Days flew by in a blink of an eye. The art club was uncommonly focused and were making good progress with the sets, working later and later into the night. Jinyoung often dismissed them because she wanted to go home, or eat. And eat she did, with Yewon most nights, who seemed to be in a better and better mood every evening. Strangely, she often asked about Sunggyu, but Jinyoung didn’t have more to say. After all, they’ve both been busy. They talk for only…an hour or two or three a day. That wasn’t much for ‘friends’ anyway, isn’t it?

Because Jinyoung felt like she was making progress on various parts of her life (like those tests she finally graded), she was in a very good mood, or in a better good mood than usual. Now Jinyoung was at her desk, unconsciously humming along to the music that she was listening to. It had bothered no one. Dongwoo was bopping along to it and overlaid some of his own sounds with her humming, before he left. All of this, of course, went unnoticed by Jinyoung (she didn’t even notice Dongwoo’s arrival or departure). Her mind was elsewhere right now, as she gazed off into the distance at nothing in her particular.

However, there was someone that broke through her daydreams and brought them crashing down. At first, all she heard was a voice, a loud voice singing. Then there was a figure in the corner of her eye, trying to get her attention. The figure was looking at her. She could feel the heat of a gaze on her.  Jinyoung raised her head and look towards the person.

What does Hwang want?

“You’re in a good mood, Hwang seonsaeng-nim,” Jinyoung remarked with a smile as she pulled out her earbuds. “Did you get a raise? Will I get one too?”

The Chinese teacher shook her head, flashing a proud smile. “I just got off the phone with my daughter,” she explained. “Her date seemed to go well last night.” She then let out a severely exaggerated sigh and spun on her heels with her back to Jinyoung as she pretended to look through some files in a cabinet nearby. “Yes, I have a feeling that this could be the one for her.”

Jinyoung quirked her head. It wasn’t like Hwang never bragged before, but it was something about the way the woman kept glancing back at Jinyoung that made her uneasy. Was Hwang Jinyi just bragging or was she bragging at her? However, she tried her best to hide it, under lays of too much enthusiasm: “That’s fantastic! Who is the lucky guy?”

Before Jinyi could answer, Sunggyu walked into the room. In response to his arrival, the Chinese teacher pursed her lips and put a finger to them. “I don’t know if it’s in my place to say,” she whispered to Jinyoung. Then the woman did it again, sending one of those obvious glances. But it wasn’t to Jinyoung this time. It was to him. “I don’t want to jinx it.”

“But…” the word slipped out of Jinyoung’s mouth which was hanging wide open at the moment out of confusion. Why did Jinyi stop? The Chinese teacher obviously wanted to brag about her daughter’s date. Was the date so much of a secret that Sunggyu couldn’t know about it? Jinyoung looked between the other two in the room. Sunggyu was at his desk already, unwrapping a lollipop (to have in place of a cigarette, Jinyoung knew that now). And Jinyi was watching him with a coy smirk on her face. Then she dragged her eyes from him to Jinyoung and wiggled her eyebrows.

Wait…No!

“Sunggyu-goon, did you have a good night last night?” the Chinese teacher sauntered up to him and asked.

Sunggyu startled a little and removed the candy from his mouth. “I did,” he replied. “We had a good conversation.” We? Who is we?

“Would you be willing to meet with her again?” Hwang asked, all too sweetly. Her daughter! The ‘who’ is the Bull’s daughter!
Sunggyu nodded carefully before responding, “If she wanted to, of course.”

“Oh, I’m sure she will,” Jinyi quickly replied. She then waved at him, wiggling her fingers. “I’ll see you later.” With that, she left the room.

Jinyoung watched the empty doorway for a few moments, registering everything that had just happened. Also she was too shocked to move or to talk. And too embarrassed to acknowledge the other person in the room. Once the shock passed, the agitation came. She turned off her music and she began tapping her pen. Annoyed, she was really annoyed. This shouldn’t have surprised her. It wasn’t like they didn’t talk, so why didn’t she know about this earlier? Jinyoung hatedbeing left in the dark, every nosy person does.

Well, there was one way for her to return to the light. They could finally talk about this. “Sunggyu” her voice wasn’t as resolved as she was. It cracked. She cleared while Sunggyu spun his seat, towards her. “Did you go out with Hwang’s daughter last night?”

He stood up and walked over to her desk. “We had coffee, yes,” he answered. But unlike with Hwang, he didn’t even bother to take the lollipop out of his mouth. He hung over the top of her desk. So casual, so friendly. “We just talked.”

“Is that how all of those meetings go?” Jinyoung responded in a low mutter, and she lowered her head. It was like that too, with his last girlfriend. They had been set up too, arranged with the hopes of marriage (or at least their parents did). They went to a café and talked. They went frequently, until they felt like having more than coffee with each other. They wanted dinner, and then after that a relationship. Of course, they’d been broken up for a long time now, which meant he was all too free to have coffee again with some other girl and do it all over again.

And he already agreed to see Hwang’s daughter again.

“Jinyoung? Friend?”

“Hm?” Jinyoung hummed as she raised her head back up, with a strained smile plastered across her face.

Sunggyu’s own smile faltered. “That smile scares me,” he admitted with an anxious chuckle.

