III

Kai was on his way to the music room, the usual meeting place for him and Krystal. No one in their school knew about their relationship except for Kyungsoo, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Sehun, four of his closest friends, and of course, Seyoon. He and Krystal decided to hide their relationship for many reasons. And one of them was her scholarship. So they decided to just meet in the music room, the farthest room in the building, the place where she would always practice for her upcoming competitions and that was how their daily secret meetings came to be.

While he was walking on the hallway towards the staircase, he heard a soft familiar voice from behind. “Kai, I would like to talk to you.” Unlike her cold-hearted monotone voice, this time, Kai felt like he had heard Seyoon’s real voice again.

“Seyoon-ah…” he turned around and stared at her. Like the last time at the funeral, this was the second time that they had been close in distance with each other. He looked at her up close. She never changed except for her short above-the-shoulder hair. Aside from that, her eyes were still deep and full of meaning.

“Do you have time?” she asked calmly.

“I…” Before he even finished what he was about to say, Kai heard someone called him from above the stairways.

“Kai! Are you there?” he could hear Krystal’s voice calling him from above. He looked at Seyoon. Her face suddenly became dark again, like he there was a mask overshadowing it. He could see a trace of sadness in her. He felt sorry but he knew he couldn’t grant the conversation she wanted. It was not just in the right time, he thought. He was about to reply to her when Krystal went down the stairs.

“So, you’re there,” she said. After that, Seyoon just passed by and went downstairs as if nothing happened. “Is that Seyoon?”

“Ahh…I was about to go upstairs when I bumped into her. Come on, let’s go. I brought lunch for you.”

“Ah, Alright. So what have you brought me?” she asked.

He turned his head back to have a glimpse of Seyoon but she was already gone. He should have talked to her, but he was with his girlfriend right now. If he would choose between the two of them, he knew it would always been Krystal.

“Kai…Kai”

“Oh, right. Well I brought you some…”

---

‘Why can’t I talk to him whenever Krystal is around? Why does his face lightened up whenever he is with her?’ Seyoon asked herself. Maybe, she was not important to him after all, she thought. It must have been a wrong decision for her to agree on the marriage. Even if they got married, she still wouldn’t find the happiness with him especially when she knew that he already belonged to someone else.

“I am crazy, aren’t I?” Seyoon suddenly spoke.

“What? What are you saying?” Chanyeol gave a slight laughter. Although she was not that friendly and would always choose to be alone, she still talked to the people that she considered close friends, her friends since middle school: Baekhyun, Chanyeol, Sehun, and Kyungsoo.

“Huh…Nothing. I was just talking to myself, that’s all.”

“Talking to yourself? Well, that’s really crazy,” said Baekhyun who suddenly popped out of nowhere.

“What are you doing here?” Chanyeol asked Baekhyun.

“What else? I am the Secretary of the student council, that’s why. It is I who should ask you, why are you here? You’re not even a part of the student council,” Baekhyun answered Chanyeol as he wrapped his arms around his head, giving him a headlock.

“Yah! What are you doing? Get off of me!” Sometimes their silliness made her worries go away. “Oh, Baekyun, did you see that? I think I’ve seen Seyoon smile.”

“Jinjja?!?” They stopped what they’re doing and got near her. Their heads move closer to her face. She backed up a bit to avoid their stares.

“I didn’t.” She tried to look somewhere else.

“Yes you did!” Both of them spoke while Chanyeol poked her cheeks.

“Ya, Get your hands off me.” she said in her low monotonous threatening voice. The two of them just burst out in laughter. “What’s funny?” she asked annoyingly.

“Yah, yah, yah! What are you two doing inside the student council room? Hey Chanyeol, are you making a mess again? What are you doing with our Vice President? Get off of her!” Kyung Soo gripped Chanyeol and Baekhyun’s ears and brought them outside. “If you have nothing to do, get out of here.”

“Well, Baekhyun started it. I was just visiting because I have something to ask the president. By the way, where is he?”

