Breaking Point ➨ Sim Jaeyun

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Jaeyun's pov

The bell rang, echoing louder than usual.

Break.

Most people were already out the door like their lives depended on it.
I stayed seated.

Next to me, Stella was still hunched over her desk, scribbling something like the paper had personally offended her. Everyone else had cleared out, even Yunjin.

She didn't even notice. Or maybe she did — and just didn't care.

I stood, stretched, about to head out.

Then paused.

I glanced down. She was flipping through notes like she was on a timer. "Homework?" I asked casually, sliding back into my seat. She barely looked up. "It's due next period."

Figures.

Top student or not, no one wins against last-minute panic.

She ran a hand through her hair, clearly stressed, and muttered something under her breath that sounded like:

"This is why I don't play arsenal before bed."

I leaned over slightly. "You messed up the formatting here," I said, nodding at one of the answers. "It's why your equation won't balance."

She hesitated. Looked at the page. Then at me.

"You sure?"

"I'm not here to sabotage you, Kim," I said, almost offended. "Let me see."

She slid the paper over with a sigh. I pointed out the mistake, fixed a line of calculation with her pen, then handed it back.

She looked at it.

Then back at me.

"...Huh."

"Wow," I said, leaning back a little. "Was that a thank-you I almost heard?"

"Don't push your luck."

I laughed — just once. Not the mocking kind. Just... real.

She kept writing.

Focused. Sharp. Like nothing else existed.

There was something steady about her, even in the middle of chaos.

And for a second...

I forgot about the whole bet.

But then it crept back in.

Leeho's voice.

Jeehun's smirk.

"Make her fall. Date her. Ditch her."

It felt different now.

Wrong, almost.

I looked at her again — still scribbling, brows furrowed in concentration.

She wasn't just some challenge.

She didn't even care if I was here or not.

And that? That got under my skin more than anything.

I leaned back in my seat, exhaling slowly.

What the fuck was I even doing?

She sighed under her breath, rubbing her temples for a moment. Her notes were a mess — half-written equations and scribbles running into margins like she'd been panicking through all of it.

Without thinking, I reached over, turning her notebook slightly toward me.

"Your units are wrong here," I said, pointing at one line.

She blinked. "Huh?"

"The formula's right, but you mixed up the units. That's why your final answer's off."

I slid my pen beside hers and rewrote the calculation, slower, neater.

She watched quietly, and for the first time, she didn't look like she was annoyed by my existence.

"I thought you didn't pay attention in class," she said softly.

I shrugged. "Doesn't mean I don't understand it."

She didn't say anything. Just stared — not at the notes, but at me.

And I don't know what it was about that look...

But for a second, the classroom felt too quiet.

Like we were holding our breath.

Her eyes lingered on mine a little too long, and I could swear time froze — just enough for me to almost forget about the fucking bet, forget the reason I even sat here.

The soft glow of her cheeks.

How each of her lashes framed her eyes perfectly.

How I could feel the heat radiating off her.

I could feel each of her breath with mine. 

Her lips parted, like she wanted to say something.

And then—

"Yo Jake, you in here?"

The door swung open with a loud creak, Sunghoon's voice echoing through the room.

Fuck

She immediately pulled her notebook back, breaking eye contact so fast it felt like whiplash.

I leaned back in my seat just as Sunghoon peeked in and raised a brow at the two of us.

"There you are. You're missing out on canteen chaos," he said, smirking.

Then he looked between the two of us, eyes narrowing just slightly.

I scratched the back of my neck, acting casual. "Be there in a sec."

Stella had already gone back to pretending I didn't exist.

And just like that, the moment was gone.

How I wish.