“Thank you for talking with me, even though it’s late.”

Jinyoung walked out of the cafe and was holding up the door for the man following closely behind her.

“It’s no problem,” Sunggyu replied as he walked through the door. Once he came up to his side, his eyes darted all over her face and he gave her a small smile. “You look a lot better.”

“I feel a whole lot better,” Jinyoung spoke like a sigh. She was relieved. The weight she’d been carrying around had now been lifted, and she could breathe easily now. It only took nearly two hours of talking to Sunggyu. And honestly, it would’ve taken less time, but the both of them had gotten distracted and talked about other things before Jinyoung remembered that she had more to say about Yewon. Now because of that, she was relieved, light, and very tired. It was an emotionally exhausting conversation, not to mention it was very, verylate right now. Normally, a second round consists of more alcohol and an exciting atmosphere, not coffee and a deep conversation. But it was the second round that she needed and Sunggyu was nice enough to join her. “It’s been hard. I mean not as hard of a time as she’s been having but...I feel better now,” she added with a slight giggle, looking back up at him.

“Good,” he spoke through a yawn. He had covered it with his hand, but instead of dropping that hand to his side once he was done, he let it fall onto her shoulder. “Take care of yourself.”

Jinyoung nodded. “I will.”

“Good,” he mumbled and he pulled the hand back, stuffing it into his pocket. “I'm glad you told me your secret. That makes us even,” he ended, giving her an odd half-smile.

But Jinyoung gave her fullest smile to him, recalling hisprecious secret. “I guess it does,” she replied, which was quickly followed by a gasp. She grabbed at his arm and with wide-eyes, exclaimed, “You can’t tell anyone either!”

Sunggyu scoffed. “I won't. I'm not you,” he retorted. Jinyoung narrowed her eyes on him, offended at that comment. But somehow Sunggyu took it to mean that she doubted him. “I won't! I promise,” he raised his voice.

So Jinyoung’s expression softened and she offered him her pinky. “Swear that you won't then,” she told him and wiggled her little finger.

Sunggyu chuckled but still linked his pinky with hers. “I swear,” he promised. He then put his hand back in his pocket and at odd smile was back too, “Good night, Hong seonsaeng-nim.” Which sounded so formal and as odd as that smile right now.

But Jinyoung guessed it was appropriate. She bowed her head slightly at him and told him, “Good night, Kim seonsaengnim,” before walking off to her bus stop.

She managed to catch the last bus home and was nearly the only person on it. And she surely was the only one awake in her neighborhood. Only the streetlamps were on. All of the windows were dark, including the Hyuns’. Jinyoung made sure to check their window before entering their building. She walked up those steps as quietly as she could, but her steps still seemed to echo loudly, mostly because there was nothing else, no one else to muffle the noise. So she took off her heels and finished walking up the stairs.

She tiptoed through the hallway, whispering ‘good night’ to her best friends’ door. And once she got inside of her apartment, she let out the breath that she didn’t know she was holding and dropped the shoes on the floor.

It had been a long night, enjoyable but long. All Jinyoung wanted to do now was to sleep, and so she scurried off into the bedroom to get ready for bed. But once she was inside, she nearly screamed. Her heart was racing in her chest. The poster, she’d forgotten that it was there. And she’d caught a glimpse of himout of the corner of her eye. She then laughed as herself as she rubbed her chest, willing her heart to slow down. After walking up to the poster, she stared at it for a few moments, cocking her head and still rubbing her chest.

“Good night, Kim...Sunggyu.”

The next morning was rough. Jinyoung felt like she’d just gone to sleep when she had to wake up again, which seriously was the case. Living so far away from the school was beginning to be a nuisance. She was nearly sleepwalking as she approached the school’s gates. Her eyes were nearly closed, but her ears were open and sensitive to the sounds around her. The students were gossiping about ‘Snuggly’ once again. Those who were a part of the musical were showing the others the dance Snuggly had taught Joochan, and their friends were in amazement and envious that they hadn’t seen it themselves.

Jinyoung snorted to herself and covered . The students covering the dance was more entertaining than the original.

“Hyong was there too,” she overheard a student say among a group of her peers.

“Really? Why?”

“I don’t know, but it was the funniest thing! Hyong was…”

“SH!” Jisoo hissed and then she looked over at Jinyong. “Good morning, Hong seonsaeng-nim.”

“Good morning, girls,” Jinyoung said back and walked into her classroom. She sat behind her desk and organized her things while wondering who ‘Hyong’ was. Had she heard them right? From the sound of it, this Hyong was a part of the musical, but she couldn’t recall any of her students having that name.

Maybe it’s Dongwoo?

“Someone was looking for you?” Jinyi told Jinyoung as they passed each other in the hallway.

“Really? Who was it? Dongwoo?” Jinyoung asked. Dongwoo had often asked for her help to find things that he misplaced around the school, and Jinyoung had a knack for finding them.

“No,” Jinyi replied curtly. “Sunggyu was,” she revealed and then continued down the hall before Jinyoung could even ask why he wanted her. Jinyoung then looked over at Sooryun, who had been walking with Jinyi. The old art teacher just shook her head and followed her friend, not giving Jinyoung any answers either.

“Do you know where he is?” Jinyoung asked Sooryun’s back. But the art teacher must not have heard her and kept teetering down the hall. Jinyoung sighed. It might’ve not been Dongwoo who wanted her, but she still had to go on a hunt for something. This time it was Snuggly.

First she went to check inside the faculty office. Dongwoo was there, and Chilgoo too. But the voice teacher was nowhere to be found. Jinyoung walked up to his desk anyways and scanned his things, searching for clues and just searching. She found a jar of lollipops in the corner of the desk. It was probably a gift from his students. She took the jar into her hands. Sunggyu was so loved by his students that gifts like these were probably a common thing. Jinyoung frowned. If she had received something like this, she’d probably treasure it ridiculously. It would rest unopened on her desk so that she could keep it forever.

