It was a strange day from the start. Jinyoung woke up and checked the time on her phone, only for her to see a message from a friend that she hadn’t heard from since she moved to the city. It was a friend that Jinyoung had made in high school, Yewon. The two of them had been close, as much as her and Hyunae were now. But the great distance made them grow apart. After a few phone calls, the conversation between them just stopped. But now, it had started again. Yewon had sent them a photo of the two of them in their last days of high school, with their arms around each other as if they’d never let each other go. Nostalgia, when the word was traced back to its roots, it meant ‘homecoming pains’ and that was what she was feeling now, the longing ache for her home and for those old times.

But there was a promise for a cure. “I moved to the city weeks ago,” Yewon wrote. “We should meet for dinner.”

“I’d love to! Let’s do it!” Jinyoung spoke under her breath as she typed. After sending the message, she studied the photo again. So much time had passed since then, but Jinyoung would like to think that she hadn’t changed much since then. I’m still in high school now , she thought with a laugh.

I wonder if Yewonnie changed.

The second curious thing to happen was the man upstairs. He wasn’t upstairs or going up the stairs, but down in front of the building. “Oh, Sungyeol-ssi!” Jinyoung must’ve sounded as shocked as she was because Sungyeol immediately explained himself.

“I’m waiting for my ride. It’s late,” he told her.

“For work?” she asked, and he nodded in response. She walked up next to him. “At least it’s a nice day out today,” she stated and then took in a deep breath while stretching.

“Yea, it’s a beautiful day to be late,” he sounded irritated as he searched for his ride down the street. Sungyeol then sighed and shook his head, giving up. He turned to Jinyoung. “So how are you?”

“Me?” Jinyoung was surprised that the other continued the conversation. She actually had to take a step back in order to return back to his side because she was already getting ready to leave, thinking that their conversation was going to end with a few remarks about the weather. She smiled. Maybe she’d get to know more about the mysterious man. “I’m doing well. I teach at the Arts High School nearby, and...”

Sungyeol furrowed his brows. “Nearby?” he challenged with a slight laugh. “That school isn’t what I’d call nearby.”

“True,” Jinyoung admitted. “But it’s the closest one.” In response to that, Sungyeol just cocked his head and continued to look down the street, away from Jinyoung. Are we done now? Should I continue what I was saying? Or just leave? She gripped her bag and clenched her teeth as she smiled at him. “Well…”

“I work at the bank just up the road,” Sungyeol shared looking back at her with a grin. “It would probably be better just to walk, right?” Jinyoung gave him a small nod. “You take the bus, right?” Jinyoung nodded again, but was perplexed. How did he know? Did he watch her like she watched him? Was he just as curious too? “The bus stop is on the way to work. So...shall we?” he asked as he beckoned her with the wave of his hand to follow him down the street.

“Oh, okay,” Jinyoung stammered as she hurried to keep up with his long, loping stride. Two of her steps equalled to about one of his. But even given that, Jinyoung couldn't stop smiling as she slowly started to lose her breath. With every step (literally now), she was getting closer to the Man Upstairs. “What do you do at the bank?” Jinyoung asked him, hoping to piece together more of this puzzle. “I'm not entirely sure what is there to do at a bank other than to take people’s money,” she joked, quickly losing more of her breath as she spoke.

“Fraud detection,” Sungyeol answered. “That's what I do.”

“Oh,” Jinyoung whistled under her breath. “That's interesting. Like you deal with counterfeit bills?”

“It's fun, but it has its dull moments. And yea counterfeits and stuff like that,” Sungyeol replied. “Are you impressed? It seems like you're impressed.”

Jinyoung frowned. Why did that sound so familiar? She shook, trying to rid herself of that eerie feeling and to refuse Sungyeol of the gratification. “I’d be more impressed if you gave me some,” she said, extending her hand towards her neighbor, palm up.

Sungyeol stopped in his step and gazed down at her hand. “What? Money?” he asked, a corner of his mouth quirking up.

“No, fake money,” Jinyoung clarified. “I want to prank someone with it.”

Sungyeol snorted. “You could get into trouble,” he reprimanded her, and Jinyoung immediately retracted her hand, embarrassed. “And it's not like I carry it on me.”

“Oh right,” Jinyoung murmured under her breath. “Then next time, maybe.”

Her neighbor shook his head, hiding his smile slightly. “Yea sure, next time,” it didn't sound so much like a genuine promise but a promise made to drop the subject. “Well, this is your stop. It was nice walking with you Jinyoung-ssi.”

“O-oh!” she gasped. Since they'd been walking so quickly, she didn't even notice that they were already at the stop, and her bus was pulling up to the curb. “That's mine!” she exclaimed. Jinyoung turned around and waved goodbye to the Man Upstairs before rushing onto the bus.

It wasn't until after she had sat down on the bus and was calm again, when she began to process what had just happened. She frowned as she looked out the window. It was curious. For a man that seemed so cut off the rest of the world and mysterious (and serious, so serious), Sungyeol proved to be just the opposite. Chatty, smiling, these weren't things that Jinyoung didn't think Sungyeol would be. As it would turn out, you can't tell much about a man if you're only looking at his back.

These ‘curious’ things did not end when Jinyoung reached the school. No, instead things just got curiouser and curiouser. Right as she entered the building, Jinyi walked past her, remarking that the principal had been looking for her.

“What? Why does he want to meet with me?” Jinyoung asked, but the Chinese teacher just shrugged and kept walking along. Jinyoung sighed. Well, there's only one way to find out. She went straight to the principal’s office, not even stopping to put her stuff down at her own desk first.

And if it was possible, Jinyoung left even more confused than when she had entered the office. It was no secret that Sooryun (the Art teacher) was getting a little too old for some of the responsibilities that came with teaching. So she was often excused from after school activities. But Jinyoung hadn't considered how far that would extend, like she hadn't considered how much her reputation of being a pushover preceded her.

