Chapter Text
Jiyeon sighed as she put down the last file she had to sign for the day. She rubbed her eyes tiredly as she leaned back on the leather chair, inhaling a large breath. She sighed, standing up, and grabbing her backpack from one of the sofas in the student council room. She turned her head one last time, checking to see if everything was in place, before turning off the lights and locking the door. Jiyeon fixed her blazer, and stalked towards the school field. She walked out, and was hit with the blazing sun shining above her head, making her shield her eyes. She walked pass the running track and to the bleachers, greeting anyone she knew and smiling at them. Finally, she stood at the edge of the bleachers, and looked up to her friend, who looked like she just finished ten laps of running.
"Sojung-ah." She called, making the orange hair girl turn her head, looking down to the person calling her name. She heaved a mouthful of air and drank her energy drink from her water bottle.
"Can you wait for a few minutes? I have to do another three laps." Sojung said as she looked at her coach, whose back turned towards her and she made a face. Jiyeon checked her watch, and glanced towards the coach, who, to her surprise, was looking at her.
"I'm sorry, Jiyeon-ah. But she has to because she missed two days of training." The coach said as she turned to Sojung, glaring at her, and Sojung laughed nervously.
"It's okay. I'll wait here." She flashed a smile at the coach and climbed up the bleachers, sitting adjacently on where Sojung was standing. Sojung smiled at her and patted her shoulder and then she's off, running around the running track. Jiyeon took off her bag along with her blazer and she put it beside her.
Oh, she's here again.
Jiyeon raised an eyebrow at the person beside her. She noticed her weeks ago, and she's always just laying down on the bleachers, sleeping. It's either she was asleep, or she was running. Jiyeon watched her senior, sleeping peacefully, with her head resting on Sojung's duffle bag. She only saw the top of her head, but she had already seen that sleeping face a lot of time, just because she was always there, waiting for Sojung to finish her laps and go back home together. She had talked to her a few times, but only just for passing seconds, with only just greeting each other or Jiyeon asking her if she had seen Sojung.
Jiyeon stood up and stalked towards the coach.
"Coach." She started, grabbing the woman's attention from her athletes.
"Yes? What's wrong?" The woman raised an eyebrow at her. Jiyeon turned her head towards the sleeping figure on the bleachers, and the coach followed her gaze.
"Why is she always here? I've only seen her run a few times. Most of the time she's sleeping isn't she?" Jiyeon asked the question she never had the chance to ask Sojung, her busy life always distracting her.
"Ah. Hyunjung? She's a senior athlete. She doesn't really need to practice, because she's taking her college entrance exam this year, but I always asked her to come, so that she could guide the juniors. But lately, she's been rather, I don't know if it's just me, but she's been kind of not herself?" The coach said with a hint of question in her voice. Jiyeon arched her eyebrow, gesturing for the coach to continue.
"Well, for example, right now. She's sleeping. Hyunjung isn't the most enthusiastic person I know, but at least she used to put some effort in running. Now, she's always looking so dazed, and when she talks, she sounds like she has tons of problems in her mind." Jiyeon knew the only reason that the coach was willing to tell her this was because she's the student council president. To every teacher, the student council is their most trusted group of students. She urged the coach to continue as she stared at Hyunjung.
"And Hyunjung has always been introverted, but I noticed she's been talking less with people now. The only person she's comfortable with is--" At this, Jiyeon perked up her ears.
"Sojung and Juyeon." Jiyeon nodded her head, confirming that what the coach said was true. She had only seen Hyunjung hanged around those two. She was about to ask another question when suddenly Sojung came up to her, panting heavily.
"Alright, done. Let's go." She said as she climbed up the seats, stopping at seeing someone sleeping on her duffle bag. Jiyeon watched as Sojung slowly kneeled down, waking the older girl up, and she watched as Hyunjung's grunts in displeasure as her eyebrows knit together. Hyunjung sat up, rubbing her eyes, and looked up when Sojung asked her a question, but Jiyeon couldn't hear her, so she waited as Hyunjung said something, then Sojung nodded, picking up her bag and Jiyeon's, along with her blazer, and then turning around, leaving the older girl there.
