I’m pressing my lips together in front of the laptop, my breath goes along with the tick of the remaining seconds on the screen. I’m clasping my wireless mouse on one hand, one more dose of strength and it might break.

          In my third year of university, the students in my faculty are obliged to take a one-month community service program in rural areas of the country and the students are able to choose the district they want to stay in via the students’ website—only it has changed into a war for the two hundred students. Everyone’s competing to get places that are closest to home or urban area, fearing being too long in the countryside will bore them out. Not anyone’s fault, but unlucky ones are bound to be stuck in unknown villages if they don’t click fast enough.

          The timer hits 00:00:00 and a new screen is opened. A list rolls down, containing the village name, district, and province. The green colored texts go grey line by line, and gasps are heard around the library. What—the closer areas are taken already. I swallow when only god-knows-where areas remain available. Groans start to be heard, and I try to focus. I can’t afford to be picky now, the longer I search or choose, the faster the areas would run out.

          I click on a random area, and it brings me to a loading page. The area name and a small table appears, with a link to download the program’s guidelines.

Kim Jinho – Class B

Oh Sehun – Class A

Shin Nana – Class B

Choi Yumi – Class A

          I stare at the screen. Four students per group, huh? Wasn’t it usually at least 10 per group? I inspect the rest of the page, and I found nothing. We’re really going in small groups? Here I only know Kim Jinho, my classmate.

          I read the guideline, and the group is instructed to have an introduction meeting before an official briefing by the campus in a few days. Since the departure time is next week, it’s better to get started right away. I close my laptop, and head to my next class.

          As I walk along the corridor, I spot Kim Jinho on the end of the hallway and he spots me too. “Yo, Shin Nana!” he smiles and offers his hand for a high five as soon as I get closer. “Same group, huh?”

          I’m not really close with Jinho in class, but he’s a type who gets along well with everyone so I have this relieved feeling inside of me. I pat his palm weakly, and shrug. “I literally just chose anything. Where is it?”

          “I searched and it’s five hours from here.” Jinho answers as we continue walking, and I turn to him, surprised to see how cheery he is. We arrive to the entrance of the class and a classmate approaches us with a playful smile. “Hey, you succeeded to choose the same area with Yumi?”

          Jinho suddenly breaks into a giggle, and I furrow my brows. “What is this about?” I ask, taking turns looking at him and the other classmate.

          “This dude just became a couple two days ago!”

          My mouth opens a bit, and Jinho has a huge grin on his face. “You planned this?” I ask.

          Jinho smiles wider, and I shake my head.

          “Anyway, let’s meet up with the group after class. How about it?” Jinho offers.

          “Alright.”

*

          Our group will have a meeting at a café in front of school, and Jinho and I are walking to the gate when a pretty, long-haired girl with knee-length soft pink skirt and brown cardigan runs to us, and she exchanges shy looks with Jinho. This must be Choi Yumi.

          “Hello! Nice to meet you.” she reaches out her hand, and I take it with a smile.

          “Shin Nana.”

          “You’re not going with Oh Sehun?” Jinho asks.

          “Ah, him… He said he’s going to be a little late.”

          The three of us continue to go to the café, and take a table in the corner. Jinho and Yumi sit beside each other in front of me, and I silently look at them as they’re looking at something in Jinho’s laptop together. Yumi catches my sight, and she awkwardly smiles. “I’m sorry, Nana. We—”

          “I know, I know. I understand. Don’t worry about me.” I laugh. “But if you guys do nothing but date for a month, I won’t stay still.” I say jokingly.

          “Nana is strict, we should make her the leader.” Jinho exclaims. I glare at him, and Yumi chuckles. They notice someone behind me, and Yumi waves her hand.

          I turn to see, and a man approaches our table. This must be Oh Sehun. His height is similar with Jinho with a leaner build, but his shoulders are much wider. He has straight short hair just above his ear, and bangs that almost hide his slightly arched eyebrows. He’s wearing dark blue sweater and ripped jeans, and I unconsciously take a long time looking at his clothes. I look up, and our eyes meet. His eyes are sharp and ambiguously intimidating, and I grit my teeth when he looks at me from that angle. This time, I want to look away so bad.

          “Hello. I’m Oh Sehun.” he smiles a little, and bows a bit to me. I stand up, and return his bow as I mention my name. It’s the first meeting for Jinho and him as well, and they introduce themselves. Sehun sits beside me, and Jinho starts the meeting.

          “…we should call the village representative to know the best transportation to get there, insight for our accommodation, and the overview of the situation there so we can arrange the projects.”

          “We can also ask our seniors about how we should spend the time there, we can take some inspiration.” Yumi adds.

          “Are we going to be graded by report only?” Sehun asks, and I notice his voice is higher than I expected.

          “I ever heard that some professors would randomly show up at the village to monitor. That’s why we should always be alert and do our best.” Jinho says.

          The meeting comes to an end, and Sehun excuses himself to go even before the rest of us stand up. A busy bee, isn’t he? “Alright, Yumi, Nana, I’ll make a group chat later. Thank you!” Jinho says, and we part ways.

          Later that night, a notification appears on my messaging app, informing I was just added to a group with the village name as the group name. I check the other three contacts inside, and while Jinho and Yumi has their own photos as their display picture, Sehun’s shows a white fluffy bichon frise dog. Aw, is that his pet? He unexpectedly has a cute side. Is this really his number, though? Suddenly I’m doubting it.

          I shrug, and save Yumi and Sehun’s numbers. I’ll know it sooner or later.

*

          Due to classes we only exchange information through the group chat, and we’re going to meet again at the official briefing. It’s being held in a large lecture hall, and there aren’t that many people inside. I spot Oh Sehun sitting on the end of a line of chairs near the window, and I approach him.

          “Hi.” I greet him, and sit next to his seat. He just gives me a half-smile, and looks at the view outside the window. Soon other students fill the space, and I stretch my neck, looking for Jinho and Yumi.

          “Where are they?”

          Sehun turns his head, and looks around vacantly. “Well, nobody says we need to sit in groups.”

          My lips are shut tight, and I stay still. What does he mean? What does that make me, who settled down without even asking earlier? A professor comes in, and everyone pays attention to the front. Sehun is taking notes silently, and I try to focus on what the professor says.

          The briefing ends, and Sehun gets up first. “I’m going.”

          “Isn’t our group going to—”

          “I have somewhere to go. Just tell me what to do via the chat. See you on the departure day.”

          My mouth parts a bit as he walks past me and disappears behind the door. Not long after, I meet Jinho and Yumi outside but seems like Sehun had already informed his absence in this meeting. I hold myself back from talking about this one particular group member, and go with the couple to find a spot for our talk.

*

          It’s the day to go to the village, and I’m the first one to arrive in the train station. The journey is going to be four hours by train with two transits and someone from the village we contacted who wanted to be addressed by Uncle Yong will pick us up at the station and take another hour by car to the exact area.

          Jinho and Yumi arrive together, and Sehun comes not long after. Yumi and I each bring a large suitcase and handbag, but the boys only have huge hiking backpacks with them. I guess men are different. We board the train, and sit in twos facing each other.

          Yumi and Jinho sit by the window, being in their own world. Sehun in front of me looks sleepy, and he has his hands folded on his chest and neck stretched, trying to find a comfortable position.

          Our eyes accidentally meet, and we both look away quickly. I silently sigh, and look at the rows of seat on my side. Let’s see if I can go through this one month ahead in peace.