“You can take one,” Dongwoo said. He then got up from his seat and walked over to her. He took the jar from her hands and opened it. “Sunggyu always lets me.” Dongwoo took out a lollipop, unwrapped it, and put it into his mouth. He then have the jar back to her. “Go ahead. Take one!”

“Well,” Jinyoung muttered as she looked down into the open jar. This was supposed to represent a student’s love for their teacher, for Sunggyu. But, then again, Sunggyu had so much of this love. Would he really notice or even care if she took a bit of it? Jinyoung wanted to feel loved too. “I’ll take just one,” she gave in and took a candy.

Unfortunately, she had to end her search there because her next class was about to start soon. She’d have to continue her search after school.

When Jinyoung was supervising and helping the art club painting the backdrop, it happened again.

“What do you think Hyong does after school?”

“I don't know. Do you think Hyong and Snuggly hang out?”

“I don't know about that. They’re kinda awkward around each other.  They don’t talk much. But I think Hyong and Jang-saem are friends.”

“Aren’t Jang-saem and Snuggly friends?”

“Yes, Jang-saem and Snuggly are friends. Hyong and Jang-saem are friends, but Snuggly and Hyong aren’t friends.”

“Oh! I get it now.”

“Why do you think that is?”

“Well, I think it’s because…”

Jinyoung glanced over at the gossiping trio: Jaesuk, Jiae, and Sujeong. It was obvious now that ‘Hyong’ wasn't Dongwoo. So who was it then? It had to be someone close to Dongwoo, but not with Sunggyu. Jinyoung scooted closer to the trio and strained her ears, trying to catch why this Hyong person and Sunggyu weren’t friends. Maybe then she could figure out who Hyong was!

“Saem, you're dripping.”

“Huh?” Jinyoung pulled herself away from eavesdropping to look over at the student next to her. Daeyeol’s eyes, however, weren’t on her, but the backdrop, on which Jinyoung’s wet (positively soaked) paintbrush was dripping, and a big wet blob of blue was now soaking through the canvas. “Oh no!” she gasped and her hands flew to her face, which also caused her paintbrush to fly out of her hands and soar behind her.

“Ow!”

Jinyoung slowly turned around and saw that her brush had hit a student named Jaehyun, who now had a great blue streak across his face. She scrambled onto her feet and rushed over. “Jaehyun-goon! Are you okay? I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine,” Jaehyun replied but he had one eye shut tightly. “But I think it knocked out my contact.”

“I’ll find it!” Jinyoung exclaimed. She then dropped to her hands and knees, searching for his contact on the floor. “I’m good at finding things! I’ll find it very quickly. Really quickly! It’ll be like it never fell out!” she kept talking as she was crawling across the stage, looking desperately for it.

“Jaehyun-ah, it’s on your cheek,” Daeyeol pointed out to his classmate.

Jinyoung sat up on her knees and watched Jaehyun pat his cheeks for the missing contact and then finding it. “Oh! Thanks, hyung,” Jaehyun said as excitedly as he could with his languid voice. “I’ll just go put this back in.” With that, he left the theater.

Jinyoung sighed and stood back up. After she watched the door close behind Jaehyun, she turned back around to see Jaesuk and Daeyeol already fixing the great big, blue blob she left. Everything had turned out okay, so Jinyoung should feel better now. But she couldn’t. She was supposed to be guiding these kids, helping them, and not making a bigger mess of things. So she sighed again.

“I’ll start cleaning up,” she offered as she was grabbing Jaehyun’s discarded brushes first. At least cleaning she had faith in doing correctly. Although Jaehyun’s brushes were more paint-soaked than she thought, and they were staining her hands, her hands which she then used to wipe her face. So her face now was just as stained and blue as Jaehyun’s. She could feel the heavy paint clinging to her cheeks. Jinyoung whined. It really wasn’t her day. And now the students were sniggering at her.

“That’s Hyong for you,” Jiae whispered. “She’s the funniest when she doesn’t mean to be. I swear, I could watch her all day.”

Jinyoung raised her head and looked over at Jiae and Sujeong, who was now whispering to her friend to be quiet or else they’d get caught. Wait...is Hyong me?Jinyoung grinned to herself as she got up to put the brushes away. I have a nickname too! I’m Hyong! I don’t know why, but I don’t care! I have a nickname! Today is a great day!

Once Jinyoung dismissed the art club, she walked around the halls. She hadn't forgotten. Sunggyu had looked for her earlier that day, and now that she had hours to think and ruminate over why he had, Jinyoung grew nervous to talk with him but still was anxious to find him. Was it about their conversation last night? Did he have more to say about it? Or was it something else? The students were right. Her and Sunggyu didn't really talk much, or at least they didn't use to. And so this was a first, Sunggyu wanting to find her to talk. It has to be something about last night, Jinyoung concluded. If it's not about Yewon, then it could be...did I do something embarrassing? Jinyoung stopped in her steps. Yes, she had done something embarrassing, but there was no way he could’ve known. The poster hanging in her room...

“Hong-saem!”

“Yes?” Jinyoung snapped her head back up and saw a crowd of students filtering out of the practice room. They must’ve just been dismissed. Jinyoung stood up straight and braced herself to greet her students with a warm smile on her face.

“Did you come to watch us?” Jiyeon approached her with a pout. Her voice dropped. “We just finished.”

Jinyoung shook her head. “No, not today,” she assured her student. “But I would loveto watch you guys sing again.”

“You’ll watch us?!” Jiyeon exclaimed. Jinyoung nodded slowly. “You promised, Hong-saem!” her student reminded before running off with her friends. And the History teacher watched the young girl totter up to her classmates. Jiyeon had gained a lot of confidence recently. Even in the classroom, she was speaking up more. This musical seemed to be bringing her more out of her shell, and she had a glow about her. Like a real celebrity, Jinyoung thought to herself. I wonder if Jiyeon found an agency yet.

