“Aren’t you gonna eat?”,   Chaeyeon asked.  Yena kept staring at her plate, chin resting on the table.

“The evaluation wasn’t that painful last year”,  Chaewon added.  

“It can’t be helped, and you know that”,   Juri was the only one who tried to comfort her. 

“I know, but that’s not it”. 

“Then what is it?”,   Chaeyeon and Chaewon asked at the same time.  

Yena raised her chin up and looked at them, pouting.  These guys really with words, she thought.  They just laughed at her, did not try to comfort her any further.

“Eat some, I’ll see you later”,   Juri said before she left.

Yena clashed her head on the table, eyes closed.  She had zero energy to participate in any conversation at the moment, wishing to go home. 

“So Yena isn’t eating?”

“That doesn’t mean you can eat her food”,   Chaewon nagged at Hyewon.

“Look,     She’s waving at us”,    “Hey!”,  Hyewon shouted. 

Someone stopped at the table, and Yena did not bother to lift her head up.

“Hey, our main vocal is here”,   said Chaeyeon. 

“Oh, if you are looking for Yena, she isn’t available right now, she is in hibernation”,   Hyewon’s remark made Chaewon’s laugh.  

The vanilla scent awakened Yena.  Knowing who the person was, Yena quickly sat up.  Her eyes’ met Yuri’s,  and the girl was smiling at her,  softly.

“Hi unnie”

“H-Hey” 

Her noisy friends suddenly became quiet  as though they did not want to miss a single word Yuri was about to say.  A shiny smile was plastered on their faces. 

“I usually drink this when I lost my voice”,  “It really helps”

Yena received a cup of tea from the younger girl.    It was still hot.      The aromatic smell of green tea and honey seemed to calm her down.

“But it may not be good on an empty stomach though”,    Yuri rubbed her chin uncertainly. 

“Thanks”,

-See you later- she mouthed to Yena before going back to her friends.

Yena took a sip of the tea.   Its warmth soothed .     Her friends were staring at her amusingly. 

“What?”,   Yena asked.

“So,  you aren’t gonna eat?”,   Hyewon said while reaching for Yena's plate.  Yena slapped her hand to make her stop.

“Yah, Lunch is important, you know?”,    She said before shoving a mouthful of rice into .

None of her friends said any more words, but they did exchange looks mischievously. 

—

In the afternoon, Yena had difficulty focusing on the lessons, especially during the Math lesson.  Yena’s seat was at the back corner next to the window.  She looked outside, the students were gathering for a PE lesson on the grass field.  For some reasons, it was keeping her awake.  

“Choi Yena”,   the teacher called out her name.

Yena blinked twice.     She had not been paying attention to the class.

“Yes, sir?”

“Problem number 5?”,   the teacher repeated. 

Yena really hit a jackpot today, not once but twice.  She read the problem on her book, and had absolutely no idea how to solve it.

She scratched her forehead, her eyebrows squishing together, but the book did not seem to give her the answer.

“Guys, music is not the only priority here, anyone?”

The student in front of Yena raised her hand, she carried a notebook with her and went to the front.   Yena recognized the girl, she was the captain of the cheerleading club.  With curiosity, Yena kept watching the girl writing the solution on the board.  The last thing she would expect was the cheerleading captain solving math problems on the first day of school.  

The girl had dark brown shoulder hair.  Her eyes were sparkling.  She had a determining look which was rare for a high school student.  

“That’s correct,  at least someone opened a book before coming”

“What’s your name?”

“Miyawaki Sakura, Sir”

Since the class ended, Miyawaki Sakura had been a hot topic. Yena caught a few words from her classmates chitchatting about the captain.

'She is so cool, I really want to be friend with her'

'She is prettier up close, but she looks quiet though'

“Wow, everyone is talking about her, we got a celebrity in our class”,

“I like her”, said Hyewon.

“Because she is smart?” 

“and pretty”,   Hyewon finished Yena’s sentence. 

------

After the afternoon classes, Yena helped Juri and Hyewon practice for the song evaluation.  They used the practice room of the theatre’s club.  Chaeyeon and Chaewon stayed too.  Although the herbal tea did help , Yena still did not want to overuse her voice.

It was almost impossible for Yena to hear Juri and Hyewon singing at the same time.  When Yena asked Chaewon to help, she said it was funnier to watch Hyewon bickering with Yena.  Hyewon kept complaining about Yena not giving her proper feedback, which was somewhat true.  Eventually, Hyewon gave up and said she would practice on her own.  They continued to by saying that she still had an acting class as a back-up.  

Hyewon was absent during lunch in the following day, and Yena felt guilty about that.  When Yena approached her, she simply said she had a secret practice.  She even asked if Yena wanted to join the practice in the evening but Yena was exhausted and ready to go home.

---

At ten o’clock in the evening, Yena got a message from Hyewon.

*BEEP* - We just ordered Pizza, come join us-

-I'm home, mom would kill me-    Yena replied, eyes went back to TV.

*BEEP*, -At Yuri’s house-

---------

Yuri was the one who opened the door when Yena arrived.     It looked like she just got out of the shower.

The water dripping down from her hair made her white t-shirt wet.         Yena could see her bras.

Her face was clear and delicate.    She was even prettier without make-up.  

Yena was fully aware of her own heart pounding at a faster rate,    and couldn’t stop staring at   Yuri.         Even though it might make the girl uncomfortable.

“I’m going to melt if you keep staring”,   Yuri said and quickly turned away 

“Wait”,   Yena grabbed Yuri’s hand.          The touch electrified both of them and she quickly let go as a reflex.

Yuri had her hand covering while she was waiting for Yena to say something.

“Ah, the tea really helped,   thank you”,   Yena told her. 

“You already thanked me, unnie”,     Yuri spoke with her eyes smiling.

 “Let’s come eat”,   she was about to walk back inside but Yena stopped her.

Yena grabbed her hand again.     This time she did not let go.          Yena's pulse was racing when Yena boldly said,

“Why are you so pretty?”

Yuri’s cheeks were turning red after she heard Yena,     she was blushing   -hard.

She hit Yena’s arm, and said,    “You are crazy,   seriously”.  

Yuri might be right because Hyewon also heard Yena.    Yuri clumsily stepped into the house passing Hyeon who was standing at the door, one hand holding a slice of pizza.  Yena watched her disappearing before asking Hyewon,

“Am I crazy?”,  Yena pointed at herself.

“It was a dumb question to ask”.