I had completely forgotten about Soyeon and Boram until they walked down the school hall towards me on Monday morning.

Before they saw me, I ducked my head and rounded the corner away from them. I didn't start to relax until I saw Myungsoo with his back to me at his locker. 

I quickened my pace, but stopped when two guys decked out in their sports jerseys passed behind him. One of them gave Myungsoo a shove practically right into his locker.

"," the bigger one said, and then laughed to his friend. Next to lanky Myungsoo, the guys looked to be at least three times his breadth.

Myungsoo kept his hands braced on either side of his locker so he wouldn't end up inside. The moment the jocks released him, he straightened up but kept his hand down and away from them. The two jocks chortled all the way down the hall. I looked both ways and it didn't seem like anoyone had noticed. No one except me.

"Hey," I said tentatively, keeping my eyes on my lock as I dialed my combination.

"Hey, Skinny." His humor-infused tone surprised me, like the bullying hadn't affected him at all. He grabbed a binder and flipped it open to check its contents. "Guess I'll see you in the green room," he said, reaching over and tuggin lightly on a strand of my hair before he shut his locker and walked away.

In drama, Soyeon and Boram sat in their usual seats, chattering like parakeets with the rest of the overanxious front-row students. They ignored me. I stood near the door and scanned the classroom, but I already knew where I planned to sit. Sure enough, there was an open shot beside Myungsoo at the back.

"Skinny," he said, when I sat down in the empty chair.

"Hi, Minjae." 

"That person actually doesn't exists, right?"

I laughed, probably too loudly, and Soyeon turned to glare at me. I focused on Myungsoo. "Truce. Myungsoo, all right? I'll call you Myungsoo."

"Okay, Skinny." He smirked and then even laughed a little. I find it pretty attractive. "Okay, Jiyeon."

Myungsoo was nice, and funny. I couldn't figure out why he was such a loner.

"You want me to get coffee after school, Ji-yeonnie?" He pronounced my name like it was two very long and separate names.

"Coffee?" was all I could get out, and seemed to be my entire vocabulary at the moment. I said it again. "Coffee?"

"Yes, coffee. Ever heard of it?"

Was this a date? No, he didn't say "movies" or "dinner" or any normal date stuff. He just meant coffee.

"Um... okay."

Just then, Teacher Ahn interrupted our conversation. "As you know, I was planning to do Hometown Heroes for our year-end production." Soyeon and Boram immediately started whispering. Boram had obviously picked her side against me. I tried not to be offended. I wouldn't want to go up against loud and domineering Soyeon either, if it were me. But still, it made me sad.

"The play has a large cast," Teacher Ahn went on, "and so I'm asking all of my junior and senior drama students to audition." He scanned the room slowly, as if to reiterate that he meant every single one of us. I Sighed inwardly. It would have been one thing to audition with Soyen and Boram. In years past, we'd spent afternoons running lines with one another, anxiously awaiting our turn on the stage. I'd gotten a bit part one year, but usually I just helped backstage. As I glanced toward Soyeon, she turned to me with an obvious sneer. "Unfortunately, we didn't have enough interest for a stagecraft class this year," Teacher Ahn rambled on, "and without much money in the budget..."

Out of my peripheral vision, I saw Myungsoo's arm go up. When Teacher Ahn nodded in his direction, Myungsoo said, "Jiyeon and I don't mind working on the set. During drama block, I mean."

Teacher Ahn stared at Myungsoo for a few seconds, which gave me a chance to process this statement. Okay, he obviously didn'want to audition either. But besides that, I wouldn't mind not having to face Soyeon every day in class. Another thought hit me: Was Myungsoo trying to find a way to be alone with me?  I swallowed a lump in my throat. Sure, I'd swooned over Nichkhun for years, but with Myungsoo, I don't know, it seemed realistic for there to be a mutual attraction. Possible. Teacher Ahn cleared his throat. "Uh-huh. Well, I don't know about the two of you-"

My face warmed as I wondered if Teacher Ahn could read my mind.

"Oh, come on, Teacher A." Everyone stared at Myungsoo as he said this. "I can't do it alone. You'd normally have a full crew, and we'll get the job done, I promise."

Teacher Ahn looked back and forth between us. I nodded in agreement for good measure. A guy across the room made a catcall in our direction, but Myungsoo and I ignored him, staring down the teacher.

Finally, Teacher Ahn sighed. "All right. See me after class."

For the next forty minutes, Myungsoo and I snuck looks at each other, and by the way his fingers thrummed on the side of his chair, I knew he was excited about this. Which made my excitement bubble up too.

When Teacher Ahn showed us backstage, my face fell. It was cluttered with what looked like decade-old debris. I didn't know a thing about set construction, even if we did have the proper supplies, which clearly we did not. But my stomach still did a flip at the thought of hanging out alone in the dimly lit area with Myungsoo. That part still seemed exciting.

"Looks great," Myungsoo said.

I had no idea what he was thinking, but I nodded anyway.

Teacher Ahn looked us both over. "Now I can... trust you two alone together, right?"

My face instantly heated about four hundred degrees, but Myungsoo laughed, louder than I'd ever heard him. He gave a little push to my shoulder. "Of course, Teacher Ahn," he said. "Jiyeon's like my sister."

