Jeongin's POV

After I ate my lunch, I walked out from the cafeteria to go to the singing classroom. Even though lunch is not over yet, I just want to get some costume ideas for the music video. While walking in the hallway, my phone vibrated in my pants' pocket. I then took it out and it was Kristen sending me some messages.

I checked it and her message said, 

"Hey Innie, I just want to show you the images of the four teenage mutant ninja turtles, so you can get some ideas for the outfits. The first thing we got as the outfits are green hoodie sweaters to make them look like turtles."

I looked at the image of each ninja turtle she sent me. From colored masks to weapons. And the accessories they were wearing. The accessories actually fit well with each turtle. That will definitely help make the costumes stand out for the video.

Good thing that I'm getting some ideas now.

As I kept on walking, I looked around until I spotted Eva in the dance practice room. I stopped walking and quietly walked into the practice room. She was sitting on the floor; her back against the mirror. She looked solemn and focused.

Her phone was right next to her, playing some music. I guess she's immersed into the music she's listening to.

She turned her head as she glanced at me and greeted, "Hi Innie."

"Hi Noona." I smiled back as I sat next to her.

"Whatcha doing here all alone?" I asked her out of curiosity.

"No need to worry. I was just listening to the music Felix and I were about to dance at." She told me what she was doing all by herself.

"Really?" I then started to listen to the track Eva was listening at.

It was more like a piano-themed epic remix track. This sounds interesting how they can go well together.

"Sounds amazing. I like it." I smiled.

"I showed it to Felix yesterday and he liked it too." She spoke.

"Have you planned what dance you're gonna do?"

"Honestly, not yet. I'm much more into improvising. I had this strange instinct that when I hear music, I dance spontaneously. I just pour it out from the heart." She explained to me.

"That sounds interesting." I was impressed. "Maybe you could record yourself doing an improvised dance and get some ideas based off of what you do. Kristen Noona said she does that to get inspiration for dances she choreographs herself."

"I could try that, even though I have some muscle memory." Eva spoke.

"Even though you said you don't dance a lot, you still have the sixth sense when you hear music and it tells you to dance freely." I spoke and she nodded.

"I heard that you're gonna spend time with Felix to practice the dance."

"Yeah." She nodded and smiled. "He's a nice lad."

"Do you like him?"

"As a friend."

"Not more than that?"

"No. Just as a friend."

I know that Eva wasn't telling the truth. I still remember the way they looked at each other right after the accidental kiss. Now I can hear the hesitation in her voice more than there was before. That could mean she has been thinking a lot about it recently. Even the first date she had with him.

I glanced down at her black swan necklace around her neck.

"No offense but...how come you're denying your own feelings at him?" I asked.

"I'm not interested in having a relationship. I've never had a boyfriend before. Even though my friends from London have their respective partners, that does not have to do with me. I'm just fine hanging out with friends, even if it's just one." She explained the reason.

"Are you fine hanging out with Felix?" I asked.

"Yeah." She nodded.

"You should be. That way you can get to know him even more. Maybe it'll make you realize something." I told her.

She nodded and said, "Ok. I'll just see how it goes."

"Anyways, are you going to get some costume ideas in the music video?" She asked me.

"Kristen just sent me the outfits and weapons the turtles were wearing. We already got green hoodies as the first outfits. I'm just going to look for the accessories and some fake weapons." I explained. "I think I'm gonna need some help to make costumes."

"I think I could help you out a bit. I could help you make some accessories. If you want me to." Eva offered.

I'm glad Eva noona will help me out. She's like a mom to me, wanting to help a child if needed.

"Thanks, Noona. You're the best." I thanked her, hugging her.

She hugged me back, gently ruffled my hair and said, "You're welcome."

"And hey, thanks for giving me a heads-up. I appreciate it." She thanked me as we pulled away from our hug.

"You're welcome." I smiled, happy that she felt a bit better.

"I gotta go now." I informed her as I stood up to walk out from the room.

"Let me know if you need some help, ok?" She spoke.

"I will! Bye, noona!" I waved at her before I headed out, going to the singing classroom.

Narrator's POV

It was already the end of the day, and it was the first day of official practice for the "Into The Unknown" performance. Kristen arrived early after school so she can read over her parts in peace before everyone else comes.

"Well now look who is here first girls!" Kristen heard a familiar voice. She stays still and acts like she didn't hear anything. That was until Kristen got her hair pulled and was forced to look at Gae-nyun and screamed.

"Mess her one more time, bitch!" Kristen heard Eva's angry shout and Gae-nyun got her pulled by Eva herself!

