Yibo was pleased with himself and the world. He had already been training with Emily for a week for the upcoming internal competition and the two were making great progress. But instead of just dancing, they now decided to sing and dance. Which is no problem for the two stage experienced talents.

The training with Emily is very exhausting, but Yibo has a lot of fun and the two get along very well. They have become friends and Emily is now part of the small group of friends that Yibo has at the Keno Academy. Youn, Cheng and Wooseok also like her and get along well with her.

However, not everyone seems to be thrilled with the new friendship between Yibo and Emily. Because Alessia seemed to be even meaner now than before. She knows that Yibo and Emily are her biggest opponents for the victory. Especially now that she can't dance because of her sprained ankle and she has to sing, even though that's not her thing at all.

Another one who is not at all fond of the duo is Xiao Zhan. He has been remarkably unfriendly to Yibo over the past week. Again and again he watched everything Yibo did with an angry look. It even happened that he warned Yibo in a less than friendly manner, saying: "You should better concentrate on training and not flirt so much with your partner. Otherwise you won't win!" Yibo didn't know how to react to that. Because Zhan seemed to come out of nowhere and suddenly stood next to him and threw those words at him before disappearing again just as unseen.

Yibo was confused about Zhan's behavior. And so were Youn and Cheng. Especially Cheng said that he doesn't know his brother like that at all and that he is actually always friendly, helpful and polite. "I haven't heard such sharp comments from him at all. Maybe he is jealous." Said Cheng.

"Jealous? Why?" Asked Yibo. A small grain with the name Hope immediately sprouted in him again, but it was immediately dashed by Cheng.

"Well, maybe he would have liked to have Emily as a partner himself. Just like everyone else, he wants to win the competition. But with Alessia as his partner, he already knows that they have no chance. For him it would be the second defeat in a row. I think he's jealous because you have such a great partner and the win is practically already assured to you."

"I wouldn't say that Cheng. We have a lot of good pairs here that make great duos. Even our coaches say it's going to be tough this time and it's not clear who will end up winning. Rin and Maya, for example, have this medley of different songs and for each of those songs they have the matching dance. Or Gisa and George. They wrote a song and they play their own instruments to it. Have you heard them yet? Well I have. And they, believe me, are a double drum roll fireworks show!"

"And let's not forget Skylar and me. I sing and rap and she ballet dances to it. We're pretty darn good." Interjected Youn now, and Yibo confirmed his statement.

"You see Cheng? Nothing is set in stone. We all have a real chance to win. Even Zhan and Alessia. As far as I know, Zhan takes the biggest part in singing after all. And his voice alone is amazing."

"It's okay. Still, I think he's jealous because you have Emily by your side and he has Alessia." Gave Cheng in response.

"But maybe your brother is jealous for a completely different reason? He watches what Yibo and Emily do all the time. It annoys him when the two of them fool around and have fun. He told Yibo not to flirt with Emily." Gave Youn to consider.

"Do you think he's into Emily?" Cheng now asked, clearly confused.

"No. What I mean is that he might be interested in Yibo." Replied Youn.

"That would be nice for Yibo. But right now, I don't see it that way. I think it's more like competitive behavior and he just doesn't want to lose." Said Cheng and made it clear that he won't let anything else change his mind. And he as Zhan's brother should know Zhan best, right? So is Zhan really just a sore loser? Does he only care about Emily because she's better than Alessia?

But before Yibo could really think about it, the director's voice rang out over the loudspeakers, telling all first-year students of Keno and Paradise Academy to come to the auditorium immediately. It was a Serious Matter.

Immediately, the three friends made their way to the auditorium and met Emily on the way there. She joined the three and together the four of them sat down next to each other in the third row of the auditorium. The director was already on stage with the entire staff of teachers and coaches. They were talking in agitation and the director seemed to be trying to calm the situation down.

When all the students were seated in the auditorium just a few minutes later, the director grabbed a microphone and said, "Good afternoon students. Unfortunately, I had to call you here today because of a Serious Matter. It is about two things. First, we now know who manipulated the voting on our homepage. The police have already questioned this person and unfortunately only got this much out that this person was hired by another anonymous person. Unfortunately, the e-mail accounts that were used have long been deleted and the data from them are no longer stored. And unfortunately the money was left anonymously in cash in a mailbox and therefore it is not traceable where the money came from and who placed the order. But we are still investigating this matter. The second thing I want to talk to you about is why the police were here today. One or more perpetrators broke into the students' lockers in the training center this morning and stole valuable items. Because it was the student lockers in the locker rooms, there is no video recording. This is because video surveillance is banned there. The police were here and took the statements and reports." Said the director and was interrupted when one of the teachers whispered something in his ear.

"Did you guys catch any of that?" Asked Cheng.

Yibo, Youn and Emily shook their heads. None of them were at the training center that morning because they were at a lecture. And Youn knew that Wooseok was equally absent from the training center because he had already left that morning for an appointment for dental surgery. "He's having two wisdom teeth pulled." Explained Youn.

