Breaking Point ➨ Sim Jaeyun

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Stella's pov

First period? Physics. I already felt my soul leaving my body.

I wasn't bad at it or anything — I just didn't care enough to pretend it made sense before 10 a.m.

I took my usual seat near the back, dropped my bag with a thud, and rested my head against my palm. The classroom filled slowly, the low murmur of early-morning complaints buzzing around me.  

Yunjin slid in next to me with her iced coffee like she was showing off. "You look like you fought death and lost," she said. 

"I did," I muttered. "It was called the national team meeting at 6 a.m."

She laughed softly as the door opened again — and that's when I saw him.

Sim Jaeyun.

Same walk. Same half-buttoned uniform. Same smug face.

What the hell was he doing here?

He scanned the room once, casually, like he wasn't even looking for a seat. Then, of course, he made his way to the one diagonally behind me.

Yunjin nudged me. "Don't."

I didn't say anything. I didn't have to. My sigh was enough.

Ms Chen walked in and started the lesson without delay. Something about decay states and energy transitions. I stared at the board, I rather be in bed.

"Alright class, let's do a recap. What happens to the electron energy level in a hydrogen atom as it falls back to the ground state?"

Dead silence.

My pen hovered over the page. I of course knew it, but guess who's brain is malfunctioning at 8 in the morning.

That's not even a question.

And then I heard it.

"It emits a photon — the energy equals the difference between the excited and ground state," Jake said, his voice low but clear.

What the fuck.

The teacher blinked. "Correct."

I could feel his damn presence behind me — calm, relaxed, like he knew that caught me off guard.

I shook it off, writing my homework that is due in like 20 minutes. Cursing at random players who can't fucking play the game well on a school night was not on my bucket list.

But then he spoke again.

"Also depends on the transition — the wavelength changes if it's, like, n=3 to n=2 instead of straight to 1."

...

What the actual fuck.

Yunjin tilted her head toward me, whispering, "Did Jake Sim just answer twice? Like, correctly?"

I didn't answer.

Maybe because I was still trying to make sense of the fact that the school's #1 rule-breaker-slash-walking-ego-boost just dropped clean, textbook answers without blinking.

I took a slow breath, pressing my pen harder into the paper. Question 12 is..

Behind me, I heard a soft chuckle.

"Relax, Volleyball Queen. You'll catch up."

I turned slightly, just enough to glance over my shoulder.

He was leaning back in his seat, arms crossed, lips tugged into a lazy smirk.

"No one's talking to you," I muttered.

"Didn't say anyone was."

I turned back, gripping my pen like it personally offended me.

How the fuck did he answered the questions like it's nothing?

Why was he in this class?

And what does he want from me?