Seoul High: Chapter 5

WooYoung stared at his blinking laptop screen, waiting for it to give him a sign of what he should do next, when he felt someone watching him. He slowly turned around, hoping it wasn’t SooYoung. He was relieved, and a bit confused, to find Teacher Lee instead.
“Shouldn’t you be practicing for your final? You only have five days, you know.”
“Yes, but…I’m a bit confused and frustrated about something. I wanted to clear my brain before I started rehearsing. It’s never good to dance without an empty mind.”
“True, true. What’s bothering you? Is it family? A girl?”
WooYoung cocked his head to the side. He knew he could trust Teacher Lee, but he himself didn’t know how, exactly, he was feeling. Would he be able to put it in words for someone else?
“Maybe. I mean, I don’t know. I have a friend who might like someone, but I think it’s dangerous.”
“And why are you interfering? If you really want her to be safe, let her fall flat on her face. That’s how you learn.”
“But—“
“You care for her. Yes, I know. It’s typical. You teenagers are all the same; you have no originality. No offense. Just let her choose her own path. She’ll come around eventually.” With that, she got up to leave.
“Teacher Lee?”
“Hmm?”
“Is it true that you were raised in America.”
“What do you think?”

It sure would explain a lot.

Woo stared at his computer once again. Who could he turn to for help in a situation like this?
He took out his cellphone and pressed one.
Hopefully his bro--
“Hello?”
“Uh, hey hyung.  What’s going on over there?”
“It’s been a while since you called. I was beginning to worry about you. Mom’s going crazy. She cries every day. You’d think she’d have her hands full with three other kids, but no, her little Woo is probably all hungry and losing weight over at that school. Oh, how hard they make you work over there, according to her. Me? I say you’re probably having the time of your life. No mom, no annoying siblings, and more than enough time to play StarCraft.”
WooYoung smirked. His older brother’s obsession with videogames hadn’t decreased one bit.
“So why’d you call? Something happen?”
“Well…yeah. I have a friend that—“
“Girl or boy?”
“Girl?”
“Why are you so uncertain of her gender? Is she…you know…?”
“No. Just…don’t judge, okay?”
“Let me guess—you like her, she likes someone else, you don’t like the person she likes, and none of you get what you want. Am I correct?”
“How did you—“
“Been there, done that. It’s always the same old story. Lemme just say that every story doesn’t have the same ending, although it may follow a similar plotline. Sometimes you’ll get a happy ending, and sometimes…you won’t. Is she pretty?”
“Yeah. But…listen. I don’t even know if I like her. She’s my best friend. What if I just want to make myself believe  that I like her because that’s the way it always is?”
“Good point. How do you feel around her?”
“Like…I dunno. Like myself?”
“That’s good. Look, as your older brother, I’m supposed to give you amazing advice, but I think you shouldn’t try to speed things up. I know it’s hard, but if she likes someone else, you can’t force her to stop liking him. You’ve just gotta go with it. You can try dating other girls, but I say that’s a flop. I don’t believe in jealousy, and I don’t believe in one-timers. If you’re gonna love someone, do it right. Don’t mess up. Life isn’t a fairytale. I don’t want reality to slap you in the face one day, so I’m doing it myself.”
“Thanks hyung. This really helped, actually. Tell mom I really liked the fried meat-and-rice she sent me, although it wasn’t necessary; we do have food here, you know. And tell me if you ever pass Level 45. Not that you will or anything.”
WooYoung closed the phone before his brother could protest, smiling to himself.
Thank god he wasn’t the oldest child. It was so much work.

**

NichKhun and Junho sat at a table, their heads bent over WooYoung’s Composing notebook. It was full of absurd lyrics:
Do you ever think, I’ll be the one, for anyone?
Will the stars ever align themselves for me?
Will I ever be the one, the only one, for anyone?

“This is nonsense,” NichKhun spat out, shaking his head in disgust. “It almost sounds…”
“Gay,” Junho sniffed. “Is he in love or something? You still haven’t told me what’s going on. You don’t expect me to cluelessly stare on as I watch you make weird faces and say random things to Woo, do you?”

“I thought that you, Captain Obvious, would’ve figured it out by now: He likes Dara.”
“Well…that’s an interesting assumption. Are you sure, though? I don’t like jumping to conclusions. Assuming things can make you look like a complete ass at times.”

