I.

Yuri wakes up in her bed. She remembers being beaten to death by a dance crew whom she tried to dance with. Her arms have hot towels on them and so do her legs. The bed that she is lying in is not her own but very comfortable. She then notices that she is not in her house and is in the bedroom of someone else.

But who?

“Hey, if there’s anything you need just tell me but if you can get it yourself, stand up and get it.” says Soo Young.

Wait? What?

Did I just say Soo Young? Choi Soo Young?

“What? Wh-where am I?”

“You’re in my house, you dimwit!”

“What? Soo Young? What am I doing here?”

“You’re resting, silly. You were beaten up by this gang of dancers and I saw everything before my eyes and I had to save your life.”

“Why did you save my life?” Yuri is not in her right mind and is just saying whatever comes into her brain. “I mean, you hate me, don’t you?” Soo Young shakes her head and purses her lips imapatiently. She sits on the edge of the bed and tries to explain everything to Yuri who obviously has no memory of what happened.

“Well I just couldn’t watch a classmate of mine die in the hands of those goons! I just couldn’t let them kill someone who’s a part of my team! I know you, Yuri and though I may not like you, you are a part of my life and face it, like it or not we belong to the same school which means we are on the same team. Your fight is my fight. Do you think I was just gonna stand there and let them have it? Let them have you? No ing way!”

“How did you do it?”

“With my size, I knocked those little girls out and kicked the guys in the balls. Easy as pie. But what wasn’t easy was carrying you and caring for you here.”

“Why not? Am I heavy? Did I gain weight?”

“Are you gonna shut up or are you gonna continue being sarcastic til I knock your teeth off myself?”

“Okay, okay. Sorry.”

“It was hard because I hate…don’t like you. It was hard because you’re not someone I usually hang out with. It was hard because I know we have some kind of rivalry and me saving your life was just really awkward and heavy…”

“Then you should’ve just left me, then.”

“I couldn’t. Some part of me couldn’t leave you there. It was like, even though I hate you like hell, some part of me still cares enough to save your life and be there for you when you need it.”

“Oh. That’s real…tarty.” Yuri replies.

“I’m not really a nice girl and this might sound just as tarty but, I hate it when other people hurt you. I feel as if I’m the only one entitled to inflict pain on you.”

“Then inflict pain now!” Yuri jokes.

“Good one. Want to, love to, but can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Do you want me to deny you of the tiramisu I just made?”

“Nope. I’ve not tasted it yet.”

“Then it’s about time you have. Wait right here, patient.” Soo Young goes down to get herself and Yuri a plate of delicious fruit tiramisu. Yuri feels sort of flattered.

I didn’t know Soo Young could be this nice. When you see her, you’ll say she looks mean and she’s a bully but once you get to know her, she’s quite sweet. I never thought I’d say this but I think I’d like to give the dance team another try.

Soo Young comes back up with two plates of tiramisu. She hands the other to Yuri who sits up to eat it.

“O-O-Ouch.” she says as she slowly tries to get into a sitting position but is being hindered by her aching bones. Soo Young helps her up and hands her her tiramisu share. Yuri tries it and is not diasppointed.

“You make a really mean tiramisu, Soo Young.”

“Told ya!”

“Say I have something to ask you…” Yuri starts.

“What’s that?”

“Remember when you sent me away from your dance team?”

“Mmhmm. Wait. Is that the reason why you didn’t come to school?”

“Actually, yeah. I wanted to go out and form my own crew because I felt so unwanted in your team. Like all of you hated me there. So I found them and tried to befriend them and here I am, beaten to a bruised pulp.”

“To be honest with you, we were waiting for you. We waited all day for you to show up but you didn’t so we just practiced on our own. To tell you the truth, Yuri, our dance team without you. It just can’t live without your dancing powers.”

“If you knew that then, why did you send me away in the first place?”

“I can’t believe you took that seriously?! I was only having a bad day and I just took it out like that. If anything, I’m sorry.”

“Did you just?”

“Yeah. I just did. I’m sorry for treating you like and refusing to listen to you. Sorry on behalf of my girls for underestimating you. We should’ve known better than to judge you.”

“That’s quite alright.”

