Synopsis: Time has come around Seoul's High School of Performing Arts for their annual winter ball. Lee Hayi is the student body president and Koo Junhoe will not have it for his childhood friend to go to one of her last dances dateless.

“Please?”

“No.”

“Can’t you do it for me?”

“I said no, June.”

“Aw c’mon noona. Pleeeeease?”

Hayi huffed to herself as she scurried down the hallway towards the student council’s room. Her childhood friend, Junhoe, was hot on her tail as he continued to pester her with a deal he had come up with.

“It’s the winter ball of your last year and you’re going alone?! What kind of non-sense is that?” he retorted as she greeted the other council members that were busy doing their assigned tasks for the ball.

She abruptly turned around and glared at Junhoe. “I am not going to the dance with that playboy!”

Junhoe groaned as he watched her stomp away and grab the box of posters from one of the desks. She greeted Lisa and Jisoo who approached her about some questions about the gym’s layout. He sulked as she looked at their draft of the gym and clipped it onto her clipboard, promising that she’ll get back to them as soon as she finished putting up the posters. The entire school was buzzing with excitement as the winter ball was approaching at the end of the week and the student council was known for throwing the best dances. Lee Hayi was student body president and everyone loved her for her witty personality. She got things done and listened to what the students wanted. This made her the center of attention and the most sought out person to get as their date to the dance. But since she was too busy with student council duties, she always went with the other council members or stagnant. Being the concerned and caring childhood friend that he is, Junhoe made it his goal to get Hayi a date for one of her last dances.

“Yah noona, you at least need to go with someone this year and hyung is a good candidate! Both of you guys always go stag and it would be a sight to see for the rest of the student body.” He continued as she made her way out of the classroom with the box in hand.

Taking it out of her grip, he gave her a cheeky smile and walked backward. She rolled her eyes and took one out as she stopped at one of the empty walls. Stapling the poster up, she gave Junhoe a side glare and said, “With his kind of reputation? No thank you.”

“It’s not our fault that we have girls throwing themselves at us.” He smirked and leaned against the wall as she looked at it, making sure that it was upright.

“This is why I try my best to avoid your friends, June. You all have such big egos for being the quote on quote, ‘heartthrobs’ of the school.”

“Aw c’mon noona! Give him a chance; he isn’t that bad once you get to know him. Plus it’s your last year! What kind of person are you for going stag?” he ranted.

She huffed as she continued along the corridor and putting up poster for the dance on the bulletin boards. Greeting other students as she passed them, she nudged Junhoe in the stomach as he continued ranting about how she was going to die alone if she didn’t find a date to the dance. Hayi mentally rolled her eyes as she tried her best to tune him out. As much as she wished to go to the dance with someone, the turnout of the event was her top priority. It was her role as student body president to make sure that things went smoothly. There were still many things to do on the list and they only had a few days left to make everything happen.

“Yah, are you even listening to me?!”

Hayi laughed and nodded her head. “Yes, and fyi I’m not going to die alone with twenty one cats in a lonesome apartment okay? Just please stop bugging me about going to dance with Hanbin.”

“But everyone will love it! They’ll go crazy once they find out that the Tiger Couple are each other’s dates to the dance.”

“Tiger Couple?” she murmured as they went up to the third floor.

Junhoe followed her and nodded his head rapidly. “It’s what the student body calls you guys after both of you were chosen to be the school’s faces.”

She sighed to herself as she recalled the end of her junior year and the elections for the following year’s student council had just ended. The school board called her and Hanbin into the main office to tell them that they were selected to be the faces for the school’s banner and advertisements. Hayi understood why Hanbin was selected since his family was a major contributor to the performing arts school but her? She still questioned why she was picked when there were more good looking girls around campus. The two had become somewhat friends as they spent time together doing the photo shoot, interview, and video filming. He had mildly flirted with her and she simply brushed it off due to his reputation for dating different girls each week. After their time together, the students noticed some sort of “chemistry” between them and had begun shipping them. Their banter of him flirting with her and her rejected him was deemed cute in the eyes of others. Whenever they passed by each other in the hallways or had a class together, they acted as acquaintances and nothing more than that.

Junhoe wriggled his eyebrows suggestively as he moved the box onto his hip and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Gotta give the public some fan service, am I right? We need a BiHi or HanHi moment. They’ve been waiting for so long.”

