HERE COME THE REGRETS

T E N

Jeongin stood by the large oak doors of one of the university halls as he queued with his bestfriend, Choi Seunghan, waiting for the doors to open. He was getting a little nervous, seeing so many unfamiliar faces in line, some of which were the kids he saw in the other session halls for the past few days. It was the day that he and Seunghan have signed up for since the first day of camp came, and like always, they kept mum about it to their parents, but never their siblings.

"Nervous?" Seunghan's voice almost made him jump off his feet in surprise. Seunghan was peeling off a mint gum from the package and chewed it.

"A little," Jeongin said honestly. "You know I'm not really confident with having all these people around. They look like they're going to eat us alive."

Seunghan could only chuckle at his friend and offered him a mint, stashing it forcefully to its mouth. "Chew, it'll relax you." He looked at their siblings who seemed to be unusually quiet on the space adjacent to them. "Is Chanyul okay? Dino said he was really pale and zoning out for long periods of time yesterday. I really thought they'd be interested in cool genetic technology."

Jeongin's eyes looked at his brother who seemed to be quiet and awkward with Woojin. His eyes were still wide from shock, but at least it's a bit better now than yesterday which looked like a pair of saucers on his head. He could still recall everything quickly how his brother came banging on his room door at nearly midnight, telling him that his new found friend replied to his message. Woojin and Dino met the boy too, but Chanyul acted all crazy excited like a firecracker on loose. He was about to stop his younger brother from going to their parent's room, knowing that they might be disturbed from sleeping after a long day's work. But without warning his brother just turned the door knob and opened the door widely, wailing until what he saw with his bare eyes just stunned him right to where he was situated. Until now, the aftereffects of the incident are still evident on his face.

"He's been through a shock but he'll get past that," Jeongin hoped that his friend wouldn't ask anymore questions or else he will be forced to admit something he really doesn't want to disclose to anyone else. However, to his relief, Seunghan just shrugged and said nothing.

Minutes later, he found himself sitting in one of the small tables in the far left just near the wall of the university hall where he was with about 200 students with a pen, three newly sharpened pencils, and a few pieces of paper in mid grey monotone. Seunghan was just on the adjacent table turning really red and shaky on the knees.

Looking on the sides, he saw Chanyul with Seunghan's brothers talking to a few people, one of which he was sure was Zeren. They finally came to a realization that they could just speak to each other comfortably in English. Zeren was a fluent after all.

The professor came, a British professor hailing from Trent University, Nottingham; smiling as he approached the lectern and laid out what seemed like a booklet. He tapped on the microphone and eyed the students who were now looking anxious on their seats.

"Hi, let's begin, shall we?"

Loud screams resounded all over the hall as an hour passed and only three contestants remained. One was a tall Chinese boy, about 17, with sandy hair, wearing a green shirt, quietly erasing the markings on his whiteboard. The other, on the right front side was a bespectacled Filipino girl, about the same age, wearing a blue dress with white sneakers. And the other was Korean, who sat on his chair feeling uncomfortable as he suddenly got aware of his surroundings, diminishing in number from time to time. Jeongin was already sweating out, holding his pen tightly, and wiping out sweat from his brow with his hanky and looked at the sides with a visible lane of Chanyul and the Chois who were visibly cheering up for him. Just in time, the professor cued and articulated the final question in the final round.