“I swear she’s into you, bro!”

“I don’t know really,” Soonyoung turned the page to the next section of the chapter once he reached the end of section one, “More than half the time I’m just playing around with her. I’m not really serious,”

“What is this?”

Choyoung slammed her hand down between the hunched heads of Jihoon and Soonyoung. They were sitting at a table outside in the courtyard reviewing for their Chemistry exam that they had in second period. Soonyoung needed desperate help from Jihoon, the Science genius. In regards to his injury, he was able to walk again painlessly, that is if he took his painkillers as directed. It had been about two weeks and his leg was no longer as deep violet as he expected it to be. The lump wasn’t as swollen as before and had gone down to about a three inch bump on his thigh. The two brought their eyes at the paper she had thrown down in front of them. Jihoon’s mouth dropped as he squealed, “Oh my gosh, the callbacks list is out!”

“No, not that!” Choyoung ripped the paper away from his hands and pointed to one of the rows, “Soonyoung, why is your name on here?”

Soonyoung’s face went pale, looking as if someone had just punched him in the stomach. Jihoon had no idea what Choyoung was talking about, snatching the paper back. His eyes skimmed over the paper, performing a small dance when he saw his name on the list, “Wait, hyung! Your name is on here!” he exclaimed, turning to look at his senior. Now he was confused. He swore that Soonyoung was in the hospital during auditions!

“Well I uh…” Soonyoung played with his fingers, avoiding both their astonished stares, “I told the director that I really wanted to audition, but I couldn’t because of my injury,”

“And she let you?” The two asked simultaneously.

“Pretty much,” Soonyoung shrugged his shoulders a bit awkwardly. That wasn’t exactly the full story. Jealousy had gotten the best of him and he just had to audition no matter what. On top of that, he wanted to keep his end of the deal for Choyoung. She did go to his game anyway. His mom emailed the director, who in turn came to the hospital while Choyoung and Jihoon were in school and he auditioned there. It was surprising how he even made callbacks in his condition. Choyoung blew her bangs up before plopping down on the bench across the table, looking disappointed, “That’s not fair, why didn’t you tell us? I wanted to see you audition! That’s why I made you accept the deal!” She grumbled before pouting.

Clicking his tongue, Jihoon punched Soonyoung’s arm lightly, “At least you got in, bro! Congrats!”

“What part are you trying out for?” Soonyoung still didn’t know what role she wanted. He assumed that she would probably try out for a minor role, seeing that she hated attention. Choyoung flipped her hair forcefully, imitating the girls on their cheerleading team, “Belle! Who else would I audition for?”

“I expected you to audition for a villager or something!” Soonyoung was surprised.

Choyoung scoffed, and leaned over to the center of the table, “You don’t audition for a villager if Seunggwan is definitely getting the lead role!”

Oh, that’s right. Seunggwan. Just the mention of that name made Soonyoung boil inside. Then again, at least she only liked him for his appearances. But still, it was annoying to hear he r fangirl about him. Jihoon chuckled and turned the paper towards him again to see who else was on the callback list. There were a lot of names; some weren’t students that went to their school. His eye caught a particular name and said it out loud, “Lee Chan? Is this your Lee Chan, Choyoung?”

Choyoung and Soonyoung’s ears perked up. Chan? Soonyoung’s nose wrinkled when he saw the younger get starry eyed at the mention of her cute science partner. Choyoung giggled as she rested her head on her hand, “I wonder what role he auditioned for. I really hope it’s the love interest of whoever I get. I think Babette and Lumiere would be adorable,”

“I hope he gets a villager,” Soonyoung leaned over to whisper to Jihoon, loud enough for Choyoung to her. Now, he didn’t really wish that upon him. He just hoped that Chan wouldn’t have any romantic relations whatsoever. Maybe he could narrator. Soonyoung would definitely be happy if that’s what had happened. The only thing Jihoon was worried about was getting a role. He really didn’t want to be Beast, if he was even considered to be Beast. He would just turn that offer down immediately. Maybe a wolf that attacks Beat would be sufficient. Yeah, that was alright.

