--

Homework: 

English: as if
History: please
Biology: don’t know
Chemistry: don’t care
Advance Maths: why am i even in this class???????????????????


--


After the slight revelation that day, there is no escape for Soojung anymore as evidences begin to pile up in her eyes.


It is as though a light bulb has been switched in her mind and the switch is stuck on the on button. Because no matter how much Soojung tries not to be too aware of her surroundings, the more she actually sees what and why Song Qian, Donghae and Siwon have been whispering about all this while.

Unbelievable. Soojung shakes her head for the umpteen time as she stares from her seat at the corner of the room. This is worse than a Korean drama.

As Song Qian walks past her, Soojung latches a grip onto her arm and pulls her closer. “Help.” She pleads in the most pitiful tone she could muster. At first, Song Qian doesn’t know what the maknae is meaning, but when she follows her line of vision, she chuckles softly. “You’ll get used to it. Trust me.”

“No, you don’t understand!” Soojung hisses in the lowest tone as possible. “I absolutely do not mind open skinships and flirtings, but that--” She gingerly points at the two seniors sitting on the council couch, deep in discussion over something Soojung doesn’t even want to know. “--I just cannot handle!”

Song Qian fights the urge to laugh. “Being oblivious to their own feelings is the absolute worst, isn’t it? We call that the best friend syndrome. There’s no getting out from that, ever.”

“I never know my cousin is this blind.” Soojung flatly whispers back, completely forgotten her given task to sort out the table numbers for prom. “I mean, I know he’s pretty dumb when it comes to girls but...but???” She jabs her fingers repeatedly at Boa’s direction. “Is he a bat???”

“The thing is, Boa has never admitted it herself.” Song Qian tsks in obvious disapprovement. “We’ve tried to get her to, a few times, but our attempts were futile. She’s pretty stubborn in this aspect.”

Soojung shudders. “This is exactly why they’re worse than a korean drama. Annoyingly and visually worse.” She pauses before swooning slightly. “But god damn they’re so cute together.”

“Ahoy! Aboard the ship.” Song Qian jokes, before crossing her arms together. “Don’t you have a best guy friend too? Kim Jongin, right?”


Soojung quirks an eyebrow. “What? Him? You mean, are you suggesting that me and him--” she points at herself before pointing at Yunho and Boa again. “--like them? No! No, no no.”

Snorting, Song Qian doesn’t back down. “I’ve heard that an awful amount of times already, you know.”

“Oh come on, you haven’t seen the way I act around Jongin. I punch and kick and slap him, I call him names. I definitely don’t see him in that sense.”

Song Qian is now looking at her nails, nodding absentmindedly. “Sure. Okay. Guess who does that as well?”

Soojung could feel the sudden heat rising in her cheeks as she promptly stands up. “I’m going to the washroom.”

“That sounds awfully familiar too.”

Ignoring Song Qian’s teasing, Soojung leaves the room, hoping that what the former has said had not activated another switch in her mind. The last thing she want is to be caught in the same situation as her cousin brother.

That’s crazy, he’s my best guy friend! Soojung shakes her head rapidly, trying to get the thoughts out from her mind. Hmm, wait, where have I heard that sentence before?


--


It is a month later when Soojung finally sees her sister’s point about how she is totally unfit to be a member of the student council.

I mean, who the hell stays after school until 5 in the evening to sort out paperworks and all those other boring stuffs like the student’s co-curricular reviews?

Soojung hasn’t been talking to Jinri nor Jongin in days, given how busy she is with student council. When she finally collapses on the bed one evening and dials her best friend’s number, it is then that Soojung realizes just how much she needs to update Jinri regarding her life and to hear more of Jinri’s dates with Taemin.

The conversation somehow shifts from that to buying new clothes online to Soojung’s latest personal conflict regarding her current situation with prom.


She doesn’t want to admit out loud, but Soojung has been feeling reaaallllyyyy guilty lately. And obviously, from the secret stares that Siwon and Donghae (even Seohyun) and sometimes Song Qian would give to her whenever the topic of prom came up in the student council room, Soojung has a feeling no one is supporting her this time.