Sojung passed her the bag and blazer, and she folded them and put it around her arm, nodding at the coach as she and Sojung walked past her.
"What did you and old hag talk about?" Sojung asked as she slings her duffle bag properly around her shoulder. Jiyeon ignored the nickname, and walked alongside Sojung.
"What's Hyunjung like?" She blurted out before she could catch herself. She clasped her mouth together, and noticed Sojung's weird glance.
"Wait, nevermind--"
"Why do you wanna know?" The orange hair girl turned her head to fully look at Jiyeon, making Jiyeon clutched her blazer tighter.
"I'm just--" She inhaled.
"I'm just curious." She exhaled, looking up to Sojung. Jiyeon looked genuinely curious, so Sojung nodded her head, and looked straight forward.
"She's quiet. She'd rather hear a conversation than joining them. She'd rather watch than act along. Hyunjung is an attentive person, you could say. And she's rich." Sojung said suddenly.
"What's with the rich part." Jiyeon said, shaking her head.
"Anyway, she's smart, good at running, has a cat named Yangmal and lives alone." Flicking her fingers one by one as she said that, Sojung listed things about Hyunjung. But that was not what Jiyeon wanted to hear actually. Well one thing grabbed her attention, and that was the fact that Hyunjung lives alone.
"Your coach said she's not being herself lately." They walked past a candy shop, then a tailor shop, then a convenience store, where Sojung walked inside, without telling Jiyeon, making the girl follow her.
"Well. Yes that's something." Sojung grabbed a bottle of Coca cola and a packet of chips, all the while Jiyeon followed her.
"Then, mind telling me what's up?" She said as she slipped a box of grape juice, making Sojung glared at her but she ignored them.
"Exactly why are you so interested in knowing Hyunjung's problems?" Sojung turned around as they walked out of the convenience store, staring at her best friend. Her words caught the girl off guard, and she averted her attention to poking the hole of her grape juice.
"Just because." She tried to fight back Sojung's sharp stare, and she found herself able to, just because she's been friends with her for years, and her stare didn't waver her.
"Well, Hyunjung doesn't ask me to keep it a secret, but I'd rather not say it either." They had started walking again, and Jiyeon was about to give up but then Sojung said,
"But I guess it's fine. It's not like you're gonna tell anyone." The taller girl said, opening her bag of chips and offering it to Jiyeon.
"Well, to start off, her family has always been, crumbling." She said as she chewed the potato chips.
"Her parents are still together, but they're not on good terms. Her father cannot divorce her mother because that would bring down his reputation. Her parents are always fighting. About business, about their broken family, about her. Sucks, huh." Jiyeon nodded.
"But she knows how to take care of herself."
"Then something happened a few weeks ago. Her mom and dad got into a big fight, and his dad threatened her mom, if she tries to divorce him, he'll ruin her business." Jiyeon raised an eyebrow as they turned on a corner, nearing their neighborhood area.
"How will he do that?" She asked as she watched a group of boys riding their bicycle.
"His father hold some kind of data about her mother's company, and if he erases the data, there's a chance her mother's company could go--" Sojung made a gesture using her hand as she said,
"poof!" Jiyeon stared at the houses lining up in the neighborhood and nodded her head, signaling Sojung that she was listening.
"It's like she's in a K-drama or something, huh."
"Yeah."
"And now, Hyunjung's in a conflict. Should she be on her mother's side? Or her father's side? Listen to this before you start anything--" Jiyeon who was about to retort, saying that Hyunjung should be siding with her mother, closed her mouth.
"Her father is nice to her. He's only bad to her mother. He even treats Hyunjung like a princess. I mean, technically, yeah she's his princess, but you get what I mean?" She questioned as they finally stopped walking. Jiyeon didn't even realize they're already in front of her house.
"Yeah. I get it." She said as she saw her father in the garage, doing whatever he's doing to his car.
"Well. That's it. She has a lot on her mind, but that's the center of it."
"I'll get going now, Jiyeon. See you tomorrow." Sojung said again, making Jiyeon bid her goodbye as she watched Sojung walk towards her house, a few houses away from her.
