On a Sunday, Seulgi found herself sitting in front of Soojung, who dropped a couple of papers and her little notebook on top of the café table. The two were hanging out at Sooyeon's café. Although the coffee house was closed for the day, Sooyeon was generous enough to lend the private property to the two girls, where they would spend the rest of the day "brain-storming."

"Alright," Soojung started, taking a seat. "Let's reflect back on what happened last night at Sehun's party."

Seulgi pressed her lips. "Well, his house was very nice—"

"Skip ahead. We're going to do the details of what you did wrong during that party," Soojung said. She lifted a printed paper from a popular social networking site. "What does this look like?"

Seulgi pretended to squint her eyes. "I don't know, it's kind of hard to tell—"

"It's you revealing your face," Soojung said, "and this other picture is you taking the violinist's violin and playing it."

"Wow, you're pretty perceptive. You see, I would've never been able to see that—"

"You exposed yourself in one of the worst possible ways!" Soojung barked.

"In my defense, it was because you told me that I needed to stand out—"

"I told you that people needed to recognize your face. Nothing about that sentence screams, 'I need to publicly embarrass myself,' does it?"

"…So what you're trying to say is that I didn't do a good enough job—"

"Seulgi, can we get serious here?" Soojung asked her.

"I just think that I made the right move," Seulgi replied, shrugging her shoulders awkwardly.

"Okay, it seems like I'm not knocking any sense into you. Mm…" Soojung paused, thinking about the situation. "Oh! Okay, so let's say that you go to school and everyone has already seen this picture. They all heard of what you did. What do you think their reaction is going to be?"

"They'll probably notice me," Seulgi started, imagining herself in that particular situation, "and they might laugh. They'll probably think that I'm the crazy girl who went to Sehun's party for attention—" She stopped and widened her eyes. "Oh my god." She looked at Soojung. "I'm the crazy girl who went to Sehun's party for attention!"

"Exactly," Soojung said, nodding her head, "and what's going to happen to your image?"

"It'll drop."

"And your popularity?"

"It'll flop." Seulgi almost wanted to scream. "I messed up. I messed up so bad." She started to whine. "How do I fix it? Tell me, Soojung! I need to fix it!"

"Fortunately for you," Soojung said, taking out another piece of paper, "I have something that will help your image." She showed a few pictures to Seulgi. "Recognize any of these people?"

Seulgi looked down at the photos. One of the pictures contained a familiar boy with middle-parting hair who had his arms locked around a girl's shoulder. However, the two photos that contained the boys each had different girls: the first picture was a girl with rich blond hair and another with silky silver hair.  She carefully examined the people in the photos before looking up.

"The guy is Taehyun," Seulgi said. "Nam Taehyun. He's in Jongin's class."

"Good. Now, the girls?"

"The blonde is Na Haeryung, also not in our class. On the other hand, Park Subin is in our class, 3-4."

"Okay. Now, according to my notes," Soojung said, flipping through her notebook, "Taehyun is notorious for hanging around with girls who're going to be part of Hyeri's crew one day. No one is sure if it's true, but it's something that our grade believes in. He was with Jinri and Seunghwan before those two were recruited to be with Hyeri's group. As of now, no one really thinks of that legend anymore since it's our last year, but…" Soojung closed her notebook and smirked. "Well, let's just say that we need to prove it."

"How do we prove it? Taehyun doesn't hang out with ugly girls," Seulgi said. She pouted. "These girls are really pretty, too…"

"I've got a trick or two up in my sleeves," Soojung told her. "What you have to do is two things: one, grab Taehyun's attention; and two, befriend Subin and Haeryung."

"Again, why do I have to befriend everyone?"

"It's good for your image."

"How do I keep being good friends with a gazillion of people?"

"You don't have to be real friends with them. You just have to…pretend."

"Pretend?"

"Yeah, pretend."

Seulgi scrunched her nose. "That's weird. Why would you pretend to be friends with people?"

Soojung stopped to stare, but gave her a brief weak smile. "It's just how things are, Seulgi. It's just how things are."

/ / / / /

Monday morning came by in a blink of an eye. Hyeri casually looked down at her smartphone, browsing through the news while eating a peach. She continued to walk, absorbed in her own world, until she sensed a car slowing down to match her pace. Her eyes cautiously rolled to the side, where she saw a long limousine following her. The windows rolled down, and she let out a small sigh of relief.

"God damn it, Oh Sehun!" Hyeri exclaimed. "You scared me!"

"I thought you'd get used to me riding in this car," Sehun said casually. "No ride?"

"I live with my mom, Sehun. My mom isn't filthy rich like my dad."

"Right, right. Need a ride to school?"

"Sure."

Sehun gestured his driver to stop. The vehicle stopped moving, allowing Hyeri to quickly hop into the back. As soon as she got in, the driver continued to drive within the speed limit. 

"You should've just let the driver open the door," Sehun told her, handing her a tissue.

"I'm not going to stop the whole street just to have someone open the door," she said, taking the tissue to wipe her sticky hands.

