Junhee stiffened and glanced at the corner of her eyes. Throughout the entire day, she had felt a pair of eyes staring directly through her soul. At first, she was thinking that someone was secretly looking at her, but now, it was evident what the source was: Park Chanyeol.

It seemed like he had been staring at her for hours, giving her this look of confusion and disbelief. She wanted to turn and ask him if there was anything wrong, but every time she looked at his direction, he would act startled and quickly turn his head. 

Does he want to talk or not? she wondered. She frowned, irritated. Damn it. Why is Chanyeol so quiet all of the sudden? It's making me feel weird again.

When did I like her? Chanyeol asked himself. He peeked at the corner of his eyes to see if she was looking. When she let out a sigh and turned back to the board, he turned his head and stared at her direction. Why do I like someone like her? She's not even my type. She doesn't even appreciate art. 

Why is he staring at me? Do I have something on my face? Junhee reached over her cheek and started to rub it. She wasn't used to feeling self-conscious about herself. It made her feel odd and out of place.

Meanwhile, Chanyeol's heart squeezed when he saw Junhee rubbing her cheek. Aw, that's cute. He stopped his thoughts and quickly shook his head. No! Stop it! Chanyeol! You like Jieun! Right, right! You like Jieun— He turned his head to looked at Jieun, but she was sleeping with her face burrowed under her arms. He scowled at himself. Well, how am I supposed to assure myself that I like her when she's not even looking at me?

"That's it for lessons! Don't forget to go home early! The third years will need all the peace and quiet at school since they're preparing for their college exams!" the teacher told them. The students responded with a lame "Yes" and started cleaning up as soon as the bell for lunch rang.

Jieun quickly lifted her head at the sound of the bell and grinned over to Junhee's side. "Junhee! It's lunch time!"

"I can see that," Junhee said, cleaning up her area. "Are you going to Hyunwoo?"

"Oh, no! Not today! I promised Hyunwoo that I'd give him some personal space today!" Jieun said in a cheery tone.

"And you're respecting that?"

"Yup!"

"Wow, I'm impressed," Junhee said, praising her friend.

"It that I can't see him every second, but it seems like the more I do that, the more he warms up to me," Jieun said, grinning. "So, where are we going? Are you going to the music room to practice with Taemin?"

Chanyeol twitched his ears at the particular name. "Why is it always Taemin…"

"Did you say something?" Junhee asked Chanyeol, staring at him.

The boy quickly shook his head. "N-No. Nothing."

Junhee looked at him a little longer before looking at Jieun. "No. We're doing that after school. Also, we decided to eat here in the classroom. Taemin and I have a lot of catching up to do. It looks like Taemin wants to talk about the event with me, and it's just easier for him to come to me rather than me going to him."

"Can you stop mentioning that name?" Chanyeol said, raising his voice. 

Junhee blinked her eyes. It was her first time seeing Chanyeol get angry at her, and it was definitely an unexpected reaction.

"Um, what name—"

"That name!" Chanyeol said, emphasizing "that" as if it was some kind of object.

Do you know what his problem is? was the look that Junhee gave to Jieun.

I don't know. You're the one who likes him, was Jieun's mental response.

"Well, um, okay then," Junhee muttered. She pointed at his desk. "Are you going to hang out around here? I want to use your desk so that I can make a bigger table for my friends."

Chanyeol tapped his fingers against his desk. He leaned back, rocking his chair by its two feet, thinking about her question.

"Is that guy going to sit here?" Chanyeol asked her.

Junhee frowned. "Who are you talking about—"

"That guy," he said. "Is he going to sit here?"

She gave him a long stare. "How the hell am I supposed to know where Taemin wants to sit? He can sit on that chair or that chair or maybe even Jieun's chair!"

"I'm sitting in my own chair, for your information," Jieun chirped in.

"I'm just asking if he's going to stay here because I just don't want him to sit at my spot!" Chanyeol exclaimed, acting innocent. 

"What are you, a kid? You're acting as if Taemin has cooties or something!" Junhee pointed out.