“I can’t help how I smile,” she grumbled, letting her face fall like it wanted to. She then got up and gathered her things. “I need to go to class.”

“Oh…Have a good class!” he called after her, but she didn’t respond.

“Wow! This is all really coming together,” Jinyoung praised with a clap of her hands. Slowly, she was regaining her spirits, thanks to the art club. They were making her laugh and filling her up with pride. They could honestly finish with the sets ahead of schedule at this rate, if nothing unexpected happened.

“Do you really think so?” Jiae asked as she scanned the sets with a concerned expression. “We have somuch left to do.” Jinyoung was surprised to see so many of her students nodding along to what Jiae said in agreement. And every single one of them looked just as worried.

“But you all have done so much already! Look!” Jinyoung tried to bring a smile to their faces while waving at the backdrops. But they just kept nodding with slight frowns on their faces. It was obvious that they were thinking about what was left for them to do. So Jinyoung thought that it would be best to distract them from the entire set and concentrate on one part then. “The shelf for the bar is done and fixed on the backdrop.”

“Yes, but…” Sujeong started. She then pointed at the end of the shelf. “That’s crooked.”

Jinyoung blinked at the shelf and then back at them. “Oh, is it?” She was dumbfounded. It looked straight to her.

“Hyong-saem, do you need glasses?” Jaeseok .

“I’m already wearing contacts,” Jinyoung muttered under her breath as she blinked a few more times and then opened her eyes widely. No, it still looked straight even after doing that. She then heard sniggers coming from her side, and when she looked over, Daeyeol was covering his mouth, a smile hiding behind his hand. Jinyoung frowned at him. Gloomy and distant Daeyeol was the last person that Jinyoung thought would gain up on her with the rest of the students. But before Jinyoung could respond to the teasing, a new student popped into the auditorium. It was Jiyeon.

“Oh? Jiyeon-ah, what are you doing here?” Jinyoung asked as she walked over to the edge of the stage and as the student skipped up towards her.

“Kim-saem said he needed your help,” Jiyeon remarked and pointed vaguely behind her.

The teacher stopped and tilted her head in question. “With what?” Now, to her, it didn’t seem like he needed her at all.

“Reactions.” Except she could understand that he could use her “help” with that. I’m in no mood to be teased by him again, she thought as she felt the corners of grow heavy.

“Again?” she asked with a slight whine, as if she hope Jiyeon would leave her be.

But she knew that couldn’t be the case. Jiyeon pursued, “Yes, what we’re practicing now requires two people.” The student giggled as she showed her teacher two fingers. However, Jinyoung’s blasé reaction wasn’t what she expected, so Jiyeon lowered her hand. She looked more anxious as she continued, “So we need you. He said no one’s reactions are as natural as yours.”

“Oh okay,” Jinyoung tried to sound more enthusiastic about it, but her smile felt heavy. So she turned her back on Jiyeon as she addressed the art club: “Everyone, just paint, okay? No touching the tools while I’m gone. Got it?”

“Yes, saem!” they all chirped back, dropping their tools and picking up paintbrushes instead. Well, some of them. Jaeseok and Jaehyun just continued chatting and doing no work. But at least talking was safe, so Jinyoung didn’t care.

However, she did care about what she was about to do. She cared a lot. She didn’t want to go.

“Oh, you came,” and it didn’t sound like Sunggyu wanted her to be there either. Or at least he was genuinely surprised by her arrival into the practice room. Surprised and stressed, Sunggyu looked like he didn’t want to be there either.

But here they both were, and Jinyoung was now at his side. “Of course, I did,” she said, not even glancing over at him but her eyes were on Jiyeon, who took a seat in at a chair by the door, sitting far apart from everyone else. The rest of the students were with Chilgoo and Dongwoo at the other end of the practice room, going over the dances and what facial expressions that they should have. With Jiyeon apart, sitting patiently in the chair, it was obvious that she’d been singled out. And the poor girl looked just as stressed as her two teachers. Jinyoung sighed. “It’s my job to help out with the kids.”

“It is, but…” Sunggyu’s voice drifted off. Jinyoung hazarded a glance at him, wondering if he was ever going to finish his sentence. He didn’t. He just stared at the script in his hand.

“So what did you need my help with?” she prompted him. “What kind of reactions?”

“Reactions?” Sunggyu snapped his head up, screwing his face in confusion. He faced the other. “Jiyeon didn’t tell you?” Jinyoung shook her head. The student had only said ‘reactions,’ nothing more. But before he’d said it, Jinyoung knew that she had gotten in over her head.

“Stage-kissing,” Sunggyu revealed in a low voice, as if the word were taboo.

“What?!” and it didn’t help that Jinyoung reacted as if he sworn in front of everyone. She didn’t realize that her hands had flown up to her face to cover her gaping mouth, until Sunggyu pulled them down.

He then returned both of his hands to the crumpled script and shook it at her. “In this scene, Elvis teaches Boy-Natalie how to pick up girls, and, well, it works. Boy-Natalie is moved and she kisses Elvis,” he laid out the scene. “Don’t you remember? It’s in the script. Here!” he finally raised his voice above a whisper and pointed to the page.

