By the time Hyori reached the place, it was too late. Students and parents were filing out of the entrance. Clutching the stitch on her side, Hyori panted and her eyes searched wildly around for signs of Chen.

At long last, amongst the hundreds of students, Hyori spotted Chen at the far end. She took a step towards him but stopped dead at once. Because Zico was there too, and it looked like he was confronting him about something. "No," Hyori whispered and rushed forward again.

"I'm sorry ahjummas, can I speak to this kid for a while? I won't kill him, you can trust me on that," Zico asked in mock politeness.

"If you have something to say to my son, you can say it in front of me," Mrs Yoon said sternly. Zico looked unfazed.

"I intend to speak to him and his team. I was his ex-senior and I want to give my personal opinion about their performance today," he said, more forcefully. "His team, instructors included," he pointed at the group behind who were staring at them, "are waiting for him."

Giving in, Mrs Yoon nodded. "But do not mistreat my son."

"That thought didn't even cross my mind," Zico fixed her with a cold stare. "Let's go," he said, at the same time Hyori appeared and shouted "Stop!"

The scene was momentarily frozen.

"Let .. me .. talk to Chen," Hyori panted. Chen stared at her before looking away. Hyori felt as if someone had stabbed her heart.

Zico too, was staring at her. "You can have all the time in the world to talk to him after the team's done with him," he said. With that, he tugged on Chen's arm and the younger one followed him to meet the team.

"Chen .." Hyori weakly called out but Mrs Park held a hand on her shoulder. "Let's go."

"Did he do that bad?" Hyori whispered.

Mrs Yoon shook her head. "He was fine when dancing .. but when it came to singing .. He lost it."

Hyori's heart sank even further. Mrs Park increased the pressure on Hyori's shoulder. "Let's go, we are not to interfere with their business."

*

"That was a totally ty performance, coming from someone with a lot of talent," Zico hissed. Chen looked down, ashamed. Young Deuk quickly intervened.

"Let me have my say first, I'm the instructor," he spoke quietly but firmly. Zico glared at Chen before he stepped back. "I'm not done with you yet."

Young Deuk gave him a look. Then, he made Chen look at him. "Hey, we got 2nd for dance, that's actually excellent in my opinion, and I don't see why someone had to over react," he chuckled at Zico, who was looking at them furiously.

"Ssem, it's not about the damn trophies. It's about attitude-" he said angrily but Young Deuk held up a hand. "I'm the instructor."

Zico sighed exasperatedly.

"Yes, what your hyung said is true. We could've gotten first place, but the judges marked us down for facial expressions."

Chen bit his lip in guilt. Shockingly, Young Deuk gave a tiny smile.

"I warned you about controlling your emotions, Kim Jongdae sshi-" Chen flinched when Young Deuk called his real name, "-I told you what GD hyung might say if he saw you like this."

"I don't know what you're going through, but if you're losing control over simple matters, then we have a problem."

Chen didn't dare look up. s were silent too.

"GD hyung saw  your talents. He believed in them. He believed you'll be successful one day. Now it all lies to you to make it happen. We all believe in you, that's why it's understandable that Zico hyung is angry, though he should learn to control his temper too."

"Ssem!" Zico whined.

"I could tell you were not alright when you guys were dancing, but you managed to control yourself. But you lost it while you were singing with Luhan-sshi. Was it the pressure of performing and to live up to people's expectations bothering you?"

At this point, Zico could not hold it in.

"No ssem. He lost it because he was expecting someone to be there, but she didn't turn up. Now can you see why I'm over reacting?" Zico smiled sarcastically.

Young Deuk frowned.

"Is it true, Jongdae sshi?"

Feeling terrible, Chen nodded.

"Does that person mean a lot to you?"

"We're each other's good luck charms .." Chen mumbled, feeling more and more stupid. Finally, he could not take it anymore. He looked up at everyone.

"I'm really sorry," he cried out, falling on his knees. "Yes, it was lucky we got 2nd place for our dance but I know everyone wanted to get 1st because it's our last competition but I had to ruin it," he said, his lips trembling.

"And I'm really sorry for messing up when I was singing with Luhan, thus we couldn't even get the top 3. If GD hyung were there, I would be ashamed to face him, and I'm already ashamed facing all of you," he continued, his voice shaking.

"If I were to rewind time, I would gladly fix things up. I was so stupid to allow my feelings get in the way of our victory. Please forgive me everyone," Chen cried.

A hand appeared in front of him. Chen looked up tearfully. Young Deuk nodded encouragingly. That gesture made Chen feel even worse. Trembling, he took Young Deuk's hand and helped himself up.

"Are you all mad at Chen?" He asked the team. All of them shook their heads. Chen hiccoughed. "Luhan?"

Luhan smiled. "I was disappointed, but we can't be perfect on our first try. And everyone makes mistakes so I forgive you Chen."

Chen smiled through his tears. "Gomawo."

"You may leave now, except for Zico," he told everyone. They all mumbled words of encouragement to Chen before slowly departing.

Young Deuk clapped his shoulder. "We won't be seeing each other for a long time after our final meeting. But when we happen to cross each other's paths again, I want to see a more professional Chen. Can you promise me that?" He asked.

Chen nodded vigorously. He truly regretted his actions just now, how he blanked out as he searched for Hyori. As he thought about it, he felt so stupid, losing his chance to clinch an award just because of ..

Chen shook his head. He must get back in the game. He owed Luhan one. He owed everyone one.

Young Deuk beamed. "Then I leave you with something to remember our promise."

He took off his snapback and wore it on Chen's head. Chen blinked in surprise, wiping his eyes.

"Consider it as my farewell gift to you. You can return it to me when I see you being more stable."

Chen was deeply touched. Zico scoffed. "Ssem, dramatic much?" 

Young Deuk grinned.

"We still have one last meeting. Our farewell party. You can redeem yourself on that day, if you know what to do," Young Deuk winked before leaving.

There was a moment's silence, only to be broken by Zico sighing.

"I came with many expectations but you just had to let me down. And she's another one too, why can't she ditch her schoolwork just once to support you? I mean, loved ones over school right?" Zico muttered feverishly.

Chen didn't say anything. Suddenly, he had a of inspiration.

You can redeem yourself on that day, if you know what to do.

"Hyung," Chen said, looking at Zico straight in the eye, "can you help me?"

*

Hahahaha I hope I didn't confuse y'all with this update!

So .. what do you think will happen to Hyori and Chen now? ^^