Reluctantly, Bobby entered the classroom. He had half a mind to just skip class, but he didn't dare. The professor would without a doubt kick him out of the program if he did. He still felt silly calling him professor, he didn't look a day older than he was. But he was a lot handsomer than him, that was for sure. But what good did it do to be that gorgeous if your personality was rotten to the core?

The atmosphere was a lot bleaker than last time in the classroom. Jinhwan waved him over listlessly, having saved him a seat. There were a lot less students this time, the professor probably having instigated an avalanche of class changes, much to the enjoyment of the registration office, no doubt.

Bobby dried a pearl of cold sweat that had made a break for it down his forehead. The assignment for today was to bring a sample of your writing, both melody and lyrics, and perform it in front of the class. Bobby would rather die than perform in front of that jerk, but it wasn't like he had much choice.

The moment professor Kim Hanbin walked through the door, there was instant silence. The type of silence that physically hurt. Again he closed and locked the door, proceeding to take attendance.

"Bobby Kim? Uhu, Bobby, right, you go first." he said when Bobby raised his hand. Bobby wasn't sure but he thought he could detect a faint hint of an evil glare behind his perfectly symmetric eyes.

"N..now?" Bobby stammered, since the teacher hadn't even finished the name list, the knot in his stomach working its way up to his throat, threatening to close off his air supply completely.

"No, next year. I just wanted to be sure I gave you enough of a heads up." he sneered. A few people laughed. Bobby felt awful. He was a grown man and yet he found himself wishing his mom was here. She would stand up to this bully of a teacher.

"Ah yeah, right, okay, heh..." Bobby mumbled, trying to force his legs to go against everything they believed in and stand up.

Every part of him shaking, he got up in front of the class. Silence. So many curious eyes were staring at him. Some of them encouraging, like Jinhwan's, but most of them were waiting for him to fail. Not because they were bad people deep down inside, but because then it would be easier for them to follow him 'on stage'. He didn't blame them. If the situation was reversed, he would probably have hoped for the same.

Well, 'here goes nothing' he thought as he cleared his throat, trying to find his voice, hoping it wouldn't bail on him in his hour of need.

"Stop! Stop!" the professor yelled.

Confused, Bobby stopped mid sentence, it had only been a few seconds, he had barely started the rap, the chorus still far away.

"But..." Bobby started, wanting to defend himself against this blatant injustice.

"I've heard enough." he callously declared, signaling that he should return to his seat. With his head hung low, Bobby did what he was told.

"Critique, anyone." he looked around the classroom but all heads were down, not daring to meet his eyes in fear of being picked.

"No? You all thought it was just perfect, huh? Nothing that could have been done better? So I guess you don't have ears that work either?" he scolded everyone. Bobby was mortified. Not only had the teacher not liked his performance, but everyone was getting yelled at because of him. He could feel the tears knocking on the corners of his eyelids, begging to be freed from their prison. Not a chance. He promised them they could run free the moment he got home, trying to appease them. Now was not the time.

"Alright, okay, I'll have a go then." an ominous smile appeared on the teacher's lips. His annoyingly delicate lips, which deceptively looked like they could never utter a bad word about anybody, getting ready to spew poison all over him, going in for the kill.

"First of all, the beginning was weak, it did nothing to hook the listener, and it lacked energy, I was bored even before it started." he began, sounding like he was nowhere near finished. It was like having sharp pins pushed through his heart, slowly for maximum pain.

"The rap was disorganized and the lyrics childish, it sounded like something you'd expect from a 12 year old. No sorry, a 12 year old could do way better." he added matter-of-factly, like he wasn't in the process of crushing Bobby's world into a million little pieces.

"Seriously, if you want to even dream about having a future in this business, you don't just have to do better, you have to do way, way better." he told him sternly, looking him right in the eyes. Bobby got chills down his spine, his blood freezing in his veins.

That was one intense, scary dude. But still, in spite of everything, he had this soft charm about him. Maybe Bobby was just imagining it, mistaking good looks for something more. Maybe there was nothing else behind that pretty face but a snake ready to strike at the slightest aggravation. It didn't really matter. Either way, he was the person who had just shattered his hopes and dreams.

He had been naive enough to think he was a half decent composer, good even. He had convinced himself that this was what he had been born to do, but it had all just been wishful thinking. He wanted to go home. He wanted to crawl under the covers and give up. He didn't have the strength to sit here and listen to other people's dreams being stepped on as well.

"Next!".

Bobby couldn't believe it. All the other students got to finish their bit with minimal input from the teacher, just a simple, relatively benign discussion with the class and that was it. Jinhwan even got a slight praise, which he totally deserved because his song was amazing, but still. It wasn't fair. Why had he been the only one singled out? Was he really that bad?