To be a star you must shine your own light, follow your own path, and don't worry about the darkness, for that is when the stars shine the brightest.

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Jieun’s POV

            Jogging around the outdoor campus at the institute, I made a mental countdown of the sun setting behind an array of tall trees. Since class started tomorrow, I figured that I should start getting in shape. Being in a art school meant hard work that would require much stamina and endurance. Despite how much I groaned at the thought of gym class in high school, I knew that the professional dance classes here would be no easier—even if I only had one dance course this whole school year. I chose it as more of an option to try new things with a major in acting and a minor in singing. Stopping for a break, I screwed the lid of my water bottle and nearly choked when my loud and abrupt ring tone began playing SNSD’s Oh. I had changed my ringtone to Girl’s Generation a few months ago when I discovered how annoyed Wooyoung got whenever he heard their voices. Even until now I never understood what he had against SNSD.

            “Yobeoseyo?” I gasped into my cell phone, clamping it between my cheek and shoulder as I screwed the lid back onto her water bottle. There was no answer.

            “Yobeoseyo? Nuguseyo?!” I began to demand with an impatient tone. Back in high school I had been getting many prank calls after Eunjung discovered my number but we were on genuinely good terms now so what was up with the prank calling? I pulled my phone away from my ear and stared at the lit up screen.

            “Donghae Oppa?!” I gushed excitedly after reading the caller ID. It had been months since I received a call from my favourite cousin and I couldn’t wait to hear his voice again. My heart sank when there was no answer for the third time. Before I could say another word the line was cut and the only sound that rang through my ears were the repetitive beeps that alerted me that my call had ended. With my right index finger I tapped my cheek gently and gawked at my cell phone.

Wooyoung’s POV

            I slouched back onto my wheeled chair, spinning in slow circles as I sighed to myself. I was alone in the dorm because Donghae and Taecyeon insisted on having a one on one basketball game to decide who would pay for our dinner. I was omitted from this simply because they pitied the fact I was a fob. Actually, they never said that to me up front but I knew they would have no other reason to pity me. Back in Korea I loved playing and watching sports of all sorts but tonight, I just wasn’t in the mood. Through the open window I could hear the basketball’s loud bounces and Taecyeon’s frustrated groaning. I assumed that he was probably losing to Donghae. He had treated the both of us like brothers even though we met not long ago, and though he’s older than us, because of the fact he took two years away from school for personal reasons this was his first year here.

            “Sowoneul malhaebwa,” The cell phone on my lap began singing to SNSD’s Tell Me Your Wish and vibrated against my dark jeans. The screen lit up with Jieun’s name and I shuttered, almost throwing Donghae’s cell phone back into his backpack and retreated to the top of the bunk bed, waiting for SNSD’s voices to drown away. I’m such a coward. After Donghae and Taecyeon left for the basketball court I was trapped again in my own miserable thought; just one thought that I was unable to get out of my mind ever since I left Korea. Just once more I wanted to hear Jieun’s soft voice again, and knowing that Donghae was her cousin I knew he would have her number. It felt so pathetic to hide behind someone else’s shadow just to feed my desperate despair. When the phone ceased to ring I sat back in an upright position and stared out the window. The basketball court was empty except for two empty water bottles left against the pole that held the net up. Right on cue, the door to our dorm burst open and a pouty-faced Taecyeon revealed himself.

            “I can’t believe I lost, Woo—“

            “Yah!” I interrupted Taecyeon from his trivial ranting to prevent him from saying my name. Donghae stared suspiciously at the two of us and eyed me when I sighed in relief.

            “So Jason, your Korean name begins with ‘Woo’ I’m guessing?” Donghae asked. He was catching on fast and I began to panic. Foolishly, I nodded and jumped off the bunk bed to approach them. Taecyeon gave me an apologetic glance, realizing the mistake he made.

            “Oh don’t tell me! Let me guess… Is your name Woohyun?” Donghae broke out into a smile and began writing letters in the air with his fingers.

            “No,” I replied with an amused stare. My name was extremely uncommon so I prayed that he wouldn’t guess it. Even if he did, I wouldn’t be foolish enough to say yes, right?

            “Woochun… Woomin… Woohoon… Wooyang?” Donghae continued with his guessing game as we walked down the street to a nearby eatery. Shaking my head still, I felt relieved that he never guessed it considering how close his last supposition was. When we arrived at the eatery and made our order, Donghae’s cell phone rang in his pocket and he excused himself to take the call.

Donghae’s POV

            Waving with an apologetic smile I ventured to the men’s washroom and answered my cell phone.

            “Jieun-ah?” I whispered, realizing there were a few guys staring at me in the washroom.

            “Donghae Oppa!” Her angelic voice beamed from continents away. I could feel the happiness she was emitting when she heard my voice. I could guess that I felt just as excited to talk to her again.

