It was fate.

He had been admiring the same girl for the last 10 years now; 4 years of searching, 6 years of which he observed her from afar. The two met when he was just 9 years old. And he remembered it like it was yesterday; just rewind it 10 years ago.

One afternoon day, a boy by the name of Jung Yonghwa was playing around the playground. He had never really had any friends that would last long. They all thought that his hobbies were weird, and that he was also weird. He didn’t mind any of them. He was used to people telling him he was weird. Even his own parents would tell him that, but despite it all, his parents do love him a lot.

At first, he would be disturbed by it and would try to change but, despite how much effort he puts into changing, he just couldn’t. In the end, he gave up. He gave up and just started to be his real self. But no matter how much he wanted to give up, he couldn’t help but want to change. He was angry with himself as to why he gave up. It seems that no matter how much he wants something, he couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to get his hands on it. No matter what he does.

He had just been minding his own business when all of a sudden, a group of older boys surrounded him with glares and disgusted looks. He already knew what they want and what this meant.

He closed his eyes as they grabbed his shirt, lifted him up from the swings and threw him on the ground. Tears were threatening to come out of his eyes from that moment on since he already knew what they were going to do. He didn’t care what they were shouting at him, or calling him. He didn’t even care that they were beating him up, he just wanted it to finish quickly. His body flinched every time a punch and a kick was blown to a part of his body, but honestly speaking, he felt nothing. He couldn’t feel the pain from each and every one of their blows.

Why is that?

Maybe… Maybe he was already used to it.

He had been getting bullied almost his whole life, and this was a daily occurrence to him.

But what happened next was like a miracle. Something that helped him changed his life for the better.

---------------

“Yah! Get away from him!” A voice said from behind the group of boys who were bullying a kid younger than them. It was a girl with black hair accented with a red, glossy headband, and she was wearing a polka dotted red and white dress with matching white stockings and red shoes.

The boys ignored the girl and continued their deed.

“YAH! I TOLD YOU TO STOP BULLYING HIM!” The girl ran towards the boys and was tugging quite aggressively one of the boys’ sleeves to stop him from going on further.

The boy shoved the girl off of him with his elbow and continued on, as if nothing happened. The girl flared her nose and did the same as she did minutes ago. This time, she didn’t let go of the boy’s sleeve.

“YAH! I FREAKIN’ TOLD YOU TO STOP HIM! OR NOT, I’M GOING TO CALL THE ADULTS!” She backed away while the boys stopped with what they were doing and glared at the girl. You could see the fear in the girl’s face but she pushed that aside and replaced it with a newfound bravery that she didn’t know she had until minutes ago.

She was about to open and shout when the group of boys scrambled and ran away as fast as they can before the girl could even scream. The girl smirked and hurriedly ran near the poor boy on the ground.

“Are you okay?” She asked with her eyes gently looking at the boy with pure sincerity and concern. Never had Yonghwa seen somebody stand up for him, more or else that it was a girl.

All he could do was stare at the girl in front of him who was waiting for him to answer her question.

“Uh hello? Are you okay?” She asked again. This time though, Yonghwa snapped out of it and hesitantly nodded.  It seemed that his neck hurt from all the punching those boys did that he could barely even move.

The girl then got something out from her pocket and decided to help the boy stand up and settle down on the swing. She knelt in front of him and looked at the wounds and scratches stained with his blood on his legs. She opened the box of bandages that she always carried around in case of emergencies and put them all over his wounds.

Yonghwa could only look and stare at the girl. He hadn’t noticed it before but the girl was beautiful. She was one of the most beautiful girls he had seen in his whole life. Scratch that, she was the most beautiful one he’d seen and maybe, he will ever see.

He observed the girl while she tended to his wounds. He tried to imprint the face of the girl who saved his life in his mind. How was it that a girl as beautiful and as nice as her was even considered human? Heck, she could pass up for an angel: A goddess angel at that.

The girl then stood up and leaned closer, much to Yonghwa's surprise and uneasiness. He thought that she was going to kiss him. Deep inside, he was hyperventilating but he tried to keep his cool. He still wasn't ready. He still hasn't even asked the girl for his name and here she was, about to kiss him. Due to being unprepared, he closed his eyes, not knowing what else to do.

"There we go." She said with a relieved voice. Yonghwa opened his eyes, confused at what just happened and then he realized that the girl put a band-aid on his face. He sighed, relieved and disappointed at the same time. Then for the next minute, the two stared at each other, deeply into the other's eyes and soul.

"Uhhh... Is something on my face?" The girl was the first to break the silence, and that broke Yonghwa out of his reverie.

