The grounds of SMU had finally reached a rest from the endless enquiring between students, much of which repeated who’s and waah’s over the topic of the two initials, ’J’ and ’S’. Most of the students had an inkling of who the ship ‘wenrene’ entitled by now. While others stayed unbeknownst.

By now, the students had stopped openly discussing ship and ‘JS’ theories because it all eventually died down to a conclusion. In a turning point, instead of carefully murmuring around, the majority of the student body began a mixture of shy staring to downright shameless peering over the two most suspected figures. You could almost call it refreshing and at least there were no more not-so-subtle gossiping.

Yeri, AKA NYOETYRIM, AKA NOTYERIMBUTYESYERIM, AKA NYBYY, AKA nevermind. Yeri, was out and about the school grounds to grab something. She was actually not even at a legit age to be in University but she explains that she jumped grades to everyone that has ever asked. When she shows her ID card, everyone nods in an approving manner as well as in awe with how young and clever she is. She doesn’t tell them that she basically forged her birth year nor the fact that the university doesn’t even have her properly registered in their databases. She freeloads over in her friend, Saeron’s house while she works on the Web and attends some courses when she feels like it. She just has to input her name here and there, some coding, adding, course reference searching, then she processes it into a temporary timetable for her current month. Her system has been working for a good year and should be continuing for her second year. She only goes to the courses she finds interesting. She likes music and she also has the talent in composing so she joined a music course at the start of the year. She was heading to the music department to grab some composition notes and tips left by a professor. Something she had watched the professor forget on their desk through her CCTV monitors.

As she entered the music major’s crop of land. It is made very obvious she was in the music department’s territory since Yeri could only flinch due to the blatant noise pollution from the mix of screaming, singing, drumming, strumming, plucking and all the more beating of numerous instruments. The music department doesn’t have very good sound proofing, blame it on SM. You could easily tell the difference between the music department and the neighbouring performing arts departments. When she crosses round the acting majors’ crop of land, there would be no such peep despite knowing otherwise. Especially as she had entered the acting building once by accident and had her eardrums explode from a piercing outcry scene that transcended the highest frequencies known on earth. She went in there once more just for fun and she witnessed a bunch of actors howling and banging on the flooring in one of the main practice rooms. She couldn’t tell what play they were acting from but she left before she could even process anymore of that. She didn’t really feel like going back in there again. Anyways, even the other departments had it better - from the dance department that got the newest projector models installed in each of their practice rooms to the graphic department’s newly installed Wacom Cintiq 13HD Interactive screens on each of their personal desks. She’s not jealous because everyone in the music department makes dandy do, plus they have the best professors no money could bribe. She doesn’t really mind all, but she does wish that SM could invest in the music department since it does get hard sometimes. She might even do something about it herself. Not for her, but for the lovely music major students who are super nice to her.

So yes, she was heading to the music department to steal a professors’ high quality hand-written book of notes. Then she’ll visit her number one unnie then maybe cross the bridge to her fourth unnie in the graphic department. Or she can just go home because going all that way was kinda long in her opinion. She stops in thought when she hears a guitar play by the entrance. It was Wendy Son, the prodigy singer, the four-octaves beast, the fluffy fluff fluff as everyone would tag. The students also passing by, who were either entering or exiting the music building would all stop and stare, to listen and whistle along to the popular blonde girl’s familiar medley tune on a mashup of Disney songs. One of them even murmured her being a Disney princess before embarrassingly shuffling off to a lesson. Yeri on the other hand only stares at the blonde’s bangs that softly sways across the latter’s forehead with each strum. Yeri likes the medley mash-up and acoustic? That’s even more soothing and refreshingly different. But she wishes Wendy could let her forehead breath too. She waits on the side until Wendy finishes before making her way up to her unnie who was now shrugging her guitar behind her back.

“Unnie number five! Hello!”

“Wah? What? Oh, Yeri? Wait, sorry were you talking to me? Or not? Hello! Sorry.. hahahaha.”

“Calm down unnie, lol.”

“I am, I thought you were talking to Yin or… Coco who just passed just now. She has earphones on, she probably couldn’t hear. She likes putting it to the highest volume. Tch. That’s not good for her.”

“Nono, I was talking to you. Yin is all the way over there! How could I have been saying hello to Yin from here? Unnie, are you okay.”

“Yeah I am, sorry. Maybe I was a little lost in the music. I keep focusing on listening to the sound of my guitar.. so much that I tune out even when I’m not listening to it. Were you watching?”

“Yeah I was! How could you tell I was watching? I loved it!!”

“Oh, thank you, hehe. I just guessed, haha. Everyone’s been staring lately…”

“Hm? Staring?”

“Yeah.. And not just the usual staring.”

“Do you know why?”

“I don’t really know. Like I’ve been hearing my name here and there. But I had that music recording to do for my exam so I’ve been living in the practice room for four days and when I went out, everyones just been looking at me… Weird right?”

“Yeah… Wow… That is weird.”

“Anyways, what are you here for, Yeri-ah?”

“Oh! I’m.. I’m looking for something I forgot. It’s somewhere on the third floor, room 3C-5 to be precise. It should be there if I remembered correctly.”

