Balgwang University had never been this festive before if it weren’t for club day. Considering Summer break was officially over, students came crawling back to campus like migrating birds. Their deserted campus ground suddenly overflowed with an endless amount of people, a mental reminder that Fall semester was starting soon. Many different booth were set up, lined next to each other in perfect rows. Every booth represented a different club, and they all had their own personal flair added to it. It ranged from normal clubs such as dance or photography, to really weird and specific ones liked a ghostbuster club, an otaku’s waifu club, and a club dedicated to Balgwang University’s hot guys, to name a few.   Mira was properly seated behind the show choir club’s booth, which they had decorated using a collaborative banner of their own design. Pretty much, it included everyone’s suggestion, which Yerin ended up refining in the end. It consisted of a bunch of random colors that popped out among other booths. It caught everyone’s attention, which could be either a good or bad thing.   She scribbled small marks on the corner of the sign up sheet to test out the pen. Truthfully, it was an attempt to avoid making eye contact with random passersby. Mira wasn’t much of a people person to begin with. Why had she volunteered for this position again?   “Others will be too intimidated to join if you look so angry,” Minhyun suddenly said, appearing in front of the booth. “You shouldn’t scribble on the paper either, it will wrinkle the corners.”   “I’m not angry,” Mira said, watching as Minhyun began to organize the random things they had scattered on their booth. In no time, everything was neat and clean by the hands of a perfectionist.   “When’s my sister going to perform?” he asked.   “Soon. They’re still getting ready,” Mira answered, averting her gaze to the stage in the middle of the entire campus. A special showcase was held on club day, allowing any club to participate. In the past, the drama and dance club would secure the main spot, attracting a large crowd for their performance. This year, show choir club hoped to make the headlines with their involvement.   “I’m gonna look around while I can,” Minhyun said.   “Wait, you’re not gonna accompany me?” Mira gasped. Being alone was horrifying, but Heejin and Biah were busy distributing their beautifully designed brochures to other students. The other male members had already disappeared as soon as they finished setting up the booth.   “I wanna look around,” Minhyun told her coolly, having no plans to stay. “Don’t forget to keep smiling.”   Mira sighed, slightly whining to herself. Club day had only begun, and she was already regretting her decision. When Minhyun left, she continued scribbling on the corner of the sign up sheet, trying to practice how to greet strangers silently to herself.   A shadow suddenly fell upon her, darkening her vision. Finally, a new prospective club member. Mira put her practice into motion, lifting the corner of her lips into a natural smile as she tilted her head to greet the student. But as soon as she sighted him, her smile faded.   “Mark.”   The name felt weird on her tongue, and her chest felt heavy just uttering it. She had no idea what he was doing here, and neither did she want to know. His presence was enough to trigger the tears in her eyes.   “We need to talk.”     Leeteuk knocked on the door of room 215, hearing Kibum shout “come in” before entering. His eyes widened in amazement, watching his students get ready for their performance for the showcase. Considering there weren’t that many acts to begin with, they managed to secure two spots for themselves.   “How is everyone feeling?” he asked, watching as Kibum did last minute touch ups to everyone’s costumes, Taemin becoming a last minute assistant since he had ditched his usual dance club for them.   “Nervous,” they answered in sync, including Jaehwan who for once didn’t bluff an exaggerated confidence. Despite holding his guitar, they could see his arms shaking.   “I am sure you will do great. It’s your first performance ever since we revived the club. Don’t be afraid of failures, and just enjoy the moment,” Leeteuk told them, giving them some encouraging pep talk to help reduce their anxieties.   “Except that if we do fail, the credibility of the club will plummet. What if we can’t get any new students to join us?” Hyunmi asked, blankly staring in front of her as if she was watching a ghost. To an advertising major, targeting the right niche was top priority.   “Think of it differently. Why do you all want to join show choir club?” Leeteuk asked, smiling with such warmth they had no choice but to ponder about the impromptu question.   “Because it’s fun to sing, especially when we do it with others who are as passionate as we are,” Hyunmi answered immediately, as if the question was rhetorical by nature.   “Music brings healing. It does many wonders,” Jaehwan said, in the middle of tuning his guitar.   “I am the last person to join, but I’m having so much fun already. We can also make new friends,” Maerin said.   “And get closer to one another,” Taemin added, sharing a furtive glance with Maerin.   “Yeah, only one lesson in and I’ve already learned about the different voice types. I don’t like to learn, but this one isn’t that bad,” Seulyi added.   “Plus, there will be free food,” Yerin said, her lips just at the thought of it.   Leeteuk smiled, bobbing his head along to every single one of their answers. “I want you to remember every single thing that you said, and bring that feeling into your performance. When you’re performing, you’re not only doing it for yourselves, but also to show others what they could experience if they decide to join: joy, healing, friendship, togetherness, self-improvement, and even food.”   