He shook his head. "Oh no, that's not it. Anyways... Thanks for helping me out there."

"N-no biggie. I just like standing by my values and one of them is equality." She unconsciously flashed a smile at Yonghwa and that made him blush.

He mustered up all the remaining courage that was in him and opened his mouth. This might be the only chance he'll ever get. "Uh, what's your name?"

The girl flashed another of her warm smiles at him and this literally made his heart melt, as she answered his question. "Seo Joohyun. Seohyun for short."

Just when Yonghwa was about to say his name in return, the girl cut him off.

"Oh! It's already late! I have to go now! As much as I want to stay with you, I can't. See you later!" was what she said before she ran off into the distance, with Yonghwa staring at her while she did so.

Seo Joohyun. Seo Joohyun. Seo Joohyun.

He kept on repeating her name in his mind, afraid that he might forget it if he didn't. He bit his lip, preventing a smile from erupting but failed. He was practically grinning by himself, and boy, did he look like an idiot when he jumped up from the swing and started pumping his fists in the air, jumping up and down and basically started shouting into the air.

"WOOHOO!"

After that day, Yonghwa tried to look for her, and was he really surprised where he found her.

After four years of looking, he found her in a place he never expected her to be in.

It was early in the morning at his elementary school, like any other day. He never really had any friends, so school was a bore for him, add that to boring classes and tons of homework.

It was the first day of school, meaning new classmates, teachers, books, classrooms, and materials to study. He was now officially an 8^th grader, but aside from that, nothing else changed. His classmates wouldn’t really talk to him unless they needed something from him. It was the same.

Ten minutes after, the bell rang and the students started heading along to their classrooms. Yonghwa, being the good student that he had always been, was the first in his classroom. He had the habit of either looking outside the window, or counting and memorizing the faces of his classmates. And he did the latter.

There’s Song Hyun Ae, and her friends. Right over there is Kim Park Jung with Im Kang Su. And then there’s Go Hye Ah.

Yonghwa’s eyes were moving left and right as he tried to memorize the faces and recite the names of the students he’ll be spending the year with. He had memorized all of them, since he had nothing to do until class starts.

Just then, somebody caught Yonghwa’s eyes. It was the girl from yesterday, Seo Joohyun. She didn’t come in with any friends. Was she new? Did she move from another school? So you mean she’s my classmate? All these questions popped up in Yonghwa’s mind all at the same time. His hand instinctively went to his left pocket. Four years ago, as soon as he came home, his parents noticed the bandage and he had told them that he tripped and fell down the stairs at the playground. He didn't like to lie but he didn't want to make his parents worried either. His parents had replaced it the same day but he kept the bandage Seohyun gave him. He kept it in his wallet from that day on and he would always bring it with him everywhere he goes. He treats it like a good luck charm. Scratch that, he treats it like a family heirloom. An irreplaceable bandage.

Yonghwa could only stare at her while she made her way across the room and into a seat three chairs in front of him.

Did she even notice me? Did she see me? Yonghwa asked himself.

But to his disappointment, it seemed as though she didn’t recognize him, much or less look his way.

All throughout the morning classes, Yonghwa would look at Seohyun’s reflection in the window beside her, as he wouldn’t able to see her since there were three classmates of his in the way. But every now and then, he would look away to look in front, to pick up something that his classmate dropped or to get something from underneath his table or bag. Aside from those, he would always observe Seohyun through the windows.

And that’s when he decided. He had decided to go up to her and talk to her. He had finally met somebody who was worthy of his... I guess you could call it admiration? But little did Yonghwa know that it would turn to something more than that. It may be obsession, love, or maybe it was just admiration. But Yonghwa couldn’t deny it, he was attracted to her no matter what kind of self-control he would restrict on his feelings.

Just then, the lunch bell rang, meaning it was already break time. Yonghwa heaved a huge breath and mustered up the courage to even stand up, as he was already nervous when he decided on what to do. But then, his knees gave up on him as he saw somebody at the door call out her name.

“Seo Joohyun!”

You think he shouldn’t be discouraged that she already had a friend to eat lunch with, but this friend of hers was a guy. And it wasn’t just any guy, it was one of the most sought out guys in school, Choi Minho.

He came inside the classroom and girls practically squealed as they caught sight of his face. Choi Minho was one of the kingkas of the school, even though they were still in 8^th grade.

The boy ignored the other girls’ screams and stopped in front of Seohyun’s desk. The girl was reading a book and didn’t notice Minho in front of her.

“Seohyun, let’s eat lunch together.”

“Hyunnie!” A group of girl shouted from outside the classroom door. Almost everyone was startled at their voices, even Seohyun who was so into her book.

