The bell for lunch chimed across the school. The teacher left the room and headed towards the staffroom while students started to rearrange the desk to gather with their friends. Some left the classroom to buy lunch or have lunch with friends from the other classes. 

Youngji got up from her seat and started to put her desk closer to Seulgi. Seulgi bit her bottom lip and stared at Youngji apologetically. She glanced at Soojung, but realized that Soojung had already left to follow Subin, who was probably going to see Taehyun. She looked back at Youngji, who looked at Seulgi with innocent eyes and a bright smile.

"Come on! Let's eat," Youngji said, taking out her lunch. "Jackson has extra soccer practice today, so he won't join us." Youngji beamed. "It'll just be you and me for today!"

Seulgi let out a weak laugh. "Just…us?"

"Yeah," Youngji said, nodding. After a moment, she frowned. "What's wrong?"

"Um…" Seulgi rubbed the back of her neck. "Are you sure that Jackson won't be available during the entire lunch period?"

Youngji stared at her. "Yeah… I thought we planned to eat lunch together today, Seulgi?"

"I know, I know, but something kind of came up…"

"What?"

Seulgi sealed her lips. What was she supposed to say? That she was on some secret mission to achieve popularity? It already sounded stupid in her head, and she was sure that if she revealed the idea, it would sound even more weird to Youngji.

Youngji studied her expression. It was obvious that Seulgi was trying to find the right words, but couldn't think of anything. In fact, Youngji could tell that Seulgi looked bothered, perhaps uncomfortable with the idea of answering her last question.

"Ah… Actually, I just remembered that I have to talk to the teacher today," Youngji lied, forcing a smile. "I didn't quite get the math problem from last night's homework."

Easily fooled, Seulgi let out a sigh of relief and grinned at Youngji. "Great! So I'll have lunch with you next time?"

When is next time? Youngji wondered. "Of course!"

"Thank you so much, Youngji! You're a life saver1" Seulgi exclaimed. She grabbed her lunch and ran straight of the room, leaving Youngji to spend the entire lunch period by herself.

/ / / / /

Seulgi panted hard when she finally caught up to Soojung, who was hiding behind the building. Soojung glanced at her, giving her a strange look.

"I'm…sorry that I'm…late!" Seulgi breathed.

"How'd you get out of eating lunch with Youngji?" Soojung asked her.

"I didn't have to do a lot. She said that she had to talk with the teacher for math," Seulgi said, wiping her sweat with the back of her hand.

But Youngji is really good at math, Soojung thought. Regardless, she pushed away her thoughts and peeked at the trio nearby. "Anyway, you didn't miss much. Subin and Haeryung are all over him right now."

Seulgi took a quick glance at what Soojung had been staring at. Just like she said, the two girls were holding onto Taehyun's arm, occasionally tugging it so that he would look at their direction. If anything, he looked rather pleased with his current position. Seulgi couldn't blame him. There were two gorgeous girls who sought for his attention and he had them wrapped around his fingers. 

"Must be nice to be popular," Seulgi mumbled.

"Not really. It's a pain," Soojung said, disagreeing with her.

"How would you know?" Seulgi asked, giving her a brief glance.

"Don't focus on me and focus on what you have in front of you," Soojung told her, changing the subject. "You said that you were going to try better during lunch, right? What are you going to do? Haeryung and Subin are both here, and it doesn't seem like they're ready to leave him."

"I don't know. I was hoping you had an idea," Seulgi revealed.

Soojung stared at her. "Are you kidding me?"

"Hey, you agreed to help me get popular."

"I didn't agree to do everything for you."

"Aw, come on, Soojung! At least set something up for me! I can't just barge in there." Seulgi gave her an sheepish smile. "It's rude."

"What's rude is that you're making me do all the work," Soojung grumbled. "Alright, fine. I'll set something up for you." She gave her a sharp look. "Don't complain, okay?"

Seulgi squealed in delight and clapped her hands. Soojung took a deep breath, rotated her neck, then walked over to the tree. Seulgi quietly hid behind the wall, watching her approach the flirtatious group.

