, hey," he whispered. "Are you sure that you're not mad?"

Junhee gritted her teeth. "I. Am. Not. Mad."

"You sound mad."

"But I'm not."

"You are." He frowned. "Are you sure that I didn't do anything bad?"

"Yes," Junhee muttered, stressing her answer. "You did absolutely nothing."

"Then why are you mad?"

"I'm not…!" Junhee paused and stared at Chanyeol, who looked into her eyes for a long time. She blushed and looked away. 

He blushed, but she didn't notice.

"A-Are you sure you're not mad?" Chanyeol stuttered

"Y-Y-Yeah, I'm sure," Junhee muttered back. "Anyway, can you stop asking stupid questions like that?"

"W-Whatever," he murmured.

At the corner of Jieun's eyes, she clicked her tongue and rolled her eyes.

How bothersome, Jieun thought. It'd be nice if the two could sort their feelings for each other. Just like me and Hyu— She didn't dare to finish her thought. She only forced smiled to herself. It'd be nice if the two could stop acting stupid and say how much they like each other.

When class ended and the students were about to get up from their seats for lunch, Junhee's teacher stopped her.

"Ah, Junhee," he said. "Stay here a bit. I need to ask you something."

Junhee nodded and walked over to the teacher once she thought that most of the students were gone. Only a few classmates remained in the room, including Jieun and Chanyeol.

"Yes, sir?" Junhee answered.

"You're a talented musician, yes?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, the special class was asking if you wanted to be their pianist for an upcoming choir concert for them. You'd have to come every day after school and practice for a couple of hours with them."

"Isn't the teacher the one who's supposed to accompany them with the piano?" Junhee asked.

"Yes, but unfortunately, the music teacher broke her hand last minute and they're currently searching for a replacement. We'd have the special class members play the instrument, but that would mean that they wouldn't be able to sing, and the students came so far to redo their plan."

As Junhee and the teacher talked, Chanyeol grabbed Jieun's arm before she turned to leave.

"Is there anything I can help you with?" Jieun asked, blinking her eyes.

"Um, yeah," he said, glancing at Junhee. "Does Junhee play a lot of instrument?"

"She plays any instrument," Jieun said, looking at her friend. "She's a musical genius."

"Was she always the pianist for the special class?" he asked her. He wasn't sure why he was asking so much about Junhee's background. Since he was with Jieun, shouldn't he take this opportunity and get to know her rather than Junhee?

Jieun shrugged her shoulders. "I think so. There has never been a year where Junhee didn't perform an instrument for the school."

"Does she stand out?" he asked worriedly.

"No, not at all. In fact, it's probably Taemin who suggested Junhee to be the pianist," Jieun reasoned.

Chanyeol frowned. There was his name again. Taemin. Just what on earth did this "Taemin" guy think he is? It always seemed like Junhee was close to Taemin.

"Does Taemin do this a lot?" Chanyeol asked.

Jieun was beginning to sense the the conversation was going in a different direction. Still, she proceeded with answering his questions, pretending to be oblivious of what he was doing.

"Yeah, pretty much. Anything Taemin wants, he usually gets it from Junhee," Jieun said, nodding her head.

"So he just uses her, huh?" Chanyeol smirked. "If it's like that, then there's no way that she'd like him!"

"Why are you so concerned about that?" Jieun teased, grinning.

Chanyeol blinked his eyes. "I-I wasn't really concerned. I was just—"

"Ah, Junhee!" Jieun called, noticing that she was already heading out the door. Junhee had planned to leave quietly and let the two be alone, but Jieun had other plans. "Wait up! Don't ditch me!"

"Yeah, don't ditch us!" Chanyeol agreed.

"You guys seemed to focused with your conversation, I didn't want to interrupt it," Junhee said monotonously. 

"It wasn't that important. Really, trust me," Chanyeol said. He suddenly got the feeling that he was trying too hard to do something, but he wasn't sure what it was. "There's nothing going on between the two of us. I swear!"

Junhee gave him a sharp glare, causing him to flinch. "Oh really? Well, I'm sure you want something to happen between the two of you. If you know what you're supposed to do, then you wouldn't be chasing after me like this." She turned to Jieun. "Anyway, I'm going to Taemin to get the music sheet. Want to come with me?"

"Oh, no thanks! I want to see Hyu—" Jieun stopped, then forced a smile. "Actually, I'll go with you. Chanyeol, will you be coming, too?"

Chanyeol stared at Junhee, waiting for her response. Junhee sighed.

"There's no reason for you to come with me," Junhee muttered to Chanyeol.

"Is it because you're afraid that Taemin will think we have a thing?" Chanyeol mumbled.

"What?"

Chanyeol gasped, then shook his head. "N-Nothing!"

"No, you said something," Junhee said, frowning. "What did you say?"

"It's n-nothing. N-no big deal," he pretended to look at his phone. "Oh, look at the time! I need to use the restroom!" He made a goofy smile. "S-See you in class!"

He took of, dashing away while his heart raced in a wild beat.

"Here are the music sheets," Taemin said, handing over the stack of papers. Junhee looked thoroughly at the notes, humming the tune while she began to memorize the melody. Jieun stared at Junhee, impressed.

"You're really talented, huh, Junhee?" Jieun said, clearly amused.

Junhee turned slightly pink. "What's with you all of the sudden?"

"Not much. It's just that I just noticed how talented you are."

"Well, that makes sense. I mean, all you've done was look at what Hyunwoo did for the past few years of your life," Taemin retorted.

"Huh." Jieun looked down at her hands. "I guess I never realized that I never payed much attention to my friends."

