Junhwe gave her a double take as he too seemed surprise to see her there. Her vocal coach smiled at her from behind the piano.

She took a seat on the chair set a couple of feet away from Junhwe. There were music sheets placed on the desk attached to it.

"I assume you know each other?" Her vocal coach said, looking over some papers on the folder he was holding. "Goo Junhwe-sshi is also from Seungri High and you are older than him by a year." 

"Ah yes," Hayi finally said, clearing , glancing at Junhwe.

"But you've been my student for more than a year and he's only scheduled for a couple of sessions with me. For me to evaluate you, is that right, Junhwe-sshi?"

Junhwe blinked and nodded slightly at him. "Yes," he said politely.

"Ok, shall we start?" Her vocal coach said, smiling at them. "Junhwe here arrived a few minutes before you did, so you were just in time."

Hayi knew that her vocal coach was pretty well-known as one of the best in Seoul but since she would only see him on a scheduled basis, she never saw any other of his students aside from the ones who take the same Saturday 3-5PM schedule as her, like Jimin, Chanhyuk and Soohyun. But apparently, he was also sometimes hired by JYP to evaluate their trainees after going through the rigorous process of training under the company’s in-house vocal trainers. It just so happened that Junhwe was that trainee for that particular Sunday afternoon.

Vocal class went on as usual. They didn't speak to each other, focusing only on their teacher and the lesson at hand.

This was Hayi’s first time hearing Junhwe’s singing voice. She thought it sounded unique and found herself appreciating his tone, which was quite deep for someone his age. He wasn’t lacking in skill either and had particular ear for music, which she knew was a combination of natural talent and having undergone training at JYP.

Towards the end of the lesson, their vocal coach told Junhwe, “At your age, your voice is at the level wherein it is still continually developing. With constant practice and the use of proper singing techniques, I believe you can hone your skill and maybe even widen your range since it is still raw and the potential is there.”

“Thank you,” Junhwe said in response, bowing to their teacher.

“I usually conduct this evaluation strictly on a one-on-one basis, since it is paid exclusively for the student,” the coach continued with Junhwe just nodding. “I hope you didn’t mind having Hayi here, as she is one of my best students—“

“Ah, no,” Hayi started, a blush forming on her cheeks.

“—and I didn’t want her to miss any class that she was supposed to have taken yesterday.”

“Oh no, I don’t mind,” Junhwe answered.

“What can you say about Hayi’s talent here?” Their coach smiled.

Junhwe glanced over to her before saying, “She is definitely one of the best I’ve heard so far. Actually, I’ve never heard a voice like hers before. It gave me chills down my arms and back.”

The coach laughed at his words, Hayi laughing along nervously. She never knew what to say or do when things like these were said about her.

“That’s what I’ve been telling her,” their coach said. “You don’t know how many times I’ve asked her to join singing competitions or to audition for recording companies, but she just wouldn’t budge.”

“Oh why not?” Junhwe again turned to her. “I think any company you go to would gladly accept you.”

“Thank you,” Hayi just answered, lowering her head towards him.

“I hope you can convince her to not sing just for herself for once,” their coach said shaking his head. They mulled over that thought for a while, Hayi fidgeting with her music sheets. “Well, anyway, this has been a very productive session. I will be seeing you again next week, you Hayi on Saturday, and Junhwe same time.”

They both nodded, saying yes, and stood up to bow to their teacher. He waved a hand towards them to dismiss them and they both turned towards the door with Junhwe holding the door open to let Hayi pass through first.

They walked outside together and both started to head towards the direction of the bus stop.

“Oh, are you riding the bus too?” Hayi asked Junhwe, to which he nodded.

They continued the walk quietly and a little awkwardly for Hayi. She decided to focus her attention on the shops that they passed by.  Upon seeing a cutely-designed bakeshop with its pastries on display by the window a couple of doors down the street, she suddenly remembered that she had to buy a cake for her mom.

“Can we stop by that bakeshop for a while?” She asked Junhwe, pointing towards it. “I have to buy a cake for my mom.”

“Is it her birthday?” Junhwe asked her out of curiosity.

“Not really. I just felt like surprising her,” Hayi admitted.

“I hope you don’t mind if I stay outside?” He pointed to the ground he was standing on when they finally reached the bakeshop.

“Um sure,” Hayi guessed he didn’t want to be seen coming out of such a cute bakeshop. But did standing outside of it make any difference? Hayi thought to herself. She pushed open the door to the bakeshop, the chimes sounding overhead, and she took one last glance towards him before entering. “I won’t take long,” she said over her shoulder.

After choosing a pink chiffon cake decorated with strawberries and white cream among the variety available for display and paying for it, she watched fascinatedly as the person behind the counter carefully boxed and tied a ribbon around it. She happened to look outside when she noticed Junhwe, who had his back turned towards the door of the bakeshop, was talking to someone. She caught a glimpse of long hair and bangs and she realized it was Lalice.

At that moment, Lalice took a step forward and enveloped her arms around Junhwe's waist, closing the distance between them. Hayi watched as she placed her chin onto his right shoulder and closed her eyes.

