I.

As you all know, Ji Yeon and I witnessed something steamy and disturbing at the same time happen in the Meeting Room between Soo Young and one of the judges. As a result of that ing-up, the judge is now preparing to announce to the Dance Department that there has been a miscalculation of votes whereas he was just bribed with . The judge walks down the hallway, smartening his suit and frequently fixing his tie, appearing nervous. His facial expression is one that is not so happy, stern as I would put it. The students who pass by him greet him but he doesn’t return the greeting. Instead, he focuses on how he is going to announce the so-called ‘wrong count’ and the new Dance Captain. Finally, he reaches the door of the Dance Department and takes a deep breath, rehearsing the speech in his head before opening the door. The dance students who are busy rehearsing under Yuri’s command suddenly stop to pay attention.

“Attention students. I am afraid that there has been a miscalculation of votes…” the judge looks at Yuri before shifting his gaze to Soo Young who seems to be smiling slightly. A look of fear is seen on Yuri’s face while Soo Young is just calmly anticipating the judge’s announcement of her name.

“What’s going on?” asks HyoYeon. In her nervousness and disbelief, Yuri fails to hear her friend as she is lost in her classmates’ murmurs and the judge’s words.

“The actual winner of the Dance Captain Audition and therefore your new Dance Captain is…” he looks over at Soo Young and smiles weakly. “Choi Soo Young.” Everyone gasps and talks among themselves. Yuri’s heart sinks and her entire body goes numb. She feels like crying as the tears are welling up in her eyes. Soo Young then walks to the judge and bows down to him, pursing her small s so as to reveal a cleavage which turns the judge on. Last minute flirting. her! The judge leaves and Soo Young stands before the entire Dance Department. Yuri’s eyes which are now filled with tears glare at Soo Young. Soo Young looks at her and smirks.

“As your new Dance Captain, I am now going to impose the rules that I have prepared for all of you. First, you must play by my rules. I am the Captain and you should therefore follow me and put your trust in me. Choi Soo Young knows best. Second, only I have the right to alter choreographies and routines. If you have any suggestions, kindly please present them to me first. Third, I don’t want no hardheaded es insisting on their own routines. If you have a problem with that, then I suggest you drop out like old Victoria Song! And fourth, be present at all meetings. A total of three absences, consecquetive or not, will result to automatic dismissal and expulsion from the team.” Soo Young sternly warns. Yuri glares at her even more, fighting the urge to scream and cry. Soo Young steps down and walks to her group of friends. The other students look at her and start whispering behind her back. Yuri on the other hand, to avoid expulsion, dismissal, or a black eye, storms out of the dance studio and goes straight to the ladies’ room. Min, Nicole, and Hyoyeon follow her. Soo Young looks at them and glints her eyes. Minzy and Hyunah run to her side to congratulate her.

In reality, nobody knows what really happened or what goes on behind close doors. In fact, the students are gullible enough to believe that there really was a miscalculation and that Soo Young really did win. Nobody knows what Soo Young did-not even her close friends-just to get that Dance Captain position. Nobody knows the desperate move she pulled just to be on top.

Yuri busts into the bathroom, much to surprise of the girls who are re-applying their makeup. She heads to the first cubicle, pushes it open and slams it close. Min, Hyoyeon, and Nicole follow suit. The annoyed girls scold them.

“Excuse me, can you like, not burst in the room. Because seriously, it’s scaring the out of us.” The feisty Nicole Jung steps forward and confronts the girl.

“Well can you like, not tell us that way because seriously, your accent is annoying!” Nicole mocks the girl’s voice and manner of speaking. “Look out!” she points to the ceiling. The girl looks and sees nothing and when she looks back at Nicole, Nicole pretends to punch her face.

“Get outta here! Don’t act like you own the place, !” Min scares the girls away. The three of them calm down and knock on the door of the cubicle where Yuri is.

“Yul…”Hyoyeon asks calmly. “Yul, are you there?”

“Just like last year.” Nicole says.

“Well I could use less of the insults!” Yuri cries. “Just kidding…” Yuri lightens up and lets them in. It’s amazing how all four girls can squeeze into one cubicle. They must be really thin! Praising aside, Yuri cries and her three friends try to comfort her. Instead of stopping her from crying like what they did last year when she bawled her eyes over Minho. They just let her cry it all out because the difference between this and Minho is that this is her passion and this is definitely something worth crying over. I bet if this happened to you, you’d be the same way.

