“Will you be my girlfriend?”   The flashback of those words made Seul Yi grin from ear to ear. It had been a while since she developed a crush on Myung Soo, one of the most popular guys at their campus due to his heavenly good looks. And last night during their first date, he finally asked her out. Now they were officially dating.   “Ah, I need to sleep early so I won’t have any eye bags when I meet my prince charming tomorrow~” Seul Yi hummed to herself as she was washing her face. The splash of the cool water felt so refreshing to her. She looked up to stare at herself in the mirror, seeing how jovial she looked.   “I will appear even prettier for him tomorrow,” she said with determination. With a small nod, she finally took a towel to dry herself.   This was the first night as a couple. As she dropped herself to her bed, she kept holding her phone in her hand and stared in anticipation at the screen. Based on what Hee-Jin had told her, guys would always text their girlfriend a sweet goodnight message at night. So she waited and waited and waited… Until she fell asleep.  

 

“Oppa~ Good morning~” Seul Yi gave her boyfriend a small glomp from behind as soon as she saw him in the hallway. Even though he did not send her a goodnight text message or did anything sweet, she was willing to forgive him if he noticed the way she had made herself prettier for him that day.   “Morning, Seul Yi,” Myung Soo said as he flashed her one of his trademark cool smirk. He guided her hands away from his shoulder and placed it back to her side.   Seul Yi pursed her lips together, wondering why he didn’t even want to hold hands with her. Especially when girls all started to ogle at her boyfriend with those passionate eyes, she just wanted to hold hands with him to let them know he was hers. But maybe he was shy about public display affection, so she giggled to herself a little.   “What?” Myung Soo asked, laughing along with her a little despite not knowing why.   “Those girls must be so sad right now,” Seul Yi said, feeling a little proud that Myung Soo chose her over all those other girls.   “Why?” Myung Soo asked again.   Seul Yi gave him an absurd look, wondering if he was actually serious about his question. Thankfully he was handsome enough to make up for his stupidity. But she was kind of stupid herself, so they could both be the brainless couple.   “Cause we’re… dating,” she said the words a little shyly. Just saying it out felt like a dream, so she was a little hesitant with it. “Should we go on a date after class today?”   “Sorry, I can’t,” Myung Soo spoke. “I have to work on my photography portfolio.”   “Oh…” Seul Yi gave him a solemn nod, not even trying to hide her disappointment. Her boyfriend must’ve been really stupid cause he didn’t notice how shattered she looked at him. Plus, he never even complimented her on her change that day.   “I’m gonna go to class now,” Myung Soo said.   “Wait! Oppa, don’t you see anything different?” Seul Yi suddenly asked him. He probably wouldn’t be able to notice it, so she had to drop him some clues. She just stood there in front of him, displaying the change to him openly.   Myung Soo squinted his eyes as he stared at her with his deep gaze. “What?” he asked, unable to identify.   “Look closer,” Seul Yi began pursing her lips in annoyance. It was so obvious. Why couldn’t he see it?   “I don’t see anything,” Myung Soo said confused.   Seul Yi sighed in disappointment. “I wore lipbalm today!”   Myung Soo raised his eyebrows in confusion.   “I usually wear lip gloss, but I wore lip balm today,” she explained.   “Right…”   She should’ve known he would never be able to see the change. “So can I come by your photography club later?” she changed the topic.   “No, I’m gonna be busy the entire day, cause we’re going faraway to photograph the scenery,” Myung Soo told her with a smile.   “Okay,” she sighed, not bothering to smile at him. It sounded as if he didn’t even want her to be there even though she only wanted to spend more time with him. Did he not care at all?   “In that case, I’m gonna go to the club to play with other guys,” she stated to make him jealous.   “Okay, be careful. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Myung Soo told her before he walked to his class. They didn’t even hold hands, didn’t have a sweet farewell exchange, or an adorable peck on the cheek. He left just like that.  

