Ju Il was sent home that same day for violating the dress code. Despite his defeat, he left behind a high-charged energy. Everyone was buzzing about his brazen and everyone wanted to know more about him.

I was the only person to ask.

"I really don't know why he did it," I told Hye-Jin and Ji-Yun's crew during our afternoon break. "I didn't get much of a chance to talk to him before he was sent home."

His answers just hadn't satisfied me, actually, but even the little information I did know wasn't anyone else's business. I would keep Ju Il's secrets until he was there to spread or protect them himself. When I was legitimately uninformed, it wasn't that difficult to keep my mouth shut.

Hye-Jin and the rest didn't seemed too upset by my reticence. They just eased onto the next topic.

"He does talk to you, though?" Ji-Yun probed, her eyebrows raised in interest. "I don't even think I've ever heard his voice."

"Me either," Hye-Jin agreed. "He's so...loner-like. I mean, I've noticed him, but not noticed him, you know?"

"He doesn't try to get noticed," I blabbed. It didn't come naturally to me, but I'd caught on that you had to think and act quick to get a word in with a larger group of girls. "Well, before today he didn't try to get noticed."

The girls hummed almost in unison.

"I wonder what changed his mind," Hye-Jin said, her eyes averted in thought. "Was he trying to stand out for any particular reason, or to any particular person?"

Deep down, I knew what was coming next. I couldn't be thoroughly surprised when the girls turned their gazes to me, smirking.

"You're the only one he talks to, Sol Mi," Ji-Yun reminded me slyly. "I bet he was trying to impress you."

It didn't matter that I'd seen the jab coming; I still flushed and reared up in defense.

"Why would blue hair impress me?" I scoffed, drawing on my desk with my eraser in feigned disinterest. "And why would he want to impress me? I might talk to him more than you guys, but I still barely talk to him. He pretty much blew me off earlier when I asked about his hair. He doesn't like me like that."

"He was probably just nervous," Hye-Jin rationed. "He doesn't know how to express himself with words so he has to approach you like a male would in the wild." Hye-Jin paused to set up her punch line, but it lost some of its effect when she started giggling and could barely get the words out. "He's attracting you with his colorful plumage!"

The girls laughed along, and I had to admit it was funny picturing Ju Il with a head full of fluorescent feathers. But since no one really knew Ju Il, teasing him behind his back seemed less innocent than it would have been if we were all friendly with him. Regardless, I smiled, unable to keep a straight face when the rest around me were so lively. I must have only been overly sensitive since I was sort of the of their jokes, too.

"He is kind of cute, though, now that I think about it," Hye-Jin commented, looking thoughtful. She swiveled to Ji-Yun for confirmation. "Don't you think?"

Ji-Yun shrugged, her eyes going unfocused as she thought it over. "I guess. I've never really looked at him that closely, so I can't say for sure."

The girls all murmured their two cents about the matter, but no one singled me out for my opinion. I was glad that they didn't because I was having a hard enough time trying to define my feelings for myself.

I might not have been the most pragmatic person, but I wasn't a total space cadet; I'd seen that Ju Il didn't willingly interact with anyone but me and some part of me had always been flattered by that. I may not have admitted it -- openly or otherwise -- but the thought that Ju Il might have had a crush on me had been present for years. I'd just never had to worry about it since it was never brought up.

But the cat was out of the bag. After I was thrown into the limelight and Ju Il stepped out into the limelight, the two of us as a pair were linked together in the public radar. We were two peas in a pod, ex-nobodies who were suddenly special and happened to have history together. News traveled fast and facts got skewed; would there be rumors about Ju Il and I going around school? Was that short conversation with Hye-Jin and Ji-Yun about Ju Il's supposed attempt to woo me going to turn into something major and plain wrong?

Whether or not I would be the subject of more gossip wasn't my biggest problem: Ju Il might have liked me more than he should, and it might have finally come to the point where I had to acknowledge and respond to that. I wasn't sure why, but I felt nearly as overwhelmed as I had in the face of fame.

I didn't know what I was going to do, but I did know what was going to happen. Ju Il could come back the next day with his usual hair, usual attitude, and usual habits, but he would never be the same person to me again. Our relationship, however platonic, had permanently changed in my mind.

"Of course not."

Initially, Semmi's words lifted a weight from my shoulders. It'd taken a lot of guts on my part to ask her opinion on the Ju Il situation; I didn't want to come across as hopeful or averse since I was neither. I was just confused and looking for a resolution. Semmi spent more time with me than anyone else and, as a result, had a little more exposure to Ju Il. She was the only person I could ask about his potential feelings for me.

I wasn't sure why I was relieved when she so definitively denied the idea. I blamed that mix of emotions for the sinking sense in my gut that followed immediately after the brief rise in my mood.

"Why do you say that?" I pressed, still doing my best to come across nothing more than curious.

Semmi glanced at me, probably reading through my act, before facing forward, leaning back against my neighbor's locker. Since I'd needed to talk to her I'd made an unnecessary trip at end of the day to "grab something" and asked her to tag along. Because we both spoke the female language, Semmi had understood the real motive behind the detour.

"Ju Il's kind of a weird kid. You can't deny that," Semmi eased out, seemingly choosing her words with care. She didn't elaborate right away so I ran my finger down the stack of books in my locker, taking my time picking one out.

