“Can we meet for dinner tonight?”

Jinyoung woke up to that message on her phone (and reread it a few times). “Hm?” she groaned as she rolled onto her back, reading the message again after rubbing the sleep from her eyes. I guess, I have no reason not to , Jinyoung thought. It’ll be fun .

“Sure, Yewonnie. I would love to!” she typed out the message and then left her bed to get dressed for that day.

After Jinyoung closed her front door that morning and began walking down the hall, she soon stopped in her tracks only after a few steps. There was something blocking her path. It was a small something, something that she could easily walk around and ignore. But it was so fluffy and cute that she didn’t want to. “Puppy!” Jinyoung cooed and carefully approached the curly-haired pup. When she was a few steps away from the dog, she crouched down. “Hello puppy! Where did you come from? What’s your name? Who owns you?” she shot off several questions, speaking in a baby voice to the baby animal. But of course the dog understood none of it and cocked its head. Jinyoung mimicked it and giggled. She then opened her arms and told it to come. That the dog understood and quickly stepped into her open arms with its tail wagging. With a groan, she stood back up, cradling the dog in her arms and her fingers searching the rim of its collar. Then she found it, a tag. “There we go,” she said as she turned the collar around in order to read the tag. “You are...Aga?” She tore her eyes away from the tag and onto the dog’s dark black eyes. “Who in the world would name their dog that?”

“AGA!” a screech came from above. Jinyoung immediately dropped her eyes back to the tag and turned it over to see the address. Upstairs! You’re from upstairs! “Aga? Aga, where are you?” the booming was now accompanied by loud footfalls as the man raced down from upstairs.

“Um,” Jinyoung spoke out as Sungyeol almost past her floor in his hurry to get to the bottom. And he stopped. “I assume that this cute little thing is yours,” her voice was much softer than how she normally talked. But maybe that was because she had a baby in her arms, or maybe because the man walking up to her appeared inordinately frazzled.

“Aga!” Sungyeol’s voice was significantly lower when he walked up to Jinyoung with open arms.

“Um uh,” she stammered as the man got closer and closer. Her cheeks grew warm. Then the puppy began squirming in her arms and began whimpering at the sight of her owner. “Ah right, your dog,” Jinyoung mumbled as she extended the dog over to her neighbor. “Here you go.”

“Thank you so much, Jinyoung-ssi,” Sungyeol said and took his puppy from her. “I didn’t even know that she’d gotten out or that the front door was slightly open from when I picked up the milk.” He then dropped his gaze onto the dog and bounced her in his arms. “You’re a sly little one,” he ‘reprimanded’ her and tapped her on the nose gently. At that gesture, Aga proceeded to take the man’s finger and put it in , nibbling on it and it. Jinyoung smiled as she watched. Lee Sungyeol might appear to be a sullen man at first and rough around the edges, but he was honestly gentle, at least when it came to his puppy.

“She’s really cute though. So I bet it’s easy to forgive her,” Jinyoung added, and she reached over to pat the puppy’s head. “She’s seriously too cute.”

“She gets it from me,” Sungyeol joked, but it was too early for Jinyoung to catch it. She just stared up at him, confused. Does he really think...well, he named the dog ‘Aga.’ It’s possible that he thinks this is actually his child . “I’m kidding,” Sungyeol confessed in a low whisper.

Jinyoung retracted her hand and gripped her purse tightly. “Ah of course,” she mumbled and then tried her best to hide her embarrassment behind her smile. “If you ever need anyone to watch her, well, it seems like she likes me,” Jinyoung offered, her voice much louder than it had been all morning.

“I might take you up on that. Aw! Stop it,” he finally yelped and pulled his finger away from the dog. Aga must’ve actually bitten him that time. “This dog can’t be left to its own devices. What? What are you doing?” he gasped as the dog flipped itself around and began to claw its way up his shoulder.

Jinyoung giggled. “I can see that. Well, good luck, Sungyeol-ssi. Aga will grow up into an adult one day,” she encouraged him as she walked by him.

Sungyeol snorted. “Yea, I suppose so,” he remarked lowly. “Have a good day, Jinyoung-ssi. Your students will grow up one day too.”

Jinyoung stopped at the top of the stairs and turned back towards her neighbor. “Yea, I suppose they will.”

But they won’t grow up soon enough , Jinyoung thought as she let out a heavy sigh. It wasn't as if her homeroom was acting differently from their usual. No, it was more of the fact that they weren't acting differently. Even after months of being in school, they still wouldn't quiet down when Jinyoung entered the room. They must think that I’m easy , she thought as she made her way to the podium, her gaze fixed on the crowd in front of her acting more like monkeys that teenagers. She cleared , trying to get their attention. It failed. In fact, they might be rowdier than before. Youngtaek was on top of his desk now, shouting that he was the ‘almighty Onjo.’ Well, at least Jinyoung could take solace in the fact that Youngtaek remembered who Onjo was, but.. .I am. I am easy. I'm a pushover .

Time to stand my ground. “YAH! Monkeys!”

“Monkeys?” some of the students repeated, but every single one of them had their eyes on her.

“Yes, you! Monkeys!” Jinyoung pointed at them, her frustrated frown morphing into a warm smile. She shouldn't be entirely mad at them.  They were teenagers after all. She should be happy that they were all awake and active in the morning (and hopefully ready to learn). Maybe I should use their chaotic-monkey energy for some good . “Since monkeys like to fling things, how about you help me fling some paint onto the sets for the musical this year. The designs are pretty cool this year as is the play. Youngtaek could tell you about it,” she gestured to the student climbing down from his desk as she spoke.

“Um yes,” Youngtaek mumbled and sat down. He was acting with the same calm and gravity as he showed onstage. “It's called All Shook Up . It's about Elvis...a-and love. Based on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night , so it's good.”

“It is?” Jinyoung asked.

“Yes, saem. That was the reason why I auditioned. I...I like him,” he confessed lowly, perhaps nervous of what the other students may think, or maybe because he felt vulnerable showing this side of himself.

“I like him too,” Jinyoung agreed. She then turned to the rest of the class. “See! Things that are old are still good and are timeless. The stories that we hear in the past are ones that we will hear over and over again, but in different forms. This is why history is important,” she rambled off into a monologue. And the rest of the class mumbled back in agreement, nodding. Ah, I’m losing them and my point! “So, who wants to help out?”

A student raised her hand. “Doesn’t the art club normally do the sets?”

“Yes, but the sets for this year are pretty elaborate, and I’ll confess that I have little experience with sets. I could really use the help,” Jinyoung admitted without any shame. There was no point in hiding it. Her inexperience would hatch out once they started the project anyway. “So who wants to help?” She looked about the classroom and every student was avoiding her gaze, with their eyes fixed on their lap or desk. “Please?” she begged.

“Will we get extra credit?”

“No,” she answered with a shake of her head. “But you can put it on your college application and get the satisfaction of a job well done!” the history teacher tried to make it sound like those two things were precious enough on their own. But her persuasion was weak. The students lowered their heads even more, except one.

He jumped out of his seat and boldly raised his hand, a cheeky smirk smeared across his face. “Saem! I’ll do it!”

Jinyoung fought to keep her smile from falling. “Thank you, Jaesuk. That’s very nice of you. Does...”

“I’ll do it too!” a girl interjected, sitting on her knees in her chair and leaning dangerously forward. “I’ve always wanted to paint!”

“Me too! I want to join!”

“Count me in!”

“It’ll be fun with Hong-saem! I’ll help!”

Jinyoung looked about the room nervously as the monkeys howled with excitement. With all of these students plus the art club, their help will do more harm than good. Jinyoung doubted if she could focus all of their attention on a task. What have I done? she lamented as students chattered about meeting later that day. Then finally her gaze fell on the kingka, who was still standing and smiling at her proudly as if he’d done her the greatest favor. Why are you doing this?

She shook her head and tried to gather her students’ attention once more. “Hey monkeys! Let’s get started! Let’s learn!” She was met with a few groans, but they finally calmed down and the day’s lesson began. However the lessons were the least of her troubles today. Jinyoung was not looking forward to after school.

Just as she expected, the news of the kingka helping with the sets spread throughout the school, and now the art classroom was filled with students. There weren’t enough seats, so some opted to stand along the walls; others sat two to a seat. Jinyoung stood in front of the room, tapping her chin with her finger in thought. “Let’s move to the theater,” she suggested. “We should see the blank canvas that we’ll be dealing with.”