“It’s so unfair! It’s so ing unfair!” Yuri cries. “Why did Soo Young get that part? She cheated! She cheated!” she cries over and over again. Hyoyeon and Min comfort her. Nicole tries to sort things out with her friend.

“Cheer up, Yuri. You can always be the best dancer. Who says you have to be the captain to prove that you’re the best? It’s not always the case. Some back dancers are better than the main dancers themselves.” Nicole says in an effort to make Yuri feel better.

“That’s not the point, Nicole. Point is, all my efforts have now gone to waste!” Yuri continues to sob. “I’ve worked so hard to come up with those ideas and all of them have been put to waste!”

“Well you’re not the only one whose ideas have been wasted. What about those other applicants, right?” Min says.

“The thing is, Soo Young holds a grudge against me. You know, with her being an ex-ally of Gahee’s.”

“You’re taking this thing way too seriously, Yuri. It’s just a position! What we’re after here in Dance Class is the talent not the authority. Her being Dance Captain doesn’t make you any less of a dancer. It doesn’t put you below her in terms of capablities.” Hyoyeon reasons out.

“Besides, the whole school knows that you’re the best dancer. Soo Young being Dance Captain will never change that!” Min says.

“Plus, we totally think this is a conspiracy!” Nicole says. The two other girls agree.

Yuri stops her sobbing and suddenly considers the last statement. Conspiracy.

II.

For the remaining 2 hours in class, Bom has had the serious look on her face. She cannot be spoken to, cannot be touched, cannot be moved. Her attention has drifted from the lesson to her own problem. Her body. Bom is starting to have insecurities about her body, thinking that she is way too fat and that Changmin will never like her fat body. She feels that the reason why she’s never had a suitor is because she is fat and ugly. Bom is convinced that if she doesn’t change her lifestyle, she will remain single for the rest of her life and being lonely, Bom doesn’t want that to happen.

“I need to go on a diet.” Bom tells herself. Daesung, who is seated right next to her, hears this and asks her.

“What?” he asks in disbelief.

“I said it right. I’m going on a diet.”

“Bom? Why?”

“You said it yourself, Daesung. I’m fat and chubby and Changmin won’t like me if I’m fat.”

“But Bom, I was just kidding then!” Bom glares at Daesung and points a finger at him.

“You should know better than to joke a girl about her weight.” Bom turns away from him and as soon as the class ends, she takes her things and stands from her chair, walks away from Daesung. Daesung senses that soething is wrong and follows Bom out the classroom.

“Hey! I’m sorry for that joke!”

“Shut up!” Bom says. “My self esteem has been crushed!” Bom then continues to walk away from Daesung when she suddenly realizes something. She turns around and talks to Daesung.

“I’m sorry for being a jerk. I shouldn’t have taken your joke too seriously.”

“Nah, it’s alright.” Daesung smiles. “I just want you to be careful with your diet. As a concerned friend, I don’t want you falling sick just because you didn’t eat your cookies! And goddamn I bake a good bunch!” Bom laughs heartily at his joke.

“You do?” Daesung nods with a wide grin.

“I sure do.”

“Boy, I wish I could still eat those.”

“You’re gonna miss em!” Daesung teases Bom. Bom just pouts and smiles for Daesung.

“Alright, I’ll see you around tomorrow. Look out for the new Park Bom Lee!” Bom says. She merrily walks all the way to the exit door of the school when a poster catches her eye.

INTERSCHOOL SINGING COMPETITION.

CALLING ALL VOICE STUDENTS OF PERFORMING ARTS SCHOOLS. COME TOGETHER ON THE 12TH OF OCTOBER FOR THE INTERSCHOOL SINGING COMPETITION. THE WINNER WILL TAKE HOME A TROPHY AND A CASH PRIZE.

Bom’s eyes widen at this. It’s what she’s wanted all along. A singing competition to prove herself as a worthy student (and to show off to Changmin). Bom produces a pen from her pocket and jots the date and details down on her palm. She puts the pen back in her pocket and excitedly runs out of the school. Daesung sees her leave and checks out what she just checked out. A singing competition. Great. Bom’s a good singer, he says.