"And I wasn't at the training center either. I was on mail duty today and had to help the house father sort the mail and then take the outgoing letters to the mail center with him." Explained Cheng.

"Okay, moving on. The reason why only you and not the other students are here is because the others are all on a field trip, as I'm sure you already know. So it's just you freshmen here. We want to know from each and every one of you what you did this morning. We're interviewing each and every one of you. Because this is a Serious Matter and will definitely result in being expelled from the Academy! We are going to send you out now. You will please wait outside the auditorium until you have been called by us one by one." Said the director.

Thirty-eight students stood outside in the hallway in front of the auditorium, waiting until they were called into the auditorium one by one for their questioning. Yibo and the others were standing pretty much at the end of the hallway, talking quietly, when Zhan joined them and placed himself between Yibo and Emily.

Yibo's heart immediately began to race as Zhan stood so close to him that their arms even touched. He suddenly felt hot and his cheeks reddened. Of all things, this had to happen to him in this situation, where everyone around him had to notice how nervous he suddenly was. Most of all, he thought, Zhan had to notice and that made him even more nervous than he already was.

"Do you think they'll find the culprit?" Zhan asked, moving even closer to Yibo so that he could now feel Zhan's body heat as well.

"I hope so! Where were you this morning?" Replied Cheng.

"In the same classes as Yibo and the others. Why? Do you think I stole?" Zhan wanted to know. Yibo had been taken aback. Because he hadn't even noticed that Zhan was in the same classes as him. Had he been sitting in some corner or at the very back where no one could see him?

"No, I just wanted to know where you were and if anything had been stolen from you too."

"None of us here in the round were at the training center this morning, were we?" Asked Youn. Everyone shook their heads. "Well then, we have nothing to worry about." Added Youn.

Yibo looked around at the other students and only at that moment did he notice something. Zhan was with him and the others and Alessia wasn't immediately on hand to protect her toy from him and the others? "Tell me Zhan. Where is Alessia?" He asked therefore.

"Mhhh, good question. I haven't seen her all day today." Replied Zhan.

"Did she maybe text you why she's not here today?" Asked Cheng.

"No. But maybe she's at your dorm. She's still excused from training after all." Said Zhan.

"Actually, that's not true. She has been allowed to participate in training again since yesterday. But only minimally. And yesterday she had been at training." Explained Emily.

"She didn't tell me about that. But I only saw her briefly yesterday anyway. Actually, we were going to practice our song. But after half an hour she complained of a sore throat and wanted to go to the infirmary to get something from the nurse for her throat. And I haven't seen her since. However, I wasn't here either, I was bowling with Chuyue and the others." Explained Zhan.

Youn was about to reply something when the director stepped into the hallway and called out several names of students who don't have to go for questioning. Among them was Yibo's name, Zhan's, Cheng's and Youn's name. Emily still had to wait. "Everyone I just named can leave now and go elsewhere. Everyone else stay here." Said the director and disappeared back into the auditorium.

Emily shrugged her shoulders. "Mhhh, looks like I'll have to wait. Um Yibo? Will I see you later?"

"I thought we weren't going to practice tonight?" Yibo asked.

"I don't want to train either. I thought we could take the bus to the movies. Just an idea."

"Um..." Started Yibo and then froze for a moment as Zhan pressed himself against the wall, trapping Yibo's arm. Yibo was sure that was fully intentional on Zhan's part. It didn't really hurt, but Yibo took it as a sign of Zhan's displeasure. Apparently he didn't like the idea of Yibo and Emily going to the movies together.

"So what now?" Emily asked after Yibo stopped talking.

"Not today. Maybe some other time. Today I want to play some pool at the community center." Replied Yibo and Zhan released Yibo's arm again. Yibo rubbed his slightly red arm and looked questioningly at Zhan.

Zhan, however, pretended not to know what Yibo wanted from him. He placed both hands firmly on Yibo's shoulders and literally pushed him toward the exit. "It's been said we can go. So we should do that now. You can talk later." Said Zhan, not giving Yibo time to say anything else to Emily because by then he had already been pushed out the door.

After they walked a few feet away from the building, Yibo turned to Zhan and asked, "Are you happy now?"

"Yes I am. Very much so. Let's go down the street. There's a stall where they sell hot dogs. I'm hungry." Said Zhan with a smile.

"Um, let's at least wait for Youn and Cheng then." The two were still in the building.

"What's the point? Can't you eat a hot dog without them?"

"Sure I can. But maybe they're hungry too and want to eat one?"

"Oh man. Alright, we'll wait then." Replied Zhan grumpily. Somehow, Yibo was amused by this behavior.

When Cheng and Youn finally came too, the four of them went to eat the hot dog together. Zhan even paid for the hot dog for Yibo. Supposedly only because it was his idea and so that Yibo does not have to get his money first. Cheng and Youn had to pay for their own food and Zhan didn't mind that they had to get money from their rooms first.