Author’s POV

In all honesty, Yoorin would not have recognized the tall boy talking to Sunmi and Luhan if not for the guitar he was holding at the same spot where she and the boy had first seen each other.

Shaking his hand now felt as if it was long overdue, seeing as they had already chanced upon each other a few times before.

As Yoorin and Chanyeol pulled their hands back from the handshake, Luhan coughed, catching their attention.

“Okay, now that you two have met each other… how about you…” Luhan then turned towards Chanyeol. “…accompany us for fishcakes later?”

Chanyeol’s initial reaction was to wait for Sunmi and Yoorin’s reactions. After all, they had originally planned for the three of them to go for fishcakes and he didn’t want to impose.

“Well, hyung… I wouldn’t want to intrude…” Chanyeol began, glancing at the two girls.

Sunmi smiled at him. “It’s okay with me if it’s okay with Yoorin.”

Sunmi, who knew her best friend all too well, waited for the latter to decide. When it came to these things, Yoorin had a difficulty in making up her mind, especially since she rarely went out with friends, much less new acquaintances. She honestly didn’t know how Yoorin would react this time around.

With this, the three of them looked at Yoorin expectantly.

Yoorin held the strap of her bag as she glanced back at the trio.

After a few antagonizing minutes of waiting, she finally spoke.

“Well… I guess it’s okay… if Chanyeol-sunbaenim wants to come.” Yoorin told them with a small smile.

Chanyeol was just about to speak when Lu Han interjected, slapping him on the shoulder in the process. “Well of course he’d want to come! AND… he’s paying!”

“Bwo?!” Chanyeol couldn’t help but react violently.

“Dude, stop complaining. We all know you’re loaded.” Lu Han told Chanyeol pointedly.

Chanyeol could only sigh in response as he started putting his guitar away in its case. “Fine.”

“Now that’s more like it!” Lu Han cheered, earning a scowl from the younger boy.

Yoorin, on the other hand, started to feel anxious. She had wanted to spend a few minutes to herself in the classroom to just sit and ponder and seeing as it was already 7:30am, she only had thirty minutes to so.

With a tentative glance at Sunmi, she asked discreetly. “Uh... I’ll go ahead?”

Before Sunmi could even respond, Yoorin had already taken brisk footsteps towards the school building.

Same as always. Sunmi thought as she watched her best friend trudge through the school grounds with a nostalgic smile.

Just a few minutes after Yoorin had left, Lu Han, Sunmi and Chanyeol all went inside the school building for their class. Lu Han and Chanyeol were in the same class, whereas, Sunmi belonged to the class in the neighboring classroom.

At exactly eight o’ clock, the bells rang, signifying the start of classes at Gwangcheon High school.

Their school was a relatively small one, accommodating approximately 1,000 students. The school only had a single building, but it was big enough to quarter all the students, with additional rooms for advanced classes in different areas of learning.

In these advanced classes, the school mixes up the best students in the whole school… may it be for literature, music, arts, math or science, regardless of their year level so as to be fair. However, each class can only consist of twenty students, so the school board does its best to choose wisely among all the students of Gwangcheon through various aptitude tests.

“Okay, settle down.” Ms. Hwang ordered as she laid her bag on the teacher’s desk. “I have the list of students qualified for advanced classes this year.”

This announcement stirred little attention from the class, since all of them knew there was a slight to none chance of getting picked for an advanced class.

“We have… one student from this class.” Ms. Hwang declared, glancing at the students from beneath her specs.

Her eyes stopped at the girl seated near the window. “Ji Yoorin. You have been chosen to be part of both music and literature classes. Congratulations!”

Yoorin looked at her adviser with a faint smile. “Kamsahamnida, songsaengnim.”

After that, the classes resumed and before she knew it, it was lunchtime. Just like the usual, Lu Han and Sunmi picked her up before going to the rooftop for lunch. This time around, Yoorin had packed her own lunch and sure enough, it was big enough to feed all three of them.

“So, did you get into advanced literature again?” Sunmi asked Yoorin.

“Yes…” Yoorin answered as she chewed on her kimbap slowly. “…music, too.”

Hearing this made Sunmi gasp in delight. “Jinjja? That’s great! I guess that means you won’t have to play in the music rooms secretly anymore, nae?”

Yoorin stared into a distance thoughtfully before saying her thoughts out loud. “I guess… but it might be difficult since I don’t really know anyone.”

