- Chapter 14 -

Jisoo was one of those who woke up the earliest before dawn. She was actually a light sleeper, who could wake up by only hearing a little sound. Although in fact she also couldn't sleep well last night, because some of the kids were snoring. She woke up to hear a slight move by Soojung. The girl told her to go to sleep again because she was just about to go to the toilet. But because Jisoo could not sleep anymore, she decided to get up, took care of her bedding, wore her coat and sat on the terrace.

The sky was still dark, it was still five o'clock in the morning. She stretched her joints while removing the drowsy scars on her facial veins. The morning breeze was very cold, it really helped her quickly return to freshness.

When the other kids had started to wake up, Soojung invited her to go to the garden to pick some vegetables (the villagers had given them permission to freely take the vegetables they needed for meals beforehand) so they could make fresh kimchi and other side-dishes. Their menu was simple that morning, but maybe because they had their meal together it felt much better even though only with fried eggs and fish with various fresh kimchis. About two hours later they were finally ready, a pick-up truck picked them up to take them down the mountain.

The high school was located in the middle of the city. Jongin told them that ninety percent of these high schoolers continued their studies to universities spread throughout the Korean mainland. Up to twenty-five percent of them were accepted at the universities in Seoul. The students in this high school had the potential to excel when compared to the average achievers in Seoul, which was why he chose this school to visit.

They arrived at school when the students were still studying their first subject, and there was still an hour until their event in the hall would begin. Without them knowing, the teachers had made plans beforehand; they are asked to go to class and helped students with their lessons. Actually this was really unplanned, some of them did not prepare additional materias other than what would be presented in the hall. But since the teachers assured them this would be an interesting experience for students because they were about to be taught by students from the top university in Seoul, even throughout Korea, while promising to accompany them during the class, Jongin and Soojung finally put them into ten different classes.

Lucky for Jisoo, she entered the junior class who were studying mathematics. Feeling that this was one of her specialties, she made a question and answer session for materials that the students still found difficult and tried to explain as best she could to them. She was relieved because at least, according to the students, her explanation was easy to understand.

After all the troubles, everyone gathered in the hall at ten o'clock. The principal opened their program while introducing who they were. It was interesting to see the enthusiasm of the students, let alone see how in an hour the boys seemed to have their own fan club, and of course Lisa had the biggest crowd among the girls.

One by one and in pairs, they took turns giving presentation according to their respective fields of study. At least each team was given a maximum of fifteen minutes, until finally it was Jisoo and Sehun’s to give their material together.

It was much better than what Jisoo had in mind. Compared to her, Sehun was more flexible delivering his material, as usual. He was not the best in his class, but when he knew what he was about to say, he would not stop talking enthusiastically. And maybe because the feedback given by the students was quite festive, Sehun was even more excited. He even made jokes and threw some fun facts trivias in the middle of his presentation. Jisoo knew Sehun really enjoyed the awwing and squealing that the girls called out when he spoke.

And compared to Sehun, she was a little more serious. The atmosphere of the auditorium was calmer when she delivered her material. Actually Jisoo wanted to look even more enthusiastic just like him, but after all she was not the cheerful Lisa nor the fun Sehun. So when her turn began, Jisoo tried to revive the atmosphere in her own way. She listened to them.

If Sehun talked more about how buildings or world architecture are established, Jisoo told them about her experience and shared them her drawing techniques. She played them a two minute time-lapse video she once made when she was drawing sketches, then she gave tips for those who were interested in drawing, as well as in making proportions, outsmarting light balance, choosing the right drawing tools for certain sketches, and many others. She showed them her combat equipment which must always be in her bag. Although the reaction she got was not as enthusiastic as when Sehun delivered, Jisoo was quite satisfied to see many of them were interested in her material. Some kids even spoke up, telling her about their favorite drawing and their desire to make it not just a hobby. She was very happy to be able to listen, especially when the guys helped her answer the students' questions by encouraging others.

"Noona, which one is better? Being an architect or engineer?" asked one of the students in QnAs session.

Jisoo stayed quiet for a moment to think about the best answer. She once had this argument a year ago with Sehun, when they were talking about who had the most important role in architectural world. Sehun always said his department required higher skills because it dealt with more numbers and counting, and without that skill a building could not stand upright. In the other hand, she argued that all those things Sehun had mentioned would never do any good without a structured design. To think about it again, it was really an insignificant argument, but somehow she couldn't help but laugh for that memories.

"It's actually just like what Oh Sehun has told you guys earlier," she began. "Technically speaking, an architect and an engineer work in the same expertise. Some even say that their roles and responsibilities are oftenly overlap, I mean, there are numbers of time when we take the same classes and study the same materials. I can't tell you if one carrier is better than the other because when you talk about it, all arguments are subjective. But what I can tell you is, this industry is still one of the highest-paying jobs in any part of the world." 

The comment itself was enough to make a roar of laughter inside the hall, including the teachers who were also there. The voices of the students who commented on each other and thumbed up sounded like a buzzing bee, and they just fell into silent again when Sehun added his comment.

"Architecture and engineering are one of the most directing departments to potential career. I mean, when you study in medschool you will definitely become a doctor, or if you study in an education department, chances are that you will become an educator. The same thing applies to this department." He explained, "So when you have the potential to study at an architecture or engineering school, I don't think it's necessary to think about which one is better. But it's better to think about what you like more, or what makes you more comfortable.

I personally think that between architect and engineer, both of them need each other. The architect works to develop the creative designs for buildings or structures, while the engineer makes sure that they are safe and functional. Jisoo's potential job is like a torch, you know what it is, how it looks and how it works. While my potential job is the battery for the torch when you want to use it to light the darkness. It's a mutualism. In this case, Jisoo and I are inseparable."

Sehun ended his speech with a 'whoa' choir from the audience, as if there was another meaning of his last sentence. Some of the kids started the chants telling them to date, which was then followed by the whole audience. She was really embarrassed that she couldn't raise her head, especially when Baekhyun suddenly said,

"Too late, Guys, they broke up already."

Jisoo never had the urge to shove a microphone into somebody's throat this bad. 

* * *

Their activities ended at lunch hour. The guys took time to play basketball with the senior team before they finally said goodbye and returned to the village. 

They helped the residents complete their delayed harvest, the boys were spread to help the residents clean or repair something while the girls helped each other to cook dinner for the villagers. The plan was that night they would have dinner together as a goodbye because it was the last night before they returned to Seoul.

Like in a reality show where you really prepared your own food from scratch, they literally did it there. The locals took some of them to the river to catch fish with nets - they got five large fish in the river area where the flow was heavy and quite deep. Jisoo used to think that only Kim Byung Man could do things like catching fish with spears and others; it turned out that this village had over a dozen more reliable Kim Byung Mans.

Jisoo took some pictures and sent them to Yoonseok, as she had promised him earlier. These were the things she never did before, and she was glad to be there to experience it. She even thanked Soojung for that perfect weekend getaway.

Meanwhile, Sehun acted as if he had resigned with all the taunts that Baekhyun and his friends were cruelly throwing at him after a brief incident in the middle of his presentation. Even since then, he looked like no longer trying to stay away or pretending to be ignorant like before. In fact, it seemed that he was actually letting the distance between them filled by easy stages.

Then the next thing, he sat next to her at dinner.

Even though there were no words shared, nor their initiative to start the c