-3rd Person's POV-

Drrriiinnnggg

The school bell rang, signaling the end of the day's lessons. The time had come for Jaerin and Seventeen to meet. Seventeen were in their class, waiting for Jaerin to arrive.

"Guys," Jeonghan called out. "Don't forget about our plan."

"Are we serious about doing it?" Wonwoo was the one who questioned.

"Of course, Wonwon ah, we have to." Jeonghan approached Wonwoo and placed his arm around him. "We have to make sure the freshman is worthy of our aid." Remember, we still have to complete our own for this year's competition. We can't afford to spend a lot of time helping someone who is just starting out and slow down our own progress." Wonwoo nodded, agreeing that what Jeonghan said was right.

Jaerin made it to Seventeen's room with small footsteps. She knocked on the door and slowly opened it. She walked into the room feeling anxious. She was taken aback when she noticed quite a number of guys inside. One... two... thirteen... She counted. Thirteen pairs of eyes were looking at her. "H-hi," Jaerin greeted, her voice trembling. "My name is Park Jaerin, and I've been chosen to work on the project with you all." She stood motionless beside the door, dumbfounded that none of the guys were greeting her back. She was fidgeting, indicating that she was extremely nervous. Seventeen, on the other hand, just exchanged glances, waiting for someone to speak up. "Did I come at the wrong time? Please accept my apologies if I have caused any inconvenience while you are all working on something." Despite Jaerin's apologies, the guys remained unresponsive.

At one point, some of the members felt bad for doing nothing. They were prepared to speak until someone managed to take advantage of the opportunity.

"It's you," Woozi mentioned, which made Jaerin look up and search for the source of the voice. "The girl from the open house."

"It's also the girl from the field. We were on the verge of hitting her with our ball." Joshua added.

"Oh, she's the one who sat by the window in class 0214, isn't she? On the first day, the one who appears to be sad. And of course, the one whom Hoshi was concerned about?" Mingyu wondered out loud, his voice loud enough for everyone to hear. When Hoshi heard what Mingyu said, he side-eyed him and threatened to hit him if he said anything else.

Coughs. S.coups cleared his throat and walked towards Jaerin, breaking the awkwardness. "Congratulations on being chosen. I'm sure the Professor has already told you everything you need to know, so there's no need for me to repeat it." He then motioned for Jaerin to follow him as he approached the guys. "I’m S.coups and this is Jeonghan, Joshua, Jun, Hoshi, Wonwoo, Woozi, The8, Mingyu, Dokyeom, Seungkwan, Vernon, and Dino."

"Are those your real names?" Jaerin inquired.

"Not all are our real name, but at school we preferred to be called by these names." S.coups replied. "However, that isn't really important. First and foremost, there are some ground rules you must follow."

"Hold on a second." Jeonghan interrupted. "Before we talk about the rules, we need to see if you're qualified to receive our guidance."

"What do you mean?" Jaerin questioned, her face solemn.

"Please don't be offended. We just need to make sure you aren't one of those students who came to this school solely for the purpose of working with us." Jeonghan answered while folding his arms across his chest.

"Do you think it's because of you that everyone applied to this school?" Jaerin scoffed, a sudden surge of self-assurance washing over her. "I admit that thanks to you all, the school has gained more recognition, but that is not why I came to this university. I don't care if you're all great at producing music and have a lot of experience; if you don't want to help, that's fine. I'll gladly request that the Professor assign me another project because I don't require your help."

The guys were taken aback by Jaerin. She was still shaking at the side a few minutes ago, but it was as if she had transformed into someone else. She was so confident, which makes her appear cool for some reason.

After hearing from Jaerin, Joshua nudged Jeonghan. "I warned you it would be a bad idea."

"How would I know she'll react this way?" Jeonghan stated.

"You should apologise to her." Joshua added.

“Me? Apologise? So now I'm the bad guy, and you all are acting as the good guy? I thought we were in this together." Jeonghan argued and turned to face the other guys, but none of them returned his gaze.