She was asked to help out with the musical. Jinyoung agreed to do so out of reflex without realizing what it would entail. Making the sets, Jinyoung would have to watch the students and not make just one but many sets and set pieces for the musical. Sure, Jinyoung had experience painting sets when she was in high school herself, but that was years ago and there's a stark difference between participating and leading a project like this.

“What am I going to do?” she asked herself lowly when she plopped down at her desk. She placed her head in her hands in order to keep it from spinning. Do they really need sets? Can't it be like one of those plays without sets and just lots and lots of lighting?

No, it couldn't. Not with the play that they were doing. All Shook Up. It was going to be colorful, and flashy, and as extravagant as Elvis’ blue suede shoes. This musical is going to have me crying all the time!

Jinyoung was pulled out of her spiraling thoughts of sequins and leather when a heavy pile of papers was dropped onto her desk. She jumped up in shock and whipped her head over to see who it was. “Seonsaeng-nim!” Jinyoung exclaimed in relief. It was Sooryun and next to her was the Drama teacher, with whom Jinyoung had very little interaction (but she bargained that would all change very soon).

“I have come to your rescue,” the Art teacher told her with a cackle. With the little time before classes started, Sooryun explained that in the large pile of papers were all of the plans for the sets. She and the Drama teacher had already discussed and finalized them. All Jinyoung simply had to do was to follow the instructions and to make sure that the students didn't hurt themselves while making them or try to eat paint. And that sounded like something Jinyoung could do. Her heart was starting to feel at ease again when the Drama teacher, Do Chilgoo, proposed that Jinyoung do something else outside of her expertise: help judge the auditions.

“Ah okay,” she reluctantly gave in, but she was still holding out hope to persuade him to change his mind. “I don’t know how much help I’d be…”

“We’ll need a tie-breaker,” he cut her off. He then turned to Sooryun and spoke as an aside, “We never seem to agree on some roles.”

Sooryun nodded knowingly to him and pat him on the back as if it were some consolation. The Art teacher then turned to Jinyoung. “I used to go to the auditions too,” she assured her that it was normal. “It’s fun! You really get to see another side of the students. I mean, this is why some of them are here.”

True, Jinyoung thought while chewing nervously on her lip. It was good for her to see the other sides of her students rather than the lazy bunch that they tended to be in her class. I should seem them when they are shining . “Alright. I’ll see you then,” Jinyoung agreed wholeheartedly this time. “When is it exactly?”

“Tonight,” he announced proudly and added as an afterthought, “You don’t have anything going on do you?”

“No, I don’t,” she confessed. I never really do, except dinner with the Hyuns .  “I’m free as a bird.”

“Great! See you then.”

When classes had finished, Jinyoung headed for the theater. She’d neglected to ask when auditions actually started, so to be safe, she came as soon as she could. And she came to an empty theater. Jinyoung sighed as she took in the stage. This is where I'm going to be spending my time now. Unexpectedly Jinyoung began to feel actually excited at that prospect. She hadn't had an “after school activity” outside of study hall, nor since college. She hadn't joined any clubs either. This, this might all turn out for the best, Jinyoung thought as she sat down in a chair, her eyes were still on the stage, her hands clung tightly to the blueprints Sooryun had given her. Soon that empty stage would be alive and colorful. She couldn't wait.

“Oh Hong seonsaeng-nim! You're early,” the Drama teacher announced as soon as he opened the door.

“Ah yes,” she stammered as she got up to greet him. “Am I too early?”

“Just a bit,” Chilgoo answered honestly. “But I'm glad you're here. Me and that guy never seem to agree on much. We won't need you as a tie-breaker but as a referee,” he joked.

Jinyoung cocked her head. “Who is…”

“I'm going to get some coffee,” he unintentionally interrupted her. “Would you like some?”

“Yes please!” she gladly accepted. Chilgoo was about to leave but then he turned back towards her. “Black coffee will be fine,” she guessed what he was about to ask.

“Okay, I'll be back shortly. You wait here,” and with that, he left the theater,

Jinyoung puffed out her cheeks and sat back down. The Drama teacher was nice. She always had a good impression of him. He was a very gentle guy, passionate about teaching, so it was hard for her to wrap her head around it. A referee? Who wouldn't he get along with? It seemed like someone disagreed with Chilgoo, giving him a rough time. But who could that be? Who else would be helping with the musical?

Jinyoung realized who it was a half a second before she heard his voice. “What are you doing here?” Sunggyu asked as he took the seat next to her.

Of course, it would be him, Kim Sunggyu, not only because he was the vocal teacher but also because Sunggyu could be as stubborn as Hwang in his opinions. He wouldn't back down easily, not even to a friendly guy like the Drama teacher.

Jinyoung’s own relationship with Sunggyu was quite complicated as well. She had known the man for three years now. She and Dongwoo were hired in the same year, and Sunggyu had been hired the year before. By the time Jinyoung and Dongwoo arrived, Sunggyu had already reached ‘legendary’ status at the school. In some ways, Jinyoung admired him for it and wanted to emulate him; in other ways, she wanted to crush him and become the new favorite teacher at the school, but she soon realized that wasn't going to happen. Her competitive spirit was slowly turning into envy, and she didn't like feeling that way. So being around him was difficult at times.

Also being coworkers is a strange thing in itself, especially after working so closely for years. You learn pretty intimate things about your coworker without much of the closeness, even more so when you're as nosy as Jinyoung (or as chatty as she and Sunggyu could be). She knew that Sunggyu’s birthday was in late April (it was almost like a holiday at the school with the amount of gifts being given to him), that his sister got married recently (someone had to cover his classes while he was gone), and that he had a very weak stomach (due to an unfortunate mishap with undercooked meat at an MT). And Jinyoung knew much, much more about him than that. However, even though she knew as much as she did about him, Jinyoung still wouldn't consider them to be friends. Just coworkers, and that was it. Dongwoo, on the other hand, seemed more like a friend. The two of them bonded over being the non-arts teachers at the schools and the closest in age. Well, the latter wasn't a very good reason; Sunggyu was the same age as Jinyoung. But for some reason, Jinyoung couldn’t feel like his friend.

