important note from the author: hello, dear readers! it’s narcissistic. this author’s note will be a little long today because i have a few things to say so bear with me! if you follow on my social media, you’ll know exactly what i’ve been up to, but for those of you who don’t – here’s a little update. first off, i sincerely apologize for the slow updates recently! i’ll be moving out of state and i was busy preparing to pack and processing my withdrawal / transfer from schools (zzz college and adulting is not fun – enjoy your youth while you can).

i’ll be leaving this saturday, august 5th. so, after this week, expect a quiet period of about a week or two. when i arrive there, i’m not sure how soon i’ll have access to internet, how soon i’ll be able to set my pc up, or how often i’ll have time to write as my family and i get settled, but i will try my very best to get updates out for you! please be patient!

another thing is my usual thank you shoutout for y’all! a2l is just one subscriber away from 90 subscribers! thank you so much for the continued love and support~

anyway, that’s all i have to say really. i hope you enjoy this chapter~

There are no secrets to success. It is the result of persistence, confidence, and learning from failure. No one knows what happens behind the scenes of a shiny award, but it is believed that having one will gain approval from the outside world.

So when Teacher Yoon told her she was awarded recognition, Sooji believed she was finally heading towards the right direction of earning her parents’ approval. Clutching the letter Teacher Yoon handed her announcing the news, she deeply bowed at the hip and earnestly thanked him. Jinyoung could see the small film of tears shimmering on her eyes as she scanned the letter once more, making sure that what just happened was real life. Unlike the first time she had cried in front of him, there was no sign of sadness. Instead, she was crying tears of happiness and relief; tears shed like when a mother finds her child that had wandered away from her side at the mall, or when a student about to graduate receives his report card and sees he passed the class. For the first time, Sooji had won something on her own… one she could rightfully claim her name for. And though the pit in his stomach grew bigger, Jinyoung slipped his hand out of his pocket, laid a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a light squeeze. There was no way she was thinking about the winter formal now… and honestly, he wouldn’t have had it any other way.

By the time they climbed aboard the bus and took their usual seats, Sooji had regained her composure and was no longer wallowed up in her own thoughts. She settles into her seat and folds her hands atop the pile of books on her lap. A satisfied sigh escapes her lips when she dismisses her final thought with a smile before she turns to face Jinyoung. Jinyoung was resting his chin against his hand, staring out the window at the passing trees. Though she would never admit it outside the pages of her journal, Jinyoung was pleasant to observe when he was in his own thoughts. He’d have a faraway look in his eyes as if he were missing someone; she had a pretty solid guess as to who that person was. She catches his attention by lightly poking him on the shoulder, “Hey, Jinyoung. Earlier you wanted to ask me something… what was it?”

Jinyoung’s eyes grew wide in panic; though quick enough so that she didn’t notice it. He awkwardly bounced his right knee, rubbing his thigh as he tried to think of an excuse to give. “Oh I… I mean, it wasn’t anything important, really. I was just wondering if you wanted to… um… come by my house one weekend – when you’re free of course – to pick up the books my sister borrowed from you. She’s finished reading the volumes you gave her already.”

This wasn’t a lie. His sister had already reread the books Sooji had lent her a good three times already and it had only been a few days since. At this rate, he was worried that the spines of her books would wear out because of the constant page turning. And to be less dense, he added, “Also, if you can, mom wants you to stay over for dinner once time. She wants to see you again. You’re like… the only person who gets my siblings to cooperate at the table.”

“Sure, I’d love to!” Sooji gladly accepts his invitation, “Just not this weekend though. I’m a little busy and I’m sure you are too.”

After winter formal, final exams were only two weeks away. And with finals being only two weeks away, that meant there was almost no time left to study (or cram, depending on who the student was) for the mock exams; they took place the week after finals. Jinyoung knew this, but at this point just wanted to wake up and have exams be over with already. The whole process of waiting for grades to come out and the suspense that came with it was worse than actually taking the exam. With a nod, Jinyoung returned his attention to his reflection in the window and mumble, “Sure. Good luck on Friday, by the way.”

The next few days went by so fast that it was all a blur in Jinyoung’s memory. Before he knew it, he was laying down on Jihoon’s bed, staring at the glow-in-the-dark star stickers above.

Those stickers weren’t the only cool thing about Jihoon’s room though. Lining the walls were various signed posters and framed jerseys of famous international soccer players and his own personal medals and trophies. Surrounding his bed were several polaroids of Jihoon with his previous soccer teams. The room itself was designed to look like a soccer field. The dark green carpet had white lines and his furniture were all made of dark blue and white plastic like standard bleachers. It looked like something straight out of a kids’ interior design book.

Across the room, Jihoon was fixing his tie in the mirror; Jinyoung wondered how long it was going to take Jihoon to fix his tie since he had been doing that since he arrived ten minutes ago. Jinyoung was already dressed in a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and black tie. His matching black herringbone vest was hanging off Jihoon’s closet so it wouldn’t get wrinkled while he waited. He planned to grab it on the way out. His hair was nothing special from his usual; straight and down. Jinyoung was in the middle of blowing his bangs up when Jihoon asked if he was excited; finally, he was done with his tie. Looking over, Jinyoung watched as Jihoon pointed finger-guns at himself and winked, making sure he repeated the move while turning in different angles. Jinyoung tried to hold back a laugh as he sat up, running his hands through his hair to neatly pat it down.

“I don’t know about you, but I’m kind of nervous. This is my first formal high school dance, after all,” Jihoon placed a hand on his heart, feeling his heartbeat and letting out a deep exhale as if manually calming his nerves. When he was done psyching himself out, he pulled his desk chair out and sat on it backwards, “Did you know? There’s this legend at school that says the people who spend this evening together will end up together forever. I mean, it’s kind of dumb and totally untrue, but it’d be cool if it happened to me, you know? I kind of want a little romance in my life.”

Jinyoung nods, acknowledging Jihoon’s wishes. He shared those thoughts since the first day of school when he met Miyoung and learned she was in his class. Though, things had gotten complicated along the way, it’s not like his romantic feelings have changed. He still had a crush. It was just a matter of whether his crush liked him back or not. Leaning his elbows against the back of the chair, Jihoon squinted at the small bouquet propped against one of his soccer ball shaped pillows. From where he was sitting, he c