A/N: Please read the foreword and also, for the sake of the story, just imagine all the songs and dances, if any, are written/composed/choreographed by them. Thanks!

“Well, well, well…Look who we have here.”

Mina internally groaned and restrained herself from knocking her head onto her locker.

She registered the owner of the voice to be none other than Kim Sohee. Mina and Sohee were well acquainted since they were in the same major and both were known to be the top rivals in the current ballet scene. Sohee was the best ballerina to enter JYP Academy causing her to be loved and popular with other students. She was known to be the face of ballet in the academy until a certain Japanese girl had transferred in and gained the Black Swan title just months into her admission. It was a given that Sohee didn’t appreciate the situation. At first, having a competitor was interesting and exciting but after constantly losing to Myoui Mina, Sohee’s pride was at stake and she had enough of it. She took all chances she got to mess with Mina, be it ballet wise or not.

Mina turned around and met the smirking faces of Kim Sohee and Choi Hyujin

"Can you leave me alone please?" Mina pleaded. It was too early and she did not feel like putting up with them.

“Oh so now you don’t like the attention.” Sohee mocked.

“I’m not here for attention. I’m here to dance.” Mina answered in a flat tone. She was used to this treatment from the two girls.

“How noble of the Black Swan.” Hyujin mocked admiration as she clapped her hands in between the words she spoke.

Just as Sohee was going to add to that comment, a stern voice interrupted, "What's going on here?"

The three looked in the direction of the sound and saw Im Nayeon and Minatozaki Sana approaching them with glares on their faces.

“Great. The annoying trio is now complete.” Sohee mumbled making Hyujin smirk before turning to Nayeon again.

“Well, if it isn’t the spoilt princess and klutzania.” Sohee insulted.

Nayeon and Sana looked at each other with mock hurt expressions before looking back to Sohee and Hyujin who still had those annoying smirks on their faces.

“Well, I guess Spoilt Princess and Klutzania are better than ‘Number two? What’s new?’, right Sana?” Nayeon had shot back earning giggles and nods from Sana.

Sohee’s expression immediately changed into a glare when the drama major had hit her where it hurt the most. ‘Number two? What’s new?’ had been used by Nayeon to reference Sohee’s streak of being number two to Mina in all their evaluation rankings and competition ranking up to date. Even if Mina doesn’t come out on top at times, Sohee never managed to surpass the Black Swan’s position either. More so than not, Sohee was always the rank right after Mina.

“Whatever Im. This doesn’t concern you.” Sohee glared.

“You’re bothering Mina. Hence, it concerns us.” It was Sana this time who had voiced out, clearly done with the two bullies. “So, why don’t you two grow up and leave Mina alone, huh?

“Hmm, let me think.”

Sohee and Hyujin pretended to think hard about it for a few seconds which annoyed the other three to no end but they kept their cool anyway.

“No!” Sohee and Hyujin answered in a sweet voice as they shrugged their shoulders innocently.

Sana’s expression turned into a glare and when she took a step forward to size up the girls, Mina’s gentle hand caught her elbow and held her back.

“What has Mina ever done to you?” Sana asked, half genuinely curious, half being a tactic to see if Sohee would actually admit that it was all due to her pride and jealousy.

Unfortunately, Sohee didn’t take the bait. The girl just thought about it as her expression gave nothing away before she shrugged her shoulders.

“Nothing. She’s just an easy target. Boring, dull, weak, undatable-” Sohee started to list down before Nayeon’s loud voice broke through.

“Mina is not any of that you oaf. And undatable?! Are you for real?!” Nayeon asked, scandalised by the accusations made about Mina.

Sohee smirked, pleased to have gauged such a big reaction from Nayeon before stepping closer to Mina, causing Sana to step closer too, in a protective manner.

“Really? So tell us Mina, when was it you last went out on a date?” Sohee challenged.

Mina could only turn away from Sohee and looked down to the floor because as much as she hated to admit it, Sohee was actually right about that one point.

“That’s what I thought.” Sohee spat.

