Chapter 10: Where are you? What are you doing?

 

It was only 7 am that Monday morning yet Soo Ah could barely breathe. Sungjong and Eunji were smothering her with a bear hug.

“How’s our highest bid doing?” Eunji asked energetically while SooAh pried their arms off her.

“Lacking oxygen, no thanks to you guys.” She surrendered and walked to her kitchen counter with the two still clinging to her.

“So how was your night with Kim Jongin?” Eunji said as she took some toast from the table. Soo Ah momentarily stopped reaching for the milk and cleared .

“Boring.” She replied, faking boredom.

“Really? If L-hyung won, it probably wouldn’t have been as boring.” Sungjong muttered carelessly. SooAh’s brow rose.

“Yah, Sungjongie, you tell your hyung to stop being annoying and go find someone else to bother.” She replied, pointing her spoon at him. Sungjong rolled his eyes.

“My hyung’s not that easily deterred.”

“Well, my fist isn’t as easily deterred as well. You should go remind him.” She said and Sungjong laughed as caught on to what she was referring to—the first time they met, L had been punched by SooAh in the face for mistaking her for a saesang.

Eunji frowned, she didn’t get the inside joke. “Yah, what are you guys talking about! Don’t leave me out of the circle!” She pouted. Sungjong just continued laughing causing Eunji to punch him on the shoulder. “Anyway, that horrible Estella Minkyung’s gonna announce the second task today. Brace yourself.”

Soo Ah nodded, obviously uninterested. “What was it last year?” She asked as she took a spoon of her cereal.

“Bikini photoshoot.” Eunji and Sungjong chorused. SooAh choked on her cereal.

“BWOH?!” The two started laughing hysterically. “You guys!!” She shouted and the two ran out of the house.

 

--

 

Minkyung stared at the LED bulletin board.

 

*******

ESTELLE CANDIDATES 1^st Week Ranking:

 

1 Dasom        160 POINTS

2 Naeun         150 POINTS

3 Soo Ah       130 POINTS

4 Soyu           100 POINTS

5 Hayoung     90 POINTS

5 Kaeun          90 POINTS

5 Yura             90 POINTS

8 Jiyoung       80 POINTS

8 Chorong     80 POINTS

10 Junghwa   60 POINTS

*******

 

 

“130 POINTS.” She said with a sly smile on her face. “Why am I not surprised.”

“Unnie, how did I do? Naeun excitedly went up beside her and looked at the list.

“150 POINTS?! Aish, I was so close!”

“Yes, so close to being third.” Minkyung uttered distastefully. “Good luck next time.” With that, the Estelle walked away. Naeun bit her lip and walked away from the board.

“Oh.” Daehyun uttered when the freshman Estelle candidate bumped into him. She looked upset but just dusted her shoulder off and walked away from him. He shook his head and went up to peer over the bulletin board. His eyes narrowed.

“130 points huh?”

“YEARRRR REEEEEPPPPPP!!!!” Sungjong called out. He and Eunji were approaching him with SooAh in tow. Daehyun smiled at the trio.

“Good morning. You’re all lively today.” He chuckled.

“Well, I had a good breakfast and I heard SooAh’s in third place. From zero to hero.” Sungjong joked and SooAh elbowed him.

“I’m going to class first.” She said as walked away, not waiting for their response.

“I’m going too.” Daehyun smiled and jogged after her. Eunji and Sungjong smiled knowingly.

“Let’s go bother your hyungs, Sungjongie.” Eunji said as she grabbed Sungjong by the elbow and led him to the elevator.

 

--

“Soo Ah-ssi~” Daehyun called out playfully. She turned her head to acknowledge him.

“What do you want, Daehyun-ssi?” She replied cleanly.

“You said you’ll do my bidding~” Daehyun began as he walked behind her.

SooAh almost stopped walking. “You know I only said that so you wouldn’t waste your money, right?”

“Bwoh?! I really believed that you would, with all my heart!” He sounded offended but was smiling as he anticipated her reply.

“Well then, now you know. I didn’t mean it.”

