A week later, during homeroom period, Mr. Kim asked Hanbin to distribute a stack of paper to the class.

"This is your high school application form. Please fill in your top 3 preferences and hand them in by the end of next week. If you need any advice or help, you're more than welcome to come and talk to me." Mr. Kim made his last announcement for the day. "Get ready for your first lesson now."

"Park Eunbyeol!" Before Mr. Kim walked out of the classroom, he called out to Eunbyeol.

"Yes, Ssaem?"

"Come see me during lunch time. Don't worry, you're not in trouble."

"Okay, Ssaem."

"What do you think it is?" Hanbin asked as Mr. Kim walked out of the classroom.

"I have no idea."

.

"I am starving. Let's go get lunch." Hao cried out as soon as the bell rang.

"You guys go ahead first. I'll come join you guys later." Eunbyeol excused herself to meet Mr. Kim.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Hanbin offered to accompany her.

"No, it's okay. I don't know how long it is going to take."

Eunbyeol then left the classroom and went to the teacher's office alone.

"Ssaem, I'm here."

"Oh, Eunbyeol-ah."

"What did you want to talk to me about?"

"Ah, so every year we would pick a few of our top students and recommend them to high schools for the gifted. This year, we recommended you to the Science High School for the Gifted. They came back with a full scholarship offer for you. Here are the details." Mr. Kim handed Eunbyeol a letter along with a few booklets about the school.

"A full scholarship?"

"Yes. That means you won't have to pay for your tuition at all for the coming three years. They don't give out offers easily, not to mention it's a full scholarship offer. I don't think I'll need to tell you how valuable this offer is, but it is still up to you to decide if you want to accept the offer or not. Take your time and give it some thought."

"Okay, I understand, Ssaem. Thank you."

Eunbyeol felt perplexed about the offer. She had never thought of going to a specialised high school, even though her academic achievements had been extraordinary. It should have been something to be excited and happy about, but she wasn't.

She went back to the classroom to put down the booklets when something caught her eye.

Hanbin had left his high school application form on his table. Eunbyeol had a look, and it was already filled out.

"He left this here on purpose, didn't he?" A smile formed on her face, but soon after, her mind was preoccupied by the scholarship offer again. She decided to keep the news from the group for a while until she felt more ready to talk about it. She then headed to the cafeteria to join the rest of the group for lunch.

"Is everything alright? Why did Mr.Kim want to see you?" Hanbin asked as soon as Eunbyeol sat down next to him.

"It wasn't anything special." Eunbyeol couldn't bring herself to look Hanbin in the eye.

"Are you okay? You seem a bit stressed." Hanbin could tell that she was lying right away. Eunbyeol had always been a bad liar.

"I'm fine. Don't worry."

It was obvious to Hanbin that Eunbyeol was hiding something from him, but he didn't push her any further. Sometimes, he wished that she could rely on him a bit more and not keep her troubles and worries to herself all the time.

"Now that Eunbyeol is here, there's actually something I want to tell you guys." Matthew made a sudden announcement, attracting everyone's attention. "I am moving to Canada next school year with my family."

"What?" Gyuvin exclaimed in disbelief.

"Has everything been confirmed?" Hanbin asked.

"Yes, I've already been accepted to a school too. Sorry for not telling you guys sooner."

Matthew's grandparents had long resided in Canada, and he had mentioned before that he would eventually study abroad there someday, so the news wasn't a big surprise. However, no one expected it to be so soon. Everyone stayed quiet, not knowing how to respond.

"Guys, I promise I'll keep in touch with you all, and I'll come back and visit every year."

"I'm gonna miss you, bro." Gyuvin sighed.

"Same, I'm going to miss all of you so much."

"Why do I feel like crying?" Chaeyeon looked up to the ceiling while fanning her teary eyes.

"Have you told Bora yet?" Taerae asked. It was hard for them to see Matthew go, but it must be even harder for Bora.

"I'm planning to tell her after school today, but I'm finding it so difficult to bring this up to her."

Hao then gave Matthew a pat on his shoulder to show him support.

"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to ruin the atmosphere."

"There's no need to apologise, Seok Mae." Hanbin reassured Matthew. "Sometimes hard goodbyes are inevitable."

"Ya, don't you dare think that going to Canada means that you can get away from us." Yuna warned.

"I'll come to Canada to bring you back if you do." Gyuvin added.

"Maybe we should all go visit Matthew together sometime." Taerae suggested.

"Oh my gosh. Yes, please. That'll be so fun." Matthew was excited just by imagining it. He then turned to Eunbyeol, who hadn't said a word. "Eunbyeol, please say something, or at least give me a smile. I don't like the gloomy look on your face."

"I will miss you a lot, Matt."

"Aww you can always call me, and we can practise English like we always do."