Junhwe didn't move. He didn't try to hug her back but he wasn't trying to push her away either. He just stood there with his arms on his side. 

Hayi quickly faced back to the counter guiltily, trying to look like she saw nothing. Her boxed cake was already placed in front of her and she gratefully took it, bowing her head. When she turned to leave, she saw that Lalice was gone and Junhwe was left still standing, facing away from her.

She pushed the huge glass door of the shop, the chimes tinkling and turning Junhwe's attention back to her. She lifted the box to show to him and pointed to the direction of the bus stop. "Let's go," she said, a little nervously.

He nodded at her, his eyebrows slightly drawn together in a distant expression, and started walking.

She bit her lower lip as he went past her and she followed after him. The rest of the walk to the bus stop was as quiet but even more awkward than before as she decided not to ask him about what happened and he gave no indication of asking her whether she did see it.

They rode the same bus but sat separately as the bus was nearly full and each double seat available already had one person occupying it. Hayi took the seat near the middle and Junhwe walked past her with a nod to her, moving towards the back.

He got off first and Hayi was left to wonder throughout the whole ride.

---

That Monday, after school, Hayi sat waiting in the basement storage room with Hanbin, Bobby, Jinhwan and Yunhyeong. Bobby was going around the room in large strides, fuming over something.

Finally, the youngest members of the group entered the room.

Bobby immediately pointed at Junhwe. "I saw you with that Lalice girl yesterday," he called out. Uh-oh.

Hayi quickly turned to him.

"You saw that?" Junhwe asked, genuinely looking surprised and also a little worried.

The rest of the boys looked at them in confusion.

"Oh heck yeah I saw that," Bobby seethed. "What was that about huh? Are you fraternizing with the enemy?"

"Fraternizing with the enemy?" Junhwe scoffed. "Seriously?"

"What are you talking about here, Bobby?" Jinhwan tried to calm them down. Hanbin placed a hand on Bobby's shoulder in an act of holding him back.

"I'm getting real sick of all your secrets here," Bobby pointed at Junhwe.

"Like you don't have any?" Junhwe put his hands out to them. 

"Oh yeah right," Bobby rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Shift the topic to us."

"What the hell is your problem?" Junhwe asked angrily. "Whatever you saw yesterday has nothing to do with the dance competition or even you for that matter, so you don't have to go and get all worked up about it!"

"But it has everything to do with us and the dance competition!" Bobby shouted back. "She's part of the competition here and anything to do with her is going to affect us naturally! How are we supposed to know she's not trying to charm her way into getting some scoop of what we're what up to? Or worse, maybe even trying to sabotage our loyalty to each other by suddenly going up to you like that?"

"Why can't you just trust me?" Junhwe said. Everyone was quiet. "I've been practicing with you guys for more than a month, just quietly going with the dance, without any complaints. And you even know the fact that I'm also training in some company. Don't I deserve a little bit of your trust, or faith for that matter."

"Alright, alright," Hanbin finally spoke up. "Since we're talking about trust and loyalty here, how about you just tell us what happened first? What is it you saw, Bobby? And maybe we really do have to know, Junhwe? Since we've been hanging out together and pretty much have known each other for more than a month now?" He looked at each person in turn.

Bobby and Junhwe just glared at each other for a moment.

"Like I said, I just happened to be walking around when I saw him with that Lalice girl yesterday," Bobby started. "And it was just a little too... friendly." He looked at each and everyone else in the room as he waited for them to get the meaning.

"Hayi-noona was also with me yesterday," Junhwe interrupted with his eyes closed and rubbing the bridge of his nose with one hand. "You can ask her."

Everybody turned to look at Hayi.

"Uh, yeah... Um, he had a session with my vocal teacher yesterday and I had a lesson with him too," Hayi said. "We were walking home and I went to buy cake when Lalice came and talked to him I guess."

"I just want to know, why the hug though," Bobby just wouldn't let it go.

Donghyuk's eyes seemed to go round as he mouthed 'hug?' and looked at his friend.

Junhwe sighed, eyes still closed and hand still on the bridge of his nose.

"It's 'cause you went around acting like you weren't really close to her," Bobby continued. "That’s what I want to know."

Junhwe let out a huge breath as he dropped his hand and finally opened his eyes. "I don't like talking about this kind of stuff," he stated, his face looking a little petulant that Hayi couldn't help but smile. "So yeah, I'm just going to go through this real quick."

He went on to tell about how he and BamBam knew each other pretty well in middle school since BamBam liked to perform as Rain while Junhwe was Michael Jackson as they all knew by now. But while Junhwe pretty much stuck to his own, learning dance, BamBam formed a dance group with his friends, which included Lalice. They would often meet each other at dance festivals and sometimes compete against each other on dance contests, but it was all just friendly rivalry. Junhwe and BamBam got accepted to JYP and they both could have gone to Kirin, along with Lalice, but Junhwe chose to go to Seungri High instead.

"Then Lalice decided to go here too," Junhwe made a face. "Lalice turned out to like me, but BamBam liked her, all that stuff," Junhwe glanced at them helplessly, looking so embarassed talking about it.