They were silent for a few minutes before--

“Ah!!” He gasped and she quickly spun her heel to have a look at him.

He was clutching his chest and was kneeling on the floor. Soo Ah grew nervous.

“Daehyun-ssi!” She knelt in front of him and supported his shoulders. “Daehyun-ssi, are you okay?!”

“It hurts.” He said overdramatically and she frowned when his lips started curving into a smile. “I was looking forward to it and now you’ve broken my heart and my trust in humanity.” She huffed and slapped his arm. She pushed him so hard he fell on his . “SooAh-ssi, don’t go back on your word! Look, I even took a screenshot.” He showed her his phone.

She looked him in the eye and sighed. “Fine. As long as it’s nothing difficult.”

He smiled as he stood up and then helped her up as well. “It’s not.”

“You weren’t going to quit pestering me until I agreed, weren’t you?”

He shrugged and she shook her head. “I guess we’ll never know.” He chuckled and she punched him in the arm.

 

--

Dasom rolled her eyes at the two. “Why is he hanging around with her?” She frowned and Jiyeon sighed.

“Ya, he just pities her because she’s new and doesn’t have any friends aside from that annoying bumpkin Eunji and Sungjongie.”

Dasom pouted. “Let’s get to class.”

 

--

 

“SooAh-ssi!” Dasom called across the room and everyone looked at the two. “What do you think about the new task?” She asked sweetly as she went up SooAh’s table.

SooAh’s eyes flitted to the other girl. They had another 10 minutes before their 4^th period and she was sleepy.

“I think it’s okay.” ‘and stupid’ She thought to herself. “What about you? Aren’t you afraid you’ll get dirty if we plant trees?”

Dasom laughed cutely. “No! Of course not! But I wonder if I should cut my nails. I might break one.” She seemed to think hard about it. Eunji and Sungjong doubled over as soon as they heard Dasom’s reply.

“She’s an idiot.” Eunji whispered and Sungjong could only laugh in reply.

 

--

 

The next task was announced that morning. Each Estelle candidate was to go to the designated tree-planting site to plant the seedlings assigned to him or her. The first Estelle to finish earns 100 points.

 

Soo Ah looked at the letter once again. Daehyun peered over her shoulder.

“So, exactly how many seedlings do you need to plant?” She jolted from surprise. She felt her face heat up from noticing how close their faces were. Daehyun chuckled at her response and got ready for lunch.

“What?” She clarified.

“How many seedlings do you need to plant?”

SooAh looked at him in disdain. She held out three of her fingers.

“Three? Three hundred?” She shook her head and he found it cute how she was pouting unconsciously.

“Thirty thousand.” She banged her head on her table. “What do I do, Daehyun-ssi?” She moaned in defeat. He stilled, a bit shocked that she was so relaxed around him.

“Hmm…” He thought for a while as he leaned on the desk beside hers. She peeked up at him expectantly. “Well, you obviously can’t do it alone.” He laughed and she pouted again. He found it adorable and he bent to casually rest his chin on her table. She blushed and tried diverting her eyes away from his face.

“The logical thing to do is ask for volunteers. Depending on the number of volunteers you get, you can spend an entire day planting, or spend the night to continue planting the next day.”

“So, if it’s 30, 000 seedlings, I need at least 300 people to plant 100 seedlings each…” Daehyun nodded. “300… three… hundred… three—hun---- where will I get 300 people?!” She sulked.

“You’re really into this, aren’t you?” He sighed. She placed her chin on her palm and looked thoughtful.

“Well, if you must know, Daehyun-ssi, I plan on winning this thing only so that I can teach those Estelles a thing or two.” She grinned slightly.

He cocked his head to the side. “And what, may I ask, are you planning on teaching them?”

“You’ll see.” She was grinning widely now and he found this side of her so intriguing. “So before I do your bidding, Daehyun-ssi,” She leaned so closely that their faces were merely inches a part. “Would you mind doing mine first?”

