"Cha Eun Sang." Chae Min enunciates. She decides that she doesn't like that name very much.

"Mhmm." Young Do eyes her carefully, probably trying to figure out what she's thinking. He just finished telling her his high school love story. More like tragedy. There are no moral values that can be derived from his tale. Best friends who grew apart falls for the same girl. Best friend and the girl live happily ever after leaving Young Do behind, completely alone. 

"She must be an amazing woman, to able to get both Choi Young Do and Kim Tan to fall head over heels for her." She muses out loud. 

"Well, I -" 

"Especially Kim Tan!" Chae Min exclaims. "That man is a fine piece of -"

"Ahem!" Young Do clears his throat loudly, clearly not fond of what she's about to say, even though he's aware that she is just toying with him. She laughs a little. He laughs along but she notices the emptiness in his gaze. He seems to be quite out of it after narrating about his life.

Honestly, part of her is baffled by how ridiculous this situation is. She threw Young Do a number of judgmental looks as he was relaying his story, she felt bad but it came so naturally and besides, he was too engrossed to realise it anyway. What kind of a dumb person would love another who doesn't love you back? And for 7 whole years too. Chae Min is certain the longest she'll ever need to get over something or someone is a year, max.  

A thought creeps into her mind and she finds herself wondering if she ever breaks up with Young Do, will there ever be sufficient time to forget him?

Anyway, the other part of her is absolutely crushed. It seems Chae Min can never compare to his first love. This Cha Eun Sang that he describes is a kind, sweet, innocent girl who stole Young Do's heart. She is indeed impressive. Her family background and the stuck up high society (whom Chae Min has experienced first hand) did not keep her from being considerate to others. At least that's what she gets from his stories. She cared for Young Do even though he was, and still is, an . Young Do never had a good relationship with his father and his mother walked out on him when he was just a kid. But Eun Sang provided him with the warmth of humanity. 

Young Do sounds so broken that she feels her heart shattering every time his voice cracks. How lonely he must have felt deep down. Not something one would expect because on the outside he seems like such a macho handsome man with a rich family background. 

"She didn't seem very friendly though." Chae Min says.

"She's changed. Drastically." Young Do sighs. "I guess you can say she grew up. One who doesn't have a wealthy family can't expect anything but to work hard to make things work. Life just hardened her. " 

"Hmm. I suppose." Chae Min replies. "Do you still love her?" 

"I wasn't sure myself but after seeing her today, I am certain that all my feelings for her are non existent anymore." He admits quietly. "You ought to know who I love now."

"I wonder who..." She teases. 

Young Do pulls her in for an embrace and she sighs in content. 

She knows. 

The bell rings, indicating lunch break. Everyone rushes out of the classroom. They all seem to be walking in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. Chae Min awkwardly follows in the crowd. 

"Hey." Jong Tae greets her, suddenly appearing by her side. 

"Where's everybody heading to?" She asks curiously.

"To the school broadcasting room, of course." He replies as a matter of factly.

"Erm, what for???" Somehow that sounded like a dumb question. 

"Are you serious?" He asks in disbelief. Chae Min nods, dead serious. "Today is the day they reveal this year's prom theme! It's going to be pasted on the bulletin board outside the radio room."

She notices the slight blush on his face at the mention of prom as he looks away just in time. How cute. Boys are shy about these stuff too it seems. Chae Min feels her heart racing as she quickens her footsteps to keep up with the others. She skipped her high school prom in the States because she had to deal with her transfer back to Korea and there simply was no time to look for dresses and everything. 

Chae Min smiles, thinking about prom with Young Do.

Except, he isn't a high schooler anymore. Dang it.

Oh well, she'll just go with her friends and it'll be like a girls night thing!

Wait.. What friends? 

"Hahahaha!" Chae Min laughs bitterly. Jong Tae gives her a weird look but smiles. Probably thinking she's excited about prom.

As they get nearer to the radio room, the buzz gets louder. Some kids were cheering and nervous giggles can be heard from the girls. The theme must be exciting! If only she isn't so short, she'll be able to catch a glimpse of the poster. 