She saw Soojung open and smile. Subin and Haeryung clearly gave her eyes that told her to go away, but they softened and listened to whatever Soojung was saying in amusement. Taehyun looked a bit hesitant as he kept shaking his head and his hand, but he eventually seemed to have nodded in the end. Soojung beamed, smiled some more, said something else, then skipped away back to Seulgi. Right when Soojung turned, her smile faded and was replaced by her usual monotonous look.

"What'd you say?" Seulgi asked as Soojung came back to their little hiding place.

"You," started Soojung, "are going to come back here and 'confess' to Taehyun."

Soojung casually walked away. Seulgi widened her eyes, frozen at the idea of confessing to a guy she wasn't into. Snapping out of her thoughts, she chased after Soojung, who didn't seem bothered by what she did.

"W-Wait," Seulgi repeated, stopping her. "I'm confessing?"

"Well, I specifically told him that there's a cute girl who wants to talk to you after school behind the building. You can say anything you want, but I figured that this is a good way to introduce yourself," Soojung explained.

"Wouldn't that make Subin and Haeryung hate me? I thought I had to be friends with them."

"That's why think of what you're going to say to Taehyun and how you're going to befriend the girls," Soojung said. "I basically gave you the opportunity to see him. It's your job to figure out what you want to do from there."

Seulgi began to whine. "You're so unfair, Soojung!"

"This is the part where you should say 'Thank you so much, Soojung!'"

"Over my dead body." Seulgi grunted while Soojung shrugged her shoulders.

"Whatever. I'll be watching from another place. Do well!" Soojung told her. She walked away, leaving Seulgi to think of a plan on her own.

/ / / / /

"Aw, come on, Jongin! Let's go and have fun!"

"I'm sorry, Hyeri. I need to study," Jongin said with a sorry look on his face.

"Yeah, he's choosing me over you," Sehun said, sticking his tongue out at Hyeri.

Hyeri shot him a glare. "Shut up, Sehun! The only reason why he's going to the library to study with you is because you asked first! If I told him to hang out with me earlier, then he would've agreed to be with me!"

"I smell jealousy."

" off!"

"Oh, come on," Jongin said. "You don't mean that, Hyeri."

She gave him an naive expression. "I'm sorry, Jongin! Forgive me?"

"Two-faced," Sehun said. He flinched when Hyeri was about to hit him. "Hey, hey! Violence! You saw that, right, Jongin?"

"If you want, why don't you come and study with us?" Jongin offered.

"I would love to, but I can't. Mom wants me home," Hyeri said, sighing.

"Then why did you want to play?" Sehun asked, rolling his eyes.

"Zip your lips," Hyeri told him. She smiled charmingly at Jongin. "Well, I'll see you later, okay?"

Jongin exchanged smiles with her. "Goodbye, Hyeri. See you tomorrow."

"Later!" Sehun said. He turned to Jongin, gesturing him to go to the other way.

The two boys walked in the empty afternoon halls. Most of the students had already left the campus for tutor or to head home. Normally, the two would also go home, but Sehun wanted to spend some time at the library to study for an upcoming test. In order to avoid having Hyeri as an additional company, he decided to study at school, knowing very well that Hyeri always had to go straight back home if she wasn't accompanied by anyone.

Jongin slid the door to the school's library. The room was close to empty. The student librarian sat behind the librarian desk, studying for an upcoming test. Two or three students scattered all over the library, trying to isolate themselves from any distraction. The orange rays slanted down through the windows, illuminating the room with a warm ambiance. He took a deep breath through his nose as the scent of old books wafted across the air.

I haven't been here in a while, he realized. He walked inside while Sehun followed behind him and closed the door. 

"Where do you want to sit?" Jongin whispered to him.

"Anywhere is fine," Sehun replied in a hush voice.

Jongin nodded. There was one section in the room where no one went. From his memories, it was one of the more secluded areas in the library, along with the fact that it was the most quiet place. Even the librarian hardly went into the small privatized space. It was like his secret hideout—behind the large shelves and near the window.

He remembered the first time had discovered the corner. He was trying to find some book that he couldn't quite recall, and instead saw a peculiar girl his age writing something down in what seemed to be a little notebook. She was supposed to be some library girl, but Jongin was always curious of why she always sat at the same spot while jotting down little notes. Before he knew it, he had been observing her for the past two years in silence, not daring to step into her boundaries. He'd always pull out a book from the shelf near her spot, but his eyes were never on the text itself. He never had a real conversation with her, and when she spoke to him, she was always scolding him for returning the book on the wrong shelf.

