• • •

"Oh my gosh! Aren't you excited?" Jennie exclaims, jumping up and down happily.

"More like anxious." I correct her, taking in a deep breath to calm my nerves.

It's been a few days of practicing and I think that I finally mastered my dance. Jennie and I are currently waiting backstage as it's already time for the competition.

For some reason, the judges wanted the competition to be held at night, so if I do end up making a mistake, hopefully they won't see it.

"I'm gonna go find Jisoo, you wait here." Jennie says and turns around, walking towards the dressing-room.

I nod and sit in one if the make-up chairs while staring at my reflection in the mirror. My hair was all curled and my make-up was surprisingly done well. I've really never had so much make-up on before, but it looks good.

One of the faculty members rushes in the room with papers in her hand, and gains everyone's attention.

"Quiet down students!" She speaks in a rush while waving her papers around crazily, "The show is beginning in just a few minutes."

I feel my heart rate pick up at her words. I was so nervous, I've never performed in-front of hundreds of people before.

Everyone's family members and friends are in the crowd, as well as the judges in the very front with their overly critical eyes.

The faculty member walks up to me in a quick pace and I turn around in my chair to face her.

"Y/n, you're up first, so I'd get ready." She informs and my eyes widen.

"Wait, what? Why am I first?" I question, starting to freak out.

"Honey, your last name starts with a, C. Your dance is going to be amazing, there's no need to worry." She reassures me and breath in and out a few times to settle down.

"Okay..you're right." I nod, calming myself.

"Now, you need to go stand in the center of the stage. The curtains are closed, so no one will see you until the countdown happens." She reminds.

I turn to look in the mirror one last time, checking for any flaws, but thankfully there were none. I stand up and slowly, but cautiously walk onto the stage.

I could hardly see as it was dark and there was no light shining, yet. I run through the dance one last time in my head to make sure I don't forget any moves.

"Alright everybody! The show will begin with a countdown!" The show-host can be heard from the outside of the curtains.

I shut my eyes, preparing myself to concentrate, while waiting for his cue.

"..three.."

"..two.."

"..one.."

"Show Time!"

The curtains rush open and I stand in darkness for a second before the giant lights cut on. I could feel the heat of the spotlight as my eyes remain shut. I get into position and the rest of my backup dancers quickly rush out. My eyes pop open as the music cuts on and I begin my performance.

• I •

After the show was over, all the performers stand backstage and wait for the results to be announced.

I was still in shock from how well I managed to do my dance. I would've usually messed something up, but I was extremely focused this time.

"Y/n, did you see Momo's dance?! I was in shock!" Jisoo says and I nod, surprised as well.

"I know, but she did really good." I state with no hard feelings.

I wasn't expecting Momo to come back anytime soon, but apparently she's completing her senior year at our school.

I'm not mad though, it's been a few months since all that drama happened with her. I just hope she's changed for the better and doesn't do anything stupid again.

"Alright, the judges have the winners written down, please quiet down everyone." The show host informs.

The crowd goes silent along with all the students in the back. Jisoo and Jennie hold my hands, anxious for the results.

"The winners of this year's dance competition are, Lalisa Manoban, Bambam, Jennie Kim, Kim Jisoo, Im Nayeon, Choi Y/n, Han Jisung, and Hirai Momo." The main judge reads his clipboard out.

I sigh in relief, hearing that my friend's names were called out, as well as mine.

"Thank you everyone for coming out tonight! And congratulations to all the winners! I hope to have a great school-year with you all." The judge grins happily and walks off the stage after hearing everyone cheer.

The stage's curtains close and students who won are cheering for joy. I turn to Jennie and Jisoo, smiling brightly.

"We made it!" I exclaim, pulling them into a group hug.

"It's only right if we go out to celebrate." Jennie suggests and Jisoo and I nod agreeing with her decision.

"Now, let's go find Bambam and the rest of the guys." Jisoo says, dragging us along.

• II •

Instead of celebrating the same night of the dance competition, we all decided to wait the next day. Our trip to Sydney, Australia was the day after the competition and I wanted to sleep early so I wouldn't miss my flight.