“And uhm…I have another confession to make. I hope you don’t get angry.” Worry starts to fill their eyes.

“What’s that?”

“I didn’t really win the position of Dance Captain.”

“What do you mean? The judge said there was an error in the calculation of votes. What are you talking about?”

“I seduced the judge into making me the Dance Captain.” Soo Young looks down with shame. Yuri’s eyes widen and she covers in shock.

“You seriously did that?” Yuri cries. Soo Young nods with her head down.

“Yeah. I was very desperate. I just couldn’t take losing to you. I hope you forgive me. If it makes you feel better, we can talk to the judges and get your position back.”

“Yes but Soo Young…” Yuri takes her archnemesis’ hand in hers. “You didn’t have to do that. I could easily give the position up for you.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really. I mean, I was a bit selfish at first. I wanted to be the leader and all but I realized in the long run that, Dance Captain is just a position. Captains go through what average dancers go through. We all practice, we all sweat, we all exert effort. We all win. So it doesn’t really matter to me anymore. I don’t want to stress the choreography and the order. Been there done that. It wasn’t easy. So if you really want to be the Dance Captain, then by all means have it.” Yuri says sweetly. Soo Young looks at her with eyes so kind. Never has she been touched by a rival like this before.

“Thank you so much Yuri!” Soo Young reaches for her and hugs her injured friend.

“I never knew your hugs were warm.” Yuri comments. “You should hug people more often. Your hugs have the ability to make one feel good.”

“Thanks.” the two girls break apart. “So if I asked you if you could join the team once more, would you come back?”

“Hell yeah! I won’t just come back, I will come back full force!” Yuri says with enthusiasm. The two girls share a hug of camaraderie.

II.

Bom comes out of the bathroom crying. Yubin sees her and runs to her side, comforting her.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m…I’m…I’m pregnant!” Bom cries harder. Yubin puts an arm around her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

“What? How?”

“I had with Changmin one night!”

“Changmin? ! THE MAX CHANGMIN?!” Yubin yelps. Bom covers her face with her hands and nods while crying.

“Yeah. That guy.”

“Woah. I didn’t know you guys had something.”

“We don’t have anything. He just flirted with me once or twice, I invited him to my house and we practiced for my song number and we…did it…and” Bom’s speech is starting to become incomprehensible as her sobs get louder and louder. Yubin, though still a stranger to Bom, hugs her new acquaintance and comforts her.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure a way out of this.”

“NO! IT’S NOT OKAY!” Bom pushes Yubin to the wall and the young rapper hits her back. “I have a singing competition in a few weeks and I can’t go on stage looking like this!! I can’t be pregnant! What’ll my mom do?! What’ll she say?!”

“Well of course she’ll say but what do you expect? Do you expect praises from her when you know very well that what you did was wrong? You have to face the reality of life, Bom. We make stupid mistakes. We go through ty times. We piss people off and sometimes we lose to those that we pissed off. But that’s no excuse for you to give up because every mistake that you make is an opportunity for you to learn.” Yubin explains to her.

“You’re a very wise girl.” Bom says. “I didn’t know you were wise. I think I judged far too early. I thought you were just all arrogance.”

 

“Look, I may not be the brightest crayon in the box but I’m smart enough to know that. With all the that I’ve been through, how could I not know?”

“My problem is, I don’t know how to tell or when to tell Changmin about this.”

“You have to tell him.”

“When?”

“Tomorrow. But now, let’s get you home so you can rest. Want some coke?” Yubin jokes to make Bom feel a little bit better but it backfires as the young singer is in no mood for kidding.

“NO! Just take me home, please.”

“Okay.” Yubin and Bom walk to her house and as soon as they reach the beautiful house three blocks away from Yubin’s messy abode, Bom gives her a tight hug.

“Thank you so much for today, Yubin.” Yubin doesn’t quite know how to react to this. The last time she was hugged was when she was 8 years old on Christmas Day by her mother who was even a little trippy then. Yubin hugs Bom back and lets her new friend cry on her shoulder.

“You’re welcome. Sorry if the house was messy.”