“Oh...right…” feel from Jinyoung’s lips as she read the scene for what felt like the first time now. “I remember that scene.”

Sunggyu suddenly leaned in, causing her to flinch. He recoiled a bit too, but he still remained close so that he could whisper, “They’re reallynervous about it, so I thought if I could act out the scene first, if I could show that it isn’t a big deal, that it’s just acting, maybe they’ll feel less subconscious. As it is now…Joochan won’t even look at Jiyeon.” Joochan?Jinyoung looked over at the group of kids with Chilgoo and Dongwoo (who were now going over lines), but he wasn’t there. Where is he?Her eyes then flickered over to Jiyeon, who was still sitting in the chair. But out of the corner of her vision, Jinyoung finally caught sight of a tuft of hair. Sitting on the ground, with his back turned to Jiyeon, was Joochan, who was watching his friends practice their dances, probably wishing to join them. “I didn’t know who else to ask, and Bong seonsaeng-nim told me to handle it. He always makes me do the awkward things,” Sunggyu grumbled under his breath.

“Oh...okay,” Jinyoung muttered. Now her eyes returned to him “I guess I can he-help..” After stammering through that, she tried to clear her tight throat.

“Great,” he spoke normally again. He handed the crumpled script over to her. “Here. You’ll be Natalie, of course,” he announced. Jinyoung looked down at the script and then back up at him, still not accepting it from him. This was starting to feel too real to her. While she was thinking of a way to escape, Sunggyu took one of her hands and placed the script in it, making her hold it, and then he turned to the leads. “Let’s all go somewhere a bit more private.” With that, he went out of the room, gesturing for the rest to follow.

“Thank god!” Joochan muttered below his breath as he scrambled off of the floor and scurried off to follow his teacher. Jiyeon, on the other hand, lingered in her seat until Jinyoung moved towards the door.

“How are you feeling?” Jinyoung asked while the student got up.

“Okay,” Jiyeon answered, and the worry on her face began to give way to a smile. “Thank you for helping, Hong-saem. This is…” Jiyeon’s voice dropped off as they walked out of the door and caught sight of the backs of their ‘costars.’

“Awkward?” Jinyoung continued for her in a low voice.

“So awkward!” Jiyeon repeated, more loudly. But it didn’t matter. The boys were talking to each other too, paying them no heed. And Jiyeon was smiling more broadly now. “I’ve never kissed before…on stage! I never stage-kissed before,” and then the smile faltered as she stumbled through that, correcting herself halfway through.

No wonder why she’s so nervous, Jinyoung thought. Well, this situation would only get worse if we’re both nervous. She then sighed and pulled a smile across her face. She leaned in and whispered to her, “I haven’t either. But…it’s nothing to worry about.” She pulled away once they entered the room, where the two boys were waiting for them. Her eyes met with the older one, and she sighed again. “It’s all just an act.” She then looked over at Jiyeon with a small, hopefully encouraging smile. “We’re all professionals here.”

“Are you ready?” Sunggyu asked.

Jinyoung shrugged. “Sure, why not?” which made Sunggyu frown for some reason, but Jinyoung couldn’t dwell on it for that long because he turned around to turn on the stereo and play the song from the scene: “A Little Less Conversation.”

While Sunggyu was guiding Joochan and Jiyeon through the scenario and the choreography, Jinyoung wasn’t paying attention. No, she was focused on the lyrics of the song:

A little less conversation, a little more action please

All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me

A little more bite and a little less bark

A little less fight and a little more spark

Close your mouth and open up your heart and baby satisfy me

Satisfy me baby…

“Hong seonsaeng-nim.”

“Eh?” Jinyoung grunted. felt dry as she blinked her eyes a few times and then focused on the trio in front of her.

Sunggyu spoke to Joochan, “This is when you walk up to her, while she’s singing her part.” And he began walking towards Jinyoung, with that coy smile like he knew what he was doing (and he probably did).

“I’m not singing.”

That small outburst from Jinyoung made him stop and laugh. “Of course, you aren’t. Jiyeon is.” And he continued walking, even though there wasn’t much to go. There wasn’t much space between them, but he kept coming closer.

The line “Satisfy me” kept blaring in the speakers, and Jinyoung tried her best to block it out. But she couldn’t do it.

He likes flirting. He likes women. I’m just…

Then the singing stopped. “And now when she’s done singing, this would be the moment when Natalie kisses Elvis,” Sunggyu announced to the students but his eyes were on his Natalie, who promptly shook her head. Jinyoung didn’t want to do this anymore. Screw being ‘brave’ for Jiyeon! This was awkward as hell! And she wasn’t a professional! She was worse than an amateur. She was a History teacher, and she had no place trying to teach people how to act, when she was struggling to hide her own feelings.

But Sunggyu must’ve thought she was teasing him because he chuckled and goaded her: “Come on. Just use your hand.” Jinyoung shook her head again, slightly so this time. Sadly, Sunggyu took that as a sign to mean ‘I don’t know how’ rather than ‘I don’t want to,” and he changed gears. “I’ll be Natalie now. You,” he pointed at her, while stepping back a few steps. “You, Elvis, come up to me and…” And for some reason, Jinyoung did step closer (probably because walking was the only thing she felt confident in at this moment). “Once Elvis is this close, you’ll want to do this. Watch.”