She thought about her conversation with Sojung again. Hyunjung's family sounds like hell. As she walked inside her house, her mom greeted her and Jiyeon felt a sense of gratitude, to her mom, dad, to whoever or whatever it was that's keeping her family intact and dare she say, peaceful.
God forbid her family to become like Hyunjung's.
Jiyeon found herself standing outside of the headmistress's office.
There had been a fight between the upperclassmen, and the headmistress had called her to help her resolve their issues. She's fine with that, it was her duty after all as the student council. But she really didn't expect what she saw when she entered through the wooden door. She thought there were going to be a lot of them, but there was only one person sitting in front of the headmistress, and her back was turned to Jiyeon, so she couldn't see who it was. But when she did, oh my God.
"Jiyeon, there you are." Carefully, she sat down next to Hyunjung. She glanced at her, but Hyunjung remained still, staring at the headmistress, looking like she wanted to kill her.
"Hyunjung." The deep voice of her headmistress penetrated through the silence. Jiyeon didn't know why her headmistress called the older girl, when she was already looking at her. And still, Hyunjung didn't say anything.
"Why were you fighting with them?" Jiyeon watched, as Hyunjung's jaw clenched. She didn't know why she found it attractive. Now that she looked at her, she studied her features. Her eyes, they're cold and calculating. Her nose and lips are bruised, the result of the fist fight a while ago. Jiyeon resisted the urge to kiss them.
The older girl remained silent for a while, and then she gathered her hands, and intertwined them, placing them between her thighs.
"They start it first." Hyunjung said under her breath. The headmistress raised an eyebrow at her.
"Wow." The student council president turned her head towards her headmistress with bewilderment in her face.
"This is the first time you cooperated so fast!" The middle aged woman exclaimed enthusiastically. "But no, Hyunjung, that's not my question." And she returned back to her flat tone.
"It's none of your business." Hyunjung kept her cold glare at the headmistress, contrasting with the woman who's smiling at her.
"Miss. Kim. Hyunjung." Jiyeon felt herself suffocating as she watched the headmistress stand up. She didn't know why she was involved in questioning Hyunjung, but she hoped it would end soon. Watching Hyunjung feeling so uneasy kind of made her uncomfortable as well.
"I ask you again." The headmistress sat on the edge of the table, right in front of Hyunjung.
"Why were you fighting?" For a while, Jiyeon could see the gears in Hyunjung's brain working, thinking carefully of her words. She thought she was going to answer the headmistress, but her mouth stayed shut, keeping the silent atmosphere just like how it is. Even if it wasn't her that's been stared at, Jiyeon could feel their headmistress burning holes through Hyunjung. Finally, she gave up and sat up.
"Fine. If you don't want to say why, then it's fine. I'll tell your mother about this." Hearing the word 'mother' made Jiyeon glanced at the person beside her warily.
"Sure. Do whatever you want." Jiyeon almost yelped in surprise when Hyunjung stood up suddenly. The older girl picked up her bag from the floor and stared at the headmistress one last time before she walked towards the office door. Jiyeon stood up, but was startled with her headmistress' booming voice.
"Kim Hyunjung! Stop. Right. There!" And she did.
"Wait here until I finish talking to Jiyeon." Hyunjung groaned, but complied as she sat on the red sofa near the door. Making sure she listened to her, the headmistress gave her one last look, before returning back to her seat, and nodded to Jiyeon, gesturing for her to sit. Jiyeon placed herself on where Hyunjung sat, and she swore she could still feel her body warmth.
"Say, Jiyeon." She looked up after fixing her skirt.
"Would you mind doing me a favor? But it's okay if you can't, I know you have a lot on your plate. I could just choose someone else." The headmistress said as she kept her eyes on Hyunjung.
"What is it, madam?" She asked carefully.
"I...would like for you to keep an eye on her." For a second, her brain short circuit, and then she turned, to see if Hyunjung's hearing, but the older girl was just playing with her fingers.
"W-why is that?" She blurted out as she ran her fingers through her light brown hair.
"It's just--" The school headmistress rubbed her temples as she spoke.
"She's been like this for the past few months. And she wasn't like that before. She used to be so...nice and unproblematic." Jiyeon winced at the choice of word.