"Remember that time when Matthew and Eunbyeol were asked to give a presentation in English to the whole school?" Gyuvin recalled a memory from their first year of middle school.

"Yes, I remember you were dumbfounded because you didn't understand a single word." Yuna took the chance to mock her boyfriend.

"When was that?" Hao, who hadn't joined the school then, asked in confusion.

"During seventh grade, a group of American exchange students came to our school for two weeks. Matthew and Byeol were then asked to give a presentation to sum up and reflect on the experience in an assembly in front of the whole school, including the exchange students and their teachers." Hanbin explained to Hao and Ricky, who weren't there to witness the event.

"Wow, Eunbyeol." Ricky exclaimed in surprise. "You're telling me that you once stood in front of the whole school giving a speech in English?"

"I don't think I ever saw Eunbyeol that nervous. She was literally shaking before she went on stage." Taerae giggled while reminding himself of the extremely anxious Eunbyeol at the time.

"But she managed to pull herself together on stage and did a great job." Hanbin made sure that Eunbyeol's performance back then was given recognition. After all, not everyone had the proficiency to give a long presentation in English, and she fought against the fear of being attended to by a large audience as well.

"What about me?" Matthew wanted some reassurance from Hanbin too.

"You, of course, did great too, Seok Mae. Both of you were so cool."

Talking about the past somehow alleviated the heavy atmosphere. They started talking about random memories of the past few years until someone interrupted.

"Oh Eunbyeol-ah, I heard you got a full scholarship offer from the Science High School for the Gifted." Two girls from Eunbyeol's class stopped to verify the rumour.

Eunbyeol froze in place, wondering how on earth the news had already spread.

"You are truly amazing, Eunbyeol. You must be thrilled right now." The other girl chimed in.

"That's right. I heard that the school takes in less than 100 students per year, and they only look for the best of the best." The two girls spoke one after another, completely unaware of Eunbyeol's unease.

"Is it true, Eunbyeol?" Chaeyeon looked towards Eunbyeol, who had stayed quiet.

"Uh yeah, Ssaem just told me."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Yuna asked.

"Sorry, Matthew just took all my attention away." Eunbyeol made up a random excuse.

"Wait, how did you guys find out?" Chaeyeon turned to ask the two girls.

"Choi Jihwan overheard Eunbyeol and Ssaem's conversation just now when he went to talk to Ssaem about his high school application." One of the two replied.

"Aish, Jihwan just wouldn't stop gossiping, would he?" Chaeyeon mumbled in frustration.

"Wow, Eunbyeol, you really are something else. Can you please give me part of your brain?" Gyuvin brought the attention back to Eunbyeol.

"Don't think it would help you much even if she could, Kim Gyuvin." Ricky teased.

Meanwhile, Eunbyeol was feeling completely overwhelmed by the situation. Her mind still hadn't moved on from the fact that Matthew would be moving away, and now she was forced to announce the news of her offer to her friends. But she wasn't the only one who felt like it was a bit too much to process.

Eunbyeol slowly turned to look at Hanbin, who forced a smile as he looked into her eyes.

"Congratulations, Byeol."

Hanbin then remembered his application form, which he left on his desk for Eunbyeol to find out about his decision. He had decided that going to a general high school was probably the better option at the moment. He was still eager to explore his academic potential. He was, of course, not going to give up dancing by any means. He had every confidence that he would be able to strike a perfect balance between school and dancing.

He was initially looking forward to Eunbyeol's reaction when she found out that they would be applying to the same school, but he smiled bitterly, knowing that it was probably not going to happen anymore.

"Sorry, guys. I just realised there is something I need to do. I'll see you guys later." Having said that, Hanbin dashed off to the classroom.

He went back to the empty classroom and placed his form back in his drawer. He then sat down in his seat and stared blankly at Eunbyeol's desk.

"School is going to feel so different without you, Byeol." He muttered to himself.

On the other hand, Eunbyeol was left flustered after Hanbin left abruptly. He didn't even look back when she called out to him. It wasn't her intention for Hanbin to find out about her offer from other people. She knew that he hated learning something about her from others instead of from her.

When Eunbyeol went back to the classroom, she saw Hanbin staring into space while in deep thought. She sat down facing him, and he snapped back into reality. Hanbin smiled at her sweetly, but Eunbyeol knew it was yet another forced smile.

"You're back."

"So... you aren't mad at me?" Eunbyeol asked cautiously.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because I didn't tell you about the offer when you asked just now."

"Ha! So you were trying to hide it from us."

"I was still taking it in and didn't feel ready to talk about it yet. Sorry, Bin."

"It's okay, Byeol. I'm not mad at you."

The topic about the offer ended there, and they moved onto another subject. Hanbin didn't ask further questions, and it didn't seem like he wanted to mention his own application either, so Eunbyeol just pretended that she didn't see the form earlier.