“Ah! Unnie! Oh, Minho-yah, what are you doing here? Annyeong!” Seohyun stood up from her seat and headed towards her SoShi unnies who consisted of Taeyeon, Sooyoung, Jessica, Tiffany, Yoona, Yuri, Hyoyeon, and Sunny.

Minho was left dumbstruck with his mouth literally open. Yonghwa looked at him and snickered, but not loud enough for Minho or anybody to hear.

The surprised boy scratched the back of his head and walked out of the classroom, acting as if it never happened.

Yonghwa then went back to planning on how to get close to Seohyun. He decided to just eat somewhere peaceful and quiet as it helps him focus more. He went out to the hallway, but not without stopping by the music room, glancing from the side.

There was no one inside and Yonghwa then decided to just stay there. He went in with his lunch box in tow and sat on one of the seats that were disarrayed by students who were too eager for lunch and rushed off.

As he munched on his sandwich, he then decided to plan how to talk to Seohyun in his head. But Yonghwa had a weird habit whenever he thinks. Not that he does it all the time, but it helps him focus more.

“So, I should maybe try leaving a letter in her locker.” He said to himself as he arranged his fringe that was blocking his view. The reason why people kept on avoiding him was because they thought he was an emo because of his long bangs and quiet demeanor. They also thought he was a nerd or something, and him having a few weird habits here and there wasn’t really helping either.

“No. That’ll look like a love letter.” He shook his head as he munched on his sandwich.

He couldn’t think of a way to naturally talk to her. If they were seatmates or something, that would have been easy. His eyes began to wander around the room and stopped at a black case. A guitar case. He stood up and first looked around to see if somebody was around. He then opened the zipper at the side and took out the wooden instrument.

It was a simple guitar, but simplicity is sometimes the best. It didn’t have any complicated designs and carvings, unlike those ones that he always sees on display whenever his mom would bring him along shopping. The body’s color was a gradient of dark umber going to caramel brown, complementing the overall simplicity.

He went back to his desk and started strumming a few chords here and there while singing a few gibberish words in English. He had been trying to make a song since last night when he suddenly had the urge to do something with his ‘blessing’ of a talent. Maybe a song for Seohyun, something that could help him tell her just how much she meant to him from the moment they first met four years ago.

“Wah...” Three guys appeared from behind the pile of instruments and drum set that was set-aside in the back of the room and startled Yonghwa.

“Daebak! Hyung, you’re good!” The tallest of the bunch praised while loudly clapping his hands.

“Jjang!” One of them praised with eyesmiles, while the last one just couldn’t say and do anything but clap his hand in amusement.

“A-ani...” Yonghwa was surprised and flustered at all the praises he’s receiving. It was the first; aside from the praises his parents and relatives would give him. Of course, parents would always praise their children. It’s kind of like their job.

“Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves. I’m Kang Minhyuk, this tall guy here is Lee Jungshin and this is Lee Jonghyun. He’s a year older than us but we’re all in the same class.”

“Name’s –“

“Jung Yonghwa right? We’ve heard about you, and it really isn’t good.” Jonghyun said while awkwardly scratching the back of his head.

“Yeah...” There was this awkward silence between the four.

“But hey, don’t mind those rumors hyung. They’re just rumors anyways, and from what I see, you’re a really cool guy, but I guess you just have to fix your appearance and the way you dress.” Even though Jungshin had just said something good, he could have just stopped from there. He just couldn’t shut his honest mouth.

“Oh, mind if we call you hyung? Since I think you’re a year above us. I guess you’re like a sunbaenim to us, that cool or would you like us to call you sunbaenim?” Minhyuk asked to relieve the awkward topic of Yonghwa’s rumors.

“Uh sure, I don’t mind being called hyung.”

“Okay hyung. Oh, anywho, we’re getting off topic. Mind if you become our vocalist? Us three are making a band, and as much as Jonghyun does have a nice voice –“

“Yah! What do you mean nice? My voice is beautiful!” The said boy butted in.

“Well, compared to hyung’s, yours is lame.”

“Ani...”

“Oh don’t say that hyung! You have a powerful and awesome voice! Wanna become our leader? I can’t really trust these two and I don’t seem to be leader material, but I bet you are.” Jungshin said as he butted in between the two bickering boys, making them stop and look over at Yongwa, waiting for his decision.

“Well, as you said, my appearance isn’t really... That nice, so I doubt that anybody will listen to me, and moreover, us if I ever join your band cause of it.” He said as his face fell to stare at the floor, making his bangs cover almost half of his face.

