Seungkwan ran downstairs in excitement only to have it got killed because of Sonne, aka Miss Perfect aka Miss Last Year Prettiest Freshman aka his neighbor, is getting into Vernon's shiny car. She even stops halfway when she sees the broken-hearted freshman and waves. "Good morning Seungkwan!"

Before Seungkwan could say anything back, Vernon took the words out of his mouth. "I'm gonna drive Sonne to school."

"Ok," Seungkwan answers, trying to hide the disappointment and the sadness that he felt inside. The freshman even tries to smile at the two of them as Vernon closed the door to the passenger seat and walk over to the driver side. He paused for a moment to look at Seungkwan as if he was trying to apologize. All that the short freshman could think of is whatever, even though it really hurt his feeling. It not like my feeling should have any effect on him or anything. I'm sure I'm just another freshman he has to take care of because of the competition. 

As the car's wheels start to roll away, Seungkwan glares at the back of the car as if it's the one that promises to take him to school but instead drove the prettiest girl on campus instead. In the end, he decided to call up Mingyu to pick him up. Mingyu, being the best friend that he is, arrived in a timely manner and greeted me with a happy face but his smile disappears when Seungkwan gave him the fake smile the short male wore when the shorter male is sad. He's been Seungkwan's friend for almost their entire life so he would know what it means. The guy could read Seungkwan like an open book. 

To avoid the unavoidable conversation, Seungkwan put on his earphones but he didn't turn on any music. It's just a facade so Mingyu won't say anything. When they got to Seungkwan's class building, the shorter freshman immediately jumps out of the car, says thanks to his best friend, and sprints away. However, the conversation was unavoidable so Seungkwan wasn't surprised when Mingyu appeared outside his class around lunch time. Mingyu dragged the shorter male to one of the benches outside of the cafeteria and the two of them sat there in silence. 

"What's wrong?" Mingyu broke the loud silence. 

"Nothing..."

"I know it's something with that face. Tell me now!"

Honestly, Seungkwan doesn't know why he's not dating Mingyu instead. He has been knowing the guy for a while. Even though he's a huge player, Mingyu is pretty faithful and only mess around with one person at a time. It's because of the fact that they have known each other for so long. The two of them skipped the possibility of dating and went straight to being brothers. As the little brother, Seungkwan doesn't want to burden his big brother with his problem so he does the next best thing. "What are you doing for the talent show?"

"It's nothing..." Mingyu shrugged as he put up his fist. "...Just some martial art. Girls love a macho manly man. I don't ask for much, just being popular with the girls is enough. As for you, get popular with the boys. We'll rule this school."

Mingyu knows it's something serious if Seungkwan doesn't laugh at his joke or don't reply with some sarcastic comments. "Seriously, you're not nervous about the talent show, right? It's something else, isn't it?"

"I went home with Vernon yesterday night," Seungkwan told him but he should already know that since Mingyu was the one pushing him to do it. After a slight pause, Seungkwan continues talking. "He didn't send me to my room."

"You guys did the naughty in his car?" Mingyu jumps to conclusion. "You're not limping though. Is he that small?"

"We went to have dinner," Seungkwan deadpanned.

"Ohhh..." The taller freshman smiles to himself. "...Wait, you guys did it afterward!"

"Do you want to hear the real story or not?"

"Damn exciting! You made some progress. At least, you have dinner with him. Spill every single detail now."

"He wanted to know what I'm doing for the talent show. I choose to play the piano and he said he would help me find a place to practice. The kicker is that I have to be his servant. He asked me to clean his room in the morning and I did. I even woke up early. Afterward, he said he'll give me a ride but he told me he will not wait for long. I rush to my dorm on the fifth floor to change. His dorm is on the third so he got downstairs quicker than me. I managed to only take a couple minutes but by the time I got to the lobby, I saw Miss Sonne getting into Vernon's car. The jerk changed his mind and gave Sonne a ride to the campus instead. He just left me there..."

"I see... What a long story," Mingyu's tone turned serious. "I get it. Of course, you don't get the right to ask anything of him but you have the right to be mad."

"You know, he gave me hope," Seungkwan's eyes got a bit watery. "But he's also the one that crushes it. How cruel is that?"