"And now she's…. rebellious, dangerous and quiet. It used to be so hard for us to read her, and now it's getting harder, because she closes up on everyone." She stared at Hyunjung, whose eyes were wandering around, but then they landed on hers, and Jiyeon immediately turned around, averting her attention back to the middle aged woman, unknowingly, heat crept up to her face.
"Yes." She said hastily and stared at their headmistress, who now had a surprised look on her face.
"Yes?" The woman repeated, not believing what she heard.
"Yes. I'll do it." The president said as she fiddled with her fingers, copying Hyunjung.
"Oh, thank you! Thank you Jiyeon." She flashed a smile at the headmistress before she stood up, bowing at the woman before turning around, and blushed when a pair of eyes set themselves on her.
"Thank you, you two. You may leave now." The woman said as she leaned back on her chair. Hyunjung stood up and paced towards the wooden door, and Jiyeon glanced one last time at the headmistress, who's smiling at her, and she followed Hyunjung.
When Jiyeon walked out, she saw Hyunjung's back, walking towards the school field. She caught up to her and unconsciously, she grabbed her hand, making the older girl stop in her tracks. Hyunjung turned to look at her painfully, and Jiyeon realized what she's doing, but before she could say anything, Hyunjung pulled away from her grasp.
"H-Hyunjung-ssi." Hyunjung looked at her through her half lidded eyes as she rubbed her knuckles, and only then that Jiyeon registered that she just touched her wounds.
"What?" The taller hisses.
"I'm sorry, let me--"
"What do you want, Jiyeon?" Jiyeon flinched at how hoarse Hyunjung's voice was, but at the same time she found herself loving the way Hyunjung said her name.
"Let me treat your wounds." She said, carefully, afraid of what Hyunjung's response would be.
"What? Why?" Jiyeon asked herself too, Why indeed?
"Just, please." She pleaded, as she looked at Hyunjung through her lashes.
"No." Hyunjung muttered under her breath, turning away from her.
"Hyunjung-ssi, please."
Hyunjung rolled her eyes, and she turned around. As she looked at the younger girl, she saw the care in her eyes, and that made something stirred inside of her. Now that she realized, Jiyeon was so close to her, invading her personal space, but she founds herself not minding it at all as she stared at the genuinely concerned pair of eyes.
"Fine." And when she saw Jiyeon's eyes lit up, Hyunjung had to say that it's one of the best things she saw for the past few months.
"Hyunjung-ssi, here--"
"Stop calling me that." Jiyeon halted her action as she took a quick look at Hyunjung, who's gazing at her lazily. They're in the student council room, and Jiyeon felt a sense of relief when there was no one inside.
"T-then?" She asked as she pressed the pack of ice to Hyunjung's knuckles, making the girl wince.
"Hyunjung." Her worried pair of eyes snapped to Hyunjung's tired ones, and she blushed when she realized that they're a bit too close to each other.
"But, that's informal. I can't do that, that's disrespectful--"
"I don't mind." Hyunjung glared at her, and that immediately made her shut her mouth. She nodded her head as she continued nursing her, and then she went up to Hyunjung's face, pressing the pack to her cheek. But when she did, Hyunjung grabbed her hand, making her whimper at the strong grip. Hyunjung took away the pack from her and did it herself, as she stared straight, not wanting to look at Jiyeon's hurt expression.
"Hyunjung." She started, surprising herself at how smooth her name rolled out of her tongue. Hyunjung hummed as she changed the position of the ice pack to her other cheek.
"Why--" She inhales carefully.
"--were you fighting with them?" As soon as she said those words, Hyunjung grunted as she shifted her position, and for a second Jiyeon was distracted with her spreaded legs that's wearing the school's checkered beige pants.
"Not you too." She rolled her eyes, and Jiyeon stopped herself from chuckling.
"I barely know you."
"But you know I'm Sojung's friend and my name is Jiyeon."
"You're also the student council president."
"Correct."
"That's the more reason I don't wanna tell you."
"Oh, come on." Jiyeon sighed.
Why would I tell you?" She asked gravelly.
"So there is a reason." She noted, ignoring Hyunjung's words.
"Yes, there's a reason. So what?" She let out harshly.
"Tell me." Jiyeon tried her best to let her voice sound as soft as it could.