As soon as she gets home, the first thing Bom tells her mom is about the singing contest. Of course, Bom’s mother couldn’t be any happier for her daughter and even encourages her to practice more. Bom is just in a world of bliss and enters her room, floating on cloud 9. She plops on her bed and puts her headphones on, looking for good songs that she could possibly sing in the contest. Then suddenly, she remembers her diet.

“Oh right.” she tells herself. “You’re a fat . In this judgemental world of ours, this cruel judgemental world of ours where looks are more important than talent, doesn’t matter how good you are. If you’re a fatass, they won’t give that award to you no matter how high the notes you hit are.” Bom discourages herself and watches as her self-esteem takes a dive into the pits of personal hell. A food lover, Bom has a small fridge in her room. Bom looks at this and curses at it under her breath. She stands up and opens it, trying to take a look at the food that she has been eating. Chocolates, mini cakes, small donuts, rice cakes, pork dishes from the convenience store, ice cream cups and cones, and cans of softdrinks.

“Bull!” she says as she slams the small door of the fridge. Bom doesn’t know what to do with the food there. She loves food and each and every day whenever she’s bored or just studying her notes, she grabs something to eat and eats the review session away. Bom’s small eyes glint at the fridge. “You’re the reason why I can’t and will never get guys! You turned me into a fatso!” The frustrated young lady walks to the fridge and opens it, getting all the food she has in there and throwing it in the trash bin in her bathroom. Some of the foods have already been consumed but Bom continues to dump them. She gets the ice cream, mushes it and throws it in the bin. She opens the soda cans and pours the soda down the drain before crushing the cans in her hands. The metal cans wound her hands, making them bleed. Out of pain, anger, and desperation, Bom breaks down in her bathroom and cries, sitting among the mess she has created with the food.

“BOM!” her mom calls. Bom looks up and wipes her tears, washing her face so as to avoid questions from her mother. Questions like, “did you just cry?” and “what are you crying about?”. Plus, she doesn’t know how to tell her mom that she’s on diet. Her mom would freak out for sure! Bom keeps her composure and calmly walks out of the bathroom and of her room, acting like nothing happened. She slowly makes her way down the stairs and upon reaching the dining room, her mom turns around and sees her.

“Hey.”

“Hello dear. We’re having bulgogi, kimchi, and kimbap for dinner.” her mom says as she sets down three different plates on the table.

Oh damn! My favorite foods! Portion control, Bom, portion control.

“And, we’re having ice cream for dessert. I’m just so happy that you’ve finally decided to show of your talent after years of hiding it. I’m so proud of you, Bom.” her mother sits down and invites her to sit down. Bom snaps back into consciousness and pulls the chair, sitting down on it. Her mother starts getting some food while she just stares at it.

“Well, aren’t you going to eat?” Bom’s mother asks.

“Uhm, I think I’d eat later. I still have some business to do upstairs. Really important stuff. Most of them are due tomorrow.” Bom says quickly.

“Oh. Okay. I’ll just save some food for you then.” Bom’s mom says. Bom nods with a fake smile and makes her way back up to her room. Bom quicjkly enters and slams the door shut, locking it. She throws herself on the bed and buries herself in the sheets, crying. She could only imagine how delicious it is to eat those dishes. Bom has had enough moping and comes out of the covers. She decides to do a little self-evaluation.

“I wonder how fat I am…” she tells herself. She stands in front of her mirror and takes her clothes off, leaving her undergarments on. Now Bom is not exactly what you could call fat but compared to girls like Yuri, SooYoung, SunYe, and those other girls in school, she’s kinda chubby. Her belly is not really that big but there is a little bulge and this makes Bom mad. She pinches it and in her frustration, pinches too hard enough to make it bleed. When she removes her fingers, she sees the damage she has just caused on her skin.

“Great! Now I have scars on my stomach. The more guys will ignore me!” she remembers that she has a weighing scale in the bathroom and goes there to weigh herself in. She steps on the weighing scale feeling more nervous than ever. She refuses to look at the numbers at first and is greatly astonished when she does.

“115 lbs?! What the hell?! Last time I checked I was 102 lbs! Don’t tell me I gained 13 lbs!!” this is where Bom officially loses it. She steps off the scale and kicks it back to the wall, running to her bed and throwing herself on it once more. She sobs and sobs and sobs. She can’t believe that she let herself get this heavy.

