synopsis: Chan dislikes you because he thought you were a bystander to bullying. You dislike Chan because he seems to always be bragging about how well he dances. However, after witnessing a girl get bullied, you two combine forces. (3 parts compiled)
genre: enemies to lovers, school!au, romance
characters: highschool student!chan x highschool student!reader
warnings: school bullying, school violence
word count: 4.5k
a/n: (a bit dramatic but it was one of my favorites as a newbie writer)
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[PART 1] "Allemies"
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That classmate of yours, Lee Chan, was dancing around the classroom during break again.
It was like he was bragging to everyone that he won dance competitions, ranking relatively high in each. You couldn't deny it either, Chan was a good dancer. It was just the way he rubbed it into you and everyone else in the class by dancing around everywhere. It seemed like he was so full of himself, always flexing his dancing skills.
He danced through the rows of desks, his feet doing fancy moves. It looked like he was gliding on the floor.
How annoying, you thought.
When the class began, Chan sat down at his desk, which was placed right behind yours. Seeing your back made him feel slightly annoyed and disgusted.
He couldn't think of anything else other than one moment. A year ago, Chan happened to see you while he was waiting at his bus stop.
In his eyes, you were turning a blind eye to bullying, you even looked like a bully yourself. You were in front of a dark alleyway, on your phone, chewing gum. Behind you, in the alleyway, we're girls who beat up another girl.
When Chan approached, you walked away as if you were never part of the bullying.
He was able to stop the poor girl from getting bullied and advised her to move schools. After that week, the bullied girl disappeared. To Chan's disbelief, you continued with your days.
His disliking for you began then.
-
The class ended and it was lunchtime. You made your way toward the vending machines to get yourself a can of soda as replenishment for lunch.
You passed by the bathroom and heard a girl shout, followed by some curses from other students. There was no one else but you in the hallway. You stood still and looked in the direction of the bathroom.
Holding a few quarters in your hand, you took a deep breath and took a step toward the bathroom. The moment your foot stepped into the bathroom, a triad of girls walked out. They bumped past your shoulder and gave you a side glare.
You could hear them mutter something along the lines of “Just another loser” as they walked out. The moment they left, you ran into the bathroom to find one of your classmates on the floor of the dirty bathroom. Her hair was wet and her clothes, soaked. A broom was on the floor.
You helped the girl out of the bathroom and gave her a new pair of clothes.
“Please don't tell anyone,” Your classmate said.
“What? Why? You are being bullied to this extent and you don't want to tell anyone?”
Your classmate whispered, “I don't have any evidence. They won't believe me.”
You just sighed and continued to help your fellow classmate dry her hair with a towel. Your stomach was empty but you didn't mind.
Chan sighed. He clenched his fists as he overheard your conversation in the classroom. He decided to walk away and go finish his lunch.
He couldn't believe what he saw. You, who he saw was a bystander to bullying, helped a bullied girl?
-
When school ended and you were heading for the front gate of the school, you felt a sudden yank on your wrist. You were forced backward and hit the chest of a guy.
Surprisingly, it was Chan.
You jerked away. “What the hell?”
“What do you plan to do?” Chan suddenly asked. You tilted your head, confused.
“What do you mean? What's up with you?” You tried to turn away but Chan held you still.
“How are you going to help her? She's being bullied.” Chan asked.
“You know about it?” You stared into his eyes, that were filled with confidence.
You looked around and quickly ran off. Chan shouted after you before following. You led him to a quieter place to talk.
“Shh! She doesn't want me to talk about it to anyone.” You said, your finger to your lips.
“If you aren't going to do something to help her, I will. No, I will help her even if you do something.” Chan said.
“She doesn't want anyone knowing!”
“Are you just going to let her continue to suffer when you know she's being bullied? Just like how you turned a blind eye to the girl who got bullied in the alleyway?”
You glared at Chan. “I don't know what you're saying but I'll do something. I'll not make it a big deal as she wants.”
“That just means you're not doing anything,” Chan scoffed and turned away, poking his cheek with his tongue. “What did I expect? I thought when you saved her, you would help her even if she doesn't want help. It's just the same as last time. You'll turn away and do nothing.”