“Hong-saem!”

Jinyoung flinched at that. It wasn’t the voice of student, not at all. She spun back around and faced Sunggyu, leaning in the doorway of the practice room with a cheeky smile on his face. So she smirked right back. “I heard you were looking for me, Kim-saem,” she spoke in a fakely sweet voice as she walked up to him. And surprisingly, with every step she took, he looked more taken aback. He stood up straight and his body became rigid. So she cocked her head once she was just two steps away. “Weren’t you?”

“Not really,” he admitted lowly and with a sheepish smile. “I just noticed you weren’t in the office earlier, and so I asked where you were.” He rubbed the back of his neck, and when he’d turned his head, Jinyoung noticed how red his ears were. He was embarrassed and she was too. Her whole face must be just as red as those ears, especially after he said, “I wasn’t looking for a reason. I was just...looking.”

She had assumed too much of him.

Jinyoung nodded and pursed her lips. “So you were just curious?” she pieced together.

“Eung,” Sunggyu hummed. “I must have picked up that bad habit from you.”

Jinyoung scoffed and looked back over at him. “Don’t blame it on me. You were always like that,” she dissed him and ended with a broad smile.

Sunggyu stuffed his hands in his pockets, relaxing a bit as he studied her. “Maybe,” he gave in but didn’t say anything more, which made Jinyoung feel even more awkward

She took a step back. “Well, if you weren’t looking for me then…”

“Since you’re here…” Sunggyu’s voice overlapped with hers. When they both noticed that they had, they kept gesturing for the other to continue but neither would, both insisting on being polite.

“It’s really nothing,” Jinyoung finally spat out, unable to take bear whatever they were doing anymore. “You can go ahead. You sounded like you had something to ask me.” She smiled at him. “Go ahead.”

“It’s...I could use your advice. Can you look at something for me?” he revealed and ushered her inside of the practice room. Jinyoung stepped inside but she was still hovering by the entrance as Sunggyu walked to take something from on the top of the piano.

“What is it?” Jinyoung asked.

Sunggyu held it up to show her. “The script. Come here,” he beckoned her with it, and Jinyoung slowly walked up to him.

“Why do you need my advice for that?” Jinyoung asked. She was now at his side, looking up at him with a slender smile. “Isn’t that already set?”

Sunggyu shook his head. “Not really,” he replied and turned to lean against the piano. As he was doing so, he was flipping through the pages of the script. “We were thinking about changing the dialogue for this scene,” he murmured under his breath as he searched for it. Jinyoung stepped in closer, leaning in to look at the pages as they flipped by. Then Sunggyu finally settled on a page and held it in front of her to read, although he still held it, which forced her to move in closer in order to read it. Their shoulders were touching.

But Jinyoung was too absorbed in the script to notice. “Oh yes, I see what you mean,” she muttered, leaning in even closer. She snorted and shook her head. “I can’t really picture the kids saying that.”

“Right?!” he exclaimed and shook the script in his hands. “It’s just too old fashioned.”

“Do you have a pen?” Jinyoung asked and finally raised her head, now noting how close they really were. Wow, Jinyoung thought as she gazed at him, blinking. Did he not shave today? Or does his hair grow really quickly?

“Eung,” Sunggyu hummed and pulled away to search for a pen. When he found one, he stayed apart from her and handed the pen over. “Do you have an idea?”

“Yes,” she responded in a distracted voice. Her mind was busy thinking up of ways of how to sort out this outdated dialogue. Jinyoung placed the script on top of the piano and leaned over it as she began marking it, saying, “I was wondering if it’s possible if we could add another character into the scene like…”

Her voice caught in . She stood back up and whipped her head around, and nearly fell into the piano as she did. Sunggyu must’ve been trying to read over her shoulder again because he was very close to her right now. And his hand, it was still picking at her shoulder. “You had a hair. Sorry,” he apologized and quickly withdrawing his hand from her once he’d finally grabbed the strand and tossed it away.

“No, thank you,” Jinyoung muttered, looking down at her shoulder and dusting it. There was nothing there now except for a lingering feeling, but that wouldn’t go away no matter how many times she wiped her shoulder. So Jinyoung turned around, clearing . “Uh so…”

“Yes, what were you saying?” Sunggyu asked and walked over to sit on the piano bench, a safe distance away.

Jinyoung giggled as she watched him. “I can’t remember,” she admitted. Her mind was a blank.

Sunggyu shrugged and gave her a sheepish smile. “Me either.”

Jinyoung bit her lip and focused back on the now crumpled script in her hand. When had she done that? “Maybe if I just look at it again,” she muttered as she straightened the script out. She then remembered her idea from seconds earlier. “Ah, right! What if we added…”

“Good, you’re both here.”

Her idea flew out of her head again and a squeal flew out of . Sunggyu too jumped up a bit when Chilgoo entered the room. The drama teacher looked back and forth between them. “You didn’t forget about me, did you?” he asked.

“Do we have a meeting?” Jinyoung asked, clutching the script to her racing heart.

“We do,” Chilgoo clarified, gesturing between him and Sunggyu. He then flashed a great grin at the woman. “But I’m happy you’re here too. I could always use an ally, when I go up against this guy.”

Jinyoung glanced down at the man on the piano bench and then back up at the drama teacher, waving her hands in dismissal. “Please, it’s not like that,” she said. “You don’t need my input anyway.”

“I do,” Chilgoo insisted. “You’ll want to get involved when you hear that this guy wants to change this classic script!”

“Actually,” Sunggyu began as got up from the bench. “Hong seonsaeng-nim was helping me make adjustments to the script.”

“What?!” Chilgoo gasped and his eyes went wide. He looked as if he’d been betrayed.

“I don’t get why you’re so against changing this scene,” Sunggyu started complaining. “You always add improv scenes. What makes this so different?”

