✓Crotchet || MCND Castle J

Chapter 14 - It's happening again

Minji's POV

The buzz went on for a few more days. Turns out, there are a couple more campus articles about Seongjun and his success with MCND as they top Naver search after all their performances. Their TOP Gang promotion ends today and I hope the rumors will die down soon too.

I haven't got the chance to talk to him and I wasn't sure if I want to. He's probably got a lot of things going on and that somehow relieves me because, that way, he wouldn't have to worry. I doubt he knows anything about what is happening on campus and what they are all saying about me because, in busy times like this, he almost never looks at his phone.

I went to the club room at lunch. I've joined a club months ago at Seongjun's request. It's sort of a writing club but it's purely literary where we write poems, songs, and stories.

We are now working on a collaboration with the digital arts club for our work compilation at the end of the semester which we are wrapping up this month. The project is like a magazine where the art club creates visualizations of our writings and it gets distributed to the entire campus in the last month of the sem. And our theme: Dream.

"Hey," Jihwa greeted as I enter the room. She's one of the few members of our club and she seems to almost live here because, for some reason, every time I enter the club room, she's the one I see. I haven't seen the other members since we went to that writing seminar a few months ago. Our club president, Geon, said that since most of our works are submitted through emails, it is really not convenient for most to hang around the room.

"Hey, you're alone?" I said as I sat across from her.

"Yeah, Geon just left a few minutes ago." She answered, not looking up from her laptop.

I also took out my laptop to work on my part of the project. I'm working on a short story which isn't exactly my specialty but I'm trying to see what I can do. Besides, I'm already halfway through and this needs to be passed next week so the art club can do their magic already.

Jihwa groaned after a while. She was so focused on what she's doing because she didn't talk at all ever since I entered and it has been about thirty minutes. She's the type of girl who gossips and says everything on her mind. But I'm kinda thankful because the number one gossip around campus right now is me.

"Having a block?" I asked.

"Yeah." She leaned back on her chair and tentatively closed her eyes. "Geon made me do five poems and I've still only written three. I can't think of another one. We usually have two interconnected themes. Now it's just dream. Dream, dream, dream! That word is on top of my brain for like a month now."

"Do you need help?"

"No, that'll crush my ego. Creative writing is my major. I can't ask for help from a music major. But I'm hungry, though. Have you eaten?"

"No."

"Great! Let's go to the cafeteria."

The exact reason why I went to the club room today is to hide from all the people talking but for the months I've known Jihwa, she doesn't take no for an answer.

There weren't many students around when we reached the cafeteria and I released a breath that I didn't know I was holding. We sat at the far-end corner and we silently eat for a while. I silently pray Jihwa won't talk until we're done but, of course, that didn't happen.

"So," she started. "What's the deal with you and that idol guy?"

"Nothing. Were just friends." I said in a practiced manner. I don't know how much I've said those words for the past few days to random people who ask but I'm kinda used to it now.