“You took out the batteries of the mic.” Yoojin said, his eyes wide as realization struck him.

Haesung didn’t answer. It wasn’t a question, anyway. Slowly, the tears welled up in her eyes as she whispered, “I have to tell everyone the truth. That Rian shouldn’t be disqualified. That it was me, that it’s all my fault.”

As she rose, picking up the batteries, Yoojin grabbed her hand. Haesung turned to look at him, her eyes wide and startled.

In a low voice, Yoojin said, “No. Don’t be stupid. If you confess now, you’ll be the outcast. Not her.”

“But I deserve it!” Haesung protested, “I’m the one who took the batteries out, if anyone deserves to be punished, it’s me, not her!” Yoojin’s lips seemed to twist into a sneer as he replied, “They deserve it too, don’t they? After everything they did to us, making us feel like we didn’t belong in our own school, don’t you think they deserve this? I’m glad you did this. This is better than I could have hoped for!”

Haesung stared at Yoojin in disbelief. But Yoojin just ripped the batteries from Haesung’s hand and threw them straight into the dustbin, “Rian deserves all that she’s going to get for bullying you. This is revenge, Shin Haesung. This is justice.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rian slowly pulled away from JB, her words muffled as she said, “We shouldn’t be doing this. If anyone sees us, there’ll be a huge scandal-”

“You never minded last time. Why care now?” JB stopped her by pulling her even closer to him, hugging her as tightly as he could. He breathed in the familiar scent of her, unwilling to let her go. But Rian sighed, “That was pre-debut, JB. Things are different now. And besides, what would the President say if he saw his most rule-abiding idol breaking the ultimate rule of no dating?”

“He can go screw himself.” JB promptly answered. Rian bit back a chuckle at his words, “I still want to be an idol, you know. The President would immediately break our contracts if he saw us like this.”

There was a long pause. With a sigh, JB finally let Rian go. His stormy-gray eyes met hers, and she murmured, “You shouldn’t have done that. Hug me, I mean. What if someone had really seen us? Don’t forget what you promised your-”

“You still have feelings for me, don’t you?” JB interrupted, his eyes piercing, “No matter what you said back then, you still love me. Stop lying to yourself, Rian. It’s just so stupid. Why do we have to let the President rule our lives like that? The Rian I know would never allow it. Never.”

“Is that why you’ve been trying so hard to provoke me these last three years?” Rian asked, “Because you want me to say that I still have feelings for you when I…when I really don’t?”

JB shook his head almost angrily, “Stop denying what you know is the truth, Rian! Why are you even doing this?”

“With our careers at stake, I don’t think our opinions really matter that much anyway, do they?” Rian asked quietly. That silenced JB. After a moment, Rian continued, “From the moment we each chose to enter Oz Entertainment, it was already decided. We could never be together, no matter how strong our feelings were.”

JB looked away, his breathing harsh. He took a minute to calm himself before saying in a much more composed voice, “No matter. I meant what I said just now, you know.”

Rian looked at him questioningly.

“I know you didn’t take the batteries out. It’s not something you would do. Only cowards would do something like that, and you are far from a coward.” JB reached out and took Rian’s hand, holding it gently, “Those other people might malign you, but only because they don’t know your real character. So when they start saying things about you, just remember, I’ll always believe in you. And not just me. Siwoo, Ailee and Nana definitely believe in you as well. All right?”

His gentle tone and words nearly brought tears to Rian’s eyes again, and she just nodded mutely. JB smiled a true smile, one that Rian had not seen in a long time, and he reached out to ruffle her hair gently, “Come on, then. Let’s go back.”

Rian took a deep breath to compose herself before standing up with JB’s help, “Let’s go back, then.”

JB noticed the sudden hard edge in her tone, and said, “Just forget about this whole thing, all right? It’ll blow over anyway.”

Rian shook her head, a small, bitter sneer appearing on her face, “No. I won’t forget it. I’ll remember it forever, and take it as acting practice.”

JB hesitated for a moment. Then he shrugged, “Whatever makes you happy. Let’s go.”

The duo walked back to downstage. As they entered, there was an immediate silence, as everyone stared, startled to see JB with Jiyeon.

Haesung and Yoojin were also there, Haesung still trembling and Yoojin murmuring something to her.

When Haesung saw Rian, she immediately rushed to the idol, “I…I have something to say.”

Without waiting for Haesung to continue, Rian asked in a cold, completely emotionless voice, “Do you have any proof that I did anything to your mic?”

“Of course she doesn’t.” Everyone blinked, surprised when JB spoke. JB’s eyes stared ruthlessly at Haesung as he continued, “How could she, when she didn’t do it. Why would Rian be afraid of you to pull a stunt like that? For all we know, you could have taken out the batteries yourself, because you were afraid of going on stage. You did it so people wouldn’t hear your voice.”

A murmur ran through the listening crowd, and they began to whisper to each other, staring at JB as he defended Rian.

Haesung stared at the idol who was her hero, “What?”

“If what I’m saying is not true, then I’m sorry. But if it is…”

“You should just end it with an apology instead of going on, shouldn’t you?” Yoojin snapped, glaring at JB. JB met his gaze easily, asking, “How is any of this your business? What are you, Haesung’s boyfriend?”

Yoojin had no answer to that.

Soon-Doong stood up, unable to stand seeing her best friend cornered like that anymore, “What a scene.” She strode to Haesung, wrapping a hand around her, “I guess you’ve just planned to frame her, haven’t you?”