Now, we are all currently at the beach in our swim-suits, celebrating our win. This field-trip is one of the most amazing ones I've ever been on as I've never flown out of the country before.

I was laying on my beach towel next to Jennie as we were trying to gain a tan. Jisoo on the other-hand, was in the water playing Bambam.

Suddenly, I feel a shadow blocking the sun shining on me, so I open my eyes. Yugyeom was standing in-front of me, looking down at me with an unreadable expression.

"What is it?" I ask, taking off my sunglasses to see him better.

"Come in the water." He whines and I shrug him off, turning over on my stomach.

"No, I don't want to get wet." I state, resting my head on my arms.

"What's the point of going to the beach if you're not gonna get into the water?" He questions, waiting for a reply.

"To tan." I answer, closing my eyes as the heat of the sun felt relaxing.

The corners of my lips curve up into a smile as I heard him click his tongue in annoyance.

It was quiet, so I just assumed he walked away. Until, I felt myself being picked up and thrown over his shoulder.

"Yah! Kim Yugyeom!"

I turn my head and see he's heading towards the water and I start to struggle against his hold.

"Put me down!" I shout, hitting his back with my fists, but he just laughs.

He walks until the water reached just above waist and he stops, "I'm gonna throw you in."

"Don't you dare!" I yell at his threat, trying to hold onto him tightly.

He quickly pulls me and throws me in without a warning. My vision blurs from the water and I quickly swim up, gasping for air.

"Yugyeom!" I holler angrily, but he just laughs at my now soaking form.

"I thought you might need to cool off, you were steaming over there." He teases in a flirtatious way as he was talking about my looks.

"No, I was perfectly fine where I was." I state, crossing my arms.

"Look, even Jennie got in the water." He points to where she is with Jackson.

My eyes widen when I see they were beginning to kiss and I quickly turn the other way.

"Gross." I say in disgust and Yugyeom rolls his eyes.

"Don't act like you haven't done that before." He defends them and my nose crinkles up.

"Yeah, but it wasn't like that. They're practically eating each other." I speak in amazement at how much Jennie and Jackson are constantly kissing and fooling around.

"And I'll get you back for this." I state, starting to walk out of the water.

When suddenly, Yugyeom wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me back, "Where are you going? You're already wet, you might as well stay."

"Fine." I groan, splashing water in his face and swim to the deeper part of the water.

"Hey!" He furrows his brows and follows along, splashing water back at me.

We end up having a water war, which was stupid, but also fun. I try to swim closer to land when he grabs the sides of my waist picking me up.

"Wait! Don't throw me!" I squeal, but he doesn't listen and I end up back in the water again.

I immediately swim back up to him and wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist like a koala.

He won't be able to throw me if I'm holding onto him tightly. He tries to shake me off, but I refused to let go.

"Stop, I'm gonna fall!" I squeal as the water made us both slippery.

"Hold on, don't let go." He says and stops moving.

"What is it?" I ask in confusion, but he doesn't answer.

He leans forwards and I feel his hands touching my bare back. He grips the ends of my swim-suit top and links it together.

"You're bathing suit came undone." He explains with a smug grin and I quickly let go.

"You didn't see anything did you?" I ask, realizing my top could've fell off and I would've been exposed if I didn't climb on him.

"I don't know, did I?" He teases, resulting in me hitting him in the chest.

"Don't joke around." I demand and he just laughs and I couldn't help but smile back.

I look behind him and see Mark at the beach bar. He was sitting on one of the stool with his alcoholic beverage. I end up making eye-contact with him and my smile vanishes.

I forgot that I still had to make my decision about the both of them. I still have no idea who I'm going to chose, I don't want to lose either of them.

"I'm gonna go get a drink." I state, and begin heading out of the water.

Yugyeom was confused at first, but sees me walking over to the area where Mark's at. He know's Mark and I kissed, but he didn't think our feelings were that deep. He trusted me the night of Victoria's birthday party when I said I didn't like Mark in a romantic way. But in reality I just didn't want to hurt his feelings by liking his best friend.

"Hi." I smile, sitting down beside Mark.

"I thought you were having fun in the water." He says, talking about Yugyeom and I.

