A+, meanie

Argument

Mingyu

"You're a disgrace to our lineage, Mingyu."

Minkyoung's voice is the first thing Mingyu hears, entering the dining room for yet another stressful dinner. He doesn't outwardly show any reaction, he retains his composure, and takes his usual seat, across his mother's displeased face, at the table.

The first half of dinner goes by in a series of cutlery clanking and ceramics padding on the tabletop, but Minkyoung soon disrupts the white noise by banging her glass beside her plate. The glass shatters, making Mingyu to look up from his plate, only to witness his mother seething, steam nearly billowing from her ears. "Mother?"

"I didn't think I would have to tell your toddler-aged brain to follow a few basic rules over and over again."

"Which rules?"

"They're necessities to maintain our image! How many times have I drilled it in your dense skull to not mingle with anyone lower than our status?!"

Mingyu doesn't have to even confirm what his mother's going on about. "It's just studies, Mother, it's not that deep."

"YOU'RE RUINING OUR REPUTATION!"

"What reputation, Mother? No one knows about this- Hold on..." Mingyu pauses abruptly, brows furrowed as he thinks twice about completing his statement.

How does she know? If Mingyu was just about to claim no one knew about this, he thinks again. There's no way Kim Minkyoung -- a busy woman leading the country's news -- would ever find out about such a negligible matter. That is, unless someone's been tipping her off with information.

Maybe it's his ridiculously loyal chauffeur, Mingyu ponders. Although he has a gut feeling it isn't as simple as it looks on the exterior, Mingyu wants to concentrate on his dinner right now.

"Mother? May I know where and how you got to know about this piece of information?" Mingyu asks, careful to sound as harmless as he could.

"Where I get that is none of your concern. Stop being so inquisitive. All you need to do is stop associating yourself with people like him."

Mingyu stands his ground, though he knows he might regret wanting to continue his meetings with Wonwoo, some time in the future. "No Mother, I won't. If you don't understand, I don't want to be a turtle stuck in its shell like you have been all your life. It makes sense for me to have at least one person outside of the house to talk to."

"You have Chaeyeon."

"I'm not aware if it's my problem, but she hasn't been interacting much with me, Mother. And I'm not going to go beg for company."

Minkyoung looks thoughtful for a moment that brims with hope for Mingyu. To his utter surprise, she gives in eventually. Mingyu finds it extremely difficult to believe, and can't help but think something seems out of place. The thought of studying with Wonwoo doesn't delight him much; it's the fact that Kim Minkyoung gave in to Mingyu's demand which makes him bloom in happiness.

∿

"What's gotten into you these days?"

Mingyu's sitting inside an empty classroom, absorbing the silence, when he's interrupted by a familiar voice which he hasn't heard quite as much recently. "Chaeyeon? What are you doing here?"

"I knew you had a free class right now."

"Okay..?"

"We haven't talked much these days." Her tone sounds almost accusatory, and Mingyu doesn't think it's right of her to show up days later with such an attitude.

"And how is that my fault?"

Chaeyeon stumbles a bit over her words, clumsily uttering a few incoherent excuses here and there. "You don't seem to have time," is the only thing Mingyu registers.

"I don't have time? We're just friends, for heaven's sake, don't be so uptight and play the victim!"

"Yeah, it's because you're around that stupid fucking Jeon Wonwoo all the fucking time!" Chaeyeon grits, stomping her foot. Her demeanour switches dramatically just then, as she composes herself, going back to a much relaxed state.

Mingyu scoffs, not wanting to tolerate such childishness. "So is this what it is about? Are you just sour I'm hanging out with him now? He's a person too!"

"I don't like this new side of yours, Mingyu."

"Well, like it or not, I'm not going to cut all contact with him just because you come back sounding desperate, after nearly ghosting me for a month, Chaeyeon."

Chaeyeon looks like she could slap the living shit out of Mingyu, but her face eases right away. "Fine," She slams a hand on a desk, "If you're being this way, I couldn't care less. Have fun studying with Jeon fucking Wonwoo."

Her shoes click away from Mingyu, as she exits the classroom, leaving Mingyu to bask in the regained silence once again.

Except he can't, since he keeps finding newer details every time he talks to his mother, and now when he just did with Chaeyeon. Why does all of it seem like it's connected but distorted at the same time? First he's taken aback when his mother had mentioned him studying with Wonwoo, and now Chaeyeon does too. Not that Mingyu had purposely kept it a secret from her, but he hadn't exclusively spoken it out loud either -- Chaeyeon's absence playing a major part in it.

All of this makes Mingyu's head hurt, quite literally. Too many unexpected pieces of information suddenly have been bombarding him, trapping him in their midst.

And just when Mingyu's about to shut his brain off, he's reminded of himself subtly, subconsciously defending Wonwoo minutes ago, when he'd been arguing with Chaeyeon. Why did he do that? Surely having someone to study with couldn't be that deep, could it?

Mingyu sighs, scrubbing a hand over his face. Right now, he just wants to sleep and dismiss all these unnecessary thoughts away.

Slumping forward on a desk, Mingyu hopes to get a quick nap before his next class, when something, or rather someone's figure flashing through the little glass window on the classroom door distracts him. It's two different people, both going in the opposite directions.