“Are you here to watch the auditions?” Sunggyu asked. “Or to see me?”

Maybe that was why Jinyoung built a wall between them. She shook her head. “I’m filling in,” she explained. “I’m supervising set design.”

“Oh, tough job,” Sunggyu said after whistling lowly.

“Really?” Jinyoung challenged, quirking an eyebrow. “I’d think your job would be tougher, especially since you have to tell some of these kids that they aren’t good enough.” She didn't really see how she'd be any help in this process. She didn't think that she'd have the heart to reject these kids, her kids.

“If I don’t tell them that, someone else will,” Sunggyu replied curtly. And he had a point. These weren't the average students. The ones who were about to come onto that stage possibly wanted to pursue this as a career and would face harsher criticism than anything Jinyoung or even Sunggyu would dare to say to them. Jinyoung nodded as she listened to him talk, her eyes on the stage again. “Besides, your job is tougher. My kids won’t have to work with hammers and paint.”

Jinyoung snapped her head back towards him and whined, “Ah, I didn’t think about that.” Her mind started to run wild. Teenagers with hammers and nails didn't sound like a good mix at all. “Where’s the first aid kit?” she asked him, already imagining emergency situations. Sunggyu shrugged while laughing at her reaction. “Do I need to buy one? I’m serious.”

“You two, come down here!” The Drama teacher had walked in without them noticing it and was seating himself at the table near the stage. “We’re about to start. Come on,” he called out to them again because the two of them were just staring at him, dumbfounded. After being called a second time, they both sprang up from their seats and tried to make their way towards him, but then Chilgoo pointed at Sunggyu. “You! Go open the doors and tell the students that they can come in.” Sunggyu did as he was told, but Jinyoung could hear him grumbling lowly as he walk passed her to get the doors. Jinyoung furrowed her brows as she watched Sunggyu open and go out the doors. This was strange. Jinyoung had never heard the Drama teacher be so short with someone. What’s going on between them? She peeled her eyes away from the door and onto the middle-aged man down by the stage. Chilgoo was smiling warmly at her, showing off the cups of coffee in his hands. “Here’s your coffee, Hong seonsaeng-nim,” he said as he offered her the cup when she came down.

“Thank you,” she responded and accepted it. She smiled awkwardly at her fellow teacher before taking a sip. Jinyoung wasn’t used to being favored over Sunggyu by anyone, and now that she was, for some reason, it was slightly unsettling rather than flattering. It made her suspicious.

“Where’s mine?” Sunggyu had returned, and the students were filing into the theater behind them. Jinyoung looked over at him, but his gaze was fixed on the cup in her hands.

“I only have two hands,” Chilgoo excused himself as he sat down in the middle of the table, not even sparing the other man a glance.

“You’re bribing her!” Sunggyu accused him. “You’re trying to sway her votes.”

Jinyoung rolled her eyes. “It’s just coffee,” she didn’t say that to excuse Chilgoo for his pettiness, but she was offended that those two thought she could be swayed so easily.

“Yea, it’s just coffee,” Chilgoo repeated, thinking that Jinyoung was standing up for him. He looked over at her and patted the chair next to him at the end of the table. “Please sit by me.”

“Ah no!” Sunggyu quickly objected, knowing that the other man was literally trying to get their ‘referee’ on his side. After squabbling in hushed voices for a few seconds (so that the students couldn’t hear), Jinyoung somehow ended up sitting in the middle, between the two men, which was just as uncomfortable as it sounded. And right as she sat down, the two men sprung back up onto their feet.

“I’d like to say a few words…” “Let’s get started…” The two voice’s overlapped each other as they both addressed the students. Jinyoung hid her face (and her groan) in her hands. This was going to be a long afternoon.

Although she had second guessed her decision to join the musical when the two ‘directors’ were bickering, Jinyoung was glad she was a part of it when the auditions actually began. She was reminded why they were all doing this. It wasn’t for the musical. It was for the students. Most of them looked excited just to be on stage; while others were overcome with nerves and looked like they’d rather be anywhere else. But when it came down to it, Sooryun was right. This is why some of the students chose to go to an arts high school. And Jinyoung was impressed by the great talent pouring from her students (but not all). Like Youngtaek. Jinyoung was so used to him making jokes in her class and seeing him playing around that it was nice to seem him be serious for once, or as serious as one could be delivering a comedic monologue. But the boy left the stage with such calmness that Jinyoung was unaccustomed to. She was enjoying seeing this side of her students. Perhaps she was enjoying it a bit too much because she kept forgetting to actually judge their skills rather than just to appreciate them. She had taken notes about their auditions, but they were mostly her impressions of them rather than anything critical.

Since they had a short break between auditions, Jinyoung glanced over at Sunggyu’s notebook, and her jaw dropped. That whole page was devoted towards just one student. “Wow,” she muttered. How did he even have that much to say? Well, it was Kim Sunggyu. He just had a lot to say in general.

“Hm?” Sunggyu had heard her and looked over at Jinyoung as he flipped to a new page. He then looked over at her notes. “She sounds like a daisy,” he read out loud. Jinyoung then covered her notebook with her hands, feeling embarrassed. So naturally, Sunggyu wanted to capitalize on it. “What do you mean?” he asked through a chuckle.

“It’s a feeling I get,” she explained to him. “What about you? What did you write?” she tried to pull the focus off of herself and it worked. Sunggyu proudly pushed his notebook towards her so that she could read it. And now, Jinyoung could finally get a good look at his notes. “Oh, technical,” she remarked. There were letters that Jinyoung could only assume were musical annotations and terms like mezzo and soprano, tenor which for some reason Jinyoung could never get straight. This is what I should be writing , she thought as she looked back down at her own notes.

“Not all are like this,” Sunggyu responded as he took the notebook back. He then flipped to a couple of auditions before. “I wrote that he had soul,” he said and pointed to the comment on the page. “Soul!” he repeated more loudly and placing a hand over his heart. Jinyoung mimicked him and then uncovered her own notes.

