Kpop

Yuri looked over at Brian, who only shrugged. “Why not?”

The two each grabbed a mic and began looking through the songbook. Yuri was surprised at how calm she felt, considering she was about to sing karaoke with Brian freaking Kang. 

“Hm… what song should we pick…” Brian murmured, flipping through the pages of the songbook. 

Yuri noticed a strand of hair fall into the boys eyes as he read over the song options, causing a blush to creep up her neck

Even his side profile is perfect… how is this dude even real?

“That’s it!” Brian exclaimed suddenly, snapping Yuri out of her stupor. 

The girl followed his finger to see none other than “All Star” by Smashmouth. 

Yuri gave him a look as if to say “Really?”

“Yeah, you know this song, right? Everyone does.” The boy said enthusiastically.

Yuri laughed and nodded in response.

“Also, it’s practically the theme song to Shrek. So we have to sing it.” Brian pointed out, typing in the song number. 

Each took their positions in front of the TV, mics held at the ready. The two grinned and exchanged looks as the song began to play. 

“Somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me…” Brian began, wiggling his eyebrows at Yuri. 

“I ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed.” The girl managed between laughs. 

The duo continued the song, Yuri barely keeping herself together the whole time. Reaching the chorus, Brian and Yuri belted out the lyrics, earning cheers and laughs from the rest of the group. 

“Hey now

You’re an all star

Get your game on

Go play

Hey now

You’re a rock star 

Get the show on

Get paid

All that glitters is gold…” 

The two made eye contact, taking a deep breath for the next iconic line—

“Only shooting stars break the

MOOOOOOLD!”

Brian and Yuri lost it and doubled over in laughter, causing them to miss the entire next verse. 

Yuri felt her heart going 100 miles per hour. 

It was at that moment that she realized she loved being around Brian. She loved laughing and joking around with him. And she really wanted to spend a lot more time with him.

Ah, crap. 

After trying to compose themselves for the next few minutes (but to no avail), the automated message came onto the screen, telling them that their paid time for the Noraebang was up.

“That. Was. Amazing!” Brian said breathlessly, giving Yuri a high five. 

“Yeah, we make a pretty good team.” Yuri laughed in agreement. 

It was the morning of the fan sign. The girls hardly got any sleep being too excited the night before. Hyun made them promise not to mention that they stayed up all night to anyone because she had no idea what Changbin had up his sleeve. 

“I literally can not stop sweating oh my gosh this is going to be a disaster.” Sook paced around the room like she had been doing all morning.

Yun and Hyun had both already tried calming the girl but decided that in the end it was better to just let her wear herself down or she would wear them down.

“Sook, if you would just sit and distract yourself on your phone or something you would not be worrying about being all sweaty.” Yun said from her spot on the couch.

Stopping in her tracks she turned to face their leader, “ False! I would still be sweating because it’s my anxiety NOT the movement! I need more deodorant.” She went off presumably in search of deodorant...again.

Turning to Hyun, Yun asked, “ How much deodorant do you think she’s put on today?”

Pausing her scrolling through Twitter Hyun thought for a moment, “ I’m not quite sure but by now it has to be toxic.”

“What if that’s secretly her goal? Oh my gosh That little punk. What if she is planning on making herself sick and like passes out during or before the meet so she doesn’t have to go through with it?” Yun wondered aloud. 

Hyun snorted, “She’s got big dumb energy if she thinks we won’t just prop her up and let people take pictures of her sleeping figure then because I don’t know about you but I for one and not about to dissapoint the fans. Even if we have to handcuff her to the table she is doing this.”

The girls each went back to their own activities, Yun running through her head what she planned on saying to the fans when they first arrived and Hyun scrolling through Twitter.

“There are soooooo many people waiting outside look.” Hyun handed her phone over to Yun after finding a few videos of fans outside the venue.

Yun’s eyes widened as she took the phone, “ Holy cheese. They do know they’re only allowing 50 fans in right? I mean, this is great but also...I don’t want them to be upset.”

Taking her phone back Hyun scrolled through to see if there was anything that indicated that the fans thought more were going to be let in. “ It looks like a lot are hoping to see us as we’re leaving the venue.”

“Hopefully it doesn’t get too crazy. We’ve all seen those videos and pictures of some fans at the airports when groups get there. I don’t want anyone getting hurt.”

“I’m sure our managers will have it taken care of. Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt for now. We’re not a huge group and most of them, at least from their tweets, seem decent.”

*plop* Sook, it seemed, had finally worn herself out and made her way back to the dressing room the girls were sitting in. “How much longer until it starts?”

Yun looked at her watch, “3 hours.”

Sook groaned and sank deeper into her seat, “ I just want it to be here already so I can just focus on the fans.”

Yun looked over at the eldest, “You got any suggestions?”

“I mean technically I do…” Hyun shrugged.

“Any suggestions that won’t get us in trouble?” Yun asked looking over at Hyun who just pursed her lips while tilting her head, “That’s what I was afraid of. How about we just take a quick nap. Time will fly by and when it’s time for them to do finishing touches on us they will wake us up.”

“I’m literally always down for a nap. See you two in a bit.” Hyun set her phone down and turned away from the two younger members. 

“That sounds like a good idea, I didn’t realize how tired I was.” Sook yawned and was soon fast asleep as well.