“I don’t care about the house. Your hospitality and comfort surpassed the physical appearance of your house. Be proud of it.” Bom smiles at her and goes home. Lucky for her, her mom is not yet home when she arrived. She has just enough time to cry her eyes out without being interrogated. Bom hurriedly goes in and runs up to her room where she throws herself on the bed and cries herself to sleep.

[THE FOLLOWING MORNING]

Bom wakes up with swollen eyes and a sick feeling in the stomach. She runs to the bathroom to throw up and after that, takes a look into the mirror to see what she looks like now. She sees that she has gained a lot of weight, her belly has become rounder and her s seem to have increased in size. Her frame now depresses her, reducing her to tears once more. In a pathetic effort to somewhat “lose” weight, Bom inserts her finger in , down the throat and inducing vomit. Yes, she does vomit but nothing happens to her body. She is still huge and it’s all because of her pregnancy.

With pregnancy come cravings. Bom feels a strong pang of hunger and runs down the stairs, heads to the kitchen and opens the fridge. The ice cream cake that her mom proimised her is there, sitting prettily in the middle. She figures she’ll eat the entire thing while her mother is away. Bom takes it out and devours the entire dessert, leaving only the cardboard plate.

“Oh my God! I’m late for school!” Bom runs upstairs and gets ready, tries to find a loose top to hide her small yet protruding baby bump. She runs down the stairs and gathers her music sheets which she left on the table. Bom dashes out of the house and rides on her bike, making it to school on time.

Daesung is the first person she sees and as soon as she sees him, she greets him with an embrace.

“You are so not going to believe what happened!” she cries.

“You’re pregnant? Officially?!” Bom nods and lets everything out. Daesung puts her head to his chest and locks her in an embrace.

“And I’m gonna have to tell Changmin about this.” Bom says fearfully. “I don’t think he’s gonna want to stick around with me.”

“I thought he loved you and stuff.”

“We had no real commitment. We just got curious and we did it after practicing.” Bom cries harder. “And I became fat!”

“Well forget about your weight. If you’re gonna keep that baby you’re just gonna have to live with it.”

“All I wanted was to look pretty and be with Changmin. I asked for none of this but why is it happening to me?” Bom breaks down in front of Daesung.

“I waited for you. Come on, we’re running late for class. Settle this thing later.”

[LATER ON]

“Should I tell him now?”

“Tell him when you’re ready.” Bom and Daesung spy on Changmin who is buying a cup of hot chocolate at the cafeteria. Bom takes a deep breath and walks up to Max who is quietly studying his piece while sipping some hot cocoa. Bom stands behind him but he doesn’t seem to notice her. Impatience slowly starting to settle in, Bom taps him on the shoulder and finally, he looks back.

“Hey hot stuff! Playing the piano later?”

“No. Listen. I got something to tell you.”

“Well have a seat and speak your mind.” Max says sounding friendlier than ever. He must be having a really good day. Bom sits down beside him and places a hand on the small belly bump.

“I’m pregnant.” Max nearly chokes on his hot chocolate. He coughs and coughs and Bom can already see the disappointment and disdain on his face. She starts to feel nervous.

“You’re pregnant?”

“Yeah. Sorry.” Max stands up and walks away from her. Bom tries to run after him to explain.

“But I think we can work this out, right? Right?” Bom begs. “This child is your responsibility as well!”

“It is not my responsibility.” he says bluntly and firmly. “It is yours now. Because officially, I am cutting contact with you. Get away from me and stay out of my life.” Max walks past her and Bom just breaks down in the cafeteria. Daesung hears everything from behind the door and walks in when he sees his friend bawling her eyes out on the floor. He helps her up and they walk back to the classroom.

“Did you hear what he said? Did you?”

“Loud and clear.”

“He doesn’t want to take responsibility for this child. I don’t know what to do with it anymore.”

“If I were you, I’d keep it.”

“But my mom will kill me if she finds out.” Daesung looks at her and Bom stares right back at him. He extends his hand and takes hers in his.

“If she sends you away, there’s a house on Petal Street that’s waiting for you.” A spark of hope is seen twinkling in Bom’s eyes. Daesung leans forward and the two kiss.

III.