“That’s because it’s...Hong seonsaeng-nim! Where are you going?” Chilgoo caught Jinyoung as she was trying to sneak out of the room.

“I, uh…” Jinyoung’s voice drifted off as she tried to come up with an excuse. And luckily one came up for her. Her phone rang. “I need to take this call. Good night. Good luck with the script!” she wished them as she scurried out the door.

As much as she liked being a part of this musical right now, she never wanted to be caught in between their directing disputes again.

“Good morning, Dongwoo!” Jinyoung greeted her fellow teacher as she walked into the office the following morning. She was practically skipping towards her desk. As she was walking through the school that day, she kept hearing whispers of hernickname. She was euphoric! Elated!

“You’re in a good mood this morning,” Dongwoo replied and walked over to her desk. “What happened?”

Jinyoung plopped down into her seat. “I...have a nickname!” she whispered excitedly to him and then giggled.

“Oh! You finally heard it!”

Jinyoung cocked an eyebrow. “Youknow about it?” She couldn’t believe it. Dongwoo could be a bit oblivious. He always had to be told that a student was there to see him, even if the student was standing at his desk (or even on one occasion, followed him inside). But this time, he was well aware, and he nodded proudly. “How?”

He shrugged. “I’ve heard it here and there, up and down,” he answered and pointed in all directions. “You’re Hyong-saem. Hong-hyung seonsaeng-nim,” he revealed.

“Hong-hyung? What?”

“It’s a compliment,” Dongwoo insisted. “Because you’re so free and nice. They see you as an older sibling.”

“Shouldn’t I be like...Hong-unnie? Noona?”

“Apparently you have a...hyung-like charm?” Dongwoo guessed. He then scratched his head. “I think it started with the guys.”

“Well,” Jinyoung started as she thought it over more. She grinned. “It’s nice to hear that I have any kind of charm at all.” Even if it was a boyish charm when she was a grown woman. It was better than no charm at all.

And she loved her new nickname even more for it.

Jinyoung’s good mood stayed with her for the rest of the day. And it might have rubbed off on her students. They still weren’t very interested in her history lesson but they at least weren’t all asleep (except Daeyeol but that was usual). Art club after school went very well too. She sniggered to herself whenever the students whispered about “Hyong” under their breaths. She knew their little secret, and it made her feel closer to them.

After a few hours of painting, it was obvious that everyone was losing focus, so she dismissed them and went in search of the other students in the musical. She had promised Jiyeon to watch them rehearse, and as the super cool and free “Hyong,” Jinyoung wanted to follow through with that promise. Also she was very curious about what they’ve been up to, and Jinyoung was never the type to deny her curiosity.

And that curiosity only grew when she stumbled upon the rehearsal room and only found Sunggyu there, sitting at the piano bench and slumped over the keys. He dismissed them early, Jinyoung concluded. Why? And why does he look like that? Did Joochan snap and kill him?

She knocked on the open door. “Hello, can I come in?” she asked after clearing . The body moved and rose up from the piano. Good, he isn’t dead, she thought and smiled at him, who only looked up at her blankly.

“If you want to,” he replied lowly, while rubbing his eyes and turning back around to face the piano. So Jinyoung did come in, even though she didn’t feel quite welcomed to.

“Are you okay?” she didn’t even know if he would answer, but he did.

“Yea, just tired,” he grumbled with a slight nod. Sunggyu then sighed and faced her. “I need a vitamin.”

Jinyoung searched through the pockets of her overalls to see if she had anything even resembling a vitamin. But then she remembered that she did. The vitamin was wearing the overalls. She laughed. “Me?” she asked while pointing at herself. He nodded. “You really must be tired to be saying stuff like that,” she concluded and leaned up against the piano. The man nodded his head until it hung lowly. “Is the musical draining you?”

“It was an off day,” he mumbled, barely moving his lips. Jinyoung slid in closer to hear him. “Everyone took 5 steps back today. Just when I thought we were making real progress.”

“Oh, one of those days,” she remarked.

“Mm,” he grunted in return, rubbing his eyes once again.

Jinyoung pulled herself up and straightened her clothes. “Well, maybe you just need one person to sing a song perfectly,” she stated. And Sunggyu, too, stood up straight and raised his head to look at her. He was curious. Jinyoung soon relieved that curiosity by singing: “It’s crazy. I can’t stand it anymore. I can’t sleep the heavy breathing and the pain shake me. I get mad and all that’s left is regret...and longing,” she quickly lost confidence as she continued all because of that look Sunggyu was giving her, like she was crazy. It made her feel self-conscious. She wasn’t crazy, at least she didn’t think so.

As for what Sunggyu thought, well, now he was laughing. “What song is that?”

“Yours!”

Sunggyu waved his hand. “No, no, no. It sounds like a completely different song,” he was still laughing as he talked. “I used to sing that song for like 10 hours everyday, and what you sang is a completely different song.”

But Jinyoung didn’t find it as amusing as he did. She couldn’t help it if her voice cracked whenever she tried to hit the high notes, of which there were a lot in Heartthrob songs. She pouted. “Hm, it’s my style.” She then continued the song, “I cannot give up like this...What?!” This time her singing was cut short when Sunggyu hit a key on the piano. “What? Why did you do that?”

“That’s the note you should be singing,” he answered. “Try again.”

“I cannot—HEY!”

“Nope,” Sunggyu remarked after hitting the key again.

“Are you sure that I’m not doing it?” Jinyoung retorted. “I—Come on!”

Sunggyu hit the key again. “Are you tone deaf?”

“Possibly,” she answered honestly. Sunggyu laughed again. It was infectious. Jinyoung smiled too. She tapped the piano. “Try it again,” she urged him. So Sunggyu did. He hit a key, and Jinyoung tried her best to match it. But her voice oscillated between three notes as she did.