I swallowed. Really, Myungsoo and I hardly knew each other, but was it such a ridiculous notion that we could be more than friends? I tried to keep an even smile for Teacher Ahn's benefit, but I could feel my lip trembling.

"All right, then. You kids can come here for drama block, and keep me informed each week on your progress. You'll find old props and costumes in the cupboards in the wings, as well as up on the platform." He pointed to an overhead storage area stacked with boxes about halfway up to the lighting catwalk. "And I'll print you both a copy of the script. You'll be graded accordingly."

After Teacher Ahn left, I turned to Myungsoo, waiting for him to fill me in on his plan. Because he must have some kind of plan, right? I felt a little irked about the "sister" comment, and I crossed my arms. "So, where do we start?" I demanded.

He surveyed the junk. "Huh. Not much here to work with," he said. "You ever used one of those?" He motioned to some big tool in the corner that I didn't even recognize.

I shook my head, thinking it wasn't a great sign that he called the contraption "one of those" and was looking for my expertise here.

He met my eyes and, just for a second, I felt like he didn't want to look away. Like he was trying to convey something serious, but I was horrible at reading those looks. I blinked and that seemed to bring him back to the task. 

"Well, I guess we'll think of something," he said, and led the way to the school doors.

I stressed out all through my afternoon classes about my drama grade. I always counted on that B to pull up my average, but now Myungsoo and I had to build an entire set, which seemed to carry a lot more responsibility and room for error. Just after the last bell of the day, I stood at my locker, trying to look occupied, while students warmed past me toward the exits. If my nervousness about our stagecraft assignment wasn't enough, now I also had to think about going for coffee with Myungsoo. We hadn't made any detailed plands. Were we supposed to meet here?

"Hi!" Minyoung suddenly said from behind me.

I clutched at my chest. "You scared the crap out of me."

She giggled. "I'm off to watch Nichkhun's football practice." 

She looked down to her nails. "Yul is busy with Taec. Hey, do you want to come with me?" She said it like she'd just thought it up on the spot, but I could tell by her quick words this was the reason she'd come to find me. "Their practice starts in fifteen minutes."

Sure, I was second choice, but she wanted to watch a football practice with me? Nichkhun's football practice? I nibbled my lip. What if he'd seen the turquoise paper?

As if she could read my mind, Minyoung said, "Nichkhun told me he thought you were so cute the way you got all embarrassed over the birthday fuss."

Cute? Had he really said that about me? If he had seen the quiz, he obviously wasn't disturbed by it.

"Come on, Yeonnie. We have to hurry."

"Shh. Don't call me that here." "Yeonnie" was a nickname Minyoung had given me when I was a baby and was just learning to talk. I didn't mind it at home, but at school it made me feel childish.

"Oh, right. Hey, Nichkhun wanted to know if you liked the camera."

My palms moistened. They'd had an actualy conversation about me? I hadn't seen him in the halls since my birthday. The truth was, it would be much easier to face Nichkhun now, with Minyoung, than it would be if I saw him with his friends while I was all alone. She looked at me seriously, with her eyebrows raised, and I could tell she was anxious to go. But Myungsoo... I'd never actually been invited out for coffee before and even though I was nervous, I guess a part of me had really been looking forward to it. I glanced dodwn the hall. "I kind of have plans with someone," I said finally.

She threw me a doubting glance and stuttered a little when she said, "I-I thought we could, you know, hang out."

I didn't quite know what to do with the sudden sisterly interest. Or her nervousness. Minyoung didn't get nervous around anybody, least of all me. My heart sped up at the thought of watching Nichkhun from the sidelines. Or of him coming over to talk to us. Maybe I could chat him up about all I was learning about photography. Maybe he didn't mind that I'd had an all-consuming crush on him in sixth grade.

Not to mention now.

Myungsoo appeared from out of nowhere and sidled up to his locker, interrupting my thoughts. I wondered if he could do coffee tomorrow instead.

"Hey," he said quietly, like he was trying to get away with talking in class.

I knew I should probably introduce him to Minyoung, but part of me didn't want to. What if I did, and Myungsoo liked Minyoung more than me?

"Whoever it is will understand, I'm sure," Minyoung said. "Come on, we have to go."

Myungsoo kept his eyes down and started rearranging his books in his locker. His shoulders slumped and he already looked rejected. How would I introduce these two, anyway? Loner Myungsoo and my gabbing, popular sister? It didn't compute.

"Don't you have ballet?" I blurted.

"No, it's Tuesday." She rolled her eyes like I should have known that. And yeah, if my brain hadn't been on autopilot, I would have. I'm that girl that knows her whole family's schedule because I don't have enough going on in my own life.

"Come on, you know you want to." She grabbed my books and slid them into my locker.

I did want to. But I also wanted to hang out with Myungsoo. I just couldn't explain that to Minyoung. Her eyes bore into me. She hadn't even glanced in Myungsoo's direction, which was quite a feat, considering his proximity. 

I stared straight into the cavern of my locker and said, "I don't think I can go." But even as the words came out of my mouth, I couldn't figure out who I was saying them to.