"Why? So you could go and tell the headmistress? Fucking hell." The younger girl flinched at the harsh words but she was determined to know, so she continued.
"I promise I won't." Hyunjung turned her head to her, catching her off guard as she stared at those beautiful brown orbs. A scoff escaped Hyunjung's bruised lips, and Jiyeon resisted the urge to touch them.
"Why do you want to know so bad?" And for the first time, she looked like she let her guard down as she sighed against the ice pack. Unconsciously, Jiyeon inched closer to her, without her noticing. Now that they're only a few inches away from each other, Jiyeon could smell Hyunjung's citrus scent.
"Because I want to get to know you." She knew now. Being honest was the best she could do if she was to keep the conversation with Hyunjung going. Pushing all the headmistress's words away, she stared genuinely at Hyunjung's side profile.
Hyunjung laughed at her. A half-hearted laugh. But that's better than nothing.
"Why? What's so interesting about me?" The older asked breathily.
"Just tell me, maybe I can help." And finally, Hyunjung turned her head, staring at her intensely as she dropped the ice pack and placed her hands onto her lap.
"You can't. Nobody can, except me." To say that she was startled was an understatement as she listened to how soft Hyunjung's voice was. They stared at each other, as Jiyeon bit her lips anxiously, and Hyunjung's hands were fiddling on her lap. Jiyeon felt like she was drowning in those almond brown eyes. She was about to open her mouth, but Hyunjung beat her to it.
"Family problems." She sighed lowly. Even if she knew her story, Jiyeon would like it more if she could hear it from the person herself. So she sat comfortably, ready to listen to anything Hyunjung said.
"My father is abusive. Was abusive. He used to hit my mom all the time." Well she didn't expect that. She looked at Hyunjung with concern in her eyes, but Hyunjung shrugged.
"And my mom had her own weapon, which is to divorce him. So every time she tried to hit her, she'd threaten him. And maybe he's had enough of that bullshit. One day, he went back home from work and packed up all his stuff." Jiyeon raised an eyebrow. She thought carefully, and slowly, she placed her hand on top of Hyunjung's bruised one. The older girl flinched as she stared at her with a weird look, but then she let her be, making Jiyeon smile at her.
"So my mom asked him what he was doing. I tried to understand why they were fighting, but I was just eight years-old at that time. I only understood him hitting her, and then he hit me. So hard that it left some scars." The younger girl winced slightly, while it didn't even affect Hyunjung.
"And he left us. My mom tried taking care of me as best as she could. But she was always busy, and she didn't spend much time with me. And then when I got into high school, I moved out to my father's old apartment. He visits me once in a while."
"Don't you hate him?" The words slipped out accidentally before she could catch herself.
"I do, for quite a while. But then, I don't know, the feeling disappeared just like that. But one thing I know is my mom loathes him so much." Hyunjung stared at her through hooded eyes.
"And well, now they've gone back to fighting each other. But only verbally, not physically. Still, I don't know what to do anymore." Unconsciously, Jiyeon rubbed Hyunjung's knuckles, soothing the pain.
"The reason I punched those idiots was because they were insulting my family. Normally I wouldn't care about petty things like this, but they kept on saying it and they even dared to touch me." Hyunjung spatted as she sat up, adjusting her sitting position and winced slightly. Jiyeon nodded, signaling that she understood. Hyunjung glanced towards herself, and slowly, she brought her hands up and took off her blazer, her face scrunching, feeling the pain stabbing even if she moved only for a bit. Jiyeon watched as the girl pulled away her necktie and leaned back on the sofa, sighing quietly.
And then she started unbuttoning her shirt, and Jiyeon tried her best to not act childish and cover her eyes. Arriving at the last button, Hyunjung took the ice pack and put it in her shirt, pressing it on her abdomen. She closed her eyes, leaving Jiyeon fumbling with herself.
"H-Hyujung." She heard as she pressed the ice pack harder on her torso. She hummed, telling the girl that she was listening. She had unbuttoned her shirt on purpose, just to see how far Jiyeon would go just to 'get to know' her. Hyunjung laughed at the thought of the girl wanting to befriend her.
What a silly thing to do.