“Don’t worry, Lu Han’s also in that class, so he’ll be there with you… right, Lu?”

“Nae. I’ll be doing math and science, too. Your boyfriend’s a genius, nae?” Lu Han told her proudly, sending a wink her way.

Sunmi rolled her eyes playfully at her boyfriend’s remark. “Aish. Humble as always.”

“How about you, Sunmi-ah? Will you be doing Arts again?” Yoorin asked.

“Nae~ I’m actually quite excited because this year, we’re doing portraits.”

Their conversation about the advanced classes had lasted until the end of lunch period.

Once they had gotten back to their respective classes, Yoorin couldn’t help but wonder what awaited her for music class. Since it was her first time, she didn’t know what to expect.

With this clouding her thoughts, she stared at the blackboard absentmindedly as she scribbled in her notebook.

Meanwhile, at the opposite side of the building, Chanyeol, too wasn’t in the best condition for learning for his seatmate, Kim Gyuri, had been talking to him nonstop for two hours now.

He didn’t mind all that much, except he was having a hard time focusing on the class discussion.

“Oppa, how was your summer? I heard you went to the US with Yura-unnie. I’ve always wanted to go to there, but for some reason my visa application always gets denied.” Gyuri mumbled as she stared at Chanyeol with what can be deemed as a cute pout.

“Ah, nae. You can just apply again, Gyuri-ah.” Chanyeol answered in a hushed voice, not taking his eyes off the blackboard as he continued to solve the math problem being asked by their teacher.

“Omo~ Oppa, has your voice gotten deeper? It sounds a bit different~” Gyuri cooed, twirling her long, brown wavy hair in the process.

“Ah, nae.” Chanyeol answered absentmindedly as he furrowed his eyebrows at the next equation.

By last period, Chanyeol was able to fully tune out Gyuri’s voice altogether as he learned about the IUPAC nomenclature of organic chemistry and before he even knew it, the bell had rung, signifying the end of classes for the day.

As usual, the class went wild as they raced for the doors of the classroom. Chanyeol himself was preparing to leave when Gyuri walked up to him.

“Oppa~ Do you have plans today? I was thinking maybe we can go out and catch up.”

“Actually, I---” Chanyeol was about to muster an excuse when he heard Lu han holler from the classroom doorway.

“Yah! Park Chanyeol, palli-ah!”

“Yeah. Coming, hyung!” Chanyeol yelled back before giving Gyuri an apologetic look and fleeing.

Once he had reached where Lu Han was, he grabbed the latter towards the practice rooms, taking quick, long strides towards the opposite end of the building.

Arriving at one of the practice rooms, Chanyeol and Lu Han panted, each struggling to catch his breath.

“What was that about?” Lu Han demanded as he clutched as his heavily thumping chest.

“It’s Gyuri… She was insinuating a date.” Chanyeol told him.

Lu Han could only gape at his friend. “Kim Gyuri, that pretty chick in our class, the one who has practically every guy in class swooning over her, asked you on a date? And you have the guts to act appalled?”

Chanyeol shrugged. “She’s far too whiny for my taste. Besides, not everyone’s into her. There’s you and me.”

Lu Han nodded, but not without asking, “Then why don’t you just reject her?”

“Well, she hasn’t exactly confessed, so I can’t turn her down. Plus, we’re kind of childhood friends, so I can’t just hurt her like that.” Chanyeol replied rather timidly as he heaved a sigh.

After a brief moment of silence, Chanyeol looked at Luhan with what can be called his optimistic, happy virus smile. “Well, anyway let‘s start setting up, hyung. Baekhyun and Yixing-hyung will be here soon.”

“Okay.” Lu Han obliged as he started plugging in the Chanyeol’s electric guitar to the amplifiers.

“Hyung, did you bring your bass with you, or are you going to use the one in the other music room?”

“I’m borrowing. That bass guitar is just too damn heavy to carry around all day. I don’t know how you manage to bring both your acoustic and electric to school!” Lu Han exclaimed, to which, Chanyeol shrugged a little too coolly.

“Well, I’ve got my ways.”

Lu Han decided not to think much of this. Instead, he made his way to the door and said, “I’m gonna get the bass in the other music room. I’ll be right back.”

Once he reached the music room, he was surprised to see that it was occupied.

What shocked him even more was seeing Yoorin inside, playing. Without any hesitation, he barged in, not even bothering to knock.

“Yoorin-ah~” Lu Han called, making the former jump in surprise.