"Well, maybe he does have cooties!"

"Oh, shut up, Park Chanyeol! I—" She stopped herself, then took a deep breath. "You know what? Your seat is yours. I'm not going to even go into this argument."

"Good," he mumbled, taking out his lunch. "Then I'm just going to sit here and eat my lunch."

"Okay then."

"Fine."

"Good to know."

"I know."

The two kept very quiet for the next few minutes. Junhee sighed and turned to Jieun, who had been watching the two in amusement.

"What?" she asked.

"Nothing," Jieun stated innocently, staring at her with wide eyes that sparkled. "I just have a feeling that Dasom would've liked to be here."

"What does that mean?" Junhee asked.

"Nothing," Jieun said again, grinning.

Junhee rolled her eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to see if the rest are coming. I'll be right back."

Jieun nodded and watched Junhee leave the room. Chanyeol's eyes followed her, too, until she had disappeared. He let out a small sigh and his his fingers through his hair.

See? Junhee and I don't even get along, Chanyeol thought. That's another reason why I shouldn't even like her. No, there should be absolutely no reason for me to like her at all.

"You must really not like Taemin," Jieun said out-of-the blue.

Chanyeol looked at her. "What? Why wouldn't I like Taemin?"

"Because he's close with Junhee," Jieun said, grinning at him.

Chanyeol's ears turned red. "W-What? Are you implying that, Park Chanyeol, like Junhee?"

"Isn't that just beautiful?" she asked, squealing.

"I don't like Junhee! I like you!" Chanyeol blurted. He suddenly widened his eyes and kept quiet while biting his tongue.

The final three words left a bad taste in his mouth. They were not as romantic as he had thought they would be. There was absolutely no color or heart that he put into those words. It was as if he was forced to say those words because the situation called for it.

Bleh, he thought, scrunching his eyebrows. I said that so easily. Bleh.

"Sorry, but I was taken by Hyunwoo since I was born," Jieun said, sticking out her tongue. She suddenly gave him a large smile, but it caused Chanyeol to pale and shudder. It was a look saying that she was disappointed in him, but it was also an expression that could easily be interpreted as another smile. "Besides, I don't sense any sincerity in your confession. Do you really like me in that kind of way?"

Chanyeol dropped his jaws, unable to say anything else. He stared at her for a long time until Junhee came back with Taemin and Eunji. Jieun turned around and smiled at the new friends.

"Taemin! Eunji! Yay!" Jieun cheered.

"Jieun, you should've at least grabbed some chairs for us to sit or made a bigger table," Eunji said.

"I was busy talking with this guy," she said, pointing her finger at Chanyeol.

Junhee looked at the two before looking away. Oh yeah. That's right. Chanyeol likes Jieun a lot. Of course they would talk.

"Well, Dasom said that she's running late. Apparently she wants to punish Myungsoo or something," Taemin informed her. "Although I think it's pointless for her to do that because Myungsoo isn't here today."

"What about Byunghun?" Jieun asked.

"Date," the three of them answered in unison.

"A date? With Sohyun? Geez, I'm so jealous!" she whined. "I hope Hyunwoo and I can go on a date like them, too!"

"They're just playing a game of basketball and eating together. I don't see what's romantic in that," Junhee said. 

"What would be your romantic date?" Taemin asked. He paused for a moment, then looked over his shoulders, only to see that Chanyeol was glaring at him. Do I know him?

"Something with music. I don't know, maybe just playing some songs together," Junhee said. She turned slightly pink. "Or having my boyfriend sing to me while playing music would be nice…"

"I know a good candidate for a boyfriend if you ever need one," Jieun said, smirking at Chanyeol.

Chanyeol shot her a small frown. "Well, I think you're completely wrong about that, but I'll let you believe in whatever you want."

Taemin and Eunji stared at the two in confusion, while Junhee felt a small pain tug her heart.

Of course. They're getting so close to the point where we don't even understand what they're talking about, Junhee said. She sighed. "No, I don't think I need a boyfriend right now, Jieun."

