Work Text:
kim sunwoo was finally in his sophomore year in highschool, just one more year and he’s going to be a senior. his dream was to graduate this year as rank one. but because of one person, he hasn’t been able to accomplish that dream.
ji changmin.
they have been competing for the first rank ever since their first year in high school, and for the past years, changmin is the one leading the race. no matter how many hours sunwoo dedicated to studying, changmin will always be a point higher than him. it’s infuriating.
the fact that changmin is also the vice president of their student council doesn’t help. he’s your textbook definition of a studious and leader type of student. meanwhile sunwoo is smart, but he’s in no way leader material. opposite from his sister, kim dahyun, who was the student council president.
but this year, sunwoo had enough. he will be the one to be rank one this year. he will do anything to get that title. even if that meant studying on a daily basis instead of hanging out with his friends.
“hey man! are you down to skate later?” hyunjun, sunwoo’s best friend asks.
“sorry, dude. i have to study for the upcoming science test.” sunwoo answers, fixing his bag, preparing to go home.
“you were able to answer all of ms. jihyo’s answers earlier, that should be enough.”
“i plan to end the year as the rank one student, can’t risk it.”
“your grades are already flawless. maybe you shouldn’t overstudy.”
“i’ll stop studying when i’m rank one.”
“okay dude. call me when you change your mind.”
sunwoo knew that hyunjun meant well. he was right, sunwoo’s grade is already flawless. he’s not ranked two for nothing. but sunwoo had enough. he was not going to lose the rank one title this year.
while walking to the gate of the campus, he saw his sister. he ran up to her, not noticing who she was with.
“noona!” sunwoo called out.
“sun! are you on the way home?” dahyun answers.
“yes. do you want to go home together?” he asks, finally noticing who was the guy that was beside his sister.
“sure. wait for me in the parking lot, i’m just finalizing the minutes of the meeting with changmin.”
sunwoo glared at changmin before going to his usual behavior with changmin, “ji.”
“kim.” changmin replies. their tension could cut a knife. they have never been in good terms, being academic rivals and all.
“now now, don’t fight. come along now, sun. wait for me in the parking lot.” dahyun interrupts them.
despite sunwoo and changmin’s rivalry, changmin and dahyun work quite well as a student council duo. sunwoo hated to admit that changmin was actually a good leader. he hated his guts a lot. he didn’t need to study that hard to get the number one rank, while sunwoo needed to sacrifice playing video games to get to rank two.
a few minutes later, dahyun joined her brother in the parking lot. they went inside the car, with sunwoo driving.
“you won’t skate with hyunjun? i saw him bring his skateboard today.” dahyun asks.
“nope, i need to study for my science test.” sunwoo answers.
“that’s a first. usually you only study for big tests.”
“i want to rank one this year. i’m sick of losing to changmin.”
“don’t you guys want to be friends instead of being rivals? academics isn’t a competition.”
“it is to me and changmin. i never liked that guy.”
“of course you don’t. but he’s a good guy.”
“you’re only saying that because he's your vice president.”
“have you ever given him a chance?”
“no. thank heavens we have never been classmates either.”
“if you say so, i think you guys would make a great pair of friends.”
“if we ever become friends, the world must be ending.”
“how dramatic. drop me down at tzuyu's house, we need to film a video for arts class.”
“fine. give me money for dinner first.”
“i can’t believe you!” dahyun complains, but gives her brother money anyway.
“that’s what i’m talking about. what time should i pick you up?”
“9 o’clock would be fine. i’ll eat dinner at their house.”
“we’re here. bye noona! i’ll pick you up later.”
when sunwoo arrived at their house, he ate a quick snack first then proceeded to study for their science test. since they are on the topic of biology, he had to memorize a lot of terms. he ordered a lot of food with the money that his sister gave him for dinner. his brain was tired from memorizing their lesson.
it was 8:45 PM, time to pick his sister up. he put on a hoodie and drove to noona tzuyu’s house. he arrived at the house, but a familiar looking car was also parked. he brushed it off, it couldn’t be. it was surely a coincidence.
when he knocked on the door, he was greeted by none other than ji changmin.