“Aniyo hyung. If you’re really that self-conscious about your appearance, we can take care of that. In an age like this, nothing’s impossible. Plus, I know who to go to.” Jungshin said as he looked at the other two boys with a playful grin and matching suspicious eyes and tone of voice, from Yonghwa’s perspective.

Just then, Yonghwa heard giggling voices coming from the hallway outside. For the whole two years that he hadn’t seen her, he immediately memorized all her features; face, eyes, hair, aura, and even her voice, early this morning. And he quickly recognized one of those giggling voices as hers.

He turned his head around and saw her, walking along with eight other girls who she knew were all upperclassmen, except for another. She was walking with her eyes smiling, laughing her hearty laugh, and her hair flowing down her back, clipped and held in place from falling from her beautiful face with a headband.

Jonghyun and Minhyuk had started bickering and they both were nudged by Jungshin to look at Yonghwa, as he saw him looking at the window. They then grinned to each other, only the three having this unknown and invisible telepathy of what the other was thinking without words needed.

She went out of his sight, and that was when he turned back to look at the three and saw that each had a silly, mischievous grin plastered on their faces.

Jungshin wiggled his eyebrows at the confused victim, making to him known that they saw what he had just done.

Yonghwa stood up with a flustered face, making the chair fall on the floor. He already knew what these guys were up to and he wouldn’t have any of it.

“A-ani! This isn’t what you think! I just met her when I was little, that’s all!”

The three stepped closer, trying to cave him in and making him confess.

“We didn’t say anything.” Jungshin rebutted at Yonghwa. His grin grew tenfold while the other two couldn’t help but snicker.

“Ah hyung! Just tell us! You like Tiffany-ssi, right?”

Yonghwa then put his flailing arms down to his side and gave a small laugh at the two.

“Ani, it’s not Tiffany-ssi.” He said as he arranged his fringe to the side, as he could not see with his blasted long bangs in the way.

“Oh, is it Yoona-ssi?” Jonghyun asked.

“Ani...”

“Yuri-ssi?”

“Ani.”

“Taeyeon-ssi? Jessica-ssi? Sunny-ssi? Sooyoung-ssi? Hyoyeon-ssi?” Minhyuk asked all at once.

“Ani...”

“Then who else is there?”

The three looked at each other and started to count if they missed anyone. Just when Yonghwa was about to speak, Minhyuk cut him off.

“Ah! It’s the maknae, Seo Joohyun, am I right? She’s the only one we haven’t said yet.” He said as he looked at the two and “Ahh”-ed at him in agreement.

“Ah, yeah, that’s her.” Yonghwa confirmed while looking outside the hallway, he saw the girls had went out into the quad and all rested under a tree. Seohyun was in his sight and he couldn’t help stare at her, more or so keep his mouth shut.

“Ohhh... Hyung is in love. But I heard she doesn’t like men.” Minhyuk said with drooping shoulders.

“Omo! Don’t you think she’s...” Jungshin tried to make the last sentence as low as he can, in case Yonghwa heard him.

“Shush! She’s not! I heard from Yoona-yah that she just doesn’t like being around guys since she doesn’t know how to act around them.” Jonghyun reassured the two. The two maknaes could only stare at Jonghyun as they noticed that he just referred to Yoona with a –yah suffix at the end. But the two decided to just interrogate the boy later, as these three were coincidentally neighbors.

“Oh, that makes sense. Hey, she’s new here? I haven’t really seen her around the past few years.” Jungshin asked.

“Nah, she just came back. She moved away to another school 2 years ago, and I guess now her family decided to come back.” Minhyuk answered. Jungshin had been at this school for two years, which was why he didn’t know anything about the girl being a student here two years ago.

Yonghwa’s ear perked up and listened to the boys’ conversation when he heard the words ‘two years ago’ and ‘came back.’

“So she was here two years ago?” He asked curiously. He had been at this school almost his whole elementary years but why was it that he never took notice of her?

“Yeah. She never really stood out much then, being protected and hogged by her eight sisters.” Jonghyun then grabbed a chair nearby and sat down beside Yonghwa.

“Hyung, so, how did you fall in love with her? I mean, yeah, she’s beautiful and innocent, but that’s the problem. She’s too innocent, plus she’s uptight.” Jungshin reasoned as he grabbed a chair, the same as Jonghyun did, and sat beside. Minhyuk followed pursuit.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that he likes her, right? I bet you that Yonghwa hyung doesn’t know either if you asked him, right hyung?”

“Does love need to have a reason to be pursued?” Yonghwa asked very abstractly at the three and were dumbfounded, especially Jungshin. The two, after second of letting his deep words sink in, agreed and nodded in agreement. Jungshin was the only one who didn’t get it.

