pulling on cosmic strings ꩜ pi hanwool, study group

9. the now first-ranked student

Gamin grabbed his glasses off the ground and put them back on. He turned to look Jun straight in the eye and called him, "Jun, let's go upstairs."

Jun, enamored by the boy in front of him that effortlessly defeated the former first-ranked student in one punch, simply nodded and followed behind.

He was eager to learn from the, now, first-ranked student of their grade.

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Minju watched from inside the very same room as Gamin walked in, shutting the door before Jun could walk inside.

They all heavily considered whether Jun should be let into their study group, as he had ulterior motives of learning to be a top tier fighter under Gamin. While Sehyun, Jiwoo, and Heewon shared their thoughts on the matter, Minju was preoccupied on something else.

She went on her phone and opened her contact list, scrolling until she saw a familiar name.

'Ma Minhwan'

She quickly typed up, 'What are you doing after school?'

Not long after, her phone vibrated with a response, 'Why? Suddenly decided to reach out to make plans again?'

Minju rolled her eyes, 'Maybe.'

'Aww, but what should I do? Something just came up, I'm busy today," she could hear his playful tone through the text.

'Busy doing what?'

'Wouldn't you like to know?'

'Just tell me.'

'Can't! I won't be able string you along if I tell you straight up.'

'Is it a fight?'

Three dots appeared on the screen, disappeared, then appeared once more. Minhwan must've been taking his time to type out a good answer.

To release himself from his misery, Minju deduced, 'So it is a fight.'

'No, it's not.'

'I know it is, Minhwan.'

'Nope! You're wrong!'

'Don't lie to me.'

'It's not fun messing with you,' he sent, accompanied with a sad face emoji.

Before Minju could inquire more about the fight, he sent another text, 'If you're bored, go ask Hanwool to hang. Bet he'll jump in joy simply by getting a text from you after the big argument.'

Minju was about to reply, but movement in her peripheral vision stopped her. She clicked her phone shut and looked up to see the rest of the group tidying up their stuff.

Jiwoo sensed her confusion and explained, "We're leaving Jun here to study as a loyalty test while we go to the hospital to check on Ms. Lee. Are you coming?"

Minju's phone vibrated once more, and she peered to see a new text from Hanwool.

'I'm waiting for you outside, let's go home together.'

It's been a while since the last time they've spoken, actually spoken that is, arguments aside. Minju couldn't help a small twinge in her heart that wanted to see him, be in his presence, as if that gave her some reassurance of his wellbeing. Which it did.

"Sorry, I have plans after this," Minju gave a hesitant smile.

Exiting the school building, Minju separated from the study group once she spotted Hanwool leaning against the wall nearby the gates. His hands were in his pockets, and his eyes lasered onto her once he noticed her.

His eyes betrayed a sense of relief as he saw her relaxed and brightened stature slowly heading towards him, although, he wasn't sure if she noticed it.

Thank God she was coming home with him.

Hanwool watched as she bid her new friends goodbye and walked up towards him, the eased expression replaced with a slow grin crawling up his face.

"Finally decided to stop ignoring me, huh?"

A hint of mock annoyance showed on Minju's features, "Shut up. Let's just go."

She swiftly looped her arm in his and pulled him as they walked out the school gates, the smirk on his face unwavering.

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Author's Note

Thank you for 1K reads!!! I'm so sorry for the late update, I just couldn't find a lot of motivation to continue writing even though I wanted to haha.

I'll try to be more consistent, but I'm nearing my finals, with a LOTTT of assignments coming in hot... So please don't be mad if I'll be updating late in the future lolll. I promise I'll finish the story though, sooner or later.