Chapter Text
April 2025
Haneul High School Grounds
The fresh spring air blew a crisp wind, blowing Jungwon’s meticulously styled hair. He stood at the school gates, hands on his hips and admired the scene before him. Dozens of stands were lined up, creating rows of food stalls, entertainment, and more. The entire student body was bustling about, their conversations floated lightly in the air and made a carefree and fun atmosphere that was reminiscent of a Japanese summer festival. The only thing that was missing were the yukatas and fireworks.
His lips curled into a soft and self satisfied smile as his gaze scanned over the school grounds. It was the day before school started and everyone was having fun at the back to school festival and it was all because of him.
Jungwon was proud. It was only natural.
As the new student body president and the youngest in history, it was his duty to make sure the students were safe and happy by attending to their needs. It was his idea to put on this festival and introduce more new events to help the students relax more. He had a lot of pressure on his shoulders but so far, everything was going on without a hitch.
He walked around the grounds with a casual pace that commanded respect, checking to make sure the stands were clean and running well. He greeted his schoolmates with a polite smile and sauntered over to the food area, where his class, 2A was in charge of.
All seemed to be going well until he noticed the cotton candy stand had an extremely long line in front of it. Jungwon squinted his eyes, growing uneasy because of the annoyed customers who crossed their arms and tapped their feet in annoyance at his classmate's stand. He had to get to the bottom of this. Jungwon mumbled “What the hell…” Before heading over to the stand.
Behind the stand stood Kim Sunoo, sweaty, flustered, overwhelmed and working…alone? Beads of sweat pooled on his pristine skinn. Sunoo’s frantic movements were almost dizzying, his hands blurring between making cotton candy and fumbling with change.
Jungwon furrowed his brows in confusion. He had made sure that everyone was working their stalls in a pair. It was decided. How had Sunoo been working alone?
Jungwon dazed off as he started to grow panicked at what could have possibly gone wrong. His train of thought was interrupted by Sunoo’s voice, which stung with irritation . “Are you going to stand there and watch me or are you going to help?” He snapped without even looking up.
”Sorry…!” Jungwon quickly went behind the stall and started to take the orders so Sunoo could make the cotton candy.
They worked in a comfortable silence, focusing on getting through this hellish rush with expert hands.
Finally, they served the last customer and Sunoo leaned against the counter, sighing, obviously exhausted. “You saved my butt back there. Thanks, Jungwon.”
”Yeah, it’s okay but… who is your partner?”
Sunoo lets out an annoyed scoff. “Who else in our class would bail out on work unannounced?”
Jungwon stirred a bit uncomfortably, not wanting to outwardly say the person’s name.
A beat of silence passed and as if on cue, a drawling voice shattered the quiet. “Yoooo!” A tall figure strolled toward them, his messy middle-parted hair dyed an ashy blonde. His school uniform was anything but proper. Top buttons undone, no tie in sight, and a carefree grin plastered across his face.
Both Jungwon and Sunoo noticeably scowled, irritation dripping all over their faces.
“Glad you finally showed up, Jay.” Sunoo shot venomous words with a click of the tongue and an eye roll.
Jay cracked a lazy smile. “I’m at your service. Where are all the customers?”
”We already made it through the rush.” Jungwon mentioned, a bit hesitant.
“Barely! I would have died if Jungwon didn’t show up!”
”Uh, Sunoo, I think you’re being a bit dramatic.” Jungwon chimed in. “But Jay, it was pretty messed up of you to not show up or even communicate with him.”
“My bad,” Jay mumbled with a relaxed shrug.
The vein on Sunoo's forehead was pulsating at the other's lazy and carefree demeanor. Realizing this and wanting to not further escalate things, Jungwon put a gentle hand on Sunoo's shoulder. “You've worked enough. Why don't you go on your lunch break?”
With a sigh, Sunoo walked off, leaving only Jungwon and Jay. Jungwon began to tidy up the workspace and Jay watched awkwardly, sensing the tension in the air.
Wanting to feel useful, Jay silently made his way next to Jungwon and started to tidy up as well. The silence was loud but eventually Jay spoke up.
“You guys are pissed at me, aren't you?”
“How could you tell?” Jungwon didn't even look up from his work. His voice was laced with sarcasm.
“Uh, your passive aggressiveness and Sunoo's…well…aggressiveness.”
Jungwon shuffled around the small stand to sweep up and Jay followed behind him trying to make conversation.
“Well I think both of our reactions are justified.” Jungwon threw away the dust in the trashcan and finally made eye contact with Jay. The other's round eyes peered back at him with an innocence that made Jungwon's blood boil.
“Why?” Jay cocked his head to the side with that dumb, innocent look and Jungwon almost erupted.
“Why? You cannot be serious. This event means a lot to our class, to Sunoo, to the school, to…to ME. Everyone cares about this except for you.” His voice was growing louder.
“It's not that big of a deal. Just chill out…”
Jungwon’s eye twitched involuntarily. “Just…chill out? I don’t think you understand the gravity of what you just did. Come in late, abandon your duties, and on top of that your uniform is a mess!” Jungwon vaguely gestures to Jay’s relaxed look to which Jay just smirks.
“You have to admit I look pretty damn good.”
”Ugh! You’re frustrating.” Jungwon sighs, trying to compose himself before crashing out on Jay anymore. “Detention. I’ll see you next week. And…and make sure you help Sunoo take down the food stand before he goes ballistic. The guy is more vindictive than me.”
