"STOP! I SAID STOP!!! "

Hwang Eunbi's voice echoed throughout the room. Everyone froze, even though they were in the middle of changing positions for a new formation. Although they were frustrated because they have to go back to the start again when they have almost finished the whole song,  one cannot hide the relieving fact that they can take a break for a moment because of Eunbi's words.

The sun was setting, painting the cloudless sky with patches of blood. The rays are cascading down the opened windows of the room, making everyone's faces glow. The classroom smelled of sweat due to the never-ending dancing. 

Every student is gasping, catching their breaths that has been stolen by the wickedly fast rhythm of the song they remixed themselves.  Some went for a water break. The others simply collapsed on the floor, their legs unable to support their weight anymore. There were also few who chose to stand still.

Among them was Kim Jennie, whose currently walking towards Eunbi. Eunbi was so mad she turned red. Jennie walked slowly, you'd be puzzled whether she was walking on air or if she was walking on a floor full of shards of glass. She seemed confident, and at the same time, shy.

Just like her classmates in section Diamond of Grade 12, she looked haggard. Her wet side-swept bangs- which she indifenitely tried tucking under her left ear- has stuck in her forehead instead. Her voloumptous lips turned pale and are chapped. Her jet black eyes are sleepy, and she could hardly focus out of hunger.  She feels like any moment, she would pass out from exhaustion.

Still, she has to do her duty.

As she walks the final steps towards where Eunbi is standing, she already knew what the latter would tell her.

Everyone around the room has been carrying a big burden lately. It's still the beginning of May, but they're already hustling with their school works, not to mention the Dance Showcase Competition for the Spring Festival Cultivation they had to win this Friday. They are the pilot section and as an unspoken rule, they have to ace everything- be it academically or the extra co-curricular activities.

That's why she can understand why Eunbi stablished a dictatorship-like attitude in the room when she was appointed as the general manager and choreographer of the Dance Showcase. Her classmates are already afraid of her because of her bad temper, and she becomes scarier when the topic's about dancing.

Freya knows the real reason as to why Eunbi acts like a raging bull everytime they practice. To inflict fear. Inflicting fear equals control. Once the people around you becomes aware of your presence and become terrified of it, you become the superior human being, thus giving you the privilege to move everyone else like puppets in a string driven by no one else but you.

And it seems to work. With the three days they have spent practicing after class or during any vacant hours, they are already three-fourths of the five-minute exhibition. Today is Monday, so for the remaining four days, all they had to do was to polish their moves to get the perfect synchronization. No matter how draining everything is, Freya has high confidence about taking the beacon home.

"Yes?, " Jennie asked Eunbi. Her voice was similar to that of a honey- soft,  polite and every syllable was uttered with precision.

At first, Eunbi didn't give any reaction. She was simply staring over something outside. Jennie followed her gaze and saw Park Cheolsu slumped over a chair. Eunbi stared at him with so much intensity, it made him look like he killed one of her relatives.

"Take care of him," Eunbi ordered, referring to Cheolsu.

Before Jenniewas able to give Eunbi an answer, someone across the room spoke.

"Excuse me, I would like to know as to why you're telling us to stop," 12 Diamond's class president, Lee Hayi inquired. The words were harsh, but she said it courteously as though she was speaking to someone with a three-year old mental capacity.

Right away, the atmosphere in the room grew thick with tension. Hayi, although she keeps quiet most of the time, is also a respected figure in the room. The same reason why she was voted as the president of their room for the third consecutive time already. With Hayi standing up about the delay of the practice, it'll be like a lion versus the tiger.

Sensing a brewing fight, Jenniemade her exit from the room and went to console the unknowing Cheolsu. He was still sitting in the same position as he did a few minutes ago, his head bowed and tearing a piece of paper.

The only place they can practice is at their classroom because the other competing class- 12-Gold, their beloved rival class- has already reserved the dance studio for the whole week. To save space, they decided to put their chairs outside. The area was empty, aside from the recurring security guards patrolling the whole university. On that afternoon, Cheolsu was the only student in the hallway.

"Cheolsu?" Freya said, silently getting herself a chair to sit on. "Cheolsu? It's me, Jennie. "

Cheolsu doesn't seem to mind Jennie. Rather, he continued to tearing his scratch paper. Jennie watched him shred the brown paper, trying to figure out why he was acting like that. Finally, when the poor paper has been split so small it cannot be teared anymore, Jennie decided to make her presence known once more.

"What's the matter? " She said, volunteering to open up the conversation.

Asking about his whereabouts might feel like a trivial thing to certain people, yet for Cheolsu, it was enough. Enough to break the grip he was trying to hold on to this morning. Jennie's question was the trigger being pulled from the gun he himself has tried so many times so secure. His hands hurt from tearing the paper into pieces thinking it might lessen his frustration, however, his heart hurt more.

Cheolsu began to cry.

His eyes became faucets of water. The liquid fell into his reddened puffing cheeks continuously. Still, Cheolsu wasn't making any sound. Jennie began to wonder if Cheolsu was still afraid to show his true self. Cheolsu's tear dropped simultaneously over his eyeglasses, he needed to wipe them.

Jennie looked at Cheolsu with full concern. Now that his thick eyeglasses has been temporarily taken away from him, Cheolsu's small hooded brown eyes stood out. He got his very pale complexion from his half-Chinese mother. His red pimples crowded his chubby cheeks. His straight hair stopped at his eyebrows, giving him the typical nerd look.

In reality, Cheolsu's really a nerd- a forced nerd.

"It's alright. You don't have to explain anything right now, I understand, " Jennie uttered in a hushed whisper, even though there were only the two of them in the area. "I won't bombard you with any questions, in one condition: let me stay here with you. "

Not waiting for Cheolsu's answer, Jennie transferred her gaze towards the sight ahead of her. The view the second floor from one of  Korea's most prestigious school offers is a sight to behold. Looking past the blue gates of the secluded dorm,  the Hangang Bridge  is almost visible. It was only past five in the afternoon, yet the lights have already been and the cars it contained barely moved.

She couldn't imagine what stressing traffic she'd encounter later when she gets home.

Sighing, Jennie then focuses on the cold wind breezing past her, and how it felt nice when it touched her cheeks. Let her worry about that later. For now she'd concentrate on what's served on her plate.

She was itching to ask Cheolsu about whatever's troubling him,  but at the same time knew that she can't. After the hundred troubled persons she came in contact with, she knew better than to burden them with questions right away. Let the door open by itself,  she thought. She can't force people to answer her questions right away because it might pressure them into giving a half-truth one. Or worse, they won't give her any information.

So being with them is the only choice. And it's a hundred times better. Sometimes, words are not needed in comforting people. Sometimes simply your presence is enough. You being with them- even though you are clueless about them- is enough to lift the burden in their hearts.

"It wasn't the boys, " Cheolsu said after several minutes of complete silence.

Something stirred inside Jennie's heart. It's both heart-wrenching and maddening to know the very first thing Cheolsu would say will be to protect the boys in his class.

Everyone else is aware of the fact that he is being bullied by the boys in his class. All because Cheolsu is different. All because he prefers to study than to play video games. All because he's not athletic. All because he doesn't go along with them.

"It was Mom, " Cheolsu continued.

"I'm... I'm afraid,  Jennie, "  There,  he finally said it- admitted it to himself.

"Why?,"  Curiosity and concern mixed in Jennie's voice.

Cheolsu shifted his waist in order to face Jennie. Cheolsu's mother,