"I was, but you looked lonely, all by yourself." I state, as everyone else was with someone, but he sat alone.

"Nah, I'm just relaxing." He says shrugging it off.

"Don't lie, I know you wanted to talk with someone." I persist and he couldn't help but agree

"Yeah, but I didn't want to intrude on anyone's fun." He reveals and I laugh lightly.

"You're so cute." I state, admiring his adorableness, it was like a puppy.

"Y/n?"

"Yeah?"

"I need to tell you something." He says and I furrow my brows at his serious state.

"You can tell me anything."

"It's about that secret Jaebum doesn't want to reveal." He informs and my brows raise, caught by surprise.

"What do you mean? Like the secret he's been keeping since the beginning?" I question, not sure which one he's talking about.

"Yeah, but I can't say it here. If Yugyeom or the other two boys hear, they'll tell Jaebum and I'll get into trouble." He explains and I nod, understanding.

"Where do you want to tell me?"

"I'll tell you when we get back to Seoul, it'll be easier to explain there." He says and I smile, feeling like I could trust him.

"Thank you for wanting to tell me..no one else seems to want to." I speak, gratefully and he just smiles at my response.

"You deserve to know, so it's no problem."

"Oh, and Jaebum texted this morning, he said your mom sent you a letter and he received it last night." He announces and my lips turn downwards, not sure why she wouldn't just text me instead of sending a letter.

"That's weird." I shrug, not too curious about it, "I'll go and get it from him when we get back."

"I can drive you..if you want." He offers and I just smile with a nod.

"Sure, that'd be nice."

• III •

"That was some good ass ice-cream." Bambam says while stretching his body as we all walk down the sidewalk, heading towards the hotel.

We practically spent the whole day at the beach and are all so tired. It was already dark out, so we decided to finish off the day with some ice-cream before going to bed.

Bambam yawns and throws his arms around both Jisoo's shoulders and mine as he was too lazy to walk on his own.

I didn't mind Bambam's arm around me as he meant no harm and I'm comfortable around him. But I could tell Jisoo's been getting more shy around him. So, I'm guessing that she might have a crush on him. If they were to date, I'd ship it one-hundred percent.

"Watch the hands, buddy." Yugyeom says knocking Bambam's arm off of me.

Yugyeom slides his arms around my neck, pulling me closer to him. I look up at him, raising my upper lip in annoyance, he just quirks a brow at my attitude. He enjoys seeing me irritated that's why he always annoys me.

"My bad, damn." Bambam laughs lightly and leans the rest of his weight on Jisoo.

Jackson and Jennie were ignoring us as they were too busy being lost in their own little world while holding hands.

"You guys good over there?" I ask, turning around to walk backwards so I can get a better view of the couple.

"Yep, just fine." Jackson states confidently, giving Jennie a lovey-dovey type of look and I just cringe.

"Aw, I love you." Jennie says and leans over to kiss him.

I quickly turn back around, walking normally as I didn't want to watch them make-out again.

"Get a room." I voice, causing everyone to laugh, including the one's I was speaking to.

"I think we will." Jackson states, pulling away from Jennie, "I'm gonna call an uber to get to the hotel faster."

"Oh, can we come?" Jisoo asks, referring to her and Bambam.

"Yeah, that's fine..what about you three?" Jackson asks, staring at me, Yugyeom, and Mark.

"No, I kinda want to go to the park, it's always more fun at night. I don't know about them, though." I state, answering for myself.

"Yeah, I'm gonna stay with her." Yugyeom says, not ready to go back to the hotel, yet.

"If that's the case then you should stay too, Mark." Jennie states, while linking her arm with Jackson's.

"I agree, it's not safe for a girl to walk around at night in an unfamiliar place. With both of you with her, she'll have enough protection." Bambam expresses his opinion and I look over to Mark, waiting for his response.

"I mean, I was already gonna stay anyways, but thanks for giving me an explanation." He jokes and I let out a light huff, liking his response.

"Okay, well you guys can go away, the uber is about to be here any minute now." Jackson states, shoeing us off.

"Already? That's fast." I say with raised brows.