————

“Ms. Chae? Ma’am?” Hyun was woken up by one of her stylists, Onyx ,gently shaking her.

She bolted upright, “Crud! I’m so sorry is it time?”

Smiling fondly at the oldest member who she had barely begun to know, she rested a hand on her shoulder, “ No dear, but there is someone waiting in a van out back for you.” She winked and motioned for Hyun to follow her.

Hyun opened the door and let out a squeal of excitement at the two figures waiting for her.

“Come on let's get inside before anyone sees us” 

“What are you two doing here? I’m happy to see you but I’m sure you’re busy.” Hyun inquired while bouncing on the balls of her feet due to her excitement .

“That Cheshire grin is all worth it.” Kihyun said, ruffling her hair.

“We knew you were nervous so we figured maybe we could go out to eat after and having some friendly faces backstage might ease some of those nerves.” Hyungwon said while offering her some of his coffee.

“Mmm my favorite. That sounds great!” Turning at the sound of her name Hyun looked at the time, “ Looks like it’s almost time see you guys later.”

The two guys made their way backstage to wait for the fan sign to be over.

Yuri had called Jimin immediately following the car alarm incident, asking to meet up at Moonrise Cafe so she could tell her all about her eventful day. 

“Okay, so what happened?” Jimin asked, resting her elbows on the table. 

“Well, you know how awkward I am, so I had already been making a fool of myself throughout the entire detention. And then, of course, there had to be a cherry on top. So Brian walks me to my car, like the nice guy he is. We say our goodbyes, right?”

Jimin nodded. “Okay… and then?”

Yuri took a deep breath, continuing her story. “And then, the unthinkable happens. MY CAR ALARM GOES OFF. AND ME BEING ME, I CAN’T GET THE STUPID THING TO STOP. So I’m fiddling around with my keys like a freaking IDIOT, dropping them all over the place and whatnot, literally on the verge of a nervous breakdown… when Brian comes up behind me and picks up my keys for me. God, he probably thinks I’m so stupid.”

Yuri looked up to see Jimin trying to hold back her laughter, but ultimately failing. 

Yuri silently thanked God the cafe was empty, because at that moment both of their inner crackheads came out. 

They laughed for what was probably three minutes, barely able to catch their breath. 

Wiping away her tears, Jimin finally managed to speak. 

“Why do these things always happen to you?” She snorted. 

“Psh, heck if I know. The universe just hates me I guess.” Yuri laughed cynically. 

Jimin let out a slight chuckle, taking a sip of green tea. 

“Oh yeah. On top of that, the kid has never seen Scott Pilgrim.” Yuri stated. 

“What?” Jimin asked incredulously. “How has he never seen Scott Pilgrim?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Yuri replied to the dumbfounded girl. “It’s like saying you’ve never seen Titanic.”

“That movie is a gem. I honestly can’t believe he hasn’t seen it.” 

Yuri nodded in agreement. 

“Then again, I guess I can’t really say much. He made a Shrek reference, which I didn't understand because I’ve never seen it before.” Yuri admitted. 

Jimin raised her brows in disbelief, setting her mug down on the table. 

“You’re kidding.” The older girl spluttered, completely taken aback by Yuri’s words.

Yuri shook her head, a slight grimace on her face. 

“Sheesh, woman. I don’t understand you people.” Jimin said, face-palming. “Well, that settles it. We’re having a movie night, double feature. Scott Pilgrim and Shrek.”

“Sounds good to me.” Yuri shrugged, laughing at how serious Jimin was over the matter. 

They sat in silence for a moment, enjoying each other’s company along with their drinks. Yuri felt a small pang of sadness, recalling the conversation she had with Brian just hours earlier. 

“Hey, Min?” Yuri said softly, fiddling with a straw wrapper. 

“Hm?”

“After we graduate… do you think things will change? Between us, I mean. Like… do you think we’ll still be friends?”

Jimin frowned, a confused expression on her face. 

“Of course? Why wouldn’t we be?”

Yuri looked down, focusing on the ring of condensation her cup had left on the table. 

“I dunno… I’m honestly worried about all of us. We all have such different goals and paths we want to take. What if we stop contacting each other in the process? What if we find new friends or something?”

Reaching across the table and taking the younger girl’s hands in hers, she replied, “Yuri. We’ve all been friends practically forever. Me and the boys view you as family, and I’m pretty sure you feel the same. And family stick together, no matter the distance between them.” Jimin empathized. “So don’t worry. You can’t get rid of us that easily.”

Yuri laughed, the sad knot in her stomach gone. She gave Jimin’s hands a quick squeeze, then felt her phone buzz with a notification. 

Yuri frowned at the slightly ominous, completely out of context message. 

“Is everything okay?” Jimin asked, noticing Yuri’s change of expression. 

“Um, yeah… I think so. Brian just sent me a super random text.”

“Oh, I see.” Jimin said suggestively, wiggling her eyebrows. 

Yuri rolled her eyes, fighting off a smile, then typed a response to Brian.

Yuri anxiously waited for a response, her thumbs hovering over the keyboard. 

Yuri simultaneously let out a sigh of relief and a laugh, realizing just how goofy the boy was. She handed the phone to Jimin, who also let out a laugh. 