And so they moved. In transition, they lost a few students, saying that they had to go to their academies. They probably only came to meet with the other students and not to stay. Oddly enough, Jinyoung was grateful to say goodbye to them. Her group was thinning and becoming more manageable. Now as she was sitting on the stage, facing the students who filled up the first couple of rows in the theater, Jinyoung finally was able to get a good look at them and saw who was there. Jaesuk was sitting in the back with a few of his friends and those who came just to have the chance to be around the kingka. But close to her, smiling, was one of her favorite students, Jiae. And next to Jiae was another one of her favorite students, although she wasn’t as smiley. It was one of the many Sujeongs at the school (and in her mind, Jinyoung secretly called this one ‘grumpy Sujeong’). The two of them always did their best in her class, even though it was obvious that they had little interest in it (they were part of the art club), which made Jinyoung appreciate their effort even more. She couldn’t expect everyone to love History like she did, but she did expect them to take it seriously (and her seriously too). These two did.

Then there was a male student sitting off to the side, a few seats apart from everyone else. Jinyoung had seen him around the school, but at the moment, she couldn’t recall his name. And also now, unlike the other times before, the student reminded her of someone. He was long, lanky, just awkward, sitting there like he’d rather be anywhere else. Why is he even here? It wasn’t because of Jaesuk. This student wasn’t sitting anywhere near the kingka. But then she noted that the students’ eyes darting over towards Jinyoung’s favorites. Oh! A coy smile spread across her face. Is it a crush? Does he want to get closer to them instead? But then the student tore his eyes away from the girls and onto Jinyoung in anticipation. Oh, right. I’m supposed to be saying something .

“So this is our canvas,” she gestured to the stage behind her. “As you can see, it’s very big. So it’ll be a lot of work, but I have faith that we can do it,” she encouraged them, pumping her fist at the end. But the students didn’t appear to be emboldened or even moved by her words. But Jinyoung’s spirit didn’t falter. Instead she reached for the thick folder next to her and held it up to show the rest. “These were the plans that I was given for the sets, and I’d like your feedback on them. What you think about them? What we could change? Stuff like that.” She then opened up the folder showing the first set. “This is for the beginning scene when they sing Jailhouse Rock . So...it’s a jailhouse,” Jinyoung ended, sputtering into a laugh after stating the obvious. “What do you all think?” Not a one stirred from their spot. Their eyes were on the blueprint, lips pursed in thought. Well, they have ideas. I’m sure of it . “Come on, guys, tell me. They aren’t mine so I won’t get offended,” she joked.

“Well,” (grumpy) Sujeong began hesitantly. “Won’t the Art teacher be mad if we don’t follow her plan?”

Jinyoung shook her head. “She trusts my judgment. Besides,” she paused to scan the theater once more, at her students. “This isn’t my musical. It’s yours! So I think it should reflect you all,” at that, she saw a few students nodding in agreement. “So what do you think?” she posed the question again.

“That,” Jiae started, pointing at the blueprint. “That is the cheesiest jailhouse that I’ve ever seen. It doesn’t look real at all.”

“It’s a musical ,” the student sitting by himself objected. “Musicals are cheesy.”

Jiae faced him. “They don’t have to be,” she fought back. She then turned back towards the teacher. “I think more realistic sets will make the play more real.” Jiae then became aware of all of the eyes on her and squirmed in her seat. “Or something like that,” she ended with a low voice.

Jinyoung smiled. “Jiae, I completely agree. So…” she then raised her gaze towards the rest. “How do we make this look more real ?”

For the rest of their meeting, the students and Jinyoung discussed how they could improve the set designs, or at least put the students’ personal touch into them. This made a division between the students who were genuinely interested in helping and those who were only there to hang out. Surprisingly Jaesuk and the loner student were the ones who came up to the stage, next to Jinyoung, and gave their own input about the sets (Jaesuk more so than the other). Eventually, Jinyoung had to borrow a notebook from a student in order to record all of the ideas spilling out of their mouths. Her hand flew across the page as she tried to record them all. It was impossible for them to do everything as some conflicted with each other and other suggestions were downright impossible. But Jinyoung wrote them all down. Her students, they were so creative. She didn’t want to forget that, or a moment of this project.

They hadn’t even finished going through all of the designs (they had argued about the set for the local bar the most), and Jinyoung was sad to call the meeting to a close. “We’ll continue this next time,” she promised. “Thanks, everyone!” And she dismissed them.

But Jinyoung was quite ready to leave yet. She needed to linger around this side of the city in order to meet up with Yewon for dinner.  After just leaving the discussion with the students, ideas for the sets were still bouncing around in her mind, so she decided to check out the prop closet, which was located somewhere in the school. Where exactly? Well, that was what Jinyoung was trying to find out as she aimlessly wandered around the halls. She tried looking backstage for it, but she didn’t think she found it. But now after exiting the theater and roaming the hallways nearby, Jinyoung was starting to wonder if she’d just walked by it earlier, or if they even had one. “No, they have to store this stuff somewhere,” she murmured to herself as she made her way back to the theater after coming to a dead end in one of the hallways. “It’s got to be here, somewhere. Oh?”

Jinyoung found a door but it wasn’t the one that she was looking for. However, it still caught her attention because unlike the rest of the doors nearby, there was light shedding through it. Someone else was still in school. Carefully and as quietly as she could, Jinyoung walked up to the door and peered inside.

It was one of the several practice rooms that the Arts School had. Students often stayed afterwards to perfect their singing or dancing (always accompanied by a teacher or another supervisor). Curious, Jinyoung peered in as she walked by, as she was in the habit of doing.

“Jiyeon, what’s the most difficult thing about the callback?”

Jinyoung froze when she heard that question. For a second, she misheard and thought the question was directed towards her. When she realized her mistake, Jinyoung leaned against the wall by the door, hand over her heart willing it to slow down. Of course, he doesn’t talk to me like that, and why would he ask me about the callbacks , she reminded herself. Lifting herself from the wall slightly, her eyes drifted into the room again. In the reflection of the mirror along the wall of the practice room, she could see Sunggyu meeting with Jiyeon. He wasn’t even sitting at the piano, ready to play, but was leaning against it. And Jiyeon didn’t appear to have her usual smile on her face. The young girl was sitting down on the floor, indian style, looking up to her teacher with a grave expression, rolling a bottle on the floor. Huh? The air was very tense. It was never like that with Jiyeon. It was always so easy with her. Jinyoung pressed her cheek against the wall so that she could see the mirror better.

“I can do it, but I have no confidence,” Jiyeon’s voice was small and hoarse as she spoke. She must’ve been singing for hours .

“Even though you can do it?” Sunggyu asked.

“Yes,” it was barely audible, but Jinyoung assumed that was what Jiyeon had said because she was nodding.

“Why do you think like that?” Sunggyu posed another question and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I’m afraid of myself,” Jiyeon answered. There was a faint smile on her lips, as faint as her voice was now, “Singing.”

“I see,” Sunggyu said with a nod. But he kept his head to one side as he asked, “Why is that?”

“Um,” the girl hummed for a moment before letting out a small giggle, embarrassed. “My voice stands out a lot.” Jinyoung dropped her gaze to the floor. Sunggyu had said that Jiyeon’s voice wouldn’t blend well with others. Does Jiyeon think so too? Did Sunggyu tell her? He wouldn’t...would he? She raised her eyes again only to glare at her fellow teacher.

“Should I try to sing more softly, right?” Jiyeon suggested. “I don’t want to ruin the musical because all you can hear is me.”

Sunggyu lifted himself off from the piano and crouched down onto the floor next to the student. As he did so, he spoke, “If I could give you advice about this,” he stopped to groan before landing his bottom on the floor. “...you always start off strong because you love singing. I can see that. But you pull back because you start to get self-conscious, timid. Is that right?”

“Yes,” once again Jinyoung could only tell that was what Jiyeon had said because of her actions.

“See, this is a problem that affects all singers, whether they are students or professionals,” Sunggyu told her. His tone was much more gentle than earlier, and he was much less serious too. In fact he wasn’t even looking at the student now, but closed his eyes as he scratched the bridge of his nose. Just like that, the atmosphere was less tense. It wasn’t a lecture anymore, but more like a mentor giving out advice. “Whenever you’re onstage, you need to become someone who can sing for others rather than someone who can just sing. You’ll need to be that for this role, Jiyeon. That’s necessary. It’s a performance so you’re singing for them , the audience.”

Jiyeon was nodding again. “I see,” her voice was much louder now.

“So you’ll need to be able to tolerate all the judgment from others, those things that make you timid. But don’t let that consume you. Just keep moving on and sing,” he advised. But Jiyeon just rolled the water bottle in her hands, deep in thought as she soaked in every word. “You understand?” Sunggyu asked. The girl raised her head and nodded a little before lowering it once more. Sunggyu smiled. “So I’m going to help you improve, alright?” It wasn’t so much as an offer but a promise. He had faith in her, more faith than Jinyoung thought that he did.