“Yah! Lu, you scared me.” Yoorin scolded, sending what seemed like a disappointed look Lu Han’s way.

Lu Han chuckled. “Aigoo. Why are you alone? Where’s jagiya?”

“Sunmi just went back to get the rest of her things.”

“Oh, I see. Well, I just came to get the bass. We’re practicing today, so can you guys wait for us? I swear, we won’t be long.”

“It’s okay. We can kill time here. Sunmi likes singing along anyway… so I guess we won’t be too bored.” Yoorin smiled fondly as he started playing some notes.

Lu Han’s eyes bulged exaggeratedly as he mumbled, “Jinjja?! You’re letting jagiya sing?! You must be out of your mind!”

Yoorin chuckled. “You know, Sunmi can actually sing decently when she’s in the mood. It’s just that 90% of the time, she’s much more in the mood for making weird noises than actual singing.”

“Jinjja? How come I’ve never heard her sing seriously?!” Lu Han exclaimed, his eyes were about to pop once more.

Yoorin could only shrug. “Maybe you could ask her to sing for you on your anniversary.”

“That’s a great idea! Maybe I could ev--” Lu Han wasn’t able to continue because right then, Chanyeol came charging in.

“Hyung! What’s taking you so lo—Oh, hi Yoorin-ssi.”

Yoorin halted in place and bowed. “Hello, Chanyeol-sunbaenim.”

Chanyeol was about to shake his head at her politeness when he saw what she was holding in her hand. “I didn’t know you played! And you own a Taylor!” Chanyeol exclaimed, awe, apparent in his eyes.

Yoorin glanced at her guitar fondly and smiled. “Ah... Nae, it was a gift from my dad.”

Chanyeol whistled. “That must have cost him… I nearly broke my bank account when I bought mine.”

Yoorin seemed particularly interested, because she asked. “What’s yours?”

Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile proudly. “I own a Martin... It’s pretty nice, made with tropical mahogany and Sitka spruce. Yours?”

“It’s Indian rosewood, and sitka spruce…” Yoorin told him.

Chanyeol looked at the girl in apprehension as she caressed her guitar. He was impressed. The girl knew her stuff. He never would have pegged her to be a guitar-player, seeing how thin and delicate her fingers were.

“Can I touch it?” Chanyeol asked cautiously as he marveled at the guitar.

Yoorin looked apprehensive for a moment before reluctantly handing it over to him. “Please handle it with care, sunbaenim.”

Chanyeol gave her a reassuring nod before reaching for the guitar.

He then plucked at each of the strings, seeing if they were in tune.

“Do you tune this yourself?”

“Nae.”

“Wow. Do you use a tuner… or…”

“I don’t have one so, I tune it by ear, sunbaenim… Waeyo? Is it out of tune?”

Chanyeol shook his head with a smile. “Ani. It’s in perfect tune.”

Lu Han had been looking back and forth at Yoorin and Chanyeol and couldn’t help but scoff at their conversation. Both are, in his opinion, music geeks.

With this, he coughed. “Are you guys done? Can we practice now, so that we can go out early?” He asked pointedly as he waved the bass at them.

“Ah, n-nae. Let’s go, hyung. Bye Yoorin-ssi!” Chanyeol waved.

“Bye, sunbaenim. Bye, Lu.” Yoorin waved at them gently as she went back to sitting on her chair and resuming her song.

Lu Han and Chanyeol, on the other hand, went back to their practice room to find their two bandmates already prepping up.

“Yah! Park Chanyeol, where were you? We’ve been waiting for forever.” The midget with heavy eyeliner whined as he swung his legs back and forth from the high chair he was sitting in.

“Aish. Stop whining, Byun Baekhyun… we had to borrow the bass guitar from the other music room.” Chanyeol told him with a scowl.

“Don’t worry, Chanyeol-ah. We just got here. Baekhyun’s exaggerating.”

Chanyeol turned to the brown-haired Chinese and saw him giving off his usual dimpled smile.

“It’s a good thing you’re honest, Yixing-hyung. And because of that, I will treat you and Lu Han-hyung this weekend. The midget’s not invited.” Chanyeol told them, looking pointedly at Byun Baekhyun, their main vocalist.

Baekhyun only rolled his eyes at this before jumping off his chair and approaching the mic.

“Let’s do this!” He announced into the mic cheerily, pointing at his bandmates one by one.

With this, they all went to play their respective instruments: Chanyeol with the drums, Yixing with the guitar and Lu Han with the bass.