“Wait, what’s that supposed to mean? I mean, doesn’t it have to have a reason?” He asked ever so curiously.

“Shut up Jungshin. Hey hyung, if we help you out with her, will you join our band? We’re still not giving you up. And haven’t you ever wanted to do something about that talent of yours?” Minhyuk asked with eagerness and determination in his eyes.

The room was rid of the boys’ voices while Yonghwa tried and pondered on that thought. He knew that he had talent, but never had he ever thought that it was and would ever be useful to him. Plus, he took into consideration the offer. It was a win-win situation, in a way. They’ll help him out with her, and he gets to do something people won’t ever think of him as weird. He had decided.

“Sure, but how will you help me with Seohyun first?”

The three looked at each other and smiled.

“Don’t worry hyung, just leave it to us. Let’s just meet up after school at the front gates.”

The three gaped at who was standing in front of them. The four had decided to meet up at this famous salon in Myungdong four days after school started. Two hours had already passed after school finished and they had agreed to bring Yonghwa to Jungshin’s sister, who was a professional stylist and hairdresser. They had called her up earlier and informed them of coming over her studio for some ‘business’ matters, which to her meant either to disturb her, or something serious. And when she saw Yonghwa, she immediately got what they went there for and dragged Yonghwa inside.

“Ah noona! You’re daebak!” Jungshin said as she grabbed his sister’s shoulders form both sides and slightly shook her.

“Yah! Yah! Yah! Stop shaking me!”

“Oh, mianhe.” He let go of her and looked at the new Yonghwa.

“Hyung! You’re even handsomer than me!” Jonghyun said with a little tint of jealousy and envy in his voice.

Minhyuk nodded furiously in agreement. “He’s right! And Jonghyun’s the handsomest guy in our group. Yah... Somebody already stole your throne, all mighty Jonghyun.” Minhyuk sarcastically pointed out as he put his hand on Jonghyun’s shoulder while shaking his head.

Yonghwa then walked to a nearby mirror and was surprised at what he saw in it. He never really expected himself to be this handsome. He thought that it was almost frightening, but when he tried to touch his face, he wasn’t disappointed. The guy in the mirror was him, and he couldn’t really believe it.

“Hyung, that’s you. So don’t go touching yourself,” joked Jungshin as he grabbed Yonghwa by the shoulders and dragged him away from the mirrors.

“So now, all we have to do is to make Seohyun-ssi notice you, and you joining the band and being the vocalist and leader is another way of doing it, aside from this.”

Yonghwa could see that the three were eager to make him join the band, and now that he had gained hope of being able to pull this off, he nodded, making the three guys grin and give each other high fives.

The next day, when Yonghwa came to class, everybody gaped at who the new guy was and there were gasps and cries of surprise when they saw him walk over and sit down on Yonghwa’s seat. He could feel everybody’s stares at him but Jonghyun said to him the day before that that was to be expected.

Crowds of girls and guys alike crowded around Yonghwa’s desk, asking him questions, complimenting his new look, and even saying sorry about how they treated him before. It wasn’t that he was going to be rude to those who avoided him before, they reasoned out that he was somewhat weird, and as he is, he was used to that.

But despite all the noises and squeals that were surrounding him, his mind only focused on one thing: Seohyun. What would Seohyun think? Would she be surprised? Would she talk to him? Or better yet, would she fall in love with him or something? Yes, he knows that falling in love based on appearances isn’t really love, but he would do anything just so Seohyun would look his way. When you’re in love, nothing else but that person matters.

He tried to move form side to side, trying to get a glimpse behind the crowd to see if Seohyun was here, and she was. She had noticed that there was a crowd gathering in the corner back of the room, just three chairs back from hers. He saw her ask a nearby classmate and she just nodded and smiled the crowd’s way, his way, and that made him smile like a fool in love, when he really was in love.

The bell rang and the morning classes began.

After hearing tons of compliments here and there, he had finally gained self-confidence. He was confident that he could finally walk up to and talk to Seohyun. Though he was nervous, he was happy and scared at the same time. But this was the right time, the right chance. And he didn’t want to let this one pass by, just as he should have done 10 years ago when they first met.

He had been trying to think up of possible conversation strikers and approaches he could use to get close to Seohyun. In the last two days ever since school started, he had stalked her. Not really stalked but he would call it, intense research on a specific person, and that person just happens to be Seohyun. To others, they would see it as stalking, to him, it was a matter of getting to know Seohyun from afar, as he still wasn’t ready or confident enough to go up to her.

As soon as the bell rang, he had stood up really fast but with as how fast as he stood up, he was also dragged outside the classroom at the same speed.

