**JIEUN POV**

I cringed as I walked away from Yoseob’s booth. The girls who tried to flock around Yoseob shoved me hard in order to force me away from him. This then caused me to lose balance and apply a great amount of pressure on my injured ankle. I stopped for a moment and leaned back against the cold concrete wall of the gym. There, I waited for Jiyeon while my thoughts drifted off elsewhere.

Earlier, I was left me an impression. Up till now I’ve never given thought about my future. I was never one to make good decisions especially on things concerning about career and future goals. Now that I think about it, I really don’t have a path. Singing? Pfft, like I actually have the talent. I’m as good as mediocre gets!That’s why I’m hoping maybe that you could recognize the same potential I see in you, Yoseob’s words spoke in my head. However, I refused to believe and reasoned with myself that his words spoke no truth. It's all a bluff.

Convincing as the thought of a bluff might be, my mind was still brought back to his eyes and how passionately sincerity was shown through them. I remembered the soft touch of fingers grazing over the back of my hand, and how I felt as if something similar has happened before in my life. It was comforting and relaxing at the same time. The warmth from his hold gave a vague reminiscence of something I can’t quite grasp. The thought of such overwhelmed me and I rubbed my temples in attempt to relieve the pressure in my head.

“Jieun!” I jumped as I heard my name being called out. Jiyeon, who had on an excited looked on her face, ran towards me and clung onto my arm. “So, how did it go?”

“How did what go?” I asked obliviously.

“You know,” she wiggled her eyebrows but soon stopped as I failed to show a reaction. “Didn’t Taeyang ask you to the dance?”

I released a big sigh and frowned. “He didn’t. He only wanted to ask me if I wanted to go with Daesung.”

“WHAT?!” she shrieked, causing me to yelp back. “That son of a ! I’ll go teach him a lesson! You stay here!” she lectured me and was about to stomp away but I managed to grab a hold of her arm.

“Shhh… it’s ok Jiyeoniee. I’m totally fine,” I said a little bit reluctantly.

“No! He totally fooled me and YOU! Let go Jieun, I can’t let him get away with this!” she wiggled her arm free.

“Ahni, Jiyeon… I’m fine. I told you already,” I say desperately now. “If you stand up to him, then where will that leave us? We’ll get antis for sure!”

“If that’s the problem then I’ll go fight him somewhere else!” she reasoned.

“Jiyeon-ah, please don’t…” I was practically begging now.

“UGH! FINE! But, I’m serious! The next time he does this, I’ll kill him for sure!” she threatened.

“Arraeso,” I grinned and gave her a big bear hug.

“But then, Jieun-ah… if he didn’t ask you out, then what took you so long to meet me here? I mean, wouldn’t you have walked out on him if he did something like that?” she questioned me while trying to free herself from my hold.

“Oh, I met Yoseob along the way. He texted me just in time so I could get away from Taeyang and I used it as an excuse,” I explained.

“Yoseob’s here? Where? Why? Did he bring his friends along too? Ooohh, is Kikwang here too?” she began throwing questions at me at a rate of 100km/s.

“Slow down,” I complained. “And to answer your questions, yes he’s here. He’s near the entrance and I think he’s doing some promotions for a university. And no, he didn’t bring his friends, which means unfortunately, your precious Kikwang is not here.”

“Aaaww, that ,” she pouted. “Well, let’s go visit him?” she gestured for me but I remained still.

“I already did. I almost got trampled too.” I frowned at the thought.

“BWOH?!” her eyes widened, “By who?! Are you ok?!”

“He got some fangirls, and they pushed me away so they could get closer to him.”

“Aigoo…I leave you for a moment and you get hurt this much,” she wrapped her arms around me. “I’m never leaving you out of my sight again Jieun-ah! Come on, let’s grab some lunch.”

~~

I exhaled deeply as the bell rang once again, signalling that it will soon be the final block of the day. Knowing that it was Monday, I walked to the gym for my phys. Ed class. Since I hurt my ankle, I wanted to get there as soon as possible so that I can tell my teacher of my predicament before class starts. This way, he can excuse me from activities which can further develop the injury. I entered the gym through the girls’ change room, knowing that it was a much shorter route than having to circle around it through the hallways. Sure enough I was able to see the backside of a lean and well-built man who was at least 6 feet tall. I cleared my throat to catch his attention.

“Mr. Lee, May I be excused from participating in this gym class?” I asked him courteously.

“Do you have a note?” he inquired from me causing me to flinch.

“Umm… no but-“

“Well then I guess I can’t do anything for you.” He said sternly.

“I injured my ankle though,” I pouted.

