“So, do you not talk, or something?” Chaemi asked to the stone-faced Jaesun. “I mean I can understand if you’re mute – I used to have a friend who was mute.”

Jaesun simply blinked at her and then looked back to his camera’s screen. He shook his head.

“So, you’re not mute?”

He nodded.

“Okay, that either means yes, I’m mute or yes, I’m not mute,” Chaemi said.

Jaesun blinked again, and actually opened his mouth as if to say something when Donghyun walked in again.

“Okay kids,” he smiled. “Now, we will be having fun with visual art today! You’ve got the choices of painting, drawing, sculpting or photography! But first; if you’d all follow me?” he said with a grin.

The group gathered around him, and once he made sure everyone was present and accounted for, he started leading him down the halls. They followed quietly, a few whispers peppering the silence. He led them to a room with big rays of buttery sunshine streaming in the big, clear windows. Black tops desks were scattered around the room in no particular order, many of them covered in paint splatters and colorful handprints. Various boxes and bins of art supplies stood on the counters around the edge of the room, waiting to be used. And in a corner, there was a vast supply of easels and modeling clay and much, much more.

“Here we are!” Donghyun grinned. “Welcome to our art room. If you had come any other year, it wouldn’t be so nice, but lately our school has decided to take our art program to the next level.” The students’ eyes widened as their shoes tapped onto the linoleum flooring.

“It’s so different compared to all the other classrooms,” Minwoo said.

“Yes, well, art requires creative freedom, doesn’t it?” Donghyun said, smiling down on the boy. “We decided to let the students decorate this rooms themselves. They even painted the tables!”

“I can tell,” Hara giggled as she stared at the desks.

Donghyun chuckled and regained his composure. “Now, as you can see over on this table,” he spoke, gesturing towards the closest table, “there’s drawing paper along with pencils, charcoal and whatever you need to sketch. In the corner is the modeling clay with sculpting tools; there’s also an assorted array of multiple sized canvases for any of you that would like to paint. The water, acrylic and oil paints can be found in the cupboard underneath the sink over there. And if you’d like to do some photography, you’d be allowed to photograph around the school so long as you don’t leave the campus. If you need to borrow a camera, there are a few in the cupboards as well.” With a brisk clap, he let another grin grace his face. “Alright, then! If you need anything, I’ll be at the desk at the front. Make sure that if you’re going to leave the classroom that you notify me immediately, okay?”

The group nodded, understanding his rules.

“Then, off to work you go!” he smiled. “Do something artistic; anything your heart desires! You don’t have to be good at it; just do it.”

Hara and Hyunri both set off to the tables, picking up pencils and pieces of papers. They sat down across from each other, staring blankly down at the white sheets.

“…What should we draw?” Hyunri asked with a slight smile.

“Hmmm… each other?” Hara suggested.

Hyunri laughed. “I’m afraid I’m going to mar your face into oblivion if I draw that!”

“Well, so will I, so I guess we’re even!” Hara giggled.

The two began drawing immediately, their pencils dancing over the stiff paper. Meanwhile, Minwoo headed over to the corner, taking out a box of modeling clay. He didn’t really have any talent for arts, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t try, right? Grabbing a stool, he plopped down onto it as he dropped the mud-colored clay onto the wooden workspace.

“What should I make…?” he said to himself.

On a whim, he decided to make a bust of a girl. Who that girl was? He didn’t really know. It could be a mix of someone he knew or a celebrity, or maybe what he thought a pretty girl should look like. He would just sculpt and sculpt until it looked somewhat humanoid. Maybe then he’d name her, or something.

He took large globs and began making a base, or rather, her neck. He began building bit by bit until it looked at least similar to a bust. He just sighed and began forming her nose -- or in this case, what looked like a potato.

Of course, Jaesun immediately took the chance at photography. With his camera around his neck, he was about to ask Donghyun to leave the classroom and photograph the school when he felt a soft tug on his elbow sleeve.

“Hey,” Chaemi said, “I don’t really want to hang around in here, so I want to do photography too -- it’s just that I don’t know how to use a camera.”