"Who cares? I pay them to do that," Sehun said. He glanced behind them. "Besides, there's no one behind us."

"Just in case," Hyeri said. She gave him a quick glance. "What have you been up to these days? You look…happy." She widened her eyes. "Did you get a girlfriend? No, wait. Let me change my question: Did you settle down for a girl?"

He chuckled lightly. "No, I'm not dating anyone. Why? Disappointed?"

"I don't really care. I just care of Jongin finds someone he's interested in."

"He's not interested in anyone." He paused. "At least, I don't think he is."

"Well, whatever. I have people who keep a close eye on him, and they haven't said a word," Hyeri said.

"Freaky."

"Shut up."

"By the way," Sehun said, changing the topic, "I heard that Taehyun has been hanging around with two beautiful ladies."

"Ew. Why do you want to talk about that player?" she asked, scrunching her nose.

"He's not a player. He just flirts a lot."

"He's gross. I don't know who would ever want to hang out with him."

"So are you going to befriend any of the girls? You know, there's that rumor where you hang out with someone he hangs out with."

"That's bull. I never thought of it like that. Jinri and Seunghwan came to me later on. They had nothing to do with Taehyun. Besides, the girls in our grade don't even notice any of that stuff. It's the guys who make a big deal about that," Hyeri said.

"I don't see anything wrong with Subin and Haeryung. They seem like two beautiful women."

"I'm not saying that they're ugly. I'm just saying that they're not like…us." Hyeri took one last bite of her fruit. "I mean, they're nice and everything, but it's so obvious that they just hang around him with because they want to be noticed by us."

"Like Kang Seulgi?" Sehun asked.

Hyeri stopped wiping her hand. She stared at Sehun, who only gave her a curious look.

Why is he speaking of her? she wondered. "Yeah, exactly like…Kang Seulgi."

"So you're saying that Seulgi is on the same level as Subin and Haeryung?" Sehun asked. Hyeri slowly nodded her head. He broke into a small smirk before shaking his head. "Really? I don't see that. I honestly don't see that at all."

Hyeri kept quiet. She gave him a small look until the car stopped. Sehun casually glanced out the window, and so did Hyeri. The two noticed the familiar school gate and building standing before them. They patiently waited for the driver to open the door.

"Didn't I say," Hyeri started in a small voice, "to avoid Seulgi and her weird group?"

Sehun gave her a cold look, but he still smiled. "What? It's not like anything is going to happen."

Before she could say another word, the driver opened the door. He gestured the two to leave the vehicle. Sehun gestured her to leave first, which she did. She crawled out of the limousine with the sun hitting her small face. She looked around, noticing that a few people were whispering as Sehun came out of the car and stood besides her.

They think I'm dating him or something, Hyeri figured. She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Well then," Sehun said, turning towards her. "What do you want to do?"

She gave him a quick look. "Go to class."

"Do you mind if I step away for a moment?" he asked. "There's someone I want to talk to."

Hyeri glanced at the two girls Sehun was looking at. She squinted her eyes when she recognized Seulgi nervously chatting with Soojung.

"No," she said firmly. "You and I are going to find Jongin."

He gave her a playful puppy-face. "Aw, come on, Hyeri! I promise that I'll be good! I won't cause any trouble or drama!"

"Nope. You're with me," Hyeri said. She shot him a glare. "Also, aren't you supposed to be helping me get hooked up with Jongin? I feel like I'm making no progress at all!"

"But helping you get together with Jongin is so ing boring—" Hyeri slapped his arm, causing the boy to seal his lips. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Be grateful that I didn't hit your head."

She hissed at him before marching into the school with her nose in the air. The minute she turned around, she noticed that Sehun had disappeared. She looked around for Seulgi and Soojung, but noticed that those two were also gone.

Dang it, Oh Sehun! Hyeri shouted in her head.

/ / / / /

There he was, one of the most coquettish boys in their grade, with three random first-years surrounding him like he was an idol: Nam Taehyun.

Seulgi felt sick. The way he flipped his mid-long hair in a charming manner almost tempted her to throw up. She could smell the rose-scented cologne several feet away from where he was standing. She could almost see glitters and gems shimmering behind him like those romantic pink scenes in comic books. 

"Soojung," Seulgi called her, "I really don't want to talk to him. I really don't."

"This is a good step to your popularity," Soojung said quietly behind a book she was pretending to read. She closed it and looked at Taehyun. "He's really good at flirting. You can learn a thing or two about that before flirting with Jongin."

"But he's so full-of-himself!" Seulgi cried out. "I can't do this!"

"That's what you said when you met Minzy and Yezy, but you ended up doing everything perfectly fine," Soojung said. "I trust that things will somehow work out when you talk to him." She eyed two girls who were meters away from them. "Uh-oh. You better go and act quick. I see Subin and Haeryung, and it looks like they're looking for him."

"W-What do I do?" Seulgi stuttered.

"Talk to him."

"How?"