Hayi rolled her eyes playfully and laughed. “Right, like that’s ever going to happen. Me and Kim Hanbin? Please get your head out of the gutter June.”

Junhoe sighed as she finished stapling the last poster and he looked at the time from the clock in the hallway. “Just take my offer into consideration, alright noona? Your dongsaeng is just worried about you ending up alone for the rest of your life.”

She laughed as she turned to him and took the box out of his hands. “Arasso, but I make no promises June. Now go before that stupid playboy punishes you for showing up to practice late. I don’t want you to be doing fifty burpees just for helping me out with the posters.”

He smiled and ruffled her hair. “Fifty burpees are nothing to me if I got to help my tiny Hayi noona. Good luck with the rest of the preparations, alright?”

Humming in agreement, she waved goodbye as he disappeared down the stairs and she sighed to herself. Her gaze landed on the poster that she and the rest of the student council came up together and bit her bottom lip. Finding a date to the dance, huh? And having Junhoe setting me up with Hanbin? Impossible. She shook her head to get rid of any crazy thoughts that entered her mind and looked down at the clipboard she had in hand. Besides, there’s a lot more things to worry about besides finding a date. Clicking her tongue, she hurriedly made her way towards the gym to make sure that Chanhyuk and Jennie weren’t fooling around with the streamers again.

Now which one should I choose? Hayi bit her bottom lip as she stared at the two different center pieces that were going to be set on top of the tables to accompany the winter wonderland theme. The market around her was bustling with people as they bought Christmas decorations as well as gifts for their families. One was a crystal vase with white roses and clear crystals hung down from it and the other was of three different leveled cylinders filled with water and a white candle floating on top of it. At the bottom of the cylinders were blue and silver plastic crystals to accompany the winter color scheme. She mentally did the calculations of the two in front of her and pursed her lips. Both would be fine and it would’ve been faster for her to come to a decision if Jimin was there with her. Her vice president was supposed to accompany her on this trip to the market but something came up with her family which caused her to cancel last minute. Now here she was staring at the two different center pieces for the past thirty minutes and still hasn’t come up with a decision.

“I suggest going with the white roses. It’ll be easier to set up and save you a lot of time when cleaning up.” A deep voice said behind her.

Hayi jumped as she heard someone talk to her and turned around. A hand was on her chest as she saw who it was and said, “You scared me.”

He smirked in response and nodded his head in the direction of the vase of roses. “Get that one. You’ve been staring at those things ever since I got here and it looked like you weren’t going to decide anytime soon.”

She rolled her eyes and decided to go with what he said. Motioning towards one of the workers that were near them, she pointed to the chosen center piece and handed them the piece of paper with their order. Her attention turned back to the person who now stood next to her and raised an eyebrow at him.

“What are you doing here, Kim Hanbin?”

He shrugged and lifted the plastic bags he was holding. “My mom sent me to the market to buy some things for our home.”

She nodded her head in understanding and moved her attention back to the worker who came back with her receipt. After pocketing the receipt and giving the worker the address of the school and instructions on where to deliver the boxes of decorations, she thanked them and made her way onto the next stall. Her eyes immediately went towards the list she made and checked off the box for the center pieces. Looking around, she navigated through the busy crowd in search of the party supply store. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that Hanbin had decided to tag along with her.

“Shouldn’t you be going home?” she asked as she looked for more decorations. With the sketches Jisoo and Lisa gave her, it looked like they needed more lighting, balloons, and streamers. Streamers…I will make sure to change Chanhyuk’s and Jennie’s duties to music. The two wasted so much of it by trying to make mummies out of each other.

Hanbin shrugged and gave her a lazy smile. “Nah, mother doesn’t expect me for another hour or so since I usually get distracted with other things here.”

“Like picking up girls?” she retorted and looked through the array selection of different colored streamers.

He raised an eyebrow at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “And how did you know that, miss student body president?”

She rolled her eyes and picked the colors that suited the dance best, putting it in the basket she grabbed on her way in. Hayi had noticed that Hanbin frequented at the neighborhood’s outdoor market every other day. She noticed him through the windows of her part time job at a small café that was lined up against all the other stores. As a barista, her eyes were always wandering to the outside world and Kim Hanbin was one of the figures she would constantly see. After getting whatever his mother wanted him to get, he would lounge around the area trying to flirt with girls that came his way.