Gae-nyun unconsciously let Kristen's hair go, as she screamed of her hair still being pulled by Eva.

"YAH! LET MY HAIR GO!" Gae-nyun cried out of pain on her head; she grabbed Eva's arm, struggling to free herself.

Eva finally let Gae-nyun's hair go, yet pushed her down on the floor. Eva let out a deep sigh as she closed her eyes for a second, calming herself down now.

"That's what you'll get if you dare to pull my best friend's hair again." Eva snarled at Gae-nyun, who is still on the floor with her hair messed up.

"Maybe she shouldn't have kissed Hyunjin like she's his girlfriend and be so lovey dovey with him!" Gae-nyun yelled back.

Hailey pushed Kristen onto the floor and pulled her hair, saying, "And trying to get some alone time by going to his house for dinner this weekend!"

Eva walked up to them, and immediately, Hailey backed away from Kristen and helped Gae-nyun up. That's when Eva, as she helped Kristen up, noticed Sera wasn't with them.

A smirk crept into her lips, letting out a chuckle.

"I bet that German friend of yours didn't come to help you out, huh? Too bad for you!" Eva mocked Gae-nyun and Hailey.

"Put a sock in it, baka!" Hailey retorted. "Sera is calling her cousin before practice starts!"

"But she did tell us about what Kristen and Hyunjin were talking about in her hip hop dance class earlier today. It was a bit hard to get that information out at first, but I think she was wanting to have the fun all to herself." Gae-nyun explains.

Eva scoffed and trolled at Hailey, "Okay...baka? Oh vaca! Oh I get you now you Hafu Kiwi. You're a cow-ard."

"And you, better choke your shitty words on your throat." Eva pointed and insulted Gae-nyun.

Eva turned away and sat next to Kristen, comforting her.

Soon the rest of the girls, including Sera, walk into the gym with the teachers.

The girls sat together on the lower bleachers, as they waited for the teachers to speak. Eva and Kristen were curious as to why Sera wasn't with the other International Trinity girls, and why it was hard for Gae-nyun and Hailey to get that information from her on the kiss.

Maybe Sera was busy working on her solo dance as Eva and Kristen thought.

Eva now remembered what Jackson told him about helping Yugyeom the second year students do the choreography for the music video. Even when they helped Sera to do some flips from her experience with the German dance crew.

She sensed, however, something weird going on with Sera.

"Alright ladies, listen up," Kristen's singing teacher says, "as you're well aware, today is the first day of practice as a group. The first thing we'll do is arrange the stage positions."

She then picked the clipboard from the table next to her and continued, "I will call out your name randomly."

"From left to right: Jihyo, Tzuyu, Sera, Kristen, Eva, Gae-nyun, Hailey and Nayeon. Nayeon, you will be side-sitting on the floor in front of Gae-nyun and Hailey. But you don't have to do that right now. The rest of you can go to their assigned places." She coached them.

The eight girls stepped out from the bleachers and arranged their assigned places.

Eva knew that she would be next to Kristen, so she gave Kristen a pat on the back with a smile on her face. Kristen looked at her and smiled back at her. Kristen felt secure around Eva this time. Even when Eva's next to Gae-nyun, Gae-nyun couldn't mess her around.

Eva's smile then faded when she glanced at Sera next to Kristen. Even Sera was looking the other way around, Eva scowled at her and looked away.

"Now that you have your places, we're going to begin practicing the first part today, which is starting from the intro to the first chorus. Just step by step. If you have the paper of your assigned lines with you, you can use it this week only. Because next week, you will memorize the whole song." The singing teacher explained. "So we should be good now. Are you ready to practice?"

The eight girls nodded, "Yes, teacher."

Mark's POV

Jackson, Yugyeom and I finished helping some second year students and teachers out after school ended. Now I'm going to the practice room so I can work on my parts for a dance I'm doing with Jackson, Yugyeom, BamBam, JB, Jinyoung, and Youngjae for the festival. We're also going to include some singing and rapping with the dance for our act.

I reached the practice room I usually go to after school, and heard music as soon as I opened the door. The song sounded familiar to me that I've heard it before.

In the room, there was Mina dancing in contemporary style. She looks so beautiful when she dances smoothly with grace. Her moves were flowing swiftly like streams of river.

My heart felt the urge to dance along with her, but held back because I don't want to interrupt her concentration.

Yet I couldn't handle the urge so as I slowly approached her, she did a front walkover and sat down with her knees. She then got up, lifting her left leg forward and that's when I caught her in my arms from behind.