"Please, Mina's more datable than your little mind can comprehend.” Sana had started to argue upon seeing the way Mina’s shoulders had slumped in defeat.

"Actually, you know what? No, you're right." Nayeon stepped in, protective mode on as well. "She's undatable right now because she's already taken."

Mina and Sana’s eyes went wide at the older student. Just what was Nayeon doing?!

"Please. What guy in the right mind would give this highly strung diva the time of day?" Hyujin snorted.

"Hirai Momo." Nayeon smirked as the academy’s best dancer’s name rolled off her tongue with ease.  

Again, Mina and Sana’s eyes went as wide as saucers. Hirai Momo was one of the most popular boys in the academy. Due to his talent, he was handpicked by the one and only Lia Kim to join her prodigy crew. Momo has since then been working in the industry as a ‘part-time’ dancer and also appeared in a few music videos for top artists.

“Psh! As if!!” Sohee scoffed, clearly in disbelief with what Nayeon had said.

As if on cue, Hirai Momo, was seen walking down the hallway greeting the students who had greeted him. Nayeon smirked before gesturing her head towards Momo’s direction, challenging the girls with her eyes.

"Ask him for yourself."

The two girls along with Sana and Mina turned their heads to where Nayeon had gestured. Though she had kept her composure, Mina was silently freaking out when the two girls turned back around to glare at Nayeon before going to Momo.

"Unnie! What was that?!" Mina whispered-exclaimed, scandalised at what Nayeon had done.

"I'm sorry! I've been watching a lot of dramas lately and well...the situation always builds up to an ‘in your face discovery’… Sorry!" Nayeon defended causing Mina to groan.

"Great unnie." Sana butted in, sarcastically- "Now Momo's going to think Mina's a freak."

"Thank you, Sattang.” Mina grumbled just as sarcastic.

Upon realising what she just said, Sana smiled apologetically at Mina before turning back to Momo’s direction.

"Oh no. They're talking to him." Sana commentated to the girls. While Nayeon turned her head as fast as she could out of curiosity and interest, Mina kept her eyes locked on Sana, refusing to look to Momo’s direction.

“He looks confused.” Nayeon stated her observation.

"Confused? More like mad." Sana snorted and laughed before she realised that Mina was sending her an unappreciative glare. The older Japanese gulped before turning back to the scene she was witnessing before.

“I mean-”, Sana tried to backtrack but her eyes suddenly went wide, “Oh my goodness!”

Upon seeing Sana’s reaction, Mina whipped her body around. She was met with the sight of Hirai Momo strutting down the hallway with the two bullies following behind him- towards her direction. Then, Mina too widened her eyes before snapping her gaze back to Sana and Nayeon

"He's coming here. What do I do?" Mina started panicking.

"Sorry Mina. I should have just kept my mouth shut." Nayeon apologised in her best cute voice. She had now only realised the damage she caused and could only hope that Mina wouldn’t murder her.

Mina sighed, closing her eyes and calming her thoughts before waving Nayeon’s apology off, "It’s fine. It’s been done."

"Brace yourself, Myoui." Sana mumbled and Mina heard footsteps get closer and closer before eventually stopping.

Even though she wasn’t facing the bodies which approached her, she could gauge how close they were due to the heat she felt radiating towards her back... or maybe it was just her.

"Hey." Momo called out. Mina swears that heart stopped as she heard his voice through her ears.

Mina took a breath before turning around and facing the owner of the voice. In hopes of avoiding Momo’s eyes, Mina found the two girls standing behind Momo with smirks on their faces.

"Hi?" Mina replied, a bit unsure upon seeing Momo’s expression. She was expecting something madder but what she was met with was just Momo smiling nervously.

"Are we not keeping it a secret anymore?" Momo asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"W-what?" Mina stuttered, unable to process just what Momo was implying.

"They told me that you told them about us." Momo said softly as he eyed her intently.

The two annoying girls from before had their jaws dropped all the way to the floor at Momo’s responses. And if Mina wasn’t lucky, she would have done the same.

"Does that mean we can stop sneaking around now?" Momo asked again. He blinked twice as a subtle signal for Mina to play along.