“Anyways,” Choyoung snapped, quickly changing the topic before her crush was picked on again, “Callbacks are going to be reading callbacks. We’re supposed to prepare a few lines of different characters we’d like to play if we were to be chosen,”

“When are the callbacks?”

“Next week on Thurdsay,” she checked her nails against the light, “And starting tomorrow, we’re going to be practicing for callbacks. By any chance, could you drive me somewhere after school?”

“What? Why?!” Soonyoung groaned. The first day he finally drives himself to school and he has to chauffeur someone already. He was the first one in his grade to actually have his own car, a sleek white Audi A3, and drive it to school. Jihoon was going to be the second in a few weeks after with a Nissan Rogue. Though, Soonyoung often made fun of him because well, Jihoon wasn’t exactly the tallest guy in the school. A few girls had already asked him earlier that morning if he wanted to hang out after school, especially the cheerleaders, all because he had a shiny new ride. Feeling high and almighty, he turned each and every one that came at him down.

Choyoung pressed a finger to her lips, “It’s a secret. If I tell you, you definitely won’t accompany me,”

“Yeah man, just go,” Jihoon patted Soonyoung on the back, “Besides, you can’t go to practice later anyway,”

Soonyoung sighed, rubbing the sides of his temples. That’s right. He wasn’t allowed to go back until he was fully healed. Choyoung mustered up her courage and pulled the most convincing puppy face she could make. She fought the urge to keep her breakfast down. Jihoon joined her in their cutesy actions. Wrinkling his nose at the two of them, he gave in, “On one condition,”

“What is it?”

“You have to come with me to the mall first,” Soonyoung proposed, “I want to look at something,”

“Fine, so be it,” Choyoung calmly agreed before getting up from her seat, leaving Soonyoung shocked that she didn’t argue with him. She thought that since it wasn’t the first time she was going to be seen in public with Soonyoung, it wasn’t a big deal anymore. Although, it still bothered her whenever his mom and Jihoon would refer to their outing as a ‘date.’ Waving goodbye, she grabbed her things and headed off to her classroom as the two scrambled to finish reviewing in the few minutes they had left.

“So what are you here for?”

Soonyoung and Choyoung entered the department store, making their way to the men’s section. She squinted when she bright fluorescent lights attacked her poor eyes. This just goes to show how dark she was used to seeing things. Everything seemed to pop out as high definition objects with their sharp, fine edges. She could even clearly see the tiny threads in the cloth fabric. From the escalator, they headed to the basement to the formal wear. Choyoung raised her eyebrow; what did Soonyoung want here? Grabbing a vest from off the rack, Soonyoung held it against his body before putting it back, “I’m looking to see if there’s anything I can wear to the second year prom,”

Finally putting two and two together, dropped, “Oh, I completely forgot!”

Chuckling, Soonyoung just shook his head as he continued to look through the racks. His mom had given him a good amount of money to buy his prom outfit, despite him not wanting to go. There were so many suits in a variety of colors; where the heck was plain black? Moving onto the shirts, he disregarded every single ruffled, shiny, oddly patterned shirt there. He ran his fingers through his hair, a strand of his bangs from the right side refusing to go back down, “Where the heck are the normal clothes?!”

“Well, what color are you looking for?” Choyoung asked, fixing the piles he messed up on the table, “Maybe I can help,”

“I want just plain black and white,”

Choyoung stopped and looked up at him as if he were crazy, “Black and white? Are you serious?”

“Why? What’s wrong with black and white?”

She rolled her eyes at his ignorance. Boys knew absolutely nothing when it came to formal events. And to think that his mom had an entire collection of cliché plotted dramas in her office. You would have thought he watched at least one! Crossing her arms, she faced him, “What color dress is your date wearing?”