I gently pushed her up back into a standing position. My arms still wrapped around her as I turned her around to face me.

She rested her head on my chest and slowly turned it around as if it was a screw. As she was about to turn away, I gently held her hand and dipped her in a circular motion. She held my hand and walked away under my arm.

We bent down with our knees; I wrapped around her waist from behind, lifted her up and we spun around together. After a spin we did, I gently placed her down. I lifted her hand up and she twirled around towards me. We finally wrapped each other in an embrace, resting our heads against each other.

Not gonna lie, my heart was pounding stronger than ever before. Even when I'm with her. Goodness, I could even feel my face burning; my cheeks might be going crimson pink later. I honestly felt a bit embarrassed because I came in without her knowing.

"I'm sorry, I...I was watching you dancing. I couldn't help myself but join you. You look so beautiful when you dance." I apologized shyly.

At least I didn't stutter.

Mina smiled softly towards me and shook her head slowly.

"It's okay. No need to apologize." She replied quietly, feeling a bit shy herself as well.

I smiled back at her and said, "Well...I was done helping the second-year students with the dance choreography for the festival. I came here to work on my parts for a dance I'm doing with my third-year friends."

"That's so cool!" Mina responded. "Since you saw me practice, would it be alright if I stayed behind to watch you practice too?"

"Sure! Of course! I'll just wait here for you until you finish." I replied as I walked to the corner of the room and sat on the ground.

I spotted my reflection on the huge mirror along Mina standing in front of it. I smiled at her and she smiled back, before starting her solo dance practice again.

Eva's POV

The singing practice just finished the first part of the song, and we'll continue the second part on Thursday. I was now walking in the corridors, searching for an empty dance practice room. I was coming there for the duet dance Felix and I will start working on as practice. We were kinda nervous yet excited as well to try the dance moves we're about to show to each other.

Just remembering Jackson's advice yesterday and Jeongin's from earlier today...I'm not putting expectations this time. Yet, I'll just see how it goes.

I glanced at the dance practice room next to my art classroom, and spotted Felix sitting on the floor, checking on his phone. I gently knocked on the door and he then looked up at me.

I waved at him with a smile and he waved at me back. I opened the door and greeted him while walking into the room, "Hey Felix."

"Hey Eva. How was practice?" He asked me.

"It went good. We started practicing the first part. We'll continue on Thursday. But moments before that..." I then paused, remembering when I fought back at International Trinity by intimidating Kristen again.

It definitely winded the bloody hell up of me, just because those buggers.

I deeply sighed as I spoke out, "Gae-nyun and Hailey found out about Hyunjin and Kristen's first date, even when they shared their first kiss. Sera told them so because she overheard it. But something Gae-nyun said about that surprised me."

"What surprised you about Sera telling them about overhearing Hyunjin and Kristen talking about their first kiss?" Felix asked, obviously stumped by my statement.

"It's not that," I admitted, "it's about Gae-nyun saying it was difficult to get Sera to tell them that."

"What? Why?" Felix was still stumped but I understand.

"I don't know why it was difficult to get her with that information. I mean, she's part of the International Trinity, so why would it be?" I spoke out of my thoughts. "I knew something was off from Sera, but...I guess she might be busy practicing her solo dance for the festival. Jackson told me about that yesterday.

"Did he mention anything else?" He asked me as we tried to figure this out.

"He mentioned something about how close she is with Yugyeom, and how he stood up for Sera when she was bullied for her lack of Korean during her first year." I explained a little more.

"So Sera got bullied before because of that? That's so messed up. So she wasn't like this before." Felix spoke in disbelief.

I shook my head, feeling very gutted of what happened to Sera. "Gae-nyun manipulated her into joining the group. Now that she bullied Kristen..."

"There's no way I would forgive her for that. And never will." I firmly spoke, determined that I made that choice.

But then... flashbacks from the Louvre trip came back again into my memory. Now I felt torn up again.

"What if she changes back to her old self?" Felix asked.

"I doubt she will. Look at her now. She doesn't seem forgiving to me." I told him.

I still have this upset and angry feeling in my guts. I wish we'd forget each other forever. Better if I was reborn, I would totally forget her like she's a complete stranger.

Yet... when I felt him gently tucking loose strands behind my ear... it somewhat soothed me. I was surprised that I didn't get tensed up when he did that.

"I can't say much because I never hang out with her, but maybe if you saw what she's like without being around the International Trinity, maybe she could see nice. Some people can be redeemed, others cannot." He guessed.

"Maybe, but I still have my doubts," I said, "let's start practicing because I have some good ideas for some moves."