“I wrote this,” Jinyoung said as she pointed to her comment on the same student, Joochan. She had liked his audition. Jinyoung had a feeling that he could their Elvis. His voice was deep and rich, but could also be soft, light as a feather. Joochan also had an alluring, romantic quality to him, so Jinyoung just wrote down “Rose.”

Sunggyu snorted after he read that. “I used to think Dongwoo was the weirdest. You might have him beat,” he .

Jinyoung pouted and looked down at her notes. “I’m just having fun,” she replied and turned to a new page. She tapped her pen on the table. Maybe I should be more critical.

“I’m ready for the next student if you two are,” Chilgoo remarked, side-eyeing his colleagues.

“Ah, yes! Go ahead.”

The Drama teacher then called for the next student to come onto the stage and Jinyoung stood up straight, pen ready in hand. She was going to write something actually useful about this audition. But once the student opened his mouth, Jinyoung’s mind went blank. What is this? He sounds like something. It’s...It’s...

“He sounds like cabbage,” Sunggyu leaned closer and whispered. Jinyoung glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye and he just pointed down to her notebook. “Write that down,” he urged her.

She smiled. “It’s a good one,” Jinyoung whispered back as she quickly jotted it down. Yes, the student’s voice was plain and crisp like a cabbage, perfectly suitable for a chorus member. After writing that down, she looked over and read Sunggyu’s notes as he was writing. It was his job to cover the technical aspects, wasn’t it? And Chilgoo’s too! May be the only thing that these two needed was a layperson’s opinion, her impressions, to balance them out.

And Sunggyu seemed to encourage Jinyoung to see the auditions in ‘her’ way, quickly asking what she wrote down when the student exited the stage. He might’ve laughed at his answer more often than not, but he’d also share his own ‘impression’ of the student with her. It was fun.

But then the auditions were over, and so was the fun. Now Jinyoung had to play ‘referee’ as they discussed which students to invite back for the callbacks for the leading roles: Natalie (a tough mechanic with a soft heart), Dennis (an aspiring dentist), Jim (Natalie’s father), Sylvia (the owner of the local bar), Miss Sandra (a woman with a beautiful mind and body), and Elvis (no further explanation necessary).

As they were discussing these roles, Jinyoung realized why her own role was necessary. Chilgoo and Sunggyu were locked in a power struggle. The Drama teacher expected the younger to yield to seniority, and Sunggyu expected to be treated more as an equal. Also the students’ skills weren’t always balanced between singing and acting. A student tended to better in one than the other and give off a different feel when he or she sang rather than when he/she acted. However, not every role was a struggle. They all readily agreed that Jisoo and Mijoo should be called back for the role of Miss Sandra. Joochan would be called back for Elvis, although there were doubts if he could be ‘cool’ enough (Jinyoung herself having a hard time imagining her rose wiggling his hips). But when they disagreed, it was a battle. In fact they had battled it out for so long that the three of them had now relocated to a restaurant nearby, eating and drinking to take the edge off as they discussed.

To make matters worse, Jinyoung was a poor referee. A good referee would judge from the sidelines, but Jinyoung would rather play in the game. And so she did. She was arguing just as passionately as the other two. It would also just so happen that she was mainly arguing against Sunggyu. Jinyoung didn’t mean to. It just happened that way.

The biggest debate came when they were discussing Natalie, or rather what to do with their student Jiyeon. When Jiyeon’s name was brought up, Sunggyu quickly remarked that she should be Sylvia, the middle-aged barmaid. And Jinyoung couldn’t hold back her scoff.

Sunggyu gritted his teeth as he asked, “What is it now?”

“I’m sorry,” she quickly apologized, covering . She didn’t mean to sound so derisive or to make him mad. “It’s just Jiyeonnie is so cute and full of life. Like a flower bud about to bloom. She’s not a wizened, withering flower yet like Sylvia.”

“What are you even talking about?” Sunggyu asked her, looking at her as if she were crazy.

“She has a point,” the Drama teacher added, with his mouth full of food. “I agree. Jiyeon is far too youthful to play that role. I think she’d fit as Natalie. Don’t you agree?” he turned to Jinyoung right as she took a big bite of food, so she could only nod in response.

“Fine, Jiyeon won’t be called back for Sylvia” Sunggyu gave in with a frown. He took a long sip from his soju before continuing. “But if I were to put her into any other role, it would be Miss Sandra.”

“What?!” Jinyoung gasped and choked on her food. But once she cleared , she continued and now looked at Sunggyu as if he were crazy, “Really? Are we talking about the same girl?”

“Why are you always disagreeing with me?” Sunggyu snapped. “You’re doing this on purpose, aren’t you?”

“No, I swear that I’m not!” Jinyoung exclaimed, putting her hands up in the air to show that she meant no harm. “I just feel like Jiyeon would make a better Natalie,” she spoke to him in a soft voice. Jinyoung didn’t want to argue; she just wanted to do a good job (and apparently fight Chilgoo’s battles for him).

Sunggyu must’ve realized that because he relaxed in his seat and spoke calmly in return, “I agree that she’s a better actress than Sujeong and some of the others. But I’m not confident in her vocals. She might not be able to hit the notes she needs to.”

“Well, that’s your fault, if she can’t,” that slipped past Jinyoung’s lips before she fully realized what she was saying. And when it came out, she knew how harsh it sounded. So she immediately flashed Sunggyu a bright smile and giggled as she refilled his glass with more soju. When she was done, she nervously glanced up at Sunggyu who was staring down at her with a blank expression, just blinking for a moment or two. If looks could kill , Jinyoung thought as she retracted back into her seat, hands in her lap.

Then Sunggyu finally broke his silence: “Okay. Now you’re just trying to provoke me.”

Jinyoung raised her hands in the air again. “No, I swear…”

“Enough!” Chilgoo interjected, ing his hand between them as if to ‘break’ them apart. “Hong seonsaeng-nim, you’re causing more problems than you’re solving,” he chided her.