“You are tone deaf,” he teased.

Jinyoung pinched her fingers together. “Just a little bit,” she responded in a light voice.

A tight grin pulled across his face, and he repeated, “A little.”

Jinyoung mimicked that smile and propped herself against the piano. “You seem more awake now,” she noted.

“Well, your singing could wake the dead,” Sunggyu joked.

Jinyoung gasped, not because she was offended but because she was intrigued by the idea: “That would be cool if I actually could.”

“You’re ridiculous,” he muttered while shaking his head at her, not in disapproval. No, he was still smiling. But that smile didn’t last for much longer. He glanced over at her while he started to straighten up the music sheets on the piano, getting ready to leave. “What are you going to do after this?”

Jinyoung stood up straight again and rubbed her hands together. “Go home? Have dinner with the Hyuns? I haven’t been able to do that for awhile,” she pondered out loud. She then looked back down at the other.  “What about you?”

Sunggyu was still busying himself with the sheets. “Well, Hwang has been trying to get me to meet with her daughter,” he muttered. He then put the papers down and met the other’s gaze. “Maybe I should tonight.”

“Hm,” Jinyoung hummed as she looked away. “I wonder if she’s like her mother.”

Sunggyu let out a soft groan. “I hope not.”

Jinyoung sputtered at the image of a mini- Hwang Jinyi with a temper to match her mother. Sunggyu raised an eyebrow at her. “If she is, you’ll be even more tired after dealing with her, like fighting a bull,” she revealed what was going on in her mind.

“Right,” Sunggyu agreed. He then spun around on the bench, facing the woman. “But if that should happen, if she’s like her mother, I’ll probably need another vitamin after that.”

“I’m sure Dongwoo would help you out if things get that bad. He always makes me happy,” Jinyoung responded.

Sunggyu spun around again, towards the piano. “Right,” he mumbled. He then stood up. “We should probably get going.”

Jinyoung watched him for a few seconds. He looked tired again, maybe even more so. She sighed. She wasn’t a strong enough vitamin for him. “Right, I don’t want to keep the Hyuns waiting. I’ll leave first,” she announced as she slowly backed away from him, waving. “Good night, Kim seonsaeng-nim.” She then turned around and headed out the door.

Since she was so far away, she thought she’d misheard the other saying, “Night, Jinyoung.”

It took her a long time to get home, but it always did. However, somehow the ride seemed longer and longer now, probably because she was riding home later and later. She was dragging her feet up the stairs to her apartment, and her head was staring at the floor. She didn’t have the strength to keep it upright. She had no strength at all. Jinyoung full intended to collapse on the couch when she got home...or in her doorway if she couldn’t make it that far. And she was going to sleep until the Hyuns pull her out of her apartment and fed her.

However, she didn’t have to wait long for the Hyuns’ arrival. Hyunae was already there inside of her apartment.

“Oh my gosh!” Jinyoung exclaimed, falling back on her front door and clutching her heart. “What are you doing here?”

“Woohyun was taking a shower, and I had to use the bathroom,” Hyunae answered as she eased herself carefully onto the couch. After she did, she smiled happily up at her friend.

“You guys are married!” Jinyoung reminded her and walked over to the couch and sat down next to her. “Can't you just, I don't know, go in with him?”

“I do! But…” Hyunae drawled out and gave her friend an embarrassed grin as she played with the hem of her shirt.

“But?” Jinyoung prompted her.

“I don’t when it's going to smell.”

“Hyunae!” Jinyoung whined. This wasn’t the first time that Hyunae had invaded her apartment for this reason. She and Woohyun had been married for awhile. Woohyun knew everything about Hyunae, even the fact that Hyunae pooed. But, sometimes, she’d still get shy and dart across the hall into Jinyoung’s place to “relieve” herself.

Apparently Hyunae was fine with Jinyoung smelling her mess, but Woohyun was too “special” for that. Jinyoung guessed there was a difference being them being like sisters, and them being husband and wife. She still wanted to seem flawless to him, even though Woohyun knew all of her flaws and loved them.

“It'll air out,” Hyunae brushed the issue aside. Then she turned towards Jinyoung and tapped her shoulder. “But more importantly, are you back into idol bands? I thought you got out of that phase.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Jinyoung feigned ignorance, blinking at her.

But Hyunae just cocked her head. She couldn’t be deterred: “The poster in the bedroom.”

“Oh, um, yea,” Jinyoung mumbled, averting her gaze. She crossed her arms over her chest. “I guess I can't quit that life.”

“It's okay,” Hyunae replied. Jinyoung looked over at her again. Hyunae was taking this better than she thought. No chiding. And Hyunae was the one who often told her to fall in love with a real man instead of an idol. Never did she expect Hyunae to say: “I kinda miss fangirl Jinyoung.”

“Really?”

“Eung,” she hummed excitedly. “I never hear you talk about boys as excitedly or lovingly as when you talk about your idols. Not even the man upstairs or Howon, who you actually dated.” She chuckled softly. “He was my favorite of your exes.”

Jinyoung rolled her eyes. Hyunae was more into her relationship with Howon than Jinyoung herself was, but that was probably because Jinyoung was finally in a “serious” relationship, although it never seemed that serious to Jinyoung.

She rearranged herself on the couch to get closer to her friend. “I know. You made Woohyun nervous a few times with how attentive you were to Howon,” she whispered.

“Eh, Woohyun knows that my heart is only his,” Hyunae whispered back. A corner of picked up into a smile. She could never refrain from smiling whenever she talked about them. But she didn’t want to be the only one to gush about her love: “So tell me about your new boyfriends!”

“Huh?”

“The idol group in the poster,” Hyunae reminded her. “They look a bit…”

“Old fashioned?” Jinyoung finished for her. “They are. They debuted a long time ago, and they already disbanded,” she lowered her head and mumbled her answer. She felt weird talking about this. She didn’t really want to talk about it.