"Yeah." Felix nodded with a smile. "I'm kinda curious what kind of dance moves you're about to bring."

I chuckled and picked my phone, looking for the same music track we loved listening to.

When I found it, it just started playing. And I didn't notice my free hand was playing the imaginary keys from a piano. Until I looked at it and saw my own reflection on the mirror.

I didn't think what my dance moves would lead to, yet the sixth sense has come back into me again. Smiles slowly crossed our faces in the mirror. Then I let the music and beat come to control me.

Sera's POV

Practice ended not too long ago. Now I'm going home to help my older cousin Seulgi arrange our apartment. One of my friends from Germany is going to try to get into the performing arts school, so we're getting it ready for when they move in. She was talking to me about it before practice started.

As I exited the school gates, my phone went off. I look at the name on the screen and notice Michaela was calling. She's one of my closest friends from Berlin. I missed her so much since she moved to L.A. during my last year of middle school.

Answering the phone, I say to Michaela, "Hallo Kumpel! How was school?"

"It was gut. Nothing much happened. But after school I managed to get some items for the package I want to send my boyfriend, Mickey, at the end of the week." Michaela says happily, making me remember how excited she is about seeing him this summer.

"I remember you telling me about that. I recommended you send Mickey some cow spot chocolate, orange soft cakes, Chip chips, and Milka Zarte Moments for him to try some German snacks." I responded, "Didn't you say your boyfriend is Korean and lives in Seoul?"

Michaela answers, "Yeah. I thought I mentioned Mickey goes to your school."

"Really? Hmm...I haven't seen nor met him honestly." I admitted as I shrugged.

Without me noticing, I saw lights coming towards me from the side but I was too busy talking on my phone. That's when I felt someone pull me out of the way. On the other side of the road, I noticed a car passing by. Then I looked up to notice Yugyeom tightly embracing me. He saved my life just now.

"Sera?" I heard Michaela ask. "Sera are you still there?"

"I'm going to have to call you back Michaela." I said, hanging up my phone, still looking at Yugyeom.

"Yugyeom?" I uttered in confusion.

"Are you ok?" He asked me, looking a bit worried.

"I...am. What are you doing here?" I was still stumped.

"I was about to go to JB Hyung's place to help him with making music for our group performance." He says, helping me up. "I saw you crossing the road and had to save you. Please be careful, okay?"

I nodded, kinda feeling bad about myself being ignorant. Yet grateful that Yugyeom just saved me from being hit by a car.

"Thanks Yugyeom." I thanked him with a smile.

I was about to walk away to go home but then...I felt his hand grabbing mine. I turned my head, facing him, yet I don't know what he wants. Until...

"I can walk you home, if that's fine with you. I just don't want anything bad to happen to you again." He offered it to me.

I immediately told him, "That would be nice. Thank you Yugyeom." How could I let a chance to spend time with Yugyeom go to waste?

He smiled at me, gently wrapped his arm around my shoulder and we began to walk together.

Later, we arrived at my apartment after talking about random topics like working on the preparations, decorations, practices for the festival, including my solo dance practice.

"Thanks again, Yugyeom. I'll see you tomorrow." I thanked him.

"See you." He smiled at me and I smiled back.

It never fails how much he makes my heart pound. If only it would be easy to date him now, despite our current situation where our group leaders are at each other's throats. For this very reason, I keep my mouth shut about my feelings for Yugyeom.

Entering the apartment, I take my shoes off and notice Seulgi Eonni carrying some boxes out of the spare bedroom filled with some of our personal stuff.

"Hi Eonni!" I greeted my cousin.

Seulgi glanced at me and smiled, "Hi Sera! How did the practice go?"

"It went good. We just started practicing on the first part; we're gonna work on the second part on Thursday." I told her.

"That's great! I'm just organizing the spare bedroom. Can you please help me out?"

"Sure let me get changed." I hurried to my bedroom to change out of my school clothes.

I went to the spare room to notice Seulgi got the last of our personal stuff out of here since we've been organizing it since last weekend. Then I notice parts of a bed frame with headboard and some mattresses propped up against a wall.

We carefully lowered the bed frame down to the floor, then carried the mattress together to place on the frame. Then we carefully carried and placed the second mattress next to the bed.

We spotted the white side table in front of us, so we carried and placed it between the beds. I picked the lamp from the corner of the room and placed it on the side table.

"There. Looks nice, doesn't it?" I hummed.

"Very nice! Just need to put some decorations and accessories. I'll bring it up here, I'll be back." Seulgi told me, as she was about to walk out of the spare room.

