black-eyed susan; /ˌblæk aɪd ˈsuːzən/; endless encouragement

“encouragement is like oxygen”

Even though it has been stated that the practice hours would increase since the annual school festival was in five days, somehow, Mark has a different arrangement. He decided to end every practice earlier instead. He mentioned that they should not go as hard and to conserve their energy for the actual event.

When he explained his reasonings, it sounded very nonsensical to Mi Joo. Thus, as expected, this led to an argument between the duo again.

“Why should we cut the rehearsals short? Haven’t you realised that the event is at this coming Friday?”

“We need to have a proper rest. Staying up won’t help us.”

“Okay. But why not ending it at the usual timing instead? It’s still way too early.”

“The standard dismissal time is at five. By the time all of us reach home, it would be around six due to heavy traffic and what not. To clean up, eat and not to mention, there’s schoolwork as well, all of these would be done by eleven tops. We would use our phones for at least one hour and thus we would sleep at midnight. Remember, there’s still school the next day. Therefore, we only get to rest for five to six hours at most. That’s not enough. Scientific research shows that an average human need at least eight hours of sleep per day. Henceforth why I’m releasing everyone earlier than the usual timing.”

“… Fine.”

This was a common sight these days whereby their bickering was not as intense as before. Everyone was still getting used to this sudden change but nonetheless were they glad about it. It was very exhausting and tiring to be listening to their non-stop dispute.

“Thank you. If no one else disagrees, we shall call it a day. Thanks for the hard work and have a good rest. See you guys tomorrow!”

Mi Joo wanted to stay a while more. But ever since that certain day, she deemed best if she did not do so. She knew the two would be alone again and who knows what might happen? She was not willing to go through it once more. She could use the spare time to study in school instead.

“Mark, are you joining us for dinner?”

“Sorry, I can’t. I got something on.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow!”

Jackson and Yu Gyeom bid their farewells to Mark who was in a hurry as he quickly left the dance studio.

Mi Joo pondered what the guy was up to. The vibe he gave off was odd and strange and very unlike him. But who cares, right? Yet somehow, she felt very uneasy.

Midnight fell like a rich velvet blanket of black, the darkness was almost absolute with only a smattering of luminous stars scattered across. It was the day of the school festival and it was also the day whereby Mark has once again failed to convince his parents about his future plans.

He tried every single day but it was of no use. They just would not listen to him which was very suffocating for him. It was a routine. The moment he returned home closed to midnight, he attempted to have a proper talk in which it ended within five minutes. These five minutes was the only