~ 이십이 ~

☼ Day ⓣⓗⓡⓔⓔ

“Shiroyo~ Ani, I don’t want,” Hayi complained as Suhyun came dragging her on the entrance. The former kept on struggling to get out of her best friend’s hold but that seems to be impossible; Suhyun’s grip was as tight as super glue.

“You should— no, you would go, okay? Stop whining like a kid it doesn’t fit you.” Hayi had no choice but go along with Suhyun. If she was a persistent type of person, then what does it make Suhyun? They both acquire that one trait: persuasiveness.

They soon reached the entrance after a few push and pulls, Suhyun confirmed Hayi’s registration form and even if Hayi do not want to, she gave a song that she would be singing and the personnel said they‘d be the ones to cater the M.R.

The two sat down on the rows of chairs allocated beside to wait for the program to start. Hayi fidgeted on her seat; this was all of a sudden! Hayi thought Suhyun just wanted to shop at the nearest mall because she forgot some presents for someone. However, she was completely wrong; her best friend planned it, since the mall has a pre-Christmas event: a singing contest.

Hayi never thought that this would ever happen to her. She never considered joining a singing contest before; well auditioning for The Voice was just a joke made by Yunhyeong and her a few years ago.

Speaking of, “where are the others?” Hayi asked looking at the relaxed Suhyun who does not seem to have done such an act on her dear friend. The latter flipped her phone and read a text message. “Oh they’ll be coming soon.” The younger muttered nonchalantly and resumed playing some kind f a race game on her phone.

Suhyun was right. Indeed, after a few minutes, the four boys arrived at the backstage, where the two are at right now.

“Wassup?” Jinhwan greeted the two, raising her hand to have a high five with Suhyun but the girl rejected his hand, her brow arched up while saying, “took you long enough.”

“Sorry, Yunhyeong spent a long time buying his outfit,” Jiwon said while scratching his nape. “Of course I have to look handsome on stage,” Yunhyeong butted in, holding the paper bags containing his outfit.

Hayi looked at them accusingly. “You framed me up!” She deemed after realizing that she was not the only one aware of the situation. “Yunhyeong you’re gonna join too?”

Yunhyeong nodded, which angered Hayi more. “Why didn’t guys said something about this?” She asked.

“Because we know you wouldn’t agree,” Donghyuk said and the others nodded in agreement.

“Then if you already know that I wouldn’t agree, why did you guys insisted?” Hayi glared at the five of them and the others did not dare meet her in the eyes, one thing should be avoided at all cost was to madden Lee Hayi.

“Oh come on,” Yunhyeong approached Hayi and pulled Hayi close to him, encircling his arm across her shoulders and smiling as if Hayi hasn’t been mad at them. “You want to join right? You are just mad because you’re unprepared, right? Guess what, I also bought your outfit! Tada!” He grinned, trying to cheer Hayi up with the paper bags for her. “Don’t worry; I bought only the great clothes that suit you.”

“Hayi-ah, don’t be afraid. I know you’ll do great,” Jiwon cheered. Hayi then grabbed the shopping bags, wearing a smug face. “Who said I’m scared?” She said, making the others laugh.

Time fled fast and soon, the event has begun. Many people have gathered to watch the ten contestants battle each other out, highlight their singing skills and win the trophy. Two of the competitors were Hayi and Yunhyeong who have been given their orders already.

Four contenders have performed already and Yunhyeong was the next. He went up on the stage and waited for the song to play. It was It Girl by Jason Derulo.

“This is for a special girl...” He mentioned before he started singing.

I've been looking under rocks and breaking locks

Just tryna find ya

I've been like a maniac insomniac,

Five steps behind ya...

You could be my it girl

Baby you're the girl

Lovin' you could be a crime

Yunhyeong sang it amazingly, as if he was an idol performing on his fan meeting. He was really into the song; even his friends almost believed that he has someone important to him at the moment.

“Baby you could be my it girl~” Yunhyeong ended the song, bowed and exited the stage. Hayi gave him a double high five because she was also impressed.

The ten contestants were nearly done, except for Hayi. She was the last one to sing so it was double the pressure on her shoulders. She got on the stage and heaved a sigh. This is it. She must do this.

There’s a fire starting in my heart

Reaching a fever pitch and it’s bringing me out the dark

Finally, I can see you crystal clear...

She prepared an impromptu performance featuring the song ‘Rolling in the Deep’ by Adelle. Since it was one of her favorite singers and it was one of the songs she’s familiar with, she decided to pick this song out of many.

We could have had it all

Rolling in the deep

You had my heart inside of your hands

But you played it, to the beat...

When the bridge approached, Jiwon and Suhyun began to shout and root for their friend. It boosted Hayi’s confidence and belted the highest note on the song; it was flawless.

“But you played it, you played it, you played it, to the beat...” As Hayi ended the song, the whole crowd was silent but it only lasted a second after she bowed; claps and cheers could be heard and the four people in front of the crowd were standing up.

“Woooo! You are Hayi jjang!” Jinhwan kept on shouting while Suhyun was clapping loudly. The feeling was wonderful; Hayi never thought the crowd would receive her like this.

“As expected, you’re the best!” Yunhyeong said when she went backstage. Hayi was deeply overwhelmed that’s why she was left speechless the entire time.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the time you all have been waiting for has arrived!” The emcee announced, holding a piece of card that contains the results. The ten contestants all lined on the stage and everybody could feel the eagerness and nervousness as the emcee opened the envelope.