I nodded and as she walked out, I leaned my back against the wall. My mind wandered to what happened moments ago.

The flashback came back into my memory again...when I was mocked by my classmates because of my lack of Korean. Yugyeom stood up for me and that's when we started having a connection between each other.

During lunch, I went to get a drink and snack to go with my lunch from the canteen so I could eat outside. Some kids from my hip hop class were behind me, and we approached the counter.

"Excuse me," I stuttered, trying to remember the Korean I learned from Seulgi Eonni, "I would like to have Milkis to drink, along with a bag of honey butter chips."

Ugh, my Korean doesn't sound fluent at all. It's not even easy with that thick German accent I have. I know it doesn't sound good because I heard some low giggles behind me and sighed in annoyance.

After I paid for my items, I took my lunch with me to head outside. Some time later, the same kids followed me after they got their food from the canteen and started saying mean things again.

"'I would like to have Milkis to drink.'" One of the kids mimicked, knowing I could hear them mock me by mimicking my accent.

They started laughing as the other said, "You got the words correct today, except you still don't sound fluent with that ridiculous accent you have. Are you sure your parents are Korean?!"

Turning around with tears in my eyes, I yelled to them, "I can't help it if I was born and raised in Germany! I grew up hearing and speaking German throughout my life!"

"Oh, someone's trying to act brave now!" Another of the kids jeered at me.

"Yeah! You should go tell your parents of what they have done to you from Germany!" Another one dared me and they all laughed together.

Man, this really hurts me. I just want to go somewhere no one can bother me like this.

Until I heard a shout coming, "I bet you want your parents to find out what you're doing to her now!"

The voice sounded familiar, causing me to turn around. I noticed it was the boy from the studio I joined since I moved to Seoul.

"You oughta be ashamed of yourselves for disrespecting a girl that not only did nothing to you, but can't help she speaks another language from the country she grew up in!" He defended me, pulling me behind him.

I was kinda startled by his sudden move, yet relieved that he was standing up for me.

"What're you going to do about it then?!" One of the mean kids taunted him.

"You bast-" He was about to fight, but I suddenly cut him off by grabbing his hand, pulling him away from them and ran.

"You could've gotten hurt!" I blurted out in English once we got outside.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't help but to stand up for you from those pea-brained kids. I hated to see you like this." He mumbled.

"You defending me is enough for me to thank you. You cannot do anything more that could hurt you then." I reassured him.

He smiled and hugged me. Then we formally introduced ourselves.

"My name is Kim Yugyeom. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Kang Sera. It's nice to meet you too."

"Don't listen to anything else those pesky worms say about you. I think your German accent is sweet. And rather beautiful if I do say so myself." He says with a shy smile on his face.

I couldn't help the redness in my cheeks as I put a strand of hair behind my ear.

"Thanks Yugyeom." I thanked him shyly, noticing the feelings in my heart.

Then the flashback faded away from my memory. Remembering it now hurts me more. If only I didn't fall for Gae-nyun's manipulation...I wanted to leave so badly right now but I can't. What if they would find out that I betrayed them? What if Yugyeom would fall out of love with me, even if I try to go back to my old self? And Eva still not forgiving me for acting so rash to Kristen? I feel like I've hurt everybody.

"Sera, I got the decorations leftover from our personal belongings." Seulgi called me as she carried a box filled with the decor.

My thoughts were suddenly snapped out when she called me. Seulgi placed the box on the floor as she carefully picked them out, one by one.

"Oh ok. So...can I put this mirror on the wall?" I asked as I carried the octagonal mirror.

"Yeah, you can put it on that now." Seulgi nodded, while finishing to pick up the decorations from the box.

So I did.

Narrator's POV

Meanwhile, Gae-nyun and Hailey were walking together on the streets. They understood Sera is busy working on her solo dance and arranging the apartment she lives in. Yet, Gae-nyun called Yeon-seok, her male cousin, to come and meet in an abandoned karaoke place. Yeon-seok said that he will bring his gang along so they can help along. Gae-nyun thought it would be a great idea for the terrible plan she and Hailey are about to unveil.

Moments later, they found the abandoned karaoke place. As they were about to enter, they saw a group of boys approaching them. There's Yeon-seok with his gang. They all entered the abandoned place together. Luckily, the windows are open, illuminating the whole interior of the building. Yet they hid in their secret place so nobody will see or know what they're up to.

"How's my favorite little cousin doing?" He asked Gae-nyun.

"Doing good, cousin. Hailey and I just got out from practice at school for the festival coming up next Friday." Gae-nyun recounted.