Jaesun blinked at her, having a good idea at where this conversation would be going.

“So,” she said, “I was wondering if you could help me out a little; teach me some basics. Who knows -- maybe I’ll end up liking it.”

Jaesun debated with himself in his head before showing a small, crooked smile. “Sure,” he said.

Chaemi felt like she accomplished something. Well, maybe she did, in a sense! She had gotten him to speak! He followed her to the cabinets where she borrowed a digital camera. It looked pretty expensive to just loan out to students, but this was a pretty elite school, after all.

“Donghyun-seongsengnim,” Jaesun said softly. “Chaemi and I are going to go take some pictures.”

Donghyun looked at the duo and grinned widely. “Of course! Be back in about an hour, okay? Do either of you have a phone on you so that you can keep track of time?”

Chaemi nodded and showed him her Samsung Galaxy. “Very good,” he said. “Have fun!”

The two walked out the door, and Jaesun took a snapshot of a nearby window before turning to Chaemi.

“So you want to learn about photography?” he asked.

She nodded. “Just the basics, if that’s okay. I’m sure I can figure out most of it later on,” she added, not wanting to sound clueless on the subject.

“Well, just for today I’ll give you a tip,” Jaesun said. He let go of his camera and let it dangle around his neck while he held hers. She looked down at the camera as his fingers pointed at some buttons she didn’t understand.

“This is what they call aperture,” he said. “It control’s the size of the lens and how much light you let in. The smaller the number, the larger the lens and vice versa. If the lens is small, then the subject your focusing on will be sharper in contrast with the rest of your photo.”

Jaesun explained lots of details like maximums, minimums and ‘depth of field’ and such. Chaemi tried to let it sink in, but it was lot of information. Her camera’s strap was still hooked around her neck, and it made Jaesun close in proximity to her. She held one side of the big camera, and he held the other, his other hand pointing out important things to remember. With their foreheads nearly touching, Chaemi nodded and Jaesun let go.

“That’s basically it,” he stated after he was done. “The only way to get better is to practice, really.”

“Then let’s practice,” she said with a smile.

She clutched her camera as the two of them walked down the halls, seeing if there was anything worth taking pictures of before heading out into the courtyard. She watched him snap a few shots of the trophy case and one of a plant before snapping her own of a classroom.

They turned a corner and heard music blaring from one of the doorways. Curiously, the two peeked inside. Inside, Xiaoyi was dancing, her ponytail flying in a million directions at once. Jayden watched on the side, a mildly impressed smile on his face. Jaehyun sat on the large speakers, watching with some interest. In the other corner ( somehow not disturbed by the blasting electric pop ) was Seohyun, Mina and Jandi along with some caramel-hair-colored teacher they had never seen before. Jandi was plunking some keys on the piano while Seohyun and Mina were discussing harmonies. The teacher stood beside the bench, listening intently and giving his best advice.

Xioayi had finished and Jayden had said something that apparently made the dancing trio laugh. From the doorway, Jaesun smiled and brought the camera up to his eyes. He clicked the shutter, and checked back on the screen. He had perfectly captured a picture of Xiaoyi’s eye-smile and wide smile, her ponytail flying in midair. Jaesun smiled down at the picture -- it was captured perfectly. Xiaoyi was sharp, but the objects behind her were out of focus. Following his example, Chaemi brought her camera up and snapped a photo of Seohyun laughing with Mina over a sour-sounding harmony.

While she wasn’t paying attention, Jaesun peeked a glance at her and focused on his ‘photo-buddy’ before clicking the shutter. Surprised, Chaemi glanced back up only to see Jaesun smile back at her.

‘Seems like he’s happier when looking at people being happy,’ Chaemi thought.

In the room, Jaehyun was spouting another joke when Jayden looked towards the doorway. Spotting the duo with the camera Jayden struck a pose and stuck his tongue out. Getting the message immediately, Xiaoyi and Jaehyun joined in, posing as if they were being shot for the cover of Elle Magazine -- or at least, something as equally fabulous.