"Seungkwan, you have to differentiate between hope and disappointment," The taller freshman wraps his arm around his shorter best friend. "Look on the bright side, you got to spend some time with him."

"I'm just a servant but Sonne..."

"She's one the same playing field as you since she also likes Vernon."

"But I'll lose."

"Buddy, this will not be the hardest thing in your life. No matter how it ends, you'll survive and come out stronger than before. Whatever that comes your way, just know you'll get through it and you'll have me. Come on, let's go practice for this damn competition and I'll buy you ice cream afterward."

Seungkwan got up from the benches but he was too slow so Mingyu pulled him up forcefully. A little bit of Mingyu's energy got into Seungkwan as the shorter male smiles a bit and follow his best friend to the training area. The training today is just walking a runaway. Apparently, the representatives of each department will walk like a model down a runaway to present themselves to the student public. Mingyu has no problem with the walk, the pose, and the walk back. On the other hand, Seungkwan couldn't smile one bit and keep on making mistake, like bumping into people, even his partner, Jennie, noticed it. She exchanged a questioning look to Mingyu but the guy only shook his head no to tell her not to say anything to Seungkwan. It's best for the shorter male to go through this sad phase so he could get better. The best Jennie can do is offer him a comforting smile and the best Mingyu can offer him is a comforting hug. 

On the other side of the school, Hoshi, one of the three top medicine students, was eating by himself until his friend, Wonwoo, another top student of the medicine department, sat down across from him. Wonwoo was the first to speak to the sophomore with food stuffed in his mouth. "Where is Vernon?"

Hoshi swallowed the sushi he bought made before answering. "Vernon? He probably goes to the practice area."

"Why? It's far away and isn't he hungry?" Wonwoo starts digging into his soba noodle.

"If you don't know, I don't know."

"My mistake. Let me have some of that!"

Their "peaceful" lunchtime was interrupted when a pretty girl walked up to them. The pretty girl is none other than the infamous Sonne. She smiled politely at them. "Wonwoo, Hoshi, can I ask you guys something? It's ok if you're busy."

"Go ahead, Sonne," Wonwoo swiped a sushi off of Hoshi's plate and scooped over to make room for Sonne to sit down. "What's wrong?"

Sonne sat down and put her small silver bag on her lap. "Is Vernon familiar with the freshman rep of the Science department? His name is Seungkwan."

The two males look at each other knowingly before Hoshi answer Sonne's question. "I think so because... we went to the same high school. He's just looking out for his junior."

"I see," Sonne replied. "I asked Vernon to give me ride this morning because my car's wheels were flat. He did but he said nothing the whole ride. Vernon kept on looking out the rear-view mirror when we were about to leave the dorm. I didn't know if he's mad or anything since the freshman showed up right before we leave. Seungkwan also looks kinda sad as well. Vernon seems to really care about that freshman."

Wonwoo and Hoshi communicate with each other through their eyes again. Their silent conversation lasted for a few seconds before Wonwoo speaks up. "I think it's not like that. We just know Seungkwan from high school."

"Just like that?"

"Yeah," Hoshi jumps in. "The kid got lost a lot and he had this unlucky cloud following him everywhere so we're just looking out for him."

"Actually, you should talk to Vernon about it," Wonwoo awkwardly told Sonne. "He took care of the kid a lot more than us during high school years. It's probably embedded into his instinct."

That was a lie and both Hoshi and Wonwoo knew it. The trio barely interacts with Seungkwan during high school, except a couple of time he accidentally bumps into Vernon in the hallway. They just need to buy time for Vernon and stop Sonne from asking any more awkward questions. Both of them know Vernon is going through some personal thing so the last thing their friend need is Sonne's questions. 

Back at the training area, the freshmen are being released back to their personal schedule. A couple of the male reps invited Seungkwan and Mingyu out to eat at a restaurant behind the school but Mingyu declined for the both of them. He told a little lie that the two of them already got plans for the evening. The other male reps left but not after giving knowing a knowing look and some hidden chuckles. Just as the two friends about to leave, Mingyu spotted Seokmin, the sophomore of the engineering department, aka Mingyu's senior aka second most popular male at the school aka Seungkwan's admirer, walking toward them.