“Really?” But Hyunae wouldn’t let it go. “What got you into them?”

Jinyoung hummed in thought, while she tried to think of an appropriate and not to revealing of an answer. And she settled on this semi-honest reply: “A music video. Do you wanna see it?” An answer followed by a distraction, the best solution for how to deal with Hyunae.

“Please!” And the distraction worked. Jinyoung pulled out her laptop from her bag and brought the music video onto the screen. Her heart was racing. Was she nervous? Why? Maybe this is why they are called Heartthrobbecause it makes you anxious to watch them.

But she had no reason to worry, maybe. “It's so good and bad at the same time!” Hyunae exclaimed. She then grabbed onto Jinyoung’s arm. “Oh my gosh! Pause it! Pause right now!” She was the one to pause it because Jinyoung froze. Hyunae pointed at the screen, and Jinyoung felt caught. “That’s the guy! From the historical drama!” she exclaimed, pointing at the guy on the left. “Kim Myungsoo!”

“It is!” Jinyoung squealed. She and the Hyuns watched that drama religiously, when they liked it and when they really didn’t. But they all really liked the actor Kim Myungsoo, and Jinyoung was having a really hard time containing her curiosity around his former leader. She had been very good. That guy had no idea.

“That’s right!” Hyunae exclaimed while clapping her hands. “When we watched Masked Singer, he said he used to be in an idol group.” She then gave her friend a light shove and a coy look. “Of course you would look them up and buy their whole discography.” Hyunae giggled and leaned against the back of the couch while looking at her friend knowingly. “So you moved on from The Man Upstairs to The Ex-Idol, huh?”

“Um, I guess you could say that,” Jinyoung mumbled, staring at the computer screen.

“Hey!” a new voice entered the conversation. The girls jumped at it. Woohyun closed the door behind him and put his hands on his hips while he squared up against the women. “Did you guys forget about me?”

“Kinda,” Jinyoung admitted.

“Sh!” Hyunae hushed her. She then turned her attention to her husband. “Sorry, honey, we just got distracted.”

“By what?” Woohyun asked. Hyunae turned around the laptop and pressed play. Woohyun watched the music video for a few seconds and then looked over at Jinyoung. “Jinyoung-ah, be honest. Is the only reason why you teach at that school is to be near idols?” he asked.

“No,” Jinyoung immediately denied. “The pay was better than my old school. Besides more than just trainees go to Arts School...andI might get to teach future idols,” she finally admitted. She crossed her arms defensively. “I’ll be damned if one of them gets into a scandal for not knowing their history! Damned!”

“I’ll be damned if I don’t eat soon,” Woohyun retorted. He then faced his wife. “Honey?”

“Dinner’s on the table already,” Hyunae responded. She then closed the laptop. “Now stop watching that crappy video and let’s eat!”

Jinyoung hadn’t ate with the Hyuns for too long, that’s what she concluded. She had missed so much in their lives. Woohyun was going to get a promotion. Hyunae had grown rounder, or had the baby inside of her grew? And there were baby things that were littering their apartment that hadn’t been there before. She had spent most of the dinner catching up with them, and when she was about to update them about the musical, her phone rang. It was Yewon. Jinyoung explained that she had to take the call and that Yewon was having a hard time.

And when the phone call was finished and she came back, Hyunae was already asleep. But Woohyun was still awake and waiting for her. He handed her a glass. “It looks like you could use a drink.”

Jinyoung smirked and took the glass. “How did you know?”

They talked for a bit longer. Jinyoung told him a bit about the musical, mostly about the art club. But she didn’t know what she said to have Woohyun to give her that look. “What? What did I say?” she asked.

“It seems like you don’t have much time these days,” Woohyun remarked.

Jinyoung nodded. “Yea, I don’t.” At that, Woohyun let out a heavy sigh. “Why? Why did you just do that?”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but when are you going to date again?” Woohyun asked.

Jinyoung recoiled. “Wh-what?” she stammered. “Do you want to get rid of me?”

“No, I told you not to take it the wrong way,” he replied. “I just want you to be taken care of.”

“I can do that myself,” Jinyoung responded, pouting.

“You can but…” Woohyun paused, thinking over his words carefully. “I overheard you on the phone with your friend.”

Jinyoung shifted in her seat and chose her own words carefully too, “She’s going through a rough time is all.”

“I figured,” Woohyun accepted that vague response. “But if you take care of her, take care of your students, look after Hyunae and me, when do you look after yourself?” he challenged. Jinyoung looked away and started drinking again. As far as she was concerned, she took care of herself well. She didn’t need someone else to do that for her. But Woohyun thought differently: “I’m only saying this because...you remind me a lot of myself. I thought I took care of myself well, until I met Hyunae. Now I know what it means to be really looked after.”

“You guys do, don’t you?” Jinyoung responded. “You guys take care of me.”

“Yes, but…” Woohyun paused again. After chewing on his lip, he took a drink and continued, “Jinyoung, soon we’ll have something else to look after.”

“I know,” she grumbled in return and finished her drink. Woohyun refilled it.

“Hyunae’s worried too,” he said as he was refilling. “She talks about it a lot.”

“What?” she gasped. “She’s never mentioned it to me.” Instead of talking about her worries, this afternoon they talked about idols and a silly, outdated music video.

“I know. That’s why I am,” Woohyun replied. He then finished his drink too. Jinyoung refilled it in return, as she did, she noticed that he seemed down and mulling over whether he should say something or not.

“What is it?” Jinyoung prompted him. “You look like you have something to say.”

Woohyun sighed. “You know Hyunae. She’s a lot more private with her worries than you are.” Jinyoung nodded. That was a reason why they worked well together because they respected each other’s privacy. And that was also why Hyunae and Woohyun worked well together because she could open up to him more than anyone else. In fact, Jinyoung learned more things about Hyunae through Woohyun than through Hyunae herself, including this: “Don’t ever mention this, but before this baby, Hyunae has had two miscarriages.”