NichKhun stared at Junho. There he goes, defending WooYoung again. Would he ever do that for me?

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure. I mean, he practically said it the other day.”
“Just…don’t make him feel uncomfortable. Don’t press him about it, or he’ll blow. Trust me, I know. My sister’s like that.”

Just then, WooYoung walked into the cafeteria, smiling as he talked into his phone.
“Who’s he talking to?”
“His brother, most likely.”
NichKhun felt inexplicable envy towards this brother. He wanted to have WooYoung’s attention. All of it. He felt as though he deserved it, although he hadn’t particularly done anything for it. It frustrated him so much that he didn’t have anyone that knew everything about him; that he could share all his secrets with.

But…wait…He’d completely forgotten about G-Dragon. He’d played the whole thing so coolly that NichKhun had failed to remember that he knew about the…thing. He slowly got up and ruffled his hair, which stood up on its burnt orange ends.

“I…I’m gonna…I have to leave,” Junho looked up from the notebook, a surprised look on his face.
“Uh…okay. Sure.”
“See you…later.”

NichKhun shook his head and walked away as quickly as his feet would take him. What would they think if they knew his secret? Would they ever look at him the same way? Nich highly doubted it. He didn’t have any regrets about telling someone, but he was having second thoughts about choosing GD; not particularly because he’d tell more than the fact that WooYoung, whom he considered to be his closest friend, despised him, despite his overexaggerated denial of the obvious fact.

He went straight up to the balcony, knowing that GD would be there.

**

 Yoona stroked her pillow over and over, fighting back the tears that were threatening to spill over and ruin the foundation that she’d let Yuri apply on her. Her fingers were shaking, and she could feel the hiccups beginning at the bottom of her stomach.

Why did she always agree to stupid things? She wasn’t stupid, and she knew it, so why did she act so defenseless? It was her fault that she was in this position, not anyone else’s.

There was a soft knock on the door. Yoona buried her face in the pillow. A more forceful knock followed.

“Ya, unnie, open the door, or I’ll break it!”

Yoona wiped her face and got up to open the door.
“Hey SooYoung.”
“Don’t ‘hey SooYoung’ me. I’m headed over to beat the literal crap out of Yuri and Jessica, and wanted to stop by to ask if you’d like to give them a last message.”
“No, no, no. You can’t do that. Sit down.”
“No! I’ll do what you never do! I should’ve done it a long time ago, anyways. You know that.”
Yoona couldn’t deny that SooYoung was…a bit of a tomboy. She was breathtakingly gorgeous, but she spent all her time watching sports, playing videogames, and gorging herself on fifty too many kim baps. When she wasn’t doing that, she was dancing.

“Yeah, but…I mean, you’re an amazing person. We love hanging out with you!”
“Are you sure Jess and Yuri aren’t just hanging out with me because they think I’m pretty? Most of the time, they ignore me, because everything I do is irrelevant to them and their meaningless, Americanized lives. Anyways, that’s not important right now. Those girls completely embarrassed you in front of Taec! Aren’t you mad? Infuriated? Don’t you want to punch them? Why are you so damn calm?” SooYoung tugged at her long hair, her eyebrows pulled together.

Actually, Yoona wasn’t angry. She was just hurt. Why Jessica and Yuri made her up and told her to go wait in front of Taec’s room, only to have him open the door to get out half an hour later and see her, was beyond her. She’d never done anything to them. Was this their idea of revenge for letting the girls go by themselves the other day.

“Soo, to be honest, I like you the best out of all these girls. I mean, I don’t like picking favorites, but I can’t help but love you.”
SooYoung snorted. “Probably because I resemble a boy.” Seeing the look of shock on Yoona’s face, she chuckled. “I kid, I kid. Go on.”
“Sunny’s too desperate. I love the kid, but she’s really gotta let go of things. Without noticing it, she’s letting her life become like those reality shows that her sister watches. As for Yuri, she’s just…whatever. Let’s not even get into that topic, eh? And Jessica is just self-conscious. Why else would someone like her legally change her name, dye her hair, lose 25 pounds, and slather on a bunch of makeup and tell everyone it’s natural?”