“Wow, he really knows how to talk to the ladies. Smooth, Brian, smooth.”

Yuri snickered, taking her phone from Jimin and typing a response. 

Looking up at Jimin, Yuri realized her heart was pounding. 

Jeez. You can’t even text the guy without getting nervous. 

“Yuri, be honest. Do you like him?” Jimin asked suddenly, quirking her brow. 

Taken aback by the question, Yuri just blushed and rubbed the back of her neck. 

“No. We barely even know each other.” She lied. 

Jimin laughed and shook her head. 

“C’mon, Yuri. I see the way you act around him. And the way you talk about him. Just admit it.”

Yuri wrinkled her nose at the girls words and took a sip of her drink to avoid answering. 

“Yuri, come on.” Jimin pressed. 

“Okay, fine. Yeah, I think he’s cute. I can see myself liking him… eventually.”  Yuri said, sighing in defeat. 

“I knew it! Hey, maybe he feels the same. I mean, he compared you to his favorite movie character. That’s a pretty big deal.”

Yuri laughed lightly, running a hand through her hair. 

“If you say so, Min.” She conceded. “Whatever you do, though, please don’t tell anyone… especially for Dowoon and Wonpil’s sakes. I really don’t want to risk ruining the friendships we’ve made just because of a little crush.”

“Of course I won’t tell anyone. Don’t worry.” Jimin leaned forward, offering her hand for a pinky promise. “Pinky promise?”

Yuri smiled, completing the gesture. 

Pinky promise. 

——————————————-

The week had flown by and it was already Friday. The group had just met up for karaoke. They were scattered across the room, some in bean bags and others on the couch, waiting for the Noraebang to commence.

Yuri’s stomach was in knots. She was dreading having to sing in front of Brian, and she knew Jimin was not gonna allow her to just sit it out. 

“Alright, who wants to go first?” Jimin asked, taking a slice of pizza from the table. 

Jae immediately stood up and situated himself in front of the screen, grabbing a mic. “I’ll do the honors. Does anyone wanna join me or should I just do a solo?”

“You can have this one bud.” Brian laughed, leaning back on the couch. 

Jae shrugged, then typed in the song number. 

“Secrets” by State Champs began playing through the speakers, and both Brian and Sungjin let out a groan. 

“I swear you sing this song EVERY TIME.” Sungjin said. 

Jae turned to the group, a smug smile on his face. 

“What? It takes me back to my punk rock self. And y’all were the ones who said I should do a solo.”

Before anyone could respond, the video appeared on screen, and Jae began belting out the lyrics. 

Yuri was shocked at how good his vocals were. She shared a look with Jimin, who nodded in acknowledgment. 

Who would’ve thought this little chicken could sing so well?

When the chorus started, Yuri couldn’t help but sing along. She laughed as Jae became immersed into the song, head banging and playing air guitar. 

She looked over at Brian, meeting his eyes and laughing at how flat his expression was. 

“Oh, you’re making me sick.

What is this?

Am I the one you can’t ignore?” Jae sang, dramatically pointing at Brian. 

Brian rolled his eyes and stood up, grabbing a mic. 

The group laughed as he joined the other boy for the last half of the song. Yuri, again, was taken aback by Brian’s vocals. 

What the heck? How is he both super cute AND talented?

The duo finished off the song with an exaggerated bow, and the group cheered. 

The two plopped down onto the couch, laughing. 

“Okay, you guys are actually really good. I’m impressed.” Jimin said, looking over at the two boys. 

Jae and Brian thanked the girl, their faces flushed. 

Yuri nodded, then gave a thumbs-up to Brian, earning a laugh from the boy. 

“Alrighty… Yuri, you’re up. We can do a duet.” Jimin announced, standing from her seat. 

Yuri’s stomach dropped. Mustering up a smile (actually, more of a grimace), she stood up on shaky knees to join the girl. 

The boys clapped, cheering them on. 

“You got this, Yuri!” Dowoon said, the other boys nodding in agreement. 

She made eye contact with Brian, who gave her a thumbs-up. 

She crossed her arms tightly across her chest, gnawing at her bottom lip. 

She did not have a good feeling about this. 

Jimin gave the girl a knowing look and smiled, patting her on the arm. 

“C’mon, it’ll be fun.” The older girl said, handing her a mic. “What do you want to sing?”

Yuri shrugged and left it up to the other girls judgement. 

“Oookay, I’ll pick it then.” Jimin stated, typing in the song number. 

The room was completely silent as the machine buffered. Then the song title flashed on the screen.

“Oh my god.” Yuri choked. 

“Toxic” by Britney Spears began playing.

The room filled with laughter as the famous intro played over the speakers. 

Yuri looked at Jimin, throwing daggers with her eyes. The older girl laughed, blew a kiss, and began to sing. 

Yuri couldn’t help but feel jealous of Jimin’s free-spiritedness. The dynamic had always been the same between the two: Jimin was the outspoken, let-loose one while Yuri was more of the reserved, play-it-safe one. 

They balanced each other out, that much was true. But Yuri wished she could take just a smidge of Jimin’s fiery spirit sometimes. 

The chorus was approaching, signaling Yuri’s time to shine. Or, more fittingly, her time to embarrass herself. 