“What?” Jinyoung sputtered, spitting out some of her drink. While she was wiping , she asked, “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We really wanted to have a kid, and probably wanted it too much,” Woohyun replied, eyes fixed on his glass as he rolled it around in his hands. “As it turns out, it’s hard to have a kid. Even if you conceive...it means nothing.”

“Yea, but why didn’t you tell me?” Jinyoung repeated her question.

“We aren’t like you, Jinyoung. We’re not as open,” Woohyun answered. He then looked up at her and smiled. “But even then, you helped us through that time more than you know. You made us laugh.”

“How?”

“Remember when we went on that trip to Jeju suddenly and the three of us climbed Mount Halla?” Woohyun asked.

“Eung,” Jinyoung grunted while rolling her eyes around, trying to recollect the trip. It was fun, but nothing to her stood out. In fact, the Hyuns seemed kinda down. At times, Jinyoung felt like she was having fun on her own, but there was a reason for that.

“That was after the second miscarriage,” he confessed. “It was kind of a big deal. We wanted to prove how healthy we were. That we could do it.” He then began chuckling and lightly shoved her. “And you, you beat us to the top.”

“That’s only because you were waiting for Hyunae,” Jinyoung mumbled. Her skin was growing hot. She was embarrassed. She didn’t just beat them to the top; she raced them up there and left them behind in the dust. She knew that Hyunae was struggling, but she just thought her best friend was being her usual out-of-shape self. She had no idea what she had been through, or what the both of them had been through. “If I had only known…”

“Don’t worry about it,” Woohyun tried to comfort her and patted her on the shoulder. “Do you remember what happened afterwards?”

“No,” she answered honestly.

“You made us laugh,” Woohyun reminded her. “You made us laugh that entire trip. Like remember when you were playing Jenga by yourself?”

Jinyoung pouted. “That’s only because you guys weren’t playing with me.”

“Yea, but right after you said ‘I’m really good at this game, guys’ the whole tower came falling down,” he recounted while laughing through it all. He then mimicked the whole tower crumbling down. Another heatwave of embarrassment washed over Jinyoung.

“You remember that?” she asked, covering her red cheeks.

“Eung, Hyunae and I laughed about that for a really long time, long after the trip,” and Woohyun was still laughing about it. And while she watched him, the heat died down. Jinyoung smiled.

“At least it’s good for making you laugh,” she replied.

Woohyun nodded as his laughter died down. He became sober, but he still had a gentle grin on his face. “We love you, Jinyoung,” he said. “That’s why we want you to have someone that takes as good of care of you as you do for us.”

Jinyoung looked down at the glass in her hands. It’s not that easy...She closed her eyes and sighed. I don’t even know where to start, and it’ll only get harder as I get older. I wonder if soon I should...Jinyoung stopped herself from going down that train of thought. Instead she promised Woohyun, “I’ll try.” Just so that he would feel better.

Woohyun nudged her playfully. “What about the Man Upstairs?” he asked.

“He has a girlfriend,” Jinyoung confessed.

“Really? Damn,” Woohyun cursed.

Jinyoung laughed at how disappointed he looked. The Hyuns really had their hopes pinned on the man upstairs. They both were really romantics. But maybe it was time for all three of them to stop fantasizing and start being more realistic. “Are you sure you don’t want to introduce me to your colleagues?” she asked.

“If it comes to that, I will,” Woohyun answered with a nod. “But they all don’t deserve you though.”

“Eh,” Jinyoung responded and nudged him right back. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Woohyun shook his head vehemently as he drank some more. When he swallowed, he insisted, “Hyunae and I will be. We know what’s good for you. Better than you do.”

Jinyoung grinned. “I wouldn’t dream of dating someone without your approval.”

“Good because if we didn’t like him, Hyunae and I would chase him off.”

“I know.”

After she finished her drink, Jinyoung wished him good night and went back into her apartment. She felt better than when she first got home earlier that day, but she also felt a bit heavier, in her heart. Jinyoung walked into the bedroom, and when she closed her door, she saw itagain, the poster. She didn’t know what she was thinking. Maybe because it made her feel good when she did it before, but when she hit the poster this time, it just hurt her hand. It didn’t bring her the joy it did before, just pain.

Jinyoung still felt heavy the next day, but this time, all over. She didn’t sleep so well, so her limbs were dragging behind her, especially now at the end of the day. Art club was over for the day, and she was cleaning up the stage and getting things for the next day. Even the chorus of “Hyong” from her students didn’t perk her up like it usually did. This vitamin needed a vitamin herself...because the album she was listening to wasn’t helping, although she was singing along with it.

“I knew it,” a voice pierced through her headphones. Jinyoung took an earbud out of her ear and glanced over at the door. Sunggyu was there, with a lollipop in his mouth, holding it in with a tight-lipped smile. He pulled it out and held the lollipop between his fingers as if it was a cigarette. “You listened to the albums?”

Jinyoung stood up from her seat on the stage. “I did,” she answered honestly as she wiped her hands against her coveralls. There was no reason to lie. She was caught red handed, literally. There was red paint on her hands...and now on her clothes. She grinned at the other. “I bought them too. Did you get any money from them?” Jinyoung asked.

Sunggyu shook his head as he walked up to the stage. “Not yet,” he answered.

“I hope you do,” she replied, walking up to meet him at the edge of the stage. “I want to support Heartthrob, even though it's a bit late.” When she got to the edge, she sat down.

“Yea, thanks for supporting us afterwe disbanded,” he joked and stopped at the edge of the stage, right in front of her.

“No problem! I do what I can,” Jinyoung responded, her smile falling a bit as she fidgeted in her seat. Sunggyu was waiting for her to say something else. She knew it. He popped the er back into his mouth and teetered back and forth on his feet. So she sighed and gave him the compliment that he wanted, sort of: “I like the albums, a lot, by the way. And Myungsoo was really cute back then. Seriouslycute. His voice is too. I didn’t know he could sing like that.”