A small smile appeared on his lips. But she hasn't been here lately. It seems like she's busy nowadays.

Before he managed to lift his head from the ground, Sehun grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. Jongin widened his eyes while Sehun forced Jongin to hide behind the large shelf.

"Sh, sh!" Sehun shushed him before he could ask anything. "Whatever you do next, approach the situation in a calm manner."

Jongin frowned, then looked up to see what the big deal was. He widened his eyes and almost felt his heart stop.

Soojung was standing near the window, quietly observing something outside. She had her little notebook in her hand and a small pen in her other hand. She began to scribble something in her notebook while occasionally looking out to examine whatever was going on outside.

She's here, Jongin realized.

Sensing an uneasy vibe, Soojung slowly rolled her eyes to her side, where she spotted Jongin and Sehun creeping up to her. A deep scowl appeared on her face, obviously displeased with what she was seeing. In a blink of an eye, she masked her frown with a brilliant smile.

"Please, don't mind me," Soojung told them. "You can use this desk. It's the only desk here, after all."

Jongin kept quiet. Turning slightly red, he nodded his head and placed his bag on the desk. Sehun, on the other hand, didn't have any interest in studying anymore. He walked over to where Soojung was and looked over her shoulder.

"What are you looking at?" he asked her, trying to search for something interesting. He raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Is that…Taehyun and Seulgi?" He looked at Soojung. "Is she confessing to him?" He grinned. "Is she? Oh my god, I can't believe it. For real?"

This isn't a good situation for me to observe her, Soojung realized. She continued to fake a smile at Sehun. "Well, I'm not too sure. I just noticed my classmate with a popular boy, that's all."

"Eh, Taehyun isn't that popular," Sehun stated, but kept the same smile on his face.

"Oh, but he's quite popular," Soojung argued while also keeping her smile.

"It's not going to go well," he replied.

"I think she'll do fine," she countered.

"He looks like he doesn't like what she's saying."

"But he's not running away."

Jongin started to notice that there was some kind of tension between the two. They were obviously smiling at each other, but there was something in their tone that made it seem like they were indirectly quarreling with each other. He blinked his eyes, clueless of the undefined strains in their voice.

Sehun decided to take this chance to change the subject. However, he made a mental note to not make anything too obvious since Jongin was around. After all, the fun would disappear if Jongin knew that he was the center of all this mess.

"You're the girl who's been helping Seulgi out, right?" Sehun asked, grinning.

"You're the guy who's been harassing her, right?" Soojung said, showing her teeth. Sehun's smile started to fade. "Please, I know that Seulgi is one-of-a-kind, but don't bother her like that. She doesn't like it when a guy keeps chasing after all."

"You've been meeting Seulgi?" Jongin asked him, surprised.

"Huh? No…" Sehun's voice became small when he realized that Soojung's expression hadn't changed at all. She's good. She's really, really good.

"All I'm asking you is to back away from her a little. You know, give her a little personal space," Soojung said. She winked at him, and Sehun found it offensive.

'Stop messing around with us' is what you're really trying to say, huh? Sehun realized. He chuckled softly to himself, then brought back his smile. "You know, I don't recall Seulgi ever hating it."

Soojung's expression changed when she figured out that Sehun decided to play along with her.

I need a way to escape, she thought. I have to go or else things aren't going to look pretty—

"In fact, I don't think you should say something so irrational like that," Sehun said. "From what I remember, Seulgi wasn't really close to you to begin with. I don't think friends should spy on each other like this."

Soojung made a tight smile. "I'm just looking out for her. I wouldn't expect someone who's blind to understand."

"Who said I was a blind?"

"Who said that? I wonder," Soojung said blankly. She widened her lips. "I just implied it."

"That was a very funny implication."

"Hilarious!"

The two faked a laugh, but their eyes were shooting daggers at each other.

Stop getting in my way, Soojung mentally told him.

Hell no, Sehun replied with his eyes.