She began singing the chorus, trying with everything she had to keep her voice steady. Her ears burned as she heard the boys cheer behind her and clap along to the lyrics. 

“I'm addicted to you

Don't you know that you're toxic?

And I love what you do

Don't you know that you're toxic?”

Jimin joined Yuri, lightly bumping the younger girl with her hip. She grinned, feeling herself begin to move to the melody. 

Wow, am I actually starting to… enjoy this?

The last chorus rolled around, and much to Yuri’s surprise, the two girls were fully invested in the song. 

The song ended with the two girls laughing and giving each other a high five. 

“Dang, guys! That was a whole MTV performance.” Jae laughed, “Brit would be proud.”

Brian held out his hand for a fist bump, which Yuri happily reciprocated. 

Sitting beside him and earning a raised eyebrow from Jimin, Yuri let out a sigh. 

“You know, I honestly couldn’t tell your cover apart from the original. You just need to learn the choreo and you’re all set.” Brian joked, nudging her with his elbow. 

The girl let out a laugh. “Yeah, maybe we should all learn the choreo together. Like a group effort kind of thing.” 

The next hour consisted of Sungjin and Dowoon singing “Friday I’m in Love” by the Cure, followed by Jae and Wonpil doing their rendition of “It's Gonna Be Me” by *NSYNC (and barely making it through the song). 

Pretty soon the time they booked for the Noraebang was almost up. 

Yuri watched suspiciously as Jimin and Jae whispered to each other, glancing at both her and Brian. 

Suddenly Jae clapped, then announced, “So we have time for one more song. And we’ve nominated Yuri and Brian to sing a duet.”

“Right in front of my salad?”

“Weird flex but okay.”

“I can’t believe I have detention.” 

Yuri was standing in front of multiple stacks of boxes of new books for the next school year that needed to be opened and logged for inventory. 

The rest of Calculus had consisted of her and Brian continuing to text and make fun of the teacher, who was now dubbed as “Mr. Tiny Hands”. Due to the texts exchanged Brian could not contain his laughter and neither could Yuri. 

“Mr. Tiny Hands” had then addressed the two as he chuckled and said, “Heh, you guys are funny. Let’s see how funny you are in detention.”

“It’s not that bad.” Brian stood next to her, taking in the work that needed to be done. 

Yuri looked up at him and immediately felt her heart begin to race. She could not figure out how she was going to manage working alongside Brian freaking Kang for however long it took to do this without making a fool of herself. Yeah, she texted him… but that was through a screen. It was going to be a long afternoon. 

Stepping forward Brian started opening the first box. “Might as well get started, right?”

Nodding and moving to grab the next box Yuri sighed, “Yeah, might as well.” 

They worked in silence for about 15 minutes until Brian finally spoke up. 

“Doesn’t seem like either of us will be talking the other’s ear off anytime soon.” He chuckled.

Trying to focus on the task at hand, Yuri just smiled.

“Shrek or Donkey?” 

Yuri paused what she was doing and looked at him quizzically. “I’m sorry, what?”

“Are you more like Shrek or Donkey?” 

Still confused, Yuri continued to stare at Brian like he had lost his mind. 

What in the world is he talking about? Quick Yuri say something, don’t just stare at him!

“Ummm… neither?” She finally answered.

“Well, you don’t really strike me as a Fiona or a Lord Farquaad type.” He replied as though this was a typical everyday conversation. “I myself relate to Shrek and his onions more. You know, gotta peel back the layers? But my favorite quote is actually one of Donkey’s. I like that boulder, that is a nice boulder.”

Looking at Yuri and seeing confusion written all over her face, he couldn’t contain his laughter. 

“Okay, so maybe that was not the best conversation starter. I figured making small talk would make the time go by faster, but apparently it just made it awkward, which is going to make it go slower. Sorry.”

Finally understanding the situation Yuri laughed, “Ha! Okay, don’t worry about it. I’m an awkward person anyway so it was probably me that made it awkward. I’m not too much of a talker outside of Dowoon, Wonpil and Jimin. I tend to stick to myself so I don’t really pick up on social cues.”

“You four seem really close. It’s nice to have a small circle of friends, I think. Less drama.” 

“Exactly what I think. And they get me.” She said as she continued to work.

Moving over, Brian went to open the next box of books. “That’s good. To have friends that get you I mean. It’s the same with me, Jae and Sung. Been friends for what seems like forever. Through good times and bad, we have always stuck together.”

Yuri smiled at this sentimental side of Brian that she was starting to see. Maybe Jimin and I judged them too harshly. We never really did know them.

“So how did you four become friends? If you don’t mind me asking.” Brian turned to her.

Yuri relayed the story of JB and how Jimin had come to her rescue. Then how she and Jimin noticed the two quiet boys were always by themselves and how one day they decided to sit with them during lunch in the sixth grade. The four have stuck together ever since. 

“What about you three? You guys have been friends forever too, right?” She questioned, handing some books over to Brian.

“Yeah, pretty much. It was fifth grade when I moved here. Sung and Jae were already friends and they were the first two to approach me. When we were younger, Sungjin always came to either my or Jae’s place because his parents go out of town a lot for work. Our parents basically view him as another son too.” The boy explained. “Well, all of our parents practically gained two extra sons when we became friends. When we weren’t at our own homes we were at the others. It’s nice. Weird how it’s all about to change with us about to graduate, you know?”

