Seulgi flung a pencil without backward glance to the ground but knew it rolled under the table. The blunt end bore signs of an abandoned attempt earlier to sharpen the other end. Seulgi sighs, pair of eyes staring blankly at the ground. Seulgi grits, suppressing the frustration inside, something urging her to scream it raw. It only took two sentences she get done and she would stuck up as nothingness would start clouding her mind. 

Seulgi rips out a blank page and her right eye twitches. After she threw the piece of paper with only two sentences, her body collapses on the worktable with a heavy feeling; the left side of her face palms against the wood desk.

The door suddenly slams open, and a short girl fellow student saunters into the room. 

“Are you Kang Seulgi?” 

The short girl asks Seulgi in a rush voice that sounded arrogance. The frustration Seulgi was feeling should be weighted but the moment she landed her eyes to intruder-- her brain quickly recognizing the short girl, the annoyance drops.

Son Seunghwan, the current famous student in their whole school after winning the title champion in the popular singing show aired in the national TV. Seulgi had heard her name everywhere in this school. Girls were talking about the singer while boys were crushing at her.

Seulgi nodded silently.

“I have a favour to ask, Mind filming my tomorrow’s event here?” 

The way the singer said it sounded less like a favour but more like a demand. 

It caught Seulgi’s guard off too much she had no idea what to respond, her mind is battling whether she would agree “that” easily or refuse it which is more likely to happen, since Seulgi had so many things to focus on. 

And it seems that Seulgi’s hesitation is so clear to the singer as Seunghwan closing the gap of their distance. Without a warning the singer clasp both of her hands as if the singer is praying in front of Seulgi. 

“Please. I’ve already gotten my permission from Miss Kim and she told me that you are the one who donated the camcorder in the music room. Miss Kim says that the members in the music room don’t know how to use it so she said I should ask you. Tomorrow is my important event in this school, so please help me out” 

“Sorry I have plans for tomorrow but I can personally teach some music club members or maybe y---” 

“N-no no. We can’t be wasting time. I need you to do it.”

Seulgi closes her eyes for the meantime and as she opens it, the blunt pencil on the ground catches her attention and it makes her frustration goes back again. Now that she’s feeling it again, the possibility that she might put all of her frustration to the singer is high. Seulgi promised to herself that  next one simple “No” should have been enough to show that she is refusing to the singer’s favour and if the singer keeps this going on, well…sorry to that but the singer would witness how jock she is.

“No.” It was very clear and loud. The singer’s mouth and eyes both rounded after. And Seulgi tries her best to give the singer a deadly glare she could give to anyone, and she goes back scribbling the paper before she finally picked up the blunt pencil on the ground. 

Seulgi was being observed in the next moment, hoping that faking to get busied to the pages that she was skimming wouldn’t noticed by the singer. 

“What plans?” The singer spoke after dead silence between them.

“I got cram lesson during Friday night” 

“You can skip it, can’t you?” 

The singer said it so casually that made Seulgi’s head whipped with a certain anger on her face, “What!?” 

“S-skip it.” The singer voice cracks. Seulgi gripped on the paper and crumpled it. She wasn’t looking to the singer but let out an offensive statement “Don’t think that is easy. We normal students are suffering and sacrificing. Our parents would get enroll us in cram school to spent dollars for the sake of our future. I’m sorry to say this, but...” Seulgi momentarily pauses only to look up and faces the singer “But you and I are different. You have it easy in this school, even your future… and I’m not…so don’t go around telling normal people like me to ruin my routine for the sake of your own business. If you’re really that desperate to have someone to film you tomorrow, go hire people who specialized in that area. If I know you have dollars for that.” 

With that, Seulgi stands and realizes she has become so very good at being rude to people. There is seriousness about the singer that unnerved Seulgi as the singer gazed at her.

“Please. This isn’t just any event.  A person’s life is riding on this game.” 

Seulgi thought it was over, but when the singer said this, there was a passion in the singer’s voice and expression. Though she doesn’t know the circumstances but there is something about the singer’s voice, it was as if it sings a sad melody that reaches her heart- that the singer meant it when said that “It isn’t just any event”. 

And Seulgi wondered just whose “life” was riding on this event?