The classes were starting to ready themselves for the big upcoming festival. After the third years chose the event they wanted, the second and first years quickly picked whatever event they could get. As for Junhee's and Jieun's class, the classmates decided on holding a small skit. Assigning the jobs were simple: pick a card from the random box and the position is yours.

However, working with certain classmates proved to be a bit more difficult, especially in Junhee's case. She was in charge of painting the backgrounds. Although she disliked slapping the brush against the paint and rubbing it against the wood, she couldn't help but feel slightly happy to have Chanyeol as one of her partners. Still…

"Jieun, pass me the green over there," Chanyeol said, pointing at the green bucket of paint at Jieun's side. Jieun, who was the third person in charge of backgrounds, turned and handed the bucket with ease.

"Can I paint this in this shade of blue?" Jieun asked, raising her paintbrush with the blue she wanted.

"No, no, no," Chanyeol said, rushing to her side. "Here, use this."

"But this blue isn't good enough—"

"The blue I'm giving you is perfectly fine," he said. "I'm planning on blending the colors, so just paint with this one."

Junhee moved her arm across the board, trying to fill the empty spaces with as much paint as she could. To most people, it seemed like Chanyeol was baby-sitting Jieun (since she kept doing whatever she wanted), but in Junhee's perspective, it looked like they were flirting.

Great. This is what I get for being jealous, she thought. She sighed and shook her head.

"Junhee!" one of their classmates called. She looked up. "There's a first-year who wants to see you."

She frowned. Niel? Again?

She got up and gently placed her brush to the side. Chanyeol, who had been listening all along, stopped her with a glance.

"You can't just leave us like this," he said. "At least finish up your part."

Junhee glanced at the board. "It's pretty good—"

"It's not good enough," he stated. He turned to the classmate who was calling for Junhee. "Tell that first-year to come later! We're busy."

The classmate nodded and turned back to the door. Junhee frowned at him, but Chanyeol pretended as if he didn't do anything wrong. She sighed, then walked back to finish painting.

"Honestly, there's no reason for me to stay here," Junhee murmured. "I'm just a nuisance, anyways."

Chanyeol stopped painting and looked at her. "Why would you say that?"

"Don't you think it's better if I was gone?" she asked him. She eyed at Jieun, which made Chanyeol realize what she was thinking.

That's right, he thought. She thinks that I like Jieun. He bit his bottom lip. Do I tell her that I don't like Jieun anymore? But that would just make me look shallow. Damn it, why did I tell her that I liked her friend? This is stupid.

"Junhee!" another classmate called, grabbing both of their attention. "There's another guy looking for you! Byunghun. Do you know him?"

"Byunghun?" Junhee asked. She frowned and glanced at Jieun. "Why would Byunghun be here?"

"Maybe he's trying to ditch Dasom," Jieun said, shrugging her shoulder.

"I better check it out," she muttered. She got up and was about to leave, but stopped when she saw Chanyeol busy himself with painting. "You're not going to stop me?"

"Why would I stop you?" he asked casually.

Junhee paused, then rolled her eyes. "Nothing. There would be no reason."

"Just come back soon, okay?" Chanyeol told her. She only nodded and walked off.

As Chanyeol continued to paint, he couldn't help but feel like someone was staring at him. His eyes rolled to his side, where he saw Jieun giving him an innocent smirk.

"W-What?" he asked, feeling slightly nervous.

"I can smell jealousy from you," she teased.

He turned instantly red. "N-No! Who's jealous? Me? Please, that's not—"

"Jieun!" Junhee called from the door.

"Yeah?" Jieun shouted back, turning around.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, okay? I'm going to go and help out Niel and his classmates," Junhee informed her.

Chanyeol's eyes widened and he turned around. "What about your Byunghun friend?"

"He wanted to see what we were doing and left just now. He was just calling me to talk to the first-years who wanted to see me. I'll be back soon, okay?" Junhee said.

"Wait!" Jieun yelled. She nudged Chanyeol to go with her, but Chanyeol only turned red and shook his head. The two quarreled a bit before Jieun finally got up, pulled Chanyeol up, and pushed him towards Junhee, who was standing at the doorway in front of Niel and two other classmates. Jieun smiled at Junhee. "This guy is going to follow you!"