“But what if I don’t get the role?” Jiyeon posed, eyes still on the floor.

“Eh,” Sunggyu remarked and ‘batted’ the question away, as if it didn’t matter. “This isn’t about the role. This is about being a professional. Besides…” he paused to let out a snort before continuing, “...Hong seonsaeng-nim has been fighting for you to get this role from the start, so it’s likely…Oh! Why are you crying?”

Jinyoung pressed her cheek even closer to the wall and squinted her eyes. Then she could finally see the tears gleaming in the mirror as they poured from Jiyeon’s eyes. And the girl was slowly losing control over them. Oh no! Jinyoung’s stomach dropped. Jiyeon ...The teacher finally lifted herself from the wall and was going to give them the privacy that they deserved, finally. But she couldn’t help but to think that Jiyeon crying was her fault.

I pushed her into this role. It’s too much for her. Why didn’t I just stay quiet?

The prop closet was right where it was supposed to be, not far from the stage. Jinyoung felt so silly when she finally was standing right in front of it, especially since she’d asked the janitor to show her where it was. Three years, Jinyoung spent three years in this place, the janitor reminded her. How did she not know where it was? Well, why would she? She had that retort on the tip of the tongue, but she was happy to see where the room was, so she just said ‘thank you’ and when the old man turned around, she stuck out her tongue at his back. It did nothing to cure the embarrassment that she was feeling right now though.

What have I been doing with myself today? She was too busy snooping in her student’s business than searching for this room. At least now she was going to put that nosiness to good use and thoroughly search this room. Or at least that’s what she had in mind before she opened the door. “Scary,” she muttered after she opened the door. It was dark and dusty, cluttered with various and weird things. Even with the light on, squinting her eyes, she couldn’t make out the whole room. There were too many dark corners, too many places for someone to hide. And no good place for Jinyoung to enter and start looking around. She had to climb over a bench and a few boxes in order to get in, but she did get in and began searching. Then searching later turned into coughing and sneezing because of all of the dusty. Soon her eyes were watering so much that Jinyoung wasn’t quite sure what she was looking at anymore.

“What is this?” she asked with a sniff as she rolled something around in her hands. “Ah! It’s a head!” The mannequin head fell through her hands and crashed down on the ground. Jinyoung leaned against a stack of boxes with a hand over her heart. Why did the school have that? For what kind of play? All Jinyoung could think now was that the head was there to scare the crap out of her.

Then the lights flickered, followed by, “Is someone in here?”

“ACK!” Now it was Jinyoung who came crashing down onto the floor, having gone from scared to completely terrified.

“WAH!” a shout soon followed her screech, which was curious. Whoever it was now was as startled as she was.

Jinyoung raised her head over the top of the boxes and looked towards the door. There were too many things in the way. Her vision was blocked; she couldn’t see the person at the door. So she might as well hear him. “Wh-who is it?” she stammered, still shaken from the scare.

“Me.” Sadly that answer was enough for Jinyoung to tell who it was. And soon she saw Sunggyu poke his head deeper into the room. “Hong seonsaeng-nim, is that you?”

“Ye-yes,” she stuttered as she slowly stood back up. A smile spread across her face, getting ready to greet him. “Oh,” slipped through her lips as the corners of fell. Sunggyu wasn’t at the doorway anymore. He’d  tried to come inside the room and was hidden behind a large portrait of the Drama teacher (why did that even exist?). Now he was stuck the same in here, the same as her. “You gave me a heart attack,” she raised her voice as she tried to make her way over to him.

“I didn’t mean to,” he blurted out. “The light was on, and I was curious to see who was in here. And it happened to be you.” He then huffed and JInyoung could hear him stamp his foot. “Where are you?”

Jinyoung laughed. “I’m over here!” she announced as she was weaving in and out of the clutter. This place was a maze. How did she even get so deep into this closet in the first place? “I was just looking what we could use for the sets.”

“That makes sense,” he muttered. As Jinyoung was coming his way, she could she him swivel his head around, looking for her. But he didn’t need to search for much longer. Jinyoung popped up right in front of him from behind the portrait. “There you are,” he sounded a bit relieved. He put up his hand and waved. “Hello.”

“Hello,” she waved right back. “Could you help me? I’m a bit stuck back here,” she admitted with a slight chuckle, holding out her arms to him.

“How did you even manage to get back there?” Sunggyu and grabbed her arms, helping to steady her as Jinyoung climbed over the stack of boxes between them.

“If I could remember, I’d be able to get out,” Jinyoung spoke with a groan as she was still climbing over the boxes. When her two feet were safely back on the ground, she quickly dropped her hands to her sides, away from him, and said, “Thank you.”

“No problem.” And there was that cocky smile again. He was acting as if he’d done a bigger favor for her than he had.

Jinyoung turned away from him and began playing with a stuffed cat that was laying on top of one of the boxes (what wasn’t in here would be a better question). “Is Jiyeon okay?” she asked, not being able to hold back her curiosity any sooner (or being able to handle his focus on her). “I saw her crying when she was with you.”

“Wow! You’re really nosy!” he exclaimed. Jinyoung whipped her head back at him, but he was busy studying the portrait of the Drama teacher and grimacing. So she sneered at him. This is rich coming from a guy who checked out this room just to see who was in here .

Jinyoung then turned back around and placed the stuffed cat back onto the box where she’d found it. “Yes, I am. But I feel responsible. I feel like I’m pushing her into this role and she isn’t ready for it,” she confessed. And this time when she went to face him, Sunggyu was already waiting for her to turn around. “And why are you guys even listening to me? I don’t know anything about singing or acting,” Jinyoung huffed as she flapped her arms at her side. She really felt helpless in this situation. She’d put Jiyeon in a bad spot and couldn’t get her out, all because of her big mouth. Maybe...maybe he was right all along.

Sunggyu took a step forward, a small one because there wasn’t much room, but it was large enough for Jinyoung to feel like she needed to step back, which she couldn’t. There was a stack of boxes behind her, so she just leaned against them and looked away, not even at anything in particular, but just away from Sunggyu. She was preparing for the worst, to hear him say ‘I told you so’ and blame her for pushing Jiyeon like some stage mom. But he didn’t end up doing that: “Whether she gets this role or not, this is a good experience for her. She needs a push. You give quizzes and you don’t expect everyone to pass. It’s a learning experience either way, right?”

“True, I didn't think of it like that,” Jinyoung admitted as she lifted her eyes back up to his, but her head was still hanging. In the end, he’s still right. Just not about what I thought. Jiyeon trying out for the musical means that she has an actual interest in pursuing this. It isn’t just for fun. Not all of these kids are playing around. Jinyoung lifted her head and forced a smile onto her face. “Give her a good shove then,” she told him.

“I will,” he promised. But he didn’t look as pleased with himself as Jinyoung expected him to be. “Can we get out of here? This place gives me the creeps,” he asked with a slight shiver.

“Me too,” Jinyoung agreed. Then she was the one to come closer to the other, leaning forward. “Want to know something even scarier?” she asked.

Sunggyu raised an eyebrow. “What?”

“I have no idea of how to get out of here,” Jinyoung confessed with a giggle.

“That is scary.”

After a few minutes, the two finally got out of the room together. It was kind of frustrating. They could always see the door, but there was no clear path to it without climbing over things, which they tried to avoid the best they could. Jinyoung was wearing a skirt and realized that she shouldn’t act so carelessly about it, especially after Sunggyu had stopped her once from (unconsciously) hiking it up in order to step over boxes ( now he tells me I shouldn’t ). So Jinyoung was grateful to see the light of the hallway again, escaping that blasted room. She almost fell to the ground and kissed it, but that might be overkill. And she was wearing a skirt . So she just looked over at him and smiled.

“What are you up to now?” Sunggyu asked her. Jinyoung cocked her head, hesitant to reply. “Dongwoo and I are going out. Want to come?” he offered.

“I already have plans. With a friend,” Jinyoung turned him down.

“A boy friend or…” his voice drifted off, not completing that thought.

“Girl,” she corrected him. “We used to be best friends in high school, but we lost touch over the last few years. So it's a reunion.”

“Oh, that’s nice,” he replied with a grin. “Are you excited? You don't look it,” he teased, nudging her.

Jinyoung let herself fall back a bit with that hit. Is it that obvious?  “Honestly I'm more nervous than anything,” she admitted. Since this morning, Jinyoung had been anxious about this meeting. From the bottom of her gut, she had an ominous feeling about it. After all, Yewon must've been in the city for a good while now. Why ask to meet now? She found the picture of us , Jinyoung tried to reason away her doubt. She smiled again and looked over at Sunggyu. “And actually I'm more covered in dust than anything,” she turned it into a joke. Why am I even telling him this? Ugh, why didn't I bring a change of clothes? Jinyoung sneezed.