Nichkhun arrives just in time for our execution. He has taken out Jo Kwon and Jay Park and now, Chansung has a gun pointed at him.

“Spare the girls, man. This isn’t right. You’re not supposed to to do this!” Nichkhun pleads with him but Chansung refuses to listen.

“All my life I have been underappreciated. Always second best. Always second rate. Just when I thought I could get a shot a fame, in comes Little Nicky, ruining the show for everyone! Do you even know how to fail?!”
“This isn’t what this is about! This is about art, passion, nothing personal Chansung!” Nichkhun really tries to talk Chansung out of shooting him and us.

“Son of a ! Just let us go! We’ve got nothing to do with this!” yells Ji Yeon. Chansung hears her and points the gun at her, the trigger about to be pulled. Ji Yeon shuts her eyes and Chansung points upwards, shooting the ceiling.

“Sides, Horvejkul. What are you doing here? Huh? You were expelled, weren’t you? That would be crossing the border! Your presence is no longer welcome here. And with you expelled, I get the lead role and I get to reclaim the popularity I lost because of your arrival.”

Good thing I have my phone with me. I take it out and turn its camera on. I film the entire thing and the house, hoping to use this as additional evidence. I even show our faces to let the viewers know about our ordeal. Chansung and Nichkhun finish their argument and I keep my phone in my pocket when Chansung is just about to turn around and hurt us.

“And as for you little girls, what the hell do you think you’re doing here, huh?” he circles around us like a vulture waiting to lunge at his prey. Ji Yeon and I momentarily stop breathing and give the frat leader dirty looks. “Don’t you know that it’s rude to come in uninvited?”

“Don’t you know that it’s bad to bring drugs, guns, and ographic materials to school? Don’t you know that it’s bad to use school property without permission?” I elbow Ji Yeon when I see Chansung’s facial expression change from sarcastic to angry but she refuses to listen to me. Chansung points the gun at her and hits her head with the barrel. Ji Yeon cries out in pain.

“You just won’t shut up now, won’t you? Huh?” Chansung hits her again. Nichkhun finally runs to him and beats him up. The two engage in a fist fight while Ji Yeon and I are tied together.

Suddenly, Onew and Victoria Song come in and help us out with the rope while the two guys get it on.

“Onew? What are you doing here?”

“Victoria and I came here earlier to install the surveillance cameras. Take a look, they’re all around you.” Ji Yeon and I have failed to notice them. “Now let’s get you out of here!” the four of us exit the frat house while the two guys fight. Nichkhun and Chansung throw fists at each other but Nichkhun, very angry at Chansung and his group for what they did to him and for getting him expelled, sends a hard fist to Chansung’s face, hitting him on the nose and again on the cheekbones.
“That’s for framing me, and getting me expelled you bastard!” Nichkhun yells. Chansung is down and out and Nichkhun reaches for the surveillance cameras that Onew and Victoria installed. He films himself and talks about the frat house.

“This, students and teachers, is the frat house established by Chansung, Jo Kwon, Jay Park and several other male students from different departments…” Nichkhun turns it off and carries them to the classroom, hoping to show them to the Dean.

IV.

Onew, Victoria, Ji Yeon, and I work on the story. I am halfway through finishing the novel while Ji Yeon has completed the sketches. We have compiled the evidences and Onew is editing the videos that he and Victoria will be needing for our project.

“You know,” Onew says. “If this thing has taught me anything, it taught me that you should learn to look back to where you came from.” I look at him and smile. “If it weren’t for the writing team, I wouldn’t be here. My talent wouldn’t have flourished.”

“Well now you know how to be grateful. I think Ji Yeon and I should be kidnapped everyday for you to be a good boy.” I jokingly say. Ji Yeon slaps my arm.

“There’s a lot of evidence here and I think this’ll get Nichkhun back.” Onew says. He suddenly looks at Victoria who appears to be calmly working on editing the videos. Victoria looks at him and smiles.

“Are you still angry with Nichkhun?” he asks. Ji Yeon and I look up, awaiting her reply.

“I’m not angry with him anymore.” she admits without second thought. “I know that he’s innocent. There’s no way Nichkhun would’ve done that. He’s too kind.”