 

---

 

Youngjae scratched his head. “So let me get this straight. At the auction, she promised that she would do you a favor, but before that, she managed to ask you to do her a favor. That is why you’re asking me for a favor to help you do her a favor—which is to gather volunteers for her next Estelle task?”

Daehyun thought for a moment, “Yup! As expected, your smartness is overflowing!” He buttered up.

“You’re whipped.” Youngjae said as he turned around and resumed doing student council duties.

Daehyun shook his friend’s shoulders. “YAH, YOO YOUNGJAE! You’re my best friend, you have to help me!”

Youngjae slapped his hands off and nodded vigorously. “Arasseo! You know I’m going to help you two out. Let’s get some volunteers from the student council first.”

 

--

 

SooAh patiently bore with Xiumin’s company. He’s been hanging around with the trio ever since the start of lunch, even Sungjong and Eunji were getting annoyed.

“Yah, sunbae, don’t you have exams to study for?” Eunji said a little too straightforwardly.

“Nooooope! I’m here to hang out with my cute dongsaeng.” He shrugged her off and draped an arm over SooAh’s shoulders. “Plus, she was the one who asked me for help so she should be grateful.”

“Yes, yes, I’m grateful.” SooAh coolly said as she ate the fruits in front of them. When she visited the student council room, she had absent-mindedly asked Xiumin if he knew people interested in helping plant trees and he got overly excited. He invited his friends who are “environmentalists” to help her out. She was regretting it a little bit.

 

“Omo, it’s infinite!!!” A few girls squealed.

“L-oppa!” One girl called out and when he turned his head to look at her, she immediately hid behind her other friends.

 

Soo Ah frowned when she noticed L heading towards their table.

 

“Oh, hyung!” Sungjong greeted happily. “I thought you guys went out for lunch.”

 

“We were already on the way out but L suddenly—“ Sungyeol was cut off by L.

“I wanted to eat here for lunch.” He smiled, never taking his eyes off SooAh. “Go SooAh, I heard that you needed some help with your new task.” Her eyes met his and for a second, his heart beat faster.

“Nope, not really.” He chuckled.

“Oh? That’s not what Daehyun said.” He replied casually. “I heard you needed 300 people to help you out.”

Soo Ah turned her head to the culprit and glared at the back of his head. ‘Aish that Jung Daehyun!!!’

 

--

Daehyun coughed and Zelo passed him his water.

“Hyung, eat slowly.”

Youngjae added, “Yah! Your food’s not going to run away you know!”

Daehyun turned his head and found SooAh glaring at him. He gulped. He looked at her and then at L who was standing right in front of her. She shifted her attention to L and he saw her sigh.

--

“Do you want to help me out, sunbae?” SooAh was surprised that her voice came out rather softly. She didn’t even know why she was being civil to him. She just wanted to ignore him, really, but she needed the help.

L blushed and Sungjong noticed how his hyung’s eyes grew wide. ‘Go SooAh, be careful!’ He thought to himself and smiled when he saw L trying to compose himself.

The left side of his lips tugged upwards and L couldn’t help but lean forward. “… Would you want me to help out?”

“…” SooAh’s brow rose. With a dismissive wave of her hand, she said, “Nevermind.”

L panicked a bit. “Yah, I was kidding. I’ll help you. This Saturday right? I’ll come fetch you so just make sure to get enough people.” SooAh stood up to protest but he had already left, leaving the entire table and those near it to be dumbfounded.

 

Dasom turned to Jiyeon and frowned. “Are you sure she’s still being pitied?”

“Shut up.”

 

Jiyeon had liked L for as long as she could remember. They went to the same school, had the same background, and they look good together, wasn’t it natural that they got together? She had a bitter taste in and she wanted to chew Go SooAh out.

 

--

 

Soo Ah stood by the door of L’s classroom. The male students all gathered to ogle at her but she was too oblivious to notice. “Excuse me sunbae.” She called out when she saw Sungyeol come out of the elevator. “Is your friend going to class?”

“My friend?” Sungyeol repeated out of shock in seeing her in their side of the school. “Ahh, L?” She nodded. “He just went to— oh there he is.”

