I woke up feeling somewhat refreshed, despite the previous night and my sincere lack of sleep after getting home so late. Because of this, I soon crashed and proceeded to walk around the halls at school almost zombie-like for the first half of the day. It wasn’t until halfway through the lunch break, while chatting with Jihye, Seulgi and Jieun that I got my phone out and saw a message notification bouncing up and down on the screen.

Jonginnn: I hope you got back ok last night. Sorry I didn’t take you home [08:02]

I decided not to reply to the message now, and to wait until I was in a clearer frame of mind. I put the phone away and continued talking to the others.

“You look terrible.” Jihye admitted. “Are you ok Min?” She looked at me, concern blazing in her eye.

“I’m fine. Just a little tired.” I promised, feeling a stab of guilt as I openly lied to her. It didn’t feel good lying to Jihye but I had to honour Jongin’s wishes.

“If you’re sure.” She continued. “Anyway, while you were day dreaming we were talking about what to do on Friday.” She pointed between the three of them. Friday was the day when we met up outside of school the most because everyone was usually free then.

“Oh?”

“Well Seulgi wants to go to the Inkigayo recording.” Jihye explained. “Apparently it’s a special one this week to mark an anniversary of the show or something. They’ll be loads of groups that have performed in this past year there.”

“Doesn’t it sound good?” Seulgi said. “I think IU will be performing.” She said excitedly.

“They’re selling the tickets tonight.” Jieun chipped in.

“I mean it’s unlikely that we’ll get them but it’s worth a try, right?” Seulgi suggested.

“Yeah.” I tried to sound lively but my voice just wasn’t working for me.

Jihye laughed, followed by the others. “You’re a hopeless actor Min.” She said through her giggles.

“No it’s not that. It’s just I won’t know any of the groups.” I protested. “And the tickets will sell out very quickly.”

“You’ll know some. You know WINNER right?”

“WIN-who?” I asked in confusion. “I’m not sure. Isn’t that one of those flower-boy groups? That’s not really my scene.”

“Just come Hyemin, it’ll be fun.” Jieun said, eyes wide as if to signal something.

I was about to protest again when I felt a vibration in my pocket. I pulled out my phone to see I had a message from Jihye, which was odd because she was just there. I looked up at her in confusion and she gave me a pressing look. I opened the message.

ParkJiHye: I’ve already got the tickets Min, it’s gonna be a surprise for Seulgi’s Birthday! Please say you’ll go. We need you in on this! [13:10]

I looked back at her and smiled a little while putting my phone away. “You know what? I’ve had a change of heart. I’ll come with you guy.” I smiled, and saw Jieun and Jihye beaming back at me.

“Great Hyemin!” Seulgi cried, reaching over to pull me into a hug.

“So I’ll get the tickets.” Jihye said slyly. “My Dad has a really fast computer so hopefully the booting time will be quicker.”

“Great thanks Unnie!” Seulgi cried again, pulling Jihye into a hug too.

And with that we continued to talk until the bell rang.

*

After school I had walked with Jihye until we had to get on our separate buses. Hers came first, and before I even had time to choose an album from the music on my phone, my bus rolled up at the stop too.  

As I sat on the faux-leather seat, my favourite as it was placed next to the largest window on the bus, I felt myself getting lost in my thoughts. The events of the previous night flashed in my head as I recalled.

It was about midnight when I lifted my head off the table after napping for a little. I peered around, my eyes adjusting to the lights hug from the tent canopy. The room had definitely stopped spinning, and I myself was feeling much better. I decided to check my phone in case Hyunwoo or Mum had messaged me. Even though I had told them I would be late home, it was better to prevent them from worrying by replying to anything they sent me.

There were no messages but I did notice the time. It was 01:05, the large white letters taunting me as they stood out