From a normal person’s perspective, 115 lbs is not really fat but if you’re someone who’s struggling with weight, been struggling with it since your freshman years in high school, the slightest fluctuation is a big deal. What may not be fat to others is obese to you, if you know you were lower than that once.

Because of too much crying, Bom falls asleep.

III.

Nichkhun wakes up and finds himself locked up in the brotherhood house. He tries to stand up from the bed but the pain caused by the initiation process stops him from jumping out quickly. He carefully stands up, trying not to let the wounds touch the surface. He successfully makes it up and looks around the house, checking every nook and cranny. He sees guns, knives, drugs, weapons, and other bad things. Nichkhun’s eyes widen in shock. He looks around for more things and enters one room on the left wing of the house. It’s a bedroom with posters and stacks of magazines. Curiousity pushes him to check the room and sure enough, the posters on the walls are ographic posters and the magazines are magazines. He checks them one by one and being a good Christian kid, his eyes burn and glint at the sight of the women posing promiscuously on the covers. But what scares him more is what he finds underneath all the rubbish.

Cult fiction. Demonic fiction. Torture manuals.

“Them?” Nichkhun whispers in disbelief. “RReading things like this?!” Nichkhun hears the main door open and drops everything. He puts everything back in place and hides in the closet. As much as he wants to belong to their group, he is mighty scared of them and wouldn’t want to get them angry. Jay Park enters the frat house and grabs a can of beer. Nichkhun prays for him not to check the kitchen. Luckily for him, he doesn’t. As soon as Jay exit’s the house, Nichkhun steps quietly out of the cabinet and crawls back into his dirty, stinky bed. He wails in pain and because of intense pain, he falls asleep.

A few hours later, the boys return from their respective classes and look around the house to see if Nichkhun did anything strange. Gladly, he didn’t. Matter of fact, they see him sleeping like a baby. The others crowd around him and observe his wounds, trying to see if they’ve healed already. Unfortunately, they haven’t. Nichkhun is still as scarred as a warrior who survived battle.

“Hey!” Chansung screams at Nichkhun. “Hey, wake up !” Nichkhun jolts awake and is shocked to see all of them around him.
“Woah! What are you gonna do to me?” he asks frantically.

“Chillax. We’re just gonna introduce you to the club. Welcome!” Jo Kwon says with a sarcastic smile. Nichkhun shakes his head and despite the painful sensation he feels all over his body, he manages to smile.

“Thanks.”

“But you have to abide by our rules and regulations. Failure to follow them will result to dismissal. Painful dismissal.” Chansung says sternly. Nichkhun pays attention to what Chansung says next.

“You are to keep this club secret. Its existence is only within our group. When we are apart, you are not to talk about this or our activities with other people. You are to do what the leader tells you to do. No matter how grave the consequences are. You devote your everything to this group. What one does, everyone must do. No one is an exception.” Nichkhun suddenly remembers the things he saw earlier. The drugs, the guns, the magazines. He’s a good boy and he doesn’t want to do these things but because he is desperate for companionship and friendship, he is willing to.

“And one more thing, “ Jo Kwon follows up. “This little club we have here is no different from Fight Club’s Project Mayhem. We cause mayhem and when we cause mayhem, we cause mayhem as one.” Jo Kwon eyes Nichkhun, knowing that Nichkhun is a good boy and is one who wouldn’t dare hurt a fly. “That’s the number one rule here. Operate as One.” Jo Kwon smirks.

What Nichkhun doesn’t know is that the reason why Jo Kwon and Chansung invited him to their frat house is because they are jealous of him. They know that Nichkhun has the potential to be one of the most popular if not the most popular student of the school year. Now, if they want Nichkhun’s reputation to get stained, they’re gonna have to do something bad and put the new student in the spotlight. They don’t really want him as their friend, they want to shame him so damn badly.

“Project Mayhem?” obviously, Nichkhun has not yet seen Fight Club. “What is that?”

“That is something you’ll discover in the long run.” Chansung says with a smirk. He walks over to the counter top and finds a jar of . He takes one out, rolls it and sticks it in Nichkhun’s mouth. Nichkhun is caught off guard and wants to spit it out but cannot for fear that he might lose his friends. “But in the meantime, celebrate with us first. Smoke a joint!”

