red chrysanthemum; /rɛd krɪˈsænθɪməm/; love confession

“must confess”

After going through the intensive three weeks of preparations, the annual school festival has finally commenced.

The school festival was a whole day event and it was opened to the general public. Friends from other schools, family members and those who knew about the event came. It was only the start but the crowd was already growing immensely by the minute.

At every corner of the school, it was fully decorated with balloons and streamers of many colours. Not only that, the campus was filled with a variety of workstations done by the students be it food and games. Everyone was lively and enthusiastic on this very day.

The performances were only due in the afternoon so at least for now, Mi Joo has some time in her hands to help out in the flower arrangement club. It has been long since she was in this very room given that Kei and Su Jeong did not call her for help the past three weeks. Thankfully, they did not actually call her to satisfy their cravings. She was also very pleased and proud when she saw how beautiful each bouquet turned out.

“Let’s bring them down later when the closing ceremony is about to begin.”

“Okay, Mi Joo unnie.”

“Do we have enough stalks for those visiting?”

“We prepared three hundred and got some chocolates as well.”

“Alright. Oh, hi! Welcome!”

For the next three hours, the three girls were busy greeting those who came by their club. Their friends and classmates dropped by as well during their break but it was more because they wanted to receive free chocolates from them. Nonetheless, the trio were still happy to do so.

Even Jackson and Yu Gyeom paid a visit to the flower arrangement club. However, Mark was not with them when they came.

“Is Mark not with you guys?”

“Oh, Mark hyung has something going on. He didn’t mention what though.”

“I see.”

Mi Joo could not help but feel a sense of disappointment upon hearing what Yu Gyeom said. She wondered where he could have gone to. She figured he might be resting due to how late they stayed last night. It was the crack of dawn when the pair finally decided to part ways. It was obvious they did not want to leave in the slightest given how they would bring up a random topic and started bickering about it. It did not last that long though as they would end up laughing in the middle of the quiet park. They continued till the sun was about to rise and deemed it was time to go.

“Why are you smiling to yourself, Su Jeong? You’re acting kind of strange, you know.”

“A-Am I?”

“Uh huh.”

“Oh… I’m… just excited for the school festival. Yeah, that’s right. I’m excited for it.”

Mi Joo was not buying the lame excuse Su Jeong made up on the spot. Something was definitely up. She eyed the girl weirdly who responded with a sheepish smile, absentmindedly arranging the stalks of flowers that were spread out on the desk.

“Can I have my share of chocolates, please?”

“I’m sorry but each person can only have a piece.”

“Kei, can you convince your president to give me a special treatment? And I deserve to have more than one since I’m always helping you out, Mi Joo.”

“No means no. If I did, everyone would find out and they will demand for more. We don’t have enough to spare for the actual visitors.”

“I won’t tell, I promise. Yu Gyeom won’t say anything about it too, right?”

“Ah, yes so I should have my portion as well, noona.”

“Not happening.”

Mi Joo gave Jackson and Yu Gyeom a piece each, trying to chase them out before they could negotiate some more.

“Mi Joo unnie, we should use this to our advantage instead.”

“What do you mean?”

“Jackson sunbae and Yu Gyeom should bring us some food from the vendor and as a trade, we can give them as much chocolates as they want. Sounds fair, doesn’t it?”

“Ooh, Su Jeong. That’s smart. Come on, Mi Joo. We don’t have to spend money on those food. It’s a good deal and we have more than enough chocolates for everyone.”

“… Ugh, fine.”

“Yes!”

The four simultaneously reacted excitedly at the same time. Mi Joo was bound to lose from the moment Su Jeong suggested her idea.

“We’ll only give those chocolates to you when we see the food.”

And off the boys went as they quickly headed to the food vendors.

Now that Mi Joo thought about it, it was actually a really good deal for them but not that much for Jackson and Yu Gyeom.

Peeking at the audience from the backstage, Mi Joo was amazed at the amount of people that turned up for their performance. She spotted her parents who was seated at the first few rows. They had always been supportive of her, never missing any of her show. They respected her decision as well when she quitted the dance academy. Witnessing how their daughter has come this far, they were immensely proud of her.

Kei and Su Jeong were in the audience too. They must have temporarily closed the club in order to give their support to the girl who was very grateful at their kind gesture.

As Mi Joo went to get ready, she saw Mark for the very first time ever since the school festival started. And apparently, he seemed nervous as sweats were forming around his face while pacing to and fro.

“Are you okay?”

“H-Hm? Oh yeah. No, it’s just my parents are here right