M04

SVT's performance continued with more covers.

SVT's cover for Raina and San.E's A Midsummer Night's Sweetness was adequately alright with a tinge of cuteness, but this was not sufficient to cover their massive flaws; Seungkwan could not and should never imitate San.E, and The8 and Vernon's voices did not seem to harmonise. At this point, a chunk of the audience had lost interest and the crowd seemed to have thinned out.

And, drum rolls again please, it's finally time for SVT's Girls Girls Girls cover. This is the only reason why Reina's feet disobeyed her and went against her will to their performance in the first place.

When her bias group's song blasted through the stereo, Reina felt like shrieking in ecstasy... but she kept it in. No doubt, Reina was impressed by the impressive synchronisation; The8's cute accent did justice to Reina's ears (if that made any sense) and Seungkwan's emotional voice brought shame to all the choir members in the school (no hate). Vernon on the other hand, did exceptionally well in rapping for the AmeriThaiKong members of GOT7. Reina was slightly disappointed when the song ended but the mood slowly livened up when Seungkwan joyously declared that they had a final, 'epilogue' to their performance: a self composed song.

"The final performance is a song we sweated, cried and lost blood for!" Seungkwan feigned tears and the audience convulsed with laughter. Seungkwan bashfully smile and just when he was about to open his mouth to say something embarrassing again, the microphone was snitched off him.

"As dramatic as it sounds, we really did put in some effort for this and we really hope for you to love it as much as we loved composing it!" The8 twinkled and bowed politely. He then clapped twice to signify the start of the last song. On cue, Vernon started playing his guitar that seemed to have miraculously appeared out of nowhere.

Reina knew nothing about music, but from the moment the guitar was strummed, she knew this was a good song.

No questions. She just knew.

She was not disappointed.

"Time passes, I think about the day that felt so long,

'Can I do it?' At that time I didn't know.

The days that fell away alone,

Today again, I long for that time more,

the smiling kid who carried a guitar bigger than him."

Seungkwan was so immersed into the song that his eyes were closed the whole time. The lyrics flew out of his lips like confetti, beautiful and picturesque (if that even makes any sense). He blinked open his eyes at the end of his part and cheekily pointed to the said boy in the song lyrics, as if passing a baton in a relay race.

The boy with the guitar. The boy who somehow managed to rap and play the guitar at the same time. (A/N: is this even possible haha) The boy called Vernon.

"Yeah, among what people thought of me

I was the white kid who chattered in Korean

While the teachers and my classmates were memorising multiplications,

I was the kid looking out of the window while pretending to learn.

I became an adult, when I thought I'd be a kid forever

I'll soon have to be on my way, but in this busy life,

Instead of convenience,

I want to have composure,

together with my Mom's French toast."

Vernon passed the imaginary baton back to Seungkwan and he took it without hesitation.

"Those events that always flow past

Inside, I want to drift somewhere far away

When you're tired, lean beside me

-inserts adorable The8 leaning on Seungkwan's shoulder-

Walking slowly and heavily,

Someday, it will become memories,

the happiness oh oh,

the sadness oh oh,

Is it so wrong to welcome everything that comes at us?"

An exotic, contrasting voice took over everybody's auditory system.

The8's voice knocked everyone out.

He swept his eyes through the crowd and stopped at someone in particular. For a second, Reina simply thought it was just a few seconds too long, but he ended up staring at her throughout the song. Out of reflex, she looked down to her feet.

"We'll drift away, drift away again

Drift away in this moment

Drift away, drift away again."

Reina felt something weird churning in her body. She looked up from her feet and caught his eyes again. Badump badump.

"We'll drift away, drift away again

Drift away in this moment

Drift away, drift away again oh, oh."

As the song ended, The8 broke off their eye contact and pinked a shade brighter. He crept his hand up to his chest. Badump, badump.

Why am I feeling like...this? The8 and Reina questioned themselves in their dense heads. They shrugged it off without thinking twice, but their incessant heartbeat hindered with the process. What is this feeling?

The self-composed song came to an end and there was a silence for a second. Someone dropped a coin and that seemed to cause a chain reaction; the silence drastically changed into a standing ovation.

