Chapter Text
Park Sungjin.
Everyone knew who Park Sungjin was.
So when he asked me out to be his prom date, it’s no surprise that I would be in complete shock.
The vocalist and guitarist of the school’s rock band, the president of the student union, the valedictorian of our year, the boy you’d bring home to see your parents and get instant approval, asking an honorary member of the going home club to be their prom partner? What is this a romcom?
Despite being someone famed for being a humble leader who puts others first before himself, the spotlight followed Sungjin’s aura wherever went. Meanwhile, I actively avoided any form of light scraping the surface of my skin; and this was more attention than I would ever want.
“So? What did you tell him?” my roommate queried, breaking my train of thoughts as I recounted the slew of events that happened this afternoon to her.
You’d think that after knowing me since before we could form words that she’d know me by now.
“C’mon Jimin, you know exactly what I’d tell him”
“Who knows, with a man of that stature right before you, maybe even the stone hearted Haeun could learn how to love? It’s our last few months in college, the last few moments to enjoy our blossoming youth, you should give him a chance. He’s literally the most reliable guy in this whole campus.”
She’s not wrong. Sungjin may be built and charismatic, your typical Busan guy, but he is meticulous and kind. Taking care of every detail and of others, providing guidance and support without calling for credit. I trusted him.
And that was exactly why I had to reject him. Becoming the subject of envy of half the school population was one thing, but I couldn’t bring myself to possibly lose trust in him. Rather than posing the risk of getting hurt, why not just eliminate the opportunity of that happening all together?
Min Haeun has nothing but her grades and a stone wall around her heart, and Park Sungjin has everything that anyone would ever want. Just the thought of that raised so much suspicion about the intentions of his actions this afternoon, and I wasn’t about to let my guard down to allow a repeat of freshman year to happen.
Just like the sun, it would’ve been much safer to just admire this shining star from afar. Just as I had always been doing. Yes, it’s much safer this way. Just sticking to the status quo.
*****
“So? What did she tell you?” Jae prodded the moment he stepped into the clubroom.
“I-”
“Seeing that you’re back here alone I guess THE Park Sungjin finally got rejected instead of being the one rejecting”
Okay, Jae. Didn’t have to rub it in.
Imagine having the courage to ask out the object of your crush for 3 years, only to have her reject you at the final chance that you’d get to do so.
Though frankly, the outcome was no surprise to Sungjin.
She was not one who sought out attention, keeping her guard up and remaining a mystery to most. She was someone who was focused and determined on her goals. Someone who was untouchable.
Min Haeun.
Everyone knew who Min Haeun was.
The girl who has never gotten below an A in her life. The girl who never bats an eye at anything or anyone. The girl who’d be able to add extra notes when being asked to sing the alphabet.
So when Sungjin told his bandmates that he wanted her to be his prom date. They patted his shoulder and gave him a weak pitiful smile.
Sungjin wasn’t like Younghyun who could enchant any girl under his spell with his words, neither was he like Jae who could get anyone to open up with his joyful nature. All Sungjin has known all his life is music.
Yet a single girl had opened his heart up to a plethora of emotions for the first time the moment he had met her eyes. Despite her cold exterior, her warmth shone even brighter than the rays of sunlight poking through the cherry blossom branches that spring day, everything felt like a scene from a movie as the world stood still around him and all he could see was her. He never knew you could see filters in real life but he swore on that day, his vision was on portrait mode and his main focus was all her. He knew she had so much more kindness in her than what everyone labels her to be and he never stopped gravitating towards her since.
And so for those 3 years, he thought about getting to know her, walking up to her one day in class and saying hi, but he just couldn’t think of the right way to do it. Sungjin had a keen eye for details and planning, but he wasn’t one who bothered about getting the perfect outcome. This time though, was different. He couldn’t risk the possibility of a mistake arising.
But time wasn’t on his side. Graduation was coming up and everyone would be going on their separate paths, and for Sungjin that meant long hours spent in practice rooms of the entertainment agency that him and his band signed to join after college. The upcoming prom was his last chance to get to know the person whom he thought he only could meet in his dreams.
I guess some things can only stay as dreams.
As Sungjin proceeds to clean up the mess that was the clubroom, he lays his eyes upon the sheets of music and lyrics that he had written while thinking about her, and for the first time in a long while, he feels a sense of defeat.
“Alright this won’t do, it’s time to step in,”
Jae’s voice rang throughout the room as he declared with much determination.
Jae may seem aloof and playful but he doesn’t let anything go when it comes to his friends’ happiness, and he wasn’t about to start now.
“Say, how far are you willing go to win her heart?”