Chapter Five

song: 我真的受傷了

Haneul woke up the next day to a stream of sunlight filtering through the curtains. Quietly observing the pale glittering beams, Haneul slid off bed and pushed her fingers through the coarse material, sliding it to the side to expose the morning view of Seoul.

Now that the magic of the night had dispersed, Seoul looked a lot more realistic and chaotic. It was barely seven o’clock but the smell of never-ending movement was already pushing its way into the busy streets of Seoul. Compared to the lush green quietness Haneul was used to, the sight of the big city in front of her suddenly became a lot scarier than she had imagined - and made it scarier when Haneul realised she was about to join the brisk steps of the city people below her very soon, if not having already taken a step into that hectic life below.

As if on cue, the creaking sound of her door opening could be heard, and Jongin poked his head through the crack.

“You’re awake?”

“Ah…yes. Good morning.”

“Good morning.” Jongin gave Haneul a smile and stepped inside the room, ruffling his hair and yawning a little. From the casual beige shirt that he wore to the ash-grey sweatpants that looked just a bit too big for him, it was quite obvious that he had just climbed out of bed.

And before she could even realise that she was blushing - Haneul blushed.

Though she understood that Jongin was a full-time working adult, but now that he was out of the suit and dressed in such normal clothes, he looked a lot…younger. And unwillingly, the fact that she had just spent a night in a guy’s house smacked her right in the face, leaving another trail of red tints blossoming on her cheeks.

Damn those teenage girl hormones.

Fortunately, Jongin seemed oblivious to all this, and was instead stretching as he glanced around the room.

 “Slept well?”

Jolting a little, Haneul nodded her head but didn’t dare to speak; who knew what kind of misfortunate squeak would escape her lips if she did. Jongin seemed content with her silent answer however, and he let out a broad grin.

“Great, because you’re going to need quite a lot of energy today.”

“E-eh?”

Jongin let out a grim smile.

“I know you don’t want to – trust me, I don’t want to either but…” Jongin dropped the arm he was stretching and sighed, “Let’s go back to find Maria.”

It had been a lovely morning. The sun seemed warmer than usual, and Maria woke up early in the morning feeling quite refreshed. After all, today was a rare day-off for her, and Maria had planned to spend the day relaxing in the nice house she bought with much money but haven’t had the time to relax in; as well as brewing some tea and reading a book like the romantic person she really was inside.

Key word: It had been.

For just as she had finished brewing the tea and was getting ready to snuggle onto the couch, the doorbell rang. Next thing she knew, she was sitting in the passenger seat next to Jongin with that scrawny wannabe superstar behind her and was being driven off to Dream high school. 

Her tea was still sitting on the stove.

Her tea, her wonderful, aromatic tea, was still sitting on the stove.

“I better get paid double-no, triple for this,” Maria muttered under her breath, though she purposely raised her voice a little as she pointed a sharp glare towards Jongin, “Otherwise I’m going to kill you so bad.”

“What was that, Maria?”

Scoffing, Maria flicked back her hair. “You heard me.”

Jongin lifted his lips into a half-hearted smile but said nothing as he continued to drive, and the car fell silent. It remained mostly silent for the rest of the ride, except for the occasional grumblings Maria would make now and then whenever she remembered her tea.

Haneul on the other hand, sat rigidly behind Maria, not daring to move even a muscle. When Jongin and her turned up at Maria’s house, the expression on the lady’s face evidently told them that she was displeased to be gracing their presence; of course, Maria’s face only darkened when Jongin told her that they would be making a trip to Dream High school, and Haneul could almost see the curse words surfacing from Maria’s brain – all mainly directed at her.

It was only their second meeting, but Haneul was already on Maria’s black list.

Nevertheless, the trio still arrived at Dream High school without further trouble (if you don’t count Maria’s angry comments as one), and Jongin pulled to a halt outside a closed ivory gate that loomed over their heads.

“Hmm…” Jongin rolled down the window and poked his head outside as he glanced up at the security camera, “The gates are closed.”

“Well, it is Saturday today, Mr. CEO,” Maria commented sarcastically, obviously still upset about the tea, “The school is closed-“

Beep.

“Say that again?” A smirk was all Jongin needed to spite Maria back as the gates began opening mechanically, giving the three entrance into the prestigious talent school.

As expected, the view was quite splendid. Standing tall and proudly before them, was a great building that glimmered with pride under the morning sun; built with glistening marbles and opaque, silver stones, it looked every bit deserving to be the education centre for the future entertainment superstars of Korea.

Haneul could hardly close her jaw as she pressed her face against the window, shocked that she would be enrolled in such a beautiful school. She already thought the busy streets of Seoul was scary enough, but now looking at the grand view in front of her, it topped the scary meter.

Biting her lips, Haneul still couldn’t tear her eyes away from the building, even when Jongin opened the door for her and ushered her outside with a slight chuckle hiding beneath his smile. Maria, on the other hand, took a look at Haneul’s awestruck expression once and immediately shook her head disapprovingly.

If this girl was going to be this shocked just by the appearance of a mere school, then how was she going to face the even more dazzling world of a superstar?

And this was why Maria knew instantly that this girl would not be great. Not when she was so easily influenced and couldn’t stand her ground.

But nevertheless, Maria still followed Jongin and Haneul into the school, sighing to herself. Haneul was still completely absorbed in the splendour of the school, her eyes darting here and there as she took in the appearance. Though they were only at the reception, but it was still ten times grander than the fanciest looking house in Jinsari – which was Baekhyun’s house.

The sudden remembrance of Byun Baekhyun dampened her mood a little. Now that she thought about it, Haneul was about to enter the field of work that Baekhyun was in right now…which meant-

No, no. After all, Haneul was only going to enrol in this school to give it a chance. It wasn’t like she really would become an actress in the future, and there was no chance she would meet Baekhyun anyway. Even if she did, what are the chances of him remembering her when he had made it clear that she was absolutely nothing in his eyes?

Feeling a bit dejected at the thought, Haneul stopped looking around and sighed softly to herself.

“Haneul?”

Blinking, Haneul quickly perked up and glanced at Jongin, who was standing by the reception, peering at her. Maria was by his side with one eyebrow arched judgem