“The worst part about this is that Boa is being super nice over Yunho taking me to prom. She laughs at all my jokes, brings drinks for me and lends me her pen when mine ran out of ink. She’s genuinely nice.” Soojung continues to whine to Jinri on the other line. “I wouldn’t be feeling so guilty if it isn’t because she’s so darn stupidly nice like what the heck, why can’t she be ier--”


Jinri bit her lower lip; Soojung has been repeating the same thing over and over for the past fifteen minutes. “Soojung, I--”


“--instead of coming over excitedly and telling me there is a sale over at Macy’s and all prom dresses are half price off LIKE WHO IN THE RIGHT STATE OF MIND WOULD DO THAT???”


“Soojung--”


“And to top that, she offered to follow me to help choose my prom dress because Sooyeon had to freaking bail on me the last minute, while you were away dating your precious Taemin and no one else could follow. And I actually, for the love of all things sweet, actually agreed. What was wrong with me???”


“Okay, that--”


“And the other day, when I was waiting for Yunho on the only damn day we didn’t have a student council thing to do, she came over and told me that Yunho would be late and explained everything to me in her usual pleasant demeanor like WHY doesn’t she hate me yet, Jinri? Why is she still smiling at me whenever she sees me? If I were her I would hate me for stealing my prom date away. Why is she so weird?”


“...”


“Jinri? Are you there? Why are you so quiet?”


Jinri swears that if it isn’t because Soojung is her sworn best friend forever and she’s been there through thick and thin with her, she would have reached into the phone and strangle her.


“Soojung, if you feel so uncomfortable about this, why don’t you just not go to prom?” Jinri nervously lets out what she has been thinking throughout this conversation. There is a brief silence on the other line before Soojung heaves a loud sigh.


“Prom is next week, Jinri. There’s the dress factor to think about, the shoes--”

Jinri sighs as well. “Just admit that you don’t want to give your prom pass up.”

“T-that is not true!” Soojung raises her voice, then lowers it again. “Okay, maybe half of it is true.”

“Then stop thinking about it anymore!”


Soojung groans. “Right, you’re right.”

“Hey Soojung, can I call you back later? The Sound of Music is on TV at the moment and I want to watch it.”

“What? Again? Haven’t you watched that movie for at least twenty times already?”

“It’s a classic, OK. Julie Andrews is amazing and the songs are--”


“Alright, fine. Go, go.” Soojung sighs again, and on cue, she could hear the faint singing of how do you solve a problem like Maria? in the background of Jinri’s line.

Right now, Soojung groans to herself just as Jinri hangs up, my problem is most definitely not Maria.


--


“Oh no, we have a problem.”

Song Qian’s loud and heavy sigh is enough for Donghae and Soojung to hold their breaths. As it is free period for the two seniors, they have decided to sort out and count the nomination votes for Prom King and Queen.

“What is it?” Soojung asks, wide-eyed. She has no idea how Mrs. Kim, her biology teacher, has agreed to excuse her from class that morning, but either way, she very much prefers to count nomination votes than dissect a dead rat.

“There are five candidates up for Prom Queen, right?” Song Qian asks and Soojung nods. Donghae glances at the paper she is holding, a sudden grin spreading on his face. “Wait, how is this a problem? This is great news!”

“What is it?” Soojung repeats patiently, slightly confused at the two contrasting reactions from the two seniors in front of her.

“Our VP is nominated for Prom Queen.” Song Qian says in a rather nervous tone, handing the tally paper she is holding to Soojung.


Soojung scans through the list of nominations. Amazing how much the student body trusts them with this, Soojung quietly thinks to herself, if I am the one in charge, I would have removed a few nominations by now.

Hah. Jokes. I would never.

Unless if it’s someone I hate. Or a . Or someone plain annoying. Actually maybe I…


“The problem,” Song Qian shakes her head a few times. “is that our VP isn’t going to attend prom.”


Soojung freezes in her position, her heart begins to sink in realization. Oh nooooo.


“And the thing is, there is a high possibility that she will be crowned Prom Queen. That’s what you’d call as the student council popularity.” Song Qian further explains while Donghae speaks up.

“So can’t we use this as an excuse to legitly force her into going?”

Song Qian rolls her eyes. “Do you honestly think it is that simple?”