Mina nodded slowly, gaining back her composure after every nod. She watched as a huge grin broke out on Momo's face before reaching in and grabbing her hand.

"Finally." Momo breathed.

"I gotta go though. I'll see you later, okay?" Momo said before he pulled Mina in and pecked her cheek.

"O-okay." That was all Mina was able to let out as Momo sprinted down the hallway.

Mina was still in a daze with her hand on her cheek. However, she was brought out of her thoughts when Hyujin started talking.

"You're really dating him?" Hyujin asked still not wanting to believe that Mina had caught the heart of the campus heartthrob.

"Of course she is, genius!" Nayeon snapped back.

However, despite Nayeon’s supportive actions- she received disapproving gazes from the two Japanese who thought she had done enough talking for the day. Nayeon instantly got the message and smiled sheepishly before shying back a bit.

"Not to be rude, but now that you've got what you wanted… or not- can you leave us please? We have a lot of work to do." Sana stepped in, shooing the unwanted girls away.

“Whatever.” They huffed before strutting off.

“Minari?” Sana called out as she put a hand on the younger girl’s shoulder.

“Mina?” Nayeon called out as well when Mina hadn’t replied, waving her hand in front of Mina’s face to get her attention.

"What just happened?" Mina voiced out, still in shock at the events that had just unfold.

“Hirai Momo?” Dahyun laughed once Sana had filled her in with the story when she and Jihyo came through the hallway.

“Like, you just had to pick one of the most sought after boys?” Jihyo commented which caused Nayeon to pout.

The drama major then started to defend herself, “Well, we don’t know many boys and his group’s the only group we actually interact with and be-”

“Only because Jihyo and Dahyun are course mates with some of them. Other than the fact that Chaeng and Dubu are basically a thing.” Sana muttered under her breath.

“Hey! Leave me out of this.” The fairest one of all of them exclaimed as she elbowed Sana before crossing her arm, pouting.

“As I was saying, since we actually interact with them, it seemed believable.” Nayeon finished.

Mina was fast to step in at that note, “You interact with them, unnie. I usually just hover in the background.”

“Gosh, he must think I’m a freak.” Mina sighed before bending over. She felt her breath quickened and started counting to 10 in her mind to calm herself down.

Dahyun and Sana bent down with Sana rubbing Mina’s arms, facing her and breathing steadily with her while Dahyun rubbed Mina’s back soothingly.

“Awww Mina unnie. No, of course he doesn’t.” Dahyun assured her. “Hey, it’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Deep breaths.”

The other two watched on with concerned expressions as Sana and Dahyun guided Mina to calm down before Jihyo glanced at Nayeon.

“See what you did?” Jihyo glared as she gave Nayeon’s shoulder a shove for making Mina have a mini breakdown.

“I’m sorry okay, it slipped!” Nayeon yelp as she was shoved by Jihyo’s strength and lost her balance. “I was just so into character.”

“What character?” Jihyo challenge with a straight face.

“Nayeon from The Nayeon Show.” Nayeon had answered excitedly, earning weird looks from the other girls including Mina.

“Your logic never fails to amaze me.” Jihyo commented, obviously done with Nayeon’s ridiculousness.

“Anyway, how did Momo take it?” Jihyo asked as she approached Mina and rubbed her back affectionately.

“Well, he went along with it.” Mina answered, still confused on that whole thing.

“Really?” came Dahyun’s voice as her eyes widened double its original size.

“Mmhmm, he even gave Mina a kiss.” Sana said animatedly as she tapped her pointer finger twice on her cheek.

“You guys kissed?!” Dahyun asked, eyes going wide.

“It was just on the cheek.” Mina mumbled, getting all shy at their reactions.

“So you kissed!” Jihyo concluded causing everyone to laugh and Mina was left pouting at the whole situation.

When lunch time came rolling by, Mina and Sana went to the cafeteria together after Sana picked her up from class.

“Hello there, my humble subjects.” Nayeon said as she met the two Japanese students in lunch line.