Jaesun and Chaemi captured another series of shots before waving and heading off. Xiaoyi looked at the duo with curiosity -- Jaesun looked a lot less robot-like than earlier that morning. Pushing the thoughts away, she turned back to Jaehyun.

“Let’s see you dance, pretty boy,” she smirked.

Jaehyun scoffed. “Pretty boy? Excuse me? I will have you know that I am nowhere near pretty -- I’m flipping gorgeous,” he joked. He then posed like any typical female teen idol -- big eyes and pouting lips included.

Jayden nearly died laughing, as did Xiaoyi. The kid was seriously funny and knew how to make people have a good time. Even in his ridiculous looking zigzagged clothes, he still exerted a very cool aura about him. With his confident smile and charismatic eyes, it was hard to believe he wasn’t popular at his old school.

From the other side of the room, Jandi’s piano piece came to an end and Seohyun and Mina halted their vocals. Daehyun nodded with an impressed smile.

“I’ll hand it to you guys,” he said, “your voices are pretty good for your age.”

Seohyun smiled. “Thanks. I used to sing a lot when I was a kid.”

Mina let a smile show. “And my parents have been singing with me since I can remember.”

Daehyun smiled, patting their backs. “That’s nice to know,” he grinned. “Now, I’m going to go speak with Donghyun for a little bit so you guys can just have a bit of free time.”

He left the room swiftly, a seemingly urgent matter on his mind by the way he pursed his lips. However, the students didn’t notice. The singing trio just went back to the piano and played a few chords, matching their voices with the notes. The dancing trio just shrugged, ignoring the singers and turned back to each other.

“Shall we go for another round?” Xiaoyi asked Jayden with a challenging smirk.

Jayden smiled back. “You’re on! I’m not going to go easy on you this time! I’m the b-boy champion,” he declared.

Xiaoyi scoffed playfully. “We’ll see about that.”

They cranked up the music as loud as they could without blasting out their eardrums. With the volume increased to their liking, Xioayi and Jayden broke out into a series of dance moves, Jaehyun watching on the sided with interest.

Jandi placed a finger down on the piano keys and frowned. Their loud electric beat was drowning out the piano. Whose idea was it to have the dance and music talents practice in the same room? Seohyun took on the notice of the obvious music blaring over their own. Mina just frowned slightly at the loud dancers, her hand rubbing her arm nervously. Huffing slightly, Seohyun glared over at the trio.

On the other hand, Jayden paid no attention to the singers as he danced, flexing each and every one of his muscles as sweat beaded his forehead. Xiaoyi danced with an equal amount of strength, her ponytail whipping around her face. Jaehyun kind of just sat there, watching the two dance. Really, the only reason he came was to hang out with Jayden and Xiaoyi ( but mostly Jayden ). He sat on a nearby stool, watching his friends in fascination. Maybe if he were as talented as them, he wouldn’t need to prank all the time.

Lost in a maze of thoughts, he didn’t notice Seohyun walk over to their stereo and hastily yank the plug out from the wall. The music came to an abrupt halt as Xiaoyi and Jayden stopped. Xiaoyi looked at Seohyun in disbelief.

“Are you kidding?!” she seethed. “We were kind of in the middle of something!” she said, taking a step closer to Seohyun.

Seohyun stared right back at her, an equal amount of ferocity blazing in her eyes. “And so were we,” she said back steadily. “I don’t think you noticed, but there are other people trying to practice, too!”

Xiaoyi scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Well, it’d be nice if you could give us some respect when we practice.”

Seohyun breathed a short laugh. Oh, the irony. “I’m sorry, princess,” she bit back, “but your music will need to be much quieter if we ever plan on practicing in the same room.”

“What’s so important about singing that gives you the right to stop our dancing?!”

“I could say the same!”

Xiaoyi advanced even closer. “Hey, who the hell do you think you are?!”

Seohyun took a step closer, their faces close as they glared at each other. “I could say the same,” she growled softly.