It was Jungshin, with Minhyuk and Jonghyun behind Yonghwa, as if they were standing guard if ever he was to escape.

With annoyance evident in his voice and expression, he shouted, “Yah! Why’d you drag me?!”

“No running away hyung. You’re our leader and vocalist and we need to teach you just in time for our debut performance which is just in three weeks.” Minhyuk said as he continued to munch on his hamburger.

Yonghwa randomly remembered how Seohyun hated hamburgers and glared at Minhyuk. The boy took this as something like I-don’t-want-to-be-your-leader. But with the four days that they were together, they had gotten to know Yonghwa even more and that just wasn’t him, breaking a promise or deal that is. So Minhyuk thought it wasn’t going to be that.

“You can’t have my burger! This is grilled chicken, my favorite! And I don’t care if you’re going to be our leader hyung, nobody takes this away from me!” The four had arrived at the same music room where they had met four days ago, the only difference was this time, the room was clean and the chairs were aligned in the back.

The three was surprised at Minhyuk’s sudden outburst and all let out a loud laugh, one almost teared up at how funny it was.

“Yah, I don’t want your burger. It’s just that Seohyun hates burgers.” The lovestrucked boy pointed out. The three could only grin at the revelation he just gave out.

“Ah hyung! Don’t tell me you’ve been stalking Seo-“ Yonghwa cut him off by putting his hand over his mouth in a second.

Yonghwa just glared at Jungshin while he whimpered at his scary glare. Even though Yonghwa was a nice guy and all, he was scary when he’s angry, and boy, did it look like the tall maknae was going to get in trouble.

“I wasn’t.” As much as he wanted to be good at acting and just lie, he was the kind of person who wasn’t good at lying and didn’t like people who lied either. He was trying to avoid looking into either of the three guys’ eyes since he knows that he might give up and tell them the truth. He was somewhat afraid that they would find him weird if he did tell them that he did intense research on Seohyun, or in common people’s words, stalking.

The three could see through his lie and knowing that he was a Blood Type A, he was persistent, and would only break down if you keep on asking and poking him to spill the news. And that was what they kept on doing until Yonghwa finally gave in.

“Okay! Okay! I was... doing intense research on her okay?”

The three let out a hearty laugh at how he called stalking as intense research. He was a really funny guy, without even trying hard to be one.

“Hahahahahahaha! Hyung! Intense research? Hahahahaha! You just made my day! Hahahahaha!” Jungshin couldn’t stop laughing as he clutched his stomach that was now in pain from laughing too much. Even though the three were now in pain from laughing too much, they couldn’t stop even if they wanted to.

“Shut up! Or else I won’t join!” He kept up a serious expression as the three continued on with what they were doing. Yonghwa didn’t budge, and neither did his expression, so the three saw that he was serious and they desperately wanted him to join.  They had long been looking for the vocalist for their band and Yonghwa was the perfect guy for the job, and they weren’t going to let him go anytime soon.

“Okay hyung, but why call it intense research? In common people’s language, it’s called stalking. Stal~ King~ Stalking. Got it hyung?” Jonghyun said as he grabbed a chair and sat down.

“Yah shut up. Anywho, why the hell did you guys drag me here? I was about to go talk to Seohyun when you guys suddenly grabbed and made me miss the perfect chance.” The four were in the center of the room, making a circle from their chairs, so that they would all be facing each other.

“Mianheyo hyung, but we really need to talk about this.” Jonghyun grabbed a piece of folded paper from his back pocket and revealed it to the three. It was a paper that looked like it was a flyer for an event at their school.

“Mwoh?! Debut performance? Who?”

“Us, haven’t we told you hyung? We’re going to be performing in three weeks’ time. If we haven’t, at least now you know.”

Yonghwa could only let his jaw drop at how surprised he was, and maybe, how nervous he was also. They would be standing in front of the school, and perform in three weeks. Three weeks! And better yet, Yonghwa knew Seohyun could be in the crowd, watching him. He was the vocalist so he gets to stand in the middle, as if being watched by tons of people wasn’t enough, Seohyun was going to be watching too.

“What?! Three weeks?! That’s too fast! I don’t even know what songs to practice! Heck, I don’t even know if I could stand in front of a stage with tons of people watching me! And most of all, she’s going to be there! Aish! Why didn’t you tell me earlier so I could prepare for this much earlier?!” He blurted out in a rapping manner as he abruptly stood up from his chair.

“Calm down hyung, and don’t worry, we’re all in the same boat. We’ve performed in class a few times for projects and stuff, but we’ve all never stood in front of the whole school and perform. And we only found out about this too earlier. Lee songsaengnim just informed us that we’re going to be performing for the school’s anniversary, so just think of it as our debut performance.” Minhyuk said as he tried to make Yonghwa sit back down and relax.