 

During lunch hours, Seul Yi was solemnly sitting at one of the tables in the cafeteria. She pouted as she watched Hee-Jin and Chan Yeol trying to feed each other on her left side. On her right side, Seong Yeon was playing hard to get as Kyung Soo tried to do the same thing, but got tricked into eating it anyway. Then there were her other friends who were so obvious about their crushes and had cute little moments even though they weren’t dating yet. And there she was, eating on her own because her boyfriend was busy with his photography club.   “Didn’t you finally get to date your prince charming? Why the long face?” Ki Kwang asked as he took a seat in front of her.   “My prince charming is too busy taking pictures,” Seul Yi sighed.   “Of female models?” Luhan asked, taking the seat next to her.   Seul Yi gasped at the thought. “If he wants a female model, why can’t it be me? I can pose too! I do it all the time when I take a selfie,” she said and tried to imitate a typical selfie angle while making a duck face.   “This is a professional shoot. I’m sure he can’t use that for his portfolio,” Ki Kwang laughed at her pose.   Seul Yi made a face before she continued to eat in annoyance. “Anyway, he said I could go to karaoke with the guys. Wanna go?” she changed the topic again.   “He said that?” Ki Kwang asked, eyes widening in shock. “Isn’t he worried about you hanging out with other guys?”   “He’s probably more worried about guys hanging out with his camera,” Seul Yi shrugged, knowing how important photography was to her boyfriend. “It’s okay, I’m also a cool girl so I don’t get bothered.”   “But still…” Ki Kwang trailed off, disagreeing with Myung Soo’s behavior. Seeing how ignorant Seul Yi was about it, he was even more worried for their new relationship.   “Luhan gege, wanna go to karaoke later?” Seul Yi asked, wrapping her arms to the guy next to her. She wiggled her eyebrows playfully at him.   “Of course! Let’s have some fun at karaoke,” Luhan nodded.   “Did someone say karaoke? Count me in!” Maerin turned to them with excitement as she invited herself.   “Yes! We can all go together,” Seul Yi said, motioning to their entire group who was sitting at the table.   “We can sing Love is an Open Door,” Hee-Jin clasped her hand together as Chan Yeol gave her a nod.   “I want to sing SHINee’s View! Anyone wanna sing it with me?” Maerin was practically jumping up and down by now.   “I’m up for it,” Mimi raised her hand.   “I’ll join. I know the song inside out,” Tae Min volunteered himself.   “O-okay,” Maerin couldn’t help but stutter in glee.   “I changed my mind,” Mimi quickly added nonchalantly, just to allow the two to sing a duet.   “How about you Ki Kwang oppa?” Seul Yi turned to her friend.   “Sorry, I have soccer practice and work afterwards,” he answered with an apologetic smile. “Have fun though~”   “It won’t be as fun,” Seul Yi told him honestly as she continued eating. At least she’ll have something to do after class. And maybe Myung Soo will come to look her up after all. It was the perfect plan.  

 