JB ignored her completely, “It really wasn’t you?” He questioned, his eyes still fixed on Haesung.

A small smile played on Rian’s lips as JB confronted Haesung. After a moment, she said, “Forget it. Just stop it. She isn’t worth it anyway.”

She strode right past them, and, after a pause, JB followed after her. As they strode out of earshot, Rian turned to face JB, “It’s your turn next, isn’t it?”

JB nodded, “Yeah.”

Rian smiled, “Good luck. Although you probably won’t need it.”

As she turned to return to her seat in the audience, JB called after her, “As long as it’s good luck from you, I’ll always need it.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Next up, the popular Hallyu idol JB, and Jin Yoojin!”

Everyone sat up in their seats as the duo were announced. They strode up the stage, JB smiling and full of confidence, Yoojin slightly hunched over, his face stormy.

Ui-Bong looked slightly worried. Would his best friend be able to handle the complicated dance?

As the song began, JB started to move to the beat, his action smooth and cool. Yoojin, on the other hand, stood stiff as a pole, his hands in his pocket.

As the song neared the chorus, Ui-Bong sat up straighter. Trying to catch Yoojin’s attention, he mouthed, “Remember, the ball!”

Yoojin took a deep breath. He noticed JB’s confident smirk as the idol glanced at him, and then his body relaxed.

The duo began to dance in perfect unison as the chorus started, their voices blending easily together. The audience stared in awe as they pulled off a perfect duet, the dance moves all correct, their voices sounding especially good as they sang together. The teachers stared in shock. Where had Yoojin learned to dance like that? As they watched, a smile spread across Teacher Ahn’s face, “He’s good!”

The song ended as JB struck a cool pose in front of Yoojin. Then, as the two returned to standing positions next to each other, the Principal straightened up. There was a pause as the Principal studied the two of them, “Jin Yoojin.”

Yoojin’s body was stiff, and there was a tense atmosphere in the air. Both of them had performed exceptionally, but it was clear who had done better. The question was whether the Principal thought the same, for everyone knew that the President’s favourite student was the rebel Yoojin.

“Disqualified.”

Yoojin’s jaw clenched. A small smile crossed Rian’s face, almost unconsciously. Realising that she was smiling, she quickly rearranged her features into a frown, but JB had already seen her previous expression, and was grinning at her.

Yoojin trudged down the stairs, his eyes downcast, his hands in his pocket. He had lost. To JB, no less. Ui-Bong rushed up to him, throwing an arm around him, “Don’t worry, buddy. I’ll lose too!”

Yoojin stared at Ui-Bong, “What are you talking about? Your partner is crap. How can you lose, when you’re a fantastic dancer?”

Ui-Bong clapped Yoojin on the back twice, a playful smile on his face as he repeated, “I’ll lose too. You don’t think I’ll let my best friend lose all by himself, right?”

Realisation dawned on Yoojin, “You’re going to throw your round?”

Ui-Bong nodded, “Duh!” Yoojin grinned, infected by Ui-Bong’s enthusiasm, “Thanks. You’re a real friend.”

“Of course! Now let’s go have dinner, shall we?” The two best friends strode together to the canteen, their arms swung around each others’ shoulders.

JB hurried to Rian’s side as she rose to leave, asking her with a bright grin, “How was it?” Rian glanced at him, “You won, didn’t you? So why’re you asking me that?”

“I won for you.” JB told her with a sweet smile, “Because you wished me good luck.”

“I’m sure I’m not the only one. You’ve got tonnes of fangirls, anyway.”

JB’s smile faded slightly at her cold words, “What’s wrong with you? Why’re you acting so weird all of a sudden? Weren’t you okay just now?”

Rian waited turned and walked away. JB stood, stunned for a moment, before he chased after her, pulling her arm around and demanding, “Answer me!”

“Stop it, all right?” Rian snapped. She looked away, “We’ve already broken up. I no longer have feelings for you. And I’m sure that you don’t either. Don’t forget, you broke up with me.”

“But you were the one who-”

Before JB could continue, Rian interrupted, “We’re no longer together. What happened earlier today was an exception, because I was just overly upset. So let’s just pretend that nothing ever happened and leave things the way they are now.” With that, she strode away, leaving JB behind.

JB’s fists slowly clenched. He whispered, so softly that no one could possibly hear, “Don’t you realize that everything, everything was for you?”

---------------------------------------------

I'm back!!! Missed me? XD

Poor JB, though...he wants so badly to reconcile with Rian, and yet she keeps pushing him away...can any of you guess why Rian is so determined to leave JB even though he was the one who broke up with her? It's quite a bit more complicated than in the actual show. Anyone else feels bad for our main male lead? There was quite a bit of Rian/JB in this chapter though, and I, as an author and JJ couple shipper, am quite satisfied with it :)

I also added in a bit of Yoojin and Haesung. In Dream High 2, I never completely understood when Yoojin started falling in love with Haesung, so I decided to change their story a bit as well, and add in my own bits so that Yoojin's love for Haesung can be a bit more comprehensible. But, at least for now, Yoojin doesn't really have any romantic feelings for Haesung, he only pities and defends her cos she's also against the idols. I also developed the friendship amongst the non-idols more, and i'll be going into deeper detail about the friendship amongst the idols as well. One of the reason why i really loved DH1 was because of the real friendship portrayed in it, and this is something that DH2 lacks (honestly, I only see it in the idols, which doesn't really make sense because it should be the non-idols who are like "real friends" while the idols are supposed to be superficial friends)

Wait for the next chapter and remember, comment and subscribe!