“Hey! Where’s Jihyo?” Sana asked as she looked around for Dahyun.

“She has some meeting for the student union. Where’s Dubu?” Nayeon asked Sana back.

“She told me she was working on an important piece for her assessment next week. She brought her own lunch and will be in the music room.” Mina answered.

“What a coincidence” Nayeon mused as a smirk formed on her lips.

“What?” Sana asked curiously.

“I overheard that Chaeyoung was on his way to the music room.” Nayeon said as she grinned cheekily. Sana laughed at that before shaking her head.

“Those two are so obvious.” The older of the Japanese duo commented.

“You’re not getting anything, unnie?” Mina asked once she noticed that Nayeon hadn’t grab anything to eat.

“Nope. Got my salad.” Nayeon shook her head before lifting her lunch bag.

“Unnie, you need to eat more. Don’t let those comments get to you.” Sana nagged.

Nayeon giggled before she tapped Sana and Mina’s heads affectionately.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. It’s not even about that.” Nayeon assured them before walking off to find a table.

Once the girls had found a table and settled down, ready to dig into the lunches, Mina almost jumped when someone appeared on her right side.

“Hello ladies.” A charming voice called out.

“M-Momo. Hi…” Mina gaped.

After the morning’s episode, Mina didn’t know how to act around the older Japanese student. She had not seen Momo since their encounter in the hallway earlier but she had planned to stay clear of the Japanese heartthrob… probably until graduation. Unfortunately, that plan did not seem possible anymore.

“Is it okay if I joined you?” Momo asked as he gestured to the table.

Nayeon took initiative in answering when she saw that Mina had frozen in her seat again.

“Sure. Have a seat, Momo.” Nayeon replied sweetly before subtly nudging Mina- bringing her back to reality.

Momo took a seat next to Mina and smiled her way – which the ballerina had shied away from. Mina’s lunch tray had suddenly seemed very interesting as she tried her best to avoid any further eye contact with the boy next to her.

“Would it also be okay if my friends joined?” Momo asked.

Upon receiving nods from the girls, Momo raised his hand and waved his equally popular and good looking friends over. Moments later, Yoo Jeongyeon came trailing over with Chou Tzuyu following behind him. Jeongyeon and Tzuyu were music majors much like Jihyo and Dahyun. The four of them even formed an unofficial band together with Jihyo as the front man and bassist, Jeongyeon as the lead guitarist, Tzuyu as their drummer and Dahyun had contributed her talents as the band’s keyboardist. They’ve only performed together twice but from what the girls hear from Jihyo, they often jam together after academy hours.

“Hi Mina, Sana” Jeongyeon greeted with a kind expression before rolling his eyes and muttering, “Grandma”

Nayeon scoffed as she watched Jeongyeon sit himself down on Sana’s right, making him sit opposite her. She then looked up and smiled an overly sweet smile to Tzuyu.

“Hi Tzuyu” Nayeon greeted, making it obvious that she was only acknowledging Tzuyu’s presence.

The tall Taiwanese boy was about to grab the seat next to Jeongyeon but he immediately changed his mind upon witnessing the introduction to Nayeon and Jeonyeon’s daily banter. He let out a smile as a greeting and moved to take the seat on Sana’s left instead.

“Remind me again why we’re having lunch with the campus dinosaur” Jeongyeon asked referring to Nayeon.

The girl in question scoffed before glaring Jeongyeon’s way.

“You know what- I was here first. No one’s forcing you to be here, Yoo Jeongyeon.” Nayeon pointed out.

“Whatever.” Jeongyeon retorted. His eyes then travelled to the container of salad Nayeon was munching on. “Are you on a diet or something?”

“No and even if I was, it would be none of your business.” Nayeon replied coldly.

“Just so you know, no amount of dieting would change the size of your teeth.” Jeongyeon commented which made Nayeon’s blood boil.

“Dude-” Momo started in a disapproving tone before Nayeon had stopped him.

“No, it’s okay, Momo. Some people just aren’t equipped with common curtesy these days.” Nayeon spat.

“Maybe some people aren’t deserving of them.” Jeongyeon retorted.

