The crowd was larger than expected and I had no intentions of placing that day. I tried my best to keep my composure by taking in deep breaths and quietly praying to myself. “Yejin, Seo Yejin?” one of the backstage crew members asked, holding a brown paper clip with a couple of papers attached. “Is there a Seo Yejin here?” I raised my hand and the man slowly advanced toward me. “You’re up next, please wait over by the curtains. By the way, you will be fine” he reassured me and I nodded my head. My heart was thumping loud as a machine and I tried to hold it in as best as I could. The technical backstage crew members checked to see if I had everything I needed and once I was all set, they said I was up in five.

“Hello, I’m IU here with Hyunwoo and we’re here on the stage of Inkigayo waiting for many hot comebacks as well as debuts!” IU exclaimed with much excitement while Hyunwoo nodded his head.

“Yes, and you just heard the number one song of the week by the rather masculine boys themselves, BEAST! Shadow shadow shadow~” Hyunwoo chimed while dancing offbeat. He’s a bit embarrassed and it’s evident as he covers his face.

“But enough comebacks for tonight!” IU smiled to the camera while Hyunwoo uncovered his face, “we’re going to start off tonight’s Inkigayo with a debuting solo artist who has come a long way from Busan just to be here. We had interviewed her before but now it’s her time to shine!”

“Of course! It’s time to listen to Seo Yejin’s debut song, One Sided Love, which tells the story about a girl who tries her hardest to achieve the boy of her dreams, only to have her dreams crushed when—well, you’ll hear the rest of the story in the song! Please listen attentively!” Hyunwoo smiles brightly into the camera while IU dances to the slow, acoustic beat. The camera moves in toward me as I begin to strum my guitar.

Although I am just debuting, I have many fans and the fan chants are better than I had expected. I sang with my 100 percent effort and nearly choked a couple of times, but remembered that I had fans to sing for. I smiled as the bright lights had shined upon me. It was a dream come true.

“Seo Yejin! Seo Yejin! Seo Yejin! Seo Yejin! Yejin… YEJIN!” I was stirred from my sleep and I woke up to Inguk’s face. I screamed and pushed him away and he fell to the floor, heavily with a thud.

“Dammit!” he got up slowly and started to rub his derrière. “It’s already 7:10, how could you not wake up to your annoying alarm?!” He slams the door as he exits my room and I groan while laying back down in bed.

“And don’t you THINK about going back to sleep” he opens the door quickly and my body shoots up.

“I’m up, I’m up” I reply to him groggily, and shuffle my feet toward the bathroom. He briskly walks behind me and begins to shove me toward the bathroom.

“You are not taking your sweet precious time today missy; school starts at 8:00 promptly and you’re getting there on time whether you like it or not. Mom and dad both took their respective cars, leaving me with absolutely nothing to drive you with. You’ve already missed the 6:50 bus, you can’t afford to waste anymore time” Inguk lectures while preparing my toothbrush with toothpaste. I try to push him out to do my daily business but he shakes his head. “No, you’re just going to slack off. If you have to pee, do it at school. There’s a reason for the bathrooms.”

I grunt while I brush my teeth and he combs my hair roughly.

“It hurts!” I whine to him, still half asleep.

“Take it like a man” he remarks while finishing up, “okay, now spit out your toothpaste, rinse your mouth, wash your face, and get dressed. I’ve already laid out your uniform and cooked breakfast. I’ll be standing in the hallway, timing you. If you aren’t ready within five minutes, have fun looking for Jin.” My eyes open wide, to the extent of the possibility of my eyeballs popping out, and I turn my head slowly at him.

“What did you do to Jin?” I ask. It’s a rhetorical question; I’d rather not know what he has done to my guitar. Inguk is ruthless… he would destroy my baby without warning.

“You’ll find out when you get dressed. Hurry up, a minute has already passed” he smiles threateningly while walking out into the hall. I finish up my morning business and run to my room, throwing my outfit on messily, not really caring what I look like. School outfits aren’t made to be put on prettily anyway. I check the mirror for flyaway hairs and slip on my socks and shoes. I swing my backpack across my shoulder and check to see if I’m missing anything for school. I run out of my room, phone in hand and close my door quickly. Inguk is waiting for me and stops his timer.

“Not bad” he nods his head approvingly, “four minutes thirty-seven seconds. Now run downstairs and eat your breakfast, it’s already 7:24. You’re going to have to run to school at this point.” I sigh, waiting for my doom. School is an alright place to be at, it’s just the fact that I’ll probably get detention for my third tardy this month. I stuff my food into my mouth and swallow a little too quickly. Some food gets into my windpipe and I chug down a glass of milk. I look at my watch and the time reads 7:30. I grab my backpack and rush out the door.

“Lock the door!” I shout to Inguk as he puts away my dishes. “I’ll be home later today, I’m going to watch Leo’s game today!”

“Okay, I’ll tell mom and dad. Bye!” Inguk waves from the kitchen and I bump into an unknown figure as I turn around.

“Oh my gosh, I’m so—” I stop midway only to realize it’s Jongin. “Oh, hi Jongin” I greet formally.

“When will you ever stop calling me Jongin?! I prefer Kai! You have no problem calling Taekwoon Leo but you always call me Jongin, why is that? Leo isn’t the only senior around here!” Kai is deeply troubled by this problem and I am too flustered to care.

“JONGIN MOVE IT I HAVE TO GET TO SCHOOL, IT’LL BE MY THIRD TARDY THIS MONTH!” I complain as I try to push him out of the way.

“You’re forgetting that I drive” he smiles smugly while holding out the keys to his car. I get a hold of my senses, check my watch to see that it’s 7:40 and we hop into car and rush to school. We make it by 7:50, ten minutes to spare. Everyone who’s already entered the gates are just lounging around, relaxing and talking to one another; most likely about the performances on last night’s Inkigayo.

“Thanks for the ride” I genuinely give thanks to Jongin. If it wasn’t for him, I would have probably gotten detention.

“No problem” he ruffles my hair and I pat it back in place. We walk over to the soccer fields only to find Leo training early in the morning, shirtless. I’ve always seen him practicing and he never ceased to amaze me… but the fact that he was shirtless and… well, fit, I couldn’t help but to stare. Jongin took notice and waved his hand in front of my face. “Yejin, wake up. You must still be sleepy” he laughs with a hint of nervousness. I agree and we walk over to Leo who’s already packing up his belongings to get to first period.

“Hey” I greet while walking briskly toward him. Jongin catches up shortly after.

“Hi” Leo greets, back facing us, and then he turns around only to find me staring at his lower abdominal. “Oh gosh” he is flustered by the sight of me and quickly throws his undershirt on. I laugh because it’s cute and Jongin shields my eyes by standing in front of me. “Thanks” Leo says to Jongin. Once Leo is done dressing, we all start walking to our respective classes.

“So why are you guys so late for?” Leo inquires while shifting his duffle bag to a more comfortable position. “I was waiting for you guys all morning and I thought you guys would never make it, so I practiced in the meantime. I almost lost track of time! Good thing you guys came along.”

“Well, miss Seo woke up late this morning and luckily for her, I was waiting to take her to school” Jongin shoots a glance at me and continues to look forward. Leo smiles and I smile too, because a smiling Leo is rare. He comes off as what people back in the day would call him, a cold city boy, also known as chic. People are afraid to approach him because he seems angry all