“ji.”
“kim.”
“where’s my sister?”
“fixing her things, she’ll be out in a minute.”
“what are you doing here?”
“i live here.”
“what?”
“tzuyu is my step sister.”
“awe, look at you guys getting along.” dahyun says with a smile.
“no way in hell. ready to go, noona?”
“sun, give your number to changmin.”
sunwoo was confused, “huh?”
“he needs to interview you for the year end magazine project of the student council.”
“why can’t you interview me?”
“we are tasked to interview our own batchmates.” changmin answers.
sunwoo can’t believe this! he just knows that his sister is scheming for them to be friends!
“do you really need my number?” sunwoo complains.
“it would be a hassle if you guys communicated through me. now, exchange numbers.” dahyun says mischievously.
“i’ll put my number on your phone.” sunwoo says, accepting defeat.
dahyun and tzuyu glance at each other, their plan is working!
“i’ll contact you with the necessary details as soon as i finalize the questions. have a safe drive home.” changmin politely says.
on their way home, sunwoo can’t help but to feel… nervous. he doesn’t know where this nervousness came from, but he feels uneasy knowing that changmin has his number now. they have been avoiding crossing each others’ path for their own sake, so this would be the first time they would actually be interacting other than acknowledging each other's presence.
“be honest, noona. you planned that, didn’t you?”
“i have no idea what you are talking about.”
in the middle of the night, while sunwoo was finishing up his nightly skin care routine, he received a text from an unknown number.
unknown number
are you kim sunwoo?
ji changmin?
yes. this is my number.
okay, noted. goodnight, ji.
goodnight, kim. i will contact you again soon.
sunwoo changed the contact name. oblivious to what this silly little interview had in store.
the next day, sunwoo woke up earlier than his usual routine to run down the topics for their test for the last time. he was even memorizing while eating his breakfast.
“at this point, i’ll tell ms. jihyo to give you a stamp for how hard you’ve been studying for this test.” dahyun says.
“i need to ace this one. i got three mistakes on our last test.”
“hmmm. do you want a reward if you do well?”
“sure. when have i ever refused free things from you?”
“i’ll treat you to ramen and ice cream if you ace this exam.”
“deal.”
luckily their science class was their first subject, so all of the information that sunwoo studied was still fresh in his mind. he was confident in every single one of his answers. he was even the first one to submit.
“mr. kim, here’s your test result.” ms. jihyo said when the class was nearing its end.
lo and behold, sunwoo got a perfect score. he absolutely loved seeing perfect scores.
“good job. keep up the good work.” ms. jihyo adds.
“thank you, ms. jihyo.”
lunch break came and sunwoo ran to his sister’s class. he wants his reward today.
“noona! i hope you prepared your money for my reward!” sunwoo says, showing his sister his perfect score.
“good job, sun! let’s go get tantanmen ramen after my classes.”
feeling satisfied, sunwoo goes back to his room. he saw his best friend, hyunjun eating food, so as the good friend he is, he wanted a bite.
“hyunjun! give me some!”
“sure. i made two sandwiches.” hyunjun kindly gives him.
“how was your test?” sunwoo asks.
“two mistakes.” despite hyunjun not exerting much effort into his studies, he actually ranks fifth.
“biology sucks, man. i had to study so hard.” sunwoo complains.
“explains the perfect score. i told you, you’ll ace it!”
“i have to ace all of my exams from now on.”
“why don’t you join extracurriculars? it would earn you more merit from teachers.”
“not my type of thing.”
“what about your love life?”
“what about my love life?”
“does it exist?”
sunwoo coughs.
“as expected, it doesn’t.”
“nobody caught my eye yet.”
“what about the people giving you gifts?”
“eh. not my type.”
“is your type a studious leader type of student.”
