The visiting guests from Elliteu University stared at the performance, halfheartedly clapping along with the rest of the crowd. Hana, the youngest, was the only one who showed genuine excitement when she cheered along.   “So, what do we think of them?” Jongdae asked, staring at the others curiously. He still had his arm around Jihye, letting her play with his fingers.   “Nah, not worth our time,” Seollin said, calmly eating tteokpokki she had bought from a nearby stand.   “They went off tune several times. Their harmonies didn’t match. The minus one was too loud. They were too nervous,” Jimin commented with a stoic face. “I’d rank them an F.”   “That is so harsh,” Seollin told him, taking another bite of her tteokpokki, and pointed at the others with the plastic fork as she spoke. “But I completely agree. None of them have performer’s blood in their deoxyribonucleic acid.”   “Hey, two of them are our church friends,” Hana protested, pointing at herself and Jisoo. She was quite happy knowing Hyunmi and Maerin were now in show choir, though they were from different schools. They’ll have even more things in common.   “Well, you better tell them not to embarrass themselves anymore,” Jimin said calmly, soothing the harshness of his word.   “The guy playing the guitar earlier was pretty good though. But no one compares to you, my thunder,” Jihye said, Jongdae’s cheek with adoration. To her, her boyfriend was the best, of course. And she constantly reminded herself to always stay loyal to him. Always.   “I give them one month before they realize they’re not talented enough,” Jimin said, folding his arms. Based on the mediocre performance that lacked any professionalism, he assumed these people weren’t even serious.   “One month? I think they’ll give up in two weeks,” Seollin argued back.   “Let them dream. We probably won’t ever see them again,” Jongdae said, grabbing Jihye’s hand to hold within his own.   “This is why we are called Bs. You guys are so mean sometimes,” Hana protested again, pouting at the way her friends were being degraded like this.   “We didn’t say it was bad. It’s just…” Jisoo looked at the others for help.   “Not on par with our level,” Jimin said, smirking without guilt. He turned away to move away from the crowd.   Hana stared at Jisoo in disbelief, since he knew at least two of the performers. How could he be so harsh as well. “Jisoo, I think you are under influence.”   “What?” Jisoo raised his eyebrows, looking at his red plastic cup. “But I drink water, not alcohol.”   Hana couldn’t help but laugh at that despite wanting to protest. “I mean under their mean influence. But good, stick to water,” she said.   “Anyway, we gotta find those other three idiots and get back. I still have some homework,” Jimin then said.   “Same, I need to decide whether to study history, biology, or mathematics next,” Seollin said, quickly catching up with him.   “Don’t we wanna see the show choir booth at least? Get acquainted maybe?” Jongdae asked.   “There’s no need for that, baby. There’s no use talking to people who aren’t at our level,” Jihye said, giving the back of his hand a small peck.   Hana sighed, sad she didn’t get to at least say hi to her friends. At this point, it would be better if the new choir club didn’t meet the destructive Bs. She’ll meet them at church and tell them they did so good.   “Come on now,” Jisoo said, gently pulling her by the arm so she wouldn’t be left behind.     “Yo! You guys are beyond awesome!” Rika approached the others, jumping up and down on her feet as if she had too much sugar.   “Nah, this was just 50% of my true potential,” Jaehwan began.   “Really? What happened to the other 50%?” Yerin asked, flattening her eyes in expectation of yet another bluff.   “I left them at home for actual competitions,” Jaehwan said, grinning to himself. Despite being nervous earlier, he showed exaggerated confidence no one asked for.   “Good, we’ll need it someday,” Hyunmi said, being the only one who still laughed and responded to his bluffing while everyone else was so done with him. She then looked around, finding Woohyun and Kibum who were at a distance, discussing something. So she excused herself from her group of friends to approach the two guys instead.   “So,” she began, quickly catching their attention as both guys turned to look at her. Whatever they were talking about or staring at, they made sure not to alert her. She did not realize their suspicious behavior, only focusing on one thing. “How was the performance?”   “The outfit looks good, obviously,” Kibum said, fabulously complimenting himself.   “Which I am very thankful of,” she emphasized through her forced smile, knowing Kibum wouldn’t actually comment on the actual performance. What she really wanted to know was the opinion of a musical genius.   “Anyone could use a minus one track and sing over it. I thought the show choir club would’ve added more individuality,” Woohyun said honestly, watching the smile falter from her face. Her expression of total devastation was quite an adoring look.   “Had you not challenged me, I could’ve invested more time to add a personal flair to it,” she said, not knowing why his words hurt more than it ought to. A part of her secretly wished to gain the approval from a genius.   “Which I am looking forward to. The test is in a few days,” Woohyun reminded her in a singsong voice, showing no fear of intimidation. Unlike the girl, he considered the challenge amusing and didn’t bother to prepare for it.   “I’m looking forward to the day you set foot in the choir practice room as our new member. I shall personally welcome you,” Hyunmi said, twisting her lips into a challenging grin, completely not backing down when she was determined.   They heard a shutter click as a flash suddenly brightened their eyes. The three looked sideways, seeing Myungsoo with his digital DSLR camera in his hand.   “Please carry on, pretend I’m not here,” Myungsoo told them with a smile, continuing to take a photo of the candid moment.   “Hey, if you want to take pictures, you should photograph our members,” Hyunmi suggested, casually pushing Myungsoo to come along with her toward Seulyi and the others. Her battle was soon forgotten when matters of people’s love life presented itself before her.   Woohyun watched her join in the celebration with her fellow members. “So, how is the choir club so far?” He asked his friend.   “Oh, I’m not a part of it,” Kibum answered casually, noting the surprise on Woohyun’s face. “I just come and go as I please.”   Woohyun stared in disbelief and started laughing. “If I lose this challenge, you’re coming along with me.”   “Dude, I know Hyunmi’s good and all, but you are the top student for a reason,” Kibum stated, unintentionally insulting her again, as always. He had no intention of joining either.   “That is true,” Woohyun kept staring at the choir members taking a group picture together. “But with her kind of determination, I feel anything could be possible.”     Mira never thought it would come down to this. After what had happened, she never thought of seeing Mark again, especially at her campus. She missed the showcase because he dragged her to the back of the school by force.   “It hurts. Let go of me,” Mira said, wincing at his painful grip. Compared to the gentle way he held her hand during their first date, she could barely recognize this person. The longer they were together, the more she got to see of his true character.   “I won’t ever let go of you, you know that,” Mark said, tightening his grip which she managed to break by force.   “That’s not how a breakup works,” Mira said, rubbing her wrist in pain. His strong grip left a red mark behind, and she gritted her teeth at him.   “We didn’t break up. I never agreed to it,” Mark said, sinking his fingers against her shoulders, holding her by force. His own emotion blinded him from the fear on her face.   “I gave you a chance, but you never showed up. It’s a clear sign we’re over, Mark,” Mira said, pushing his hands away from her shoulder.   “You know I was busy,” Mark said, clenching his hands into a fist. He desperately wanted her back, willing to use harsh methods if necessary.   “As you always were! If you don’t have time for me now, you’ll never have time for me in the future either,” Mira raised her voice as warm tears began filtering her eyes. She took a deep breath, trying her best not to break down in front of the person she had once loved the most, and at the same time, also hurt her the most. She wanted nothing to do with him anymore, wanting to walk out of his life and remain a distant memory. But Mark surrendered to his desperation, pressed her face between his hands, and forced his lips on hers.   Mira’s eyes widened in shock, feelings of disgust and anger swirling through her. She wanted to push him off, to demand for her freedom, but his lips prevented her from exclaiming any coherent words. The more force she exerted into her struggle, the more he held her in place. She hated everything about it. She hated the kiss. She hated him. She hated herself for ever loving him. And right now, she wanted to leave, so she raised her hands and slapped his face.   The move surprised the two of them. Mark finally released her and stepped back. He slowly raised his hand to his cheeks, feeling the sting she inflicted.   Mira was never a girl of violence, but Mark left her no choice. Though her hand continued thudding in pain, she slowly backed away, testing him who remained in place. So she her heel, running away from the guy who had become a stranger to her. Little did she know, someone had been watching the entire scene.   “Oh my,” Biah gasped to herself. She had faithfully done her job distributing flyers, and volunteered to go look for Mira when they realized her absence. This was not what she expected to find.   She remained hidden behind the wall, hoping Mark wouldn’t spot her. In her eyes, he was an aggressive and vicious beast, scaring her just by being there. It was time for her to run away from the scene before he would beat her up.   Trying to remain as discreet as possible, she got ready to escape, not realizing she’d bump against the person suddenly appearing in front of her. Biah let out a small yell, immediately losing her balance. She was about to fall down, but luckily, the guy had great Hollywood romcom movie instincts, and quickly held her by her waist to prevent her fall.   Biah let out a sigh of relief, trying to catch the face of her saviour. He was wearing a black hoodie and a hat that covered most of hi