somewhere deep beneath, there is hope.

Junhong always kept to his words because he hated broken promises. Thus, he decided to turn up for school the next day, almost breaking his record of skipping school for two weeks.   

A promise was a promise and it should be fulfilled. He hated his father for always bringing hopes of little gullible Junhong high and killing his mood later on. That bastard was not a real man.

But yes, Junhong being the tall kid he was, managed to catch glimpses of Jiwoo in the hallway. However, she was either always talking to her friends or with that , Jeon Jungkook.

She always had a book in her hand and he wondered if the said it was from the bookstore. He even made a mental reminder to ask her what she was reading.

“Damn,” he cursed when his fingers came into contact with his swollen cheek. The bruise was strikingly evident and it hurt so badly when he traced the swell with his fingertips. He was reminded of that bastard, his good-for-nothing father and it would be a lie to say that his heart didn't gnaw at the thought of it. He wished that he didn't have such a father…


 

★

Jiwoo slammed her locker locked and she could feel someone hovering on the periphery. She turned, knowing that it was either her annoying best friend Eunbyul or her other annoying best friend Jungkook. She was right, the latter was standing there as he ruffled her hair playfully.

She didn’t even need to greet him or anything. He smiled at her and she nodded, still a tad drained from work last night. It seemed like Jungkook had already forgotten about the unexpected intruder the night before. She hit his shoulder playfully, a little too hard when he winched.

She heard Eunbyul chirp happily behind her and pivoted on her heels. “What’s up with you?” Jiwoo couldn't help but ask, amused by Eunbyul’s queer behaviour. Wait, she didn’t even need to ask. She knew the answer: Eunbyul probably saw some cute boy or—

“I'm having Art next—my favourite class, of course I'm excited! There are many handso—” and Jiwoo stopped listening to what she deemed as unimportant to her life, completely blocking out Eunbyul’s spazzing.

Jiwoo did not know why and how she had become friends with Eunbyul in the first place. They were the opposites of each other.

Even Jungkook questioned their friendship at first.

Eunbyul was a neat and organized girl. Jiwoo still thought her friend suffered from a severe case of OCD. Anyways, she was freaking boy crazy but never really had a boyfriend. Reason: she couldn't stick to liking one guy at a time. She was also a ballerina, prancing daintily in front of mirrors. Hard work was evident from her calloused toes. She owned a pair of four year old ballet flats—that she would never ever throw them away because they reminded her of the journey to achieving her dreams. One day, she was going to—she knew she would—perform gracefully center stage in front of an audience.

 

Jiwoo on the other hand was a loud and clumsy girl, always tripping over her shoelaces and destroying things she touched. She could care less about boys—boys were what she deemed as childish. (Jungkook was proud to be one of them—he was a little baby, all right.) She was proud to be a feisty girl who tolerated no nonsense and dared to speak her mind. She loved photography and felt genuine happiness taking pictures. She owned a two year old camera that she had bought after saving up painstakingly. And her dream was to travel and capture beautiful memories.

 

But then again, life was never easy. Things don’t come by as you want to. Dreams were not as easy to be fulfilled as you thought.



Students scrambled hastily left and right as Jungkook walked his way to Biology class with Jiwoo. Eunbyul had already scurried for Art, not wanting to waste her chances, and blabbered something about wanting a good seat to look at some guy before she left. 

Jung Kook didn’t really grasp why Eunbyul was so obsessed with boys and he didn’t wish to know the reason why. But he didn’t know if he should offended because he was not part of the boys she idolised. He must have been pretty much friend-zoned. Thank god.

“Lunch together? I don't have dance practice today,” he shrugged, his arms slightly brushing against hers as they strolled. 

 

As for Jeon Jungkook, his passion was dancing—moving his body to the rhythm. Like Eunbyul, he was confined in a room of sweat and passion, working his way up to his dreams. Jiwoo had to give him recognition for being so devoted to dancing. He had a promising dance crew and they practised almost daily to do well in the annual dancing competition. She knew they would. No one wanted it more than Jeon Jung Kook.

 

Someone caught Jiwoo’s attention and there was no reply to Jungkook's question. A head stuck out from the ocean of people shuffling in the hallway. That punk was too tall for his own good and his freaking blonde hair was really eye-catching. She could spot Junhong from meters awa