“But we still have to get him back on campus.” Ji Yeon says.

“After this, we’re gonna have him on our team again!” Onew says.

[a/n: very short…not really a very exciting chapter :P]

V.

The Dance Team has just finished practicing for their number for the last time when Yubin enters the basketball court. She runs into Yuri who greets her with a smile. Yubin just returns the look and goes to the bleachers to practice her rap for the battle that is to happen a few weeks from now. She sits and waits for the others to leave the basketball court and as soon as the court is empty, Yubin starts to beatbox and rap. Since the contest that she will be joining is a freestyle battle rap, she randomly drops the beats, spitting out whatever comes into her mind.

Yes, I attest I’m the best
I can blow away the rest
Anger pumping from my chest
And yes, I am the queen of mean
I am only 5 feet
But my flowing is real

Yubin goes on and on, freely expressing herself. But what she doesn’t know is that someone is watching and listening to her from behind. Yuri. Yuri is leaning on the door and watching Yubin and her rapping gestures. You can actually hear the intensity in her voice, sounds as if she really is angry. As Yubin raps and Yuri watches, Yubin hears a loud smooching sound from outside. Yuri hears it too and is disturbed, distracted from her listening. As predicted, it’s Yunho and Gyuri, making their relationship known to the world, namely to Yubin.

“Excuse me, can you two please take your flirting somewhere else?! Some people are trying to listen to some rap music here.” Yunho and Gyuri look at her evilly. Yunho steps up and tells her,

“Who you listening to? Yubin? That wannabe rapper who can’t even get over me? She claims she’s tough but when she sees me and my Gyuri together, she starts to shake and crumble.” Yuri overhears this and feels her blood boil. She is on the brink of yelling and coming out to punch him in the face and kick his girlfriend in the stomach but keeps her cool. She just makes her rap louder.

You don’t deserve to be
On the same spot as me
I won’t stoop to your level
I hold the keys to Heaven
So go to Hell and stay aflame
Go and burn with the Devil
There’s one Supreme
And her name’s Yubin

Yunho hears this and smirks a smug smirk at Yuri. Gyuri looks at her and rolls her eyes, making Yuri scoff. Yuri enters the basketball court and her eyes meet Yubin’s stoic ones. She can only pray that Yubin didn’t hear what Yunho said.

“Sorry. Can you believe that guy? He just said-”

“I know what he said. And I don’t care.” Yubin says bitterly.

“What was that about?” Yuri asks. “Might I ask, what is it that you did to him that made him so hostile towards you?”

“I used to be his girlfriend. He made a complete out of me by cheating on me and . I let it slide because I loved him. Then I realized that he was a devil in disguise who was fooling me the whole time.”

“That so?”

“Yep.”

“Is that the reason why you became a rapper?”

“Yes and no. I didn’t become a rapper because of him. I was a rapper long before I met him and partly yes because I channel my anger through rapping.”

“Anger? At what? Who?”

“Anything that gets me angry. Life, Yunho, maybe you in the future. If it makes me angry, instead of beating the out of that person, I rap. Because the tongue, Yuri, is mightier and sharper than the sword.”

“When I’m angry, I dance. I believe that you can release negative energy through moving.”

“True. But I don’t know how to move so that’s off the list.”

“Say, why don’t you rap and I’ll dance.”

“What? You want me to collaborate with you? No way. I have a rap battle coming up.”

“No. Not in a competition. Just…like…right now. Can you rap for me right now while I dance.”

“What for?”

“Nothing.” Yuri shrugs, exhausted of arguing with Yubin. “Just for fun.”

“Alright.”

[rap: “Right Now” by PSY]

Yubin is good at freestyle rapping, Yuri is good at freestyle dancing. When you put that together, you get something called freeform art. Just freeflowing. Do whatever comes into mind and don’t care if you’re right or wrong because when you’re free, nothing is correct nor incorrect.

VI.

I’m gonna keep this sweet and simple. Let me just say that with only two weeks of practice left before the competitions, the students are all busy preparing while Onew, Victoria, Ji Yeon, and I are preparing our special report and novel for the Campus Awareness Campaign. So in conclusion, we are all busy and I am halfway through done with my novel.