"Where's Sera at? You guys are usually together." Yeon-seok wondered.

"She's busy arranging her apartment around and working on her solo dance for the festival." Hailey said.

Gae-nyun smirks, responding, "Which actually works in our favor since she would be against this idea we're about to propose."

"Tell us then. What's your idea? Is that the American girl you once told me about?" He hinted.

"Big time. She screwed up big time now." Gae-nyun said through gritted teeth. "It's bad enough Hyunjin intervened and told everyone about my moment of shame from middle school. Now she thinks she can flirt with and kiss him whenever she wants."

"But she won't escape what we're about to ensue." Hailey smirked.

"We're going to kidnap her while she'll be camping next weekend." Gae-nyun told her cousin and his gang. "She'll be camping with her cousin and Hyunjin will be there as well."

"We're going to wait until she's alone and then subdue her, bring her here, and send torturous texts to Hyunjin. Then we can force him to watch us beat Kristen to a bloody pulp." Hailey added on.

"I can guarantee that he'll be very sorry." Gae-nyun smirked.

"That sounds like a great plan. It would be much fun if I can ravish her whole." Yeon-seok then snickered.

And his gang giggled along.

"She deserves nothing but a death blow." Hailey said firmly.

"I honestly don't care what's done as long as she gets beaten." Gae-nyun ordered.

"Consider it done, younger cousin." Yeon-seok replied.

The next day...

Kristen and Minho were in the dance practice room, way earlier before class started. They were busy stretching as they're also preparing the choreography to show the four boys.

While stretching, Kristen couldn't get over the first date she had with Hyunjin. Even their first kiss. Just remembering about it was like a short movie reeling in her head nonstop. It even made her heart flutter. She started thinking of ways how she could confess her true feelings to Hyunjin.

What she didn't notice was that Minho was seeing her in that deep, thoughtful state.

"What was she thinking about?" He thought.

He then wondered, "Was she thinking about Hyunjin... or me?"

He thought of asking what's going on in her mind right now, so he approached her and asked, "Hey Kristen. You seemed to be quiet this time. Is something going in your mind now?"

"Oh nothing much." Kristen says, "I'm just thinking about this weekend. Hyunjin invited me to have dinner at his house after we practiced our duet dance there. I'm excited because he suggested we make something, and I enjoy cooking."

While hearing her talking about it, he managed to pull off a resting smile on his face, "Sounds great. Seems like you're gonna have a great time with him."

Yet inside, his heart started to ache with jealousy again.

"Hyunjin is the damn luckiest guy alive that I wish I could wipe that smile away from his face." He thought.

"I'm also going to make sure everything goes well with the dance for our video. So I will help Hyunjin with the 'Shell Shocked' dance. The moves you made last night were amazing!" Kristen informs and compliments Minho.

This surprised Minho, he blushed a bit and smiled, "Really? Oh, it was nothing."

"Come on, Minho! You did great! Even though you said it was nothing, it really was something." She reassured him with a smile.

Being complimented by Kristen made him feel relieved but...it's not enough for him.

He wanted more. He wants to let her know that he wanted more than being friends with her. Kristen is the reason why he felt attracted to and was willing to risk everything for her. He just wanted to get ahead of Hyunjin by confessing to her first then him.

Yet...what he never knew...that he would end up feeling more hurt.

"Kristen..."

Trying to find his own words, he slowly moved towards Kristen as he asked,

"...have you ever realized...you've been drawn to someone...and don't care what's surrounding you?"

Now...he's very close to Kristen now as he looked at her deeply into the eyes. "Willing to risk anything just for that person?"

Kristen looked uncertain to ask, but when she heard those words...it finally clicked her mind. "Sounds like you've just read my thoughts."

"Guess I did." He nodded.

"Have you...ever been attracted to someone?"

Her question gave thoughts to Minho's head. He felt torn up between two minds: the straightforward truth versus what he yearned was the truth. He finally turned away from her, much to her relief and confusion.

"It's kind of a confusing question for me." He said, trying to think of a way to hide the fact he's still torn.

Kristen slowly nodded, "I understand. Because I have been attracted to Hyunjin since that morning from that first day."

Ouch. That kinda pinched him right on the inside.

"Any particular reason why you like him?" Minho asked, hoping that he still might have a chance.

"I honestly don't know where to begin." Kristen admits.

"You can tell me whatever it comes to your head, Kristen." Minho comforted her.

