Sooyoung shot out of bed once her alarm went off the next morning. She usually hit the snooze button at least three times before getting out of bed but today was different. Her sense of responsibility overpowered her tendency to snooze and she was almost twenty minutes ahead of her typical morning routine by the time she stepped out of her house, surprising her mother and two sisters again.

“Eomma, what’s gotten into unnie recently?” asked Sooyoung’s youngest sister.

“I don’t know but it looks like she’s taking her role as secretary very seriously. You all should learn from her,” replied her mother.

Sooyoung stepped out of her house with a light step and greeted Sungjae with a bright tone, “Good morning, oppa!”

“Wah, someone sure sounds excited,” said Sungjae amusedly. “Did you sleep well?”

“Of course! I can’t believe the music club is finally going to show off its power today!” ranted Sooyoung excitedly.

Sungjae laughed and ruffled her hair as he replied, “Yah, you’re certainly developing a strong bond with the club.”

“Of course!” said Sooyoung with a bright smile. “Anyway, will you be free to come over to the auditorium at 11am? I haven’t had lunch with you for ages. We can go for lunch together if you’re free then.”

Sungjae took out his phone and scrolled through his schedule for the day. “I’m performing with the others from 8 to 11am but I’ll be free for a while before the afternoon shift starts,” said Sungjae. “I’ll come by to meet you in the auditorium once I’m done.”

“That’s great!” replied Sooyoung enthusiastically. “I should be done helping the band with their logistics by then as well, since their lunchtime performance is at 11.30am.”

“Have you been eating and resting well recently, Sooyoung-ah?” asked Sungjae. “Our walk to school in the mornings is always so rushed and I don’t see you after school ever since Hyunwoo’s been sending you home. You look kind of pale recently. Your cheeks even seem to have sunken in a little. They’re not as nice to pinch as they used to be.”

Sungjae cheekily reached for Sooyoung’s left cheek and tried to pinch it but had his hand slapped by Sooyoung.

“Aish, oppa! Nothing’s wrong with me. I’ve been eating well. Just that I’ve been really tired by the preparation for today,” said Sooyoung with a tinge of irritation at Sungjae’s teasing. “I’ll be able to catch up on my rest after today, so don’t worry.”

“Haha, arasso,” said Sungjae, as they arrived at the school gate. It was already bustling with students who had arrived early to prepare for the spring festival. “I’m heading to Changsub’s classroom to meet them. I’ll see you later Sooyoung-ah!”

Sooyoung waved at Sungjae before making her way to the music club room. Although she was still tired, she felt a wave of adrenaline surge through her at the thought of what was to come today.

The festival was soon under way and Sungjae and his team were busy walking around entertaining everyone with their songs. The female hoobaes in particular swooned shamelessly at Sungjae when he was singing but all he would do was to smile and continue singing. He and the other singers took turns for each song but he still felt tired when his morning shift finally came to an end. Sooyoung, on the other hand, was busy with the final preparation of the performance in the auditorium. Even though she had not been getting enough rest, she still pushed her hardest to make sure that everything was in order and that she lived up to her position as the secretary of the music club committee.

11am finally came and Sungjae heaved a deep sigh of relief.

“I’m going over to the auditorium. See you all later,” said Sungjae to his team before walking off towards the auditorium.

As he reached the auditorium, Sungjae saw Sooyoung, Hyunwoo and some of the other volunteers helping to arrange the chairs into the designated seating arrangement, as the full band strength was about 60 and there was a fair bit of arranging to do, especially since the chairs were stacked up in tall stacks and had to be unloaded from trolleys and laid out singly.

One of the student volunteers was struggling to push a heavy trolley laid with three stacks of chairs and fumbled with the trolley as it got caught in a crack in the flooring on the stage, near where Sooyoung was standing. The student grumbled and started shifting the trolley in an attempt to dislodge the wheel from the crack. But the heavy stacks of chairs wobbled dangerously as he did so and Sooyoung, in her half-dazed state, did not realise this until the stack of chairs was about to fall onto her.

“Sooyoung-ah! Watch out!” shouted Sungjae in panic and desperation, as he ran over to her, even though he knew he could not reach Sooyoung in time to pull her away from the chairs.

Sooyoung turned at the sound of Sungjae’s voice and screamed as she saw the falling stack of chairs. Just as she put up her arms to protect herself, she felt someone collide hard with her and push her to safety.

“AH!” Sooyoung heard a cry of pain as she turned to see who had pushed her. To her horror, she saw Hyunwoo struggling to pull his right foot out from underneath the stack of chairs.

“Oppa!” cried Sooyoung, as she rushed up to him and tried to lift the stack of chairs. Sungjae and some other volunteers rushed up to them and hurried to lift the stack of chairs that was still stubbornly lying on Hyunwoo’s foot.

“Oppa, kwenchana? Why did you do that?” rambled Sooyoung, who was almost in tears.

Sungjae lifted Hyunwoo to his feet but Hyunwoo winced as he tried to stand on both feet and clung to Sungjae again for support.

“I think you might have a broken ankle, Hyunwoo-ah,” said Sungjae, as he looked at the slightly bent angle that Hyunwoo’s foot was in and the rate at which it was swelling up. “I’ll take you to the school nurse and we’ll see if she can sort you out.”

“Kwenchana, Sooyoung-ah. Don’t worry about me. Are you hurt anywhere?” asked Hyunwoo.

Sooyoung shook her head. Hyunwoo gave her a reassuring smile as he let Sungjae lead her out of the auditorium.

Immediately after the festival ended, Sooyoung rushed to the nurse’s office to see how Hyunwoo was doing.

“Annyeonghasaeyo. Erm… Is Hyunwoo sunbae-nim feeling better?” asked Sooyoung.

“Ah, Hyunwoo-ssi has gone home,” replied the nurse. “Sungjae-ssi helped to call his parents and they came to pick him up a few hours ago.”