“I don't know what ‘last time’ you're talking about. I don't even know you well and all of a sudden you're talking to me, spitting this nonsense?” You crossed your arms and scoffed.
It was like the two of you felt a string of hate connected on your pinkies.
“Don't you remember her? She was the mixed girl last year. Bullied and then left. She thanked me because I was the only one who saved her before.”
“Are you bragging right now?”
“No, I'm telling you about how you turned a blind eye to bullying in the past. You're a really bad person if you don't even remember the incident.” Chan glared at you.
“I don't know what you're talking about. That alleyway- I only know of one alleyway. I stand there every day and listen to music on my phone so loud that I can't even hear a car run,” You replied, holding onto your backpack straps. “It's been the same for years.”
Chan wet his lips and turned away. “Whatever you say. What I know is that I'll help her. I'll catch those bullies in the act and-”
“It's going to be the girl's bathroom. You can't go in there.” You said.
His eyes softened.
“That's why I was hoping that you could help me, but of course, you-”
“You should have gotten straight to the point then, you!!” You shouted.
Chan explained how he saw you and heard the scream from the girl's bathroom. He didn't go in because it was the female bathroom, so he stayed back. When the girls left the bathroom, he stayed and watched you help the bullied girl. After that, he went and followed the bullies, finding their smoking spot too.
You and Chan went back into the building and stayed there to come up with a plan. You two disagreed on some parts but when it hit 6 pm, you guys finally came to an agreement in the plan.
-
You took in a deep breath. You could hear the shouts of the poor girl again, in the same place.
Chan was behind you. He nodded with a reassuring smile. You still couldn't believe that you were doing such a thing.
You walked into the bathroom to see a horrific scene. They were hitting your classmate with the broom.
You took a hold of the broom and were able to break it. Prior to the event, Chan helped you break the broom a bit.
“What the hell?” The main bully was a tall girl with straight, long hair. “It's you?”
“What do you think you're doing?” You asked as fiercely as you could.
“This- take her. I'll be right there. I can't believe she ruined all the fun.”
The echoing voices of the other two girls were like ghosts following a monster. You gulped and the girls slapped your face hard, then pulled you by the hair. One of the girls kicked your knee, making you hit the floor of the bathroom.
‘The point is not to fight back, but to struggle.’ Chan told you yesterday.
Chan would be waiting outside and would film everything. Mr.Kim, your homeroom teacher, would also be there. That was the plan; to gather evidence and witnesses.
Your knee hurt so much. It felt like the girls had broken a bone of yours. They dragged you by the hair. Your shoes squeaked as they struggled against the floor, kicking. The lead bully walked out of the bathroom with a sinister smile. She was holding onto the broken stick.
The door to the courtyard opened, just as Chan planned.
“Let's stop it now. It's enough. I've seen enough.” Mr.Kim said, walking toward the door.
Chan nodded and followed, holding a camcorder in his hands.
The girls began kicking you when the door opened. Chan flew out and covered you immediately, his arms around you and his chest pressed against your back as the teacher shouted.
“Go to the principal! This is absolutely unacceptable! We will not tolerate this type of school violence! Your parents will be informed of your harmful actions and legal action may be rightfully taken for the harm you guys have caused to any of the victims. Go! Now!”
-
2 weeks went by. The girls have been expelled.
Mr.Kim, you, the bullied girl, and Chan were witnesses. Chan had also set up a camera at the outside of the courtyard, where it captured the bullies shouting threats and curses as they beat you up. With his video evidence and the injuries on you and the girl's bodies, it was more than enough.
The girl is taking legal action against them as well.
You were sitting in the infirmary because of your leg injury. You were basically skipping out on P.E. class because of your broken knee.
Suddenly, the door opened and Chan walked in. You were staring out the window, at the courtyard.
“You want to go outside?” He asked.
You turned to him. “Why are you here?”
“Because the nurse had to check out for a bit and she trusts me,” Chan replied, sitting down next to you.
You rolled your eyes, sighed, and turned away.
“You're at it again.”
“Huh?” He sounded genuinely confused.
You turned to him and stared straight into his eyes.
“I freaking hate how you're always bragging about yourself. Can't you just keep it to yourself? What next? You're going to talk about how you wouldn't be able to dance and win competitions if you were the one who broke a leg?”
Chan was quiet and just stared at you.