“Shut up and eat your food, Yoo.” Nayeon gave up as she glared at the music major.

“So the princess gets grumpy when she’s hungry huh?” Jeongyeon had teased again. This time, Nayeon had taken matters into her own hand and reached for Jeongyeon’s tray.

“Hey, that’s my cheesecake!” Jeongyeon exclaimed as Nayeon took the plate of dessert from his tray.

Sana had paid no mind to the banter occurring next to her and simply ate her food while reading through some notes she had jotted down on her revision flash cards. However, it was as if a trigger word was spoken making the Japanese’s lift up.

“There’s cheesecake?” Sana asked softly to no one in particular.

She glanced over to her side where Jeongyeon glaring at Nayeon with Sana’s favourite dessert in between them. Jeongyeon looked like he was ready to keep arguing but Nayeon silenced him by chowing down on the cheesecake she stole from him. Sana sighed softly before looking back to the food counter. She concluded that they must have restocked on cheesecake since there weren’t any when she went to buy food earlier. Sana was debating whether she should go get a slice or not when she noticed movements from her right.

Sana turned back to her tray only to find a slice of cheesecake on it. Her head immediately snapped to the Taiwanese student next to her who was facing her with a kind smile.

“You can have it.” Tzuyu insisted, gesturing to the cheesecake.

“N-No, no. Its fine, Tzuyu. It’s yours, you have it.” Sana responded as she attempted to place the cheesecake back to Tzuyu’s tray but was stopped by the latter.

“It’s okay, really. I insist.” Tzuyu said gently before flashing her another smile.

“Thanks, Tzuyu.” Sana pursed her lips cutely as she eyed her tray before reaching out for the actual dessert she had purchased and handed it to Tzuyu. “I’ll trade you my pudding then.”

Tzuyu was surprised at the gesture but smiled gratefully nonetheless. He kindly took the pudding container from Sana and placed it on his tray.

“Thanks. I don’t usually eat pudding but I have to admit, the cafeteria has pretty decent pudding.” Tzuyu stated, chuckling somewhat nervously.

“I’m glad you think that way.” Sana giggled at Tzuyu’s words.

Mina smiled softly as she witnessed the interaction opposite her. Among the boys, Mina had interacted mostly with Tzuyu and Chaeyoung and she had always noticed how extremely sweet and caring the Taiwanese student was. She also found the blush that crept up on Tzuyu’s cheeks an adorable sight to witness.

Before Mina could muse further on the two in front of her, the sound of someone clearing their throat caught her attention. Mina turned her head and saw Momo rubbing the back of his neck nervously.  

“Uh Mina? I was wondering, are you free anytime today?” Momo asked meeting Mina’s eyes nervously.

Mina had to calm herself and not gush over the fact that Hirai Momo looked extremely adorable when he was nervous. She chanted to herself to ‘keep calm and stay cool’ as she opened to reply.

“I might be. Why?” Mina replied before she mentally gave herself a pat on the back, happy with her response.

“I was thinking that maybe we could grab coffee or something- we uh, kind of need to talk, no?” Momo suggested with a very cute head tilt at the end.

No! Mina wanted to bang her head on the table. The one thing she was dreading was having a conversation with Momo over the awkward encounter they had in the morning. Scratch that— Mina wanted to bang Nayeon’s head on the table.

Upon realising that Momo was still waiting for her response, Mina nodded slowly before she mentally sorted through her schedule for the day.

“I’m done at about 4 pm today. Would that be okay?”

Momo nodded, not missing a beat. Mina giggled internally at Momo’s enthusiastic action before turning away from the latter. She was sure even if she had said she was free at 9 pm tonight, Momo would still agree to meet her then.

“Great! I’ll meet you at the fountain then?” Momo clarified to which Mina nodded her head before they resumed to eat their lunch.

Meanwhile, in the music room, Chaeyoung leant against the wall, admiring Dahyun who was currently playing the piano. Dahyun had mentioned that she hadn’t finalised her piece for her upcoming showcase and Chaeyoung volunteered to help. She had composed three songs and was currently playing her third piece to Chaeyoung to get his opinion.

