"Our debut is delayed," Dang Si Kyeong finally let it out. He didn't look at Mae when he uttered those words. Instead, he was staring at the night sky which held no stars visible to the human eye, corrupted by the city light, just like his polluted mind.

Mae stopped the swing from moving. Her eyes widened, "What the hell? Are they freaking serious?"

"They want us to audition for this new survival show, Idol Camp," Si Kyeong continued, still swinging back and forth, trying to let the wind dry his eyes.

"At least you will be on TV, you just need to stand out," Mae mused after a while.

"There are going to be a hundred trainees, hundred!" reiterated Sikyeong, "How am I going to stand out?"

"The way you did in school, just crack more jokes, be funny but also be serious when it's needed. Oh, oh, and didn't you learn martial arts? Just pull a few extra tricks in front of the camera."

"How are you sure that will help?" He came to a halt and gazed at Mae.

"I have gone to enough shows with my sisters to know how it works, so trust me when I say you will survive through this. Just be yourself and don't stop talking." Mae tried to sound as normal as she could to help him regain his confidence.

Dang Sikyeong had always been the class clown; he just had this vibe in him that could lighten up the mood of nearly everyone, all he needed to do was just sarcastically rant about something and roll his eyes at almost everything. He is a ray of sunshine but he is a human as well. Born as a human, you are bound to let the invisible mass from the society pressurize you; you are bound to be saddened because someone or something pokes at that sensitive spot; you can't just always be cheerful and happy. He is a human with flesh and bones; he can't always be someone who will just bring a smile on your face and not feel down himself. Mae knew that very well and she wanted to be a good friend who could support him at times like this.

No matter how much they fight with each other; no matter how much they mock almost every decision of theirs, when one is suffering, the other will always be there.

They talked until it was almost Mae's curfew. Mae glanced at her watch before saying, "My curfew is near. If you want, I won't go back to the dorm and sleep at my house today."

"Nah, I am fine, I have to sneak back in my dorm as well," Dang Sikyeong smiled at her, hiding the pain underneath, which was pretty obvious to Mae.

She sighed and looked at him, her eyes piercing through his, "Are you sure?" Her voice was low yet clear.

The chilled breeze caused Sikyeong to shiver as he dipped his hand deep into his pockets. He gestured with his head for her to leave while saying "I will be fine. Just leave already."

She still gazed at him worriedly, her eyebrows furrowed together as her hand gripped her bag.

He glanced back at her, his lips slightly curved upwards. She then finally breathed out, "I am leaving then, bye."

"Bye," he waved, still holding onto that soft smile.

She then finally turned her heels.

"Yeomrim," Dang Sikyeong called, as if remembering something.

Mae turned back to face him again, raising her eyebrow.

"Thank you," he said, "and I have a surprise for you."

"A surprise?" she stepped forward, her eyes painted with confusion and surprise.

Sikyeong took out a card from his pocket, handing it to her.

"What's this?" she asked, scanning both sides of the black card.

"A gym membership, " Dang Sikyeong grinned, there was a color of victory in his eyes. He almost looked like a puppy waiting for his master to compliment him.

"Are you trying to say that I gained weight?" Mae glared at Dang Sikyeong, clearly displeased.

"Oh Lord, oh Lord! Im Yeomrim!" Sikyeong rolled his eyes, staring at her in disbelief, "It's the gym Min Cheol goes to, you idiot!"

"Where did you get this from?" Mae asked as her gaze shifted from the card to Dang Sikyeong.

"Well, I might be as poor as a beggar now, but I still have my connections," he smirked.

"We know the same group of people," Mae defended.

"We do, but I am better than you at utilizing it."

Mae narrowed her eyes at his statement.

"You should stop over thinking before calling them and actually go with your plan," Sikyeong continued, and then added again, "Guys don't forget their first love that easily Yeomrim, you have a high chance of success."

Dang Sikyeong's words still rang beside Mae's ears even after she went back to her dormitory. She threw herself on the bed and stared at the membership card. It was a great opportunity indeed, yet it wasn't a guarantee. She let her thoughts run wild, thinking about all the possibilities that could happen, which was when she realized how pathetic she looked like.

"Aish!" Mae ruffled her hair and buried her head in the pillow until she felt breathless.

I should seriously get my shit together and start doing my assignment. She thought as she finally left the bed to move to the table and work on her laptop, throwing the membership card at the corner.

Mae is not someone who would work out regularly, yet she found herself coming to the gym with her membership card the second day, despite the gym being located near Gangnam, far away from her dormitory.

"I should seriously just give up my dorm and move back to my house, such convenience!" she muttered under her breath, complaining about her own decision.

It didn't take long before she gave up on working out, thirty minutes was all it took for her to become drained. Giving up, she went to sit on the mat as she scrolled through her phone to check WT's schedule. WT didn't have any public schedule that day but Min Cheol was nowhere to be seen either. Letting impatience consume her, Mae searched for Dang Sikyeong's kakao talk and texted: At least you could get his workout schedule for me.

To which, Dang Sikyeong replied pretty quickly: Do you seriously think all idols have fixed work out schedules?

Mae cursed under her breath as she read the text and decided to leave for the day.

Right then, her screen lit up, showing a text she was waiting for the past few days.