FACEBOOK POST

Seulgi Kang uploaded a photo: A piece of graph paper with a lot of small x's drawn on it in a distinct formation, significantly blurred like the phone was moving when the picture was taken.

Caption: u know when u block for exactly 42 people and now u have 41? fml

21 likes, 15 comments

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Mijoo Lee: how many times do i have to hear this story??

Mijoo Lee: some1 is s a l t y

Chungha Kim: ):

Taemin Lee: lol

Seulgi Kang: jerk

Taehyun Roh: lol

Seulgi Kang: i step down as director good luck Jongin Kim Shiah Yoo Chittaphon Leechaiyakul

"Sungjoo Kim is the – "

"Bane of your existence," Mijoo spits out with half a chicken wing in . "Wow, surprise. Not like you’ve been saying that since Taeil quit the team."

Seulgi rips open another packet of saltines, so forceful that the top few pop out of the packaging and onto the table. Fallen soldiers. "Well, it's true," she mutters, going back to glaring at said bane of existence sitting ten tables away. "He looks like a ."

Mijoo sighs, reaching over to cop a cracker from Seulgi. "No, he looks like he's doing that Immunology assignment that's due at 5." She looks at Seulgi suspiciously. "Which reminds me, did you finish it?"

"I'm turning it in late," Seulgi scowls before stuffing a handful of crackers in . Now that Mijoo mentions it, Sungjoo does have his laptop open and is scribbling in a familiar-looking packet. But Sungjoo is also mouthing along to whatever music he's playing through his Bluetooth earbuds which brings her back to Taeil quitting which brings her back to having a crisis at two in the morning yesterday night, which is why she didn't finish her assignment. God, she hates Sungjoo Kim. "Do you think I should talk to him about it?"

Mijoo blinks. "You've been asking me for the past," she looks down at her phone to check the time, "Thirty-four ing minutes, Seulgi." She helps herself to another saltine as if she doesn't know Seulgi has no other form of sustenance for the next three days. "And besides, you made Taeil cry once because you said he wasn't born a dancer and wouldn't die one either."

Not one of her brightest moments. "I don't need a dancer, I need a body to fill a spot." She pauses. "Preferably human."

"He was in ten seconds of the whole set last semester." Sometimes, she really hates how well-versed Mijoo is with her facts.

"Anyway," Seulgi starts, packing up her crackers and throwing them back into her backpack. "I decided I'm going to talk to him."

Mijoo shrugs, going back to her chicken. "Tell me how it goes," she says, with what Seulgi hopes is a modicum of sincerity.

Seulgi honestly hates confrontation. That's why she waited for Taeyong to tell her he was sleeping with Ten instead of telling him outright that she was not interested in him, though she thought the way he stared at her was very nice (turns out it was because she was teaching them choreography), why she never asked Mark Tuan out before he graduated, why she doesn't tell Mijoo to stop eating the only meal she had time to prepare with her two-hours-of-sleep-each-night schedule. She clutches the strap of her backpack tighter as she gets closer and closer to Sungjoo's table, heart climbing up to , thinking about how thinking about all her past failures in instant replay really makes her want to throw up.

That might also be due to the fact that Seulgi can count the total number of hours she's slept in the past five days on one hand, and sleep deprivation makes her stomach queasy and irritable, but you know. The narrative.

Okay. Deep breath. She stops next to where he's sitting. The world doesn't blow apart. Step one complete.

Step two: she notices that there's a cat video on his screen. Immunology assignment, her .

But Seulgi is a nice person, and lets none of how she feels about Sungjoo's lack of work ethic show in her choice of words. " you, Sungjoo Kim."

Sungjoo pulls out an earbud when he notices that she's standing invasively close to him. "Um, hey Seulgi?" he smiles, confused.

"Recruiting Taeil Moon for acappella society?" Seulgi goes on. "When you and everyone else who knows Taeil knows that he's already on KSA Modern?"

The cat video's still playing on his screen. Sungjoo lets out a breathy, awkward laugh that makes his broad shoulders shake. Seulgi bets he's wearing shoulder pads under that tank of his. "Is he?" he says. "He didn't mention that at auditions." Seulgi represses the part of herself that sees that statement as a thing Taeil would plausibly do. "And I think he'd mention any other important extracurriculars."

Some part of her brain short circuits. "Important extracurriculars?" she echoes. "Are you saying that going around, imitating basses and snares using your spit is more important than winning a statewide hip hop dance competition that we've placed in for the past two years?"

The corners of Sungjoo's mouth droop at that. "Don't insult beatboxing like that."

Seulgi ignores him. "Well, if there's anyway you can cut him loose so it doesn't conflict with our practices." She gives her best professional smile, pulling her hair so it falls over one shoulder. "I'm all ears."

"I can't do that," Sungjoo sighs.

So much for diplomacy. Seulgi, however, doesn't let her very rude train of thought escape . "What the ."

"Taeil's the best newbie we've had in years," he explains, closing his laptop and sliding it back into its case. "And we already initiated him. Once you're initiated, you can't go back!"

Seulgi can't believe he's trying to use an initiation to reason with her. She’d made Taeil run ten laps around the parking structure every practice with the rest of the team to build up their endurance. That was initiation enough, and she wasn’t using that as an excuse. "I'm sure you have other talented vocalists," she grits out against her will. "But I need a ending block with forty-two people in it."

Through stupidity or sheer willpower, he doesn’t let up. "We already gave him a solo."

"I guarantee you, Taeil is a much more talented dancer than he is a singer."

Sungjoo stares at her like she's missing a screw. "He's got a three octave range and he's never even taken voice lessons before."

Seulgi has to think hard for the next compliment. "Taeil is a very hard worker, even though he's not particularly skilled – "