(A/N: I had imagine something like Nothing Better by Jung Yup but whatever floats your boat works too, my lovely readers!)

After her fingers had slowed down to a stop, ending her song- she lifted her head to face the art major leaning against the wall on the opposite side of the grand piano she was playing.

“How’s that?” Dahyun asked expectantly. .

“It’s amazing.” Chaeyoung answered with a proud smile.

“Really?” Dahyun’s eyes lit up as she heard the compliment.

Chaeyoung nodded before pushing himself off of the wall and walking over. He nodded affirmatively as he peered over the piano.

“Mmhmm. But I kinda liked the second piece better when the bridge sounded more melancholy compared to the last one.”

“Yeah?” Dahyun raised her eyebrow in interest on Chaeyoung’s point.

“Yeah. It took me somewhere.” Chaeyoung tried to explain, looking a bit bashful. “I mean, I don’t know anything about music but I felt it.”

Dahyun chuckled at his shyness that was evident through the blush which crept up Chaeyoung’s cheeks.

“Well, I don’t know much about art either but I was still moved by the painting you submitted for the showcase.” Dahyun pointed out.

Chaeyoung chuckled before he circled around and sat on the empty space of the piano bench. Dahyun unconsciously tensed at their close proximity before relaxing again.

“I don’t know if I’ve thanked you properly yet but thanks for sacrificing last Saturday just to help me decide which painting to put in for the showcase.” Chaeyoung smiled charmingly, making Dahyun feel all funny inside.

“It’s no big deal. I didn’t have much planned and besides,” Dahyun had paused to caress the middle C key with her pointer finger before looking back to Chaeyoung with a smile. “I had fun.”

“I did too.” Chaeyoung grinned.

Before they could get lost in each other’s eyes, Dahyun’s phone that was kept in the back pocket of her jeans let out a ‘ding’ sound. Dahyun reached for it and saw that she had received a text message from Nayeon. Her eyebrows furrowed together as she tapped the notification.

            From Nayeon Unnie <3:
            You better not be doing anything I wouldn’t.
            This is a prestigious institution! :p

Dahyun let out an inelegant snort at Nayeon’s message as she rolled her eyes. She then silent her phone and placed it face down again on the piano chair. She didn’t really get the message but did not want to suffer anymore teasing from any of her unnies anymore.

Her hands made their way back onto the piano keys and she felt a strong gaze on her. She turned her head and found that Chaeyoung had been looking at her with his eyebrows creased together.

“What was that about?” He asked.

“Nothing. It’s just Nayeon unnie being herself again.” Dahyun shrugged before playing random scales.

“Oh! I bumped into Nayeon noona earlier when I was coming here.” Chaeyoung said as he recalled his little encounter with the drama major a few moments ago.

The smooth play of piano scales stopped at a random middle note as Dahyun turned her head to face him.

“You did?” She asked.

“Mmhmm.” Chaeyoung nodded.

“You didn’t happen to tell her you were heading to see me, did you?” Dahyun asked as she begun to understand what Nayeon’s message was about.

“Not in those words. But I did say I was going to the music room. I guess she caught on. You know, an art major going to the music room doesn’t really sound right.” Chaeyoung smirked.

“Ahh…” Dahyun nodded understandingly before letting her fingers play random tunes on the piano again.

“Well, that explains that.” Dahyun muttered under her breath which Chaeyoung managed to catch. The boy furrowed his eyebrows again before leaning in slightly.

“Was I not supposed to?” Chaeyoung asked, beginning to worry if he had upset the girl.

With a sigh, Dahyun ended her playing in a more elegant manner compared to before.

“No, it’s not that. It’s just that the unnies have been teasing me lately and it’s starting to intensify.” Dahyun opened up.

“What are they teasing you about?” Chaeyoung asked tilting his head to one side.

“I can’t believe I’m telling you this-” Dahyun groaned as she hung her head for a while before turning to Chaeyoung.

“They’re teasing me about us.” She said, sounding a bit cold and sharp.