And that’s when he did it. That’s when Sunggyu took Jinyoung’s face into his hands, quickly and roughly dragging his one hand to cover fully, and pecked the back of his hand. It ended almost as soon as it happened. Sunggyu already was a few steps away from her. Also it wasn’t what Jinyoung expected it to be like. No, instead, it was a bit painful. Jinyoung’s eyes were on the floor while she was stretching out , which was swore after being smooshed into her face.

“See, you’re just kissing your hand. It’s no big deal,” Sunggyu announced to the students, who still looked incredibly anxious. So he thought it was a good idea to demonstrate it again, but more slowly. “Like this.” He pulled away again, but his hand was still pressed hard against Jinyoung’s mouth. “There are other ways that you could position your hands. Like this or like this.” He demonstrated all of the options, moving his hands all over Jinyoung’s face. And she could do nothing more but to sigh in defeat. This is my life now, she thought as the other kept bringing his face closer and pulling it away. What did I do to deserve this? It’s because I stole too many lollipops, isn’t it? And now I have to suffer eternally like Tantalus.

“Seems real, doesn’t it? But it’s all fake,” Sunggyu told the students when he finally let go of Jinyoung’s poor face. He glanced over at her, which was when Jinyoung noticed that she had been glaring at him, intensely. “It’ll seem more real if your partner doesn’t look so disgusted by it.”

Joochan and Jiyeon laughed at that. It was the first time that either of them had laughed since they entered the room. And it was also the first time that Joochan had looked at Jiyeon when he didn’t have too. The awkward tension between the students was lifting. Jinyoung laughed too, hoping that it’d melt away the tension that she was feeling herself. But it didn’t. Her laughter was stilted, and she awkwardly stepped away from the other teacher.

He continued lecturing them, “There’s a few other ways you can do it too. Choose whatever one that you’re most comfortable with.”

Then the tension returned, and the two students snapped their heads towards Sunggyu again. “What are the other choices?” Joochan asked

“Well…” Sunggyu raised his head higher as he thought. “We could block it somehow, cover both of your faces, so we can see you only lean in for the kiss. That might be best. There’d be less…contact between the both of you,” he tried to word the last part carefully, but it didn’t come out quite to his satisfaction so he chuckled a bit.

Jinyoung, on the other hand, was frowning. “Why didn’t you start with that one?” she grumbled lowly. She would’ve liked very much to not have her face be d like it had been. The feeling of his hands on her face still lingered.

“That was how I always did it!” Sunggyu defended himself, loudly, and his voice only got louder after Jinyoung began retching: “What? What are you doing?”

“My mouth tastes like your hand,” she whined and retched again. It felt good to do that. It felt like she was erasing the feeling of those horrible hands with every contortion of . So she did it again and again. Joochan and Jiyeon were laughing again.

“Yah, Hong Jin—”

“HYONG! HYONG-SAEM!” a shout from the hall cut him off. The room fell silent as Jaesuk skidded into the room, panting. “I’ve…been…looking…everywhere,” he said between wheezes. He bent over, trying to catch his breath. “You weren’t…with the others.” He stood up straight again (which looked like it pained him) and pointed behind him. “I went…and…”

“Jaesuk, what is it?” Jinyoung interrupted him, hoping he’d get to the point more quickly. And he did.

“Daeyeol. He hurt himself. Bad. It’s really bad.”

“We’re almost there.”

“Okay,” Jinyoung responded. She didn’t even spare a glance at the driver because her eyes were on the boy still next to her, who was trying his best to back the tears into his eyes with every sniffle. But who could blame him for crying? He must’ve been in so much pain. Jinyoung looked down at their hands. She’d been applying pressure to his wound, trying to stop it from bleeding, as soon as she managed to wrap a cloth around it. And now that cloth was red and soaked. “Can you hold on a bit more?” she asked, looking back up at him. And Daeyeol nodded in return. She smiled and squeezed his hand. “You’re doing great. Just a little more.”

When Jinyoung had entered the auditorium just 20 minutes ago, she felt as if she stumbled into a crime scene. There were droplets of blood from the bar near the edge of the stage to where Daeyeol now was, coiled up tightly in the middle of the stage, wailing in pain. The rest of the students looked on, pale and helpless, except for Sujeong who had rushed off to find the first aid kit and now was rushing towards the stage. Jinyoung took over from there and asked what happened as she opened up the kit.

Daeyeol had ignored her orders and kept working on the bar. Apparently, Jaehyun had ‘accidentally’ fallen into the backdrop (he was pushed by Jibeom), and everyone was laughing at how he’d been covered in paint. While Daeyeol looked over, he was distracted and hammered a nail through his hand.

After learning all of this, Sunggyu interjected and said that he’d drive them all to the hospital, which he was now doing. And now they finally arrived at the hospital. Sunggyu took it upon himself to admit Daeyeol, but it was only then when he realized that he and Jinyoung had overlooked something: “Daeyeol, I can’t believe we’re only asking this now, but who is your emergency contact.”

“My older brother, Sungyeol,” he muttered.