SooYoung shook her head and took Yoona’s hand in hers. “To be honest, I’ve been acting kinda self-conscious lately, too. I…really like this kid, WooYoung—“
Yoona’s eyes lit up. “I know that kid! He is so adorable. Good choice.”
“Well, yeah, but I haven’t been acting like myself around him. The other day, when we went to the café, I tried talking to him, and made myself look like a complete fool. I’ve never fired so many questions or acted so girly around any guy. And the thing is, I’ve never had this problem before. This is all so new to me.”
Yoona ducked her head, so SooYoung wouldn’t see her beaming. All she’d ever wanted in the world was to be a big sister to someone, and here was her chance.
“We’ve all been there. You act differently because you think that he won’t like your true self, but I’ve seen him around plenty, and I think he’s more into girls that express themselves. He also hangs out with really nice people. That Junho kid can dance.”

SooYoung nodded. “You’re right. I’m being crazy. We’ve got a date, anyways. Hey! You and Taec can come along! That’d fix the awkwardness between you two.”

Yoona closed her eyes as she flashed back to herself standing in front of the door; Taec asking her what she was doing; her hopefully replying that she thought he wanted to talk to her; him shaking his head and walk away.

“No, I don’t think that’s a good idea. He doesn’t want to talk to me.”

SooYoung’s face took on a more stern look. “You’re coming.”
Yoona sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
“But this time, don’t tell the girls, and don’t wear makeup. You’re naturally so pretty that it looks scary on you,” she got up, blew a kiss at Yoona—“Saranghaeyo, Yoo,” —and left.

Yoona sighed once again. She’d left out the part about WooYoung constantly staring at Dara.

**

Everyone was practicing for the rehearsal in the auditorium when WooYoung and Daesung arrived. Girls and boys doing choreography, practicing their songs, and some in the corner, writing or reading. Daesung rushed over to them, his sketchbook tucked under his arms.

WooYoung joined Dara, CL, and G-Dragon, who never seemed to leave and watched them try to choreograph a dance for “Just Can’t Get Enough”. Woo scrunched his face up.

“Whose song is this?”
“Mine,” GD said, wiping his face with a towel. “Why?”
“What’s its special meaning to you?”
“I like it. And I can never get enough of anything, you know? Everything gives me an adrenaline high. I have fun while doing whatever thing.”
“That’s stupid.”
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Dara said, stepping up and pouting at WooYoung.
“Nah, not a problem. Take it easy, man,” GD said, clapping Woo on the shoulder and shooting a grin at him.
“Whatever. Anyways, Dara, I need your help with something. How would you like to be my dance partner for the final?”
“Actually,” CL, who’d been staring at GD’s shaggy blonde hair like she expected something to pop out of it, said, “she’s doing a number with G-Dragon.” She didn’t look all too pleased with it.

“Isn’t your dance going to be solo?” WooYoung asked, trying not to blow his cheeks out, something he did when he was really nervous.

“Ah, yeah, but I’m also gonna sing, and I need a female part. She volunteered.”
Dara wouldn’t meet WooYoung’s eyes.
“But I really need you.”
“I’ll do her part with you, GD,” CL said.
“But you rap. I need a girl with a soft voice.”
CL’s face changed color, and her smile disappeared as quickly as it’d appeared. “Fine then.” She stormed off, her long blonde ponytail swinging ferociously from side to side.
“Um, excuse me? Yeah, uh, sorry to interrupt. I’m Bom,” a girl with long, auburn hair emerged out of nowhere and shook hands with all of them. “I don’t want to seem like I was listening, but I overheard you guys having a discussion about the finals, and I think you’ll be pleased to hear that you can partner up more than once with different people.”

Although it was supposed to make them happy, this news didn’t seem to do any good to ease the tension between the three Asians.

“Uh, okay. Just thought you should know.”
“Well then. That’s good, isn’t it?” WooYoung’s childish demeanor had completely disappeared, and something new, different, and fierce had taken its place.
“Um, I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to chill,” G-Dragon said before walking away.
“The nerve of him!” WooYoung rolled his eyes. Dara hit him.
“Ow!”
“Don’t talk to him like that! He has feelings, too.”
“Really? He really doesn’t show them much, does he?”
“Oh shush,” Dara playfully hit him on the arm this time, trying to ease his uneasiness.

WooYoung watched her walk away, jogging slightly to catch up to G-Dragon.

If I ever left, would she run to catch up with me?