"What can I say, I have the best service." He boasts and I just roll my eyes at his cockiness.

"Sure it is." I give him a light-hearted tap on the shoulder before waving the rest off with a bright smile and continued walking to the park.

After a few minutes of walking, we actually found a park. It wasn't too far though, as it was only a couple of blocks away.

Before I could even step foot on the giant playground in the area, I get a phone-call.

I pull my phone from my jacket pocket and stare at the caller ID. It's from Youngjae, which I thought was odd as he never usually calls me out of the blue.

"Hey guys, I'm gonna go walk down the block. I need to take this phone-call." I state, gaining both of the boy's attention.

"Don't go far." Yugyeom states and I just nod with a light smile.

"I won't." I voice, looking at Mark too, so he knows I'm talking to him as well, "I'll be back in a second."

I walk around the metal gate and turn the corner as I hold my phone up to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Y/n..I have something to tell you." Youngjae says in a low voice.

He always uses that kind of tone when something bad happens or whenever he would make a mistake.

"What'd you do this time." I let out a small laugh, ready for a dumb response.

"..mom's dead.."

"..huh?"

"Mom's dead! She died!" Youngjae announces and I could hear the pain in his voice.

"What do you mean she's dead, I just got a letter from her this morning." I state with furrowed brows as the smile fell from my face.

"That was her goodbye letter, the hospital sent it out when mom passed last night." He explains and my eyes went wide.

"What the fu—"

Mark's POV

I stood leaning on one of the spiral slides, not speaking a word to Yugyeom. The atmosphere feels awkward and tense and I just want Y/n to hurry and get back.

Suddenly, my thoughts went back to Victoria for a small moment, about what she said over the phone to me last night.

"Can I ask you a question?" I ask, turning to look at Yugyeom who's sitting on one of the swings.

"Yeah, you can." He states, standing up and walking over towards me.

"..is it true, you're the one who told Victoria to go to France?" I question, staring him down, "Tell the truth, don't lie. Did you?"

"Yes."

Yugyeom didn't hesitate to answer. Before I knew it, my fist swings, colliding with his cheek. He leans to the side from the impact, not expecting that.

I go in to punch him again and again, but he dodges it the third time, crashing his own fist against my jaw.

I knew it, I knew he had something to do with it. When I chased after her during her birthday party, I asked her why she was leaving, but she wouldn't tell me. She said it was for her career, but I knew something else was wrong.

"Why'd you tell her to go? Was it just to piss me off?!" I shout, punching him only to get hit back.

I angrily push him towards one of the tunnel slide and we both fall over it landing on the ground.

We both got back up at the same time, but Yugyeom was faster and quickly grabbed me.

"Stop it! Calm down." He demands, pushing my back against the slide to stop me.

"You got to be fucking kidding me." I mutter, throwing him off of me.

I pace over to him, but he shoves me over. . He stands, walking over to me and punching me in the face again.

"Get up." He speaks harshly, gripping the collar of my shirt.

I slap his hands away, kicking him to the floor. I turn over, struggling to sit up as I stare over at him.

"That was pretty harsh, how long have you been holding that punch in?" I ask, taunting him, "You should've done this years ago, you two-faced bastard."

"Cause if you did, we wouldn't have drifted so far apart." I spat my cruel words.

"You're blaming me?" He scoffs, "You're pitying yourself so much that you become the victim, so you can blame other people."

"What about you, then?"

"You tense up whenever people get close to you, you just shut them out." I state, putting the focus back on him.

Yugyeom was never this messed up and mean. He became this way after what happened with Jinyoung. They were closer than anyone I've ever seen, but he had to ruin it.

If his dad had never killed Jinyoung's father, then our group would still be perfectly intact.

After Jinyoung left to Busan, Yugyeom held a big grudge on him, saying he betrayed us. But in reality all of this was Yugyeom's fault.

Yugyeom became so entitled thinking he was the center of the universe and can do anything he wants, but that's not how life works.

"You payed Kai to stalk Y/n when she lived in Busan, just so it would make Jinyoung angry. Is that what you call protecting her?!" I yell out, my voice echoing through the park.