cruel summer | dohoon tws

seven

Juri Ung

"What are you doing?" I craned my neck and stopped walking when I noticed there was no Dohoon walking beside me anymore. I found him standing behind me with an obvious question mark in his face. He quickly paced with me after I called him.

I was about to tell him to go ahead and submit this to Miss Yuri because I'd stop by the snack area for a moment, but someone calling my name from behind prevented me from doing it. Dohoon and I looked at each other before gazing behind us.

I saw the face of the guy who I just bumped into; he had this big smile plastered on his face. I'm pretty sure I've seen him somewhere.

"I'm sorry, I think I can't concentrate on the practice later if I don't introduce myself." His smile turned into a smirk, something that I hate. My brows pressed upon realising that he just mentioned the word practice, something that indicates that he's an athlete too. Just like Dohoon.

And speaking of Dohoon, I could see him raising his brow at the guy in front of us from my peripheral vision.

"I'm Jihoon, by the way," he introduced himself and offered his hand. His name is familiar too so I glanced at Dohoon to see if he knew this guy but seeing that his brows are more pressed than before makes me think he's as fonfuse as I am.

"Juri Ung," I replied nonchalantly and briefly shook his hand. There's really no need for this formal introduction but he's the one who initiated it, so I have no choice. He nodded with a smile.

"I know, I often see you at music festivals whenever we perform." My eyes widened. What? He's also there?

"You're there?" Is he part of the school student officer or something?

"I'm with my band," he mumbled proudly. Dohoon turned his head at me, then back to Jihoon.

"Synthesis?" I muttered unsurely but I smiled when he nodded proudly.

"Yes! You know us?" I was about to say something when Dohoon interrupted and dissed his hands in between us. He looked at me irritatedly and almost rolled his eyes in the process of ruining the moment.

"I'm sorry but we still have something to do as of the moment. Let's go." I rolled my eyes when he dragged me with my wrist as I followed lazily. He grabbed the paper from my hand. Just when did this guy care about submitting our essay? Just a few minutes ago, he was muttering something about how stupid it was to make us write essays and such.

"That's rude," I mumbled when he finally slowed his pace and stopped right in front of our classroom. "Well, we should submit our essay in an hour right? We wouldn't get a perfect score if you kept talking to that dude—"

"He's interesting, though." I cut him off. His eyes widened, and he dramatically pointed himself. "And I'm not?" He asked as if he couldn't believe it. I simply shook my head and twisted the door knob.

I frowned upon seeing the situation after opening the door. There are two chairs in the middle of the room and nothing else; there are also people setting up a camera.

"Omy!" Miss Yuri greeted us worriedly. "I'm so sorry, but you guys are going to have an interview today. It is so sudden I didn't even know it's going to happen today." My eyes widened. I could feel Dohoon walking closer too.

"They're going to interview us? Today?" he confusedly asked as he roamed his eyes around, obviously amused rather than worried.

Someone pulled me into the corner and made me sit on the chair. She fixed my hair and put on some light make-up. I heard Dohoon muttering, wait wait! In the background as they drag his ass.

After we're all settled, the cameraman gives us a thumbs up. We sat on the chair facing the camera. The writer spoke first.

"Just be calm and act natural. This interview will not be scripted that's why we didn't inform you beforehand. Let's make it natural, shall we?" he smiled. I compose myself as I look at ourselves through the monitor.

I have been confident ever since I was a kid. One thing I learned during the years of chasing good grades and validation is to never let everything overwhelm you. So, while Dohoon nervously looked at me, I just rolled my eyes. This is nothing.

Why is he getting nervous, though?

When the camera man's count finished at three and a loud thud of the cue echoed, that was when everything got serious.

"Can you introduce yourselves first?" The writer asked, so I nodded.

"Hi everyone, I'm Juri Ung. I'm 17 years old and an 11th grader. I'm currently the overall top 1 in our school." I smiled at the camera as it panned to Dohoon who quickly composed himself. He flashed his usual friendly smile and waved his hands naturally.

He looked calmer and more natural on camera. Looking at him right now makes me think back to the days when I was irritated with him. He looks completely different now than the guy I wanted to smack before.

"Hi everyone! I'm Kim Dohoon, a student athlete, a swimmer to be exact. I'm in Juri's grade, and I hope to get along with her through this show." His smile still didn't fade that I had to look away before everyone would think I'm creepy.

"How do you see yourselves ten years from now?" Dohoon and I looked at each other. He chuckled.

"I see myself being successful and having the career I want. I see someone who achieves a lot of things," I firmly muttered as I looked into the camera. Dohoon glanced at me.

"I see myself being a successful swimmer athlete and winning multiple gold medals in the Olympics. I see myself on TV flashing a smile while everyone knows my name everywhere," he proudly mumbled.

"What's your first impression of each other?" Dohoon was the first one to say something.

"Actually, I've known Juri since we both entered high school. This girl beside me isn't ordinary. She's spectacular and smart. But when I first encountered her, her brows were pressed and she was scolding one of her classmates. She was grumpy and I thought she's really mean. She got me scared of her. I knew we'd never get along, and I was quite surprised when I found out she's also a participant in this show." I frowned at his statement. I waited for him to continue but when the camera turned to me, I almost wanted to lash out the anger I felt when I first met him.

"This guy," I pointed Dohoon. I suddenly remember how we first met.

"He acts so dumb that sometimes I wonder if he's really that dumb with an IQ of a two-year-old kid. He's talkative and sometimes annoying. When I first met him, he was catching his breath and was chas–" Dohoon coughed.

"Well, he was running. I don't really think much of things that don't interest me, so I don't remember my first impression of him." I decided to drop it.

"It was obvious that we never complement each other, not even in the near future. We're the exact opposite. I'm curious about how we'll handle our relationship throughout this filming." The staff behind the camera looked at each other while Miss Yuri shook her head.

"Is there any chance that you'd get along in the future?" Dohoon and I looked at each other.

"No," I replied.

"Yes!" Dohoon answered with much enthusiasm.

And damn, even our answers are exact opposites.