Seulgi fled to the rest room and shut herself in the stall. Sitting on the pot, closing her eyes, she strove to breathe normally.

She heard her own miserable voice in the past as she vented to mamma Park. ‘I can’t do this...really.’ Seulgi was experiencing genuine pain in the chest area. ‘My stomach hurts merely at the thought.’

‘No, no child! You can do it. Imagine us sitting in front of you and then everything will go smoothly,’ Youngmi advised, rubbing Seulgi’s back.

‘Nah. It won’t work!’ Seulgi, in abject defeat, rested her head on her knees.

‘Just don’t think of Chan,’ Youngmi quipped trying to lighten the mood.

‘Mamma Park! This is serious. It seems like in the whole universe, I am the only one with this problem. Whoever I tell including my nerdy professor, either laughs at me or accuses me of making it up,’ Seulgi grumbled, sitting up.

‘Maybe he is right!’On seeing the younger girl’s chagrined expression, Youngmi hurriedly clarified, ‘You know all this could be just your brain working overtime. This phobia sounds silly.’

‘Even you, think my phobia of public speaking is silly!’ Seulgi howled. ‘That’s it! It is decided. I am not going to college tomorrow. Let the professor flunk me and my entire group, I don’t care.’

Rude laughter distracted them. Chanyeol ambled closer, laughing hard and loud.

‘You said there was no one home,’ Seulgi whined, mortified.

‘Chan was in the gym. Seulgi, I had no idea he’d be back so soon,’ Youngmi replied and then turned to her son. ‘Chanyeol Park, leave at once!’

‘No way!’ Still chuckling, Chanyeol flopped next to his mom. ‘A person with verbal diarrhoea is scared of public speaking! This is just pure gold,’ he said, nastily. The cackles kept coming.

‘Shudup! I do not have verbal diarrhoea. Oh! Just go and jump off a building or something,’ Seulgi muttered, irate.

‘Chan please leave us alone,’ Youngmi ordered.

‘Mom, you’re actually buying this bull?'

‘Chan, mind your language,’ Youngmi half-heartedly rebuked.

‘No one understands!’ Huffing, Seulgi flounced away from mother and son. She sat heavily on a pool chaise, her back towards them. Resting her chin on a hand, she miserably gazed at the shimmering blue water with unseeing eyes. Just when I thought it could not get worse, it just did – now even he knows, she worried.

Chanyeol killed his laugh. She seems genuinely upset, he contemplated watching Seulgi’s silhouette.

‘Chan please! Don’t make fun of her. Hyesung called me earlier today. Because of this fear, Seulgi is refusing to go for the presentation which is a part of her final exams,’ Youngmi confided.

Raising an eyebrow, Chanyeol mouthed, ‘Really?’

‘