Mingyu elbows Seungkwan a bit to get his attention. "We're gonna have to take a rain check for that snack I promised. Last night, I was having a drink with Seokmin and his friends and he asked me to help him get together with you. I know it's the last thing you need to worry about but I just want to give you a heads up. HI SEOKMIN HYUNG!"

Seungkwan didn't have time to process everything before Seokmin appears in from of him, smiling like he's just seen an angel. "Hey guys, going out for lunch?"

"A little late for lunch, don't you think?" Mingyu joked. "We were just getting some snacks."

"Y-Yes..." Seungkwan agrees awkwardly.

"Oh cool, mind if I tag along?" Seokmin basically invited himself. 

"Oh wait, I can't hyung. Some of the guys asked me to hang out the restaurant behind the school earlier," Mingyu suddenly said. Seungkwan snapped his head toward his friend but Mingyu only communicates something back using his eyebrows. "I got to go now. Bye!"

"Ok," Seokmin watched Mingyu ran away before turning back to his target of affection. "Let's go, I'll pay."

Seungkwan grabbed his bag and followed the engineer sophomore out of the training area. They were about to turn a corner before Vernon walks out from the corner, one of his hand is behind his back and a smile on his face. Both Seokmin and Seungkwan were surprised to see Vernon here because both knew that Vernon is very academically involved. This means Vernon takes a lot of classes so it's surprising to see him walking around like he's free. 

"What's up, Vernon?" Seokmin said casually. "The kids got released from the practice already so you didn't have to come."

"It's nothing," Vernon answered. "Just passing by."

"Pretty far for a random walk," Seokmin's words have a hidden meaning to them as if he's challenging Vernon. "Your department is like 30 minutes away, isn't it?"

 Vernon only smiles in response.

"Anyway, I'm gonna take Seungkwan out to eat, see ya," Seokmin wraps his hand around Seungkwan's shoulder before walking the younger male away. 

Vernon watched them walk away with disappointment and now, he's late for his next class. His friends, Wonwoo and Hoshi, also worry about him as well. The two of them are already in their seat and save him a seat. The question is whether or not Vernon will make it before the devil teacher arrive. 

"Where the hell is Vernon?" Wonwoo asked worriedly. "This is the devil teacher class."

"If you don't know, I don't know," Hoshi replied. "Hopefully he'll teleport himself here soon."

From far away, all the students hear the footsteps of the infamous devil teacher and immediately scramble to their seats. The door opens and the lady walks in, carrying a stern face and a red purse with some folders in them. "Good evening everyone, please take out your note as we will continue where we left off the other day with the respiratory system."

Before the devil teacher could say anything else, Vernon ran in. He looks like he just ran a marathon but somehow his hair is fine. He saw the teacher and immediate bow apologetically. Everyone in the room, except the teacher, prepare themselves for the worse. Although almost all of them envy Vernon, they do not want to be in his spot right now.

"Running out of oxygen in your respiratory system can cause sudden death,"  The devil teacher commented casually. "For instance, the infamous top medicine student arriving late to class. Any excuses?"

"I'm really sorry, Miss," Vernon bowed again. "No excuses, ma'am."

"Let hope you won't be this late when a patient is waiting on a surgery table," She sighed and turned back to the class. "Let this be a lesson for all of you. You may sit down now. Please turn to the page with the diagram of the lungs, please."

Vernon walks to his seat with his head down. Wonwoo pointed at the empty seat next to him and Vernon quickly sat down. "Gonna tell us where you were?"

"No..."

"What's so important that makes you willing to be the devil teacher target?" Hoshi asked even though Wonwoo and he already know the answer. 

"He having lunch with Seokmin," Vernon answered shortly and stay quiet the whole class. Wonwoo and Hoshi look at each other and talk through their mind power again. Halfway through the class, Vernon pulls out his phone to text his brother, asking him to find a good place to practice piano.

It wasn't until later that day that Vernon will have to face his problem again. He sat on the bench with Wonwoo, Hoshi, and a bunch of last year reps. After hearing the rowdy greeting of the other guys, he turned around to see Seokmin, who look brighter and happier than yesterday. 

"Hey man," Seokmin sat down next to Vernon. "I heard from Seungkwan that the freshman reps are gonna take a trip to the beach to shoot some promotion for their Facebook voters campaign. Are you going?"

"Don't they need to practice for the talent show?" Vernon asked.