L frowned when he saw most of the third year male students in their floor checking SooAh out. He didn’t like that she was oblivious to it, he didn’t like that they were acting like idiots around her, he didn’t like that she seemed not to mind.

“What are you doing here?” He snapped and SooAh frowned. “You guys can go inside.” He said to no one in particularly but they all shuffled to go inside the room.

“I just have something to say to you.” He nodded and motioned for her to follow him.

--

“We didn’t have to leave your floor.” She said as she got on the elevator with him.

‘And have all of those guys stare at you like you were some—‘ he cut his thoughts off. “Which floor will your next class be in?”

“4^th. In the east wing.” He nodded.

“What did you want to say?” He asked as she watched him press the 4^th floor button.

“You don’t have to help out on Saturday.”

“I already made plans to help you.”

She nodded.  “Okay, then you don’t have to pick me up on Saturday.”

“You live right in front of us, it’s not a big deal.” She in her breath to control her irritation.

“Why do you do that?” She asked a little coldly.

“Do what?”

“Why do you bother me?”

“Why do I bother with you?” L corrected. It sounded like he was asking himself the question as well. The elevator doors opened and both of them headed to the east wing. Students who were in the corridors stared at them and whispered to one another.

“What?” SooAh asked him. She couldn’t help but feel a bit bothered by the commotion.

“Nothing.”

SooAh stopped and turned to him. “Kim Myungsoo, you don’t have to concern yourself with me.”

He chuckled, “I told you, I want us to be friends.”

“And I told you, it’s not possible.”

“Fine, then I want to help plant trees.”

“You can do it with the other Estelle candidates.”
“I don’t like them as much as I can tolerate you.” He said cheekily and she couldn’t help the smile that graced her lips. They both headed to her classroom. By this time, the amount of students that had already noticed the pair grew in number.

“Well then,” He raised her chin with his fingers. “Have a nice week. I’ll see you on Saturday, granny.” She slapped his hand away and went inside the room.

 

Daehyun and Youngjae stopped walking when they saw SooAh slapping L’s hand away from her face.

“They seem close.” Youngjae commented.

“They’re not.” Daehyun said dismissively and Youngjae smirked.

“Don’t sound so jealous. You’re with her 6 hours a day.”

Daehyun looked pointedly at him. “It’s seven.” He corrected automatically. Youngjae kept his grin on.

 

--

 

The teacher went out for a while and Soo Ah took this chance to turn to Daehyun who was writing on his tablet. “I hate you.” He lifted his head up and frowned.

“Wae?” He stopped typing and looked at her.

“How can you betray me like that?”

“Wae? Wae What did I do?” He seemed genuinely shocked by her accusation and she felt bad for teasing him. ‘Well, he deserves it!’ She told herself.

“You told Kim Myungsoo that I needed help with the task.” He shook his head.

“Ani, I only told hyung you needed some volunteers when he asked me what you were planning to do about the task. Wae?” She continued to pout and he decided to more. “It’s going to be helpful! He can gather some of his fans to help you.”

“When he asked what I was planning to do, you should’ve said I was planning to plant plants!”

He chuckled. “Don’t worry, you won’t have to interact with L-hyung. I’ll be there.”

“Ohhh” She nodded her head. “Yes, you can keep him company!” She nodded again, liking the plan.

“Bwoh? I meant I’ll be—“ Daehyun was cut off when the teacher went back to the classroom. SooAh smiled. She didn’t think she was ready to hear anything sweet from Daehyun’s mouth again. He seemed to be so natural at it; it made her feel like she was caught up in his net even when he had no intention of catching her. She heard his table move closer and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.

“I meant,” He whispered, “I’ll be there to accompany you.” She felt his hot breath on her neck and she blushed furiously.

 

--

 

Daehyun smiled widely as he leaned back. He didn’t notice SooAh’s ears had gone red. He smiled. He wasn’t an idiot. He knew L was interested in her, he knew he, himself, was interested in her. He wasn’t going to keep denying it. If he was going to compete with L, he had to make SooAh pay more attention to him.