“Yeah, so the reason why we dragged you here is we gotta prepare. He said we could sing two songs minimum, four songs maximum. So, today’s meeting would be about what songs are we going to perform?”

Everybody nodded and the room fell into silence. Each was thinking of what songs to perform for their first ever performance. Of course, there were a lot of songs to choose from, but that’s the problem. It was going to be their first performance, which makes it even harder to pick songs. It’s as they say: first impressions are everything. Not that it was, but for this, they gotta give their all on every little detail, even down to where each of them were going to be position up to what hairstyle they’re going to be wearing. It was that important. And their respective ‘girls’ are going to be there, making it even harder.

Yonghwa was nervous. He was invisibly sweating and his hands were trembling. His stomach had butterflies inside and boy, was he really anxious that Jungshin tapped him in the shoulder to get his attention.

“Hyung, I’ve been calling you eight times now. You that nervous?” Jungshin could see just how nervous their new leader was.

The past few weeks, Jungshin, Minhyuk and Jonghyun helped Yonghwa practice the songs they were going to perform for their ‘debut’ in school. The three were close to the SoShi girls but are close to specific girls: Hyoyeon is close to Jungshin, Yoona with Jonghyun, and Minhyuk to Sunny.

Hyoyeon was the closest unnie to Seohyun, and hence, the three decided to put their plan into action. They had planned on having Seohyun come to their debut performance, but without making it obvious. Jungshin, Jonghyun and Minhyuk had talked to their respective ‘girls’ but kept the part about Yonghwa liking Seohyun or even the plan a secret from them. They all knew that the three wouldn’t be able to keep it a secret. Also, it was also expected of them to ask the girls to come to their performance.

The next day after they asked Hyoyeon and the gang, they informed Yonghwa that the girls would be coming along. That same day, Yonghwa couldn’t concentrate.

Yonghwa sat down on a chair and tried to rehearse his lines and the guitar chords. He was so nervous; he’s scared that he’ll screw up.

“Remember everything hyung? You might forget the songs while we’re up there, seeing you this nervous.” Jonghyun said as he put his hand on Yonghwa’s shoulder while sitting down on the chair beside him.

Yonghwa didn’t even hear Jonghyun’s sarcastic opinion since he was focusing on the chords.

“There goes hyung again. It’s like you have to smack him in the head to make him notice you.”

Smack!

Minhyuk heard what Jungshin said about smacking Yonghwa’s head and he did.

“What was that for?!” Yonghwa angrily stood up while caressing the back of his head with his other hand.

Minhyuk pointed to Jungshin while saying, “He said so.”

Smack!

“I didn’t say it! I just joked around that we have to hit you in the head to make you come back to reality! You’ve been spacing out a lot hyung.” Jungshin was now the one who was caressing the back of his head.

“Sorry, I guess I’m just not used to all the attention, plus Seohyun’s going to be there. I don’t want to make a mistake.” He sat down and the three saw just how serious he was with this, as it involves his childhood love of 4 years.

“We get you hyung. And if you worry about performing well, then it’ll make you even more nervous. Just think of it as you serenading her in public but without anybody else but us knowing.” Jungshin patted Yonghwa’s shoulder, making the latter look at him in worry.

“Heck! That’s even more nerve-wrecking!”

“It’s actually not hyung. Well, it seems like it is but if you try and just channel your feelings to her through the songs, and especially those songs of yours that you wrote with her in mind, then it’ll all go easy.” Minhyuk flashed Yonghwa a smile with his famous lady-killer eyesmiles.

Yonghwa sighed heavily as another student of their school called them up to go up on stage.

They all huddled up into a circle and put their hands in the middle.

“Hwaiting!”

As soon as Yonghwa had stood in the middle of the stage upfront, he immediately scanned the crowd for her. There were almost 4000+ people in the crowd, and looking for a person in it was hard. They had just played a band version remix of It’s Raining, Only Look At Me, I Don’t Care, and Heartbreaker. All were Korean songs that were popular nowadays and they decided to make their first song a big one. At least their first song had a big impact on them as the crowd was now screaming, singing along and even jumping up and down along to the rhythm of the song.

While Yonghwa was singing their second song, Jason Mraz’s Geek In The Pink, he had been trying really hard to look for Seohyun. He could only try looking for Seohyun in the crowd when it wasn’t his lines. The song was known for having fast rap-like lines and most of them were given to Yonghwa, since he also knew how to rap.

Yonghwa had finally seen where Seohyun was. She was in the far left at the back with her sisters. Why was it that she never saw them earlier since they were in a group and was so easily to spot out? Was he that nervous?

