"He's playing the waiting game, if you ask me." She muses, raising her eyebrows at Sujin in a mockingly serious manner, "You know, letting you sit on the threat for a bit before he pounces."
Sujin rolls her eyes, "God, he's such a tool."
In all honesty, she didn't think the boy had it in him to be so calculated with his actions. If it were up to her, she would have preferred if he'd dragged her to the Headmistress' office earlier this morning. Get it done and over with right then and there, instead of making her wait through every other period in sheer paranoia.
When am I going to get called in?
How am I going to get called in?
Am I even going to get called in at all?
Question after question swarm her mind until her knee starts to subconsciously bounce up and down in anticipation.
Sujin hates the fact that she's getting jittery over something as stupid as a missing tie. She hates the fact that the mere idea of having to deal with Headmistress Jeong yet another time has her breaking out in a cold sweat. And most of all, she hates that Jake Sim has actually managed to get under her skin.
"Ugh!" She whines, burying her head in her hands frustratedly, "I hate him!"
Sora frowns empathetically, "Hey, I'm sure it's nothing personal."
"Nothing personal?!" Sujin hisses, "He's been breathing down my neck ever since I got here! What's with that?!"
Sora opens her mouth to speak, but shuts it promptly when nothing comes out. Having spent most of her time with Sujin in the past couple of weeks, she's seen firsthand just how hard Jake's been on the girl lately. She finds it baffling, really - how he just happens to be everywhere they go, closely monitoring Sujin's actions like a starved cobra waiting to strike. She's never seen anything quite like it before.
"It is out of character, even for Jake." Sora admits, giving Sujin a light squeeze on the shoulder for reassurance.
"The pressure must be getting to him... He's got a lot to prove this year, by the looks of things." Sunoo's features scrunch together in slight puzzlement, "I've never seen him so stressed out in my life! He's always busy with something, staying up 'til crazyhours in the night and disappearing off to God knows where. Even Sunghoon's getting worried... and that's saying something."
Despite the outward confidence Jake seems to carry himself with at all times, Sunoo would like to think he knows the older boy well enough by now to be able to sense these shifts in his behavior. It's been a mystery plaguing him, Jay and Sunghoon's minds more than they'd like to admit over the past few days.
"Look, whatever he's got going on - good luck to him." Sujin grumbles, "But that doesn't mean he has to take it out on me!"
"... You're right." Sunoo sighs, "You don't deserve that. This place has gotta start cutting you some slack."
Sujin huffs in defeat, "Tell me about it."
Screeech!
Their conversation is brought to a sudden halt by the sound of feedback blaring through the PA system. Caught off guard by the shrill noise, Sunoo accidentally tugs on Sora's hair as he jumps in his seat.
"Motherf- Ow!"
Sora scowls at the sharp pain, smacking her best friend's arm in a scolding manner.
"Oops. Sorry!"
She rubs at her scalp with a mumble, "Last time I'm ever letting you near my hair..."
"Pfft." Sunoo rakes a hand through the girl's tresses a final time to help her unravel the braid, "Yeah, right."
"I'm serious-"
"Guys," Sujin interjects, bringing both of her friends' short-lived attention spans back to the subject at hand, "What the hell was that noise?"
"Probably gonna be an announcement." Sora shrugs, "Or a fire drill... Ugh, I really hope it's not a fire drill."
Sunoo perks up, "But if it is, we get to skip PE!"
"And have to stand outside for hours instead?! Hell no!"
Sujin rolls her eyes, lacking the energy to even try cutting another round of their bickering short.
Luckily, an automated voice does the job for her.
What the announcement actually says, however, doesn't have her feeling so fortunate: "Han Sujin, please report to the Headmistress' office immediately."
All eyes in the room immediately snap to the back row, and Sujin feels herself shrink under her classmates' invasive stares.
"Shit..." She curses under her breath.
He actually went through with it.
And just when she'd thought the worst was over, the PA system buzzes back to life. This time, it's a voice laced with smugness, and maybe - more like definitely - even a hint of amusement.
A more human voice.
A more Jake voice.
"See ya."
SAGE'S SPACE! 🗯️
✨ ZING ✨
i'm kind of... sort of... okay, really obsessed with all this back-and-forth sujake have going on right now 🤭 it's just sooo much fun to write! as always, i hope you're all finding it just as much fun to read 🫶
i promise we'll be unpacking a WHOLE LOT of that tension in the next chapter. (god knows they need it, fr.) but if i keep rambling i'll end up spoiling all the fun for you, so i guess i'll just leave it there for now... 😉
til next time, sage ♡
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