"They do but it's only gonna take a day or two," The engineer sophomore explained. "The promotion will be the beginning of this week and the competition is at the end of next week, which give the kids approximately two weeks of practice."

"Where are they shooting the promotion again?"

"The beach nearby."

"Staying overnight?"

"Probably. One night max. Don't worry, your studying will not be interrupted."

"I'm going then."

"Hey, don't make a rash decision," Hoshi intervened. "Don't forget about the of your midterm at the end of this week. Think about your grade, not your ."

"I don't think you can have with the freshman girls," Seokmin commented, oblivious of who Hoshi actually preferred to.

"It's fine," Vernon ignored Hoshi's sly statement. "We don't have class tomorrow and we can always bring our books along. Besides, your would get more excited than mine, watching the freshman girls in bikinis."

Hoshi stuck out his tongue in retaliation.

"The three of us will take Hoshi's car," The top medicine student also adds in, much to the car owner's actual disbelief. "We don't want to bother the freshmen."

Some of the guys can go while other decided to stay back. Seokmin got the mental list of people going and decided to report back to the competition staffs. The trio went back to watching the freshmen practice. 

"What a beauty!" Hoshi commented.

"Who?" Wonwoo asked. "Seokmin?"

"No, you idiot," Hoshi pointed at the direction of Seungkwan. Vernon glares at his friend for a moment before seeing the person Hoshi actually pointed to, Seungkwan's partner, Jennie. However, seeing the initial reaction of Vernon, Hoshi decided to even more. "If Seungkwan was a girl, I would definitely chase after him."

Wonwoo smacks him on the head but the two friends were already being ignored by Vernon, who's gazing at Seungkwan dreamingly. The training today is dancing so it was extremely tiring to the freshmen. The choreographer gave them a couple of minutes to rest so Seungkwan immediately went to get a refill of water at the water cooler near where the sophomores are sitting. Most of the sophomores left already so the only one left is the trio of medical students. 

"Hey Seungkwan, how are you?" Wonwoo gained the freshman's attention first. 

"I'm good, hyung," Seungkwan answered with a smile, completely ignoring the fact that Vernon is looking at him. "The dance is good exercise."

"You going to the beach promotion shooting?" Hoshi asked.

"I kinda have to," The freshman answers shyly. "Are you two going?"

"We may or may not tag along, depending on our boss," Wonwoo nodded toward Vernon. 

"Stop teasing the freshman," Hoshi smacks his friend. "We're going. We're all going since our boss forced us."

"Hope to see you two there-"

"When are you finish with practice?" Vernon spoke up for the first time. 

Seungkwan was trying to act tough by ignoring Vernon but when the sophomore speaks up, his anger melts away unwillingly. Vernon just has that effect on him. "I-I don't know."

"I'll wait..."

"Why? Gonna give me another ride like this morning?"

"I only had a cup of that strawberry milk that you like today. I'm hungry and I want you to accompany me."

"Why? Didn't have lunch?" Seungkwan mocked Vernon but when the sophomore didn't answer, Seungkwan got worried. "Why didn't you have lunch? Not eating is unhealthy. Go eat something!"

The freshman jogged back to where his bag laid and searched inside. Luckily, he kept a piece of candy in his bag so he jogged back to the sophomore with it in his hand. The whole entire time, Mingyu had his eyes on Seungkwan. He was very happy when he saw Seungkwan talking to Vernon again.

"Here, eat, now," Seungkwan held out the candy to Vernon. "It's not much but it'll stop the hunger until later."

"Hey hyungs," Mingyu appeared behind Seungkwan but glaring at Vernon. "I need to steal Seungkwan back to practice."

Without waiting for them to answer, Mingyu pulls Seungkwan back to the training area. Vernon followed them with his eyes, feeling jealous of how close Mingyu is to Seungkwan. 

To be completely honest, I really like this chapter because it focuses more on the friendship between characters rather than the romantic relationship. Of course, the story is center around the romance but that's not always enough to keep the viewers/readers interested. In the original story, the friendship between the trio of medical student and between Wayo and Ming (Seungkwan and Mingyu's character) are always enjoyable to watch because we kinda know how all romance story is going to end. It's always the misunderstanding and the journey it takes to get there. Anyway, I just want to y'all to know I like the dynamic between all the characters. 

FIGHTING!!!