“Sffoorry vhut I dnt smke…” says Nichkhun in a muffled voice as Chansung lights his joint up against his will. Left with no choice, Nichkhun smokes and gets high for the first time. It’s like he’s being sent to temptation heaven. Something that’s so bad yet so good! Little does he disocver that smoking weed indeed is good. The high feeling that he has right now triggers him to smoke another joint. The other boys join in the merriment and soon the entire house is covered with smoke.

“Enjoying your stay, dude?” Jay Park asks while puffing smoke. Nichkhun nods sleepily.

“Oh yeah.” he says with a wide smile. He puffs some smoke and he feels numb and invincible. He stands up and prances around, dances around crazily in the frat house. The other guys laugh out loud and cheer him on. The good Christian boy has transformed into a weed-smoking bad boy.

“Alright.” Chansung says, obviously stoned. “After this party, we get down to our plan…” he smokes more weed and when Jay Park brings out the beer, that’s when the party starts. Add some rock music and magazines to that!

IV.

Onew has never felt anything like this before. He’s had several crushes in the past but what he feels for Ji Yeon is something stronger than mere infatuation. He really wants Ji Yeon, loves her as a matter of fact and needs to have her by his side.

For the first time in his goddamn life, Onew is going to court a girl. I wonder how this is going to turn out. Actually, Onew’s been calling Ji Yeon out on his radio station and has been playing love songs all day long, dedicated to Ji Yeon. Ji Yeon, who is still in love with her dead boyfriend Hyun Joong, could care less about Onew and is not about ready to say yes to the quirky and annoying DJ-wannabe.

“This song goes out to the most beautiful girl on campus!” he says. “I just want you to know that this is all I want to be and I hope you make my dreams come true.” Ji Yeon hears this and buries her head on my shoulder. I her head and embrace her. She needs shelter from humiliation. “This is “Boyfriend” by Big Time Rush!”.

[song: “Boyfriend” by Big Time Rush ft. Snoop Dogg]

As if that wasn’t embarrassing enough, Onew gets his singing and dancing shoes on and steps out of his radio booth at the sight of Ji Yeon and me.

“Excuse me, Ms. Hwang but I’d like to have a moment with Park Ji Yeon here.” he says. He slightly pushes me to the side and takes Ji Yeon by the hand. Ji Yeon tries to pull away but Onew is obviously stronger, thus making it easy for him to pull her to his side. I place my hands on my hips and shake my head at the desperate move Onew is trying to pull.
Now comes the most embarrassing part…

He makes Ji Yeon stand in the middle of the hallway and calls all the students. Of course, with an act and a voice like his, who wouldn’t look his way? They all crowd around Ji Yeon and Onew and watch as Onew performs in front of the girl of his dreams. The other spectators shake their heads and cover their faces or eyes in embarrassment both for Ji Yeon and Onew. Ji Yeon herself cannot bear the sight of Onew making a fool out of himself for her. And to think that they’re in the middle of the hallway! Onew doesn’t care, though. All he wants is Ji Yeon’s answer. Having enough of the bull, I push and squeeze my way through and grab Ji Yeon’s wrist, leading her away from Onew. Onew stops his humiliating presentation to chase us.

“Just where do you think you’re going with my girl?!” Onew proclaims. He breezes his way through the crowd and takes Ji Yeon’s left hand. Now, Onew and I are about to play a game of Tug-o-Ji Yeon.

“Onew, you’re embarrassing yourself! It’s clear that Ji Yeon doesn’t want to be your girlfriend nor does she want to have anything to do with you!” I scold him loudly but Onew is just so resilient. He really wants Ji Yeon so he pulls Ji Yeon closer to himself.

“Ji Yeon is mine, you crazy !”

“ it she’s not, you !” Onew and I play a childish game of tug-o-war while cussing at each other when Ji Yeon finally speaks up.

“SHUT UP! THE TWO OF YOU!!!” Ji Yeon screams. We let go of her hands at the same time. “I am not a rag doll so don’t you two fight over me. Now, Onew, I’m not saying that I don’t like you. Well, as of now I don’t but if you really want me, make me fall for you! As for you, Tiffany Hwang, please do not argue with this man. There is no way his immature brain is going to absorb your scoldings. You’re just wasting your time. Let’s go.” Ji Yeon grabs my arm and walks away with me. Onew is left standing near the lockers with the entire student body’s eyes on him. He turns the other cheek and walks back to his radio booth, locks himself in and drinks a cold glass of water. Everything returns to normal after that.