“Why are you nervous?” He was facing her, hands in his pockets. “You guys were best friends,” he pointed out.

Jinyoung shrugged. “People change. It’s been a long time,” that was another worry she had. Meeting with Yewon again, they couldn’t really pick up where they left off. They couldn’t be as close as they were in the picture. Time and distance tore them apart. What if on top of that, they grew into different people during that time? Jinyoung thought they were running a risk of ruining a beautiful childhood memory.

“Did you change?” Sunggyu challenged.

She shook her head. “No, not really.”

“Then it'll be fine,” he responded casually, shrugging. Jinyoung’s smile tugged more tightly. He had a point. If she hadn’t changed much, then there was a chance Yewon hadn’t either. And maybe we could really become close again, she concluded. “Or not,” Sunggyu suddenly said. Jinyoung looked over at him and pouted. But he just...His hand extended over towards her. “You really are covered in dust,” he muttered as he brushed a finger against her shoulder. He then showed the finger to her, how it was coated in dust. “Nasty,” he grumbled as he wiped his finger back on her, or tried to but Jinyoung moved her shoulder away from him and then took a step back, and then another.

“Right, I should clean up,” she said as she kept walking backwards down the hall. Jinyoung raised her hand to wave to him. “Have a good time with Dongwoo.”

“I will. And you have fun too. Don't worry,” he responded and waved back. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Eung, later!” Jinyoung exclaimed before fully turning around. And once her back was turned, she winced. She’d just slipped into casual speech with Sunggyu. That had never happened before. They always talked to each other formally, respectfully, not too familiar, even though they were the same age. Why? Well, at first Jinyoung had thought Sunggyu was older than her. There was just something about him that seemed old. But later in her first year here, she’d realized that they were the same age. However, Jinyoung didn’t drop into informalities. He’d still been at the school longer than she had and speaking to him formally had already been a habit. But why slip now? How did she?

And Jinyoung didn’t dare to look back to see how Sunggyu took it. He was strict with this kind of thing. Never once had he dropped formalities or encouraged Jinyoung to do so. Hopefully, they could just forget about this and continue like they’ve always had. Hopefully ...

Jinyoung was able to quickly clean up in the bathroom, get rid of as much dust as she could, and redo her makeup before she met with Yewon at a place nearby. Luckily it was one of Jinyoung’s favorite places, so even if the meeting fell flat, she’d still eat a delicious meal out of it.

However, all of her worries were for naught. Yewon was almost exactly like how Jinyoung remembered her, slightly introverted and shy but after warming up, Yewon would talk a mile a minute. She even looked similar too, with her large round glasses and long bangs. Jinyoung snorted when she noticed that the glasses didn’t even have lens, that they were just frames. But it might’ve been a point of comfort for Yewon. After wearing glasses for so many years, she probably felt weird without them on.

But one thing was different. While Jinyoung was tremendously enjoying her meal, eating most of the dishes that they ordered, if not all, Yewon remained sitting with her hands in her lap. She wouldn’t eat. No, Yewon wanted to but couldn’t. A few times, Jinyoung noted that Yewon would bring the chopsticks to her lips, but then a look of nausea would overwhelm her face. Something was amiss.

“Are you okay?” Jinyoung asked when Yewon set down her utensils for the nth time.

Then there was that look. Jinyoung had seen it a myriad of myriads of times. Yewon, she wore her glass heart on her sleeve as if it were a bangle. She cried more easily than anyone she’d ever met (and she was friends with Woohyun and Hyunae). And now, once again, Jinyoung’s dear old friend was about to cry in the middle of the restaurant. “No,” Yewon blubbered. Then the tears began falling.

Jinyoung quickly paid for their meal and hugged Yewon closely as the both left. They went over to Yewon’s place so that she could freely break down and so that they could talk about what was bothering her. A lot had been, so much, too much of a burden for someone like Yewon. No, it was too much for anyone. No one, not even Jinyoung’s worst enemy, should go through something like that. But for Yewon, it nearly broke her, and she was scrambling to not fall apart. And so when she came across the photo of her dear old friend, Yewon thought she might at least try to reach out and hope that Jinyoung would take her hand. Then maybe, Yewon would feel much like she used too, when things were happier. But then she felt too happy at the moment, which only reminded her how sad she was and how sad she would be once Jinyoung left.

And so she asked Jinyoung to stay, just until she fell asleep. It wasn’t hard for Jinyoung to fulfill that request either. Yewon had worn herself out from crying and fell asleep curled up on the couch, like a small puppy. Jinyoung smiled softly as she Yewon’s head. Her high school friend was the same yet completely altered. Regardless she was still Yewon and still dear to Jinyoung, and Jinyoung was going to help her regain her happiness as much as she could.

Unfortunately that came with one stipulation: “Please don’t tell anyone about this, Jinyoungie. I beg of you.”

And she was going to try her damnedest to keep that promise, even if it killed her.

“You’re coming home late.”

“Oh, Hyunae!” Jinyoung exclaimed. She was shocked to see her friend sitting on her couch in her apartment. It was normally the other way around and rarely did Hyunae ever come this late at night. She was a sight for Jinyoung’s sore and tired eyes, but Jinyoung was still a bit apprehensive. “What are you still doing up?” she asked. Please don’t be because of Woohyun. Please no...

Hyunae popped off the couch with a great smile that set Jinyoung’s heart at ease. “I took a long nap this afternoon, and now I can’t sleep,” she explained. “So I snuck out. Don’t tell Woohyun,” she begged her friend with a finger to her lips.

Today is a day for secrets . Jinyoung smirked and walked over to flop down onto her couch. “Whatever. You’ll probably tell him anyway,” she retorted, her voice muffled because of a pillow.

“True,” Hyunae chirped as she skipped over to her friend. She crouched down in front of Jinyoung. “I always end up telling him everything without meaning to.” Jinyoung turned her head to face her friend, but kept it squished against the pillow. “There’s something about the look in his eyes. Like it’s magic or something.”

“Or you love him,” Jinyoung .

Hyunae nodded with her lips puffed out. “Right, I guess love is magical.”

Jinyoung bolted upright and gave her friend a light shove. “Yah! You’re starting to sound like him !”

Hyunae frowned. “What do you mean? I’ve always been like this,” she fought back and stuck out her tongue.

“True,” Jinyoung mumbled and laid back down. “Always the romantic.”

“You are too!” Hyunae exclaimed, slapping Jinyoung’s back. “Or you used to be!” Jinyoung slowly pulled herself back up again. “What made you so bitter?”

Tonight . Jinyoung pulled a smile tightly across her face. “Nothing, I’m just tired,” she excused herself.

Hyunae pulled herself onto the couch to sit next to her friend. “Did those kids tire you out again?” she asked as she leaned against her friend. Jinyoung nodded with a pout. “Oh!” Hyunae exclaimed. “That’s right, the musical ! How’s it going?”

“Actually, really well,” Jinyoung spoke honestly. She then spent the next hour telling Hyunae everything about the musical, from the plot, to the auditions, and finally about the first day with the art students. Hyunae laughed as Jinyoung spoke and occasionally asked questions, especially about Chilgoo and Sunggyu butting heads.

“And here I thought that Sunggyu was everyone’s favorite,” Hyunae joked. Jinyoung might’ve vented to her about that subject one, two, maybe a hundred times before.

“I guess not,” Jinyoung muttered, a little less enthused than she should be that the school’s golden child was tarnishing. But there was something else weighing on her mind. “There was something I wanted to tell you,” she admitted.

“What?”

Jinyoung bit it back, teeth almost cutting into her lip. No, I can’t. It’s a secret. One that I actually have to keep . “There’s this student who came today,” Jinyoung said instead. while furrowing her brows. “He looked like someone I knew, and it’s been bothering me all day.” She thought back to that loner student, sitting at the end of the row by himself. Tall, lanky. “I think I know who it is now.”

“Who?” Hyunae asked excitedly.

“The Man Upstairs.”

“Ah!” Hyunae yelped which caught Jinyoung off guard. “You finally saw him! The Man Upstairs!”

“More than that,” Jinyoung replied coyly. “Actually I’ve talked to Sungyeol-ssi a couple of times recently.”

“Oh! Sungyeol-ssi?” Hyunae scooted more closely to her friend, eager to hear everything about this formerly mysterious man. “You even know his name now.”

“Eung,” Jinyoung responded through a yawn. “His puppy’s too. Aga.”