“Do you mind if we call him?” Jinyoung asked as she was pulling out her own phone. Daeyeol nodded and told her his brother’s phone number. Jinyoung dialed in the phone number and quickly put it to her ear, silently praying that Dayeol’s brother would pick up a call from a stranger. She looked up, searching for Sunggyu, but he was back at the desk, finishing up the paperwork. So it was just her, Daeyeol, and the incessant ringing on the other end. When it seemed like his brother wouldn’t pick up, he did. “Hello, Lee Sungyeol-ssi?” Jinyoung spat out.

“Yes?”

“This is Hong Jinyoung. I’m Daeyeol’s teacher. I’m with your brother, right now, at the hospital,” she stammered over the last bit and winced while she was waiting for…

“What?!” that shout that came from the other end of the line.
“He’s fine, mostly.” Jinyoung replied. She didn’t want to diminish the situation, but she knew Daeyeol would get through this alive, most likely. In spite of her doubts, she tried to keep calm as she told his brother: “He’s been admitted for driving a nail through his hand.”

“Why would he do that?” the brother (Jinyoung had forgotten his name already) sounded more confused now than anything.

“He’s a part of the art club. He’s helping to make the sets for the school musical, and I was supposed to be…” Jinyoung tried to explain, but she got interrupted.

“He’s not in the art club. He’s not in anyclub,” the brother interjected. “Aish. Daeyeol…This makes no sense. I’m on my way.” With that, he hung up the phone and Jinyoung wasn’t really ready for it. She jumped when she heard the dial tone. How much trouble am I in?she asked herself.

“Saem,” Daeyeol called to her, and when she turned to face him, he looked worried.

Jinyoung smiled and continued to put pressure on his hand. “Your brother is on his way.”

“Okay,” he mumbled under his breath, with his eyes downcast on his injured hand.

Jinyoung looked down too. The bandage was getting more soaked. She could feel the wetness on her fingertips. “How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Okay,” he murmured, followed by a sniffle. Jinyoung kept her eyes on his hand. He didn’t need her to see him cry.

“When did King Sejong reign?”

“What?” she felt Daeyeol jolt as he asked.
Jinyoung looked up and smiled at him. “I’m quizzing you to distract you from the pain. So when did he?” she asked again.

Daeyeol responded with a nervous smile, “I don’t know.”

“You need to study more!” Jinyoung . “What do you do after school?” she tried to sneakily approach the subject. If he wasn’t supposed to be a part of art club, then what was he supposed to be doing. She didn’t expect the answer that she got”

“Other than art club? I train.”

“Train? For what?” she pressed.

“To be an idol. What else?” Daeyeol brushed it off as if it were something ordinary, and for their school, Jinyoung guessed that it was. There were a handful of trainees or trainee-hopefuls in every class, but…

“Huh? You’re an idol trainee?” she never expected Daeyeol to be one. He was so quiet and distant (of course she only taught him history, so she couldn’t say much about his talent).

“Yes,” Daeyeol mumbled, and he had apparently noticed the surprise in her voice. “Is it really that unbelievable? Do I not seem like idol material?”

“No, it’s just that…” Jinyoung paused so that she could phrase this correctly. “I can’t understand how you’ve been helping us with the sets. Shouldn’t you be, I don’t know, at your company?”

“I…I want to make memories,” Daeyeol stammered through that admission, and Jinyoung couldn’t help but to let out a sad sigh in response. She could understand. Daeyeol was exchanging his youth, his high school experience, for his dream. But mostly, the kids would think it was well worth it at the time. Daeyeol on the other hand…what’s going on in his mind?

Jinyoung was about to pry more, but she was interrupted by the hospital staff, who was ready to take care of the boy, “Lee Daeyeol-ssi?”

“Yes!”
Daeyeol was taken out of the lobby. Jinyoung followed him as his temporary guardian until his brother arrived. Who came much sooner than she expected, nearly as soon as they were about to be seen by the doctor.

“Daeyeol? Daeyeol!” A voice echoed throughout the hallway before a man came stumbling into the room. His eyes immediately fell on his little brother. “Are you okay?”

But Jinyoung couldn’t take her eyes off of the newcomer. The Man Upstairs? What is he doing here?“Oh? Oh! Of course, you’re his brother! I see it now!” she exclaimed as soon as the realization hit her. How did she not see this before? They looked so similarly, not to mention they had almost the same name. But they had occupied two different parts of her life, so she had never suspected it.

“Huh? Who? What are you doing here?” Sungyeol stuttered as soon as he realized that Jinyoung was in the room and who she was. “Ah! When you told me that you taught at an arts school, I didn’t think it’d be his school!” he shouted right back at her, pointing to his brother. The hospital attendants all around them shushed him. Sungyeol winced and lowered his voice as he approached the two, “Thank you for taking care of my brother.”

“Hyung, you know Hong seonsaeng-nim?” Daeyeol spoke up.
Sungyeol nodded and answered, “She’s my neighbor. She’s watched Aga before.”

“Really?”

“Yes,” Jinyoung replied. She got up from her seat by the student. It was Sungyeol’s now. “Well, since you’re here and appear to have this handled, I’m going to go,” she tried to excuse herself.