“Sorry,” Jinyoung apologized but she wouldn’t back down. “It’s just when I saw her onstage, I felt something...I felt sorry for her.”

“Me too,” the Drama teacher agreed and withdrew his hand. “Her acting skills are a bit unrefined, but she has potential.”

Sunggyu huffed. Jinyoung turned towards him and immediately felt bad. Sunggyu wasn’t even looking up at them anymore, just down at the table, frowning. He wasn’t being unreasonable; none of them were. But because he was on the losing side of this debate, it seemed like he was. And now, Jinyoung could feel the frustration emanating out of him. “I’ll admit that she’s better than most, but if we’re looking at Joochan as Elvis, I don’t think that their voices would blend well,” Sunggyu barely moved his lips as he talked. “Sujeong would be a better match for his voice. Soyoon too.”

“Oh, really? Huh,” Jinyoung muttered as she sat up straight in her chair, puzzling over that. “I didn’t think of that,” she admitted. How can you tell when you heard them separately?

“That’s because you’re not me. I have an ear for these things,” Sunggyu boasted and he was smiling again. He faced Jinyoung. “So do you agree with me now?”

“No,” Jinyoung answered honestly and with an apologetic smile. “Jiyeon just looks like a Natalie”

“Unbelievable,” Sunggyu grumbled as he deflated into his seat, shaking his head. But his posture wasn’t slumped for long. He straightened himself back up, leaned forward, and pointed at the History teacher, who immediately threw her hands back up in the air. “You! You just...”

“Fine!” Chilgoo interrupted them once again, pushing Sunggyu back down into his chair. “We’ll ask three girls back for the role of Natalie. Kim seonaeng-nim can pick the other two. How is that?”

“Fine. Sujeong and Soyoon, let’s call them back,” Sunggyu took the small victory that he was offered and slunk back down into his seat, but not without casting an unreadable glare at Jinyoung first.

tightened. “Fine, let’s do that,” she finally agreed with him in a soft, creaking voice. And then she put away the rest of her drink. When she finished, Sunggyu was looking at Chilgoo and discussing the role of Jim. Jinyoung thought it best to remove herself from the rest of the ‘game.’

Chilgoo was the first to leave that night. His wife called him away, which left just Jinyoung and Sunggyu to finish their drinks and to settle the bill. In the three years that they’ve known each other, they haven’t spent much time alone with each other, especially not outside of the school. It was awkward, even more so because Sunggyu’s mood hadn’t really improved. So while they were finishing up, Jinyoung knew that there was one more thing that she had to do. “I’m sorry,” she apologized to him. Sunggyu lifted his eyes from his glass to look at her, perplexed. “If I offended you tonight, I’m sorry. I really didn’t do it on purpose,” Jinyoung clarified.

“I’m not offended,” Sunggyu replied with a slight smile, probably to show how at ease he was. Jinyoung’s face must’ve displayed the disbelief she felt because Sunggyu quickly amended, “Well, not now. I have a soft heart. I’ve already forgotten about it.”

She still wasn’t quite convinced. “Really? Dongwoo told me once that you hold grudges,” Jinyoung brought up carefully.

“Maybe, I do,” he couldn’t deny it. “But you apologized. There’s no need for a grudge.” He poured the rest of the soju bottle into both of their glasses. Maybe this was a sign that he wanted to put the matter to rest and leave, but Jinyoung could still see something lingering in his expression. Hurt? “I’m a reasonable person,” he added in a low voice when he put the empty bottle back down onto the table.

“I know,” Jinyoung readily agreed with a warm smile. “You always bring up good points.” After being kicked around and bruised all night long, Sunggyu’s ego could benefit from a small boost. And that trace of hurt was wiped from his face as a genuine grin overtook it.

“I do,” he bragged. Sunggyu then finished off his drink, Jinyoung too. When both glasses hit the table with a sharp clink, Sunggyu got up from his seat. “Shall we?” he asked, gesturing for her to get up as well. Jinyoung nodded and they both left the restaurant together.

“Do you still live at that place really far away?” Sunggyu asked once they were outside and walking down the street.

“It’s not that far, but yes I do,” Jinyoung answered, but at the same time, she glanced down at her watch. If she could catch the next bus, she wouldn’t have much time to work before she’d have to go to bed. There wasn’t even enough time to stop by the Hyuns.

“Farther than me. I live just over there,” Sunggyu derailed her train of thoughts and pointed to the top of a building that was only a few blocks away.

“So close. I’m jealous,” it’d slipped out of without her realizing it. I wonder what it would be like to live so close to work?

“Why don’t you move? They’re openings at my place now. We could be neighbors,” Sunggyu suggested.

Jinyoung snorted at that, the prospect of living near Sunggyu. The students probably even follow him home and his apartment door is covered in love notes , Jinyoung mused. “Thank, but no thanks. I’m never moving,” she responded. Her resolve was strong in this matter.

Which piqued Sunggyu’s interest. “Never? Really? Why not?” he kept asking questions when Jinyoung kept answering with a nod.

“My best friends live there,” she finally answered with words. “We’re like family. I don’t want to leave them.”

“Ah, right. I remember you telling me that before,” when Sunggyu had said that, Jinyoung whipped her head towards him and studied him incredulously.

“I did?” she asked. He nodded. “When?”

“I don’t remember,” he answered honestly and with a small chuckle. “But you did tell me. You guys are all from Pohang, right?” he shared another bit of information that he knew about her.

Her smile tugged harder at her lips, growing. “That’s right,” she muttered, not being able to hide the surprise in her voice. And Sunggyu didn’t even try to hide the proud look on his face because he’d remembered, he’d listened. That’s right , Jinyoung repeated in her mind. That’s right, her and Sunggyu were chatty, and their days were filled with small talk, with others and with each other. How many conversations have they held just waiting for the coffee to brew in the offices? How many short chats they had in the hallways in between classes? Both serious and trifling ones? How much does he remember?

“It’s a lot further than Jeonju,” Jinyoung shared a bit of what she knew about him.

Sunggyu scoffed in disbelief but was still smiling. “Do you try to always win the prize for living the furthest away?” he joked.

“Ah no. But it works out like that, doesn’t it?” Jinyoung retorted. She then her hands into the air and cheered, “I win. I finally beat you at something.”

Sunggyu clapped at her achievement and as soullessly as he could, told her, “Congratulations.”

Jinyoung put her hands down and bowed. “Thank you. I tried hard to win,” she spoke as if it were an acceptance speech. But when she pulled herself back up straight, Sunggyu wasn’t even paying attention to her anymore. His eyes were fixed further down the street.

“Do you ride the bus home?” he asked.

“Oh yes,” she mumbled out slowly.

“Is it that bus?” he said as he pointed to a bus peeling away from the curb already.

“MY BUS!” Jinyoung yelped and tried to take off after it. But the bus was picking up speed whereas Jinyoung was slowly losing hers, especially after she tripped over a small raise in the sidewalk, making her stumble and stop to regain her balance. Once she did, the bus was out of her reach. She looked back at Sunggyu, panicked. And he was walking up to her, chuckling at her misfortune. “Now what?” she asked him in desperation, but then she realized that she was being a bit too desperate. What can he do? What am I expecting him to do? She pulled her eyes away from him and looked down at her watch. The next bus will be here in ...

“I’ll wait with you,” Sunggyu offered.

“No, you don’t have to,” Jinyoung turned him down politely. “You’re practically home already. Go on,” she urged him.

“What are you going to do?” he asked, stepping closer. “It’s cold.”

Jinyoung took a step forward and scanned the area, humming in thought, “Hm.” She then lifted her arm, gesturing to a brightly lit window across the street. “That café is open. I’ll just wait there.” Sunggyu did have a point, it was too cold to wait outside for long.

He smirked. “I could go for some coffee.”
“You wanna come?” Jinyoung extended the invitation. Sunggyu nodded, quickly accepting it. Her smile wasn’t as big as it had been for the most of the night, but it was still there, a poor cover for the apprehension filling her. But she still beckoned him to follow her to the cafe. “Alright. Let’s go.”

Neither of them got coffee at this late hour. Jinyoung settled for ginger tea, and Sunggyu had just sat down at the table with a fruit smoothie. Jinyoung laughed at the both of them. What are we doing? Sunggyu, however, was confused by her sudden burst of laughter and raised his brow in question. “It’s nothing. I promise,” she tried to dismiss his worries.

But it didn’t work. “It’s hard to take you seriously when you’re still laughing,” he retorted, still studying her with narrowed eyes.

“Am I?” Jinyoung asked through giggles. She couldn’t control it, but she was trying, now biting her lips to hold it back. But it would just escape out of her nose in puffs.

“Are you and Dongwoo related or something? Twins?” Sunggyu half-teased but he was still trying to figure her out, as evident by his steady gaze. “You two laugh at anything.”

“No,” this time Jinyoung was laughing at Sunggyu (or his joke). “We just enjoy life is all. Life’s too short not to laugh.”

“I think you guys enjoy life too much,” he retorted, leaning back into his chair with his drink in hand. He looked like the picture of relaxation now. He seems to be enjoying himself , Jinyoung thought as she rest her cheek in her hand. Her gaze then dropped to her cup. Now she was feeling anxious. She glanced back up at Sunggyu, who was just drinking his smoothie as he was staring out the window. Doesn’t he feel awkward too? This is awkward isn’t it. We’ve never spent this much time with just the two of us. I don’t know what to do. I don’t really know him.

Jinyoung knew how to solve one of those problems: “We’ve known each other for years, but I don’t think I know very much about you before you started working here.”

“Yea,” Sunggyu muttered, facing her once again. He put his drink down on the table. “We mostly talk about work. We don’t have much of a life besides work,” Sunggyu remarked, ending it with a slight laugh.

“Not anymore,” Jinyoung admitted with a great sigh. She leaned more into her hand as she stared at him. “You must’ve had a life before you came here.”

“I did.”

“So, what did you do?” she asked with a shrug.

“What do you mean?” Sunggyu sputtered. “That’s a pretty broad question. Like where I went to college?”

Jinyoung shook her head. “No, I know that, at least. You told me when we first met,” she recollected. It was part of their introductions: name, subject, and their alma mater. No one knew of her small school in Pohang. It didn’t have the reputation that Sunggyu’s Seoul university had. But that was to be expected. Jinyoung pouted in thought. “How about instead you tell me…hmmm…” She then clapped her hands, bolting up straight in her seat as if she was struck by lightning. “Oh! Why did you want to teach music?”

“In the beginning,” Sunggyu paused for a second, hesitating. But after meeting Jinyoung’s gaze again, he continued, “I didn’t want to teach. I actually wanted to do music.”

“That makes sense,” she reacted, nodding as she listened. “How did it go?”

“Poorly,” Sunggyu confessed with a short laugh.  “I was in an idol group.”

Jinyoung’s jaw dropped and she looked the other up and down as if she were seeing him for the first time. “What?! No way. You’re lying!” she objected as soon as her jaw went back to normal.

“Why is it so unbelievable?” he argued with a deep pout. “I’m handsome enough, likeable enough.”

“You are,” Jinyoung nearly cut him off. And when Sunggyu began smirking, she quickly added, putting the conversation back on track, “But I thought you’d be in a band or something, something that you don’t have to dance for.”

“Hey, I can dance,” Sunggyu declared proudly. Jinyoung raised an eyebrow in contention. “As long as someone teaches me the moves, I can dance,” he corrected. “But I was in a band too, but just a high school one. That failed too.” He sighed heavily, shaking his head as he picked up his drink again. He then took a sip and looked back up at Jinyoung who was staring back at him, incredulously. “What?” he asked, not even removing the drink from his lips.

Jinyoung had been studying him with narrowed eyes, not only searching him but her memory as well. “I’m just having a hard time seeing it,” she confessed. “I was really into idol groups when I was younger.” That would be an understatement. For years, all she would listen to were idol groups, and that phase of her life probably lasted a bit longer than it should. But even given that, the man sitting across from her, she couldn’t place him in that era of her life. Not his face, not his voice, none of him. Jinyoung’s gaze narrowed even more. Is he messing with me? She cocked her head and said “I’m sorry. I don’t remember you.”

Sunggyu couldn’t look her in the eye anymore. Is he really messing with me? Jinyoung thought as she cocked her head to the other side as if she could see something new. And she did. Sunggyu’s eyes weren’t on her but everyone else. After deeming it ‘safe’ (by whatever standards were in his mind), Sunggyu leaned forward. “Heartthrob,” he whispered. “Does it sound familiar to you?”

“Heartthrob?” Jinyoung repeated in her usual loud voice.

“Sh!” he hissed. His hand flew up to cover , but it didn’t stay pressed against her lips for long. After half a second, when he realized what he was doing, he retracted it and placed it back onto the smoothie.

Jinyoung did the same, placing her hands on her tea and then putting the cup to her lips. When she took a sip and brought it back down, she could smile again. “Sorry, that doesn’t ring a bell. It must’ve been after my idol phase,” she apologized. The name didn’t sound familiar, but because of the way he was acting, she knew that Sunggyu wasn’t joking. He was serious and he was seriously an idol, years ago. And Jinyoung now felt guilty for not knowing him (or not knowing him better).

“Probably,” Sunggyu remarked with a sigh. “We debuted at the same time as Teen Top.”

“Wait, really?” Jinyoung gasped, bolting up straight. She pouted as she tried to remember harder. “I was still into groups then though,” she mumbled. I had to know him back then. There’s no way I didn’t.

“Seriously?” Sunggyu sounded just as surprised. “You don’t remember us?” and now he sounded offended. Jinyoung slightly shook her head, but her smile grew along with the guilt. “You tied me up, tied me up and took away, took away my heart,” Sunggyu sang, not even caring who listened now. But Jinyoung noticed that Sunggyu’s sudden burst into song attracted the attention of the few late-night cafe goers. However, mostly she noticed how unfamiliar the song was. It’s like it’s my first time listening to it, she thought through pursed lips. Sunggyu finally noted that no matter how much he would sing, he couldn’t jog her memory because she had no memory of him. “You really don’t remember that?” he asked, dropping his voice again.

“No,” Jinyoung didn’t want to admit it, but she forced it out of her tight throat. And Sunggyu began looking like he did at the restaurant earlier, disappointed in her. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Sunggyu muttered, hands now in his lap and his eyes looking down at them. “We were a failure. We only had four promotions, and then the company folded.”

“That really stinks. I’m sorry,” Jinyoung tried to be sympathetic, but deep down, she acknowledged that she’d never know what that could feel like. And she really didn’t want to sound insincere because of that. So she was honest: “It must’ve been hard. I can’t even imagine.”

“It was,” Sunggyu admitted lifting his head again. “But I’m a strong guy. I made it through and got here.” And there he was again, the braggart that Jinyoung knew. She grinned and propped her elbows on the table, leaning closer to the other.

“Do you tell your kids about your experience?” she asked. “I bet they would learn a lot from it.”

“No, no, no,” Sunggyu nearly cut her off, waving his hand furiously in the air while grimacing. “I try not to tell them if I can help it.”

“Why not?” Jinyoung objected. “We teach so many idol trainees.”

“My idol days…” Sunggyu began but stopped soon after, biting his lips, probably wondering if he really wanted to explain it. Whether he wanted to or not, he did, “Those days were seriously embarrassing. They’d never respect me after that.” Well, that caught Jinyoung’s interest. She took a sip from her tea to hide her plotting smile behind the cup.  “So don’t tell anyone. It’s a secret,” Sunggyu told her.

Jinyoung choked on her tea as she fell apart into giggles, and Sunggyu watched her unravel in confusion. But Jinyoung couldn’t help but to laugh. This whole situation was ironic, a fangirl who couldn’t recognize an idol right in front of her face and a gossip who was told to keep a secret. “You don’t know this but…” she stopped to snort before she continued, “You told your big secret to the absolute worst person.” Sunggyu’s expression morphed from confusion into concern, and he should be. Jinyoung laid a hand over her heart as she confessed calmly, “I can’t keep secrets.”

“What?!”

“I can’t keep a secret,” Jinyoung repeated. “I always have to tell at least one person. It’s like an illness, really. I feel like I’d die if I don’t.”

“Well...keep this one!” Sunggyu stammered, not knowing how else to patch up her loose lips.

“I’ll try. But I’m not making promises,” Jinyoung replied.

“Fine,” Sunggyu huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. How many times can I disappoint him in one night? Jinyoung wondered as her eyes drifted towards the window. The crowds on the street were thinning. Everyone was making their way back home. And Jinyoung still was stuck here for few more minutes. Come on bus. Come early.

“Then if you need to tell somebody, tell me.”

Jinyoung snapped her head back over towards Sunggyu. What did he just say? “If it’s really going to kill you to not tell someone, then tell me,” he repeated, gesturing at her to do so, spurring her on. “Go on. Tell me.”

Jinyoung giggled a bit because it was a strange idea, but it was so strange that it just might work. However for it to work, she’d have to act. Sunggyu too. But it would be worth it just to try. Sunggyu really didn’t want anyone else to know. “Okay. I’ll try,” she promised. Jinyoung then closed her eyes, leaning back into her chair, while she got into character. Sunggyu doesn’t know. He doesn’t. Why? Because the man across from me isn’t Sunggyu. It’s...Woohyun. Yea! It’s Woohyun! You’re just having coffee with Woohyun...without Hyunae. Wait, that’s weird. Why isn’t she here? I’d rather have coffee with her! Okay, so Hyunae’s here too, but...she’s in the bathroom! Yea, that makes sense! That’s something Hyunae does!

“Did you fall asleep?” the man joked after Jinyoung closed her eyes for a moment too long.

So she snapped them wide open. It’s Woohyun , she reminded herself when saw the man. A very grumpy Woohyun . “Nope,” she said with a great grin and relaxed in her seat. She was with an old friend after all. She should act more comfortable. “I’m just thinking of something.”

“Thinking of what?”

“I just heard that one of the teachers used to be in an idol group,” she shared with her friend. “But he doesn’t want his students to find out because it’s so embarrassing.”

“Really? What was the name of the band?”

“Heartbeat,” Jinyoung answered.

“Heartthrob!” Sunggyu corrected her.

Jinyoung winced (both at her mistake and at Sunggyu’s shout). “Heartthrob, I meant Heartthrob,” she amended. We’re breaking character. It’s no wonder why neither of us teach acting. Sunggyu was (always) too much like himself for her to pretend like it was anyone else, but she could still try. Jinyoung clicked her tongue as she slowly shook her head until she placed her cheek in her hand. “With a name like that, it’s no wonder why they failed.”

“Really,” the man muttered lowly.
“Guess what,” Jinyoung attempted to distract him from feeling too sad.

“What?”

“Because he’s so embarrassed by it, I’m gonna go home and find out everything that I can about the band,” she revealed with a wicked smile. Jinyoung couldn’t even keep her plans of snooping out Sunggyu’s idol-life a secret for long. Just like how they couldn’t keep up this act.

“Don’t! Don’t do it!” Sunggyu commanded.

“Why not? I’m curious now,” Jinyoung retorted with a shrug.

Sunggyu frowned. “I won’t talk to you again if you do,” he threatened.

Jinyoung stiffened. “Ah, well, if you really don’t want me to,” her voice drifted off as her gaze dropped to her lap.

Sunggyu sighed and said, “I was kidding.” Jinyoung raised her head again, and he was smiling again. “At least try to keep it a secret from the students. Can you at least promise me that?”

“Yes!” Jinyoung immediately agreed, slamming her hand against the table. “That, I can do!”

Sunggyu chuckled at her response, while shaking his head. “Good,” he said before taking his drink and finishing it (loudly). His eyes on the window, which suddenly got wide. He gestured with his pinky to the window and swallowed a large gulp before saying, “Hey, was that your bus?”

It was. Jinyoung snapped her head towards it just to see it pulling away from the stop again. “Oh my gosh! Not again!” she whined and stamped her feet underneath the table, and her body slumped over the table. Sunggyu was laughing again at her misfortune. Jinyoung lifted her head just enough from the table to send him a glare, but that made him laugh even more. Jerk , she swore at him in her mind as she let her head fall against the table again. “I should just take a taxi home,” she concluded in a low mumble.  “Yosh,” she goaded herself on as she lifted herself back up. When she got out of her seat, Sunggyu stayed seated for a second or two before he realized that she meant to leave; then he sprung onto his feet too. It was a sudden ending to the night, but it was about time for the night to come to an end. There was no point in prolonging it. They both needed to go home. And unfortunately for Jinyoung, her home was still a long (and expensive) taxi ride away. But what else could she do? She wouldn’t make Sunggyu wait for the next bus again.

“Thank you for waiting with me. I’m sorry that it ended up being a bust,” Jinyoung told him as they walked back outside.

“It wasn’t,” Sunggyu assured her. “We should hang out more.”

“We will be,” Jinyoung replied. And when she saw his eyebrows arch, she reminded him, “The musical.”

“Ah, right,” he muttered. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.”

“Yup, see you tomorrow!” Jinyoung said right back. The both of them wave frivolously to each other until she saw a taxi that she could wave down instead.

When she got into the taxi, Jinyoung noticed that she’d received a message from Hyunae: “We missed you at dinner. How were the auditions?”

Jinyoung smiled to herself as she typed in a reply: “Very very good. This musical will be fun.”

When Jinyoung returned home, the first thing she did was flop onto her bed. She’d normally be asleep by now, or getting ready to. But showering and sleep would have to wait for just a moment longer. There was something pressing that she needed to do. Jinyoung rolled onto her back again and sat up, placing a pillow in her lap. She grabbed her phone and spoke out loud what she typed into the search bar on the web browser: “Heartbeat...no, Heartthrob debut MV.”

“Oh,” Jinyoung muttered when the results came up. She furrowed her eyebrows as she studied the thumbnail of the video. “This...looks familiar. I have seen this before...then why don’t I remember?” she mused as she clicked on the link.

When the video started playing, Jinyoung knew all too well why she couldn’t recognize Sunggyu or his song (or the band’s name). The first time she’d seen the video, Jinyoung didn’t even watch it for 30 seconds. She’d turned it off from secondhand embarrassment. Back then, Jinyoung was also slowly falling out of the idol fandom, only concentrating on her few favorite bands. And so she never gave Heartthrob a second look, or even finished the video.

And now, Jinyoung hadn’t even last past the first second. The second shot of the video was of Sunggyu sitting ‘coolly’ in a car. She paused the screen and fell onto her side while looking at it, laughing so hard that tears were welling up in her eyes. Sunggyu, he looked so different, but at the same time, Jinyoung had seen that expression on his face before, whenever he was hamming it up in front of his students (and sometimes in front of her). “Oh my gosh,” Jinyoung wheezed through her laughter. “It’s Kim Sunggyu! He hasn’t changed one bit!”

When she blinked the tears from her eyes and her vision cleared again, Jinyoung restarted the video. But she lost it again at the 20th second. Sunggyu sang the first line, and she’d almost made it all of the way through. But then he wagged his finger when he sang, “I cannot give up like this.” And so Jinyoung couldn’t help it. Idol Sunggyu was ridiculous, somehow more exaggerative than his present self.

But Jinyoung couldn’t give up like this either. It took an hour, but she finally finished the entire video.

And she loved every moment of it.