“W-why wouldn’t it be that simple?” Soojung asks nervously. “She can still buy a ticket since she’s a senior, right?”

“If we use this excuse to get Boa to go to prom, she’ll one hundred percent laugh it off and say it doesn’t matter, because eventually if the candidate doesn’t show up during prom, she’ll be crossed off the list.”

“Can’t you guys try to convince her into going alone…” Soojung gives a dry laugh, and earns a pointed look from Song Qian. She quickly looks down on the ground.

“No one wants to go to a formal dance alone, Soojung. It’s absolute horrible timing too, because two seniors have asked her before but she turned them down since she thought...”


Here it comes again.


As if on cue, both Donghae and Song Qian are now looking at her, and deep down, Soojung wishes she doesn’t know the reason why.


--


Homework: 

English: screwed
History: screwed
Biology: i am
Chemistry: so so so
Advance Maths: SCREWED


--


A day before prom, Soojung finally gives in to her conscience.

There is no way she could attend prom with Yunho now that she knows way too much information about his nonexistent-but-could-exist love life.

For the fun of it though, she decides not to tell anyone except Jinri about what she is about to do. And of course, for her plan to work, she has to eventually let Boa know, as well.


“Are you sure you want this?” Jinri asks again in final confirmation, heaving the bag onto her shoulder as they step onto the porch of Boa’s house. “Prom is just a day away and…”

“Hush, child.” Soojung stops Jinri from saying anything else. “Do not waver my decision. This is for the greater good.”

Jinri rolls her eyes. “You’re so dramatic.”


Ignoring her best friend, Soojung rings the doorbell and waits patiently for someone to answer the door--preferably Boa herself. It’s a Sunday, anyway, she should be at home, right? Soojung rings the doorbell again, becoming anxious suddenly.

“Oh god if she doesn’t answer the door I’m gonna bail.” She mumbles. “Damn it, all I wanted in my life is to go to prom, but God forbid this from happening--”

“What on earth are you mumbling?” Jinri knits her eyebrows together as Soojung shakes her head and rings the doorbell again. “Nothing. Why isn’t anyone answering the door???”

“Um...has it ever occurred to you that perhaps she has morning mass to attend?” Jinri asks in a soft tone, slightly nervous for what Soojung would react next.

“. No!” Soojung curses immediately, realizing that Jinri may be right.

“No cursing on Sunday, God’s watching.”

“Urghhhh!” Soojung smacks her palm onto her forehead twice. “It has to be now or never, Jinri. If I walk away now, I won’t be coming back! Wait, is this God’s way of telling me that it’s alright to go to prom? That I’m not stealing anything from anyone and that it’s perfectly OK that I--”


The door swings open suddenly, revealing a sleepy and confused Boa. “Soojung? What’s going on?”

Soojung nearly shrieks in shock at the sudden interruption. “H-hi, Boa. Umm...you didn’t go to mass today!”


Boa stares on, bearing an expression that Jinri could perceive as is this girl mad or is she plain high? Jinri fights the urge to giggle. “I attend evening mass on Saturdays.” She says slowly before smiling. “Can I help you with anything? Is this student council related? I’m sorry I look so messy. You should have called me or texted me beforehand, I only just woke up ten minutes ago.”


“I-I…” Soojung begins to stammer, looking at Jinri for help. “I’m here to tell you something very important.”

“Do you want to come inside?” Boa interrupts just before Soojung could blurt out what has been clinging onto for days. She quickly shakes her head.


“Before that, I need to explain that Jinri here,” Soojung gestures at her friend beside her as she and Boa both exchange smiles at each other. “her mother is a dressmaker, which means that naturally, Jinri has the basic knowledge of measuring a person’s size for a dress--”


Alarmed at the extremely random detail, Boa blinks a few times, wondering if she has heard right.


Jinri elbows Soojung’s ribs so that she would stop talking. “I’m sorry, Soojung is always like this, she has a few loose screws in her head but her intentions are good.” Jinri apologizes at the silent older student in front of them. “What Soojung is trying to tell you, is that she is sorry for taking up your place in prom, and because she cannot live with the guilt forever, Soojung has decided to return that place to its rightful owner. Unnie, you.”
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter