pulling on cosmic strings ꩜ pi hanwool, study group

5. opposing teams

Now things were different, and she could change it. If only no one got in her way.

Hanwool sighed, "If you can't handle it, then stay out of it."

Minju narrowed her eyes at him.

If Hanwool was going to be an obstacle in her scheme, then she would have to cut him off, for now.

For now, they would be on opposing teams.

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Minju never spoke to Hanwool once ever since she stormed out of the lounge that night. Didn't respond to his messages, calls, and even avoided him at school.

For days, she refused to eat with him and Minhwan at lunch, resorting to drinking a canned soda from the vending machine while studying in her classroom.

She couldn't go to the rooftop, a shared space between the three of them. The back of the school was out of question, it was usually occupied by other school bullies, constantly fighting to get higher up in the rankings. The overwhelming smell of cigarettes made her scrunch her nose in disgust.

The girls' and boys' classes were separated by floors, not to mention that they were in different grades, so they wouldn't run to each other this way. Minju sat at her desk, brows furrowed, twirling her pencil as she tried to complete the same math problem for the hundredth time.

If she was going to go back in time, she might as well have all her notes back with her, seeing that Minju had to complete the same assignments. Math wasn't exactly her strong suit, and this specific problem ticked her off.

Minju was intelligent, in fact, the top of her grade. But that didn't mean she didn't work hard for it.

Many liked to make the assumption that Minju had everything at the tip of her fingers, but her grades were the one thing that allowed her to prove herself. That it was of her own efforts, never mind her family's power and status.

The door to her classroom clicked open. She heard whistling before a bundle of papers was slapped onto her desk in front of her.

"I got the answer key from a beloved classmate, he's in the boys' class for the same major, your grade." The sly voice came from none other than Minhwan, who was munching on a chocolate bar, "I know you're not the best at math, so take it as a gift."

Minju used her arm to push the papers off her desk, making them fall into a mess onto the floor. She continued writing, the granite of her pencil colliding with her notes in soft scratches.

"I don't need it."

Minhwan smiled as he picked the papers one by one off the floor, "Stubborn as always."

After, he straightened and watched as Minju kept her eyes glued on her notes, determined to solve the question herself. Minhwan noticed the can of soda on the corner of her desk and picked it up, eyeing it curiously.

"Is this what you've been having for lunch the past few days?"

"Concerned?" she asked. "Don't be. I just didn't feel like eating."

Minhwan hummed as he sat on top of her desk, covering what she was working on, "Is that the only reason?"

Minju put her pencil down, crossed her arms, and glared at him, "Tell me what you're here for and get it over with."

He gasped and dramatically placed his palms on his chest, "I'm just here to check up on you!"

She simply arched an eyebrow.

Minhwan sighed, "You've been ignoring us. Not eating lunch, going home without us?"

Using her hand to gesture between the both of them, Minju replied, "I'm not ignoring you."

"Fine, you're ignoring Hanwool. He's worried about you, you know. Keeps on asking 'bout you."

"He knows why I'm ignoring him."

"Does he?"

"He didn't tell you?" Minju asked.

Minhwan raised his head to look at the ceiling, "Just that you guys argued about the attack on Ms. Lee, nothing else. You know how he is."

"Why did he send Hyunwoo and the others to attack her, anyway?" she probed.

"He made Hyunwoo do it because he needed to prove himself, after that embarrassing excuse of a fight." He pondered, tapping his index finger to his lips repeatedly, "And I heard Hanwool telling them that he wanted to change Gamin's surroundings a bit, see him squirm."

As Minju gathered her thoughts, Minhwan turned his gaze to her, "Speaking of Gamin, I heard you joined his study group."

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Author's Note

Sorry for not being active for the past couple of days, I've been a bit occupied with assignments and couldn't find the time or motivation to focus on writing.

Thank you for 400 reads!!! I just finished writing this chapter, let me know what you think!