“Aga?” Hyunae repeated, cocking her eyebrow. Jinyoung nodded. “Who’d name their dog Aga?”

“Apparently Sungyeol-ssi,” Jinyoung answered with a shrug. “But it’s cute. So I told him that I would be willing to watch Aga, if he ever needs it.”

“Is the dog cute or is Sungyeol-ssi ?” Hyunae .

Jinyoung sighed. “He is too,” she admitted.

Hyunae pouted. “Now that doesn’t sound like you like him,” she pointed out and moved away. Jinyoung could tell that her friend was disappointed in her. “We used to talk about Man Upstairs all the time. I thought you had a crush on him.” Hyunae then whipped her head over to look at her friend. “What? Is he not nice? He isn’t, is he?”

Jinyoung shook her head. “No, he seems nice. It’s just that…” she stopped for a second, figuring out how to put it into words. It was true. She and Hyunae used to talk about the Man Upstairs often and guessed at his life. Woohyun would join them sometimes too. And maybe it was also true that Jinyoung was attracted to that man or the idea of him, the fantasies that they came up with. But the Man Upstairs was Sungyeol, and Sungyeol was, well, Jinyoung had no idea what kind of person he was yet. “I don’t know him,” she finally concluded. “I can’t like someone that I don’t know.”

Jinyoung felt the couch move underneath her. Hyunae had gotten up. “You don’t seem like yourself right now,” her friend said. And Jinyoung knew what that meant. She wasn’t acting as bright or as excited as she usually was. No, now she was drained, with barely enough energy to keep her smile floating on her face. Tonight had worn her out tremendously and probably would continue to do so, with this dark secret weighing her down. Hyunae watched her friend pitifully and her head. “You must be exhausted. Get some sleep, okay? You’ll feel more like yourself tomorrow.” She then waved. “Thank for keeping me company.”

“Anytime! Good night, Hyunae!” Jinyoung used the last of her cheerfulness to say goodbye to her friend. When the door closed behind Hyunae and Jinyoung was alone, she frowned and furrowed her brows, thinking over everything again and again. She probably fell asleep like that, brow wrinkled, heart uneasy.

Tomorrow, everything will be like it was. I will be myself again .

But Jinyoung woke up like that as well, but this time it was because she was confused and not concerned. It was early in the morning and her phone was ringing. I’m not late for anything, am I? There’s no meeting, right?

“Oh,” she gasped when she read the caller id. Jinyoung immediately answered the phone after fumbling around with it. She had to take this. “Yewonnie? What is it?”

“I’m sorry. Am I bothering you?” Yewon’s small voice came through the speaker.

“No, not at all,” Jinyoung spoke, voice still heavy with sleep, and rolled out of bed.

“I can call you like this?” Yewon asked.

“Eung,” Jinyoung hummed as she headed into the kitchen. She was going to need a lot of coffee today. She had a feeling about it. “What’s up?”

Yewon sniffed on the other side of the line. Jinyoung bit her lip after turning her coffeemaker on. She’s been crying again . “I had another nightmare,” Yewon confessed.

Jinyoung pulled the phone away from her face so that the receiver couldn’t catch her yawn. When she was done, she settled her phone in between her shoulder and her cheek. “Tell me about it.”

I have to keep this a secret. It’s a secret. I can’t tell anybody . Jinyoung let out a long, haggard breath. She was at work now, sitting at her desk, fingers running through her hair. Her lips were pursed closed after she let out the breath, as if she’d be afraid for anything else to come out. This is going to much harder than I thought , Jinyoung thought as she dropped her hands and picked up her pen again. She had been grading the latest assignment, but her focus was scattered and still was. Now she was just tapping her pen against the desk as she stared blankly out into space. How could Yewon keep it to herself for so long?

“Jin-Jin-Jinyoungie!”

“Oh!” Jinyoung yelped and jumped in her seat, dropping the pen onto the floor. But coworker (and her scarer) kindly bent over to pick it up for her. While he was bent down, Jinyoung pretended to hit him, but she still didn’t hit him for real. She couldn’t, not to this sweetheart, especially after how he made her effortlessly smile for the first time today. “Jang Dongwoo! You scared me!” she exclaimed. Dongwoo popped back up, showing his toothy (and apologetic) grin and handing over the pen. “How's it going?”

“Well,” Dongwoo quickly answered and plopped down in the seat at the desk next to hers. He grunted as he turned the chair around and shuffled it more closely to hers. When he was satisfied, he cocked his head and his smile shrank a fraction. “How about you? You look down.”

“I’m just tired,” she excused herself and yawned, as if that would be evidence enough. She then shook her head. “I can’t seem to wake up,” she murmured after she stopped shaking. I can’t snap out of this funk either.

Dongwoo then grew serious and dramatically placed one hand on her shoulder. Jinyoung raised her eyebrows at him, silently asking him what he was up to. But he didn’t respond and remained grave as he laid his other hand on her other shoulder. Dongwoo then began shaking her. “Wake up!” he shouted. Although Jinyoung was being tossed about violently by her friend, he couldn’t take the smile off of her face. It only grew when Dongwoo stopped, hands still on her shoulders, and asked, “Did that help?”

“Actually, it did,” she admitted. Her head felt a lot clearer and her heart lighter. Jang Dongwoo was kind of like the sun and now he was giving off Vitamin D. Jinyoung needed to absorb every bit of vitamin-induced happiness that she could get. “Do it again!” she urged him. And she didn’t have to ask twice. Dongwoo was more than happy to shake his friend again.

That was until someone came up from behind them and cleared his throat. Dongwoo’s hands immediately dropped from her and fled into his lap when the intruder asked, “What are you guys doing?”

Jinyoung turned around, still smiling and reeling from being tossed about. “Oh, I didn’t notice you. Kim seonsaeng-nim, do you need anything?” she returned his question with another. It was useless to explain Jang Dongwoo’s actions to anyone. The fact that he was Jang Dongwoo spoke enough for him.

And Sunggyu seemed to accept Jinyoung’s avoidance as an answer. “I just had a question for you, Hong seonsaeng-nim,” he told her, quickly glancing over at Dongwoo.

He got the hint and stood up. “Okay, I’ll let you guys talk,” Dongwoo announced and began to make his way out of the room. “Jinyoung, bye bye!” he said with a wave when he went past her.

“Bye bye!” Jinyoung repeated back, just as cutely.

Dongwoo then turned to Sunggyu. “Hey, let’s...” he paused to mimic drinking. “...later.”

“Eung. Call,” Sunggyu muttered back and raised his hand to say ‘bye’ to his friend. With that, Dongwoo left. Without his presence, Jinyoung began drifting back into her funk. She had no distraction anymore, no light to chase away her dark and dreary thoughts.

“What?” Sunggyu mumbled. Jinyoung raised her head and her gaze to him. Sunggyu looked as dark as she felt. “You looked happy with Dongwoo. Why do you look upset now?”

“I’m not,” she denied, shaking her head. At that, Sunggyu shook his own, at her, not believing a word she said. Jinyoung glowered at him. “I’m fine, seriously.” Perhaps frowning more did little to prove that she was ‘just fine.’ Sunggyu just set his jaw and raised an eyebrow in response, questioning her again with his steady gaze. Jinyoung sputtered. That face! She’d seen it before. Actually, she’d seen it a lot recently. She’d replayed it over and over again. The MV. Sunggyu sitting in the dark car and looking over at the camera, trying to look cool but instead looks...Jinyoung couldn’t hold it in any longer and let her roaring laugh rip through .

“What is it now?” Sunggyu sounded more confused than concerned (or maybe he was concerned for her mental well being, going from darkness to a 1000 watt lightbulb in no time at all).

“The video,” she squeaked out in between her laughter. Sunggyu’s eye twitched at that. “I watched it. Many times. You’re funny,” she was able to talk more as her laughter started to dissipate. But now tears were running down her face. She’d laughed too hard.

Sunggyu’s eyes were still twitching. “I was only doing what I was told,” he defended himself.

Now Jinyoung felt slightly guilty for laughing at him so much. “I know. I know but…” she paused to take a deep breath and wipe her tears away. Once she took in a deep breath, she continued, like an exhale, “It’s funny.”

A corner of Sunggyu’s mouth quirked up into a half-smile and he looked down, flipping through the stack of papers in his hands. “Well, at least it’s good for making you laugh,” he muttered, more to himself than to Jinyoung. His eyes then glanced up at her.  “Callbacks are tonight after classes.”

Jinyoung gasped and reprimanded herself by knocking her fist against her head. How could she forget? “Oh thanks! I almost forgot,” she responded. Well, she knew how she’d forgotten. I really need to get my head on straight .