Chanyeol started hitting his drumsticks together three times before leading the band off with their first song.

The bank continually played for the next hour with various songs before calling it a day.

Baekhyun had wanted to go clubbing with the guys, but since all of them had plans, he was left to sulk by himself.

“Okay, then. Leave me, you ungrateful bastards!” Baekhyun yelled dramatically as each of them waved goodbye.

Lu Han and Chanyeol  couldn’t help but chuckle at their friend as they went to the music room where Yoorin had been earlier. Sure enough, the girl was there, happily talking with Sunmi.

“Let’s go?” Lu Han urged enthusiastically as he motioned for them to go outside already.

With this they went off to the food stalls near the Han River. Living in the less-populated Geumcheon district of Seoul had its perks… and being near the Han River was one of them. This perk had been especially advantageous for the students of Gwangcheon since their school was a mere 10-minute walk to the riverside.

Strolling towards their destination, the quartet had not realized that they were divided into pairs unconsciously, with Lu Han and Sunmi walking side by side, as well as Yoorin and Chanyeol.

Lu Han and Sunmi had been talking about what school Lu Han should apply to for college, while Chanyeol and Sunmi talked about music and… guitars.

“So, how long have you been playing?” Chanyeol asked Yoorin.

“About five years, sunbaenim… I just felt the need to learn an instrument, so I bought a ukulele. And well, I guess you can figure out what happened next. What about you, sunbaenim?” Yoorin explained cheerfully. This was the first time Chanyeol heard her talk this much. He was surprised at how talkative she became when it came to music.

“Six years… I started taking lessons when I was 12, and I was addicted. My mom couldn’t pry me off my guitar… ever. I literally took it with me everywhere I went!” Chanyeol chuckled as he recalled his childhood.

“I guess we started at around the same age…” Yoorin muttered thoughtfully, before adding, “Wow. Well, I can’t say I was as crazy as you, sunbaenim… Although, I did refuse to sleep every night without Bobby next to me.”

Chanyeol blinked in confusion for a moment before realizing what she had meant. “Bobby?! You named your first guitar Bobby?! Whyyyy?”

“I liked the X-men, and Bobby was my favorite character, sunbaenim.” Yoorin explained fondly.

Chanyeol looked thoughtful for a moment. Why does she insist on using honorifics? He looked at Yoorin blankly before he snapped out of it and replied, “Bobby… that’s the one who can control ice, right?”

Yoorin nodded affirmatively.“ Nae, sunbaenim. Although, his power is more than manipulating ice, he can actually---”

“Uh, Yoorin-ssi?” Chanyeol had cut Yoorin off before she could finish.

“Nae, sunbaenim?” Yoorin looked up at him inquisitively with wide, innocent eyes.

“You can drop the honorifics. Just Chanyeol’s fine.” Chanyeol told her with a grin.

“But… I’d feel disrespectful; you are my sunbae after all.” Yoorin replied, looking at the ground.

“But Lu Han-hyung is also your sunbae… but you don’t’ use the same honorifics with him.” Chanyeol reasoned out, as they continued to walk.

“But that’s different… Lu is my friend.”

Chanyeol opened his mouth to ask what he was, but couldn’t bring himself to. And if the timing couldn’t be more perfect, they seemed to have reached their destination.

Ducking under the stall’s roof, Chanyeol and Yoorin were greeted by a kind-looking lady in her mid-fifties.

“Hi, Yoorinnie~ It's been a while...Who’s this handsome young man with you?”

Yoorin returned the smile as she bowed.

“Annyeong ahjumma... This is Park Chanyeol. He’s…” Yoorin paused thoughtfully as she searched for the word, while Chanyeol gripped the edge of his seat as he waited for the answer to his unasked question.

After what seemed like eternity, Yoorin spoke again. In a soft voice, she continued. “… an acquaintance of mine.”

Annyeong~ Hi chinggus! So here's a 'long' update for you.

This chapter is decicated tooo: Lynnsie and Exo880408!

Thank you guys for the comments! Huhu. I really appreciate them.

Haha. the story's just getting started... so I hope you guys will continue to tune in.

As we go on, you're going to see the characters' personalities and the reason behind them.

How do you like the story so far? Too slow? Too fast? Too draggy?

Please let me know! :) I really love hearing from you. 

HUHU. COMMENTS ARE DEEPLY APPRECIATED. <3

Anyway, Happy Reading! :) Saranghae.