Chapter Ten:

"Hello, Miss Park, don't you have something to tell me?" Yerim trotted by Chanmi's side once she spotted her friend strolling down the Biology building hallway. 

"What are you talking about?" Chanmi gave her friend a confused look as she tried to juggle the books in her arms. 

"Let me help you with that," Yerim took two off of the stacks. "Are you trying to rob the library or something?"

"Thanks. My teacher just gave us a research assignment that I barely have any knowledge on so it's time to fill this empty brain," Chanmi chuckled. 

"Anyway, back to you, miss mischevious. I heard from Jay that you were at a party as Gray's date and then you two left together yesterday night!" Yerim exclaimed, causing Chanmi to almost trip herself and drop her books in an attempt to cover Yerim's mouth. 

"What?! I did not hear about that!" Jung-hye ran up behind Yerim to join in the conversation. 

"Shh!" Chanmi interrupted Yerim and immediately surveryed the hallway. There were about a dozen people walking the same day, but fortunately, more than half of them seemed oblivious to what Yerim just said. Except for a few girls who glanced around a bit, everybody seemed to have gotten back to their business.

"You guys..." Chanmi scolded them and used her head to direct them to follow her out of the building while scurrying away like a squirrel. 

"Can't you be a bit more quiet about it?" Chanmi half cried, half whispered, still being vigilant towards her surrounding even though the girls were gathered at an empty spot on the campus near a tree. 

"Why are you so worried?" Yerim complained. "It's not like it's a secret you guys are going out."

"What?! You and Gray are going out?" Jung-hye flung her head toward Chanmi, staring at her with widened eyes.

"See? Not everyone knows," Chanmi argued. "Anyway, we left because Gray got into a fight-well, he didn't start it or anything, but it turned out pretty bad so we left and went to the hospital for treatment."

"Is Gray okay?" Jung-hye gasped, listening with great interest in the story. Party? Date? Violence? What is all this gossip she never knew about? Jung-hye began to wonder if she had spent too much of her time just studying these days.

"Yeah, his hand is just a little hurt," Chanmi reassured her with a smile. 

"Then?" Yerim set Chanmi's text books on the bench beside them and crossed her arms, giving Chanmi a suspicious grin. 

"What?" Chanmi raised her eyebrows and set her books down as well because her arms were beginning to feel tired. 

"I don't recall Park Chanmi ever returning home last night," Yerim started to tap her feet on the ground, waiting impatiently for the detailed report. Chanmi began to feel like she was being interrogated by her friends. 

"Oh, so we went to his apartment and I slept over, because you know, he is hurt and he... needs help," Chanmi tried to explain while avoiding her friend's suspicious eyes. 

"Oh really? Just sleep?" Yerim continued with her arms crossed. 

"In the same bed?" Jung-hye added. 

They are both too creative for their own good, Chanmi covered her face with her left palm and sighed. 

"Yes to the both of you," Chanmi answered. "Hey, but you know what I noticed?" She added after an idea popped in her head. "Why have you, Yerim, been talking to Jay so much?"

Now the tables are turned.

"Oh yeah," Jung-hye's head changed direction. 

"What-what do you mean?" Yerim released her arms and stood with a blank expression. Even though she did not want to admit it to anyone, Yerim did liked Jay, but the truth was, everyone still knew. Well, everyone except Jay himself.

Yerim knew about the AOMG Club when it just started because her sister, who was a college senior at that time, told her about it. In high school, instead of fangirling over Idol boy groups, Yerim searched up videos of AOMG performances instead, wishing she could attend one someday. Recently, although her wish has yet to come true, something even better has happened: she befriended Jay. Their easy-going and flamboyant personalities matched perfectly while their humor were right on point. Like a dream came true, Yerim has been spending almost everyday talking to Jay after the day of the AOMG audition. 

"Oh, what is this?" Chanmi began to tease.

"Quit it, he's just filling me on his best friend's love life, which involves my roommate, who went missing," Yerim retorted.

"Oh really?" Chanmi continued to play dumb and gave Yerim the same look she received before.

"Really," Chanmi confirmed firmly. 

"You both seem suspicious to me," Jung-hye bit her lips and narrowed her eyes. "And I think I'm jealous," She said before they all started to giggled. 

"Seems like someone wants to be in love," Yerim sang in a high voice, raising her eyebrows suggestively at Jung-hye.

"No way. If my parents find out that they sent their daughter to this University to date, they would slaughter me," Jung-hye frowned.

"They don't have to know," Yerim countered. 

"Why don't you find a boyfriend for yourself first?" Jung-hye questioned in return.

"I have a feeling that won't take long," Chanmi added, enjoying the moment of teasing her tall friend. 

"Would you drop it?" Yerim whined and shook her head.

"No way," Both Jung-hye and Chanmi stated in unison, grinning widely. 

"Ugh," Yerim rolled her eyes, but still smiled. Just because Chanmi's love life is doing well did not mean her love life would begin. Being Jay's friend was more than enough for Yerim, and of course, she had Chanmi to partly thank for that. 

~*~

"Thanks for agreeing to go to to the concert with me even though you have an assignment," Ji-hye shyly smiled at Gray.

"I only said that because I wanted to please my dad," Gray placed his hands in his pocket, putting on the nonchalant pose. "I actually have somewhere to be this evening."

"Oh," Ji-hye smile was snatched away by his cold remarks. It felt like a slap in the face to the young girl who has never dealt with such behavior before.

"So see yeah," Gray waved at her with a mocking smile. Am I being too harsh? No, this is what I must do if I want to get rid of her.

"You don't like classical music?" Ji-hye questioned, not surprised.

"No, and I don't have any important homework assignment either," Gray added. "I'm just not interested."

"You're rejecting me?" She gave him a look of disbelief. It was not because her ego was so big that she could not believe Gray was rejecting her, but it was because of his frank and direct behavior. He could have let her down lightly. Better, he should have given her a chance at least.

"Pretty much."

"What a rude jerk," Ji-hye's eyes were spitting out fire at this point. 

"That's me," Gray scratched his head, trying to hold onto his smile while fighting the guilty feeling. Inside, he was not that much of a jerk, but this was s