“I knew you would,” Sunggyu spoke like he’d just won her over at something. “You’re only good at remembering the past and not present things.” At that, Jinyoung snorted again. She quickly tried to catch and stifle her growing giggles by clamping her hand over . But they became too strong for her, racking through her whole body. “What are you doing? Stop thinking about it!” Sunggyu raised his voice to a shout after realizing what Jinyoung was laughing at...again.

“You said ‘past’ and then…” Jinyoung couldn’t continue. She busted into a loud laugh. The images from the MV flooded her mind again, Sunggyu’s expressions, his dancing, his outfits, his...“Your hair was so…”

“I got it. I got it,” Sunggyu cut her off in a loud voice. “Forget that I said anything,” he grumbled lowly. Jinyoung nodded, agreeing to that, and sealed her lips. She’d forgotten that Sunggyu didn’t want his idol past to be leaked and wash through the school like a tsunami, which it would if it ever got out. It would be best to keep the laughing at her colleague at a minimum as to not rouse suspicion. But gosh, that would be hard. Jinyoung felt like laughing again, recalling his growling-like singing, but she refrained and smiled instead, still hiding it behind her hand. Sunggyu seemed contented with that and gave a small smile. “I’ll see you at the callbacks.”

“Yes,” Jinyoung chirped back. When he left and returned to his own desks, Jinyoung looked back down at her assignments. Now there definitely wasn’t time to grade them before the next class started. But that was life. Lately there seemed to be a lot of things outside of her control. At least Jinyoung felt content now, and had something new to concentrate on.

The callbacks...that will be fun!

Her newly found contentment waned throughout the morning, and Jinyoung became curt with her students. And her kids didn’t know quite what to do with a cranky Jinyoung. They looked as if their beloved, old dog just snapped at their hands for being pet the wrong way (even Youngtaek kept his mouth clamped shut the entire period and dared not to move an inch from his seat). And Jinyoung regretted it and apologized to her class when the bell rang. But the apology did little to rid her guilt. What could she do now though? What was done is done.

Jinyoung closed her eyes and exhaled greatly when the last student went out the door. After resting for a second, she opened her eyes again and began picking up her students’ in class essays that they’d left on their desks. More grading was exactly what she needed. Maybe if she kept herself busy enough, she could push other things into the back of her mind. But then one thought sprang to the forefront when Jinyoung picked up a paper only to see the word ‘Snuggly’ scrawled into the desk, surrounded by hearts.

The students, they really adored this ‘Snuggly,’ who was warm and gentle, even to students on the verge of breaking down (she thought back to Jiyeon in the practice room). Unlike Jinyoung who just snapped at her students for not responding quickly enough or incorrectly. The teacher leaned onto the neighboring desk, with her eyes fixed on ‘Snuggly.’ Jinyoung would probably never have her name carved so carefully into a desk, even though she was young and pretty (she’s been told by others that she was and had no reason to doubt them). She was just the History teacher, just forgettable, like she had been when she was in high school herself.

Jinyoung would probably come across Dongwoo’s name first. She heard several of her female students gossip about the Science teacher’s wild but attractive looks, his odd charisma. He didn’t have as many fans as ‘Snuggly’ did, but at least more than Jinyoung did. Chilgoo probably had more followers too. Some took to the Drama teacher, who was older and a bit ordinary but kind. Even he had an unforgettable presence.

Will the kids even remember me when they graduate? she found herself wondering all of the sudden. Will my colleagues notice if I were to leave? was her next thought.

Although she and Dongwoo had a friendly and playful relationship, it never really extended beyond the four walls of this school. He tended to keep his work and personal life separate. He had his work friends with whom he’d interact during the day, and then he had his own set of friends from schools and other connections, with whom he’d pass the nights. There was only one exception to this, ‘Snuggly.’ Dongwoo would always invite Sunggyu to drink with him and never extended it to Jinyoung.

Snuggly, always Snuggly , Jinyoung frowned deeply and glared at the scrawl on the desk. He’s everyone’s favorite .

Even now in the faculty lounge, the old women were flocking over to Snuggly, making offerings to him as if her were some sort of god. But of course, they wanted something from him in exchange. “Sunggyu,” Hwang called out to him affectionately. “Are you enjoying the lunch that I made?”

“Mmm,” Sunggyu hummed with a mouthful of food. Jinyoung a few meters away, watching this all, rolled her eyes. Sunggyu was acting cute for the Chinese teacher like he would for his own mother. And that thought made Jinyoung smirk. Being Sunggyu’s mother(-in-law) was exactly was Hwang wanted.

“Have you seen you seen my daughter recently?” the Chinese teacher had already trying to lay the trap down for Sunggyu to walk in. The man had a mouth full of food and could only grunt indiscernibly in response. Hwang pulled out her phone. “This is her Instagram. Isn’t she pretty?” This time, Sunggyu nodded along with his grunt. But Jinyoung shook her head at his answer and returned to grading her papers. Although she wasn’t watching the trap slowly encircle the Music teacher, Jinyoung still kept her ear sharp. But it was getting harder to overhear. Hwang’s voice dropped lower and lower, “My daughter...with you...one day.” Jinyoung only caught little bites of the conversation, but it was enough for her to grasp the gist of it. So she finally asked , Jinyoung thought as she puffed out her cheeks and flipped over the assignment that she just graded. She then craned her neck, trying to sneak a peek of Sunggyu’s response. And then she saw, another, small nod. Jinyoung’s gaze fell back down to her papers and sighed. Sunggyu had fallen into the trap.

“Sunggyu-yah!” Jinyoung knew that voice very well. The Art teacher came waddling up to man. “Here, have this. It’ll give you energy for the callbacks tonight. You need to be sharp.” Jinyoung peeked over her desk again, nearly falling out of her seat, to see Sooryun give a vitamin drink to the Music teacher.

“Oh!” Jinyoung gasped. “I’m going tonight too!” she announced, putting her hand in the air.

The Art teacher slowly turned over towards her, hands behind her back and cackling. “Sorry, Jinyoungie. I only had one,” she didn’t sound too apologetic. She then gestured over towards Sunggyu and said, “He needs it more.” To which, Sunggyu began nodding once more, a cocky grin spreading across his face as he made a show of drinking the vitamin drink for Jinyoung, who could only take out her dissatisfaction on her pen, gripping it tightly. He looks like a bobblehead. And her , Jinyoung’s eyes went over to the old lady. I’m covering for her! The old lady didn’t care. She just told her friend to walk with her, and then the two women left, leaving Sunggyu and Jinyoung alone in the teachers’ offices, which meant it was time for Jinyoung to set a little trap of her own.

She stood up. “Hwang always gives you food,” she stated.

Sunggyu was startled; he didn’t expect Jinyoung to start talking to him. He quickly put down his food and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before he answered. “She’s very nice,” he replied. Jinyoung tilted her head as she walked over to his desk. He had to know about Hwang Jinyi’s hidden agenda. Subtlety was not her strong suit. She was just weeks away from calling Sunggyu her son-in-law, by “accident” of course. Did he willingly fall into the trap? Is her daughter that pretty? Sunggyu hooked his arm over the back of his chair as he turned to face Jinyoung walking towards him. “I’m far away from home, and I don’t really cook. So...yea,” he ended with an embarrassed laugh.

“Did you forget?” Jinyoung challenged when she was finally at his side. “I always live the furthest away!” she reminded him, loudly, with a hand over her heart. “And I don’t like cooking. I know you can cook too. This isn’t fair,” she grumbled and casted a glance down at his desk. Jinyi didn’t just give him a meal; she prepared an entire feast for him. Jinyoung her lips. I could extend that for a few meals, not have to cook for a day or so.

“Are you jealous?” Sunggyu asked as he showed the food, taking a large spoonful and shoving it in his mouth.

And Jinyoung’s eyes were fixed on that spoon, watching the food disappear.  She gulped as if she were eating it herself. “It’s not fair,” she grumbled, barely moving her lips. She wasn’t about to admit that she was envious of Sunggyu, or confess how far that envy extended.

“Do you want me to tell them that you don’t know how to cook? Make food for you too?” Sunggyu offered through his full mouth and then continued chewing. Jinyoung scoffed. He probably did have enough sway over the women that they would make extra food if he asked for it (well, maybe not Hwang because of her agenda).

“I can! I can cook!” Jinyoung objected, slapping the side of his desk for emphasis. “I never said that I couldn’t!  I mean, cooking isn’t hard. But…as a girl, they expect me to enjoy it. They’ll look down on me if I say that I don’t,” she explained herself. Jinyoung then folded her arms and tried to do her best Jinyi impression: “How will you get a husband if you can’t cook?”