But even so, she saw the genuineness in the younger girl's eyes. She saw how she listened attentively as she told her what's been wrecking her brain these past few weeks. And it felt nice. To be talking and sharing her problems to someone other than Sojung and Juyeon.
"Can I help you with that?" God, can she stop already? Hyunjung didn't need this kind of sympathy, but seeing that Jiyeon had been nothing but nice to her, she snapped open her eyes and turned her head, meeting Jiyeon's still, concerned one.
"Fine." She sighed as she turned herself, so that her body was facing her, and the blush on Jiyeon's cheeks went unnoticed as she slipped off her shirt, letting it pool around her waist. Jiyeon took the ice pack from her, and she leaned closer.
Jiyeon smelled off strawberries.
Jiyeon was so concentrated on pressing the pack on her, and she was so close that Hyunjung had no other choice but to inhale her shampoo scent and stare at her. She studied the girl then, from her long eyelashes, her wide hazel eyes, her beautiful sculpted nose and then her lips. Her pretty, pink lips. From the moment she saw Jiyeon, Hyujung knew she would be attracted to her. The girl was just too beautiful. Not to mention she was kind and caring, which Hyujung had to admit. Maybe that was why she's the student council president.And there was just something about her that pulled her in.
Unaware of her action, Hyunjung brought up one of her hands to Jiyeon's lips. That made Jiyeon stop doing whatever she was doing. Slowly, Jiyeon's brown orbs looked up to hers, engaging them with a wide, curious stare as Hyunjung carefully ran her thumb along her bottom lip.
"Hey Jiyeon?" She mumbled quietly.
"Yes?" The girl squeaked as she kept staring at Hyunjung with uncertainty in her voice. Hyunjung raised her legs, and circled it around the president, trapping her in between. She leaned forward, suddenly feeling a surge of courage in her as she gawked at Jiyeon's bewildered reaction who's leaning back while she on the other hand was leaning forward.
"You're so--"
"--beautiful."
Jiyeon stared at her wildly, words got caught in her throat when Hyunjung's face was only an inch away from her. She closed her eyes then, hoping to ease her beating heart and her trembling hands that were still pressing up on Hyunjung's body.
Hyunjung leaned forward, and closed the gap immediately, sighing as she felt the sensation of Jiyeon's soft lips against her bruised ones. She felt Jiyeon's lips tremble, so Hyunjung reached for her hand, and grapsed it, and she gasped into the kiss. Jiyeon's body was rigid, and she sat completely still as Hyunjung pushed her to lean on the sofa's armrest. Hyunjung felt the ice pack on her side pressed harder, but she ignored them as she deepened their kiss.
Hyunjung sensed the hand in hers relaxed, so with her other hand, she circled them around Jiyeon's waist and pulled her closer. She whimpers in surprise, breaking their heated contact as she puts her free hand on Hyunjung's shoulder, halting her to a stop.
Oh God. Did she just--?
Jiyeon gasped for air as she stared at Hyunjung with wide eyes, who's looking back at her with her clouded ones. Her hands trembled as she gripped the ice pack tighter, nervousness sipping through her. They didn't say anything for a while, just gazing at each other as they pant heavily and Jiyeon had just now registered how close they were.
Hyunjung smelled like citrus.
And she hated how much she liked it.
The older girl almost had no expression on her face, but her flushed skin told Jiyeon that the kiss affected her as well. She didn't know what to say as she stared at Hyunjung's eyes, which were filled with desire. It was dark and calculating. Unintentionally, she melted into the hand that was holding her waist and her trembling hand.
"Jiyeon." Those swollen lips mumbled, and Jiyeon could feel Hyunjung's breath hit her lips. Jiyeon gripped the girl's shoulders harder. She hummed, unable to come out with anything else as she felt her eyes piercing through her. But then everything was gone. Fast. The hand on her waist, on her hand, the breath that hits her lips, and the eyes that were confusing her with her feelings. All of a sudden, Hyujung stood up, buttoning up her shirt, leaving it untucked and grabbing her belongings. Jiyeon watched her, and she didn't know what to feel as she stayed still on the sofa. She heard a 'thank you' from her, before she walked out of the student council room, leaving Jiyeon fumbling with her own emotions.