Feeling it hit her that her little group of four would soon separate, Yuri had a solemn expression on her face. “I hadn’t actually thought about it changing, but you’re right. It won’t be much longer until we are all moving on to bigger things.”

Sensing the change in her mood, Brian shoulder bumped her. “Hey, don’t be sad. I’m sure everyone will still stay close. How does that saying go? True friends are never apart, maybe in distance, but never at heart.”

Yuri started laughing as Brian stood admiring how carefree she suddenly seemed. It wasn’t a part of her he had seen yet. Truthfully, he really hadn’t seen too much of the girl’s personality. She was always so reserved. 

Finally trying to figure out what exactly made her laugh so hard, he asked, “What? Is it that funny for you to hear me say a cheesy quote?”

Wiping away tears from her eyes and standing up straight she replied, “Actually, it kind of is. I mean, coming from someone who just a few weeks ago I thought was very intimidating, it is quite ironic.”

“Alright, alright. I guess. But were we really intimidating enough to be called the cold brew crew? I didn’t think we were that bad.” He said, which had Yuri’s laughing immediately come to a halt.

Facepalming, Yuri pleaded, “Can we please pretend that never happened? I cannot believe they told you about that, oh my god. So embarrassing.”

“Now who is laughing,” Brian replied, “and here I thought this whole time you were just this quiet, shy yearbook girl that minded her own business. Little did I know that you were making names for people.”

“At least I didn’t make a name for myself.” Yuri muttered, turning away to write down how many books she had just counted.

“What was that?”

Crap. I guess I spoke that out loud instead of thinking it.

“Oh, nothing. I just coughed.” Yuri lied horribly.

Narrowing his eyes, Brian replied, “Hmmm, sure. Not like we all don’t have something. We all have baggage.” 

“Yeah, well my baggage doesn't try to kill me every five minutes.”

“Wait what?”

Yuri looked up from what she was doing, “I spoke out loud again didn’t I?”

Brian nodded.

“What exactly did I say?” 

“You said, and I quote, ‘Well my baggage doesn’t try to kill me every five minutes.’ What’s that about?”

“You don’t know Scott Pilgrim?” Yuri asked, completely bewildered.

“Who?”

“Oh my god. You legitimately don’t know.” Yuri looked at him with eyes widened. 

“Yuri, who is Scott Pilgrim?” Brian asked eagerly.

“It’s only one of the best movies ever made.” She replied.

Brian just looked at her, trying to determine if she was joking or not. “A movie? You’re this serious about a movie, Yuri?”

“You were serious about Shrek, weren’t you?”

Breaking into a chuckle Brian shook his head. “Okay, fair point. So what’s the deal with this movie? Why is this guy’s baggage trying to kill him?”

“It’s not his baggage, it’s Ramona’s.” She replied matter of factly.

“That does absolutely nothing to help me understand.”

Sighing Yuri quickly explained, “Scott has to fight and defeat Ramona’s seven evil exes so that he can be with her because he is ‘in lesbians with her’ cause he can’t say love.”

Brian.exe has stopped working. 

Shaking his head out of his stupor Brian looked at Yuri. “I have no clue what you just said and it seems the more I try to understand the more confused I get, so I’m just going to let it go.”

“It looks like we are done anyway.” Yuri had put away and logged the last of the books.

“Guess my awkward conversation starter did it’s job then.” 

“Yeah, I guess it did.”

Brian and Yuri filed away the papers and left them on the desk where the teacher had told them to. They were walking out of the classroom when Yuri realized she had left one of her books in her locker.

“Oh crud, I gotta go back to my locker. I’ll see you tomorrow Brian. It was… nice. Not the detention part but I guess the Shrek part was okay.” 

The Shrek part was okay. Yuri what are you doing. Just say goodbye like a normal person and leave.

Smiling Brian started walking with her, “I’ll walk with you. I don’t need to rush to get to Sung’s place. And I would hate for you to have to walk to your car by yourself.”

Feeling a blush creep up her neck, Yuri put her hands in her pockets and focused on the ground. “I appreciate it but you really don’t have to. It won’t take me long.”

“Well, see if it won’t take long then it isn’t a problem. Even if it did, it still wouldn’t be a problem. Friends look out for each other, right? I mean, after getting detention together I’d say that makes us friends.”

She smiled up at the boy and seeing his smile only made hers grow wider. “Yeah, I guess so.”

The two walked to her locker and got her book, then made their way out to the parking lot. Brian decided to walk Yuri to her car. 

“Okay, well I’ll see you tomorrow Yuri. I’m sorry about detention by the way. But hey, I enjoyed it more than the actual class.”

“Don’t worry about it. Yeah, I was seriously about to fall asleep in there if you hadn’t texted me. I’ll see you tomorrow Brian, have a good evening.”

Brian started walking to his car and Yuri watched him for a moment, hoping he wouldn’t turn around. Thinking it was nice to actually get to know him a little bit more, she was grateful for the time she spent with him. Granted, she didn’t like the fact that she had to get detention. But in the end it was worth it. Turning to her car, she went to open the door, eager to get home and get started on her work. 