“I didn’t know you could scream like that.” I tell Ji Yeon.

“Of course I can. It’s just a matter of the situation and the emotion. Otherwise, I’m pretty calm.”

“Wait. Let me get this straight. You said Onew could court you? And there’s a chance for you to actually like, no, love Onew? Are you serious?”

“Seriously, yes.”
“Lee Jin Ki? That DJ wannabe? There’s a chance for him to be your boyfriend? Ji Yeon, why?!”

“I don’t know…” Ji Yeon suddenly zones out, a slight twinkle can be seen in her eyes.

“What do you mean you don’t know?! You’re giving Onew a chance?” Ji Yeon suddenly smiles and says,

“Yes. Yes I am.” My eyes widen in shock. Well, Ji Yeon does have a thing for Onew after all. And I knew it because I saw her eyes twinkle earlier when we were talking about Onew.

Onew stays in his booth, still trying to get over the humiliation he received earlier. Not wanting to give up on Ji Yeon, he continues to dedicate songs to her and to broadcast her name and profess his love for her on his radio station. He even goes to the extent of writing a poem on the spot and reading it out loud. While the majority of the student body gets all gushy over the poem, a fair percentage still shakes their heads, laughing his depseration off.

Ji Yeon and I go our separate ways. I head on to my writing class while Ji Yeon goes to search for her next art class. Sculpting. On her way to her class, she passes by Onew’s radio booth and the budding DJ’s mood lightens up the minute he sees her.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now witnessing the most beautiful creature to walk on the-” Ji Yeon opens his radio booth door and confronts him.

“Take those earphones off and put it off air.” Ji Yeon commands. Onew lovingly does so.

“What is it my dear?” Onew says, flirtily fluttering his eyes at Ji Yeon rolls her eyes and tries to smile.

“I’m gonna give you a deal, alright? You really want me to be your girl? Fine. But prove yourself worthy of a boy, no a manfriend.” Boy, Ji Yeon sure has high standards. I think she just wants to see if Onew can level up to Hyun Joong. She knows that he won’t be able to no matter how hard he tries.

“Alright. What do I have to do, my darling?” Onew says with all flattery. Ji Yeon smiles a nasty, cunning smile.

“I want you to officially quit the Jinki segment thing and move on to something more…I don’t know…substansial?”

“Why? Don’t you find my broadcasts informative?” he asks, leaning closer to her. Ji Yeon pushes him away and smiles.

“I don’t. Honestly, I don’t find them informative at all. I think they’re a waste of time. You should be doing better things with your time?”

“Like what things?” Onew’s brain is very right now.

“I don’t know. Help Tiffany and Victoria with their broadcasting thing?” Ji Yeon suggests.

“You’re setting me up, aren’t you?” Onew smirks.

“No I’m not.”

“Are you sure? Because the way I see it-”

“Believe it or not, I’m not.” Ji Yeon says with a straight face. “I am willing to give you a chance if I see that you are deserving of it.”

“Really?” Onew’s eyes sparkle.

“Yes. Prove yourself to me first. If you deserve it, I’ll give it to you.” Ji Yeon smiles and looks at her watch. “Oh gee, gotta go. See you!” Onew has died and gone to heaven.

“I must prove myself to Ji Yeon. Anything for her love!” Onew proclaims to himself.

V.

Yubin has just finished the first round of battle rapping and has now proven herself a rightful spot in the Rap Department.

“Daegu girl so hard to beat here, huh?!” G-Dragon says. The others agree with him and celebrate her victory. Yubin, whom they haven’t seen smile, smirks and shakes her head at them.

“I’m not convinced, though.” TOP begs to differ. Yubin’s smirk disappears and the stoic look on her face returns. She glares at TOP who never seems to be satisfied with her raps, always looking for flaws. “You need to have more fierceness in it. You see, Daegu girl, you’re good and all but your flows are kinda cheesy. You need power in it. Remember, if you’re gonna represent our school, if ever you win the second round of battle rapping, you’re gonna have to show aggression and fierceness there. This is a Battle Rap we’ve signed up for not some tacky Talent Show!” Yubin feels insulted and humiliated, as if all her battle rap victories amount to nothing in this school. “Now it seems to me that you’re showing less attitude and more…I don’t know…it’s like you’ve just written a girly poem and added a y beat to it just to call it rapping.” She feels bullied and let down by the very people who should be supporting her. Being a tough young woman, she refuses to let the tears that are welling up in her eyes flow by frequently shaking her head and moving it. TOP notices this and just lets it go. The other boys, including G-Dragon stare at her and want to help her but they feel powerless in the presence of the ever strict leader Choi Seung hyun.