Jayden and Jaehyun eyed each other worriedly -- both females looked like they were about explode any moment. Jandi and Mina looked just as tense. They knew Seohyun was a headstrong individual, but at the same time, so was Xiaoyi. They could only hope it wouldn’t lead to World War III. Stepping away from the piano, Jandi and Mina walked up to Seohyun, both putting a relaxing hand on her shoulder.

“Seohyun, maybe you shouldn’t--”

“This doesn’t concern you guys,” Seohyun snapped. Seeing their shocked faces, her attitude immediately softened. “You two aren’t a part of this; it’s her I have a problem with.”

Xiaoyi spat, “Really now? I would’ve never guessed,” she snapped sarcastically.

Seohyun glared at her. “You really don’t know how to shut your mouth, huh?”

“I could say the same,” she hissed, openly mocking her.

Narrowing her eyes, Seohyun stood and stared at her in utter shock and disbelief. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you can’t just have things go your way!”

“On the contrary,” she smirked, “as my papa always says, I can have whatever I want. I bet your sad excuse of a parent can’t do half the things mine can.”

Seohyun glared as she leaned in. “And I’m sure your fool of a papa is the reason why you’re such a brat.”

Xiaoyi’s eyes widened in shock. Nobody, nobody, ever insulted her papa while she was present. And here this girl was, opening ridiculing her papa right in front of her.

“Aish!” she yelled, lunging forward, her hands outstretched like claws.

“Yah, Wu Xiaoyi!” Jaehyun shouted, grabbing a hold of her shoulders. “Get a hold of yourself!”

“No one calls my papa a fool!” she shrieked, kicking her legs. “No one!”

“Calm down!” Jaehyun said, grasping her shoulders and pressing her against his own body like a wrestling opponent. “You need to stop before someone gets hurt! Jayden, get her legs,” he said.

Obeying his hyung, Jayden grabbed her legs and kept them still. In the whole situation, it seemed like they were two authorities suppressing a crazy person, but no; it was just Xiaoyi throwing a fit with her friends able to stop her.

“Seohyun, you should stop, too,” Jandi said, tugging on her sleeve. “Don’t provoke her anymore.”

“Please, Seohyun,” Mina said, her eyes twinkling.

Seohyun stared at her two new friends. Deciding that she wouldn’t want to lose them, she huffed through her nose slightly and followed them to their own corner of the room. No one dared play music or piano at that point.

“Seohyun-unnie, don’t you think you went a little too far?” Mina asked softly. “Calling her father a fool and all that?”

Seohyun sighed as she sat down on the piano bench. “Maybe I took it a little too far there,” she admitted. “I wouldn’t have liked it either if someone called my dad a fool.”

“Maybe you should apologize and put this whole little dispute behind us,” Jandi suggested.

Seohyun’s eyes hardened at the comment. “What? No! Do you see how spoiled she acts? It’s like she’s on top of the world! Did you forget that she practically dissed my appa, too? There’s no way I’m apologizing to a girl like her!”

“No way in hell am I going to apologize to her,” Xiaoyi huffed, her arms crossed as she sat with her legs folded on the floor. “She insulted my family! Nobody insults my family.”

Jayden sat across from her, trying to calm her nerves. “Look, I know it’s not the nicest thing anyone’s going to say about your family, but things aren’t going to get better if you just sit there and pout.”

Xiaoyi only pouted in response.

“Besides,” Jaehyun continued, “what if you hurt her feelings, too? In a way, you insulted her dad, too.”

Xiaoyi scoffed and rolled her eyes, turning her head away. “Whatever…”

Jayden just let out a chuckle. “You remind me of an angry hamster. Whenever you get pissed off, you just go stalk off by yourself.”

Xiaoyi just stared at him in what seemed like shock until she cracked a small smile. After a second, a tiny giggle escaped and Jayden’s smile widened.

“You’re funny,” she said, lightly punching his shoulder.

He stood up and held his hand out towards her. “Come on, I’m pretty sure I saw a vending machine somewhere on this campus. Let’s get a soda to calm down, hm?”

Looking at his hand for a second, she smiled and helped herself up. “Okay,” she agreed. She turned towards Jaehyun. “You coming?” she asked.