“Isn’t it obvious? You have girls throwing themselves at every moment.” She huffed as she moved onto the next aisle and checked off streamers off of her list. The next thing to find was table covers and her eyes roamed the different shelves for the item.

“I didn’t know you paid attention to those kind of things, sweetheart.”

Rolling her eyes at his statement, she pushed the basket she was holding into his hands and began to grab multiple packages of white table clothes. “If you’re going to stick around, you might as well help me carry this while I look for everything.”

He laughed and simply followed her throughout the store. They stayed silent for some time as Hayi was often in her thoughts and concentrated on getting everything done as soon as possible. It was nearing dinner time and she had to be home soon in order to help her brother with dinner. Hanbin observed the girl in front of him as she squatted down and rested her arms on her knees. Her eyes were determinedly looking for the color sheets she needed for the gym’s lighting. He didn’t know why he suddenly wanted to tag along with her. Hanbin had just stumbled across her as he bought some candles his mother needed for their home. As he was walking in, he found her taking down the vase of roses and settling it down next to the cylinders of water. He took his time roaming around the store and picking out the scent for his mother since it was still too early for him to go home. After spending some time in the store, he decided that it was time to leave and purchased everything his mother told him to. As he exited the store, he noticed Hayi was still in the same position she was when he first saw her, but this time her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips were pursed. The annoyance on her face was obvious so he decided to approach her and give his input.

Now looking at her, he noticed how hard working she was and carried most of the school’s burdens on her. She was very witty and playful when they had spent time together for being the school’s faces. Hanbin had honestly enjoyed the time they spent together and hoped that they continued the friendship they had built. But since it was towards the end of the school year, he barely saw her after that as she learned the ropes of the student council from Seungyoon who was the president at that time. Even once the school year started, she was too busy with everything on her plate to really hang out with anyone so he respected the space she needed.

He was snapped out of his thoughts as she dumped the blue, purple, and green color sheets into the basket. Hayi gave him an accomplished smile as she checked the last thing on her list and headed towards the cashier. After paying for everything, the duo exited the store and she suddenly turned to him. Hanbin caught her shoulders as he almost bumped into her. She gave him an amused smile and he rubbed his next sheepishly.

“It’s only because you’re so tiny, I was just looking above your head.” He muttered as he readjusted his grip on the shopping bags he held for her.

She laughed and led him towards the café she worked part time at. Motioning for Hanbin to take a seat at the bar, she greeted the other workers and put on an apron. He gave her a questioning look as he set down the bags and took a seat anyways. Hayi motioned towards the menu above her head and said, “Take a pick, it’s my treat for accompanying me even if you didn’t have to.”

“You work here?” he asked as his eyes roamed through the different types of drinks.

“Yup. In order for me to get into Seoul’s University of Performing Arts, I need to save up the income somehow.”

“You want to get into UPA?” Hanbin was surprised that Hayi was interested on continuing her career in music. It was usually advised by the staff of their school to think of an alternative major if they weren’t scouted at the end of the year by an entertainment company or received a scholarship for UPA. He had immediately deemed Hayi as a more scholarly student due to her high grades and dedication of the school. Sure she was also known for her unique, soulful voice, but her focus was always on academics.

Hayi scrunched up her nose as he told her his order and began to prepare his Iced American. “It’s what you least expect of me, but if I can’t get scouted as an idol, I would still like to become a composer.”

He nodded in understanding as she grinded the coffee beans and began to brew him a fresh cup of coffee. People always talked about how Hayi’s self-composed songs held such deep emotions.  They often wonder how a young person like her could express those mature feelings. A comfortable silence fell upon the two as she continued to make his drink and he texted his friends. Hanbin looked up as she passed him his drink and took off the apron she was wearing. Making her way back to where he was, he took sip of his drink and relished in the bitter tastes that he loved.

Hayi chuckled as she waited for her brother to pick her up and took the seat next to him. Hanbin gave her a questioning gaze and she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. “June kept bugging me earlier about finding myself a date to the dance.”

Hanbin recalled how the cheeky boy kept bugging him during their rehearsal earlier about finding a date and raised an eyebrow at this. Now wha