“I don’t have a date,” Soonyoung admitted, a bit embarrassed. He didn’t even want to go to the dance in the first place. It was Jihoon who persuaded him to go last minute. If Jihoon didn’t say he was going, he might not have even considered looking at the advertisements in the hallway again. He knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be asked by anyone, nor did he want to ask anyone either. The girls in his class irritated him especially since they liked to gossip about who was good in bed or not. If he abstained from that, then everything would be alright. Choyoung, on the other hand, was a bit happy to hear that he didn’t have a date, “Great, which means you can completely turn the tables and get every one of those girls’ eyes onto you! They’ll forget that they even came with a date and wished they were yours!”

Soonyoung shrugged his shoulders. He didn’t see what the big deal about being good looking was. If anything, it attracted unwanted attention and the girls he didn’t like. If anything, it was Jihoon who wanted that. Mr. Cool Guy was all for being a player. Though, everyone in the grade knew that Jihoon was all talk and no walk. Jihoon had never gotten with a girl, the most he’d ever gotten was flirting with Park Baeji in freshman year when they lab partners. He thought it was appropriate to pitch in the world’s creepiest pick up line about dissection: “Hi, do you dissect insects for scientific research? (No, why?) I thought you might want to look inside my fly.” As far as Soonyoung was concerned, Baeji never even wanted to be in the same room as Jihoon.

“Leave everything to me,” Choyoung stuck her thumb to her chest boldly, “I’ll make you the most handsome man Kyonggi High has ever seen!”

“I highly doubt that since you’re not the most beautiful woman Kyonggi High has ever seen,”

“Shut up,”

Grabbing his wrist, Choyoung pulled him further back in the shirts. Soonyoung slowed down until her small hand slipped into his, and he slyly laced his fingers with hers before picking up the pace again. She didn’t take notice, but he was glad she didn’t. If she did, she would have let go. He watched her pick up a deep champagne red shirt, listening as she went on about why red was the way to go, “Red is a powerful color, a color of love as well. It makes on look more mature and if you really want to get a girl, wear red. It makes anyone look hot,”

“Well, almost everyone,” she added when she held it up against Soonyoung’s chest, “But it suits you so we’re definitely going with red. Besides, it’s my favorite color,”

“Remind me again why I’m wearing your favorite color?”

Unable to answer, Choyoung brushed off the question and started walking again. She still hadn’t noticed that she was holding hands with Soonyoung. Her mind mixed and matched different combinations and styles. As a little girl, Choyoung always dreamed of being the one to pick out and decide what her prom date would wear. And since that wasn’t going to be until next year, she might as well experiment with Soonyoung. He didn’t seem to mind anyway. What was next? From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a black sleeve peeking out from the very back of a rack of highlighter yellow suits. Who would even think about wearing highlighter yellow? She had no idea. Snatching it up, she continued to walk around the section, bring together pieces of the outfit. Finally, holing everything with one hand, she dragged Soonyoung over to the fitting room so he could try them on.

“Hello, my friend would like to try these on,” Choyoung emphasized the word friend. The guy behind the desk, not too much older than them, nodded and handed him a door hanger, “Sure, no problem. Could you wait here while your friend comes around to the back with me?”

Only now did Choyoung realize that Soonyoung was holding her hand. Looking down, she asked, “Why are you holding my hand?”

“I thought you were doing that,” Soonyoung bluntly lied, pretending to defend himself.

“Oh, well I’m not,”

As much as Soonyoung dreaded to go, he finally let go of Choyoung and followed the guy, whose nametag said ‘Sunjae.’ Choyoung took a seat on the bench outside of the fitting room area and eagerly waited for the appearance of her masterpiece. She was definitely excited. Soonyoung would definitely look good in whatever she picked out. She might not have the greatest fashion sense for herself, but she definitely had an eye for fashion for other people. Whenever she had to wear something nice, she would always bring a couple of her family members and Bee with her so that they could help her pick out something nice. They had a classy sense of fashion, so that’s what she wanted to put Soonyoung in. Something elegant, but not too old fashioned either. Timeless and mysterious was what she envisioned him in.