“Sehun is not here. He is busy practicing for the dance competition. He must be in the gym.”

“Oh, alright. I’ll just comeback then. Baekhyun, we’re not over yet.” Chanyeol gave Baekhyun a death glare before he waved goodbye to them.

---

While there was a chaos inside the student council room, Kai could actually see it from the window of the music room on the top floor. He had seen how Seyoon looked differently when she was with Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Kyungsoo. Ever since he had a girlfriend, he seldom spent time with his friends after school. He could only see them during class hours and lunchtime. He sometimes felt jealous of Chanyeol who could still hang out with them despite not being a part of the student council. He just gave a deep sigh before returning on watching his girlfriend as she played the piano.

‘When was the last time I saw Seyoon smile like that?’ he asked himself.

~*~

It was the start of a new term in middle school. Kai was already on his second year. As usual, he could already see familiar faces. Just earlier, someone gave him a headlock when he entered the classroom. When he looked up, it was Baekhyun.

---

“Yah, stop it!” Kai said as he grasped Baekhyun’s hands who gave him a headlock.

“Oh, sorry. I thought it was Chanyeol. I wonder where he is. He shouldn’t be late. I threw a pillow on him this morning before I left the dorm.”

“Maybe while we’re talking here, he is already running,” said Kyungsoo who came in with a pile of books.

“Yah, what are those books for? You are already in your competitive mode. It’s just the first day. Chill up.” he said to Kyungsoo. Suddenly, Kai heard Baekhyun’s loud voice.

“Look what we have here. It’s the prince Sehun.” Sehun entered the room coolly. Ever since they were young, he was always the quiet, prince-like, boy-with-good-upbringing-and-manners type of guy. “Have you seen Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked Sehun.

“I saw him running.” He said coolly as he sat beside Kyungsoo, near the window.

“Don’t worry. He will be here soon. I think it’s still early. I’ll just buy a drink from the vending machine. Anything you want?” Kai asked them.

“Buy me orange juice and apple juice for Chanyeol,” said Baekhyun.

“Me too, I want orange,” said Kyungsoo.

“How about you, Sehun?”

“Orange.”

“Alright, don’t forget to pay me back.”

---

And so Kai was there, standing at the entrance of the cafeteria. As expected, there were not so much people there except for those who have skipped their breakfast and excited to come to school on the first day.

 “It should be here somewhere?” he muttered. As he was walking to find the vending machine, he saw her. He saw a girl standing in front of the vending machine. He just stood there while waiting for her to insert the coin and buy a drink. But minutes have passed and she was still standing there pouting as she moved her finger to the not-so-wide selection of beverages. Kai gave a fake cough for her to realize that there was someone behind her waiting for her to leave. She still didn’t move. He scratched her head due to irritation as he moved closer and closer to her until they were a ruler apart. He was about to burst into my anger when she spoke.

“Which drink do you recommend?” she asked him without looking back.

 ‘Are you asking me that now? You should have asked me that a while ago so we are not here standing for already seemed an hour,’ he told himself. Of course, he couldn’t say that to her especially after noticing her long soft her that smells like lavender.

“Uh…” he couldn’t reply to her.

“Uhm…I really don’t know what to choose.” She finally turned her head and looked at him. She definitely looked like Korean but her accent didn’t say so. “Actually, I’m still having a hard time reading Korean characters. And some of the flavors seemed odd. So which drink do you recommend?” she asked him with her wide beautiful sharp eyes.

“How about trying the persimmon juice?” Kai replied. Well, she’s looking for something weird, he thought that maybe he would just give her something really weird.

“Then persimmon juice it is!” She pushed the button that was labeled ‘persimmon juice’ and grabbed the drink as it rolled on the small rectangular opening. “Mmm…weird but definitely tasted good.” She smiled to Kai before she left. He just looked at her walking while her long hair waved side by side. For a moment, he was struck by her odd beauty and cute behavior. But that didn’t last for long because now, he had to run to the class trying to avoid the mark of tardiness.

~*~