Seungkwan, Vernon and The8 politely bowed 45° and announced again that SVT was in dire needs for club members and if students were interested in K-pop, they should definitely join their club, practice days on Mondays and Fridays after school hours in the Performing Arts Centre.

Sadly, the crowd dispersed and only a handful of students stayed behind to grab an application form.

Reina, like other students, wasn't interested so she scooted off to eat in the remaining 13 minutes of recess.

Furthermore, she was confused about her fast-beating heart. She really needed to clear her mind.

Little did she know that the opposite party felt confused too.

❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈

Reina huffed and puffed. She was always first to reach the class from recess (five minutes before the bell rings) but abnormally, someone had beaten her to it. Hearing a ruckus, she decided it was better for her to remain outside.

"We only gave out FOUR application forms?! I believe that I have to say that the club is not working. This club shall be removed from the PHS club list." Reina recognised this voice to be the co-curriculum teacher-in-charge and she could hear from her tone that she was miles from ecstatic.

Not knowing what to do, Reina stood behind the door awkwardly.

"Miss Lee, why can't we settle this with a small club? I don't see what's wrong with it!" the drama King, Seungkwan, had spoken, with utmost dramatics in his voice. As his back-up, the other two members vigorously nodded and agreed enthusiastically.

It was useless because Miss Lee stormed out of the class while yelling that they "should not waste school resources" and "stay at home to study more" so that they could "fit more things in their hollow heads."

"Not waste school resources... stay at home... fit more things... Hey, we can have club practice at home!" Vernon's eyes twinkled as a lightbulb lit above his head.

"Whose house though?" Vernon pondered and scratched his chin questionably.

"VERNON'S HOUSE!" the lightbulb above Vernon's head blew out when Seungkwan and The8 both voted for the said person's house. The victim groaned and complained about needing to clean up his apartment while others not-so-apologetically laughed at his sad plight.

Reina couldn't help but let out a soft giggle. SVT was funny and she would've joined the club if she had a less irregular job, and also if she wasn't...shy. Reina leaned against the door and sighed outwardly. If only she could bring herself to talk to-

"Yeek!" Reina screamed in shock when the door she was leaning against opened abruptly. Her ached in contact with the ground and she let out a yelp.

"Sorry, you alright?" the owner of the voice apologised rather sincerely and offered a hand. She reddened at her awkward position and widened her glistening blue eyes at the half Caucasian boy in front of her.

"If only she could bring herself to talk to Vernon." [Reina's unfinished thoughts]

She grabbed his hand gratefully and bowed as a thanks. Avoiding any possible eye contact with Vernon, Reina turned her heels towards the classroom, flustered.

After a step, she was stopped by not other than Hansol Vernon Chwe.

Vernon grabbed her by her elbow and chirped, "Join out club Yoonbi! We do K-pop covers and this application form will bring you to a glorious, Korean-pop world!" He forcingly shoved a form in her hands and he even gave her a sunshime smile.

It was this moment when Reina figured out why Vernon was heaps popular. When he smiles, his eyes and lips lift up in a dazzling, contagious way, infecting the female protagonist's face with a hint of a grin. Do note that this hadn't happened in a while now. He skipped off, and while looking at his silhouette, Reina's smile faltered.

"It's Yoonbyul, not Yoonbi."

❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈★❈❈❈❈❈❈❈❈
A/N

Hey you. Yes you.

Do you have a Vernon Love&Letter bookmark?

Do you bias Wonwoo and are you willing to trade your Vernon with my Wonwoo?

Hehe

Back to the story. I might be making Minghao the second male lead

Or
I could make it complicated where everyone has a chance ʕ•̀ω•́ʔ✧ (even though you might be thinking that she'd obviously end up with Vernon haha but you never know)

This chapter has gone a lil bit into the plot yay. The song they 'composed' is 'Drift Away' by Team D in SVT Project and there is a studio version now (I personally prefer Team D's but yeah)

I don't make empty promises so I promise you Vernon and Reina interactions in the next chapter.
Take it slow(^^♪

Thank you for reading till this far and I hope you enjoyed your read! x ↠TaoRisPandaLove