When Semmi did continue her thought, it was with a rough exhale. "Now that I think about it, he actually would be a failure of a flirt. For all I know that could have been his way of catching your eye."

My hand froze in mid-air for all of a moment until I pulled the topmost binder off of the tower and jammed it into my bag.

"Thanks for clearing that up for me," I said, not even bothering to sound sarcastic. I closed my bag and lifted it back onto my shoulder. "You're a real help."

I shut and secured my locker before making for the doors. There was a side exit close by that would get us out of school faster but make the walk home longer. I didn't mind;  I liked walking when I had something on my mind, and Semmi still owed me some valuable insight.

"Sorry," Semmi said, her tone a tad acidic, "but I don't even like Ju Il. I try not to be near him or talk to him or anything."

"Why?" I asked, stealing a peak at Semmi as I pushed open the door and held it for her. "Why do you not like him?"

"He's just a weird kid," Semmi reiterated, shooting me a pointed look. Unfortunately, the point missed me.

"He's not that bad," I refuted, squinting in the sunlight and looking down at my feet. The sun wasn't that harsh, but my confidence wasn't that high.

"He walked into school today with blue hair," Semmi remarked. I could hear her raised eyebrow. "Does he think he's Youngwon or TOP or something?"

I rolled my eyes, but, since my face was downcast, Semmi didn't see. I didn't think Ju Il was the type to do something so drastic for attention -- no matter who the target was. He wasn't they type to do anything for attention. I truly and honestly didn't have the slightest clue why he had done it at all, which was probably why the whole thing was getting blown out of proportion.

"Why are you asking about it anyway?" Semmi went on, turning the tables. "Do you like him?"

"No," I said, falling into the trap of speaking too quickly and too strongly to be entirely believable. I concentrated about half of my brain waves on keeping up an unflustered appearance and used my remaining energy to repair the damage. "I don't dislike him, but I've never thought about him romantically. I don't know, it's just everything happening all at once. Everyone's saying he did it for me, and I just wonder if it's true."

"Who's everyone?" Semmi asked. "Since when does everyone know what they're talking about?"

Semmi did have a point, one that I'd already pinned the blame on indirectly. No one really knew Ju Il. No one knew why he did the things he did. How could I believe what other people said about him when I knew they weren't qualified to make any claims?

I was just too easily influenced. Even when I agreed with Semmi and knew her explanation was the most rational, the seed had already been planted.

Did Ju Il like me?

Did some part of me actually want him to?

"When a guy likes you," Semmi began, breaking me from my trance. I wasn't sure how long silenced had lulled between us as we walked, but apparently both of us had spent that time thinking. "... he does nice things for you. He'll buy you little presents, carry your bag, say sweet things -- stuff like that."

I was watching Semmi but she refused to meet my eye, staring straight ahead. We'd talked about boys before, but they were mostly famous boys who we knew we'd never really have a chance with. Now the possibility was tangible, the advice non-rhetorical, and both of us were a little out of our element. But Semmi still tried to act like she had all the answers, for my sake. Whatever answers she did give me were automatically worth more than Hye-Jin's or Ji-Yun's.

"I know all guys are different, but I think that's the way it's supposed to work," Semmi decided, nodding to herself. She shot a glance towards me and pulled the side of her lips up in a half smile. "Why don't you wait a while and see what happens before you freak out, okay? There's no point in having this debate when there's basically no evidence either way."

I took Semmi's words in and embraced them whole-heartedly.

Mmoon-Joon had kept his word and sent over more information about the music video. There wasn't much, but it wasn't like I needed to look at contracts or terms or any legal documents. I wasn't being hired, I was being invited. The extra effort that was being put into including me was completely unnecessary on T.O.P Media's part -- which only made it worse. I didn't want people to go out of their way for me; I didn't want to come across as ungrateful or arrogant. Then again, being seen as an invertebrate wasn't much better. Why couldn't I just be normal?

My mom gave me some time after Mmoon-Joon's letter had shown up before asking me about the final verdict. I realized that, as much time and energy as everyone expected me to put into the decision, it'd already been made from the get-go.

"I'll do it," I told her over dinner one night. It was just the two of us at the table.

My mom eyed me from over her food. "You sure?"

I eyed her right back. "Yeah."

We held the staring contest for a few seconds more until my mother nodded and went back to eating.

It struck me then how simple the Teen Top situation had suddenly become compared to real life drama.

Author's Note:

I'm really sorry for about delivering another mini filler. I didn't plan it. It just turned out to be necessary. Perhaps?

Just to warn you, I'll be taking a bit of a break from writing while I adjust to my new school schedule. (Whatever my schedule is, because it's not even finalized yet, and I start on the 4th. FML.). It also might take me a while to be content with the next chapter since it will be entirely devoted to Sol Mi finally making a personal connection with Teen Top. About time, huh?! The real turning point has arrived! I haven't quite decided the details of it yet, though. Who do you guys want to see her bond with first? One special boy, a few of them, or a jolly good time with the whole group?

Also, I finally got the character bios up in the foreword, complete with pics. It took for-freaking-ever. Got it all stylized right in the editing window, but come to find out it was a mess when actually viewing the story. Had to keep going back and forth adjusting it until it was right. Now I'm afraid it'll go all wonky depending on what browser you guys are using or something. I'm sorry if the format does end up getting screwed for anyone. DX

That is all~ Please leave feedback if you've made it this far! Enjoy the last tidbits of summer, everyone!