Jong Tae sees her struggling and clears his throat loudly. Everyone around them immediately moves out of the way. He winks at Chae Min and pushes her forward. She swears the jealous glares she's getting (from both female and male students) are burning holes on her back. 

'The Starcrossed Lovers' Masquerade: Reliving Romeo and Juliet'

As soon as she read those fancy letters that formed the title, she frowns. 

'Cliche.' She thinks, half disappointed, half annoyed. 'Cliche at its finest.'

Realizing that her expression are causing a string of angry mutterings from the other students, she smiles brightly and clasps her hands together, faking excitement.

Jong Tae who is standing right behind her intakes a sharp breath. He quietly walks out and away from the crowd. Leaving behind the boys who are thrilled about kissing girls with their masks on and the girl who are practically screaming about finding the right dress and masks, Chae Min rushes after him. However, she loses sight of him in the endless corridors. 

Young Do stamps his foot repeatedly on the ground outside Jeguk High. He's growing impatient and also getting unnecessarily worried. Still no sign of Chae Min after school ended half an hour ago. She's usually never this late. He his left eyebrow, contemplating whether to step into the school ground to look for her. He hates the idea of going back into that horrid place. Bad memories. He already did it once for Chae Min several months ago to bring her justice. He tried to hide his disgust back then but he really isn't fond of going in for a second round. 

But Chae Min could be in trouble. After all, this place is crawling with unfriendly stuck up immature rich kids.

"Damn it." He curses under his breath before marching right into his old school.

Young Do comes to a fork, one leading into the main building and the other trails down to the school garden. He decides to check out the classrooms first. Strangely enough though, he does not encounter a single student in the main building. Its almost as if the entire place is empty. He wonders where did all the students go.

As he scouts the second floor, he sees a kid running towards and right past him. Young Do calls out to him but the boy does not stop. Well, wherever he is hurrying to, Young Do is not the least concerned. He turns to continue on his way but he hears a sudden but distant cheering. Looking back, curiosity takes over and he half jogs to the direction the boy was running to.

Young Do stops just in time before hitting the glass doors that leads to the sky-bridge. It connects the main and the sub buildings. The bridge looks down upon the school garden. It reminds him of his conversations he had with Eun Sang on this exact bridge. He walks out into the open air and leans against the metal railings to see what is the commotion all about. 

To his surprise, a huge crowd of students are gathered in the garden and they sort of form a circle. And in the middle stood a girl with her back facing him and several boys.

One of them is playing a freaking guitar. And he's pretty damn good at it too. Young Do recognizes him as one of his ex classmates who is now a successful headline-making heart surgeon, Lee Chan Bin's brother, Lee Chan Woo. He's seen that young lad on several occasions but he did not know the quiet and reserved boy is so musically talented. A shame though, he would never be able to make a career out of it. It would of course be deemed a disgrace as he is from a family of doctors.

The other boy standing next to the guitarist is holding a huge bunch of coloured balloons and also a huge bouquet. He seems to be the son of some minister but Young Do can't be sure. He has never really taken interest in politics.

And of course, the third guy is Park Jong Tae. Top of the food chain. He seems to be the main lead of this little skit. The music comes to a pause before resuming when Jong Tae starts singing. The crowd cheers and the female students swoon in admiration.

Singing. A stupid love song.

Young Do wants to laugh so badly but he has to acknowledge that Jong Tae isn't too bad of a singer. Not too great either. Just fairly good. There are better singers for sure. He is okay. Average.

A tiny pang of jealously hits him. Young Do can't sing to save his life. Why is this dude so perfect? It reminds him too much of Kim Tan. God is definitely extra bias with them.

He almost doesn't notice the girl Jong Tae is serenading to. She just stands there frozen. Young Do can't see her face but he is getting really bad vibes from this scene that is enfolding under his nose. 

She just found out there is a prom this morning and several hours later, she is getting asked to it. Unbelievable. When did they even plan this? Where did they get the flowers and balloons? What? How? Questions fill her mind. This is just so unexpectedly sudden??????