“Hold on,” but Sungyeol wouldn’t let her go just yet. Jinyoung stopped in her tracks and turned towards him. Her heart stopped and she felt her face growing hot. “I want to talk to you. Wait for me outside in the lobby.” And it only got worse after he said that.

“Okay, Sungyeol-ssi,” she responded with a forced smile, but her shaky voice might’ve given herself away, given her nerves away. I’m in trouble. I’m in so much trouble. Those thoughts kept running through her head.

While she was preoccupied with those thoughts, she nearly walked past Sunggyu in the hallway, whom she had forgotten about. “Hm? Where you going?” he got her attention with that. Jinyoung jolted, physically, out of her thoughts and put her hand over her heart. She stopped to lean against the wall, while she stared at him. Sure her reaction was exaggerated, but it probably didn’t warrant that snicker coming from him. He had something else other than a smile with him: three drinks in his hand. Are those for us?Jinyoung peeled herself away from the wall.

“The lobby,” she answered as she began walking in that direction. Sunggyu followed her. “Daeyeol’s brother is here. And he wants to talk with me. In the lobby,” she explained further and those thoughts began flooding back into her mind. “So I’m going there.”

“Why?” he asked. The laughter had left his voice.

“Because his little brother lost his hand under my watch, or something like that,” Jinyoung guessed. She made her way to a chair and sat down with a loud groan. “Ireallymessed up. So badly.” She put her head in her hands. I’m in so much trouble.

She then felt something cool against her skin, which caused her to raise her head. Sunggyu had sat down next to and pressed one of the drinks to her skin. “Here,” he offered it to her. Jinyoung took it and just held onto it. “Daeyeol isn’t going to lose his hand,” he tried to alleviate her worries.

“Maybe not but…” Jinyoung was still anxious about more than just Sungyeol reprimanding her. “He’s an idol trainee, did you know that?”

“Actually, no, I did not,” Sunggyu responded as he shifted in his seat, crossing one leg over the other. “Really?”

Jinyoung nodded. “How can he be an idol without a hand?”

“Jinyoung,” Sunggyu said her name as if he was calling out one of his students. She turned to face him. “He’s not going to lose his hand.”

“He still got hurt when I was supposed to watch him,” she argued back. “I could’ve…”

“What? Stopped him?” Sunggyu interrupted her with that point. Jinyoung snapped shut. That was true. Even if she was there, would Daeyeol still have gotten injured? Most likely, yes. There are some things that you just can’t stop. Mistakes will happen whether you’re cognizant of them or not.

Sunggyu then took the drink from her hand, opened it for her, handed it back, and gestured at her to drink, which she did. And Sunggyu opened up a drink of his own. They silently sat like that for a few seconds. However, not even the cider could wash away the nerves still gnawing at her.

“It’s what his family is going to think. The family is going to think that it wouldn’t have happened if I was there,” Jinyoung spilled out her thoughts to him. She looked over at him. “Why else would Sungyeol-ssi ask to talk to me?” Sunggyu shrugged and just drank. “He looked mad, and he’s definitely never going to let me look after Aga again!”

“Aga?” Sunggyu repeated and nearly choked on his drink. “I thought you said that they were brothers.”

“Aga is his dog,” Jinyoung explained.
“I’m so confused,” the other responded with a slight whine and shook his head, trying to settle things and rid himself of tiredness. “Have you met Daeyeol’s brother before?”

“We’re neighbors,” she answered and took another sip.

“And you’ve watched his dog,” Sunggyu reiterated what she just said and leaned back in his chair. “Are you two, I don’t know, close? You sound close to me.”

“Hm,” Jinyoung hummed as she studied him. Why does he care? He sounds like he cares. Or is he just being nosy?

“Jinyoung-ssi?”

That was Sungyeol, who finally came out into the lobby, and from the moment she heard his voice, she sprung from her seat. “I’m coming!” she called out to him. She turned towards her friend.

“Is that Daeyeol’s brother? He’s tall. Why is he so tall?” Sunggyu asked as he looked back and forth between the both of them.

“Can you hold this for me? Thanks,” she didn’t really ‘ask’ him but shoved the drink into his hand, but he still took it and looked at her for an answer to his questions. But she didn’t give any. That wasn’t what was important now. She spun around and scurried off towards Sungyeol. “Sungyeol-ssi, I’m so sorry,” she blurted out the apology as soon as she was close enough.

Sungyeol waved his hand, batting away her worries. “It’s Daeyeol’s own fault. He told me everything. You told him to stop, but he continued working so that you’d praise him when you came back,” he revealed.

“Huh?”

“My little brother likes you,” Sungyeol added with a cheeky smile.

“What?!” No, she couldn’t be hearing things correctly.

“He’s told me a teacher he had that was pretty, and it was prettyobvious that he had a bigcrush on her,” he teased his brother in his absence. He then gestured towards his neighbor. “As it would turn out, that person is you.”

Jinyoung pointed at herself too. “It’s me?”

Sungyeol nodded. “And if I know my brother, he stopped going to the company and joined the art club once he knew his favoriteteacher was in charge,” he guessed as he moved back and forth on his heels.

Jinyoung, on the other hand, shook her head furiously. “No, I’m sure he didn’t,” she argued. She wasn’t worth it. She wasn’t thatpretty.