Jungwon goes off to monitor the festival, leaving Jay alone in the food stall. Jay leans on the counter, watching Jungwon’s figure as he walks off, a small smile playing on his features.
Jungwon sat at a desk in an empty classroom. It was the first week of school and student body president, he was the first to supervise in-school detention. Considering it was the first week, you would think that no one would get detention, but you’re wrong. Jungwon sighed. He had better things to do than babysit the campus bad boy, Jongseong “Jay” Park. But alas, here he was, waiting for Jay to arrive, his eyes darting to the door to see if the other will arrive.
“He’s probably not even going to come. Why would he come here?” Jungwon groaned and pulled out his phone, checking messages. He received a selfie from the other student body members, Heeseung, Sunghoon, and Sunoo, joking around and bragging about going to get ice cream while Jungwon was stuck on duty.
“You’re not supposed to use your phone during school hours. Or did you forget?” A familiar, velvety voice resonated through the room, surprising Jungwon and causing him to drop his phone.
He looked up and saw Jay, that smirk plastered on his face. Upon further examination, he could see that Jay’s tie was loose and his top buttons were undone.
“Luckily for me, the last bell already rang. Out of uniform again, Jay? You love making things harder for the both of us, huh?”
“Harder for you, maybe. I’m always happy to see you, President Yang.”
Jungwon rolled his eyes, but there was no animosity in this gesture. Just amusement.
Jay chuckles and reaches down to pick up Jungwon’s phone and hand it to him. Their fingers brush together and Jungwon quickly grabs the phone and shoves it in his pocket.
“President Yang? That’s a first.” Jungwon was slightly flustered but remained calm. “Let’s start the tutoring session. Do you have your homework?”
”Yeah.” Jay sets down his bags with a soft thud and takes the seat next to Jungwon and pulls out his math textbook.
Jungwon leans closer to take a look at the problems, his shoulder pressing against Jay’s arm as he looked on, eager to help. “Algebra? Pretty simple. You need to find x but there are other variables in the equation. Do you want me to walk you through it or do you want to try by yourself?”
Jay just shrugs. “Let me try first.” He gets his pencil and starts with the first problem. He reduces the equation and finally gets an answer. He looks at Jungwon for confirmation, who just stares in shock. “That’s correct.”
Jay tapped his pencil absentmindedly against the desk as he worked through another equation. His brows furrowed slightly, but there was no real strain in his expression,just quiet concentration. Jungwon, who had initially been watching with mild skepticism, found himself impressed.
Jay was working through the problems with ease. His handwriting was a little messy, but his logic was sound. Jungwon leaned forward, resting his chin against his palm as he studied Jay’s progress.
“You’re better at this than I expected,” he admitted.
Jay glanced up, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Was that a compliment, President Yang?”
Jungwon huffed, quickly sitting up straighter. “Don’t get used to it.”
Jay grinned but didn’t push further. Instead, he finished the next problem and slid his paper toward Jungwon. Jungwon cleared his throat and refocused. “…Correct again.”
Jay propped his elbow on the desk and rested his cheek against his knuckles, watching Jungwon with an unreadable expression. “I’m pretty good at this stuff when I actually try.”
“Then why don’t you try more often?” Jungwon questioned.
Jay smirked but didn’t answer. Instead, he stretched his arms over his head and let out a yawn. “Alright, I did my time. Can I go now or…?”
Jungwon rolled his eyes. “Fine. But next time, show up on time. You’re lucky I don’t report you for being late today.”
Jay stood, grabbing his bag and slinging it over his shoulder with his usual lazy confidence. But before he left, he turned back with a lopsided grin.
“Later, President Yang.”
And with that, he was gone.
Jungwon let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the space where Jay had just been. That guy was… something else.
Before he could linger on it too much, a voice interrupted his thoughts.
“Jungwon.”
He turned quickly to see Principal Jeon standing at the door, arms crossed.
“Sir,” Jungwon greeted, immediately straightening up.
The principal stepped inside, his expression calm but thoughtful. “How was Mr. Park?”
Jungwon considered his answer before speaking. “He’s… smart. Smarter than he lets on. But he’s misguided. He doesn’t take things seriously.”
The principal hummed, as if expecting that response. “Jay is one of our few scholarship students. An academic scholar.”
Jungwon’s eyebrow raised in curiosity. He wasn’t expecting that. Haneul Academy has a reputation of being quite generous with scholarships but most of them were sports scholars. An academic scholar was a rarity here and the fact that Jay was one of the elite academic scholars surprised Jungwon even more.
The principal continued. “His grades are stellar but his behavior on the other hand…” Principal Jeon trailed off, letting Jungwon fill in the blank himself. “The board doesn’t want any more scandals. We need Jay to graduate without any incidents.”
Jungwon frowned. “What are you saying, sir?”
“I’m saying I’d like you to mentor him.”
Jungwon blinked. “Mentor him?”
“You’re the youngest student body president in history, and you’ve already proven you can handle responsibility.”
Jungwon hesitated. Jay was exhausting. He was unpredictable.
Jungwon thought back to the moment Jay had worked through those equations like it was nothing. There was something more to him, that much was obvious.
Jungwon sighed. “Yes, sir.”
The principal smiled, as if he already knew Jungwon’s answer. “Good. If anyone can keep Jay in line, it’s you.”
And with that, he left Jungwon alone in the empty classroom.