As the class came to an end, Ki Kwang hurried to the soccer field to practice before their upcoming match with one of the most feared and cunning opponents. So when he stood at the soccer field in his uniform all by himself, he was confused. Where was everyone else?   “Oh! Woo Hyun!” he yelled, seeing the soccer team captain leisurely walk out of the locker room in his normal attire. “Where’s everyone? Don’t we have practice?”   “Didn’t you hear? There’s no practice today since we’re going to karaoke!” Woo Hyun answered with a wide smile.   Ki Kwang raised his eyebrows, wondering if he was referring to Seul Yi’s event. “Aren’t you the team captain? Don’t we have to practice?” he asked.   “We don’t have to practice because I am the team captain,” Woo Hyun spoke as he struck a pose. “Sometimes, we need to relax to perform well.”   Ki Kwang was at a loss at how relaxed he was, perhaps because Woo Hyun knew the opponents tend to rely more on sly tricks to win rather than their actual physical skills. Either way, he might as well use this free time to good use.   “Hey, aren’t you close to that Myung Soo guy?”   Woo Hyun halted, looking at his friend in confusion. “Yes, why?” he asked.   “Can I have his number?” Ki Kwang asked.   There was a loud gasp from Woo Hyun as he exaggerated his reaction. “Ya! Ki Kwang, I didn’t know you were this type of person. Myung Soo’s not into guys though. And he’s dating Seul Yi already,” he panicked.   “No! I need to talk to him about Seul Yi,” Ki Kwang spoke with an eye roll. Sometimes he wondered how this guy became team captain of their team. He let the thought slide as he received the number from Woo Hyun.   No matter how many times he thought about it, Myung Soo’s ignorant behavior was wrong. Seul Yi had been looking forward to this day since forever, and her so-called prince charming shall not ruin her fantasies. So he gathered everything in him to call this guy he never even talked to.   “Hello?” a cold voice responded from the other side of the phone.   Once again, he wondered what Seul Yi saw in this guy. He was nothing like the way she had always described him. He’s not warm, or friendly, or welcoming. She had such weird taste in guys.   “Hi, Myung Soo? This is Ki Kwang, one of Seul Yi’s friends.”   “Yes?” he asked shortly, seemingly in a rush.   “Seul Yi is at the karaoke bar right now with a lot of guys,” Ki Kwang continued.   “She told me.”   “So uhm… In case if it gets dangerous, maybe you can go accompany her? Or at least pick her up?” Ki Kwang asked.   “She has other friends with her. I’m busy right now,” Myung Soo said a little apologetically. “Thank you for your concern.”   With that, Ki Kwang looked at the disconnected phone. Unbelievable.  

 

“Are you ready to love me right?” Baek Hyun asked, standing in the middle of the large room with a microphone in his hand. The lights were already dimmed as the light from the music video on the TV screen kept flickering. Next to him were Chan Yeol, Jong Dae, Jong In, and Min Seok ready to perform.   “Whooooo~~” the rest all cheered from the side, making lots of noises with the tambourines.   “Don’t you wanna join?” Seong Yeon asked her boyfriend.   “Nah, this is not my thing,” Kyung Soo said coolly.   But as soon as the music started, Jong Dae threw one microphone to Kyung Soo’s direction. Spontaneously, he started to sing the opening line of the song.   “Oh yeah! Come on~”   Seong Yeon nodded proudly. She could count on her boyfriend to serenade her with his heavenly voice all right.   “He’s so good,” Hee-Jin said with her eyes fixed on Min Seok.   “Aren’t you looking at the wrong person?” Hyun Mi asked her cousin.   “I’m looking at everyone,” Hee-Jin said innocently. Just because she is dating Chan Yeol didn’t mean she couldn’t admire Min Seok anymore. Even though she had rejected him, Min Seok still wished her to be happy with Chan Yeol. She may not feel any romantic feelings anymore, but she was still a fan.   “What will Chan Yeol think?” Hyun Mi asked while shaking her head.   “Hey, you should worry about yourself first! Don’t think I didn’t notice you looking at Baek Hyun’s hips!” Hee-Jin argued back.   “Hmmmmm…. Those hips~” Sohee nodded as she looked at the guy seated next to her.  “Yoon Gi oppa, I think you’d look suga sweet doing those moves.”   “Wait until I choose the next song,” Yoon Gi spoke as he placed his arm around Sohee.   “I wasn’t looking though.” Hyun Mi quickly cleared while averting her eyes elsewhere. But as soon as the bridge appeared, she had troubles stopping herself from blushing and suppressing her smile.   “Gaseum teojildeushan i sungan, uri dulman tteoolla,” Baek Hyun sang as if it was a real performance. His hip was wildly swaying from side to side with ease as he added a sudden forward to make most girls in the room swoon. (If you need visual aid)   Woo Hyun sat there with his arms crossed, shaking his head at how easily Hyun Mi was shaken by that cheap move.   “Sooo… Since she’s obviously smitten, wanna sing a duet with me instead?” Jaelyn tried asking him.   Woo Hyun looked at her with a stern glare.   “Uhkayy.. Maybe Luhan ge will accompany me instead~” Jaelyn slowly shifted away to Luhan. However, since Luhan was now busy talk