The students stared at Leeteuk with amazement, not having expected their English teacher to be so passionate about leading the choir club. For one second, they were extremely grateful for Yunho’s rejection—even Yerin was relieved despite her personal desire to see Yunho. Sometimes, an unwanted situation turned to be a blessing in disguise.   “Well, you’re all ready to go,” Kibum said after he fixed the microphone on Maerin’s shirt. He stepped back to admire their matching outfit, approving of the design he had personally selected. They wore long sleeved crop tops in a slightly faded shade of red, yellow, green, and orange, along with long retro jeans. It matched the original concept of the song.   “Thanks, Kibum, what would we do without you?” Maerin asked, fawning at him.   “We would all live in peace,” Hyunmi answered.   “That’s what you think. You’d probably miss me the most,” Kibum exclaimed with a smug grin, receiving a glare that disagreed with his word.   “Okay, calm down, guys, calm down. We need to save our vocals,” Jaehwan quickly reminded them. He himself was dressed in a denim jacket, which wasn’t too far off from the girls. As he put his guitar aside, he wasn’t evidently shaking anymore. Leeteuk’s pep talk must’ve taken away his fears.   “No turning back now.” Seulyi sighed, shutting her eyes. She held her hand in front, which was soon followed by the other members who placed their hand on top of hers to create a huddle. Knowing the others were in this together lifted up a big chunk of her burden.   Leeteuk smiled, feeling the perfect time to utter a team spirit yell. “For the sake of Crescendity’s revival, let’s—”   “Wait, are we going to raise our hands up or down?” Jaehwan interrupted.   “We go up first, then down, then left and right, then add a Big Hero 6’s tralala handshake,” Kibum answered, flattening his eyes at the stupid question. He couldn’t believe when Jaehwan actually nodded, believing his sarcasm.   “Up,” Leeteuk said, clearing his throat to try again. “For the sake of—”   “Do we raise our hand on the count of three, or after three?”   “Oh God, Jaehwan, just get this over with,” Yerin said, getting impatient. “For Crescendity!”   Everyone else quickly followed along with her movements, bringing their hands up in a very poorly organized manner as muffled “crescendity”s echoed after one another in perfect disharmony. So much for their teamwork before the show, but it got them to laugh, completely erasing their fear.     Heejin and Biah stuck together as they kept distributing flyers to other students. Out of everyone, they had the sweetest looking smiles to draw guys in. Anyone who looked at them was bound to smile along despite not knowing why.   “Don’t forget to visit the show choir booth,” Heejin said, handing the flyers to whoever passed her. Even when people ignored her, or threw the flyers in the trash bin as soon as they took it, Heejin had to swallow her anger and keep her smile. This was much harder than she expected. She could not cry at all cost and ruin the makeup she had especially worn for that day, which was extra special considering she didn’t use makeup very often.   “Hey, how’s it going?” Chanyeol’s voice suddenly appeared, and Heejin looked up in shock. Seeing a familiar face brought out the genuinity in her smile, and she could almost hug him if it weren’t for her difficult long, frilly skirt to walk in.   “Chanyeol! This is torture. How do people do this?” she asked, whining to him until she almost cried.   “They hand out brochures. See, Biah is doing well,” Chanyeol cocked his head to the girl who was always fully dressed in pink. If she got a chihuahua in her pink bag, she’d look like an Asian Paris Hilton, but not as snobbish.   “Did you know people throw the brochures away as soon after I give it to them? Right in front of my eyes! That’s so mean of them. Don’t they know how many trees were sacrificed to print these on?” Heejin asked, pouting to herself, immediately feeling depressed.   “That’s okay. There probably aren’t enough chairs in the practice room anyway,” Chanyeol laughed, patting her head for comfort. “Anyway, I’m on my way to watch my Yerin’s performance. Wanna come?”   “Your Yerin? I don’t remember you two dating each other,” Heejin corrected him, raising her eyebrow.   “We are, she just doesn’t know it.” Chanyeol grinned.   Heejin frowned, not really agreeing with this. Being Chanyeol’s friend who was always honest with him, she should tell him the correct way of living. “I don’t think Yerin would like it. You should properly ask her out before calling her your girlfriend.”   “But, if she likes you, she wouldn’t actually mind,” Biah suddenly chimed in from the side, having listened to their conversation for a while. She disappeared just as quick, continuing to distribute flyers to others.   Chanyeol nodded his head, absorbing the wise advice from the two girls. “But Hyunmi once told me that words has power. So the things we say may become a reality if we say it often enough,” he remembered.   “Oh, really? I want to meet my prince charming someday,” Biah tried out the theory, having her head up in the clouds as she began fantasizing a romantic tale.   “I think she meant it in a different context. You shouldn’t anger Yerin, or you’d be seen as a creepy stalker,” Heejin continued, truly wanting Chanyeol to have a good image. He was a dear friend to her after all.   “At least I’d be a cute creepy stalker, right?” Chanyeol asked, grinning widely as he held a peace sign against his eyes, squeezing one eye shut for what was supposed to be an adorable wink.   “No, it