“Hmm, what are you looking for? I might be able to help if you need my help that is.. Just ask me if you need my help, I’ll help.. Yeah?”

“Thanks unnie, that means a lot. Don’t worry I think I know where to look. I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah of course. See you in composition class, Yeri!”

“Gotcha! Byebye!”

By the time Yeri had gotten her ‘things’ and left the music building, Wendy was no longer by the entrance nor could Yeri spot the familiar pure blue acoustic guitar. The blue guitar was like a beacon whenever you needed to spot or find Wendy as it was her must-have item and would always bring it everywhere. She was thinking about telling Wendy some of the things she missed during her four day shut-in, but she can’t be asked to run around campus playing a Where’s Wally or rather Where’s Wendy. Instead she puts all of her belief on the student body to inform Wendy someway-somehow and she leaves it at that.

Yeri has other matters to concern herself with, such as finding out how Irene was holding out with all the staring. She can’t wait to find her fidgeting and whining unnie so she could take some photos for later to tease Irene over. Then she can sell it to Irene’s fan clubs for a whopping price, which she’ll then steal back and keep tucked in her special scrapbook. Despite her frivolous ways, she loves all of her unnies to the depths of her heart so she’ll go that far to equally protect her unnies. She chuckles as she skips with purpose, crossing the performing arts’ pathways, reaching the bridge and finding her way to her number-4-unnie’s separate workspace on the second floor of the graphics department.

“What the heck. Who da-”

“Hi unnie!”

“Omo, don’t scare me like that Yeri-ah!”

“You just get scared too easily, unnie.”

“I can’t help it. Anyways, what are you doing here? What do you want?”

“Wah! Is that what you see me as, unnie? That’s not nice!”

“You want some bread? I don’t have any with me, check my bag, I don’t have any.”

“You… don’t even have a bag with you.”

“Ah so you already checked.”

“What, I’m offended! Okayy.. maybe I did.”

“So, what is it?”

“Nothing really. Just wanted to see if you were good. I was passing by.”

“I’m… good. Why… What have you heard.”

“I heard that people have been staring at you. More than they usually would.”

“Ah… they.. do..”

“Hmm.. I wonder why.”

“Can you find out for me, Yeri?”

“Huh? Me?”

“Yes.”

“Why. I’m busy too you know.”

“You’re more social than me.. But right of course, you must be busy too.”

“Sorry unnie… Maybe I can help you a bit though? I do know a tiny bit…”

“You can? That will help! Tell me what you know.”

“Well… remember Wendy, Wendy Son?”

“Hmm, yes…”

“I mentioned her before… She’s half of the puzzle. That’s all I’ve found.”

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

“Doesn’t help me at all! Hmp.”

“Hahaha, unnie, goodluck. I’ll visit you aga-“

“You’re leaving already?”

“Hm? Yep, going back home.”

“Can you accompany me for lunch? I’m hungry and I want to go to the SM Canteen.”

“You can’t eat by yourself?”

“I can but. People really do stare at me. A LOT. Way too much. Eat with me, I’ll pay for your meal, Yeri-ah. You can’t decline.”

“Ohh okay. I’ll join you for lunch then.”

“Good. Let’s go now. Let me just save my PS file.”

“Yay. I was kinda hungry anyways.”

“I’ll make sure you eat well.”

“Lucky-lucky me! Best unnie ever!”

Irene and Yeri both make their way to the SM Canteen. Along the way they discuss what they feel like eating. At the same time, Yeri notices the different air when she walks beside Irene. There are stares being thrown from everywhere and she can even feel it pricking ever pore of her skin. She wonders how it must be like for Irene for the past few days, Guilt almost taps her on the nose when she suddenly widens her eyes in notice of a blurry gathering inside the canteen. Through the glass she squints and makes out a blonde sat among a few people, friends and strangers alike. She spots the blue and she knows who the blonde is. Yeri gulps, knowing what would happen if Irene stood foot in the canteen. 

Still, they slowly made their way to the canteen’s entrance. She wouldn’t be able to stop the latter without looking weird and even more so when all the bunny keeps saying is,

-“You think they’re selling carrot cake right now?”

-“Ahh I’m craving something soupy.”

-“I want carrot cake for dessert.”

-“I’m hungry… Aren’t you hungry too, Yeri.”

-“Why aren’t you saying much?”

-“Oh look! They are selling carrot cake today!” (The weekly menu is usually displayed by the entrance of the canteen)

-“Yeri, have you decided what to eat? Come on-“

They set foot into the canteen’s marble flooring and make their way to line up when a random student shouts,

“IT’S IRENE!”

All mouths stop talking, chewing and slurping. Some even stops breathing. Even the servers halt. When a long second of still staring lapses, the sound of clattering wood hits the polished marble flooring. All heads turn towards a table occupying a certain blonde who was leaning forward to reach for her blue guitar that had dropped. Yeri rolls her eyes while everyone’s attention was off her and on the blue distraction, she couldn’t believe that Wendy’s guitar had to unintentionally make it all so much more obvious. Beside her, Irene is also staring at the squirming koala struggling with poop-hands.