Now when Sunggyu pulled out the lollipop, the pout remained on his face. “Yea, he can sing, but I sing more.”

“I know! You sing almost the whole track!” Jinyoung exclaimed. She felt like she had to prove to him that she did indeed know Heartthrob.

“I was the main vocal. So of course it’s like that,” Sunggyu explained.

“I know.” Jinyoung rolled her eyes and stood back on the stage. She had to return some supplies back to the art room and there were stray paint brushes everywhere. But she wasn’t the only one on stage for long. She heard the other walk up the stairs.

“You like the songs, so you must like my voice,” Sunggyu called her out.

“Huh?” Jinyoung dropped all of the brushes that she had picked up. “Can you help me? Please?” she asked. “I have a lot of stuff to bring back to the art room and props closet.”

“Oh sure,” he sputtered, and he came up to her to help her out. Jinyoung handed him a few paint cans. “Do we really have to go to the supply closet? I hate that place.”

“Yep.”

And in all honesty, Jinyoung wasn’t fond of that closet either, even after she had the kids clean it up. But now that she wasn’t in the creepy closet by herself, with the giant portrait of Chilgoo, it was a bit better, and so she didn’t rush out like she normally would. She just casually walked out with Sunggyu, and they walked over to the art room.

“You know,” Sunggyu began. Jinyoung looked over at him. The both of them were fiddling with the paintbrushes in their hands. “Your voice isn't half bad. You have some potential. How about I teach you how to sing?” he offered.

She shook her head. “No, it’s okay.”

“Come on. It’d be good practice for me, like a challenge,” he pursued. “I’ve taught people like you before.”

Jinyoung shook her head again, harder this time. “No, I’d get frustrated,” her voice was tenser too.

Sunggyu chuckled softly. “I’ve taught frustrated people too,” he retorted.

“But I don’t want to get frustrated with you,” Jinyoung stopped in her tracks at the last few words. She then looked away and moved on. “I don’t want to hate you,” she mumbled under her breath.

But Sunggyu still caught it. “You’d hate me? Really?” he asked, trying to catch her eye.

“Maybe. Possibly?” Jinyoung was dodging giving a straight answer and his gaze. But eventually she had to do both. They had reached the art room and Sunggyu was holding the door open for her. “I’m not...musically inclined. I don’t have a sense of rhythm. And you know that I don’t know how to control my voice,” she said as she walked through the door. Sunggyu grinned and nodded while he followed her into the room. She was walking backwards into the room so that she was still facing him. “It’s just something I’m not good at…do I have to be?” She stopped in her steps, and he did too.

“To teach history? No,” Sunggyu answered. “There’s no reason for you to be, even at this school.”

“I know, but still…” Jinyoung paused and lowered her head, staring at the brushes she was playing with in her hands. She continued in a lower voice, “...do youthink that I should be good at singing?”

Sunggyu shifted his weight and cocked an eyebrow. “Not if you don’t want to be,” he replied carefully.

“It won’t frustrate you?” she asked more directly, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sunggyu cocked his head, growing more confused. “That you can’t sing. Why would it?”

“Because singing is your life and passion, and when I sing,” she stopped to frown and glare at the other. “I hit all the wrong notes and butcher songs.”

“Oh!” Sunggyu exclaimed as he tipped his head back. He started laughing in disbelief. “You, are you harboring a grudge over what I said last time?” he asked, pointing at himself.

“It seemed to bother you. You kept playing the notes, on the piano,” she replied, grinding her teeth together.

Sunggyu was teetering back and forth, watching her carefully. “It doesn’t bother me. I was just…kidding,” he said the last word with a heavy sigh. “It’s not thatimportant to me. And my passion now is...teaching.”

Jinyoung sighed too, but it was more out of relief. She was starting to feel lighter again, and she smiled. “Okay, I was just making sure,” she told him. She tried to look brighter to lift the atmosphere. “I just really like my style of singing. It’s fun! Doing it like this, would make it feel like work, to sing seriously. I can express my feelings better this way,” she joked. She then began singing, “You tied me up, tied me up and took away, took away my heart.”

Sunggyu began cringing almost immediately after she started singing. He backed away from her. “You’re good at expressing feeling at least. I can feel your pain, literally,” he joked. So Jinyoung wanted him to “feel” her pain even more and stepped in closer, singing more loudly. After that, he covered his ears. “Okay, this is really bothering me now.”

Her voice stopped in , which became tight. She cleared it. “Sorry.” She then took the paint brushes from his hands. “Thank you for helping me out. You can go home now.”

“Glad to help,” Sunggyu replied as he backed slowly out of the room. “By the way, what note is this?” he asked and then sang some, steady note, that Jinyoung assumed was supposed to be obvious.

Except that she didn’t know what it was at all. “A musical note, duh!” she joked, and the other started laughing. Or he was until she asked. “ When did the Gwanseo Peasant War begin?”

Sunggyu stopped in the doorway. “Uh…a long time ago,” he answered.

“December 18, 1811,” Jinyoung revealed with a bright smile. “You do your job well, and I’ll do mine.”

“Point taken,” Sunggyu responded. “Good night.”

“Night!” she called after him, who was already out of the door, and she covered as soon as he turned the corner again. Casual again. Why do I keep doing that? But her heart knew why. Her eyes drifted over to the doorway again, after putting the brushes away. Sunggyu was walking past the door again, towards the school’s exit, phone to his ear. Didn’t he meet with Hwang’s daughter? Is he on the phone with her now? Or is it someone else?Jinyoung leaned against a desk in the room. Sunggyu was a guy with many girls chasing after him. But who was he chasing after? Or was he just going to let himself get caught?

I don’t think I want to know.