“hmmm.. maybe. i would like someone that's also an academic achiever. maybe we could study together.”
“is your type a student with glasses that challenges you?”
“mayb- oh. oh i know what you’re doing, heo hyunjun!”
“what? don’t tell me you don’t know about people shipping you two! you guys would make a power couple!”
“we can barely stand each other, no way in hell!”
“is it really the both of you or just you? i have never heard him bad mouth you in any way.”
“how would you know? you’re not close to him.”
“but i’m close to chanhee, his best friend.”
“whatever. my love life isn’t my priority right now.”
“did you know you’re voted as the most attractive person in our level?”
“really? who’s second?”
“it’s me of course.”
“where are you going with this?”
“i’m just saying you could have anyone you want. you’re attractive and smart.”
“eh, not interested.”
“that’s an odd way of saying you’re already interested in someone else.”
“whatever!” sunwoo rolls his eyes.
“you’re not denying it either.”
“i hope you trip on your way home.”
hyunjun laughs. its about time sunwoo admits his little crush on someone.
the day ended quickly, it was finally time for the kim siblings to go out to eat ramen. when they arrived at the place, sunwoo noticed that changmin was sitting on the table behind them.
“what’s the matter, sun?”
“i think changmin is here, behind us.”
suddenly, an idea popped into dahyun’s head.
“changmin!” dahyun called out.
“noona! what are you doing?!”
changmin stands up and goes to their table, “hi noona! hi… sunwoo..”
sunwoo looks up to changmin, this is the first time he heard changmin call him by his first name.
“why don’t you sit with us?” dahyun offers.
sunwoo was shooting lasers with his eyes. his sister was out of her mind!
“sure. do you want to talk about the interview, sunwoo?” changmin asks.
“after we eat.” sunwoo answers.
“sit beside sunny.” dahyun adds.
sunwoo is about to evaporate. changmin is sitting beside him! never in a million years would he have imagined that they would be in a situation like this. he’s definitely going to get revenge on his sister when they get home.
“you ordered tantanmen too?” changmin tries to make conversation.
“yeah. that’s my favorite.”
“guys, i’ll just go to the other table. tzuyu is here. enjoy!” dahyun says.
oh this is definitely a set up! luckily, their order finally arrived.
“would you want me to sit beside you or across you?”
“whatever floats your boat, ji.”
“i have a first name, you know?” changmin says, now sitting across sunwoo.
“eh. i’ll call you that when i feel like it.”
“you’re insufferable.”
“and you’re annoying.”
“whatever. when are you conducting the interview?” sunwoo says, in between bites of his ramen.
“hmm. are you free tomorrow?”
“yeah, where are we filming?”
“campus circle.”
“we are filming… at the middle of the campus…?”
“yes. do you have an issue with that?”
other than sunwoo would never hear the end of it from hyunjun, he feels nervous to be with changmin.
“nope. i’m fine.”
“then it’s settled. we’ll film during lunch break.”
“okay. i’m almost done with my ramen.”
“that’s good, it looks like it’s going to rain too.”
“how are you going to go home?”
“maybe i’ll walk.”
“no need, i’ll drop you off.” sunwoo offers.
“what a gentleman!” dahyun suddenly pops up.
sunwoo glares at his older sister.
“tzuyu is also coming with us. my sunny is such a gentleman!” dahyun says, ignoring sunwoo’s glares.
“are you sure it’s not a bother?” changmin makes sure.
“not at all! in fact, sun likes to drive people around!” dahyun reassures.
if looks could kill, sunwoo would be an only child by now.
the four of them leave the restaurant and get into the car. the car ride was thankfully short, as changmin and sunwoo’s tension could cut a knife.
when the siblings arrived at home, sunwoo wasted no time in getting revenge.
“i’m going to eat all of your choco pies!”
“i told you, you and changmin have chemistry!”
“negative chemistry maybe!”
“goodluck filming tomorrow, i won’t be there!”
