Earn it

Clearing things up

Chapter 15

Yeji

So much drama has happened over the weekend and I cannot wait for this to be all over.

All of us were summoned into a meeting and were given penalties for the incident that happened in the bistro.

Soobin gave me an official apology during the open practice following the incident. Word got around school about how Soobin almost forced me into bed with him, and all other forms of exaggeration. But he remained the bad guy in every single one of them.

Ryujin, on the other hand, gained a lot of support and commendation for standing up to him immediately when she saw me needing help.

Since most students pledged to watch the open practice, he saw it as an opportunity to deliver an official apology to me. Approved, of course, by Miss Momo.

As an internal consequence, we weren't allowed to hang out, drink, or even have a group get together outside practice hours. And we only focus on dancing.

Ryujin and Soobin still haven't talked to each other and there's still so much tension between the two but they remained professional during the practices. They also stayed away from each other during breaks and in-betweens.

Ryujin and I were alright. We try not to interact that much during practices to avoid complications but I have been hanging out with her more in the dorm during evenings. Movie night seemed to be our thing for the past several days. I was pretty shaken up the day after the incident but she made sure to look after me. She also made me feel safe - assisting me in stuff and even offering to go running errands with me.

I also remained quiet most of the time while in the studio. Kyujin, however, has reached out to me and seems to sympathize with how I feel so she was always on my side during breaks.

We're taking a 15-min break and waiting for Miss Momo and we were told that she has something to announce.

By this time, we've pretty much gone through the complete choreography a couple hundred times and we're memorized everything. We've even had several dress rehearsals.

"What do you think the announcement is about?" Kyujin flopped down beside me.

I shrugged, chugging a bottle of water. As I put down my bottle, I noticed that I forgot to give Ryujin hers. I carried it this morning when I saw that she forgot it on the counter.

I glanced in her direction and saw her digging her bag for it. Unsure what to do, I handed Kyujin the bottle. "Hey, would you mind giving this to Ryujin?"

Hoping she wouldn't ask questions, I turned back to my water and drank some more.

When she got back, she got a weird expression on her face.

"So, what's up with you two?"

I tried my best to act cool, mostly because I also don't know the answer to her question.

"What do you mean?"

"Bringing her water bottle for her? Punching the most popular guy in school for the other, the celebratory gesture during auditions... and what else... oh! The stares. All the stares. These look like relationship behavior to me." She said, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"W-What.. I don't", I stammered.

"Wait. So you haven't confessed your feelings for each other yet? Unbelievable! " She said, voice a little higher now. She might be a freshman but she's a little older than me - stopped a couple of years before continuing school to help out with the business of her family.