"Well, it's not like we hated you or anything," Junhee said. "If you ever go back to loving Hyunwoo or not, I'll be fine with it. As long as you're happy, I'll be happy with how you are, too."

Jieun smiled. "You know, I have good friends."

"Did it take you this long to notice?" Taemin asked, snickering. He stopped when—at the corner of his eyes—he spotted a familiar first-year walking down the halls. Soojung briefly met eyes with him, but she quickly looked away and tried to blend in with the crowd. However, he noticed her and could locate her in the busy crowd, no matter how well she seemed to blend in with them.

Jieun glanced over her shoulder. "You're ex?"

"She grew her hair," he muttered. "Maybe it grew about two or three centimeters?"

"Taemin, don't go that far. You're acting like Jieun when she was fawning over Hyunwoo," Junhee said, looking at the last page. Then, she nodded and handed back the sheets. "Okay, I memorized it. Do you guys have practice today?"

"No, we don't," Taemin answered. He paused. "Do you need the keys to the music room?"

"That'd be great," she said, nodding her head.

"Okay, then I'll ask the teacher about that," he said. He paused. "Will you be having someone stay with you while you play the piano?"

"What? Do I need one?" Junhee asked, slightly tilting her head.

Taemin shook his head. "No, you don't."

His eyes gazed up at the tall figure lurking behind them. It looks like someone wants to accompany you, though.

After school, when the school was nearly vacant of students, Chanyeol began to grumble as he thought about Taemin and Junhee.

Did they date before? Or did Junhee like Taemin? Did Taemin like Junhee?

He banged his fist against the wall. No. If I remember correctly, Taemin was dating with a first year…

He stopped and bit his bottom lip. Wait, but I also heard that they broke up. Does that mean that Taemin developed feelings for Junhee? Ah, then what's Junhee's feelings for him?

He squatted down and crossed his hands, trying to think carefully about the situation. He really didn't like the idea of Junhee and Taemin being together. His stomach began to hurt.

"Ah, dang it!" he cursed loudly. He stormed in the halls. Maybe she's still at school. I'll just ask her myself!

He stopped momentarily when he heard a delicate piano playing at a distance. He turned his head to the direction of the sound, and subconsciously followed it. At one point, he figured that if there's someone playing the piano, it would be Junhee.

Please let it be Junhee, he pleaded desperately. I really need to ask her this question.

He eventually arrived at the music room, where the door was closed. He was afraid that if he opened the door, then the music would stop. The music, regardless of who was playing it, was soulful and beautiful. It would be a shame for him to disturb the pianist just by barging in.

However, when he slowly opened the door, the girl playing the piano kept playing. Chanyeol stared at Junhee with awe, watching her drown herself in the soul of the musical piece. The orange sunset radiated in the room, causing her to become one of its wonderful silhouette. Despite the silhouette on Junhee, he was still able to capture the mystical glow she had in her eyes.

Ba-thump.

When Junhee stopped playing, she looked up and gasped after seeing Chanyeol at the door.

"W-What… How long have you been there?" Junhee stuttered, blushing.

Chanyeol began to blush himself, and he didn't know why he was so embarrassed. "N-Not that long. Like, thirty seconds or something?"

"O-Oh." She pressed her lips. "Did you want anything from me?"

"Um, yeah. I kind of did. I wanted to ask…" Chanyeol opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He suddenly found it difficult to ask her such a question. What's your relationship with Taemin? The words weren't coming out.

"You wanted to ask what?" she asked slowly.

"U-Um… I just wanted to ask how you played that piece!"

"The song?"

"Y-Yeah."

"So you want to learn the last thirty seconds of it?" Junhee asked slowly.

"Yeah, sure, that," Chanyeol stammered.

Junhee looked at him, trying to see if he had any alternative plans. She only sighed and scooted over.

"Sit down," she said, patting down the free spot on the piano bench. 

Chanyeol stared at her. "You want me to sit there with you?"

"Yeah. It's easier for me to teach you," she said. Chanyeol was about to say something, but nothing came out of his mouth. He only nodded and carefully sat next to her. "Put your fingers on the piano."

He did as he was told. At that moment, Junhee's fingers brushed against his. He flinched, withdrawing his hand and raising them high up in the air.

Junhee frowned. "Is it that bad if I touch you?"

"No! No, not at all! I was just, um, just doing this for a quick stretch! See!" Chanyeol exclaimed, pretending to stretch his arms in the air. He faked a laugh before nervously putting his hands back on the keyboard.

What was wrong with him? He was never like this before with Junhee! Junhee was just a friend. So why was he acting all nervous and embarrassed?

It's not like I like her in that way, he told himself. He paused. Is it?

"Okay then," Junhee said, brushing away his excuse. "Anyway, press that note—"

"Junhee!" he suddenly exclaimed. He quickly cupped her cheeks and pulled her face close to his, causing her to gasp. 

"W-W-W-What are you d-d-doing?" she stammered, turning bright red.

"Wait, I need to confirm something!" Chanyeol told her. "Stay still!"

Despite being confused, Junhee did as she was told. She noticed that he was gazing into her eyes, trying to search answers. She stood still, awkward and afraid that he would hear her heart racing.

After two seconds, Chanyeol gasped for air and turned away, putting his hand on his chest. If he had cupped her cheeks longer, then there was a good chance that he would've kissed her.

No way, he thought, rubbing his stomach. I can't like Junhee. I like Jieun, right? There's got to be some kind of mistake!

Just outside of the room, a first-year clicked his tongue.

"That's no good," he mumbled to himself, grinning. "Just when I got to hear her play music, he's there to disrupt it. Ah, a pity!"

With that said, he walked away, leaving the two confused pair to deal with their own emotions.

For now, that is.