“Ah, that’s a good point,” Sunggyu spoke as if he agreed with that age-old idea. Jinyoung shot him a nasty glare, to which he put his hands up, defenseless. “I’m kidding,” he confessed. “Besides, people don’t think like that anymore, do they?”

Jinyoung shrugged. “Let’s not risk it,” she responded. After that, she crouched down, moving closer to the other. “Don’t tell them, and just give me this,” she whispered with a cheeky grin and reached for the boxes of food.

And Sunggyu pulled them away from her. “Ah, no! This is mine!” he yelled and then slapped her hands away from them.

“Just this once, please!” Jinyoung begged, now on her knees, hands clasped together. “I have no food at home. I’m so hungry,” she tried to make herself as pitiful as possible, pouting too.

“Go buy some food.” Unfortunately Kim Sunggyu was a heartless man.

“Fine,” Jinyoung muttered as she got back up onto her feet. Then her jaw dropped when she looked over at the door. “Oh,” she gasped, pointing towards the doorway. “You have a student.” And she wasn’t lying.

“Oh, Joochan, what is it?” Sunggyu asked the student after he turned around. And while that back was turned, Jinyoung struck, piling up as many boxes as she could carry on top of each other and then running back over to her desk. And best of all, Snuggly couldn’t cause a fuss about it because he was with a student. Jinyoung smirked as she unloaded her booty onto her desk. Snuggly, that fool, he fell for two traps today.

However, Jinyoung could only eat a few bites before her guilt filled the rest of her stomach. This win wasn’t as satisfying as she thought it would be. This food wasn’t meant for her. She tried to steal away someone’s expression of affection for someone else, and Jinyoung couldn’t get that affection by eating this. You don’t win people over by doing this , Jinyoung, she reprimanded herself as she packed up the dishes. You’re being petty.  She raised her head, looking at the teacher giving advice to his student. And Sunggyu did nothing to deserve this.

Jinyoung got up from her desk and placed the food back onto Sunggyu’s desk, while he was still talking to Joochan. Without a word, she left the office.

But she did hear one more thing before she left: “What is that woman trying to do?”

Trying to be as liked as you are .

Sunggyu didn’t mention Jinyoung’s short-lived thievery later that day when they got together again for the callbacks, but there also wasn’t much time to talk about anything other than the musical before the second round of auditions began. Chilgoo once again tried to take the helm and control the auditions, and strangely enough, Sunggyu didn’t put up a fight this time. He just sat there and let the Drama teacher explain to the students the procedure of the callbacks. And while he was explaining, Jinyoung watched the Music teacher’s expression carefully. He seemed resigned, and slightly pained as he watched the Drama teacher live up to his title as he talked to the students about the ‘glory of the theater.’

And while Chilgoo was off on his monologue, Jinyoung leaned over to Sunggyu and whispered, “I’m surprised that you’re letting him go off like this. I think all of us would be grateful if you cut him off like at the auditions, when you two were fighting to be the lead of this musical yourselves.”

Sunggyu snorted, finally looking like he had a bit of life in him. He turned his head and whispered back, “I’m letting him have this. The real fight starts after he’s done. The students will do it for us.”

“Hm?”

“After the auditions, the students come to us to prepare, and they tend to come to one more than the other,” Sunggyu explained in a low, hissing voice. “So we’re pitting our favorite students against each other.”

“Oh,” Jinyoung remarked with a grin. “I get it.”

“So when my students beat his students on the stage, that’s when I win and become the ‘lead’ of this musical,” Sunggyu finished and then pulled away.

Jinyoung did too, but with a scoff and crossing her arms over her chest. “When?” she pointed out. “That’s cocky.”

Sunggyu leaned back in his chair and nodded. “That’s because I usually do,” he retorted.

“Right, because if your students land the role, it’s all because of you and not because of their talent and their determination,” Jinyoung spoke sarcastically, but Sunggyu decided to take it as fact and nodded in agreement. Jinyoung scoffed again. This bobblehead. But then she recalled a moment when the snuggly bobblehead was less cocky and more serious, when he was in the practice room yesterday with a student. “Wait a second, Jiyeon came to you ,” Jinyoung realized. Sunggyu’s head continued to bob. “Is she one of your favorites?”

“As of late, yes,” Sunggyu finally spoke. “She has potential. Like a flower bud about to bloom, some would say,” he ended with a cheeky grin.

Me! I would say that! Jinyoung’s eyes widened as she just stared at him for a few moments. What is this bobblehead trying to do?

“Ahem,” someone cleared his throat a few feet in front of them. Sunggyu and Jinyoung whipped their heads towards the front of the theater, where Chilgoo and the students were staring right back at them. “If you guys are done chit-chatting, we can begin,” the Drama teacher the spotlight onto the both of them. This time Jinyoung joined Sunggyu in the nodding, and both zipped their lips tightly so that the callbacks could get started.

The callbacks really were like a battle on the stage. The students gave it their all. Youngtaek came prepared with an outfit suitable enough for the dorky wannabe dentist, and a new personality to go with it. His shoulders were hunched and his voice was nasally. Chilgoo instructed him well, or so he would say (Jinyoung knew that this fell perfectly in line with Youngtaek’s usual antics). Youngtaek would be their Dennis.

The following win went to Sunggyu. It was for the role of Miss Sandra, the alluring curator. Mijoo, under Chilgoo’s tutelage, was y but too y, over the top. She was comical which would be perfect, if the role didn’t call for a women who wanted to be taken seriously for once in her life, in spite of her y body. Jisoo was more subtle, and it was helpful that she had a bit of a nerdy side to her, which they all became aware of when she dressed as Doctor Strange for Halloween last year. So even though Sunggyu ‘won’ this round, Jinyoung knew that the decision really came down to the girls’ personalities. Neither of the teachers could control that. But Jinyoung kept it to herself as she put in her vote. The subtle trash-talking between the two men was entertaining, and making this long process more enjoyable for her.

Joochan was more or less of a draw. Sunggyu and Chilgoo both instructed him and he was unanimously chosen as Elvis, which also happened because his ‘competitor’ was a no-show. As it turned out, Jinyoung’s ‘rose’ did have a thorny, edgy side and could swivel his hips surprisingly well.

Who won the role of Sylvia was also a unanimous choice and a surprising one. A young first year student, trying out for her first musical had a voice far more mature than her years, and more mature than her behaviors. After finishing her audition, Myungeun apologized, pouting deeply like a baby, because she didn’t think that she did her best. Little did she know that her performance had won them all over from the second that she opened . And that was how a first year beat out her senior for the role of a barmaid.

The last round of auditions, for the role of Natalie, went a bit differently from the rest. They sang a solo song, but they also sang with Joochan. Sujeong and Soyoon performed admirably, especially the latter whose voice blended beautifully with their ‘Elvis.’ Sunggyu nudged Jinyoung to make sure that she noticed it too. She did, muttering “I know, I know,” below her breath with a sneer.

And then it was Jiyeon’s turn. She was the last of them all to audition, and it showed. All of that waiting made her nervous. Her hand quivered as her voice lifted the microphone to . But her voice was steady when she sang ‘Fools Fall in Love.’ And her eyes, they showed so much emotion. It touched Jinyoung, sending goosebumps up her arms and making her shiver. Sunggyu noticed it and sniggered, probably wanting to take credit for Jiyeon’s drastic improvement. But Jinyoung wouldn’t let him. This was all Jiyeon. This was her shining moment. She was their Natalie, and Jinyoung had known it all along.

The discussion after this round of auditions went much more smoothly and ended in a fraction of the time. It was obvious who should win each role, and so there were no battles to fight. Sunggyu had been right about that: the real battles for the roles took place on the stage.

And Chilgoo was grateful for ending early. The three of them were walking out of the school just in time to see the sun before it set. “This was the easiest process since this guy joined,” he remarked and gestured back at Sunggyu with his thumb. “And it's all thanks to you, Hong seonsaeng-nim,” he finished, wrapping both of his hands around one of Jinyoung’s and shaking it warmly.

“It was nothing,” Jinyoung responded with a nervous laugh and slipped her hand away from the man.

“You're only saying that because she agreed with you most of the time,” Sunggyu argued, still feeling sore from last time. Jinyoung snorted. He can really hold a grudge.

Chilgoo thought the same. “You'd feel the same way if the shoe was on the other foot,” he told the Music teacher. Then he took a step back and waved to the other two. “Well, everyone, good night!” Chilgoo spoke with a bright smile and then left out of the school’s gate leaving the other two in his dust as he jogged down the street to go home.