“Well, not entirely,” Sungyeol acknowledged that. “He confessed to me recently that he’s thinking of quitting the trainee life.”

“What?!” Jinyoung didn’t like that excuse even more.
“He’s spent two years at the company already, and it doesn’t seem like they’re going to debut a group any time soon,” Sungyeol explained, while he rocked back and forth more quickly now. He was getting more and more agitated. “Trainees older than him are leaving because they don’t think they stand a chance because they keep recruiting younger and younger trainees. And, I get it, I honestly do, but…” He stopped both his words and his rocking. He studied Jinyoung for a second. “I don’t think he should give up just yet. He needs to suffer a bit more, but I’m sure things would work out.” He leaned in more closely. “Do you think you could help with that?”

“Me?”

Sungyeol nodded. “Maybe he had a few words of encouragement from his favorite teacher, he’d go back,” he reasoned.

Jinyoung averted her gaze. “Well, I don’t know how useful he’d be to the art club with that hand,” she remarked.

“Exactly!” Sungyeol exclaimed with a snap of his fingers. “Just tell him that and maybe, I don’t know, that you’re crazy about idols or some lie like that. And he’d go back for sure.”

Jinyoung began growing hot and let out a nervous giggle. “Yeah, a lie,” she muttered under her breath. Teachers aren’t supposed to be idol fans, she reminded herself. Teachers of idols definitely shouldn’t be. She cleared and promised, “I’ll do my best.” That she could at least say with a steady voice because it was true.

“Thank you,” Sungyeol replied. He then gestured down the hallway. “Once the doctor is done, I’ll take Daeyeol home, so you can leave now. Thank you for bringing him in and holding his hand.”

Jinyoung gasped and covered in shock. “He told you that?” she muttered through her hands.

“He braggedabout it, that kid,” Sungyeol revealed with a snigger. “I should go back to him, but I’ll see you around the apartment. Thanks again!” he bid her farewell as he began walking down the hallway.

“Yes, I’m sure I’ll see you later,” Jinyoung said as she waved back at him. She then spun around to begin walking back to her seat. When she did, he noticed that a certain man turned his head, as if to pretend that he hadn’t been watching her talk with Daeyeol’s brother (probably eavesdrop too). Being as nosy as she was, Jinyoung didn’t mind. There wasn’t anything much to that conversation, other than finding out that a student had a crush on her and lying about her fangirl-self. The worse Sunggyu could do was , and she already was all too used to that.

She sighed and began making her way back to her seat. As she walked, Sunggyu’s head turned back towards her, watching her. Before she sat back down, he offered her back her drink and she took it. And now, she was watching him as she sat down. It was something about the look in his eyes right now (or all over her face). There was something familiar about it.

All of the sudden, Jinyoung was reminded of what had happened earlier that day, in the practice room. And she snapped forward, with the drink to her lips, trying to erase that feeling again.

“You’re going to see him later?”

“Hm?” Jinyoung hummed, shooting a short glance over at him. She then nodded slowly. “We live in the same building, so it’s likely,” she answered with the drink still to her lips.

“That’s right,” he murmured under his breath. “But…why were you guys laughing?”

“I was laughing?” Jinyoung hadn’t even noticed that she did. Sunggyu nodded, to which she shrugged. “I don’t know. Nothing was funny.”

“Really?” he challenged, looking at her out of the corner of his eye.

“Eung.” And she stared at him just the same. Why doesn’t he believe me?

Sunggyu laughed and released his glare. “Does Daeyeol still have a hand?” he asked. Jinyoung groaned and finally let the drink down from her lips as she folded over. He laughed even more. “I’m sure he does! Don’t worry about it,” he said and gave her a few hearty pats on the back, which only made her double over more, so he eventually stopped and pulled his hand back. “So can we leave now?”

“Yes,” Jinyoung replied as she snapped back up. “Sungyeol-ssi has it taken care of.”

“Okay,” Sunggyu spoke with a groan as he stood back up. He then gazed down at her.  “Do you want a ride home?”

“You don’t have to. I’m sure that there’s a bus that I can catch around here,” Jinyoung responded as she looked around, like the bus stop was inside of the lobby with them.

“I’m sure too but…” Sunggyu paused until Jinyoung’s eyes were back on him. “Can I take you home? It’s not out of my way.”

“I guess, you could,” Jinyoung retorted with a cheeky smile. And Sunggyu was not amused, not at all. Jinyoung dropped her smile. “Please take me home. That would be really nice.”

“Okay.”

“You’re awfully quiet. I don’t like it.”

Jinyoung looked over at the man next to her. He wasn’t lying or exaggerating. Jinyoung’s lips were pursed shut ever since they got into the car. Her hands were in her lap, and her eyes had been gazing out of the window. But now she was silently watching the other drive. “What are you thinking about? Daeyeol?” he asked with a quick glance over at her.

Jinyoung nodded, even though she knew his eyes were on the road. “I shouldn’t have left them alone,” she muttered. Although she was well aware that things might’ve ended up the same way that they did, she was racked with guilt. While Daeyeol was rolling around in pain, Jinyoung was fooling around. With you.Her eyes remained on him. I shouldn’t have done that.

