There wasn’t much time left. Only a week remained before their first regional competition. They had done nothing but practice; bursting out into random Glee style a capella during lunch, belting out the notes during shower, and even sleeptalking the lyrics at night. One would think practice would make everything better, but then, there was Eun.   “Let’s try it again from your first solo,” Hyunmi guided, a tangible attempt to keep herself calm even though she was at the verge of erupting. She cued Woohyun to play the piano again, and watched Eun attentively.   Eun listened to the rhythm of Woohyun’s melody, but entered two beats too early. It would’ve been good if she nailed the correct notes, but everytime she opened , the onlookers winced at the ear-scratching noise.   “Study the notes of the song,” Woohyun calmly guided. His right hand pressed the keys of the piano, dissecting the music into short staccato notes for her. “Sing them one by one.”   Whichever key Woohyun played, Eun diligently followed. There were some parts where she went flat, but her grasp on each individual note wasn’t that bad.   “Try two notes together,” Hyunmi suggested, feeling more hopeful when Eun made less and less mistakes. The fact Kibum was watching along, ready to find fault, made everything more nerve wrecking.   Woohyun obeyed, waiting for Eun to imitate the notes he played. He narrowed his eyes a little whenever she was off, repeating the same note until she got it. They soon came to realize Eun’s capability to produce correct notes individually, but once they were put together, she lost her pitch.   “Told you,” Kibum simply remarked, still folding his arms, still leaning against the wall. Not only had he voted against Eun joining the show choir club, he also suggested her exclusion from the performance.   Eun sighed, knowing Kibum stared at her with such intimidation. “I know I sound horrible. Why am I even here?”   Before Kibum could reply, Hyunmi pleaded him a look to be nice. “Honestly, the word ‘horrible’ does not justify the bleeding in my ears.” He then picked up his bag and flung it over his shoulder, not after Hyunmi punched him for saying that.   “Where are you going?” Woohyun asked, turning around from the piano bench to watch Kibum head to the door.   “I need to study. I don’t finish my homework two weeks before it’s due, unlike someone.” Kibum made it clear whom he was referring to. “You coming?”   “Sure,” Woohyun was quick to get up, ready to abandon the piano and grab his stuff when Hyunmi blocked his path, looking so lost and dejected for once. It reminded him of the night at the soccer field.   “Don’t go,” she pleaded softly, reaching her fingers around his hand. She did it without thinking, missing the flinch in his body language and the softening gaze in his eyes. “I can’t do this without the musical genius.”   Woohyun stayed quiet, weighing his options for a minute. He knew the answer, but chose to elongate the moment a little just to remain with her like that.   “Okay,” he finally said, letting go of his stuff, plopping back to the piano bench. Seeing her face clear up in relief, he knew he made the right decision. “I’ll catch up with you later, Kibum.”   “Suit yourselves. Good luck,” Kibum said, and soon disappeared.   “I hope you know you owe me another tutoring session in exchange for this,” Woohyun said.   Hyunmi didn’t protest, clasping her hands against her chest in awestruck wonder at his willingness. “Anything for you.”   Eun tugged her lips together, anxiously fidgeting her fingers. She felt so apologetic to the leaders. When they realized she was the cause of disharmony, they immediately took time to try and help her after school hours everyday.   “I’m sorry for being a failure,” Eun muttered, her voice slightly shaking. She saw the two look up at her in surprise, but her guilt prompted her to avoid their gaze. “I’m sorry for being such a burden. You’re just wasting your time on me. You could’ve used this time to practice your own parts, or study for the exams, or go on a date.”   “Whoa, whoa, the last one is out of question,” Hyunmi quickly interrupted, laughing with such exaggeration one was bound to suspect something.   “Oh, I thought you guys were a couple since others keep calling you the parents of Crescendity,” Eun remarked, blinking her eyes obliviously.   Woohyun laughed at that, neither denying nor confirming the statement. Seeing how Hyunmi chose to do the same, he changed the topic. “Don’t worry, Eun. You got the music department’s top two students helping you out. There is no chance of failure.”   “Can’t I back out of the performance instead?” Eun timidly suggested an idea she thought would become a solution. She couldn’t fathom why she was given a solo part at all if they knew her singing needed a lot of coaching.   “No. You already showed some improvement compared to the first practice. I know you can do it,” Hyunmi said, glancing at Woohyun who nodded along. Chemistry or not, she knew they shared the same belief. “We both do.”   Eun bit her lower lip, her fingers continuing to fidget at the hem of her sweater, but no longer out of anxiety. No one had ever cared for her to such an extent, ensuring she would improve. When she was deemed unworthy in the past, people would cut her off, abandoning her like a pariah. This was the first time where people genuinely wanted her to succeed, where she actually mattered.   “Thank you,” Eun spoke the two simple words people tend to take for granted.     “It’s him,” Biah suddenly whispered, a fear crippling inside. She, Jineul, Sungjong, and Rika had taken a break from practice to get something to drink from the vending machine. She didn’t think she’d meet the guy in the black hoodie again, exiting the faculty room with a teacher. Biah spontaneously sought shelter behind her friends.   “Who?” Rika asked, her eyes following Biah’s direction. There in the distance, the ‘rude guy’ was approaching. She never even bothered remembering his name, and dubbed him however she liked.   “Did he do something to you? Should I beat him to pulp?” Jineul was triggered. She started cracking her knuckles which sounded like a battle cry. Of course she didn’t get to land some punches when Sungjong held her in place.   “No. Actually he helped me find my bracelet,” Biah said quietly. For him to make an effort and return the bracelet to her, she figured he must be a nice person deep inside.   “Oh, isn’t that supposed to be nice?” Rika wondered. This does not match up to his rude guy image. Maybe she should change his nickname.   “Aw, so I don’t get to beat anyone up?” Jineul asked, her shoulders slouching in disappointment.   Sungjong poked his girlfriend’s cheeks, which caused her to nearly smash him to the floor WWE style. He laughed at her failed attempt, and turned to Biah with a smile still lingering. “Howon is my roommate. He’s not actually that bad.”   Biah and Rika looked at him in surprise. Jineul never told them this big revelation. They couldn’t even try to picture what it would be like. A bright and sunny Sungjong paired with the king of demons, Lee Howon?   “Wow, does he spread darkness and fear wherever he goes?” Rika asked, only having a bad impression of the rude guy.   “He’s closed off most of the time. I think he’s secretly clumsy, cause he usually has a lot of bruises. He tries to hide them though,” Sungjong told the girls. Then he frowned, wondering if he was supposed to keep the information a secret.   Immediately, Rika burst out laughing. “What a meme! He looks intimidating and acts all cool, but trips all the time? What if he slipped on a banana peel?”   “You’re ruining his image,” Jineul said, but she was laughing just as hard.   Sungjong frowned. “That’s not the point why I told the story. He has his own problems too, and we shouldn’t judge him for it.”   “Obviously. Have you noticed he wears that same black hoodie all the time? Does he even take it to laundry? I bet it smells terribly,” Rika spoke her curiosity out loud.   Biah knew the true reason for his scars. The gang fight she witnessed back then probably wasn’t the first one he had been in. Her fear turned into sympathy, and there was a sudden urge of courage to help him.   “Uuhm… Howon,” she called him by name for the first time. She slowly approached him, regretting it as soon as he looked at her with a pissed off expression.   “What?” He asked coldly, glaring down at her. He stopped her from invading his personal space.   Biah nodded hesitantly, pressing her lips together. She had to stay strong and find her courage. “I won’t tell anyone about it, I promise.”   Howon scrunched his eyes, wondering what the hell she was talking about. But he wasn’t curious enough to stay and find out. So he got ready to leave when she continued speaking.   “Even though I won’t tell anyone about it, I hope you can stop it,” Biah quickly said, thinking she brilliantly masked the word ‘gang fight’ in the best way possible.   “Mind your own business,” Howon hissed, not even turning back to look at her.   “We have a Christmas performance in a few days. Maybe you can come and watch us instead of doing it,” Biah invited him, but he was already out of sight. Hopefully he got the message.   “Doing it?” Was all Rika got from the previous statement, her eyes widening in shock. Who in their right mind would wanna sleep with that rude guy? “What exactly are you talking about?”   “Oh, it’s a secret I can’t tell you guys about, cause you might get the wrong impression of him,” Biah explained in a way that did not satisfy their curiosity, but worsened it instead.   “I’m pretty sure my impression of him can’t go any worse than it already is,” Jineul said, squinting her eye to the place Howon had been standing at.    “Maybe he will join our club if he sees how fun it is,” Biah suggested suddenly, much to the others’ dismay.   “Honestly, I’d protest to my mama if she ever allowed him to join,” Jineul said, scoffing at Howon and his oh-so-mighty act.   “I don’t think he would ever join anyway,” Sungjong agreed. Despite Howon’s major in music, he didn’t show any interest in any other social activities.   Biah sighed. She wished to meet her prince charming, but this ruthless beast kept appearing instead. Perhaps, a prince was hidden within every beast, awaiting a princess to wake him from the sleep. Luckily, Biah was a princess.     Heejin sat at the library, trying to catch up on the assignments she missed. Minseok couldn’t accompany her for once, and the void of his absence never felt so thick before. She had gotten used to him accompanying her everywhere, even when walking in between her classes. He somehow always managed to find her, and she was happy with his presence. Today he was practicing with the male show choir members for their own performance.   The moment she dropped her pencil and stretched herself on the seat, her eyes caught a familiar figure walking by. “Kyungsoo!” But when someone loudly shushed her, Heejin clasped her hand in front of , forgetting they were at a library. So she silently waved the guy to come over.   Kyungsoo stood silent for a moment, his almost-too-short-bowl-haircut looking funny on him. He had a blank look on his face, needing a few seconds to buffer before remembering to breath and function like a normal human being. The blank expression remained unchanged as he approached Heejin.   “I knew I’d find you here,” Heejin said kindly, patting to the empty seat beside her.   His already wide eyes widened even more. “W-were you looking for me?” he questioned as if it was the most incredulous thing ever.   “Yes, I wanted to ask you something,” Heejin said, keeping the smile fixed on her lips as she waited for him to be properly seated. She then turned to him and began writing something down on her notebook. “I assume you went to Moonbucks and saw us, the choir club, perform. Right?”   Kyungsoo remained stoic, and Heejin would like to assume he was considering whether or not to reveal his identity as the mysterious writer. She laughed, since it was too obvious to hide. They might as well skip all formalities and revelations.   “If you enjoyed our performance, I really hope you can come to our next one. It isn’t actually a regular performance, since it will be part of a competition we’re entering in. It’s only the regional competition, which we’ll have to win before we can get to the finals. Oh, I’m so nervous since our rivals are so good.” Heejin didn’t realize she was blabbering too much until she watched a growing emotion on Kyungsoo’s blank face. Confusion. “Sorry, I tend to get carried away a little. But I hope you can make it, cause whether we win or not depends on the votes from the audience.”   Kyungsoo moved his eyes to the notebook she was writing on. “When is it?”   “Christmas eve,” Heejin said, tearing the paper from her notebook for him. “Unless you already have plans. Like maybe you wanna go on a date with your girlfriend?”   “I don’t have one.”   “That’s great! Oh, not in that way. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you,” Heejin spoke, unfiltering the words that came to her mind. But when she hesitantly met his gaze, she saw his second expression that day. He was smiling. Not in a mocking way, but actually smiling like he didn’t mind her constant talking.   Kyungsoo retrieved the paper from her hand, took a quick glance at it, and met her eyes again.   “I’ll be there.”     Unlike others, Seulyi was not stressed out about the exams at all, and was pretty chill about the competition. If Hyunmi was the teacher’s pet, Seulyi was the exact opposite. She copied homework from fellow classmates ten minutes before class started. During exams, she invented a way to cheat off her friends. Perhaps Hyunmi stopped taking the same classes with her because of this.   She was randomly walkin