"Well, if you ever want one, you know where you can find me," Jieun said, pointing at her desk.

Junhee giggled after four desks were finally put together. "Of course, of course."

"Well? Let's sit down and eat," Eunji said, taking her seat. Everyone began to sit down until a random student called out Junhee's name. They paused and looked up, noticing that a classmate was trying to find Junhee.

"Is Junhee here?" the student asked.

"I'm here," Junhee said, raising her hand.

"There's a first-year who wants to see you!" the student informed her. "He's a guy!"

Junhee frowned and looked at her friends. "Do I know any first-years that are guys?"

"I don't think so," Taemin muttered.

"Hm… Well, be right back," Junhee said. She left the group for a brief moment and headed out the door.

The moment she left, the three started to huddle together. Chanyeol, interested with the group's changed behavior, scooted closer to eavesdrop on them.

"There's a guy," Eunji whispered. "Was Junhee ever close to guys?"

"This is a confession. It's got to be a confession," Jieun said with full determination in her voice.

Chanyeol frowned. A confession? Junhee? Getting confessed?

"That's crazy," Taemin muttered. "Junhee isn't that popular with guys. People don't really like her because of her cold attitude."

"Well, Taemin, I don't know if you didn't know this, but I hope you remember that you actually fell in love with a girl who has a cold attitude," Jieun said, gently tapping his shoulder.

Chanyeol widened his eyes. Taemin used to like Junhee?

"Shut up. Soojung isn't like that," Taemin muttered. Chanyeol let out a sigh of relief, while Taemin let out a heavy sigh. "This is making me feel sick again."

"Someone get up and eavesdrop on them," Jieun ordered.

"Why don't you go up and do that?" Taemin suggested.

"Eunji, you do it!" Jieun exclaimed.

"No! I don't want to get involved with something like this!"

"What are we talking about?" The sudden voice behind them startled the group. They separated and turned around, only to see that it was Dasom. They let out a sigh of relief, then the girls quickly pulled Dasom into their huddled talk.

"Junhee was called out by a first-year boy," Jieun informed her. "Did you see that?"

"Junhee? Oh, yeah. I saw," Dasom said. "I went on a date with him last time."

The group stared at Dasom for a long time.

"You didn't do anything to stop him?" Taemin asked.

"Nope," Dasom answered.

The three quickly excluded Dasom.

"What is he then? A player?" whispered Eunji.

"Junhee can't be with a player! She deserves better than that!" Jieun screeched.

"Maybe he's just a flirt," Taemin suggested.

"Wait, but would Junhee even accept it?" Eunji asked them.

"Guys," Dasom said, trying to catch their attention.

"Oh, you're right. Knowing Junhee, she's not the kind who would take a random confession," Taemin said, nodding his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Junhee is definitely more tough than any of us. She knows how to reject confessions!" Jieun agreed.

"So there's nothing for us to worry about?" asked Eunji.

"You guys," Dasom repeated.

"Probably. We can trust Junhee that she'll make the right decision," Taemin mumbled.

"But what if she's bribed? Or even worse, black-mailed?" Jieun suggested.

Dasom let out a loud groan, earning the group's attention. "Will you guys finally listen to me?"

"Sorry, Dasom. We didn't hear you in the background," Jieun said. She earned a quick smack on the back of her head. "Ow! That hurts!"

"You had it coming," Dasom said, smirking. "Anyway, I'm trying to tell you guys that it wasn't really a date. Myungsoo set me up with him and it didn't look like he was after me. During our date, he kept talking about Junhee."

Chanyeol looked at her. "Junhee? You two kept talking about Junhee on a date?"

"It's a long story," she murmured. "It doesn't look like he means to do any harm. I say we leave them alone and see what happens. When I was coming here, Junhee looked really happy."

"Happy? What would she be happy about?" Jieun asked, frowning.

"Music," Taemin answered. He earned stares from his friends. "Well, what I know, if you ever want to make Junhee really happy, it's talking about music.