“i don’t know what you and hyunjun are doing but come on!”
“wouldn’t you like to know?” dahyun teases.
tomorrow came by fast, it was time for the interview. sunwoo was nervous. no one has ever seen him and changmin interact at all, everybody was aware of their rivalry.
when sunwoo arrived at the campus circle, he saw changmin sitting down on one of the benches. however, he wasn’t alone. he was with sunwoo’s best friend, hyunjun.
sunwoo frowned, why was changmin giggling while talking to hyunjun? this is the first time he has seen changmin like that, and it was because of his best friend. what the hell is happening?
“ehem.” sunwoo makes his presence known.
“sunwoo! good luck on your interview!” hyunjun says, and takes his leave.
“let’s start?” changmin says, quite cherry.
sunwoo can’t help but to roll his eyes. how dare they flirt with each other before they film?
“you can sit down. the film is rolling… okay… state your name and level, please.”
“kim sunwoo, sophomore, eleventh year.”
“uhh.. can you… smile a little more? you look like you’re making a threat.”
“kim sunwoo, sophomore, eleventh year!” sunwoo says with a fake smile.
“uhm… maybe not too happy? just act natural…”
how can sunwoo act natural when he’s pissed off?
“kim sunwoo, sophomore, eleventh year.”
“can you describe-”
“can we take a break? i need to cool off. people are looking and i don’t like to do things half assed.”
“oh uhm.. sure? you can go buy food if you want.”
“stop.”
“huh?”
“aish, just forget it. let’s film later dismissal. i’m not in the right headspace.”
“are you okay?”
“huh?”
“are you okay, sunwoo?”
“what is it to you, changmin?”
changmin was taken aback, that was the first time sunwoo addressed him by his first name.
“what do you mean?”
“why are you asking about me? we aren’t friends.”
“i don’t need to be your friend to figure out that something is bothering you.”
“whatever.”
“are you always this rude?”
“i’m sorry, i don’t understand why i’m lashing out at you.”
“do you want to talk about it?”
“we aren’t friends, ji.”
“we don’t need to be friends to talk.”
“you know what’s wrong, huh?” sunwoo says, closing the gap between him and changmin. they were now a few centimeters away from each other, they could hear each other’s breathing.
“what… what’s wrong?” changmin says nervously. he’s not used to having sunwoo this close. it seems like sunwoo doesn’t know his own impact.
“what’s wrong is why i’m pissed. why were you giggling at my best friend earlier, huh?”
“we were just talking…”
“oh really? doesn’t look like that to me.”
“can you back up a little?”
“why? am i intimidating you, changmin ?”
something in the way sunwoo says his name makes his heart skip a beat.
“yes…”
sunwoo takes one step back, their faces still dangerously close to each other.
“hyunjun and i were just talking.”
“do you giggle when you talk to other people?”
“are you jealous?”
“no, i’m not.”
“then what is it to you if i like hyunjun?”
“you like him?”
“what is it to you?”
“whatever! date whoever you want! if you like my best friend, so be it!”
“are you sure?”
“no! don’t date him!”
“why?”
“he’s my best friend!”
“so what?”
“you’re my rival!”
“you do realize that’s very one-sided, no?”
“aish! stop playing with my feelings! do you like my best friend or not?!”
“i don’t. but you are definitely jealous.”
“i am not! i.. i…”
“you what?”
“i’m not jealous!”
“yes, you already said that.”
“argh! don’t date anyone!”
“why?” changmin smirks, he finally knows what sunwoo wants to say.
“just… just don’t! i don’t want to see you date anyone else!”
“because?”
“because… i….”
“i’m interested in you! there! you have it! are you happy now?”
“see.. that wasn’t so hard.”
“whatever!!!” sunwoo walks away, too embarrassed to even face changmin.
“we aren’t done with this conversation, sunwoo!” changmin giggles. feels good to know that his crush of three years is also interested in him.
this is only the beginning of their story.