He blinked twice.
You pressed your lips together, feeling guilty.
“Sorry, I didn't mean it.”
“No, I was just starting to like you more as a classmate. Let's just stay enemies. Forget that we were allies.” He stood up to leave but saw that the bullied girl was at the door.
“Thank you so much… Chan and Y/N. It seems like you two aren't on good terms but I really appreciate you two working together for me,” She had her hands together, her face held a beautiful smile. “I hope you two can get along. Chan really seemed heroic when he protected you like that… just like how you helped me get changed.”
Her eyes were on you. She seemed so much happier. Her eyes were twinkling.
“Well, I have to get back to class. I just really wanted to say thanks.” She left just like that.
Chan turned back to you and your eyes met.
He sighed and sat back down. You didn't notice before that he was holding a bag in his hands.
“You always buy lunch from the vending machine,” he took out a sandwich. “So I bought you one.”
He handed you the sandwich with a cold face, trying to deny that he did it out of genuine kindness.
“Thanks.” You replied. You looked inside the sandwich and saw no cucumbers.
“Why don't they have cucumbers? The sandwiches from this store always have cucumbers.”
Chan sighed.
He didn't know why, but he felt that he would have to be around you, who seemed like the complete opposite of him, for a while.
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[PART 2] "Building Trust"
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“You really don't have any friends that can help you?” Chan asked.
He told you that he pitied you for having to walk alone on a broken leg so he decided to help you.
“I do, but they just had urgent matters to attend...” you replied quietly. Your arm was over his shoulder and his height made you have to barely lift a leg.
“Actually,” Chan began, his voice trailed off. “My mother wanted to invite you to dinner.”
You almost choked on your saliva. As if having him help you out of pity wasn't enough. “What? Did you tell your mother something funky?” You asked, coughing afterward in disbelief. It had to be some sort of prank that Chan was playing.
“I didn't tell her anything. She came to watch us get our bravery awards yesterday and wanted me to INVITE YOU who helped catch the bullies,” Chan sighed and looked away from the sidewalk onto the dark grey road and street lamps. “Thanks to the teachers, she knows that you got hurt to save the bullied girl. She feels bad that I could let you get hurt and blah blah blah, she wants you over.”
You looked away from the sidewalk as well, in the opposite directions as Chan, laying your eyes on the tan cement wall with dangling vines. Now it felt like he didn't help you out of pity but because he had to invite you to dinner.
“Why did you just tell your mom that I couldn't be there? And that you hated me to shreds?” You finally said, scoffing a bit afterward.
“She's my mom I can't tell her that.”
You laughed. “You're a high school student who's scared of their mom? You can't even tell her that you don't want to invite me over because you hate me?”
Chan didn't reply but you could picture him rolling his eyes.
“If you don't want to go, I'll tell her that you couldn't make it because it's not like I want you at my house anyway.”
You laughed. “I'll always take free food. I'm not going to your house because I want to go with you, but I want free food.”
Chan sighed. Again, you imagined that he was probably rolling his eyes again.
You were about to laugh as you turned your head back to the sidewalk, but upon seeing the man approach your smile faded.
You tried to get yourself off of Chan as fast as you could before the man in front got off his phone.
“What the- do you not need my help?” Chan asked, a bit flustered. He looked at you, who ended up tripping into his arms. You could feel the blush on your face rise.
The man looked up.
“Wow, Y/N? Is that you?”
It was your ex-boyfriend.
Chan didn't even hear the guy and continued to ask what the hell was wrong with you.
You hopped back on your feet and decided that facing him would bring less embarrassment.
You turned to him.
“What?” You replied coldly.
“Wow, are you doing this to make me jealous? Run into your new boyfriend's arms?” Your ex-boyfriend laughed hysterically.
You stood still. You wanted to say that you and Chan weren't anything near lovers but of course, that would only make your ex believe that you were trying to make him jealous.
“Don't date Y/N. We're on the same side, dude. She's very picky, fussy, and even a big fat bully. She used to bully my younger sister-”
“Is this how an ex-boyfriend is supposed to act? You're quite unshameful.” Chan replied, a tint of confidence in his voice.
He took your hand and you weakly let him. Your fists were clenched but you knew that anything you said would only benefit your ex-boyfriend.
