A week after the cafeteria video drama died down—thankfully, Della had managed to convince the school gossip account to delete the post—a new problem cropped up, and weirdly enough, it gave Kiki an even bigger headache than a Physics test.
Bara's band, Static Radio, had passed the audition to compete in a citywide high-school music competition.
"CONGRATS, HEY!!" the whole class erupted when Bara walked in carrying the small trophy from the audition, his grin so wide he looked ridiculously proud.
Kiki was happy for him, but amid all the excitement, she realized one thing: ever since then, Bara had been absent from additional class periods much more often because of band practice, and whenever he sat beside Kiki, his eyes were usually closed from being exhausted after staying up late rehearsing.
"Bara," Kiki said, holding out the Chemistry summary sheet she'd made especially for him, "you've missed three chapters. The test is next week, you know."
"I know, I know," Bara said, rubbing his eyes and yawning widely. "But practicing for the competition is important too, Ki. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
"Your grades are important too," Kiki said irritably.
"Jeez, you sound just like my mom," Bara joked, but Kiki didn't laugh.
"I'm serious, Bara. If you get held back because of this, the band will have a hard time too, right? And you have to stay in school here," Kiki said firmly.
Bara was quiet for a moment, looking at Kiki with a different kind of expression—not the look of someone being scolded, but the look of someone who had just realized that somebody genuinely cared about him.
"Okay, then, Ms. Class President," he finally said with a faint smile. "Teach me Chemistry. But afterward, I'll teach you how to play guitar. Fair?"
Kiki rolled her eyes. "I don't need to play guitar."
"Everyone needs one useless skill in life, Ki. Keeps things from getting monotonous," Bara countered, laying his face down on the desk.
From that day on, a new routine began: after school, Kiki helped Bara study Chemistry in the library, and in return, Bara taught Kiki basic guitar chords—which, honestly, was a disaster, because Kiki's fingers were used to holding pens, not switching from a C chord to a G.
"Ow, that hurts," Kiki winced, her fingers red from the strings.
"That's what learning is like. My fingers got scraped up too at first," Bara said with a laugh. Then he helped adjust the position of Kiki's fingers—and once again, their hands accidentally brushed.
This time, neither of them got as flustered as before, but there was still a brief pause before Bara quickly pulled his hand away and pretended to be busy fixing the guitar strings.
Those little moments—which had started out as nothing more than studying together—slowly turned into something they both looked forward to every day, even though neither of them dared to say it out loud.
Until one afternoon, a new face appeared in the library.
"Bara! I heard you've been here every day after school," said a beautiful 10th-grade girl with her hair pulled into a high ponytail as she confidently walked over.
"I'm Sisi, from the vocal club. The competition manager said your band needs an additional vocalist for the second song. They said my voice would go well with Bara's," she said proudly.
"Oh—yeah, I heard about that too," Bara said with an awkward nod. "This is Kiki, my classmate." He introduced Kiki.
"Hi," Sisi said with a brief nod to Kiki, then turned all her attention back to Bara, as if Kiki weren't even there.
"Bar, want to practice together now? I brought the lyrics I rearranged," she said enthusiastically.
Bara glanced at Kiki hesitantly. "Ki, do you—"
"It's fine, go ahead," Kiki cut in quickly, forcing a smile. "I'm going to the library upstairs too, to look for a book," she said quickly.
Kiki walked away as fast as she could before her face started looking strange. When she reached the stairs, she stopped and wondered why her chest felt tight when she should've been happy—this was a good thing, wasn't it? Bara's band had gotten an additional vocalist, which meant they were even more prepared for the competition.
What's wrong with me? she thought irritably.
The story about "Bara practicing one-on-one with Sisi every afternoon" reached Della's ears at lightning speed—and as usual, Della immediately jumped to conclusions before she knew the whole story.
"KIKI. I HEARD BARA'S GETTING CLOSE TO THE NEW VOCAL GIRL. ARE YOU JEALOUS?" Della cornered Kiki during break, her eyes sparkling with curiosity.
"No," Kiki answered quickly—too quickly.
"Liar. You've looked all day like you just ate candy that tasted bitter," Della teased.
Kiki sighed, finally giving up on hiding it. "I don't get it, Del. I have no right to be jealous. Bara isn't my boyfriend," she said, baffled by her own feelings.
"But you like him, right?" Della asked curiously.
Silence fell for a moment. Kiki didn't answer—but her silence was answer enough.
"Ki," Della said, taking her friend's hand, her voice turning gentler. "Sometimes it's not about who's in the wrong or who's getting in the way. The problem is, you've never told Bara how you feel. Until you talk about it, you'll keep getting emotional by yourself, suspicious by yourself, and heartbroken by yourself. Exhausting, isn't it?" Della's words hit home.
Della's words stayed in Kiki's head for the rest of the day.