"The way he treats me and looks out for me is genuine. How he cares for me and feels for me is warm and full of love. What's there to not like about that?" She says. "In a way, he also reminds me of Jinnie. And he tells me about how I remind him of Tokki in some ways, including the way my hair looks and how he thinks it's beautiful like hers."

Suddenly, that made Minho think about Dahyun and how she's been there for him in his time of need. Now he felt more torn up than ever. Kristen was right in front of his eyes, although Dahyun in his thoughts.

Before he could say anything else, he heard the door open. Hyunjin enters with Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin.

"Hey, you guys!" Kristen greets them.

"Hey Kristen!" Felix greets back.

Minho just smiled at the four boys without saying anything. When he glanced at Hyunjin, his eyes looked away immediately.

"We were just stretching and preparing to show you the choreography for the music video." Kristen told them.

"Cool." Seungmin nodded.

"But first..." Hyunjin then paused as they all paid attention to what he was about to say.

"I just want to show you what Kristen and I have so far with our duet dance." Hyunjin spoke.

"Oh yeah, the dance! We want to see it!" Felix gently nudged on Kristen.

Jisung and Seungmin agreed along with Felix and encouraged Hyunjin and Kristen to show their duet dance. Kristen slightly blushed and glanced at Hyunjin.

They get into position to start the routine. They're standing a couple feet apart from each other, and give Felix the cue to play the music they edited for the dance.

As the song started, they turned away from each other and did their solo dances to the rhythm. After they finished doing their solo dances, they turned back, now facing each other.

Minho was watching and couldn't help the seething jealousy in his heart. The way they sync together was on flow like rippling waters. He could sense how their emotions fit with the lyrics and melody as well.

His eyes darted away from them dancing together. He cannot even handle the pain that was slowly drilling into his heart, about to make a hole.

When they finished what they have shown so far, Jisung, Felix, and Seungmin were clapping and cheering. Minho only smiled at them yet didn't clap.

Just to forget about it, he approached and told them with a smile, "Nice dance though."

He turned to the other three with Hyunjin and said, "Now, we're gonna show you guys the choreography for the music video."

"We watched the movie 'Shell Shocked' was in, so we came up with dance moves inspired by the action sequences. Minho has some great moves for the routine." She told them.

After they finished practicing the choreography, the bell rang. Minho witnessed Kristen chatting with Hyunjin. With smiles on their faces. Minho just wanted to confess to her. Just a simple thing he was supposed but ended up holding it back.

He felt stupid to himself.

Kristen and Hyunjin then hugged and he walked out to arrive at his first class.

Then Mina arrived at the practice room, looking for Kristen. She spotted Kristen packing her necessities into her bookbag and greeted, "Morning Kristen."

Kristen then smiled and greeted back, "Morning unni!"

"Come on, we gotta get into the class." Mina motioned her to come along.

Kristen nodded; she glanced at Minho and waved at him with a smile, "See you later, Minho."

Minho pulled off a resting smile and waved back at Kristen, "Yeah, see you."

As soon as Kristen and Mina left the practice room, his smile immediately faded.

He never wanted to hurt Kristen, but was surely angry that her love for Hyunjin was stronger. He wanted to try to impress her many times, but she always ends up with Hyunjin. His feelings for Dahyun began to grow, but Kristen was overcoming almost everything.

Everything he wanted to do is to confess to her but he has been a fool to himself. He realized this wasn't the right time to reveal his feelings to Kristen. He yearned to do it so badly but still, he was torn up. And Hyunjin was the one bothering him so much that he wanted to fight.

He closed his eyes, trying to hold his anger back. His jaw instinctively clenched along with his hands turning to fists. Thoughts filling his mind up rapidly made him almost have a headache.

Unable to hold his emotions, he slammed his hand against the wall.

Jeongin's POV

I knocked on the door with my palm, waiting for someone to open it for me. I have to go to the crafts classroom so Eva could help me out with the costumes. I was slightly unsure if anyone's in the room until I heard a familiar female voice,

"Who's there?"

It sounds like Eva noona. Well, that surprised me that she came here earlier.

"Noona, it's me!" I responded.

I saw the door being opened by her and held it open as I walked into the room.

"Hi Innie." She greeted me.

"Hey." I smiled and closed the door then asked, "What're you doing?"

"I was making a shell necklace with some shells I got from the beach during a family vacation. This will be for Felix's costume." She explained while walking back to her desk.

I looked at her making the shell necklace and it looked nicely done. "Oh, that looks nice! By the way, how did the dance practice go?"

"It was good. Felix was also very helpful in making sure my movements were right and that we both stayed on tempo with the beat of the music." Eva says happily.