            “Why the sudden phone call?” I wondered, remembering that it was always me who called her first and never the other way around. After a brief silence she replied with a whiny voice,

            “You called me first Oppa, but you never responded…” I thought back to earlier today and didn’t recall a time when I called her, but since she insisted I decided not to argue with her. In the back of my mind I began deducting possibilities for such a strange situation.

            “Ah, mianhae Jieun. How are you?” My voice grew louder after the guys finished washing their hands and left. Leaning against the paper towel dispenser and looking towards the mirror I began inspecting my face, rubbing my chin with my free hand.

            “Did Umma tell you? I was accepted into Seoul’s Institute of the Arts!” She explained excitedly as if her breaths weren’t long enough for her to get her words out.

            “Ne, she did. Chukhahae!” I congratulated her, smiling to myself as I confirmed my need for a quick shave before school started tomorrow.

            “How are you, Oppa? I heard you have two roommates that just came from Korea. It’s been a while since you had any Korean friends.” She began, making me realize that her mom probably told her our entire phone conversation from weeks ago.

            “Yeah, they’re cool.” I replied, more interested in what she had to say.

            “Tell me more! Like, what are their names?” Jieun pried. I smiled at her curiosity and replied,

            “Taecyeon and Jason,” After saying the last name, Jieun turned extremely silent. This was very unusual for our phone conversations so I decided to ask,

            “How have you been lately?” immediately she declared,

            “I’ve been great!” As her favourite cousin I knew when she was hiding something from me. Her mom told me about Jang Wooyoung but I wanted to hear about it from Jieun.

            “Would you like to tell me about Jang Wooyoung?” I suggested, and listened as her breathing got heavier.

ミ★~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~★彡         

   I was glad that even though she was shy by nature, she never had a problem with opening up to me. She told me everything from the year-end musical to the argument they had after the Seoul Institute auditions. It took her about twenty minutes to explain everything, but when it came to Jieun I was willing to give her all the time in the world. What surprised me was that Taecyeon and Jason never bothered to look for me yet. Considering they were both guys, they probably decided to eat without me.

            “I can’t get over the fact that I’m the reason he’s gone…” Jieun sighed. Turning towards the door, I knew I had to get back to the other two soon.

            “Jieun-ah, he’ll come back.” I reassured her, pulling the door open and taking slow steps out.

            “How do you know?” Jieun’s voice cracked and I flinched. I didn’t want to hear her cry because her crying is one of the most saddening sounds I’ve ever heard. By now I was less than two metres away from the table where Taecyeon and Jason were eating. I waited until Jason turned to make eye contact with me and breathed,

            “Don’t give up on him; I’ll make sure he comes back to you.” Taecyeon was too busy eating his pizza to notice the tension between my eye contact with Jason.

            “Don’t joke around; you don’t even know him…” Jieun mumbled with a sorrowful voice.

            “Trust me—I know him. Oppa’s got to go now, so remember what I said and take care, okay?” After my last words I hung up, taking a seat beside Taecyeon and casually grabbing a piece of pepperoni pizza. The whole time I was taking small bites, I could see Jason eyeing me every so often through my peripheral vision. He’s curious as to who I was on the phone with, isn’t he? I had a feeling he already knew who it was. After checking my past calls it turned out that someone did use my cell phone to call Jieun around the time when I was playing basketball with Taecyeon. The only person with access to my cell phone at that time was Jason, and another thing I knew about him that he had been trying to keep from me since the day we met was that he is without a doubt, Jang Wooyoung. Truth was the moment we first met I already knew who he was.

Jieun’s POV

            “Don’t give up on him?” I repeated Donghae’s words out loud as I jogged back to the front doors. There was no way that the Jason living with Donghae could be Wooyoung, could it? How was it possible that he could feel so close yet be so far away? There was never a time in history that I doubted Donghae or went against his words, so like always I decided I would trust what he said.

            “Jang Wooyoung, you’ll come back for me, right?” I whispered, staring up into the stars that gleamed through the dark sky. Closing my eyes and intertwining my fingers together as if I were praying I vowed,

            “When you come back, I’ll be someone much better. I’ll work really hard to achieve my dreams so I hope that you’ll be able to find yours soon.” After reopening my eyes I walked slowly, taking my sweet time back to the dorm where I knew Eunjung would already be sleeping. Even though we went a few weeks without fighting, I couldn’t help but still feel uptight around her. She was definitely a complex character with much more than meets the eye. Tomorrow when school starts, we’ll become ‘rivals’ again.

A/N: Sorry this update is a little boring xD! I'm really trying to update more ): Is this story dragging too much? Sometimes I think it is :x The next few chapters will go by really fast so don't worry! Keep the WooU flame alive ^^! Seriously thank you to all my subscribers ^^ I've almost reached 100 (total subscribers--over 3/4 of them were from this fanfic) and I never thought that was even possible for me. Thank you for reading so much! I'm glad so many of you are enjoying this fanfic along with me (:! 

Good luck to all those out there who are having final exams, IB/AP exams, preparing for upcoming exams or just piled with school work or work in general! HWAITING! Summer will be here in no time. ^^