"That's true," Eunji slowly agreed. "Music is Junhee's favorite topic."

"But that can't be Junhee's only favorite topic, right?" Chanyeol asked them in a small voice. 

"Well, there are definitely other things that makes her happy, but from the way she was jumping around the guy, it looks like they were talking about music," Dasom told him. While Chanyeol remained stunned, she turned to the three. "Anyway, I say leave them alone. I'll keep an eye on the kid just in case. He worries me a bit."

"I'll keep an eye on him, too," Taemin offered. "After all, I'm going to be with Junhee for quite some time. We need to work on the concert and everything."

"That sounds good," Dasom said, nodding her head. She looked up. "Oh, here she comes."

The friends looked up and saw Junhee skipping towards them, her face beaming with complete joy. She grabbed a chair and happily sat down with the group, still keeping the wide smile on her face.

Jieun squinted her eyes. "I swear, I can see flowers around you, Junhee."

Junhee grinned at her. "Really? I'm just in a really good mood all of the sudden!"

"Well, as long as your happy, it's okay with us," Taemin said, ready to eat his lunch.

"Oh, Taemin! You know how we're going to talk about the arrangements and everything today after school?" Junhee asked him. He nodded. "Is it okay if I invite my new friend?"

"You mean the guy you met just now?" he asked. A frown appeared on his face. "I don't know, Junhee. Is he even trustable?"

"I don't really know about that, but he seems really into music! I actually offered him to come after school, so it'd help me a lot if you said yes," Junhee said, gently biting her bottom lip.

"Well, I don't see why not. Su—"

"You're supposed to say no!" Chanyeol blurted, butting into their conversation. Taemin and Junhee stared at him with wide eyes. 

"And why would I say no…?" Taemin asked him. Do I even know him?

"That, well, um—" The flustered boy slowly looked away. "I honestly don't know why…"

Jieun quickly took this opportunity to add an unnecessary suggestion. "You know what? You should go and hang out with Junhee and her new friend! You know, bond together with music!"

Taemin scowled at the suggestion. "Jieun, you know that I don't like it when there's too many people getting involved in my world—"

"Oh, come on, Taemin!" Jieun exclaimed. "You know, for someone who liked me before, you're supposed to just nod your head quietly and go along."

Chanyeol looked at Taemin. "You liked Jieun?"

Taemin groaned. "It was a long time ago!"

"Of course it was a long time ago. Why else would you still be sulking over your break-up with Soojung?" Dasom teased.

The boy turned red. "I-I'm not sulking—You—I—Ugh! Never mind!" He quickly dug into his meals. "Whether that guy is coming or not, I don't care anymore. Let me just eat my lunch!"

The girls giggled at Taemin and went back to their meal. Before Junhee touched her food, she gave Chanyeol a brief look.

"Are you really going to come?" she inquired.

Chanyeol pondered on the question for a few minutes. He had planned to head straight to the art room and start on a new project. Was there any reason for him to abandon his true interest and go to the music room to spend hours and hours listening to some kind of musical piece that he could hear on the internet? The thought alone was absurd! There was no way—absolutely no way—that he would go just to see what kind of guy Junhee was befriending—

"Oh, just make sure that you guys don't do anything romantic," Taemin told Junhee. "The least thing I want to see is you getting lovey-dovey with a completely stranger—"

"I'm going," Chanyeol interrupted. He gave the two a look of determination. "I'm going to come to the music room after school."

Junhee sighed. "You don't have to force yourself—"

"Nope. I'm not forcing myself. I'm going," he declared. Like I'm going to let these new guy start making out with Junhee. Ha! Over my dead body!

"…Niel, this is Chanyeol and Taemin. Guys, this is Niel. He just transferred this semester," Junhee said, introducing the boys to each other.

The two boys frowned when they saw Niel's fake smile. Even Junhee caught sight of the forced look, but she refused to say anything.

Well, as long as he doesn't bother us, I'm okay with it, Taemin thought. He extended his hand out. "Nice to meet you, Niel."

