The school auditorium droned in energetic chatter as more and more students entered and filled the seats. Hana was seated near the back, next to a couple of sophomore boys who mostly didn’t mind her presence and were engaged in a rather animated conversation about some girl group Hana hasn’t even heard of. She was just glad that she didn’t have to sit next to her classmates, mostly because her seatmate, Hyomin, who she had begun calling ‘Rude Hyomin’ (not to her face, of course) had developed a habit of scowling whenever Hana was anywhere near her. Her posse, composed of what she could only describe as incessant ‘fangirls’ who talked about WINNER 24/7, seemed to have acquired the same habit. And while Hana really didn’t care, she also didn’t like it. So she chose a spot far away from said girls, who were currently seated on the third row – a good fifteen rows from where she was.

Hana would have been surprised that a school auditorium could be so large and look so fancy, but she already got used to the reality that everything in YG High was like that – whether it was their cafeteria, or their uniforms, or their big buildings. Heck, even their gym clothes were styled so posh that she thought it such a waste for students to just sweat in it. Nothing really shocked her anymore, and she wouldn’t put it past YG if Yoo Jae Suk or some other famous host came onstage right now to lead the ceremony that was about to start.

She was mindlessly playing a random game on her phone, occasionally looking up from the screen when she got too bored. She’d been waiting around fifteen minutes now, but there wasn’t any sign that it was about to start. Hana found it odd that the welcoming ceremony for the school term was being held three weeks after the first day of classes – and on a Friday at that – but she overheard Rude Hyomin talk about how the school had to wait for President Yang Hyun Suk since he’d been out of the country for the past couple of weeks.

After letting out a frustrated grunt when her flappy bird died at 78, she looked up from her phone and noticed that the auditorium was nearly packed, except for the two rows in front that remained glaringly empty. She was about to wonder why, when the doors opened and more students came in.

Then it hit her. Music majors, Hana rolled her eyes with a sigh. Of course. Now she knew why Rude Hyomin and the fangirls chose the third row – to be near their idols as much as possible. Pffft. Hana almost let out a laugh when the fangirls’ shoulders automatically slumped in disappointment after a group of girl trainees sat directly in front of them. Ha, serves you right, she grinned in triumph. Oh how she felt joy in the little things.

The music majors came in a stream of twos and threes, with Hana recognizing a few of them who performed at the jam session last week. Soon, almost all the seats were occupied, save for a few. Everyone knew who were missing. Hana’s eyes were glued on the door, for the same reason that every pair of eyes in that auditorium were, too. As much as Hana hated to admit it, those guys commanded attention. And by guys, she meant WINNER.

Earning a collective gasp from the crowd, the first to come in were Jinwoo and Taehyun who were both wearing their proper uniforms. Hana must have been delusional to think they’d actually look normal once they wore the same clothes everyone did, because damn, even in their uniforms, those two stuck out like sore thumbs. Then again, with faces like theirs, they were bound to stand out. She almost thought they were too good-looking for their own good. Seunghoon came in alone with his headphones on, bopping his head to whatever music he was listening to. He was evidently doing fan service by putting a skip in his steps, making it look like he was dancing while he walked. As a result, the girls all swooned, but Hana could hardly blame them. It was hard not to like the infectious aura Seunghoon had.

Then came Mino and that kid named Bobby who were laughing at something they were looking at on Mino’s phone. As they were about to take their seats, Mino lifted his head to look at the crowd. Panicking, Hana instinctively covered her face with a hand and sank lower in her seat, as though she was afraid he’d see her. She realized it was a bit silly since there wasn’t a chance in hell he’d spot her in an auditorium full of students, but she recalled their conversation in the hallway the other day and shuddered when she imagined what would have happened if the entire student body was there to witness it. So she really couldn’t take any chances.

She waited a few more seconds before putting her hand down, but as soon as she did, she let out an involuntary scoff. Seungyoon had just walked in with Jennie right next to him. She had her arm around his, and she was looking at the crowd with a tiny smirk, as if she was so proud of her arm candy. Seungyoon, on the other hand, had an unreadable expression. It almost looked like he was frowning, but he was trying his best not to. The auditorium buzzed a little louder, and a girl from behind Hana mentioned something along the lines of ‘golden campus couple’.

Narrowing her eyes, Hana studied the two of them. No one could deny Jennie and Seungyoon looked great together. It was nauseating how perfect they were for each other, to be honest. Boys like Seungyoon naturally gravitated toward girls like Jennie. It was equivalent to the captain of the football team dating the head cheerleader, except in this case, it’s two future pop stars.

Who cares, Hana thought, ignoring the little pinch in her chest at how unfair the universe can be. They deserve each other, she told herself, although something about it didn’t seem right to her. She shook it off and just observed as Seungyoon took a seat next to Mino, while Jennie (as expected) occupied the empty seat beside Seungyoon.

It was only when she scanned the two rows of music majors that Hana noticed Kyungmi wasn’t there yet. She pulled her phone, about to text her if she came to school at all today, when the auditorium doors opened again and a girl came in. Hana smiled upon seeing Kyungmi, but that smile soon faded when she realized something was wrong. Kyungmi’s head was hung low, her bangs covering half of her face. Even from where Hana sat, she could see that Kyungmi took hesitant steps. Hana would have thought her friend was just being shy (who wouldn’t if more than five hundred students were looking at you), if not for how the music majors were laughing to themselves while pointing at her. Something was definitely up, and Hana had a terrible feeling about it.

Her suspicions were confirmed when Jennie stood up and approached Kyungmi who was on her way to an empty seat at the end of the second row. Out of nowhere, Jennie held Kyungmi’s wrist and pulled her to where she and the WINNER boys were seated.

What is she doing? Hana was tempted to stand up and walk to Kyungmi, who was looking very uncomfortable, but she stopped herself. The last thing she wanted was to draw attention again. The crowd went quiet, and it was obvious that they were absorbed in the scene in front, too – probably wondering what was going on. Hana could only watch silently, growing more uneasy by the second. Jennie motioned to Bobby, who immediately stood up and moved to sit with the other iKon members, leaving the spot in between Taehyun and Mino empty. Once again, Jennie tugged on Kyungmi’s wrist and forced her to sit down there. Hana furrowed her brows, wishing she could hear what Jennie was saying, because right after she talked, all of the music majors burst out laughing again.

Hana clenched he