chapter one | only fools fall for you
Seoul National University Top Students for the First Semester:
#1 - Kim Minjeong
Minjeong stares at the bulletin board as she holds her cup of morning coffee. Indulging for a sip, she turns her heels and finally started walking down the busy hallway while reading another mystery novel she bought last week. A few students who were scattered around and looking at her questions the lack of enthusiasm. Though they already know that the young maiden has a cool and calm personality, it just throws them off that they rarely see her celebrate. At most, it's just a timid smile after looking at the results, like today.
Well, Minjeong can't really blame them. Most people would be happy to even just make it to top ten. But to be the best and called number one, it holds a greater meaning that nothing can compare, and Minjeong knows that. At her young age, she was an academic prodigy. While achieving the top gave her the satisfaction, there are occasions when it transforms into pressure over time. As a result, Minjeong no longer felt euphoric about holding such a position as she had the first time. Though her parents don't really care about her ranking and urges her not to stress about it, deep inside, she still doesn't want to disappoint them. Especially herself.
As Minjeong walks to her first class, she spots a certain brunette standing by the door with its usual flannel, matching hers. "What are you doing here, Heejin?" the blonde asks as soon as she was closer, making the brunette flinch at her presence.
Once Heejin recognized the familiar voice, she turns to her side and grins. "Hyunjin invited us to watch the taekwondo tournament." the brunette spills with excitement. But on the contrary, the blonde didn't budge at the invitation. "On the first week of semester?" Minjeong mutters, a little surprised that a tournament is being held today.
Heejin chuckles at her expression. "Yeah? You know how they always hold tournaments during this time." she states the obvious, "So, are you coming or not?"
"No." Minjeong quickly rejects.
Heejin purses her lip at that. "Come on, nerd," she tries to persuade the blonde, even when she's completely aware of the fact that her friend has never had any interest on anything aside from reading mystery novels.
"I have no interest in taekwondo, you guys enjoy yourselves." with her last words, Minjeong excuses herself and finally walked inside the room, leaving the brunette behind.
Heejin could only sigh before walking to her own class.
-
Lunch came and Minjeong was sitting at their usual table at the cafeteria with her friends. Heejin, who just finished her chemistry class and was last to arrive, took the seat next to the blonde with much enthusiasm. Probably has something she's eager to tell everyone.
"Have you heard?" Heejin speaks as soon as she settled her things down.
Yizhuo, who was sitting by her left, dropped the food she was eating to listen to what the brunette has to say. "What?"
Doyeon and Minjeong just sat at their places, unbothered but caring enough to listen.
"Jimin was talking to the dean and asking for a tutor." Heejin spills. And all three heads turn to her in surprise.
"What?" Doyeon reacts first.
"Really?!" followed by Yizhuo.
"Jimin? Studying? Someone probably just made it up." and finally Minjeong's anticlimactic response. Heejin and Yizhuo gave her a look, meanwhile Doyeon just tried her best to suppress a laugh.
"Are you a hater?" Yizhuo blurts out to the blonde.
Minjeong looked at her with twitched brows, "What? You really believe what Heejin said?"
"Well, I'm not lying. I even heard that she'll try looking for you in the library later." Heejin mumbled the last words but everyone heard her loud and clear.
"Hmm? She'll look for Minjeong?" Doyeon speaks in a teasing tone. Though the blonde didn't seem to budge, it actually sparked curiosity in her.
"Yeah, I think she wants Minjeong to tutor her." Heejin further informs.
Minjeong releases a deep sigh that caught everyone's attention. "Give me a break." the blonde mumbles, making the trio laugh on their seat.
Heejin then tries to suggest something, "But hey, maybe she can join our study group—"
In which Yizhuo, Doyeon and Minjeong, quickly cuts off with an aggressive "NO."
"There's no way we can last through a day with her in the group." Yizhuo states, and Heejin gives her a puzzled look, clearly confused. "Did you forget that everyone in the study group hates her?" Doyeon adds.
A vivid memory then pops in the brunette's head where one of the members in the study group opened a topic about Jimin, that ended up with everyone ranting about their disastrous encounter with the young delinquent. Once Heejin recalls that day, all she could mutter was a small "Oh" of realization.
"You need to stop skipping group studies so you can get reminded of everyone's hatred for that woman." Minjeong speaks and the table erupted in another fits of laughter.
"Well, I'm sorry for not having enough reason to hate her like y'all." Heejin retorts.