Jaehyun shook his head. “Nah. I’ll stay here and… uh, play with the stereo. Yeah.”

Jayden raised an eyebrow. “Okay, if that’s what you want,” he said. He slung his arm over Xiaoyi’s shoulder in a friendly manner as they stepped out of classroom.

As they walked away, Xiaoyi said, “Bet you five bucks he’s not actually playing with the stereo.”

“I thought that was implied when he said it.”

Well, Xiaoyi definitely would’ve gotten that five dollars, because Jaehyun was most certainly not playing with the stereo. He had never been good at lying to people close to him. But no, he wasn’t playing with the stereo. He had made the quick decision to apologize for Xiaoyi while she was gone. Their dispute had seemed to have impacted both the girls, and he didn’t want to keep them mad at each other. So, if Xiaoyi wouldn’t apologize, he would do it for her.

He stared at the ground as he made his way over to the other girls. As he reached the middle of the room, a pair of red converse invaded his vision. He looked up to see, not Seohyun, but Mina standing in front of him.

“O-Oh,” he said, startled. “Sorry, I didn’t--”

“N-No, it’s my fault,” she interjected softly.

After a short awkward pause, he broke into a sheepish smile. “Sorry about Xiaoyi. She didn’t really take the whole ‘your papa is a fool’ thing quite well.”

Mina smiled. “It’s alright. We’re sorry for Seohyun’s behavior, also,” she said. “We probably should’ve stopped her before all that happened. But she’s strong girl -- she won’t back down if she doesn’t believe she should.”

“Yeah, Xiaoyi’s pretty similar,” he agreed. “She’s headstrong and knows what she wants. She’s seriously sensitive when it comes to family though.” The awkward pause ensued again. Seizing the opportunity to make something akin to a peace treaty, he held out his hand. “I’m Kwon Jaehyun,” he said.

She grasped his hand lightly. “Choi Mina -- it’s nice to meet you.”

He grinned. “You, too.”

“I think it looks absolutely abysmal,” Minwoo said, staring at his own ‘art.’ What he would like to call art was really a messy looking lump of modeling clay with a pair of lips that were barely hanging on.

“I like it,” Hara giggled. “You could use it on Halloween to scare away children.”

Minwoo gave her an annoyed glance. “Not helping!”

Hyunri shrugged. “Well… you could always get better…?”

Minwoo looked at him and gave him a light smile. “Helping,” he said.

“Better than this garbage, at least,” Hyunri said, holding up his pencil drawing of Hara. “It looks like a unicorn is giving birth on a life-sized cucumber with Godzilla delivering the baby. How did it even get this bad?!”

Hara laughed. “Whoa,” she said, “way too many details!”

Hyunri smiled and looked at hers. “I like yours, though,” he said. “You created a mini-marshmallow version of me!”

Hara giggled as she looked at her own paper. “You like it? I copied your cheeks perfectly!”

Hyunri’s jaw dropped. “Yah! My cheeks are not that fat!”

“Aigoo, yes they are~” Hara sang, poking his cheek.

Hyunri whined and slapped her hand away. Pouting at her while she laughed.

“Excuse me,” came a voice from the doorway.

The trio looked over to see Jayden with his arm around Xiaoyi. “…Yes?” Hara answered.

“Do you know where the vending machine is? We’re looking, but I’m pretty sure we got lost,” Jayden said.

Xiaoyi laughed. “You mean you got lost; I only followed you.”

Jayden rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah, whatever.”

Hara smiled and pointed down the hall. “I’m pretty sure that if you walk down the hall and take a left, there’s a vending machine next to the boys’ locker room,” she directed.

Jayden looked and then flashed a bright smile. “Thanks a bunch!” he said. He glanced down at the drawing in her hand. “Hey, nice marshmallow.”

With that, the duo walked down the hall, laughing arm in arm. Even before they were halfway down the hall, Jayden had to ask Xiaoyi which way they turned. Hara laughed from the art room’s doorway. Her smile slowly dissipated into a small frown as they disappeared down the hall. From her perception, they looked close.

Real close.