He continued on until the song finished looking at Seohyun’s direction, looking at other directions from time to time to not make it obvious.

“Uh, the next song will be an original song that I composed myself. I hope you enjoy my first song. The title of the song is Love Light.” The crowd applauded and screamed while the four started to play the intro chords.

 

When i look at you my face gets red
When i see you my heart goes thump thump
I talk with shyness like a kid
When i look at you i just smile out of nowhere
Like a fool I keep doing that
I think love came to me

 

You’re the president of my heart
You’re my chests’ star embroider
I’m Genie for you girl
You make me stop breathing
Whatever you want
Because i love you
There’s no reason for my love you know

 

Yonghwa had had the melody of the song already made before but he didn’t have the lyrics. The night before school started, he had finished the melody of the song but as he started to think up of the lyrics, nothing came to mind. It was a surprise that the next day, he saw Seohyun, after four years of searching. The next few days in between from then and today, he had been admiring Seohyun from afar, eventually learning about her bit by bit. He had used what he knew of her for the lyrics, and two weeks after, he had finished the whole song. He had used Seohyun as his inspiration and the result of the lyrics didn’t fail him.

 

You’re a darling
You’re more beautiful than the stars above in the night sky
The shining thing deep inside my heart
My own love light
 

I love you darling
Give me light next to me whenever
Every night I look at you
And you’re beautiful even when I look at you
You’re my love light

 

And now, he remembered what Jungshin had told him earlier of just trying to sing it for Seohyun. He couldn’t help but be embarrassed and proud at the same time while he was singing the song. Embarrassed since he was singing it for only one person, and that was Seo Joohyun. Proud because this was his first song, and that he could finally let out all his love for that girl with only his band mates ever knowing the meaning behind his lyrics.

 

When I see you I feel like I’m up on the clouds
It may be immature but I keep doing this
I think love came to me

 

You’re a darling
You’re more beautiful than the stars above in the night sky
The shining thing deep inside my heart
My very own love light

 

He had found out a lot about Seohyun the past few weeks he was doing intense research. He found out she loves books, since he would always see her in the library and/or reading books. She also admires the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, and loves the anime Sergeant Keroro. Some boys would normally find that weird for a girl, but hey, he wasn’t normal either. He also found out that she loves gogumas that whenever he would hear her conversations with her unnies, she would pick gogumas over any guy. That made Yonghwa insecure, now that he knows who his true rival was: Gogumas, and not Minho.

 

I love you darling
Give me light next to me whenever
Every night i look at you
And you’re beautiful even when i look at you
You’re my love light

 

He also found out that she hasn’t had any boyfriend, which had its advantages and disadvantages at the same time. It means that he would be her first love, if ever he makes her fall in love with him, but that also meant that she wasn’t much experienced in that area. Yonghwa had had girlfriends before, but it wasn’t that he forgot about Seohyun, but he wanted to be experienced for when he finally meets her. And I guess it’ll all pay off now that he found her. He also knew when her birthday was, her personality, her favorite color, the type of people she dislikes, and all of that.

 

You’re lovely
You’re more blinding than the sunlight up in that sky
You shine the dark places inside my heart
My own love light

 

But the most important thing that he found out about her over the past three weeks was that she still remembers him. Seohyun still remembered the boy she had helped all those years ago. It was sad that he didn’t get the chance to tell his name all those years ago, but he was equally as happy when he found out that she still remembers him. Yonghwa thought it was better than nothing, right?

 

I love you lovely
Even if I close my eyes I see you
Looking at you like this
You’re still blinding even when I see you
You’re my love light

 

Yonghwa opened his eyes to look at the girl whom the song was dedicated. He could see that she liked the song, as she was clapping along with her eight unnies who were squealing and screaming along with the crowd. Her acknowledging his presence and appreciating his song for her was ten times more than the crowd’s screams. He had finally made her aware of his presence.

 

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A/N: Since I wasn't able to update UF for more than a week, I promise you guys that I will update this one as soon as I can and Chapter 9 && 10 of UF too. I was planning on making Chapter 9 into tons of parts (LOL more like splitting it into 2+ parts since it'll be freakin' long) so yeah. Just wait for the second chapter for this :) I'll be posting an epilogue too, or maybe a bonus chapter if I feel like it xDDDD Anybody noticed that I've been making the Yonghwas in my story a bit shy/embarrassed when dealing with Seohyun? Aish, I have to make him more like the real Yong. I'll be working on that :)

EDIT: Wondering what happened to the next chapter? Deleted for further detailing, adding of scenes and for proofreading. So yeah, you might have to read it again ;)