"Of course you won't have a reason to hate her, your girlfriend is literally friends with her." Doyeon rebuts, going along the playful banter.
"Right." Yizhuo nods in agreement.
Heejin could only roll her eyes in annoyance, she's clearly not winning when everyone's ganging up on her. So she diverts the conversation to another topic. "Whatever. Minjeong, what if the dean calls for you to tutor her, would you agree?"
Everyone kept their gaze to the blonde who was now reading yet another novel. They sat in silence as they waited for an answer.
"No."
-
"So, as I was saying Miss Kim, I'd like you to tutor Miss Yu here." the old man sits back to his swivel chair facing two certain students across his table. The room was full of trophies and stacks of papers, yet maintains its elegance—a typical office of a school dean.
Minjeong doesn't even know how she ended up in such situation. All she knew is that she was supposed to go to the library at the usual time but the dean called for her to his office and boom, she's sitting next to the SNU's infamous troublemaker—Yu Jimin. The latter's feline eyes met her hazel ones and the depth it held sent an unfamiliar feeling down Minjeong's nerves.
To the blonde, and most of the students, Jimin is known for her privilege of not getting any bad record despite her reputation. All thanks to her father. There was even a time where she broke a student's nose, still, they didn't dare to file any complain knowing it would only backfire. For whatever reasons the raven-haired is doing such things, Minjeong couldn't care less. As long as their paths don't cross.
Unlike today.
"Why me?" Minjeong nonchalantly asks.
"Because you're the one she wants." the old man quickly replies.
Minjeong then twitches a brow at that. "Huh?" she eyes Jimin, who was looking at everything excluding her. Jimin would be lying if she said Minjeong isn't one of the few students who intimidate her. But she won't say it out loud.
The dean fakes a cough to break the rising tension between the two—or maybe it's just Minjeong's domineering presence, then he responds. "Her father wants the best for her child. And since you're our top student, you're the perfect fit for it. Also, I heard you have a study group, right? I'm sure adding one more student in need won't cause trouble."
"What?" Minjeong gave him a perplexed look. Does he even know what he's saying? Jimin is literally the walking trouble of this university. "Not to sound offensive but everyone in the study group dislikes her, so I'm sure there will be trouble." the younger remarks.
She glances on Jimin by her side and the unfazed look on its face didn't even surprise her. Well, at least she's aware of her bad reputation. Minjeong thought.
The professor awkwardly laughs before he spoke once again. "Is there any way you can help her? She just really needs to graduate on time so her father can-"
"So he can have a less embarrassing heir." Jimin, who's been quiet the whole time, interrupts. Her eyes pierced through the dean's that he immediately understood what it meant. A warning.
"A-ah yeah...that. So, Minjeong, can you please tutor her?" the professor stammers through his words, which Minjeong didn't fail to notice. Although seeing how it may be something personal between the two, the blonde chose to ignore it and continue speaking about her own concern.
"Are you even sure she's willing to study?" Minjeong asks the dean.
To her surprise, it was the raven-haired who gave her a response. "Yes."
Frankly, Minjeong really have nothing against Jimin. Being seen with someone like her around campus and have students gossiping about it? The blonde couldn't care less. Her only concern is the fact that she'll have to deal with a troublesome person like Jimin. She has no patience to discipline a grown-up woman.
Since it's a favor from the dean itself, Minjeong can't really decline. Right?
And so she sighs. "Guess I have no choice."
Jimin gave the blonde a baffled look. No way she's really agreeing? She thought to herself.
While the old man smiles at that. "Thank you."
"Though I will tutor her separately." Minjeong quickly adds.
"Sure, if that's what you prefer."
"Alright. You have my number right, Sir?" The old man nods his head. "Send her that. And you," Minjeong turns her head to Jimin by her side, "Text me when you're free so we can settle the schedule."
Once she saw Jimin nodding in affirmation, she finally stood up from her seat, "Now if you can excuse me, I will now take my leave." With her final words, Minjeong walked out of the dean's office, not even bothering to hear their response and thank yous.
-
Having only the two of them left once again, the old man releases a breath he didn't knew he'd been holding the whole time.
Meanwhile, Jimin just laughs it off. No one can really argue with Minjeong cause that woman is always right, even if her way of speaking is laced with superiority and may sound rude, she's still right. I might have a hard time dealing with her. The raven-haired thought to herself.
"Well, that's settled then. Jimin, I hope you don't mess up this time, this is your only chance to see her." the old man reminds Jimin, who seems occupied with thoughts about the blonde.