Again, Jongin could feel that there was something wrong with the atmosphere, but couldn't quite pinpoint it out. He remained quiet and awkward, unsure of what he was supposed to do. He felt excluded from their conversation, and he knew he was.

"Well, I should go," Soojung said. She gave Jongin a small grin. "Have a good time here. It's a nice spot."

"I-I know," Jongin said. He stopped himself, then mentally panicked. Did I sound too arrogant? I didn't mean to sound like that. I just wanted to say that I know that this is a nice spot since I've been here before.

"Let's have a proper conversation next time," Sehun told her.

"Sure," Soojung replied. She grabbed her belongings and walked away from the two.

Sehun exhaled loudly. Did he win? He wasn't quite sure. It was difficult to tell, especially since Soojung had flawlessly talked to him while hiding the real message in her words.

He frowned, then glanced out at the window. He raised his eyebrows when he noticed that Taehyun seemed rather pleased while Seulgi looked like she was in deep waters. Amused, Sehun observed the two more before watching Taehyun throw his bag at Seulgi, who bowed at him and ran away from the scene.

Did she confess or something? he wondered. He wanted to observe the situation more, but Jongin called his name.

"Sehun, focus. Let's study now," Jongin told him.

"Yeah, yeah," Sehun murmured. He walked back at the desk and took out his books from his bag.

At least I got one thing confirmed, Sehun thought. Seulgi isn't doing this alone. She has back-up, and she's got a real good one.

/ / / / /

Soojung took a deep breath after she successfully escaped Sehun’s grasp. She placed her hand over her chest, trying to calm herself down.

He knows, she thought to herself, but how much does he know? That’s what I’m more worried about.

She made a mental note to look more into the situation later on. As she walked through the empty halls, she stopped abruptly when a blurry figure jumped right in front of her. Sneakers squeaked as both parties froze from colliding against each other. Soojung looked up, noticing that it was Seulgi who had a rather pale complexion on her face.

“Oh, Seulgi,” Soojung said. “How did things go—“

“What do I do, Soojung?” Seulgi asked, almost horrified with herself. “What do I do?”

“Woah, woah. Hold up. What happened?” Soojung asked, frowning. Please don’t it something terrible—

“I met Taehyun like I said I would. At first, he kept trying to leave because he had a date with Subin after school and another one with Haeryung at eight o’clock. Before I knew it, I was praising him and saying how amazing he was and—“ Seulgi paled and started to pull on her hair. “Oh my god! I’m an idiot!”

“You’re not explaining anything properly—“

“I basically agreed to be his ‘assistant’ to learn about his ‘greatness.’”

“What does that even mean—“ Soojung stopped herself as Seulgi pulled out Taehyun’s bag. She stared at the bag for a bit longer before looking at Seulgi. “Did you—“

“I’ve agreed to do his homework, make his lunch, fix his hair at school, and a bunch of stuff that I can’t remember,” Seulgi said, holding up a finger for everything she listed.

Soojung smacked her own face. “How did this even happen?”

“I have no clue,” Seulgi confessed. She bit her bottom lip. “If anything, do you mind helping me do his homework—“

“Oh, no,” Soojung said, shaking her head. “You’re on your own.”

“Well, what do I do? How do I get out of this?” Seulgi grabbed Soojung’s shoulders and shook her back and forth. “Soojung, you need to help me get out of this mess!”

“I’m thinking, I’m thinking!” Soojung cried out. “Stop shaking me!” She grabbed Seulgi’s hands and pried them off of her shoulder. She huffed and fixed her hair. “I’ll think of something, but in the meanwhile, you need to do whatever Taehyun told you to do.” Seulgi stared at with her terror. “It’s not that bad. Maybe you’ll learn a thing or two about charming people. Observe everything that’s going on and how he handles certain situations. Figure out ways to improve from him.”

“So you’re leaving me alone? You’re leaving me to fend for myself?” Seulgi asked.

“It’s only a little while. I need to dig deeper into more important things,” Soojung said. Like Sehun. I need to know what his problem is and why he’s getting involved with all of this.

“Soo—“

“See you tomorrow!” Soojung said, flashing her a smile. She scurried off, leaving Seulgi dumbfounded with her new situation.