pumped up kicks

second chances

"What are you doing?"

"Goodness!" Kim Chiyeol jumps back in shock, coming face-to-face with Dae Hyeon, who has her bag slung over one shoulder, face blank while eyeing the spectacled boy, who was creeping outside the teachers' lounge, up and down.

"Dae Hyeon! The thing is... Ms. Park... I... uh... Hi! Welcome back to school!"

Furrowing her eyebrows at the lack of a proper response, Hyeon merely adjusts her grip on her backpack, shifting her eyes away from Chiyeol, who is evidently getting antsy.

Before she could decide whether to probe further or simply continue her walk to the classroom, the door to the teachers' lounge slams open, startling her and sending Chiyeol a few feet into the air.

"Chiyeol. Hyeon, you're here too. Let's go up." The sternness in Ms. Park Eunyoung's voice is unusual, catching Hyeon's notice but being overlooked by Chiyeol who is more worried about getting in trouble for sneaking in on the teachers.

The class, like always, is a noisy mess in the mere five minutes they were left alone, save for Jang Younghoon and Kook Youngsoo who have their noses buried in their books.

"Oh, Hyeon. Hi," Kim Yoojung, the ever-friendly and ever-reliable class president, shoots her a short wave with a polite smile, "Here's your report slip."

Returning a curt nod, Hyeon slips into the seat behind the short-haired girl, reaching for the piece of paper, "Thanks."

"Guys," Ms. Park starts, getting the class' attention and effectively quietening them down.

--

"Isn't the Minister of Defence pretty high up?"

"He's all the way up there."

"Isn't that Dae Hyeon's father?"

"Do you think she knows what is going on?" "Why don't you ask her yourself?" "No thanks, she's scary..."

Despite feeling the stares thrown her way and picking up on the buzz about the relationship between her and the man on the screen, Hyeon chooses to ignore her classmates' intrigue, instead resting her chin on a folded arm propped up onto her table, staring ahead at the lectern.

She's more focused on Ms. Park's expression as her eyes wander across the class. Worried is an understatement - her typical smiley and kind eyes are troubled, downcast and almost glassy with a sort of sadness. From where she sits at the back of the class, Hyeon can almost see the quiet sighs she has been letting out ever since she told the class about the cancellation of the rolling admissions.

The subconscious pursing of her lips, the helpless looks she sends to no one in particular and the unsettled fiddling of her fingers on the table makes Hyeon perk up, leaving her confused, though still rather disinterested. Despite not being in class very often, Hyeon knows that their homeroom teacher is the epitome of composure, as can be inferred from the occasional teacher-student check-in the latter insists on having.

"...those who are currently high school seniors will all be mobilised."

This sentence sets the class off into murmurs and exclamations, everyone evidently taken aback and flustered. Hyeon raises an eyebrow, darting from Ms. Park to the screen where the man is still droning on about high schoolers being drafted for military training.

What the...?

The well-kept minister continues to address the conference room of reporters, keeping a steady voice and emotionless gaze amidst the blinding camera flashes. Hyeon, however, can pick up the way his voice quivers as he announces the government's plans to admit high schoolers for military training. Hackles rising, she slips her phone out of a pocket in her bag, quickly unlocking it without anyone's notice.