“You could’ve come up with a better excuse,” he grumbled. “Unless you’re in cast, then you should have no reason to be excused. Now go change into your gym clothes!”

I sighed disappointedly, and headed back to the locker rooms. Reaching out from my locker, I grabbed my gym shirt and headed towards the nearest stall. I removed my shirt and pulled on my gym-shirt. I didn’t bother changing my pants since I wore track pants to school anyway. I tugged on my necklace and fumbled with the bracelets on my arm, a habit I’ve accustomed myself to whenever I was nervous. Then after giving myself a prep talk, I entered the gym just in time for attendance.

“Ok guys, 2 laps around the field then I’ll give you some free time to do whatever you want! Last 5 to finish their laps will have to run errands for me!” Mr. Lee shouted.

Great, I thought. I’ll probably one of those five who’ll be tortured in whatever way Mr. Lee wants. However, I did still exert some effort. Briskly, I walked to the field to begin my laps. Although most of my peers have already begun their sprints and runs, I still wasn’t necessarily in the last. From my position, I can conclude that I can probably even wish to be in the last 10. Relaxing at the thought, I was able to enjoy the breeze and feel refreshed. Before I even know it, I already finished my 1^st lap and have reached halfway through my 2^nd. Just then, I felt the sudden change of wind as 3 girls began to jog their way in front.

“Yah! Wait up! I don’t want to be in the last five!” I heard a girl say.

“Unnie! Let’s go together!” another said.

Soon enough, 5 girls have already sprinted ahead of me and are now racing towards Mr. Lee. I looked behind me and was surprised to see only 3 girls. Two of them, I still didn’t know and one of them I remember as Sohyun. It shouldn’t be too bad, I said to myself. At least I have Sohyun, though we’re not really that close. Reluctantly I slowed down my pace, to match with Sohyun’s.

“Sohyun-ah, how’s it going?” I started the conversation.

“Fine,” she gave me a smile. “I guess we’re both stuck with Mr. Lee this gym class.”

“Hey, it shouldn’t be too bad,” I nudged her, “Come on.” I linked arms with her and went to Mr. Lee.

“Ok girls, you know about the university and colleges booths set up earlier in lunch?” Mr. Lee asked us as we all nodded. “Well, there were 5 booths earlier and each of you will be assigned for one to help them pack up. Listen to which one I give you and then head outside or at the parking lot.” He informed while flipping pages at his clipboard. “Alright. Eunhye you’re with Dongguk University. Mi Sun you’re with Hansang University. Mina you’re with Hanyang Women’s University. Sohyun you’re with University of East Broadcasting Arts and Jieun, you’re with Myungji University.”

As soon as he finished we all walked towards the exit of the gym and to the parking lot. I was walking with Sohyun as we chatted about random things when I remembered Yoseob was part of the promotions. However, my poor memory couldn’t really recall the name of which university. I shrugged it off, not really caring if I ended up working with him since I’ve been doing so in the past year in the café anyway. We reached the parking lot and Sohyun waved after me as soon as she spotted a guy wearing a shirt with University of East Broadcasting Arts written at his back. Alone, I wandered around the perimeter, looking for a member of Myungji University. After walking around the parking lot for at least 3 times, I found a SUV with a sticker of Myungji University’s logo.  There, I was able to meet with a middle-aged woman.

“Anyeonghaesayo,” I bowed politely. “Jieun inmida. I’m here to help pack up,”

“Ah! Thanks for the help,” she smiled warmly. “If you could help grab the boxes over at the stairs and bring them to this car, it would be great.”

“Yup, no problem,” I bowed as I left.

I thought for a while, thinking which stairs she could possibly mean. The gym has two exits, and both had stairs leading to it. Reasoning with myself, I figured to head to the nearest one. Since the vehicle was parked closer to these set of stairs, then it makes perfect sense to place the boxes in this entrance. Confident with this thought, I walked up to the stairs and grabbed a box initialed with M.University.

“Need help?” I heard a voice ask from behind. As polite as it is to greet a person who offers help, I couldn’t do so with the height of the box in front of me.

“Ahni. Thanks for asking though,” I declined while hoisting a box up. However, as I turned my body to make my way down the small flight of stairs, I accidentally hit the stair’s railing, causing me to drop the box onto the leveled ground where it was before. For a moment I lost my balance as I jumped back from surprise. Thankfully though, I was able to grab onto the railing. Unfortunately, all my weight was applied onto my injured right foot in the effort of keeping me from falling. I hissed as the throbbing pain came, sending shocks up my leg.

“Damn,” I cursed to myself as I gritted my teeth.

“Jieun-ah?! Gwenchana?!” I heard the same voice from earlier. 

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