Your head was filling with rage.
If only you could cover your ears, block all the noise, and listen to some music.
Chan took you and walked past your ex-boyfriend, holding on to you tightly. You didn't even look back. You didn't look at Chan either, just at the ground.
Suddenly, Chan began to hum.
Your ex-boyfriend was shouting something along the lines of you always refusing kisses and how it was because you were a bad kisser.
Chan continued to hum a melody that you didn't recognize.
No words were exchanged.
You couldn't hear anything but the song that he was humming softly.
-
Chan's mother was a lot more easygoing than you thought, she didn't ask many questions about you two and most of the time, she was complimenting you. She told you that she admired having such a brave student in her house.
In your full integrity, the person she should have been complimenting was her son.
After giving you guys food and talking about how proud she was of you (also completely ignoring the fact that her son had any involvement - only bringing him up for filming it) she left you guys alone to go buy some fruit.
The house was empty now, just mainly brown walls and clear, white windows, and wooden tiled floors. You two were sitting next to the window, at a table with plates of food and side dishes. There was a cyan flower pot with red flowers sitting on the tan, wooden table.
“I wanted to bring this up,” Chan said, setting down his empty glass of water. “Was he your ex-boyfriend?”
You were about to take a sip but instead, set down the water, and rested your elbows on the table. You fidgeted with a fork, not looking at Chan who was next to you.
“Was it that obvious?”
“A bit,” Chan turned to you, sitting back in his wooden chair, the same as the one you were sitting on. “Why didn't you speak up? All I remember you saying is ‘what’.”
“I shouldn't have dated that guy, he's such a jerk.”
“Why didn't you say that to his face?”
You turned to Chan and accidentally met his eyes. You didn't realize that he had been looking at you intently this whole time. “He'll only say some more crazy stuff.”
“Did you really bully-”
“Of course not!! Do you think I'm that type of person!!? I can't even stand seeing a-”
Chan was staring at you. You looked away.
“So you didn't bully?”
“No. I would never do that.” You turned back to Chan, pointing at him. “You're still on that thing when we first met, aren't you? About me being a bystander to bullying?? And a bully myself??”
Chan leaned a bit closer to you. “Then why were you there? You were leaning against the alleyway as if guarding them. The moment I came, you left.”
You tried your best to recover the memory, but it was just like every other day.
You stared intently into Chan's face.
That's when it occurred to you, that day.
You grabbed Chan's face and looked even harder at his features, comparing it to a man you happened to see approach as you left the alleyway.
Chan placed his hands on yours, trying to remove them, muttering things like 'what the hell'.
“Hey! Stay still!” You said. Without you knowing, you leaned in closer to his face.
Chan stared at you back, looking at your eyes. He could even feel your breathing. His heart couldn't stay still all of a sudden.
Finally, he jerked away.
“What the hell are you doing?” Chan asked, wiping his cheeks.
You explained to him everything that happened on that day that you could remember. It was another frustrating day so you remembered it more than others. Your mother had gotten into an argument with you over the phone about grades so you spent the rest of that day listening to music loudly and blanking out.
“So you couldn't hear anything at all because you were listening to music?”
You nodded. “I stand by that alleyway every day.”
Chan nodded, finally understanding. “I'll just believe you then. I will admit that I've seen you there more than once.”
You let out a breath, somewhat relieved that you cleared yourself up.
“Now why the hell do you hate me?” Chan asked.
You slowly turned away. Hating him because he was a good dancer seemed like a very meaningful reason to hate someone. Also, you didn't even hate him anymore. He wasn't at all like you expected. Over the past month, after the incident, he continued to dance, but you had found out he was just practicing for a competition. He came 1st again but that was because he did well. You saw the competition.
In the end, that perspective you had of Chan was completely wrong. You didn't know anything.
Chan grabbed your chair and pulled it closer to his. You turned around and were met with his face. This time, it was you who couldn't stop your racing heart.
“Why do you hate me?” He chuckled playfully. You gulped.
“Hate is a strong word…” For some reason, you couldn't stop looking at him. “I never hated you.”
Chan laughed and turned away. “Fine.”
He moved away and just then, you could hear the front door of Chan's house twist open.
All you had in your head was his laugh.