 

--

 

“I’m home.” SooAh shouted to no one in particular.

“Oh, SooAh! You’re home!” Her mother squealed. She seemed anxious.

“Yes, umma. I’m tired, so I’m heading to my room.”

“Ah—“ Her mother said as she grabbed her wrist. “Your grandfather is here.”

 

SooAh’s eyes widened. “Grandfather?”

“Come, greet him in the living room.”

“Ah, yes.” She followed her mother immediately.

SooAh was actually close to her grandfather— more than she was with her father or mother. He always doted on her and spoiled her when she was young, she liked it because her parents never bought her the expensive things her grandfather could. It was when she reached high school that their relationship changed.

She felt like he was trying to take control of her life because he wasn’t able to control her mother’s. Since he was rich, he meddled with her schooling. He made sure that because of their wealth, she was set apart from her non-elite classmates. Everyone who surrounded her were the people who were trying to make names for themselves and she felt like she never had any real friends—or family. Her parents became even colder. One day, she overheard her mother and father arguing.

 

--

“We shouldn’t have let him lend us the money!” She heard her mother scream. “He’s able to control us now!”

“Shut up, Yoo Jin!” Her father shouted authoritatively. “We needed that money! Do you think we’d be able to live this comfortably if he hadn’t saved the record company?!”

“We started the company because we wanted to! Not because we had to!” Her mother cried. “Look at you! All you do is work on how to expand it, on how to enter the market! We barely have meals together! And Soo Ah—“

“What about Soo Ah?!”

“How can you agree to have father play a big role in bringing her up?! You know how much I wanted to escape that kind of materialistic life!”

“Hundreds of people would kill to be in your position right now, Yoo Jin, so be thankful!”

“If I hadn’t disobeyed father, I wouldn’t have married you, you know?! Who knows who he’ll want SooAh to marry!” She heard her mother sob before running off to her room and locking the door.

--

SooAh stopped by the doorframe of the living room. She could see the profile view of her grandfather. She noted how white his hair had become and how time had overcome his face. She took a deep breath and spoke.

“Grandfather.” She called and smiled when he turned to him.

“How is my favorite grand daughter?” He opened his arms for her to hug him.

“I’m your only grand daughter.” She chuckled.

“Are you sure?” He joked. She let go of him and sat on the couch beside her parents.

“What brings you here, grandpa?”

He smiled. “Well, isn’t your birthday coming up?”

“In a few weeks, yes.”

He nodded with enthusiasm. “I decided that I want to throw you a party.”

“Eh?” She frowned.

“Wae? You don’t like it?”

“Father,” Her mother began. “We actually talked about having a simple celebration for her 18^th birthday.”

He tsked. “Chairman Son is having a grand celebration for his grand daughter! How could my grand daughter, who is so much more gifted and beautiful, have a boring celebration at home?!”

“Ah, aniyo! Of course we would love to hold a party for SooAh.” Her father mended.

SooAh rolled her eyes. ‘Here we go again.’ She thought to herself.

“You don’t like it, Soo Ah?” her grandfather turned to her and she gave him a small smile.

“I am fine with anything, grandfather.”

“She loves the idea, father.” Her dad corrected. Her grandfather nodded appreciatively.

“Good! Then we have that settled. I shall have my secretary take care of everything.” He patted her head. “Tell me if you want anything, SooAh, arasseo?”

“Neh.” She replied simply.

“So, tell me how you have been spending your time in your new school…”

 

--

 

Chanyeol, one of Kai’s members, poked Kai on the cheek. The younger boy was fixated on the big screen of his phone.

“Ya, Jongiiin, what are you doing?” He whined. “Play with hyung, ppali! Kyungsoo went out to the mall with the other guys.”

“Eyy, hyung, talk to me later.” Kai said as he swatted Chanyeol’s hand away from his face.

Chanyeol thought for a while and in a matter of seconds, was wrestling Kai for his phone.

“YA!!! HYUNG!! Give it back!!!” Chanyeol’s arms were too long for the younger male and he contently sat on Kai’s back while he squirmed to get out.