"I wasn't all along. You started it, so you shall be the one to end it." Joshua remarked before taking a seat.

For a brief moment, silence filled the room; no one dared to speak. Until Woozi abruptly said, "That song you played yesterday... Did you write it yourself?" His seriousness caused others to pay attention to him.

"I did." Jaerin responded, surprised by the question.

Woozi then turned his attention to us. "Guys, I can assure you that she is talented. Rather than wasting time debating whether or not to help, we should simply guide her with the project."

"Well then, I'll go over the rules with you." S.coups continued. "One, as previously stated, we will meet twice a week. If you require additional assistance, you may request one of us to assist you, but this is subject to availability. We all have our own responsibilities, so don't expect us to be available whenever you need us. Two, we will only offer suggestions, not provide answers to your questions. Three, we will only entertain you if your request is related to the project. Four, this room will be our meet-up location for all sessions; please don't ever be late. Lastly, don't make an attempt to befriend us. Is that clear?"

“Very.” Jaerin nodded.

"Well, since this is our first meeting, there aren't many things to discuss. If you don't have any questions, I guess you'll have to do some research on your own first." After that, everyone dispersed and concentrated on their own tasks. Jaerin just stood there, looking lost. Were the guys a little too harsh with her?

Joshua walked up to Jaerin, making the other guys paying attention to them secretly.  "Hey Jaerin." Joshua smiled as he greeted her.

"Oh h-hey." Jaerin returned the greeting.

"I apologise if we were too harsh on you just now. We have no bad intentions." Joshua stated. "So,  do you have any ideas for a song you'd like to write for the project?"

Jaerin shook her head. "At the moment, I don't have any ideas, but I'll come up with one soon."

"Don't worry about it, just take your time. It's not always a good idea to rush to come up with an idea. It takes time to compose good music. You must first understand what you want to express before you can compose good music."

"All right, I'll take note of it. Thank you... uhm..." Jaerin paused, trying to recall his name.

"Joshua is my name, and you're welcome. You can come to me whenever you need assistance, and I will assist you in any way I can." With that, Joshua made his way to Jeonghan to speak with him.

Jaerin took a seat in the front row, pulling out her notebook and pencil. She began scribbling in her notebook, which she did nonstop for about ten minutes. Hoshi had been staring at Jaerin since she sat down. Curiosity got the better of him, he approached Jaerin. "What are you writing?" Jaerin jumps a little from her seat as she heard his sudden voice. "I'm sorry for catching you off guard. I suppose I shouldn't have bothered you."

"No, it's all right." With a small shake of her head, Jaerin answered him. "I was just jotting down some ideas here and there so I could refer to them later."

"Ah, I see." Jaerin's words drew a nod from Hoshi. "Do you mind if I take a look at it?" Jaerin then pushed her notebook in front of Hoshi, allowing him to see it. "Wow, you have some really cool ideas." When Jaerin saw Hoshi's focused expression, she chuckled a little. She's not sure why, but seeing Hoshi in that state makes her laugh. Hearing Jaerin's laughter, Hoshi cast a sidelong glance at her, a small smile on his face. "Woozi said you played a song at the open house yesterday," he mentioned, turning his attention to Jaerin. "Do you mind if you play it once more?"

"Oh, why? Jaerin questioned at the unexpected request.

"Because if Woozi approves it, you can guarantee that it's good." Hoshi affirmed.

"Ahh... but I'm not sure I'll be able to play it well right now. Perhaps next time?"

Hoshi was slightly disappointed, but he tried not to show it. "How about we make a promise?" Promise that you'll play it for me one day?" He extended his pinky to Jaerin and placed it in front of her.

Jaerin was confused by the gesture because she remembered S.coups saying, "don't make an attempt to befriend us", but why does it appear that Hoshi is attempting to befriend her instead? Is it her imagination, or is it something else entirely? Despite that, she smiled as she entwined her pinky with Hoshi's.

"I promise."