"The pleasure is all mine, Student Council President!" Niel exclaimed, grinning at him.

"Just call me Taemin," Taemin told him. 

"I heard that you broke up with Soojung. I'm sorry to hear that," Niel said.

Taemin grimaced. "You sure know how to make someone feel very uncomfortable…" He turned and saw Junhee giving him a small look of plead. "However, I'll make this an exception since you're Junhee's music buddy."

Niel beamed. "Did she really say that?" He turned to Junhee. "Am I really your music buddy?"

"I-I'm her music buddy, too!" Chanyeol piped up.

Junhee frowned at him. "Chanyeol, you know nothing about music."

"I do know some music! Like…that!" Chanyeol went over to the piano and started pressing random keys. "This is a piano! See? I know music!"

Taemin stared at the boy with clear disapproval. "There is so many things wrong with that statement, but I won't get to it. Junhee, come on. Let's get on with this."

For the next two hours, Taemin and Junhee kept talking about how the song would be arranged and played. The sound of Taemin singing and Junhee playing the piano filled the empty silence of the room. At the side, Niel and Chanyeol sat down on a random chair, listening to the piece.

Slowly, Chanyeol started to regret coming to the music room. The new boy clearly wasn't going to do anything any time now. All Niel did was sit besides him, watching Junhee with eyes of pure admiration.

Chanyeol scoffed at himself. I saw someone as a threat. A threat. How ridiculous is that. Plus, this guy doesn't even like Junhee! I don't even like Junhee in that kind of way!

"I think we can take a short break," Taemin finally said. "I'm going to get a drink. Want anything?"

"Water would be fine," Junhee said.

"Okay." He turned to the two boys. "You guys want water, too?"

"Sure," Chanyeol said. He looked at Niel, who politely nodded his head.

"Alright. Junhee, want to help me carry the water bottles?" Taemin asked her.

"Okay. You two stay here, okay?" Junhee told them. She hurried to Taemin's side and left the room with him, leaving the two boys alone.

Chanyeol let out a loud sigh before rotating his neck. "Aren't you bored?"

"Bored of what?" Niel asked innocently.

"Bored of this," Chanyeol said. "All I hear is music. Just looking at it makes it even worse. She's just sitting there and pressing the keys."

Niel examined Chanyeol a bit before giving him a smirk. "That's good."

Chanyeol paused, then looked at Niel. "Excuse me?"

"You're not a threat. That's good," Niel said. He got up from his chair to stretch. "Junhee definitely doesn't need someone like you in her life. There's absolutely no way that she would like you."

Woah, woah, woah. Chanyeol continued to look at Niel. "How do you know if she doesn't like me?"

"Junhee likes a guy who has a sense of music. I knew that she was getting along with you more recently, but I'm glad to know that you don't have any romantic interest in her," the first-year said.

"What are you trying to say?" Chanyeol asked, still confused. He shuddered with Niel gave him a playful smirk.

"Isn't it obvious?" Niel asked him. "I'm in love with Junhee, so stay out of our relationship, got it?"

Chanyeol dropped his jaws and stared at the completely different boy. He's a two-face! He's a freaking two-faced first-year—

"We're back!" Junhee exclaimed, holding two bottles of water in her hand. She handed one to Niel, who quickly went back to his "good boy" image. She turned to give one to Chanyeol, who had his eyes glued to Niel. "Is there anything wrong?"

Chanyeol snapped out of his thoughts and looked at Junhee. Then, he looked back at Niel before taking his water bottle from her hands.

"Nothing," he mumbled uncomfortably. "Nothing's wrong…"

"I say we go at it for another two hours before I close this room," Taemin said out of nowhere. "How does that sound, Junhee?"

Junhee whirled around until she caught sight of Taemin waiting for her at the piano bench. "Um, yeah. That's fine with me…"

She looked back at Chanyeol to ask him if there was anything wrong again, but he refused to looked at her. With a small shrug, she went back to Taemin's side and continued to play the piano, temporarily forgetting about Chanyeol's pale complexion.