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[PART 3] "Connecting"
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After that day when you two had dinner together, something has changed.
You didn't want to admit it because you knew that part of you still disliked Chan. Sometimes when he danced around the classroom, you will get annoyed. When you told him it was annoying, you two will bicker.
He would argue about how you are always blocking your ears with music and you would reply with how he is always rubbing it to everyone that he's an amazing dancer.
You were packing your things late because you were on cleaning duty with Chan. For some reason, you were so nervous all throughout. Sometimes you would take glances at him when he danced while mopping the floor.
You were cleaning the chalkboard when he suddenly walked beside you, took an eraser, and began to help you.
“Do you…” You continued to wipe the large, green chalkboard.
Chan turned to you.
“Remember the song you were humming when we walked to your house?” You asked, refusing to look in his direction even if you knew he was looking at you intently.
“Of course. I'm performing that song for the competition today.”
You turned to him. “Really?”
Chan laughed. “Yeah, I created an amazing choreography to it that'll get you so annoyed when you come to watch because it's so good.”
You chuckled. Chan chuckled when he saw you chuckle. Then, both of you continued wiping the chalkboard.
-
It was afternoon by the time you had finished asking around.
You were doubtful if you were to dress up beautifully or not, but decided against it. It wasn't like you were trying to impress Chan... You just simply wanted to see why he was always so confident. So you went to the stage where the dance competition would be held.
There were lots of people there and you blended perfectly with the crowd, wearing a white t-shirt and black pants.
You waited patiently for the competition to begin. When it did, you watched carefully, as if hoping that you'd find Chan. You were getting tired of watching as none of them stood out.
A new stage was beginning. The melody was familiar and the beat was graceful get funky. Immediately, you fell in love with the song.
A man walked out from the side of the stage and introduced himself.
“Hello, I'm Lee Chan. I'm 17 years old and today I'll be performing a self-choreographed choreography.” He smiled.
You smiled and watched his performance with your full attention. You didn't realize it but a smile was on your face the whole time. You were indeed, amazed.
As Chan danced to the song, expressing a romantic yet playful vibe with his choreography. His facial expressions would range from smiley and cute to serious and sexy. He made eye contact with the crowd and that's when he saw you.
Like a boost of energy suddenly ran through his body, his performance only got better.
You didn't notice that he saw you so you just continued to sway, clap, and smile to the song that he hummed when you were about to explode. It was so annoying how great he was. It was really annoying how much you've started to like him.
-
After the competition, where Chan was announced the winner yet again, you put on a satisfied smile and stood up from the chair you were sitting on.
You walked away, not knowing that Chan saw you.
‘Should I tell him I saw his performance tomorrow?’ You asked yourself.
You stopped by a water fountain in the middle of a park nearby. With the golden afternoon sun burning your skin, you stood in front of the cold, blue fountain. The small bits of water splashing on your face felt refreshing. You were simply in a good mood.
Just as you were watching the fountain throw its water, you felt someone call your name from behind.
You turned around to see Chan.
“Chan?” You tilted your head.
Chan was panting like he ran to you. There was a small distance of around 5ft between you two. Your eyes met and his glittered a caramel brown in the golden sunlight.
“Why did you come to see me?” Chan asked, smiling beautifully. “Was it really that hard to resist? Did you pretend that you weren't at all interested in me when you and I talked?”
You couldn't even think of a good reply. All that came to you was a small chuckle.
“Because honestly, I couldn't help but only see you in that crowd.”
You laughed again.
He took a few steps toward you.
The string of hate connecting you two had changed into a heartstring.
Now, every step he took gave you butterflies.
“Okay, I'll just tell you it directly,” Chan was finally in front of you. You looked up into his eyes. Chan took your face into his hands, making your heart beat like crazy. “I like you a lot.”
He wanted to say so much more, like how much he loves how focused you look when you clean, how beautiful your eyes look at the moment, the way you bicker with him, and how he can feel your heart as if it's his own... Everything he wanted to say, he pressed it on your lips. A simple string carried a whole mind.
Every single thing. Without a word, just his soft lips against yours and his hands holding your neck gently. Just the afternoon sun painting the sky orange. Just his breath passing on the words he wanted to say and his heart beating as fast as yours.
It was an unexplainable connection.
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