Jung Sohee stretched as all students began piling out for lunch. Not only did she have to sit through an hour of physics, she had to do it without her friends. Jimin had been excused from all classes for that day since she had to prepare for a school music showcase. Sohee didn’t know where Minwoo had vanished off to, but she had a sneaking suspicion he was ditching physics.

She joined a few of her classmates at a table in the cafeteria after she had grabbed some food.

“Hey Sohee,” one of the girls, named Dasom, smiled. “Where’s Jimin and Minwoo?”

“Jimin’s practicing for the school music showcase. I have no clue where Minwoo is,” Sohee rolled her eyes.

“Oh right, the school showcase. I heard Lee Jeongmin is participating too,” Dasom gossiped. “Maybe Jimin and Jeongmin will have a duet,” she squealed.

Sohee stopped chewing on her slice of pizza. “What? Jeongmin is participating? I thought Hyorin was going to participate.”

“Oh didn’t you hear? Hyorin pulled out because she’s been stressing out her vocal chords too much.”

Sohee thought over the newly revealed information. Lee Jeongmin and Kim Jimin, performing together… That spelt nothing but trouble.

Lee Jeongmin was the ice prince of Starship Academy and Jimin had had a crush on him ever since she’s entered the school. The problems were: 

a. Jimin was too shy to tell him, 

b. her brother threatened to kill anyone who even tried to ask Jimin out on a date, and 

c. Jeongmin seemed to have no interest in any girl at Starship.

Sohee nibbled on her pizza silently. Jimin was in for a surprise…

Jimin walked out of the principal’s office, her emotions in a jumble. She’d just been informed that Hyorin had pulled out, her new partner would now be Lee Jeongmin. The very same Lee Jeongmin she’d liked since she was a freshmen.

Jimin stopped by the washroom while on her way to the music room. It was lunch break but she couldn’t go to the cafeteria. Due to this last minute change, the two would have to work extra hard to make sure the performance would go without a glitch.

After splashing some water on her face, Jimin looked at herself in the mirror. She fixed her hair a bit, straightened out her uniform then took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

“Why are you getting so nervous? It’s just Lee Jeongmin,” she tried to tell herself. “He’s only going to be your partner.”

After a few seconds of pep talk, Jimin walked out of the washroom and headed straight for the music room. She’d been using it since morning to perfect her piano routine for the showcase. As she neared the room, she heard a beautiful melody fill the hallway.

She slowly opened the door to the music room and peeked in. Her eyes immediately darted to the figure seated beside the window. Lee Jeongmin was seated at a table, his leg propped into position to balance the electric guitar he held. He wore white headphones and was mouthing the words to the song, his fingers nimbly strumming the instrument in his arms.

‘He’s so good,’ Jimin awed. ‘Even though his specialty is piano, he plays the guitar like a pro.’

When she realized she was just standing and staring at him, she shuffled into the room, awkwardly. Jeongmin hadn’t noticed her yet, he was too absorbed in his music.

Jimin bit her lower lip, ‘How should I catch his attention?’

It definitely didn’t help that Jeongmin had his eyes closed. Jimin pondered over her various options for a second, before slowly stammering out his name.

“J-Jeongmin-ssi?”

There was no response, the boy continued to strum the guitar.

“Lee Jeongmin-ssi?” Jimin called louder, frowning when it had no effect.

She hesitantly reached a hand out and lightly touched his shoulder, then shook him and after a few tries, the ice prince finally opened his eyes, an annoyed frown set on his face. When he spotted Jimin however, he simply took off his headphones and gave her a calm look. 

“J-Jeongmin-ssi,” Jimin fidgeted. “I was told we’d be partners for the upcoming showcase…”

Jeongmin nodded. “Yeah, the principal told me you played the piano. What song were you planning on performing for the showcase?”

“Hyorin-ssi and I practiced ‘I chose to love you’ b-but we can choose a different song if you wish,” Jimin stuttered.

She’d never spoken to Lee Jeongmin before this and the thought of displeasing him or embarrassing herself in front of him made her want to dig a hole and hide.

Jeongmin continued to wear his infamous ice prince mask and simply glanced at the clock hanging on the wall. “We have around twenty minutes,” he noted.

Jimin tilted her head confusedly, “Twenty minutes for what?”

“For you to play the song, of course,” Jeongmin smirked.

Jimin blinked. “Y-You want me to p-play the song? On the piano?”

“That is your speciality, isn’t it? If you can play the guitar, you are more than welcome to try the song on it,” Jeongmin teased.

Jimin blushed. “N-No, I’ll play it on the piano,” she scuttled over to the black grand piano and seated herself, taking a deep calming breath.

Without Hyorin’s vocal accompaniment, Jimin felt nervous and awkward as she played the song on the piano. Her desire to impress Jeongmin added more pressure and when she finally finished the piece, she turned her gaze to the brunette shyly.

Jeongmin was eyeing her critically and for a second, Jimin worried he didn’t like her performance. “I-It’s much better with vocal accompaniment,” she tried to explain.

Jeongmin nodded. “I liked it. Let’s keep this song. I can get the sheet music and lyrics from you tomorrow and then we can split the parts.”

Jimin nodded, her heart soaring at his words.

“A-Ah! It’s almost time for class,” she realized when she glanced at the clock. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Jeongmin-ssi.”

“Okay,” he nodded, watching as she rushed to the door. “Oh, Jimin-ssi,” he called right before she disappeared behind the door.

The girl popped her head back into the doorway, looking curious. “Neh?”

Jeongmin shot her a smile, “You’re really good with the piano.”

Jimin froze for a second. Her mind was working overtime to accept the fact that her crush had just praised her. And had he just smiled at her? The ice prince Jeongmin smiling - it was almost unheard of!

“T-Thank you,” she blushed before hurriedly walking away from the music room.

Despite her disbelief, a pleased smile and blush painted itself on her face. And, that’s the expression she held for the rest of the day, unable to get Jeongmin’s words off her mind.

Author's Note

No Kwangmin yet, but he'll definitely be there in the next chapter :)