"Why?" Junhee and Chanyeol both asked in unison.

"I feel like you're going to play around, so here's a supervisor!" Jieun exclaimed.

What the hell are you doing? Chanyeol mentally asked Jieun.

I'm doing you a favor, Jieun replied with just a smirk.

You're making my life hell right now, he told her.

Shut up and be happy that I'm doing this, she responded.

Junhee frowned. Ugh. These two are so connected to the point where they can make conversations just by staring at each other.

"I don't think that's necessary," Niel said, popping in between Chanyeol and Junhee. "Junhee is perfectly responsible. I don't see any problem with her helping us alone."

"Yeah," Junhee agreed. "I'm not easily distracted. Besides, I know this crew." She pointed at the two other classmates. "Sohyun and Naeun, right? Byunghun's girlfriend and the basketball club's second manager."

Sohyun laughed sheepishly. "W-Well, yes, I am Byunghun's girlfriend…"

"Woah, I didn't know that you were in the same class as Niel," Jieun said, surprised.

"He transferred late, so the news hasn't spread yet. He might make some new friends next year," Sohyun said.

"What do you guys need Junhee for?" Chanyeol asked the two.

"Our club decided to hold a small musical. We're the club that's occupying the two o'clock stage. We were hoping that Junhee could look over some of our songs. Niel has a good ear and he thinks that a lot of them are good, but he said that if we really want to know about how good the music is, then we should go to you," Sohyun explained.

"And I don't think Chanyeol can help here," Niel quickly added. "After all, he's not a musical guy, right?"

Chanyeol opened his mouth to protest, but stopped when he heard Junhee fake a laugh.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm the music girl, and he's the art guy," Junhee said, putting a distance. Chanyeol felt a small tug in his chest. She turned to Jieun. "I'll be back, okay? I just need to hear the pitch and everything."

"I still think you should bring Chanyeol with you—"

"No, I'm good," Chanyeol said, interrupting Jieun. He turned around. "I'm going to paint. Jieun, come on and help me."

"I'm trying to help you right now," Jieun said irritatedly.

"What are you guys talking about?" Sohyun asked, slightly confused.

"It's nothing," Junhee quickly told them. "They're close to the point where only they know what to talk about. Come on, let's go."

Sohyun paused, but Naeun quickly led Junhee back to their class. Sohyun glanced back at them worriedly, then followed Naeun and Junhee. 

Niel stood back for a few minutes. He glanced over and saw how Chanyeol looked at Junhee. A small frown appeared on his face, but he quickly smiled when Chanyeol and Jieun looked at him.

"Aren't you going to follow them?" Jieun asked him.

"Oh, I will," Niel said. He looked at Chanyeol. "I hope you continue to support me and Junhee."

Jieun widened her eyes and watched the boy walk away. She quickly turned to Chanyeol, who gritted his teeth.

"What is he talking about?" she asked him.

"That guy likes Junhee—"

"I know that," Jieun blurted. "I can tell just by looking at him, but why is he saying that?" She gasped. "Did you say that you were going to support him? What about your feelings?"

"I didn't say anything," Chanyeol told her forcefully. "He just told me that he likes Junhee—"

"And you're okay with that? You're going to do nothing?" she asked.

"What else is there for me to do?" he asked her.

He turned around and started to head back to paint. As he started walking, Jieun grabbed his arm and forced him to turn around. He gave her a look of annoyance but stopped when he realized that she was shooting him glares.

"What?" he asked.

"If you're just going to crush on Junhee half-heartedly like this, then do it. But if you're going to do that, don't expect anything to get serious. Frankly, I don't even mind if Junhee ends up with Niel. It's all up to her to choose who she wants. The only reason why I push you to her is because you provide her new experiences and opportunities for. You make her smile like I've never seen her smile with any other person alive. But if you're just going to keep silent and stay in the shadows, then you are free to do that. I won't stop you. Just don't expect her to respond to your feelings," Jieun lectured him. She raised her nose and turned away, continuing to paint the background.

Her words left Chanyeol in a state of trance. He stared at her, carefully thinking about what she had told him. Nevertheless, he picked up a brush and started to paint, drowning himself back to his own world of colors and abstraction.