Baek Areum is a typical girl with big dreams. She wishes to be a singer that is admired by many others. But what she wants most is her mother's happiness. She decides to audition for Pledis Entertainment and manages to get through. She works hard to...
"So where do you guys wanna eat?" Min Ah asks as she stuffs her belongings into her designer backpack. Min Ah has always been a fashionable person.
"I don't know. Anywhere," I reply, pinning my hair into place. My clothes may be cheap and plain but my hair always has to look good.
"Ooh, I've been meaning to try out that new restaurant that just opened. Uhh, what's it called? Ahh right! Dish By Dish!" Hye Ra snaps her fingers. And the snapping of her fingers signalled the end of my happiness.
Okay, yeah that's dramatic.
But seriously, if they went there, I could never show my face anywhere near this building. So to prevent that, like any other responsible teenager, I made up a fake excuse.
"I need to get back by like 4:30 so could we go somewhere else?" I say nonchalantly. At least I hope I did.
"Oh I guess we'll just go to the McDonald's down the road then."
Phew.
"Hey, let's invite your sister too," Min Ah suggests.
That's it. That's what she wants. The reason why she started being nice to me. Why she even suggested lunch with Hye Ra. Popularity.
"Ahhh, Ah Reum didn't tell you? My sister and I... Let's just say we're not on good terms," Hye Ra explains sheepishly, tucking a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.
~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Sooo, any crushes?" Min Ah asks as she bites into her burger.
"There's one," Hye Ra replies, a smile gracing her lips, revealing her pearly whites.
I drop the french fry in my hand. "Why haven't you told me?" I gasp, slightly offended.
"Uh uh uh!" Min Ah interrupts with her mouth full of McChicken as she shoves a handful of fries into my mouth. "Let her finish! What's he like?"
A radiant smile materialised on her face that stretched like a brilliant painter's stroke across her countenance, "He's super talented and kind and attractive and gorgeous and-"
"Okay, okay. We got it he's perfect. So who is it?" I rush her to reveal this perfect guy's name.
"Nah, its too embarrassing," She brushes me off, her face turning rosy. She felt so awkwardly unsettled that she kept tugging on the hem of her shirt as I continued to pester her about her crush.
"Tell me tell me tell me. Is his hair dark? Does he sing well?"I lean closer and closer to her towards her table, narrowing my gaze with every question.
"Does he wear glasses?" Min Ah adds in, her voice muffled by the copious amount of food she had stuffed in her mouth.
"Yes, yes and yes. Happy? Now stop pestering me. I'll tell you who it is next time," Hye Ra says teasingly.
Ahhh, but you won't have to, dear Hye Ra.
For I already know who it is.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You think that was good enough?!"
Specks of saliva flew out of her mouth as Hye Rin grumbled and carped incessantly about our deplorable 'Dumb Dumb' performance.
"Relax. It's just one performance," I murmur, looking down at my shoes as I wriggle my toes in discomfort.
"Just one performance?!" In a concoction of rage and dissatisfaction, she retorted agitatedly in the most scathing tone she could muster. With her arms flailing around full of expression, she continues to elaborate, "I suppose you wouldn't know since you're new or something but every performance counts. Bad performances stick forever. People will remember."
As she said the last bit, her expression changes and her tone softens. I walk over to her but a voice stops me.
"Ah Reum?" Jun comes up behind me. "Who's that?"
Hye Rin brushes the hair away from her face and resumes her previous expression. "Forget it." She nudges her shoulder against mine and sends Jun a steely stare as she walks past us.
"What was that about?"Jun turns back to me, the ends of his lips curved up a little, failing to conceal his emotions.
Ughh, okay, I don't like Hye Rin but I'm such a sucker for love and Jun was obviously interested in her so I didn't expose her.
"Nothing. That's Hye Rin, by the way," I add casually.
"Oh," Jun breathes out, biting his lip to contain his smile. As if it wasn't obvious. "She's pretty," he finally confesses. "Is she single?" he asks shamelessly as he continues to stare at her back as she walks away.
"I don't know," I answer with a shrug of my shoulders, enjoying matchmaking way too much.
Speaking of matchmaking, "Where's Seokmin?"
"He didn't come down today," Jun replies, focusing his attention on me this time. "He told us in the group chat that he was unwell."
"Unwell?" I echo him, letting the word linger at the tip of my tongue as thoughts filled my head. That's oddly suspicious considering his unusual behaviour recently. He's been spacing out a lot during conversations and I see him at that same darn bench almost everyday. And what makes it worst is that that's the only time I see him! He never comes down for lunch and when we invite him out, he makes up excuses.
Look's like there's only one way for me to get some inside.
I turn to Jun to find him on his phone. I could be wrong because of the glare on his phone, but I think I saw him on Hye Rin's instagram. "Yikes! Woah, there!" I snatch his phone from his hands. "I think it's a little too soon for that, yeah? Come on, Jun! Wait a few days! Get to know her better! What happened to the cool Jun we all know?"
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"I don't know either, to be entirely honest with you," Jun scratches the back of his head.
I make him promise that he won't follow her before handing him back his phone and ask him, "Where's Hoshi?"
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Hey,beautiful;)
I have no excuses as to why this was soooo late. But I'm sorry! I'm human too! I've got school, exams and many more stressful things that I need to sort out. Rest assure that I'm already working on the next chapter. I know that some of you guys may be as stressed out as me or maybe even more but I hope my very rare updates help you cope with all your frustrations. Keep smiling, yeah?