HONK HONK HONK

Lost in her thoughts, Yuri forgot to unlock her door before she started to open it. Now the alarm was going off. A very flustered Yuri pulled out her keys, only to drop them as she tried to find the right one. 

Oh my god, no. This is not happening. Why me, why does the universe hate me? Ugh, stop shaking and dropping the keys. Just pick them up. Oh god please let him have left already, this is the last thing I need. 

A hand reached down to pick up the keys that she repeatedly dropped and her alarm stopped. Brian helped her up.

“It’s okay. It’s happened to me before too.” He offered her keys back to her. 

Face fully flushed she said a quick thank you and goodbye again before getting into her car. 

“This had got to be one of if not the best caramel macchiato I’ve ever had.”

Youngjae chuckled, “Well seeing as how this is your second cup already in less than an hour I’d have to believe you.”

“Don’t judge my caffeine needs.” Violet said before taking another sip of her drink.

“No judgement here. My friend Brian, I’m 99% sure that if he got cut he wouldn’t even bleed, it’d just be coffee that would come out of him. 

“That’s...an interesting image, slightly disturbing but hey yolo.” Violet shrugged.

“We are literally sitting here looking at and studying the anatomy of the human body with various graphic images included in the books and you think that is disturbing?” he asked, looking at her in disbelief. 

Nearly choking on her coffee, Violet laughed at the look on Youngjae’s face. “ There’s a difference though. You see, I chose this class which means I technically chose to have to look at these images. I however, did not choose to have an image of some guy bleeding coffee put into my head. All these coffee grounds coming out and black coffee staining everything”

“You don’t even know what he looks like!” He protested.

“Stock photos.”

“What?” Youngjae asked, eyebrows raised and head tilted to the side. 

“Stock photos. You know. We all have random images of strangers we may have met in passing or saw from a distance and for some reason or another you remember their face. Which leaves you with a head full of stock photos in case you ever need to imagine someone you’ve never met before” Violet answered matter of factly.

Youngjae took a moment to process all he had just heard before he responded, “That is insane, stock photos? Who refers to random peoples faces as stock photos???It sounds so … odd. And low key creepy too. Like how a serial killer or something of the like would refer to their victims”

“Welcome aboard the Violet express, where any and all things said and done are not for the faint of heart.” Violet said with a smirk and a wink.

“I don’t recall buying a ticket for the Violet express so how about I just get off at the next stop?”

“That’s the great thing about the Violet express! You don't need to buy a ticket. Once you become my friend you are automatically a lifetime member. And there are no stops.” She smiled like the cheshire cat as Youngjae sat across from her shaking his head in disbelief.

“I feel like there should have been some sort of disclaimer before I unknowingly got on board. That’ll teach me to strike up a conversation with people I don’t know in class.”

The two started laughing which caused other patrons of the cafe to look their way in an attempt to see what all the commotion was about. 

“Alright, alright. Let’s get back to studying. We both need to ace this exam.” Youngjae straightened up in his chair. “ How about I quiz you on the cranial nerves again?”

Violet plopped her head onto her textbook, “Those are the worst! I hate the cranial nerves. Why don’t we start with something easier?”

“Because we’ve already done what we thought was easy. And each time we completed something you insisted we reward ourselves with a break of some sort. So now it’s time to move past that and focus on the hard stuff.” He tried reasoning.

Violet hmphed and folded her arms, “ You know Youngjae, you didn’t come off as such a studious person when I first met you. Or any of the times we have text or met up for a few minutes between classes.”

“And you didn’t seem quite so...eccentric until now. Guess we’re both surprised.”

Violet narrowed her eyes, “Touché’ “

“Now that we’ve got that out of the way, which cranial nerves are in control of that eye roll you just did?” 

Violet glared at her new found friend who was grinning ear to ear. They met in a & p and had a couple of other classes together. He was shy and quiet, kept a low profile. One day during a particularly bad day for Violet she had been zoning out not taking any notes from the lecture. When everyone started packing up to leave class she snapped out of it and put her head down on her desk frustrated. 

*flashback*

“Hey ummm...you can borrow my notes from today.”

Violet heard a soft voice beside her.

She looked up to see him offering her a notebook, “I know everyone takes notes differently, but hey it’s better than nothing right?”

Violet gently took the notebook, “Umm...yeah. Thank you uhhh…”

“Youngjae. Choi Youngjae.”

She smiled and extended her hand, “Thank you Choi Youngjae. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Violet Tuan. This is really nice of you, I appreciate it.”

“No problem. It’s not a big deal. We all have our off days.”

Nodding, she bit her lip, “Yeah. Seems like I’ve had a lot of those lately.”

“Do you uhhh...want to talk about it?”

A dry laugh escaped her lips, “ You don’t need to hear my sob story. I’ll be okay. Let me thank you for the notes, how about we go grab some coffee? My treat.”

“On one condition.”

“What’s that?” Violet asked, perplexed.

“If you feel like letting your sob story out will help, then let me hear it. Sometimes it’s easier talking to a stranger.”

Violet tilted her head, “Is this some kind of trick? Are you friends with Chan?” She asked, panic rising in her voice.

Brows furrowed Youngjae responded, “ I have no idea who Chan is, and no it isn’t a trick. Just offering an unbiased ear if you need it.”