"Just curious...did something happen between you two?" I asked her.

She glanced at me, now looking slightly uncertain of what to answer. Yet she quietly asked me, "Is it ok...if I tell you a secret?"

I nodded yet still curious what happened yesterday.

And I asked, "What is it?"

"He..." She then deeply sighed, slightly shaking her head.

I know she's hesitating to say it but reassured her, "It's ok, Noona. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

She slightly smiled and nodded.

"We actually...kissed each other's hands as an ending pose for our dance. It was weird because...we both thought the exact same thing." Eva spoke about what happened during the dance practice yesterday.

"Did you feel anything after it happened? Like a fuzzy feeling?" I asked, just wondering if she's still hiding her feelings.

"I don't know how to describe how I felt when it happened." She admitted.

"There were so many emotions going through me. Like...should I feel embarrassed or...attracted? I mean...I don't get this feeling right now while talking about it." She vacillated placing her hand on her beating heart.

I understand how she's feeling, but I also don't wanna scare Eva Noona. So I walk up to her and start talking about it in the best way possible.

"The feeling could be telling you something you may not know now. But later on, you may understand what it's trying to say to you." I explained.

She glanced up at me briefly, before looking back down at the necklace she was making.

She then broke her silence by saying quietly, "Nobody knows the real answer except me. The truth lies into my heart and I should be the only one who knows."

"You're right about that, noona." I agreed with what she said, because it's true.

I might not know what's going with her personally. Yet I know the inner conflict she's going through.

Changing the subject, I asked her, "So, have you brought anything else for the costumes?"

"Yeah, I brought parts of my cousin's samurai costume for Hyunjin to wear." She told me and I looked at the parts of samurai armor laying on the desk next to hers.

She asked me, "You think it will fit on Hyunjin?"

I nodded, "I'm sure that it will fit him."

"By the way, I brought some steampunk goggles for Seungmin hyung. And a pair of black sun goggles for Jisung ah." I spoke as I pulled the goggles out from my bag.

"Those look neat!" She says astonishingly. "My cousin also bought three headbands and a red bandana for the video when I told him about what I needed the samurai costume for."

"Awesome! Let's start working on them!" I smiled and we started working the costumes together.

Mark's POV

Second period comes quicker than I ever imagined. Which means I have to help the first and second year students with projects for extra credits. I decided to go help Mina since I want to talk to her, and spend precious time with her.

I walked into the dance practice room, and there's Mina stretching before practicing her dance solo. I placed my backpack on the corner of the room and greeted her, "Hey Mina."

She looked at me and smiled, "Hi, Mark."

"How was the dance practice with your friends?" She asked while stretching.

"We're starting to sync together in the routine. Tomorrow we'll begin going over lines for our song we'll sing as we do the dance for the showcase." I explained.

"Sounds neat!" She smiled. "Kristen was practicing along with the other girls to a song they will showcase for the festival."

Yet, her smile slowly faded as she stood up from the floor.

"I'm starting to get worried about Kristen now. International Trinity hasn't messed up with her since the beginning of singing rehearsal." She told me about the growing concern she has for Kristen.

"What do you mean? Why did they mess with her and just stop?" I asked. This is getting me concerned now.

"I haven't heard anything from them. Maybe they don't wanna get into trouble just because the festival is coming up?" She assumed.

"Or could be up to something much worse." I thought out loud, then said. "You said Kristen and Hyunjin kissed right?"

"Yeah. And when she got bullied for that, Gae-nyun said it was difficult to get Sera to say she heard them talk about it." Mina said.

"Oh my gosh, this is getting more strange now." I muttered, feeling a bit worried of what was going on around them.

"I heard that she was busy practicing her dance solo as well but... I felt like that wasn't the reason why." I slightly fretted.

"I heard they said Sera hesitated telling them. That was apparently why it was difficult." She says with worry in her voice. "I wonder why she would hesitate if she also bullies Kristen?"

"I don't know honestly. Yet I wonder about that, too." I admitted.

I was so confused about what was going on with Sera these days. Including Gae-nyun and Hailey being silent around Kristen. They're like sharks hiding underwater but its fins showing up and going around the prey.

Yet, wanting to comfort her, I gently tucked some of the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, "I do know, however, that Kristen has some support from her friends. So don't worry. Everything will be alright."

She then smiled and hugged me. Every time when I felt her hugging me, I felt warm, cozy and safe. I wrapped my arms around her in response and smiled.

"You're right. Nothing to worry about it now." She acknowledged.

"Nothing to worry about." I repeated to calm her down.