Half an hour ago, she was in class, packing up, ready to go home. Eun Min came out of nowhere (the nicest one out of the trio of es), looking panicky. She grabbed Chae Min and insists that she follows her. She was then basically dragged around the school taking many detours before finally ending up at the garden. A huge crowd has already gathered. Before she could even wonder what was happening, she was pushed through the students and into the middle. 

And everything kinda just happened. 

'Oh no. The song is ending. What do I ing do?!?!?!?!' She tries to remain poker faced. 

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

Chae Min screams a little, shocked when several confetti pops behind her as Jong Tae sings his final note. Her heart is racing now. She is suddenly conscious of how many pairs of eyes are fix on her. Her breath quickens as blood rush from her head to the tips of her fingers, leaving her light headed. The hushed whispers of anticipation are somewhat deafening as everyone awaits for Jong Tae to make his next move. 

Seung Jun walks forward and hands Jong Tae the flowers. The scent of the roses hit her as he takes a huge step towards her. She avoids eye contact and fixates on the roses instead. She notices the choice of colours is somewhat different. One would expect red or pink roses but interestingly, there are only white and lavender ones in this bouquet. Plus, she really digs how black ribbons and fabric holder contrast against the light coloured flowers.

Jong Tae interrupts her mental analysis of the flowers by extending one hand out to her. Chae Min is reluctant to take it but the pressuring stares of the other students is too hard to bear. She lightly places her hand on his and he wraps his long fingers around hers. 

And he gets down on one knee. 

'Ugh! Why?! No!! Don't do this!! Get up!!!' she screams internally. 

"Lee Chae Min. From the moment I set eyes on you at the hallway, I've fallen in love with you." He begins. The girls in the crowd start to squeal but they are immediately shushed by others. "These purple roses represent love at first sight, which was exactly what happened to me. It also symbolizes royalty but that is not really relevant. I googled. And, erm, these white ones are here just because they go well together."

Chae Min can't help but laugh. This boy is an idiot.  

"That laughter of yours is something I long to hear everyday." He continues, looking a little proud that she's finally showing some emotion. "Do you even know how hard it is to get you to just smile at me? You judge me all the time for everything that I do and say but I still find myself trying even harder for you. Its ridiculous. You're a ridiculous person. You make me do all sorts of ridiculous things. I want you to be the first girl in school to be asked to prom because you're special and I really do like you very very much. So.."

She holds her breath at the pause. And so did everyone else in the crowd.

"Will you go to prom with me?"

"Yes." Chae Min replies. Surprising herself at how she did not hesitate.

"What?" Jong Tae asks. Perhaps she isn't the only one surprised by her quick respond. Or did Jong Tae think she would reject him? 

"Yes. I will." She repeats. He grins so widely, Cheshire Cat would be ashamed. The crowd cheers loudly and more confetti are popped. He gets up and hugs her while sort of jumping a little.

Of course she couldn't have said no to such an innocent and adorable boy. Always acting so cold and tough because he is forever under watchful eyes but on the inside he's still a warm and affection-loving person. Besides, they can always go to prom as friends right? No one specified that prom dates must be someone who you're romantically involved with. Chae Min laughs with relief after all the tension. 

"Thank you for saying yes." Jong Tae says as he lets go of her and smiles gleefully. Chae Min nods cheerfully. 

"OH NO!! IS IT OVER?! DID SHE ING SAY YES??!?" 

Chae Min whirls around to see a sweaty Dong Wook running through the crowd and shouting on tops of his lungs. When he is finally in clear sight, she sees that he is holding a sign that says 'Prom?'. How typical of that rascal to show up late for important events. Probably was too busy flirting with a junior somewhere. The other boys grabs him in a headlock and playfully punches him as he whines some lame excuse about having a stomach ache. 

Its a really silly scene and Chae Min would laugh along too but there is someone else in her sight that makes her heart sink to the bottom of the ocean.

Young Do is standing on the sky-bridge a floor above and she is certain he has just witnessed everything. When they lock eyes, she sees the hurt in them even though he remains poker faced. They both refuse to look away and just stare at each other. Chae Min's inner conscience reminds her that she did absolutely nothing wrong and that she deserves to go to prom with whoever she wants to. It's her life. 

So how come she feels as if she has wronged the world??