Violet was still unsure. But she decided to take a chance anyway. They went for coffee and while she may not have opened up to him that day, over a period of time she did get to know him better and they did become friends. She eventually vented her pent up frustrations to him and slowly after letting everything out she began to feel better. 

They would send each other song recommendations and listen to each other’s playlists when they would catch up between classes. One day Youngjae popped down next to her and handed over his earphones and just told her, “Listen. This song made me think of you.”

And that one song helped immensely. Jamie’s Stay Beautiful. It was perfect for her. And from that moment she had started to feel her old self come back.

*end flashback*

“Head empty. Brain fried.”

“Hey, the head is not empty. It’s full of information that is going to help you ace the next exam. But yeah, mine is kind of fried too. I’d say we did good today though.” Youngjae stretched, they had spent the last few hours drilling information into each other until they thought the other could recite it in their sleep. 

“I’m glad we studied together. It was way more productive than when I try to do it alone.” Violet said before checking her phone. “BamBam and Yugyeom are going to be at the apartment tonight. Hey! Why don’t you come over? Meet everyone?”

Youngjae shook his head, “Nah, that’s alright. I’d hate to impose.”

Waving the concern off, Violet started gathering her things, “Nonsense. Everyone is always at our place; it wouldn’t be an imposition at all. As a matter of fact, you’re probably going to be the only one there this evening that technically has an invite.” She chuckled. “ Come on, you’ll have to meet everyone at some point. Why not now? Mark will want to know who I was with for hours anyway.”

“If it really won’t be an imposition.”

“It won’t I promise. You’ll get to meet all the guys and you can stay for dinner. I’ll just text Mark and let him know I’m bringing home a stray.”

Youngjae stopped in the middle of grabbing his backpack, “Stray?”

“Forget it! I just can't get it Bin! Augh!" Hyun flung herself backwards onto the bed.

She had gone over to Stray Kids dorm to get help with a rap part in the girls' new song. It was particularly fast and she just couldn't get it to flow the way she wanted to.

Exasperated,  Changbin threw his hands up in the air and ran his fingers through his hair, "Hyun. I don't know exactly what type of flow you're looking for. It sounds fine."

"I don't want it to sound fine! I want it to be amazing,  better than our debut. I want jaws to drop."

"You know I understand but how about we take a step back for now? We've been doing this for hours."

Hyun sat up pouting, “One more run through...please?”

Before he had a chance to reject the idea, the two heard the front door opening and the unmistakable sound of some of the other boys.

“Noona! You’re still here!” Felix hurled himself into Hyun catching her off guard  and the both fell back on to the bed.

“Oof! Yeah, Felix, still here.” She mumbled from underneath the aussie who although younger was still bigger.

“And that can only mean one thing” Chan leaned against the side of the door.

“That you’re stuck for some reason and that Changbin hyung has been trying to tell you that it’s perfectly fine but you refuse to accept it.” Seungmin finished.

“Seungmin doesn’t even sit in on your practice sessions with any of us and even he knows!” Changbin shouted, throwing his hands up in the air once again.

Sitting up, Hyun replied, “ I can’t help it! And Chan. You of all people should understand.”

Sitting next to her Chan admitted, “Okay. That’s fair. It’s just different seeing it from the outside. You really need to get some rest. Yun and Sook are worried about you.”

Sighing, Hyun leaned into Chan, “I know. And you’re right.”

“Wow, admitting someone else is right? You must be exhausted.” Minho had just stepped into the room.

Hyun rolled her eyes,  “And just as I get comfortable, you walk in.”

“This is Stray Kids dorm not Phoenix’s so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I’m here. Now you on the other hand…” Minho trailed off. 

“Come on you two, for once have a civil conversation.” Felix begged.

“Tell him not me, he started it. “ Hyun remarked.

“You started it last time with your fake song.” Minho retorted.

Smirking at Minho Hyun replied, “ Awwww can’t let things go huh? What are you twelve?”

Minho didn’t miss a beat, “ Yeah on a scale of 1 to 10 meanwhile lucky for you mirrors can’t talk or laugh.”

Hyun abruptly stood up, “You know what? One of these days you’re gonna choke on all that crap you talk.”

“Enough.” Chan raised his voice just enough to get their attention, “Sometimes you two are worse than Hyunjin and Jisung were. Why do you do this? I know you’re actually friends.”

The exasperation flowed from his mouth and straight to them. Opening her arms Hyun walked towards Minho who returned the gesture, “Honestly, it’s kind of a stress reliever. It’s not like we want to go after our members, that would make things worse. Plus we know we can take it and how far we can take it.” Minho shrugged as Hyun nodded alongside him.

Shaking his head Chan walked past the two, “You staying for dinner?”

Pulling her phone out of her pocket she noticed a text from Yun. 

“Nah, I better start heading home. Thank Bin.”

She went around giving hugs and as she got to Minho he spoke up, “I’ll walk with you. It’s too late for you to be out alone.”

“Told you someone would end up hearing it.” Minho shoulder bumped into Hyun.

She threw her head back with a laugh, “Yah Lee Minho. Maybe one day you’ll get lucky and I’ll need help with a dance.”

“Ugh I don’t want the crummy part of you.”

