For once I was enlightened. For once it was cleared to me: the whispering and the looks sent my way, the change in the way people acted around me, and…Seungyoon and Taehyun.

But I asked myself, was it just Seungyoon? Was it just his feelings for me that made all of this happen? Didn’t I deserve credit as well?

It was actually a mess. Everyone lost control and geared cheers and ‘woos’ my—our way. My cheeks were flushed red at the attention, and I could only bury my face in my hands in an attempt to feel safe because I honestly didn’t. It felt like they were out for me when I knew well that they were just teasing us.

I felt offended, and for a second I disliked Seungyoon for putting me under the spotlight like that.

I only had myself, only had my privacy and the deafening screams made me feel like that was taken away from me. Their demands for something—a word from me made me feel like they want to be let in on the secret when there wasn’t a secret in the first place.

And if I shall speak up, I couldn’t possibly reject Seungyoon in that place, where sharks surrounded us, waiting for information that probably didn’t concern them.

I wished I could be saved by the bell, but that was a stupid a wish because it was just the beginning of the class.

The bell, however, came in the package of Mr. Dong and I was grateful.

He was the only person who knew how I felt.

“Class,” he said, but the stir in the students remained as they kept on about how Seungyoon would probably sing me a song and all that I couldn’t care less about.

 “CLASS,” the message was loud and clear from Mr. Dong’s voice and from the way he was red from the neck up. I hadn’t seen him so mad. He had always managed to keep his cool.

The class finally shut up and focused on Mr. Dong.

“What is this class to you? You think this is a joke?” He stood up, and drew himself away from his usually cool image, “I merely read a piece! Did I give you permission to act like middle school students? Goodness, you’re all adults! You should act your age.

“I shouldn’t remind you of this again. And I shouldn’t hear another word of that.”

He was obviously referring to us, and now the embarrassment that came from my classmates’ attention was gone. I was just red in the face because I was ashamed of how they acted. It felt like I played the biggest part in it.

And I realized then that I had somehow stopped viewing Mr. Dong as a lecturer because he had always been relaxed around me. I felt the same. I could consider him a friend, but I was thinking that I should probably go back to being his student; redraw the boundary line that separated the center stage from the audience.

Mr. Dong had dropped the telling-off and