"Steady still."
"Don't move."
"I'm not!"
"Here I go, one... three!"
"Argh!"
In Yeop groans in pain as Eun Ha flicks his forehead hard after losing the card game. His friends also laugh at his misery, making him have to threaten them to shut up.
"Another one!"
After another round of the card game, finally In Yeop grins in victory at her losing. This time, the winner has to mark the other's face with the baby powder that Cho Rong found.
"Come closer."
Eun Ha stuck her tongue out at him, "I don't want to." she sings, ready to run off. But before she can dash from the scene, In Yeop holds her wrist to prevent her from going. "Fine!" she sighs, knowing her consequences.
In Yeop dips his fingers covered with the thick powder, making her stare at him in horor. As the others already get their punishment, they watch them in interest. His friends encourage him to go all out on her and he smirks evilly at her.
"Don't you dare, Hwang In Yeop." she stares at his fingers as she warns.
"Take it, Park Eun Ha."
Without further ado, he cups her face with both of his covered powder hands. His long fingers surprisingly almost covered all of her face that makes her face almost covered in white powder. Realizing it appears worse than he intends to, he laughs even harder at the result.
"Yah!" She hit his shoulder repeatedly but it only makes him laugh even harder. "I'm going to stain you precious cloth, In Yeop." she hisses.
At this, he moves backwards on his seat as she tries to grab him by his shirt. After a few struggles, she finally pulls herself closer to him as she successfully grabs him. Without warning, she bends down and wipes her face using his shirt.
His friends go crazy at their close interaction but it goes unnoticed with the two as they keep busy bickering with each other. In Yeop tries to push her away when she almost strangles him with her smaller figure.
"Look what you did!" he groans, looking at his messed up shirt and jacket, stained with the white powder.
"Serve you right!" she stuck her tongue out at him.
"Guys!" Cho Rong finally speaks up to get everyone's attention. "I think we need to move to the main hall for the last meet before we go to bed."
Everyone groans including In Yeop and Eun Ha at the thought of listening to the boring words from the teachers. Knowing they can't escape, they start to clean up the table. Cho Rong suggests her to go wash her face which she quickly agrees to.
Looking at the mirror, the water drips from her hair to her face. The warm water freshens her system. Wiping her wet face with the tissues, she pushes back her long brown lock. When she is satisfied with how clean she is now, she walks out from the bathroom and heads toward the main hall.
"I won't come home."
Eun Ha stops in her mid way at the familiar sound. But when she looks around to find no one there.
"Whatever."
At the angry voice, her attention diverts to the balcony located at the end of the hallway. When she peeks, she finds In Yeop who just ended a call with anger written all over his face.
Never in months knowing him, she sees him that mad. He looks more intimidating than he already is. As she is about to walk ahead, scared of him noticing her presence, that is when he shifts his attention to where she stands. He's surprised to see her and none of them moves. She warily looks at him, something that she never does with him. Under his gaze, she feels so little all of sudden.
"Are you going to the main hall?" In Yeop finally breaks the silence.
Eun Ha unconsciously sighs in relief as he speaks. "Aren't you going to?"
He knows that he doesn't want to be anywhere near the crowd right now. However to prevent more suspicions about his upbringing, he finally nods.
"Do you want to go together?" she hesitantly asks again.
Next thing she knows, they already walk side by side towards the main hall. In Yeop is unusually silent and it's really unlike him. Facing this side of him, making her doesn't know what to do. From her peripheral vision, she can see him looking ahead and catches him sighing for unknown reasons.
"Where are your friends?"
Eun Ha almost jumps in surprise at his sudden question. He looks at her funny at her reaction, wondering why she is suddenly so jumpy.
"I don't know. I haven't contacted them again since they left snowboarding." Now that she thinks about it, her group chat is idle for a few hours now. "Where are yours?"
"They went ahead. I need to go to clean this up." He points to his clothes which still have powder stains on it and raises an eyebrow at her.
Eun Ha sheepishly grins as she rubs the back of her neck. "Your clothes look fine to me."
He narrows his eyes at her, "Look what you did here." He points at the stain that is hard to wipes off with the water earlier.
As they are about to enter the main hall, she looks at his collar which he points at. True to his word that there are still powder stains there.
"Let me take a look."
In Yeop stops his pace and faces her with curious eyes. Eun Ha takes a few steps closer and tries to wipe away the stain. "You shouldn't wipe it with water. It'll only make it harder to wipe off."
He looks down on her, "It works fine with the jacket."