"I know." the raven-haired mindlessly replies.
-
10 minutes before the next match starts, Yizhuo stood at the entrance of the hall, waiting for Doyeon to come after her classes.
Being invited by their friend Heejin to watch today's taekwondo tournament, Doyeon and Yizhuo had no choice aside from accompanying the brunette because unlike Minjeong, they like being outside. Well, that still depends on the situation for Yizhuo. Similar to the blonde, she's really not a huge fan of taekwondo. Nonetheless, she would rather be here than do homework when the sun is still up.
She told Heejin that she'll wait for Doyeon outside, since their plan was to watch Hyunjin's match only. She sat on the bench outside the busy hall. There were people running in a hurry since the next match is about to begin.
"Yizhuo!" she hears a familiar voice from afar, and when she turned her head to where it's coming from, she sees Heejin approaching her.
With a loud voice like Heejin's, it's unavoidable that a few bystanders gave them a look. Yizhuo could only do her best to ignore the secondhand embarrassment. "You didn't have to let everyone know my name." she spats out, and the brunette just laughed it off. "Yeah yeah, where's Doyeon?"
"She'll be here in a minute. Hopefully." the red-haired mumbles the last word.
Heejin grins. "Well, I'll leave that to you then. There's seats for us already, I'll wait for you inside, okay?"
Before Yizhuo could even protest, Heejin was already running back inside the hall, leaving the bystanders to give her another look. The red-haired could only sigh once more.
-
Deciding to kill more time on her own, Yizhuo went and bought herself a drink. She remembers coming across a few vending machines on her way to the hall. As she was about to leave, a voice halts her steps. "There's a match going on, why are you outside?"
Yizhuo eyed the stranger in front of her. They look about the same age and she seems to be participating in the tournament looking at how she's wearing a dobok. "I'm not interested in taekwondo." the red-haired speaks truthfully.
"And yet you're here." the stranger replies.
"My friends dragged me here." Yizhuo retorts, a little annoyed with the smug look on her face for no reason at all.
"Oh, the girl from earlier?"
"Are you eavesdropping to our conversation?"
"Hmm, not really." the brunette grins, "But I do suggest you head inside before the next match."
Yizhuo just gave her a questioning look, which then the brunette laughs off. "You might miss the best match today, Yizhuo." with a smirk on her lips, the stranger finally walks past the red-haired and enters the hall.
Yizhuo was left wondering how the stranger knew her name and why they had such conversation.
Over and above everything else, she was bothered by the fact that something about the brunette seemed familiar—as if she had already seen her face, but she couldn't recall when or when. Unlike Minjeong, she's isn't that a big fan of mystery, although she was obviously intrigued about the stranger she previously met.
-
It's past nine when Minjeong finished another chapter from her book. "I lost track of time again." the blonde yawns, feeling the drowsiness kick in. This happens all the time when she's hooked to the novel she's reading, she'd ignore everything and lock herself in her room, losing track of time and missing dinner.
Just when she was about to get up and grab something to eat downstairs, her phone rings. And when she looked at the screen, her friends are having a conversation at their supposed group chat.
Yizhuo: Hyunjin lost, this is so humiliating.
Heejin: Her opponent was just a little good! Don't slander her in this gc!
Doyeon: Are you admitting that your girlfriend's opponent is better at taekwondo?
Heejin: Keep your mouth shut.
Minjeong just laughs at the conversation she's witnessing; it must've been funnier if she saw them teasing Heejin in personal. Too bad she wasn't in the mood to be there.
Pouring herself a glass of milk, the blonde decides to settle for some bread, since it's already too late for rice and she still needs to wake up early tomorrow. Every time she thinks about her prof's favor, the blonde couldn't help but sigh. I mean, it's just another student in need of help, what's hard about that...right? She's been convincing herself that she has nothing to worry about, that if Jimin ever pull some prank on her, she'll just fight on her own way. And besides, it's the raven-haired who needs a favor, she's the one who should behave herself.
"I'm already exhausted just by thinking about it." Minjeong mumbles to herself before chugging down her glass of milk. And as if someone was pulling some sort of magic on her, her phone rings once again.
This time, it's a text from an unknown number.
One glimpse of the message, Minjeong knew she didn't have to think that far to identify the sender.
Unknown: My class ends at 3 in the afternoon, let's meet at the library tomorrow?
"She can't even introduce herself properly." Minjeong whispers annoyingly to herself.
There's another beep.
Unknown: This is Jimin by the way.
"My god..."