Truth is, TOP knows in his heart and mind that Yubin is a good rapper, if not the best. He knows that she can overtake him anytime and he fears that fact. He doesn’t want any one, especially a girl when there’s never been a girl rap student before to take his place that’s why he says all these hurtful words and criticizes her often. It’s not that Yubin as a rapper. She’s good, way too good as a matter of fact and TOP can’t let go nor accept that fact. He brings her down so he could raise himself up because he knows he cannot level up to the mini MC from Daegu.

“Well…” Yubin speaks up, obviously feeling down and disappointed. “I’m sorry I wasted your time. It seems as though nothing I do is ever good enough. Each time I rap, you say it and it’s not tough, fierce, feisty or whatever enough. You discourage me everytime and you make me feel like I’m such a huge disappointment and a waste of space here. Sorry for wasting your time again. I shouldn’t have come in the first place.” Yubin slowly walks away from them, humiliated and on the verge of crying. “But just so you know, your words can’t and won’t bring me down. I will continue rapping because I know I am good and I deserve a spot in the rap music industry.”

“Daegu girl, wait!” G-Dragon calls her. Yubin turns around and with tears in her eyes, she stares at him angrily.

“Don’t call me Daegu girl. I have a name, you know.” Yubin walks out and shuts the door gently.

Yubin heads to the ladies room to re-apply her makeup when she sees a familiar frame and a familiar face from afar. The tears in her eyes suddenly dry up and the look of sadness morphs into a look of anger.

“Oh no he didn’t. Oh no he ing didn’t!” Yubin says out loud. “Don’t tell me he’s studying here!”

From a distance, Yubin recognizes her ex-boyfriend from Daegu. Her ex-boyfriend whom she loved so much but he couldn’t show it back.

Jung Yunho. Also known as U-know Yunho.

“What the ?! What is he doing here?” Yubin sees Yunho coming and hides in the ladies’ room. Another girl is waiting right outside and as soon as they meet, they share a passionate kiss right in front of Yubin. Now this makes Yubin want to cry even more.

Not so long ago, more like 4 months ago, Yubin and Yunho were in a relationship and Yubin was the ever loving and ever caring one. You wouldn’t expect those things from someone who looked like her but when she and Yunho were together, they were present. Yunho is a dancer and Yubin, well you know what Yubin is. They met a Dance and Rap convention and went steady for 4 months until Yunho decided that it was time to end the relationship. Yubin felt sad because she had so many plans for the two of them and all her love for him would go to waste. Yubin left Daegu and came to Seoul for this school and seeing her ex-flame in the same place is just a huge annoyance and a burden to the heart.

What Yubin doesn’t know is that the reason why Yunho broke up with her and why he has come to this school is because he is dating a girl here. During the 4 months that they were together, Yunho had been acting all mysterious and refused to reciprocate the love that Yubin gave to him. He never called her, texted her, he didn’t even know where her house was and now Yubin knows the reason why. He has another woman and he broke up with her so that he could be with this woman.

“Goddamn it!” Yubin decides not to reapply her make up and to step out to show Yunho the new her. Yubin walks out of the ladies room and walks confidenlty past them though she has just suffered extreme humiliation in the Rap Department earlier. She’s hoping that Yunho would take notice but much to her surprise, he doesn’t even care! Yunho didn’t even say hello! Why? Because he’s too occupied with his new love.

Who is this new love by the way?

Park Gyuri from the Voice Department.

Yubin shakes her head in anger and she can feel her heart shaking because of pain. Soon, her entire body begins to shake and her legs go numb, preventing her from moving quickly but she tries, though. Yubin who is wearing a gray hoodie covers her head with the hoodie and swiftly runs away from Yunho and Gyuri. They continue to display their affection for each other.

“Hey isn’t that the pathetic girl you dumped a month ago or so?” asks Gyuri.

“I don’t know and I don’t care.” Yunho smirks and they kiss once more. He soon takes her to the ladies room and they make love in one of the cubicles.

