The information was spread throughout the entire school. Everyone now knew I was working on a project with Seventeen. Some people envied me, some were jealous, and others simply didn't care. Those who envied me tried to befriend me so that I could help them pass their love letters or gifts to Seventeen, while those who were jealous of me threatened me not to have any motives. How exciting could my university life be now? Would you believe it if I told you that the members of the Music Club were Seventeen too? How could this possibly be a coincidence? Instead of meeting them twice a week, now it became four times a week! This is completely insane!

Someone approached me just as I thought I had found a place where I could breathe for a moment.

“Park Jaerin!” My name was called out by a girl. When I turned around, I saw the girl from the editorial booth, with another girl following closely behind her, the drunk girl. "May I conduct a brief interview with you? I need you to be on the front page of the magazine! Right now, you're the hottest topic!"

"Thanks, but no thanks." I replied, completely uninterested.

"Aww, come on, five minutes will be enough." She begged.

"I'm sorry, but no."

"Three minutes?"

“No.”

"One minute is also enough to!"

"No, no, no! Look, I don't want to be on the front page or anything like that. I don't want to be the focus of everyone's attention at school. So, just no." After lashing out at them, I walked away. I would have declined the offer if I had known that working with Seventeen would cause such a stir. This is draining a lot of my energy.

I won't see Seventeen for the next two days because it was already the last day of school for the week. It makes me happy deep down. It's not that I dislike the. It's just that I needed a break. Some of them are pleasant, while others I have not had the opportunity to interact with, so I am unaware of their personalities.

I entered the room as usual and took a seat in the front row, pulling out my notebook and pen. The day before, I had recorded a melody. It was just a random thought, and I knew I had to take it down. I turned around hoping to see Woozi, but he was nowhere to be found. And why would I only look for Woozi? Because, according to what I've heard, he's in charge of coming up with the group's melody. Others offer suggestions as well, but he was the one who brought everything together. I had hoped he would be able to help me. However, it appears that today was not the day.

"Are you looking for someone? Woozi or Hoshi?" Seungkwan approached me after noticing that I was looking for someone.

"Oh, I was looking for Woozi," I stated. "I have a melody and was hoping for some feedback on it from him."

"Ahh, he'll be away today. He and Hoshi are working on something. Why don't you play it for the rest of us first? We could also offer some recommendations." Seungkwan gathered the others after that and told them I'd like to share my melody with them (which I didn't say so...).

I connected my phone to a speaker and played the melody out loud for the members as they gathered around without disagreeing. As I watched their expressions change as the melody played, I became tense. I waited for their responses as the melody came to an end.

"For a first try, it's not bad." Dokyeom made a remark. "It sounds good to me, but I think it could use a little tweaking."

"I like the melody, but I guess it all comes down to the lyrics, right guys?" With nods from the others, Seungkwan continued. "Have you come up with any lyrics yet?" With a shake of my head, I expressed my frustration with the problem. "Well, I suppose you should get started on that."

"Yeah, don't put that kind of pressure on her." Joshua turned to face me after saying. "Just take your time. When the time is right, it will come to you."

"Oh look, the gentleman guy is acting in a gentlemanly manner once more." After hearing from Joshua, the other members , and I smiled at the situation.

It was then that I came to the realization they were the ones on the field on the first day, playing futsal. They were the ones I envied for having strong friendships, something I'd never had since I was a child.

"Look, she's got that sad expression on her face again." Mingyu remarked to the guys in hushed tones. I was too engrossed in my thoughts to notice that they were referring to me. "How come Hoshi isn't here when we need him?"

"How come we need him around when we're already here?" Dino countered. "We could also cheer her up."

"Have you guys forgotten what I said?" S.coups added. "With her, we'll only discuss the project, not her personal feelings."

"So we'll just leave her alone and go about our business, knowing she's sad and might need someone to talk to?" The8 mentioned. "You all are heartless."

The school bell abruptly rang, jolting me out of my daze. Instead of seeing the guys having fun, I noticed that they had a long face. Regardless, I got up to pack my belongings and say my goodbyes before exiting the room.

Friendship is the most complicated thing in life to explain. Because paper can be torn, it's not something written on paper. Genuine friendship is a rare gift in a culture where loneliness is the norm and competition is the default.

Would I be able to find genuine friendship here?

Hopefully one day I would...