October 8th

6:45pm

He tapped his fingers.

6:47pm

He chewed on his bottom lip roughly.

6:50 pm

He stared at the clock on the wall above the teachers head. His eyes unmoving and unblinking. 

It was Thursday and that meant Science Academy after school.

He was tired, he needed a nap. His eyes were getting heavy. The teachers words were slowly becoming unrecognizable as they were becoming a jumbled mess falling on sleepy ears. His hand that held his chin up was letting his head slip down slowly. 

He was almost to dreamland...

His head popped up when he felt a hard prick on his eyelid. 

He looked up knowing exactly what direction it came from. Glaring at his class mate that say in front of him.

“Answer her dummy!” He’s classmate whisper yelled. He moved his head slightly to see past his friend’s head and saw that the teacher was staring at him with her arms cross with an impatient look.

“Uh-,“ He took a moment to actually read the board and figure out and calculate what she had asked and what his answer would be.

“Particles to Moles? One Mol divided by 6.02 times 10 to the 23rd power.” He said yawning afterwards. Simple chemistry he thought.

The teacher shook her head with a surprised look on her face embarrassed that she couldn’t embarrass him. She cleared and continued on with the lesson.

His friend in front of him gave a jealous glare. He smiled. 

The bell finally went off signaling the dismissal of the class.

“I envy you Jinki, I really do.” His classmate Taeyeon said standing up from her seat in front of him as she packed her things in her bag in a hurry. Her faced slightly scrunched up as she shook her head back and forth in disbelief at Jinki, her two braids bouncing with ever movement. 

“I just want to see you get one thing wrong, just once.” His other friend Sunny said as she approached them. 

“I do Noona, I do. My first few exams weren’t that great.” He said leaning back in his chair too tired to get up.

“You have the highest grades in the class...” She said with a ‘duh’ look on her face. She playfully pushed his arm with a wide grin on her face.

Taeyeon and Sunny were a few of his friends in his year that he hung out with outside of his five friend group. The were forced to go to the Science academy as well. Taeyeon, because her future involved something in the medical field so she needed as much studying as she could get. Sunny on the other hand needed to get her grades up in this specific subject. 

 They gathered their belongings and made their way out of the class quickly as possible, happy that class was finally over.

Jinki didn’t know how his eyes were even open as he felt they were going to close any moment. He felt as if he was sleep walking.

“Jeez, Jinki-ah. The bags under your eyes are more prominent than usual. What’s keeping you up at night?” Sunny said as she poked at his unusually large eye bags. 

Ah, she knew him well. 

On top of all his school work and his badgering parents, he had been up all night tossing and turning.

He hated to admit it, but he couldn’t stop thinking about the play he wanted to try out for. 

He initially threw out the thought not long after he told Minho and Jonghyun. But he recently saw a sign hung up in the school hallway that read:

 Try-Outs November 1st

As the time came near he couldn’t stop thinking about it. 

Jinki really really wanted to do it. He wanted to sing. 

But he had no experience. 

He had Academy’s after school.

He had a hefty load of school work.

His parents would definitely say no.

One of his friends even laughed in his face!

He kept these negative thoughts in his head as a reminder to discourage himself from trying out.

“November 1st...” Jinki repeated out loud to himself.

“November 1st what?” Taeyeon repeated after him looking at him strangely.

The three walked together to the bus stop.

Jinki and Taeyeon lived in the same neighborhood while Sunny lived in the general direction of where they stayed.

“Guys…I have a question…a hypothetical question…”

Taeyeon looked at him mysteriously, as she gave him a sideways look.

“Go ahead.” Sunny chirped.

“Well-“ Jinki started off in a nervous high pitched voice.

“W-what would you guys think if I umm- if I tried out for the school play?”

Both girls stopped and looked at each other funnily. Sunny snickered to herself with a wide grin on her face.

“Well, when would you even have time for something like that?” Taeyeon asked.
Jinki blinked.

“You know your parents watch over you like a hawk and wouldn’t even let you do something like that.” She continued. “It would only distract you from school anyways.”

Jinki scratched his head embarrassingly. 

“Well I think it sounds like a great idea.” Sunny said. She was always the positive chipper one. “It would be something different you know? All you do is study, study, study. It would be fun to try something different.” She said shrugging. 

 “Yah, don’t listen to her! You see she’s here in the academy because she is close to failing! She should be focusing on her work also.” Taeyeon said casting Sunny a glare.

“Well, I guess...”

“Come on Jinki, I dare you to try.” Sunny said unfazed by her older friends comment. 

Jinki really appreciated Sunny support it truly meant a lot to him. It was something he needed to hear.

“Jinki shouldn’t be distracted by things like that. I’m just looking out for you.” She said directing her last comment to him.

Taeyeon wasn’t completely wrong. He knew joining such a thing would take him from his studies. Was this a good idea?

Jinki bid them a farewell when they walked their seperate ways to get home. He made his way to the train station.

He felt so conflicted. 

Jonghyun laughed in his face and Taeyeon said it wasn’t a good idea.