“What are you doing that you wont play with me?” Chanyeol asked curiously. “Oh.” His brows rose as he read the text message.

 

***

To: Go SooAh

From: Kim Jongin

 

Message: Would you want me to pick you up on Saturday? 

***

“Ohhh~” Chanyeol watched the cursor blink. “Go Soo Ah?” He asked.

Kai sighed and grabbed his phone harshly as soon as he managed to get Chanyeol off of him. “Ya, is she your—“

“She was, hyung.” He shook his head as he checked his phone again and his mouth fell open. “YOU SENT IT?! YA!!! HYUNG, PABO-YA?!” Chanyeol giggled as he ran off to his room.

“Thank me, Kim Jongiiiiiin~~~~” He shouted. “You have to live life with no regrets!!!”

 

***

“Jung Daehyuuuun~” Youngjae called out.

“Bwoh?” Daehyun replied casually as he read the assigned reading.

“What time did you arrive last Saturdayy?”

Daehyun shrugged. “After midnight.”

“Waeee? The auction ended at around 9 didn’t it?” Youngjae fished.

Daehyun was silent. Youngjae grinned. “I also saw Tao. He was supposed to be on duty that night but he went home early, I wonder whyyy…”

Daehyun stiffened. “He looked tired so I asked him to go home.”

“Bwoh?! But he went to the noraebang right after! Waa, he must be really tired then!” Youngjae said sarcastically and Daehyun looked at him with slight irritation.

“Yah.” Daehyun jokingly said in a warning tone.

“Aish, if you’re not gonna open up to me about it, then let me just say it!!!” Youngjae said, feigning frustration. “Were you stalking SooAh?”

“STALKING?! Yah, I was just looking out for her—“ Daehyun grew silent and just flipped the pages of his book. “Jongin wasn’t gonna take her home.” He said defensively.

“How did you know?”

“I didn’t. I just offered her a ride and she said okay.”

Youngjae smiled knowingly. “She did?”

“She did.” He paused. “Thankfully.” Daehyun smiled to himself as he resumed reading his book.

“So do you think about her often?” Youngjae teased with a greasy voice.

“Yah, you’re annoying me.”

“Do you catch yourself thinking about where she is at the moment? Or… or what she’s doing?” He grinned widely as he poked his friend’s cheek.

Daehyun swatted his hand away. “Cut it out, Yoo Youngjae.”

“SooAh’s mysterious, it’ll be nice to ask her what she’s doing right now so you know she’s normal too.” He joked and Daehyun turned to look at him briefly.

“She’s not normal.” He smiled.

“YAAAAAH, what is that cheesy smile?!”

 

***

SooAh’s brow rose as her phone vibrated.

From: Year Rep Jung Daehyun

To: Go SooAh

Subject: Hellooo

 

Message: Annyeong, SooAh-ssi. How are you?

***

Her lips tugged upwards as she typed a reply.

 

From: Go SooAh

Message: Annyeong, year rep. Im sleepy. It’s 1 am.

***

 

From: Jung Daehyun

Message: Why are you still up? What are you doing?

 

***

From: Go SooAh

Message: Just—thinking.

 

***

From: Jung Daehyun

Message: Don’t think of me so much, your head will hurt :P

 

***

From: Go SooAh

Message:  I feel nauseous already :P

 

***

From: Jung Daehyun

Message: Yah!!!

 

Daehyun didn’t expect her to reply again. He stared at his phone.

Youngjae peered over his shoulder and laughed before hitting his pabo friend in the head. “Aigoo, at this rate, you’re gonna leave me all alone!” He joked.

 

“Don’t be so jealous, Yoo Youngjae~”

 

UGH SO HANDSOME... :|

• A few things first! I didn’t know if I should still continue this, well, because of the entire law suit with B.A.P, but I trust that B.A.P will come back. I know they will~ So I hope fans of B.A.P are okay with me posting and updating… Huhuuu
• Thanks to those who messaged me about continuing the story~ Reviews are veeeery welcome <3
• I MISS B.A.P and INFINITE 3