"So like what, she likes you and this guy BamBam is being a bittermelon about it so you try to avoid her as much as you can?" Bobby asked.

Junhwe just blinked several times and hesitated before slightly nodding.

“What did Lalice talk to you about?” Hanbin asked.

Junhwe sighed again. “Look, it really doesn’t have anything to do with you guys or the competition. Can we just not talk about it anymore?”

“Why won’t you talk about it?” Bobby grabbed at his hair in frustration. “Do you actually like her back but just don’t want to hurt your old friend? Is that it?”

There was silence in the air as Hayi watched Junhwe stand rigid, the muscles on his jaws tensing and his hands flexing a couple of times as if he was debating whether to send a punch towards Bobby. Hayi felt slightly afraid of what would happen at that moment.

“If that was the case, then what’s the point?” Junhwe finally said. “He already hates me so much anyway.”

Hayi was confused at his words. If that’s the case. What’s the point. Already hates me so much anyway. She couldn’t tell from them whether Junhwe really liked Lalice or not. If he was still only protecting his friend or not.

“Let’s just stop, okay? Enough.” Junhwe turned away from them, facing to the side and pushing his hands into his pockets, his forehead scrunched up.

The hyungs would have reprimanded the youngest of them for talking informally (it actually looked like Bobby was about to do so), but they understood Junhwe’s discomfort on the topic at hand. They would probably feel the same if they had suddenly been put on the hot seat like him to discuss their feelings. Feelings that Junhwe himself probably haven’t even sorted out yet.

Hayi couldn’t begin to know how boys dealt with these kinds of situations. Girls, she thought, would have easily broken down to crying and immediately share what they feel to other girls just so that they could have that someone to talk to and comfort them.

“Who here has had a girlfriend already?” Jinhwan asked out of the blue.

Nobody dared to answer as they each looked at each other.

“No one answering?” Jinhwan grinned.

Hanbin noticed Yunhyeong, Donghyuk and Junhwe particularly staring at him. “What are you looking at me for?”

“Well I know all the girls in school are probably wondering about your relationship status,” Yunhyeong started. “Now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything about who you’re dating.”

Donghyuk nodded. “Some girls in our class“--referring to the same class he and Junhwe were in--“won’t stop talking about it.”

Hayi could guess that one of those girls was Yerin.

“Well maybe that’s because I actually haven’t dated anyone?” Hanbin stated matter-of-factly. “You think about that?”

“Eyy, I don’t believe that one bit,” Yunhyeong gave him a look as if asking him if he was joking.

Bobby laughed at that, clapping his best friend on his chest. “Told ya everyone thinks you’re the player type ha ha ha.”

“If you actually believe that I’m the player type,” Hanbin gestured at himself. “Then why haven’t you exactly seen me around girls?”

“You look like you’ve had a girlfriend before, hyung,” Bobby pointed to Yunhyeong who just smiled.

Bobby stared back at him, dumbfounded. “For real? I was joking…”

Everyone started to laugh.

“Hey, hey! Don’t shift the topic to me!” Yunhyeong pointed from Bobby to Hanbin. “Wasn’t there a rumor between the two of you involving a girl?”

Hanbin rolled his eyes. “That’s what everyone would like to believe, I guess. But that was never true.”

“What happened between you two then?” Donghyuk asked. “They said you used to have these epic fights back then until suddenly you became the best of friends, joined to the hips and practically inseparable ever since. Was it only some kind of or something?”

“Are you trying to insinuate that we two were basically in love each other but only didn't want to admit it?” Bobby asked him incredulously.

“Well, you do love each other right?” Donghyuk answered laughing, the others following along.

“In a completely platonic way!” Bobby said indignantly. “Ew, with this guy?” He added quietly, pointing towards Hanbin then looking away, chortles all around.

“Hey!”

“If I’m going to go gay for someone, it definitely won’t be for someone like Hanbin!”

“Hey! As if I’d go gay for someone like you too.”

Everyone was in full on laughter now, clutching their stomachs, bending over or backward, some hitting their thighs, somebody else’s arm or anything within reach.

“Hey, you still haven’t told us what happened to you back then,” Junhwe’s low voice came after they’d all calmed down.

So he was curious too. Hayi smiled.

“If we tell you, are you going to tell us what’s the deal with you and Lalice?” Bobby wittily said.

“Ah, never mind,” Junhwe waved him away.

“Hey, we wanna know,” Donghyuk said, pouting.

“You better get Junhwe to ‘fess up too~”

Junhwe just glared at them.

“OK, I’m leaving,” he said after a while, turning to grab his backpack he’d placed on a desk chair. “You can go ahead and tell them without me.”

“Ahh, so you’re the type to walk away huh, Junhwe?” Bobby called out to him.

“Junhwe, don’t leave. He’s just joking,” The eldest of the group finally said.

Junhwe dumped his bag back into the chair, turning back to them.

"Okay, Bobby," Jinhwan nodded at said boy. "Go on with the story." 

Bobby looked from Junhwe to Jinhwan then finally to Hanbin before taking a deep breath.

"Okay then, so here's how it went..."