But Minho and Sunny both supported him.

Two against two.

He appreciated Minho’s and Sunny’s support, but Minho supported almost anything anyone did which wasn’t bad, but not too much of a surprise. And Sunny was always happy-go-lucky and supported anything that didn’t have to do with school. 

Jonghyun didn’t mean to be an , he knew this, but him laughing in his face was still discouraging. And he knew Taeyeon was just looking out for him, she knew how much his parents cared about his grades. 

He decided on his way home he should ask just one more person to see. Best out of five he thought. This last opinion would make it or break it for him.

He knew exactly who to ask.

The ride home was a blur as his mind was filled with thoughts of who should call and how to present his idea.

Jinki entered his home without a greeting from his parents. Jinki didn’t have a traditional Korean home. His parents well very well off and decided to live in a huge home. Kibum and Taeyeon also lived in the same neighborhood but their houses weren’t as lavish as his.

He sighed as he searched around the first floor looking for his parents searching around in the many roo they had, so that he may properly greet them. He found his father in his ‘Man Cave’ as he liked to call it. Since he was here he assumed his mother was in her room where she relaxed in. 

“Good evening Father.” Jinki announced. He stood at the threshold of his fathers door the entered to his Man Cave. He gave him a ninety degree bow. 

Jinki didn’t have the type of relationship where he could run up and give his father a hug and talk about his day. But he wished he did.

He watched as his father held a cigar in his mouth while slowly lowering the newspaper he was reading. His glasses slide down his nose as he looked up at the sound of his voice.

“Ah son, how was school today and the academy today?” He waved his hand as a signal for him to enter. He looked back down at his paper.

“It was good as always.” He said not mentioning how he was falling asleep during most of his classes today from being so tired.

“And the academy? Still the top of the class?” His father asked looking up at him for a moment to hear his answer.

“Still the top of the class.” He nodded.

“That’s my boy.” He smiled. “Go speak to your mother. Dinner should be ready very soon, so go change.” He said.

This was the end of their conversation. It was always like this, brief and straight to the point.

He went to go speak to his mother and she asked how school was and then doted on him reminding him to go to bed early to get a good nights rest and to eat all of his dinner so that an empty stomach didn’t distract him for work. His conversations were always like this with his mother as well, her always worrying and nagging him, but at least she talked to him more than his father did.

Jinki headed upstairs to his room. He took a few moment to unwind and relax and change into his house close. Once he was done he picked up his phone hesitatingly. He took a deep breathe before deciding to FaceTime the person he wanted to call to ask for an opinion.

It took only three rings until the phone was picked up.

“Hey Jinks, wassup?” 

Although he was younger, Jinki respected Kibum very much. He was very rational and mature for his age and often watched out for the younger members in their group along with him. They were close as he and Kibum’s family went to the same church almost all their lives, but as Jinki got older his family stopped going as much. 

“Hey, Ki. I have a question to ask.” He asked nervously. Jinki had no idea what decision to make. He knew Kibum wouldn’t stir him in the wrong direction.

“Go ahead.” He smiled.

“Well remember the play you told me about?”

Kibum looked off to the side trying to remember what he said.

“Oh yes, yes! The Phantom of the Opera right?”

“Yes that one...do you really think it would be a good idea...to really try out for it...?” He asked nervously scratching the back of his neck.

“Hmm let’s see...let’s think again and weigh your options here.” This is why he liked Kibum. Rational.

“What are the cons of doing this?” He contiuned.

Jinki sat for moment to think about all the negative things that he thought earlier that could come from this. And he could definitely think of a few.

“Well...my parents would not support me at all. I mean I can sing but I’m not trained. I don’t know if I can act all that well. And my grades could suffer.”

Kibum nodded silently agreeing.

“And what about the pros?” 

This took longer for Jinki to think about. He was being so pessimistic before, now he needed to think positive.

“Well...I would be trying something new. I’ll be able to sing. I can meet new people...” He trailed off thinking of more things to say.

“It could be fun for me, I think.”

Jinki wore a faint smiling thinking about all the positives.

“Well it seems like neither one outweighs the other. But I think if you were able to keep your grades up you, why not do both? I truly think your capable of doing it Jinks. Your very smart. I say go for it!”

Jinki smiled. Maybe this is exactly what he needed to hear.

“I know your scared and it sounds risky. But I think you should take a chance.” Kibum added.

Jinki pondered on what he said for a few moments. He thanked Kibum for helping him think it through before he hung up. 

He threw himself backwards on his bed with his arms resting behind his head. 

He was satisfied with his final decision.

He knew what he wanted to do.

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Long time no see! Sorry for the almost two year hiatus, life happens!

Anyways I hoped you all liked this chapter! I can't wait to get into Jinki's story line even further!

This story is challenging for me because I am trying to make sure and figure how to properly and evenly portray the dynamics of their relationships that they each have with each other. This may be a looong story since I write about each of them in one chapter, but I hope you all enjoy!

Comments? Are you guys excited?