apartment block 17

[ 068 ]

pledis performing arts high school

"remember to study hard for your upcoming tests," their chemistry teacher said as the students all grabbed their bags and left the classroom for club activities.

"hey, chan," chaeyoung called out before chan could leave the classroom.

"oh, hey chaeyoung!" chan greeted with a smile.

"did you understand chapter 8?" chaeyoung asked, fidgeting with her books.

"on neutralisation reactions?" chan clarified. chaeyoung nodded.

"not a clue," he said sheepishly. "i kind of get them, but i can't explain them in detail, yet alone write out examples."

"oh, okay," chaeyoung said. "we're both screwed then," she laughed.

chan wasn't the best at chemistry, but he was well above average, so he didn't feel like he needed to focus on it. he was just barely passing maths though, so that was where he concentrated all his efforts.

"could you finish set 13a from the maths book?" chan asked as they walked out into the hallway.

"i could do some of it," chaeyoung said thoughtfully. "but i got stuck on question 10."

"same," chan sighed. "my friend said that they're going to put a similar one in the test."

"damn," chaeyoung sighed. "it's really hard to find time for studying when i have training and all that."

"same," chan sympathised. "how's jyp?"

"it's great," chaeyoung smiled, "but extremely rough. i'm doing okay, though."

"that's good to hear," chan said as they reached the stairs.

chan wasn't part of any clubs as he had no time, but he was pretty sure that chaeyoung had recently joined choir, which was on that afternoon. she had said it was for extra vocal practice outside of her usual training at jyp entertainment. chan admired how she was able to fit in so many extracurriculars even with the schedule of a trainee.

"see you tomorrow," she smiled. just as chan was about to part ways with chaeyoung, he saw seungkwan walking down the hallway.

"seungkwan!" chan called out, waving. seungkwan smiled, but hesitated a little when he saw chaeyoung.

"hey, chan," seungkwan nodded. "chaeyoung," he bowed his head a little.

"seungkwan! are you going to choir today?" chaeyoung asked.

"yeah," seungkwan said quietly.

"cool. you haven't shown up in a while! everyone's missed you," chaeyoung smiled. "see you around, chan."

chan smiled and waved goodbye to both of them as they walked to the choir room.

he trudged home and dumped his bag on his table. he finally was able to study when previously, he had to go to training straight after school. pledis trainees had a week break over the new year, but chan still had to study, so he couldn't exactly relax like he wanted to.

he called jisoo and asked if he was free, and he was, so chan ate some bread before heading down to jisoo's apartment.

they spent the next six hours on the most recent chapters of his textbook. jisoo had been stumped on some of the most important questions, and chan felt bad for him.

"sorry, i don't remember learning any of this," jisoo said, clutching his head. "korean curriculum is really different to what i studied in america."