“Alright, you can come around and see,” the guy exited the fitting room before sitting back on his chair. Choyoung slipped around, almost dropping her phone when she saw him. She held back a chorus of squeals and restrained herself from pouncing onto him. Soonyoung flashed a shy smile, hoping that this is what she wanted. He couldn’t tell from the look on her face whether she was amazed and speechless or on the verge of screaming in terror. Feeling the back of her neck growing warm, Choyoung started to fan herself, “Um, wow,”

“It looks bad?”

“No, I’m just disappointed that you don’t have a date,”

The two of them laughed, the tension being driven away. Choyoung instructed for him to step down, giggling to herself as she watched him awkwardly waddle from the pedestal as to not trip on the bottom of his pants. They were somewhat long on him, but nothing alterations couldn’t fit. Tugging at the shoulders and the rest of the suit jacket, she affirmed that the jacket fit perfectly. It definitely was figure flattering. Choyoung made sure that his black vest wasn’t too loose, and his shirt collar wasn’t too tight. She even had to re-tie his tie because he tied it backwards. How he even did that, she had no clue.

“Your mom is definitely going to freak when she sees your outfit,”

Soonyoung carefully backed into his driveway, smiling. She was right. If it weren’t for her, he might have just come back home with his original idea of black and white. He was glad he had brought her along. Choyoung closed the Japanese language book she held on her lap, and unbuckled her seatbelt. After Soonyoung went to the mall, she finally got to the bookstore to pick up a book she had ordered. Knowing Soonyoung, he would have protested because if there was anything he hated, it was bookstores. Stuffing the book inside her backpack, she stayed sitting there and glared at Soonyoung who was already outside, tapping the glass so she could leave.

“You’re supposed to open the door for the girl!” Choyoung yelled from inside.

Rolling his eyes, he walked around the front of the car, and opened the door for her, “You don’t expect me to take your hand and pull you out, do I?”

“No, this will do for now,” she said, slipping underneath his arm, “But when you get to third year prom and you actually have a date, then you’re going to have to remember to open the door. Oh and by the way, don’t forget to give me credit,”

Locking the door with the remote, they strolled up the driveway and along the path towards his house. He didn’t have a large house, but they did own a large property. Large enough to have their front yard landscaped into a garden at least. Soonyoung looked down at the hexagonal bricks that lined the pathway as they walked up to the front entrance as Choyoung complained that the first years didn’t have their own prom. Turning his head, he interrupted her in the middle of her ramblings, “First years can go if a second year student invites them, you know,”

“Yeah, I know. I just want one for the first years because we don’t get to have one as an entire class,” Choyoung explained, “Disregarding the fact that I don’t even like a majority of my classmates,”

They climbed up the concrete stairs to the front door. Setting the bags containing his clothes down, Soonyoung turned around and gripped Choyoung by the shoulders. Surprised, she looked up at him, “What? Did you forget your keys?”

Soonyoung didn’t answer. His palms slowly turned clammy as his breathing got heavier; catching her familiar scent. Her Dove soap scent still lingered in her hair. Ever since Choyoung slept on his bed the first night she was at his house, the aroma stayed drilled in his head, never wanting to leave. Choyoung’s eyes were filled with concern, hinted with a bit of worry. She still didn’t receive an answer from him and she had no idea what was going on. Slowly sliding his hands down her blazer covered arms, Soonyoung took both of her hands in his. His head spun, unable to comprehend what he was going to do next. Even he wasn’t sure he wanted to go with it full-on. Choyoung looked down at their hands, raising an eyebrow. Her heart skipped a beat when he tightened his grip on her hands, bringing them closer to his heart. She opened to ask him what was going on but as if his body operated with a mind of its own, Soonyoung blurt out, stuttering over his words, “I know this isn’t really the way girls would often imagine it, you know being uncreative and all, but will you go to prom with me?”