In hopes to kill the conversation, Dahyun starting playing her composed piece, the second one which Chaeyoung had liked more- pressing the keys with more pressure as if trying to stop whatever reply Chaeyoung may have. Unfortunately for Dahyun, it didn’t work out that way.

“Us?” Chaeyoung asked, voice slightly raised as he talked above the sound of the heavy notes being played by the pianist.

“They seem to think that you and I are, I don’t know, a thing.” Dahyun had said- trying not to sound bothered.

“They think we’re dating?” Chaeyoung seeked clarification.

By then, Dahyun had already lessened the pressure from her fingertips and played the composition how she normally would, letting the melody flow soothingly from note to note.

“Everyone does.” Dahyun shrugged but still managed to play her piece flawlessly.

“Really?” Chaeyoung raised his eyebrows.

Dahyun nodded as her eyes darted to Chaeyoung for a split second. In her honest opinion, Chaeyoung didn’t really seem shocked by it either. Not wanting to dwell on it too much, Dahyun continued to effortlessly play the piano.

“Well then, since everyone thinks we’re dating- why don’t we then?” Chaeyoung had suggested nonchalantly.

Dahyun then hit a bum note as she abruptly stopped playing. Her head snapped over to face Chaeyoung.

“What?” She let out as she tried to figure out if she had heard what she thought she did.

“Why don’t we just date for real?” Chaeyoung repeated still coolly- as if it was no big deal.

“W-wha- Are you being serious right now?” Dahyun stuttered as she searched his eyes, looking for a sign if he was joking.

“Why not? I mean, it’s obvious I like you.” Chaeyoung had confessed casually.

Dahyun froze. Was it?

A million thoughts ran through Dahyun’s head as she tried to establish whether or not it was obvious. She came up with nothing. How was she supposed to know?

Before Dahyun could even begin to confront Chaeyoung and defend herself for being oblivious to something which he had claimed to be obvious- Chaeyoung took the chance to continue with his point.

“You like me too” Chaeyoung had stated quite confidently… until of course, all he was met with was a frozen Dahyun.

Seeming to have lost a bit of confidence, Chaeyoung rubbed the back of his neck, turning away from Dahyun before timidly looking back, “… right?”

Dahyun blinked a few times in hopes to let everything sink in before clearing and caressing the keys under her fingertips.

“W-wha-well, I uh…” Dahyun shut her eyes and took a calming breath before opening them again and looking at Chaeyoung.

The sparkle of hope in his eyes gave her assurance to come clean with her feelings too.

“Yeah, I do.” Dahyun nodded, still processing the fact that she had just told Chaeyoung her longest kept secret.

Dahyun felt the walls of the practice room getting closer and closer as her heart beat increased to twice the tempo of the song she had just played. But none of that mattered as she watched a grin form itself on Chaeyoung’s face.

“Good.” He whispered as softly as he could. Dahyun watched his shoulders relaxed as he exhaled. “For a second there I thought I got it all wrong.”

The both of them couldn’t contain the smiles that formed on their faces. Dahyun was the first one to shy away from their staring contest as she looked down to the black and white keys. She moved her hand- about to play another random tune before Chaeyoung had taken hold of her right hand with his, causing her to look back at him. He intertwined their fingers together before bringing them close to his chest. He stared lovingly into her eyes, making her melt into a puddle.

“Just for the record-” Chaeyoung started.

“Yes?” Dahyun whispered as her heart rate started to speed up again.

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Chaeyoung smiled. Dahyun smiled widely before squeezing his hand lightly.

“Just for the record-” She said before leaning in closer and whispering “Yes.”

Dahyun managed to restrain herself from leaning in for a kiss as she caught a glimpse of the wall clock behind Chaeyoung’s head. She then remembered that the two of them had classes to attend. She was a bit disappointed that it had spoiled their moment but she could think of better places and moments to have their first kiss anyway.

Dahyun cleared before glancing to the clock again and put on the key cover before closing the piano.

“We, uh, better get going.” She said as she got up. Chaeyoung followed suit, grabbing his bag from the floor.