"I don't know," Soojung said. "Depending on whatever first impression you give him will determine what will happen to you next." She looked back at Seulgi. "Looks like those two are heading this way. I'll distract them. You, on the other hand, go play around with him."

"Like I said, how—"

"Have fun!"

With a tight smile, Soojung pushed Seulgi towards Taehyun. Seulgi lost her balance and yelped loudly. She tripped over her own foot and collided against someone's chest. She quickly grabbed onto the guy's arm for support before falling face-flat on the ground. Her heart raced, panicking over the fact that she could've been seriously hurt.

"Did my little doll come all the way to chase me?" a familiar annoying voice asked.

Seulgi looked up and glowered at Sehun, who smiled pleasantly down at her.

" off, Sehun," Seulgi growled.

"Oh my! I should tell Jongin your impolite language," Sehun said jokingly.

Seulgi widened her eyes. "No! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean that—"

Sehun smiled. "I was kidding. I won't tell him—" She let out a sigh of relief. "—yet."

She widened her eyes again, cracking him up. Sehun started to laugh, garnering attention around him. Seulgi felt her face heat up in embarrassment.

"I really hate you," Seulgi murmured.

"I'm honored," Sehun said, smiling widely. "So, what are you doing alone here?"

"None of your business," Seulgi snapped. However, her eyes were own Taehyun, who was starting to say his goodbyes towards the three first years. Sehun easily followed her gaze and noticed Taehyun flip his hair.

"Oh, you're going to talk to him?" Sehun asked. "That's really weird. I wouldn't imagine Kang Seulgi talking to someone like Nam Taehyun."

"I-I wasn't exactly planning to do that…"

"Here I was, thinking that you liked Jongin," Sehun said. "Maybe I should tell him that you're not interested—"

"Please don't!" Seulgi whimpered. "I really love Jongin! I really do!"

"Love is a strong word," he told her.

"But I love him," she said firmly. "I love him with all I've got."

Sehun looked at her. He didn't really like the fact that she was blindly following her passion for Jongin, but he tried to not be too bothered by it. Besides, this girl was going to do something interested, and he just wanted to be there to see what she wold do.

"I heard you scream that my party ," Sehun said, changing the topic.

Seulgi turned red in embarrassment. "Oh god. Please don't mention that either."

"Jongin was there, too." Seulgi widened her eyes. "I'm serious. He was there."

"Are you ing kidding me?" she cried out. She grabbed onto his blazer. "What did he say? Did he say anything bad? Oh god, please tell me that it isn't bad!"

"He thinks you're weird." Sehun smiled when he saw her groan in frustration. "I don't think that's a bad thing. I thought you wanted him to notice you."

"I want him to like me," she grumbled. "I don't want him to think I'm a freak."

"You are one," he said casually. 

"Wow, rude."

"Everyone in school thinks you're one."

Seulgi was about to make a comeback until she felt someone push her. She yelped, but this time she managed to catch her balance. Right when she was planning to curse out to the person who pushed her, she noticed that it was Soojung. Soojung quickly faked a smile and stood in front of Sehun, who cluelessly blinked his eyes, astounded to see a different person standing in front of him.

"Good morning, Sehun!" Soojung exclaimed cheerfully. She didn't give him any time to say anything. "I know two girls who have been wanting to talk to you for a long time!" She swiftly looked to her side. "Haeryung! Subin! Over here! Sehun is here!"

While Soojung's eyes were on Sehun, her hands behind her back quickly gestured Seulgi to talk to Taehyun.

Nice, Soojung! Seulgi thought, making a small fist pump in the air. Good distraction!

She quickly crawled out of the way, scurrying over to chase Taehyun. Unfortunately, the bell rang, and before she had the chance to even catch his eyes, he turned away and ran to class. Seulgi stopped following Taehyun and dropped her hands to her side in a tired manner. She only watched him disappear at the corner of the building. With a heavy and disappointed sigh, she turned around, but jumped a little when she saw Soojung standing directly behind her.

"Oh my gosh, Soojung!" Seulgi exclaimed, taking a deep breath. "When were you right behind me?"

"That was pretty pathetic," Soojung said. "Not only did you fail to introduce yourself, but you even failed to get out of Sehun's trap."

"He had a trap?" Seulgi asked, widening her eyes.

"He was obviously stalling time," Soojung pointed out. "Honestly, are you even trying?"

"I'm sorry," Seulgi murmured shamefully. "I'll try better during lunch."

"You sure? I heard that Youngji wanted to eat lunch with you."

"I'll make up an excuse! Don't worry, I'll get him to notice me before the end of lunch," Seulgi promised.

Soojung slightly tilted her head and crossed her arms. "You know Seulgi, I know that you really want popularity, but don't forget who your real friends are. Understand that they are precious, okay?"

"Of course," Seulgi replied. "Why would I forget about Youngji? She's, like, my best friend!"

Soojung gave her one last look before turning the other direction to head for class. Seulgi quickly followed her footsteps, innocently walking through the crowd while thinking of a way to get closer to the boy.