“And I shouldn’t have asked for your help,” at least he took some of the blame too. That made her feel a little bit better, also because he didn’t make her feel silly for feeling guilty. But he still wanted to try to alleviate it, “I don’t think you’ll get in trouble for this. It was a freak accident, and Daeyeol still has his thumb.” Jinyoung nodded along to every word he was saying, as she did her head felt heavier and heavier and heavier. Now it was hanging, and she let out a loud sigh. “Jinyoung, everything will be fine. Besides, Daeyeol likes you.”

She whined as she threw her head back onto the headrest. “Does everyone know that except me?” she asked, rolling her head over to look at him.

“Yes,” Sunggyu chirped. He then chuckled at her reaction, which was whining again and rolling her head the other way. “You’re pretty oblivious to people who like you.”

Another heavy sigh slipped through her lips, but this time, she kept her eyes on the window. “Well, I don’t want to assume,” she mumbled quietly. “And I don’t want to get hurt.”

“Why would you get hurt?” he replied with a question. She still was watching things pass them by out the window and answered him with just a shrug. Jinyoung didn’t have time to wonder if he’d seen that because he sighed too.

“I think…” Jinyoung drawled as she slowly turned her head back towards him. And he was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. “I think you should talk to Daeyeol,” she changed the topic.

“Me?” he didn’t expect that quick switch in topic, but he adapted. “Why?”

“Sungyeol told me that Daeyeol’s at a major crossroads in his life now. He doesn’t know if he should continue or just call it quits. He hasn’t gone to practice since he joined art club,” she revealed to him. “He could use your advice.” This was also what she had been thinking about at the beginning of the drive, but she didn’t quite know how to bring it up.

“Because I was an idol?” Because she knew that Sunggyu was uncomfortable about talking about this corner of his past. He sounded really apprehensive about it now.

“And because you’re blunt,” Jinyoung added. Daeyeol could perhaps find a handful of idols to talk to, but there was only one incredibly blunt Sunggyu. He laughed at her reaction, not expecting it. “I know you want to hide that part of your life from the kids, but I don’t think it’s bad if someof them knew.”

“It’s embarrassing,” now he was the one who was whining.

“No, it’s admirable,” Jinyoung shot back with a quick shake of her head. “Sunggyu, you were an idol that they can look up to.”

“Stop bullting,” he grumbled, not even sparing her a glance. “I failed.”

“You didn’t,” she raised her voice, wanting to get through his stubborn head. He didn’t seem to be buying it. He finally did look over at her, but it was for a dim glare. Jinyoung didn’t back down. “I mean, I know what happened, but I still think Heartthrob is something that you should be proud of. You did your best, Sunggyu, in everything.” At that he shifted in his seat. He was softening, and so Jinyoung kept going, “And you’re still getting better. You’ve improved since your idol days. I think that’s something that the kids will respect a lot. You didn’t give up on music.”

“They’ll respect me still? You think so?” he asked. Jinyoung nodded and mumbled a quiet ‘yes’ just in case he couldn’t see her out of the corner of his eye. “You’re...such a fangirl. It’s been so long since I’ve had a fan,” he with a great laugh.

Jinyoung frowned. That wasn’t the reaction she expected or even wanted. It made her uneasy. Did I reveal too much?But…I’m not like that.She glowered at him before softening into a sly smile, when she figured out what to say. “You have many fans, Kim-saem. The school is full of them. I’m just a casual fan.”

“Are you now?” he challenged.

She nodded fervently and replied, “Eung, my bias in Heartthrob is Kim Myungsoo. I’m basically a Myungsoo akgae.”

Sunggyu stopped the car, which took Jinyoung by surprise. “We’re at your place. You can get out of the car now,” he announced.

“Oh,” she muttered as she looked out the window. Sure enough, there was her apartment building. Then at the windows. The Hyuns are home? What time is it?She glanced over at the clock. It was past dinnertime. “I didn’t know it was this late,” she remarked.

“Yea, the day just flew by,” Sunggyu added, but it was muffled because he was rubbing his face. When he lowered his hands again, Jinyoung noticed just how tired he looked. And now he’d have to drive back all by himself. He hasn’t eaten either, Jinyoung thought as she chewed on her lip.

“Sunggyu, do you want to come up for food? I only really have ramyun at home though,” she offered with a shaky smile.

“Are you asking me up for ramyun?” Of course he would twist it that way.

“Well, no not like that. I asked if you wanted food not…” Jinyoung stammered, defending herself. “We could order in too, if you wanted! Like Chinese or chicken. Or you could just…”

“I’d love to,” Sunggyu interrupted her before she dug herself into another hole with her words. And she was happy he did (and that he accepted).

“Okay then. Let’s go,” she replied. And then she opened the door about to get out, but when she tried to get up, she was forced back down onto the seat. Her seatbelt was still on. And Jinyoung just sat there for a moment, defeated. Sunggyu laughed and reached over to unbuckle her belt. “Thanks,” she mumbled under her breath. But she still didn’t get up.

“No problem,” Sunggyu replied as he got out of the car. “Let’s go eat!”

And if Jinyoung thought that was her most embarrassing moment of the evening, she was wrong, completely wrong.