“But the great Minho could totally help me out.”

“A dancing feat to tackle. Maybe one day. Anyway, are you ready for tomorrow?”

Hyun released a sigh, “Yeah and no. I’m excited to meet the fans but what if I don’t live up to what they expect?”

“Look, I’m not one for being all mushy but honestly you’re great. Your fans love you already and you will definitely feel it more once you meet them. They’ll see how great you are. And if anyone has anything bad to say...Chan hyung and Changbin will go after them.”

Hyung doubled over with laughter, “Wow, I actually thought you were going to try and be my knight in shining armor.”

“And ruin this face? That’s a hard pass.” He chuckled.

“You’re more of a moron in tinfoil anyway.”

“And look here’s your dorm.” 

Laughing the two said goodbye with Minho promising to text once he was homome.

“Unnie you’re home!” Sook jumped over the couch and ran to give Hyun a hug.

Yun peaked her head around the corner, “Hey! Dinner’s almost ready! Go take a shower and then after we can eat and talk.”

“Sounds good! BRB ladies!”

Hyun was in the midst of gathering her clothes when she received a notification. She decided to take some time to respond before she showered. 

***Idk why but I can't post using desktop right now. Hopefully it'll get fixed soon. ***

“I hate…”

“Mondays. We know, Jae.” Wonpil cut the other boy off with a laugh. 

The group all sat at the lunch table, picking lazily at their food, more preoccupied with conversation and friendly banter.

Yuri and Jimin had caught up significantly with yearbook work, so they decided they could afford to sit with the group at lunch for the day. 

“I’m glad you could join us, ladies. Now I have more people to make laugh with my amazing sense of humor.” Jae said, straightening the collar of his shirt.

Jimin snorted, looking down at an imaginary watch. “You know what, now that I think about it… we honestly don’t have that much time before our next deadline. We should probably go.”

“Man, Jae. Your jokes must be pretty bad to make Jimin want to do yearbook work.” Sungjin laughed, slapping the boy on the back. 

The group laughed as Jae struggled to come up with something to say in retort to the older boy. 

Yuri leaned back in her chair, a feeling of contentment overcoming her. She had to admit, she loved having more people around. 

She couldn’t believe just weeks before she had referred to these boys as the “Cold Brew Crew”. Thinking about it now made her laugh out loud. 

“What’s so funny, Yuri?” Dowoon asked, the group turning their eyes to her. 

“Nothing, it’s just… this is honestly all so surreal. Us all laughing together at lunch and hanging out. I mean, not that long ago we didn’t even know each other.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda crazy how quickly things can change. But we’re really glad they have.” Brian acknowledged, meeting the girls eyes. 

The rest of the group nodded in agreement, smiles on their faces. 

Jimin’s face suddenly lit up with realization. 

“Oh yeah! So my uncle owns the karaoke place downtown, which means I get pretty good discounts. Would y’all wanna hang out there after school sometime this week? Maybe Friday?”

Yuri felt herself cringing at Jimin’s offer. She hated singing in front of people. Especially in front of anyone she found attractive.

She glanced across the table at Brian, who’s eyes were lit up with excitement. 

“We would love to! Right guys?” Sungjin replied, looking to Brian and Jae. 

Brian nodded, a huge smile on his face. 

“I actually am pretty okay at singing. I’m totally down.” Jae said, taking a swig of apple juice. 

“I figured it would make your week more bearable.” Jimin added, nodding towards the boy and laughing. 

Wonpil and Dowoon also agreed. The only person left was Yuri. 

She felt her stomach sink as the group looked expectantly at her. 

Jimin nudged her, a huge grin on her face. 

“C’mon, Yuri. It’ll be fun.”

Yuri managed to force an awkward smile, earning a laugh from the rest of the group. 

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll go.” She conceded, much to the delight of the others. 

Jimin clapped her hands together. 

“Awesome, we’ll plan for Friday then.” She announced.

Yuri noticed Brian’s eyes on her and immediately flushed. 

Great. Just great. 

——————————————

Calculus. The last period of the day. 

Yuri felt herself begin to doze off when her phone buzzed in her pocket. Blinking her eyes and looking at the screen, she was shocked to see a text from Brian. 

Quietly laughing at the boy’s sudden realization, she looked across the classroom at him. Noticing her eyes on him, he smiled shyly and looked back down at his phone, typing something. 

Brian laughed, covering his mouth with his hand.

“Excuse me, mister Kang. Is there a problem?” The pudgy teacher asked, averting his attention from the whiteboard (which displayed his very tiny, nearly illegible hand-writing).

Brian tried to form a response but couldn’t stop laughing, earning snickers from some of the other students. 

Yuri bit her lip as the teacher put his (tiny) hands on his hips, his face reddening in anger. 

“If you can’t get your behavior under control and continue to disturb my class, you’re getting detention. Do you understand?”

“Yes… sir.” Brian managed, sneaking a quick glance at Yuri, who could barely contain her laughter. 

The teacher nodded, turning his attention back to the whiteboard. Yuri let out a shaky breath, almost in tears from laughing. 

She felt her phone buzz with a notification. 

Yuri pinched the bridge of her nose, willing herself not to burst into laughter. Taking a breath to compose herself, she began typing.