Seconds seemed to slow enough, the host making sure to triple the nervousness as he finally read the three contestants ranked from third to the last.

“And the winners are...”

❀❀❀

“Congraaaaaaats!”

Suhyun hugged Hayi tightly when the two got out from the backstage. There were also a few people surrounding them, some sending her congratulatory messages while the others just want to take a picture with her. It was as if she was a known figure by just performing at a singing contest.

“What? Guys why aren’t you asking for a pic with me? I did good right?” Yunhyeong boasted when he noticed that almost everyone asked for Hayi and not him.

Suhyun rolled her eyes, Yunhyeong the narcissist was here again. “Oh please get a hold of yourself; nobody wants to buy your joke.” However, as she finished saying her reply, a bunch of girls squealed when they approached the said male.

“Oppa!” They all giggled and Yunhyeong raised a brow at Suhyun. “What did you say?” He mocked before taking time to pose for those girls with their raging hormones.

Suhyun growled in annoyance while Jinhwan went closer to her. “Tsk tsk that’s nothing new with Yunhyeong,” he added but instead of agreeing with him, Suhyun snarled at him too and walked out. The rest followed suit, leaving Yunhyeong behind with his girls.

“Oy, oy, oy! Wait for for me!” Yunhyeong yelled when he noticed that everybody had already left. “I’m sorry pretty girls I need to go now,” he winked and ran to catch his friends who were already meters apart from him.

“You did great.” Jiwon nudged Hayi who was looking down the ground while walking past a line of restaurants where the others were looking for dinner. Hayi turned to look at Jiwon and mouthed thanks and resuming her staring contest with the floor.

“Don’t be sad, it’s okay. You’re far better than the champion you know. Plus the fact that you were unprepared about the whole thing and you won first runner-up, that’s surely impressive.” Trying hard to cheer Hayi up was Jiwon, who was really impressed with her performance a while ago.

“I know,” Hayi finally said. “I’m just— the feeling was so overwhelming. I never thought I would be doing such a thing in front of many people and they appreciate it. I’m left for words...” Hayi trailed off, her joy rising up her eyes, which she tried to hold back.

“That’s because you’re the best. See, I know you’ll like it,” he said.

After a while of bickering, Jinhwan and Suhyun finally agreed on the restaurant to eat in. They called the others and before Hayi entered the fast food chain, she realized something.

“Yah Kim Jiwon! You’re the one who registered me on, aren’t you?”

  ❄  ❄  ❄  

☼ Day ⓕⓞⓤⓡ

The morning was cold. Everyone was on his or her sheets, lazy to move around because of the chilly temperature. Winter had started yesterday yet the snow began to rain today. Even though there was the presence of heaters around the mansion, it was not enough to warm them.

 Hayi called the others at the living room. Lazily, everyone mustered around the spacious couch, each holding a cup of either hot chocolate or coffee. She found a few interesting DVD’s on the table, perhaps her grandmother bought those for them. All of those were horror, suspense, and action movies; Suhyun could only frown, as there weren’t any chick flick or comedy movie available.

In the end, they spent the entire day shouting, hauling, screaming and throwing pillows to each other. Suhyun was so scared and Jinhwan took advantage of his ‘my lady’s’ vulnerability, carefully wrapping his arms around her body and acting as if he wasn’t scared to protect her.

Hayi, on the other hand, was really interested with the whole plot. She screamed on a few scenes, yes that was given, yet she wasn’t like Suhyun and Yunhyeong who could almost pee on their pants. It was such a downer for Jiwon though, he wasn’t scared at all yet unlike Jinhwan, he couldn’t perform ‘the moves’ on Hayi. Why is she so cool with it?

“ ... he’s gonna kill her. Oh my god, no. Duck you head, yuck! Ewww...”

Soon, they finished all five movies and they weren’t sure if they were still sane enough to not think of the mansion as a horror house or such.

Seulmi, the head house cleaner, called them for dinner. Everyone, with their growling stomachs rushed on the table to feast on the simple meal the elder prepared for them.

“Where’s Donghyuk?” Suhyun inquired when she found that there were only five of them on the table.

Yunhyeong shrugged, “maybe he’s so scared he decided to stay on his blanket. Who knows?”

Hayi excused herself to go to the washroom and Jiwon did the same. She entered first but Jiwon rushed to get inside when he heard a loud scream inside.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!”

“What’s wrong? Hayi-ah, open the door!” He was about to wreck the door open not until Hayi opened it and fall on his arms.

“Hayi, what’s wrong? Gwenchana?” Jiwon locked her in a secure embrace; the latter was shaking in fear. Had she seen a real ghost?

“T-theres... a... h-he w-was...” Hayi tried to speak but she was so frightened her tongue was cut short.

The rest heard the commotion and hurried to know what happened. Jiwon made Hayi sit on the floor and asked Jinhwan for water.

“Stay here, okay?”

Jiwon was about to look inside to check what was wrong but someone got out of the washroom, completely bewildered like Hayi was.

“I... I w-was peeing... I k-kinda f-forgot to lock the door.”

It was none other than Donghyuk, with his small eyes opened wide in shock. The others could just groan in frustration as they found out that everything was just a false alarm.

Note to self: never watch a ton of horror movies again. NEVER!

a/n: heeeeeeeyy~ i updated! please tel me what are your thoughts kkk~ i think it will take a bit long for the next chapters, ((coughsthenextoneisimportanthehejk)) ilysm friends! // add me~ let's be friends yay hahaahaha <3

how to find a beta reader tho?? my mother tongue isn't english. ;;;