The Rap Department is as silent as ever. The guys are just staring at one another, TOP trying to think of some topic to talk about when Yubin busts through the door and slams it shut. The guys all look at her with wide eyes and stay glued to their seats.

“WHO’S UP FOR A BATTLE RAP? HUH? WHO?”

“Woah, Yubin chill!” for the first time, G-Dragon calls Yubin by her name. “No need to-”

“Shut up, ! I’m not in a good mood today and if anyone here wants to test my patience, be my guest.” Yubin says. “Come on!? What you waiting for? Not tough enough?! Ha! We’ll see about that! You!” Yubin points at Tablo. “You staring at me like ? Well come on here and I’ll show you what this piece of is made of!” Tablo is taken by surprise and not wanting to further anger Yubin, he stands up and stands in front of her.

“Who goes-”

[Yubin raps: “Of All Days”]

[a/n: “Oneul ttara” by TOP. I love this song and I think that if you raise the pitch a little bit, it’ll sound as if Yubin is rapping it. I can just imagine it. I wish I had Audacity, though :P]

[Tablo raps: “One”]

“Woah.” Tablo says at the end. “Yubin, you are fierce. What did you do outside and you were so angry when you came in.”

“Don’t ask. TOP! Come the here and let’s throw it down like we used to. Come on! You asking for another round? You saying I’m not tough enough? Well get your mothering over here and let me show you what messing with me feels like!”

TOP’s eyes widen with shock and anger. Nobody, and I mean, nobody has ever talked to him like that before. Not even the boys. It takes a lot of guts to scream and curse at TOP like that because first and foremost, TOP is a tough talker himself and being Big Seung hyun, getting your kicked by him is the last thing you’d want.

“Did you just curse at me?” TOP stands in front of Yubin, towering over her small frame. Yubin tilts her head to get a better view of him. She could swear that TOP is just a few seconds away from breaking her jaw and her entire face. Fear starts to overtake her but she thinks of the disgusting sight she saw earlier and how easily Yunho replaced her and mustering all her strength and gathering all the bravery she has in her small body, Yubin answers back.

“I guess I just did. After all, you deserve a little punch on the ego after what you said to me!”

TOP looks at her. Stares through her beautiful brown eyes and her pretty face. He decides that she’s too charming to hurt. Plus, she’s feisty too. Feeling a slight pinch of infatuation and admiration for the feisty Daegu girl, TOP relaxes himself and smiles.

“Mocking me now? Huh? Wipe that smug smile off your face, jackass!”

“I never thought I’d say this but…” TOP places a hand on his forehead and rubs it. “Get ready for more practices. You’re representing our school at the Interschool Battle Rap.”

For the first time, they see Yubin smile. And my God it’s such a pretty smile! The boys’ hearts suddenly flutter. Including TOP’s!

“I guess you’re not as weak as I thought you were.” TOP says. “But work on your raps more.” TOP smiles at her and claps slowly. “Job well done, Yubin.”

“At least your criticism’s more constructive now.” she says as she walks out of the room to re-apply her makeup (finally).

VI.

In Writing Class, I continue to compile all the atrocities that we’ve witnessed here so far. The novel that Ji Yeon and I are working on still has a long way to go. We don’t even have caricatures yet. But the story’s coming together. As I write about it, I feel a presence above me. I look up and see Victoria reading my work from above my shoulder.

“Uhm, are you reading this?” Victoria nods her head.

“Looks interesting.” she says. “What’s this about?”

“Sit down.” I tell her. Victoria sits in her chair and scoots closer to me. “Ji Yeon and I have been doing a little bit of spying and we’ve now seen the secrets of this school.”

“Oh?” Victoria suddenly lightens up, appearing intersted. “What have you uncovered so far?”

“We haven’t finished spying on the people yet. But once we have, we’re gonna let you know first.”

Victoria Song is suddenly interested in what I have to write. Finally! Someone is interested in my work. An idea suddenly pops in my head.

“Victoria, we have a project going on, don’t we?” I ask her.

“Yeah. We’re groupmates, right?”

“Yes we are. How’s about we…” I whisper whatever it is I have to say. Victoria covers in awe.

“That is divine! I’d love to do that!” Victoria says.

“Sounds like a great plan, right? Say Vicki, how would you like to come spying with us?”

“I’d love to! Who are we going to spy on?”

I smile slyly at her and say, “Just follow my lead.”