After he left, Jinyoung called out to the other before he could run off too, “Kim seonsaeng-nim.” Perhaps she called his name a bit too loud because Sunggyu was startled. He wasn’t that far away from her. He was standing right at her side. Jinyoung’s mouth quirked up into a quick smile before saying, “You know that I didn't mean to go against you on purpose.” She’d rather not have a grudge against her.

“I know. I know,” Sunggyu muttered. He then let out a great sigh as his eyes flickered over to her. “I guess we don't match well.”

“Well, I wouldn't say that,” Jinyoung refuted. “We have to agree on something.” After all, they were in the same profession at the same place. They had to have something more in common, something besides the school that they could agree on.

Sunggyu turned and squared up to her, staring at her with his eyes narrowed. But Jinyoung didn’t back down and stared back at him, with an awkward smile widening every second that passed. Sunggyu scoffed and began walking down the street. Jinyoung followed him, mostly because her bus was in the same direction as his apartment, but also a small part was curious about what was going through his mind now. Was he really that convinced that they had nothing in common? Sunggyu then stopped suddenly and faced her again. “Chicken or pizza. 1, 2, 3...Chicken!”

“Pizza!” Jinyoung chirped happily as the other gave his answer. Once she heard his, she laughed. “Uh oh,” slipped into her giggles. “How about…” she thought for a moment. And when one finally came to mind, she snapped her finger. “Americano or cafe latte! 1, 2, 3...cafe latte!”

“Americano!” his voice drowned out hers, but he still managed to hear her answer. He scrunched his face at her answer. “Eh,” he grumbled like a curse and started walking again, shaking his head and clicking his tongue. “See. We don’t match well.”

“No, wait!” Jinyoung objected and stepped in front of him. Once again, Sunggyu was startled by her, but he quickly was confused by her actions. She held up a finger. “I got one that we’ll definitely agree on. Trust me,” she spoke the last two words in English, as if they would mean more in that language. “Okay?”

Sunggyu snorted. “What is it?” he gave into her.

“Heartthrob or Big Bang!” Jinyoung announced with a proud smile. “1, 2, 3!”

“Heartthrob!” this time they finally said the answer in unison.

“You’re lying,” Sunggyu retorted as he began walking again.

Jinyoung walked backwards for a few steps. “I’m not,” she insisted. After a few steps, and after realizing that she couldn’t keep up with the man like this, Jinyoung spun around and walked with him normally. “I swear!” she practically shouted because judging by the look on Sunggyu’s face, he didn’t hear her denial.

“You’ve only seen one MV!” Sunggyu objected.

“But it’s the best...MV...I’ve ever seen,” Jinyoung couldn’t say that without crumbling into a giggle it. But she wasn’t lying. That MV had quickly become her favorite, even though it was for all of the wrong reasons.

“See, you can’t even say that with a straight face,” unfortunately Sunggyu thought that she was laughing because she wasn’t telling the truth.

So Jinyoung pursed her lips tightly, fighting back all of the giggles rising up inside of her and choking them back down. And after exhaling deeply and feeling like she had herself under control, she tried her best to convince him with a steady voice and gaze, “I like you more than I like G Dragon. Seriously.”

Sunggyu halted in his steps once more. He slowly glanced over at Jinyoung, with something odd behind his eyes which made Jinyoung wonder, Did I say something weird? Why did he stop? Oh ...They’d already reached his building. She stared up at his building, disbelieving that they were already here.And Jinyoung had unintentionally walked him home.

“We could go back and forth about this all night,” Sunggyu said in a soft tone as he laid the matter to rest. “I’m leaving. Night,” he spoke to her casually, raising his hand up before he turned around to enter the building.

“Good night, Kim seonsaeng-nim,” Jinyoung wished him before he reached his door, speaking formally to him as she always had. It was a habit.

But maybe it didn’t seem that way to Sunggyu. He looked back at her, and even in this dimming daylight, Jinyoung could make out the frown creasing his forehead. “Good night, Hong seonsaeng-nim,” he replied and shut the door behind him.

It was a long bus ride home, which gave Jinyoung too much time to think. The start of the day had put her into a funk, with a dark mood that was strange for her. But at the day wore on, Jinyoung first was content and then, finally, happy. She felt more like herself. However, now that the sun was setting, her mood was going down with it, swirling back down into that funk.

Did I say the wrong thing?

“Oh, Jinyoung-ssi!” she heard him shout at her before she noticed the Man Upstairs standing outside of their building, with fluffy little Aga in his arms. “Just the woman that I was looking for! This is fate.”

“Huh? You were looking for me?” Jinyoung asked as she approached him.

“Yes,” he responded with a bright smile.

“Why?”

“Because of this little stinker,” he answered as he jostled a dozing puppy in his arms. Sungyeol then looked back up at Jinyoung. “My boss is making me go on a business trip with him, to assess other branches in a couple towns down south, and I have to leave my little girl.”

“That’s so sad,” Jinyoung said with a pout and reached over to that poor little girl’s head.

“You said that if I ever need a sitter that you would help, so could you?” he begged. His eyes were just as round and innocent as the puppy in his arms. “I don’t really have any other option.”

Jinyoung grinned. “Of course, I will. I can’t let this little sweetheart be alone,” she took up his offer.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” Sungyeol asks her to dog sit. “And that’s why I brought this home with me,” he said as he dug through his hoodie pocket. After a short search, he found what he was looking for, a thin flimsy envelope. “Here. Payment. Take it,” he urged her bruskly.

“Hm,” Jinyoung hummed as she took it, while eyeing the other curiously, but Sungyeol never let his cheeky smile drop. And she never stopped staring at him out of the corner of her eye as she tore open the envelope. Once it was open, Jinyoung glanced down and saw a three large bills laying inside. She quickly raised her head back up. Is he insane? Why is he paying me this much? She looked back down, blinking, quickly as she pulled the bills out. Wait, there was something off about them. The feel of them was different as was the color, just a shade too dark. They’re fake! And that sent a great smile across her face. “You remembered!”

“Of course!” Sungyeol answered. “It’s not everyday when someone asks me to give them these,” his voice was laced with a laugh and he bent over to put Aga down. “I’ll really pay you when I get back.”

“Okay,” Jinyoung chirped as she put the envelope in her pocket. The two of them then turned to go inside.

“What do you want the counterfeits for anyway,” Sungyeol asked from a step or two below her. It was strange. Jinyoung was used to following him up the stairs. It felt nice to be watched going up the stairs for once.

Jinyoung craned her neck back and said, “I told you. I want to trick someone with them.”

Sungyeol sniggered at that. “Okay, be careful though. You might commit a felony by accident,” he warned her.

“I will,” Jinyoung promised. She then hopped off of the stairs. “Well, this is my stop,” she announced to the other. “I’ll see you later, especially you,” she bent down to talk to the pup.

“I’ll give you instructions and my key in your mailbox,” Sungyeol told her. “Can you start tomorrow night?”

“Of course! I’ll come home straightaway,” after the long bus ride of course, but Jinyoung was going to keep this promise.

“You’re a lifesaver, Jinyoung-ssi. An Aga-saver,” Sungyeol kept talking to her as he walked up the stairs. “Good night!”
“Good night!” Jinyoung hollered back.

While she walked to her apartment, she couldn’t stop looking at the envelope. Honestly, Jinyoung was surprised that Sungyeol remembered. She herself had forgotten her request. Maybe it just stuck with Sungyeol because it was an odd request, or maybe, just maybe, it stuck with him for one reason in particular.

The Man Upstairs...does he like me? Jinyoung giggled at that thought. “No,” she denied aloud as she stuffed the envelope back in her pocket and pulled out her key. “Or...he could. I’m pretty, why not?” she muttered to herself. So while Jinyoung still didn’t know how she felt about Sungyeol, it seemed like he made up his mind already.

Or had he really?

When Jinyoung came back from a long day at school, which was made even longer by the sets (too many people were still coming), she found the instructions in her mailbox and immediately rushed up the stairs to rescue Aga. Jinyoung was excited, heart racing with every step she took. She was finally going UP, to the Man Upstairs’ place. She and Hyunae talked for hours what his place would be like, and now she was finally going to see it.

It was a bit disappointing when she opened the door, only because it was your average apartment. There was no y traps at the door, no chocolate fountains, none of the things her and her friend imagined would be there. However, there was a puppy that really wanted to go outside. Jinyoung set Aga free from her pen and began looking for her leash. And that’s when she saw it. Out of everything she and Hyunae came up with, this wasn’t one of them: a picture of Sungyeol with a woman, kissing her. He has a girlfriend . Jinyoung sighed as she grabbed the leash that was right next to the photo. Of course, he does. Why wouldn’t he?

No one likes me. Not like that. I’m no one’s favorite.