“Can I walk you to your lecture hall?” Chaeyoung asked shyly as Dahyun zipped up her bag after putting her music file back in.

“Isn’t it the opposite from where you’re heading?” Dahyun cocked her head to a side.

“It doesn’t matter.” Chaeyoung grinned cheekily before reaching for Dahyun’s book bag. “And I’ll take that.”

Chaeyoung slung her bag over his shoulder, over his own and walked ahead towards the door of the music room. The chivalrous act had the fair skinned girl blushing like a tomato. She had attempted to hide her cheeks with her hair and walked ahead muttering “Fine.”

“By the way,” Chaeyoung said as he halted his steps causing Dahyun to go crashing into his arms.

“Wha-” Before Dahyun could finish, she was silenced when she felt a warm, tingling sensation on her cheek. The pressure was gone after 2 seconds but she still felt the warmth and tingle.

“What was that for?” Dahyun blushed as her hand went up to the cheek which Chaeyoung had kissed.

The grinning boy before her chuckled at her actions before pushing her hair back and planting yet another kiss on her forehead.

“For agreeing to be my girlfriend.” Chaeyoung smiled.

“And there’s a lot more where that came from!” Chaeyoung cheekily added which cause Dahyun to pinch his cheek.

“I sure hope so.” Dahyun flirted before she placed a peck on his lips and heading out the door.

Chaeyoung was left in shock at his new girlfriend as his finger found its way to trace his lips which still tingled. He smiled goofily at the thought of more kisses from Dahyun before snapping out of his trance and racing out the door after her.

Nayeon arrived in the auditorium which was booked for the latest production done by the drama department. She had landed the lead role in the production and was to perform it next month so they had theatre practice every other day. When she arrived for rehearsals, she was surprised to see a figure already inside the auditorium. He was looking around as if scanning the whole place before he sighed with a look of agony plastered on his features. Somewhere behind him in the audience seats, Nayeon could see his signature guitar case.

“What are you doing here?” Nayeon asked as she approached him, catching his attention.

Jeongyeon looked at her with a bored expression before he snorted, “What are you? The theatre police?”

Nayeon clicked her tongue in annoyance at the sarcastic reply she got. She wanted so badly to smack Jeongyeon for his attitude but decided not to give him the benefit of gauging a reaction out of her.

“Fine. Don’t tell me.” Nayeon said before she readjusted her bag. She was about to walk away when she heard a sigh come from Jeongyeon.

“I’m making up the hours of my punishment period.” He answered, half annoyed, half ashamed as he avoided Nayeon’s eyes.

“I got into a little trouble last semester and I’m still paying off my hours of community service.”

“So...?” Nayeon had trailed off, causing Jeongyeon to sigh again.

“So basically, I’m picking up trash in the auditorium and helping your people with props.” He stated.

“Wow. What did you do?” Nayeon had asked, genuinely curious. She had heard that Jeongyeon had a bad boy reputation in some ways but she hadn’t thought much about it before.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Jeongyeon said as his signature smirk formed on his lips.

At that, Nayeon sighed before she adjusted her bag again and walking off, “Fine. Have fun cleaning.”

Rehearsal carried on like any other day for Nayeon other than the fact she kept catching glimpse of Jeongyeon who was like a busy bee. He had helped with setting and moving the props as well as the stage settings which caused him to keep appearing in front of Nayeon.

Soon after Nayeon’s most dramatic scene where her character was left to mourn the disappearance of her family, Professor Seo clapped her hands twice before raising her hand.

“I think we’ll finish there for the day! Great work everybody.” Professor Seo had said as she jotted down some notes, “Great work!”

At that note, the production team gathered around Professor Seo at the edge of the stage to listen to any comments or reviews she might have had. Professor Seo made her way over to the front of the gathered students before clearing and adjusting her glasses.

“Nayeon, that was amazing.” The educator had complimented Nayeon softly as she made eye contact with the drama major. “As always.”

“Now, yes!” Professor Seo then addressed the other students, “Almost forgot to mention s