"It's leather. Of course it'll be different how to treat it." She shakes her head as she looks up at him. "Here, you should try like this."
"Make it clean."
She clicks her tongue. "That's what I'm trying to do."
In Yeop scoffs and lets her do her thing. Standing almost at the entrance, they don't realize that they are already attracting stares and curious looks at how close they are standing. Their unusual interaction becomes the main attention at a speed of light.
"You also still have powder stains in your hair," he mentions.
Eun Ha widens her eyes and quickly holds her head. She is sure that she comes out clean earlier. "Huh? Where?"
She watches how his lips slowly turn into an evil smirk before he ruffles her hair, making it messy. Eun Ha yelps at the action but before she can take the revenge, he already walks ahead and goes inside. She is left frowning at his figure but soon enough she finds Hwa Young and Ji Yeon who wave at her from the distance.
"Are you guys having fun?"
"Yah! You sly girl!"
"Ouch! What's wrong?!" Eun Ha yelps when Hwa Young suddenly hits her by the shoulder all of sudden. Ji Yeon who has been standing beside her only shakes her head dramatically.
"Were you with In Yeop when we were away?"
"Huh? Why so sudden?"
"Just answer us!"
"No." She shakes her head.
"Don't lie to us." Hwa Young pesters her again.
"Seriously. I was with Jae Hyun before then after that I joined In Yeop and his friends. Not only him." She defends herself.
"You were with Jae Hyun?" Now Ji Yeon finally joins in.
"Uh, yes." she hesitantly answers as she notices something is wrong with how they look at her.
"We met Jae Hyun on top of the hill." Hwa Young adds. "Were you with him before?"
Eun Ha nods again. "He insisted on teaching me how to snowboard."
"You refused to join with us but you played with him." Ji Yeon frowns at her.
"That's not exactly what happened." She bit her lower lips, trying to find a good reason. "But seriously, he just happened to be there when I was waiting for you guys so we talked."
Unexpectedly, Ji Yeon rolls her eyes at her and walks away. Eun Ha who is surprised to see her like this is about to run after her but Hwa Young quickly stops her.
"Did I do something wrong?" Eun Ha warily asks her and her eyes are searching to where she heads to.
Hwa Young who knows better of Ji Yeon only shakes her head. "Just give her some space. She is just disappointed because you didn't join snowboarding with us but you did with Jae Hyun."
"You know that was not what I meant."
"I know." she sighs. "I'll talk to her later. Just let her be for now."
"Are you sure?"
Hwa Young smiles and hugs her by the shoulder. "I know her. Let's just head front. The event is about to start."
Still unsure, she chooses to follow her lead.
On the other hand, Ji Yeon chooses to walk to the back side of the room. Not feeling quite well after talking earlier, she wants to disappear from the room. If the event is not mandatory, she is sure to be gone to her room by now. Her eyes catch a figure that makes her turn her heels.
"Jung Jae Hyun,"
Jae Hyun who is listening to Ho Seok, turns around. "What's wrong?"
She wants to ask about what Eun Ha says earlier. However before she opens her mouth, she stops herself and makes Jae Hyun completely turn to her direction and repeats the same question.
"It's nothing."
Jae Hyun turns at Ho Seok then nods and leaves him.
"Where are your friends?" he curiously asks.
"They are at front." she guesses.
Jae Hyun notices her wary look on her eyes and suddenly remembers something from the past. He bends down to her eye level to take a good look. When he is sure, he finally carefully asks.
"Is there something wrong?"
Ji Yeon who finally notices how he looks at her, feeling herself red all of sudden. She takes a deep breath before shaking her head.
"I'm fine," she breathes out.
"Are you sure?" he asks again, not feeling sure of what she says. "Do you want me to talk to the teacher?"
"It's mandatory to join the rundown event."
Jae Hyun gives her the knowing look. "You know that you can make yourself an exception."
At his words, she shut her mouth to make more excuses. "That will be too obvious."
Jae Hyun nods in understanding. "Let's just head to the front. It will appear more obvious if we stay back here."
Ji Yeon nods and walks with him to the front. The event where students showcase their ability to show their talents already starts. They are cheering their friends who are on the stage and the crowd goes even wilder when the show becomes more interesting. As Eun Ha slowly enjoys being in the crowd, her eyes catch on to a certain way where Jae Hyun and Ji Yeon are talking closely with each other. It's the first time she sees them that close. For unknown reasons, her chest starts to feel uncomfortable at how they interact with each other.