Trust

Pretending

I spot Yeosang and the tall-and-small couple – Seonghwa and Hongjoong – immediately once I step inside the hulk-building. They're standing in the middle of the corridor, looking around as if they're waiting for something, or someone.

Making my way over to them, I try to think of something funny or witty to say as an introduction – but my mind stays blank. So I just stick to greeting Yeosang first. "Hi." I let my hand fall down on his shoulder.

"Oh." Yeosang turns around. "Hi Wooyoung."

"Hi", I repeat, then I glance over to the tall-and-small couple – only to find out that they're already looking at me. "Um. I'm Wooyoung. Nice to meet you." I extend my hand.

Yeosang stifles something that sounds suspiciously like a snicker.

"Hi Wooyoung." The shorter one – he's got flaming red hair, what the fuck – smiles at me. "I'm Hongjoong. And no need to be so formal." He glances down at my outstretched hand. I do too, and then I pull it away, embarrassed.

To cover up the awkward moment – just one of many more to come, probably – I turn to the tall guy. "So... I'm assuming you're Seonghwa?" Well, he isn't that tall to be honest, but he is taller than me, and about a head taller than Hongjoong.

"I am", he agrees with an awkward chuckle.

"So apparently Yeosang already told you about us already. He's told us about you, too." Hongjoong leans against the pillar next to him, a smirk grazing his lips.

"Oh, shit", I mumble.

"It wasn't anything bad." Seonghwa is fast to calm me. "Just that you're new and transferred here from Busan. You're also studying dance?"

I relax a bit. That really doesn't sound as bad as I expected. "Yeah, I do. What about you?"

"I do too. Hongjoong is studying music." Seonghwa smiles at me. It's a warm smile, which suddenly makes me feel more at ease. Everything's going to be alright, he seems to say with it.

"We should get going", Yeosang cuts in rather harshly. "We've got only seven more minutes till Theater of the-"

I groan. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

Hongjoong and Seonghwa chuckle, and we start making our way to the building with the 500-rooms.

Suddenly I notice something. "Don't we need to go back? You were waiting for someone at the main entrance, right?"

Yeosang, Hongjoong and Seonghwa all look at me disbelievingly, as if I'm being oblivious.

"You", Yeosang finally says. "We were waiting for you."

And this just makes my day a hundred times better, despite the looming prospect of facing Mrs Yi again in Theater of the Body. Oh, what, a hundred? Lame - my day is suddenly a thousand times better than it was before.

Not even five seconds after Hongjoong and Seonghwa have said Bye to Yeosang and me, and took off to their Music Management class, they start talking in hushed voices. I can only catch some words - dancing, festival and lights - before they turn around the next corner. But just as I'm about to ask Yeosang if he knows what their secrecy is about, he starts dragging me into the classroom at my sweatshirt's sleeve.

Once we've settled down in class, I'm quick to learn that Yeosang's mood isn't nearly as bright as mine. He slumps down in the seat next to me, rubbing his eyes – and only then I notice that something was missing this morning. Or rather, someone. "Where was Hyejin this morning?"

Yeosang sinks even deeper into his seat. "Dunno", he mutters.

I'm about to ask further... but ultimately decide against it.

After an eternity, Yeosang speaks up again: "We broke up."

What?! "What?!", I whisper-yell.

Yeosang stays silent.

Shit. This is serious. "... Why?", I dare to ask him in a whisper.

Yeosang throws Mrs Yi a short look. She's not paying any attention to us. In fact, I'm pretty sure that she's deliberately ignoring us since Yeosang didn't read the compulsory essays last week, and I pulled that stunt with Walter. Mrs Yi stills seems to be mad at me for practically inventing a literary work – in my defense though, I didn't invent the title... Only pretty much everything else. And of course, my spontaneous lie has become pretty obvious within the first ten seconds of my stuttering summary of a non-existent essay I've never read.

"I kinda... fell for someone else." Yeosang gulps. "It felt wrong being with her. I didn't want to pretend to be in love with her anymore."

I know at least one thing for sure: he was shit at pretending. Even I noticed. Probably Hyejin was the only one in uni who did not, simply because she was – is – in love with him.

Poor Hyejin.

"So... who is it?", I inquire before I have thought it through if this is really my business.

Yeosang bites down on his bottom lip, then looks down at his lap, blushing. "I kinda... like my flatmate. San."

Oh.