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Everything revolved around the students’ rankings. Possible internships to be picked up, future universities, future careers, even current careers. They all only wanted the top students of the much larger demographic, the best performing choices. Though, when rankings were updated biweekly after test scores were submitted, most students didn’t even bother checking whose names filled the #1 and #2 spots, respectively. They belonged to two people who wouldn’t let them go.
Chen Kuanjui and Kim Jinhyung. Or Rui and Hyun, as they were more commonly referred to. It truly didn’t matter what they were called, people knew who they were, and where they stood on the rankings. They constantly switched between first and second place, like a dance full of turns and acrobatics only the two of them could ever perform.
If Hyun took the #1 spot one week, the next update would show Rui as the victor.
Hyun and Rui simply couldn’t stand that they themselves weren't always the best, and thus, they couldn’t stand even the thought of the other. The rivalry that stood between the two had lasted for years at this point, and each rank update only made it more juicy. More attractive.
People who’d been aspiring leaders for years dropped out of the Student Government race to see which girl would come out on top without acting as their obstacle; people joined the debate team to watch their more public weekly arguments in awe.
This week, Rui had triumphed, and Hyun stood near the large board with a vexed scowl on her face. She stared at the list for what could’ve been ages, almost begging for the numbers to magically change in front of her. When they didn’t, she nearly punched the screen.
“Don’t let your pretty little mind think about it too much, Jinhyung,” the named girl shot her head around, sighing as Rui slipped into view and continued speaking. “I beat you this time. Deal with it, you always do. Until I beat you again, that is.”
Hyun took a slow breath before she could respond. “And I beat you last time, which means I will next time. Unless you finally decide it’s important to still care about your studies after you become rank #1.”
Rui scoffed, “Don’t think you’re all better than me, love, the ranks prove you fail in that regard.”
“Never call me love. Ever. I swear.”
“Boo-hoo. I thought you would’ve liked it, since nobody else wants to speak to you like that.”
“The only reason I don’t date is because I don’t distract myself from schoolwork and drop in the rankings every week.”
“And yet, you still drop.” Rui stood even closer to Hyun, wrapping one arm around the girl’s shoulders, letting the other arm point to her own name beside the #1 spot on the board. “See?”
“Alright, and where is that ever-so-lovely name of yours going to rank next week?”
“Higher than yours, after you do so poorly you get embarrassed and decide it’s time for home-schooling.”
“Wow, clever.” Hyun rolled her eyes, pushing herself away from Rui’s grip. “Thinking that women are stupid and don’t deserve proper education besides yourself, exactly the equality I’d expect from the President of Student Government.”
“Oh, is that what you took from that?” Rui questioned, “no wonder you’re only 2nd in the ranks, you must’ve failed the literacy portion of the test.”
“You must’ve failed literacy last week when it came to all the spelling errors you let slip into the newspaper.”
“Well, maybe the journalists should learn to spell words correctly. That’s probably why they didn’t let you become one.”
“I’m the photographer because I wanted to be,” Hyun groaned, her voice getting louder, attracting others who had wanted to look at the board towards them instead. “Maybe your editorials would get more praise if you had a picture that could visually describe all the bullshit you talk about.”
“Aww, you don’t like my editorials, love?” Rui pouted in such a mocking way, it made Hyun want to strangle her right then and there, “Don’t worry, the one in this week’s issue is going to be all about how much I appreciate you.”
“Don’t call me love,” she bit the inside of her cheek. “I thought I made it clear, or maybe you really do need help with understanding language.”
“So what, because I’m intelligent enough to be bilingual, you think I’m not as good as you in your language?”
“I’m gonna cut you, you know that?”
“Try me, bitch.” Rui bit her lip as she giggled, making her way closer to Hyun once again. “You couldn’t even touch me if you tried.”
The aforementioned crowd around them was chock full of whispers between peers, though the sheer amount of whispers grew lesser with those who’d been long followers of the years-long Rui and Hyun rivalry. This moment felt more insignificant to those specific upperclassmen, while younger students took the drama to be the next biggest schoolwide incident.
Said years-long Rui and Hyun rivalry kept its ability to be fresh, with the amount they seemed to purposefully interact with each other.
“They really hate each other, but like- in a really weird way,” one freshman gossiped to their nearby group of friends.
"It’s sorta like they wanna kill each other at the same time and then meet in the afterlife to do it again,” another friend responded.
“Yeah, but it’s also kind of as if-”
“As if they’re definitely low-key trying to flirt with each other? Believe me, it’s been like that forever.” One of the specific upperclassmen, more specifically the forever high-80s student Wumuti Tursun, turned towards the younger friend group. “I personally think they’re gonna start dating before they graduate.”
“They seem more like the type of people who’d argue like that forever and never do anything about it,” the first of the friends replied.
“Their tension proves otherwise, young one.”
“It’s Haru- My name, I mean. Kato Haru. And the tension’s definitely more anger than uh, blossoming romance.”
“I’m Wumuti, nice to meet you,” they held their hand out for the younger to shake. “You may be right, but I’ve been here longer. I’ve seen them in situations you couldn't even dream of.”
Haru amicably shook their hand and smiled, using their other hand to push the hair falling in front of their face. “We can bet on it, then. If they start dating before the end of the year, you win, and if they don’t, I win and we never see each other again.”
“Sounds good to me. Maybe I’ll give you some pointers as to why I know I’m right, along the way.”
“I wouldn’t mind you telling me about how they’ve been like this without pursuing anything for ages, and will continue to do so.”
Wumuti teasingly sighed, “Well, I might know a little extra thing or two about them.”
And that they did. With the constant performances by the two girls, in front of as many students that would watch, it’d been quite easy to know just how their rivalry persisted.
The first thing Hyun did, once the week’s newspaper issue had been published, was run inside the building to grab a copy for herself. Did she already have an untouched copy given to her as part of the newspaper team? That one was for her safe keeping, to be preserved for future generations of students to read. She wanted a separate one for reading now. Touching the paper with whatever grease she carried on her hands, would make her want to dispose of the one that lay on the printer in their meeting room after only a few reads. One of the copies printed for the rest of the student body would suffice.
As she made her way to the newspaper rack, she debated pushing through the other students to grab a copy. Her thoughts had proved themselves unnecessary when a student she hadn’t met before handed her said paper.
“Can’t believe they approved this,” they muttered to her, walking away before she could ask additional questions.
She didn’t pay much mind to it. Whatever this was, she’d find out as soon as she skimmed the pages, which she’d done with all the attentiveness she always had.
The editorial page had been first to catch her eye, due to the abnormally large amount of text in the section. At the top of the page, she found her answer for ‘this’.
‘Nobody Will Ever Want Kim Jinhyung if She Keeps Cheating– In Multiple Ways.’
“Fuck does that mean-?” she spoke to herself, eyes going wide as she scanned the page. The contents of the writing only gave her an annoyed headache, she held her head in her hand as she continued reading.
Sentences upon sentences about how she apparently secretly held every past test answer in her bag without any students’ knowledge, how she’d allegedly tried to date multiple people at the same time before realizing nobody liked her, how she presumably stole all the stunning pictures on the other pages from the internet. A slander article, full of falsehoods only the dumbest of students would— could— believe.
Hyun began to understand what Rui had meant by the next editorial’s topic being all about her appreciation for her. Guess this was her demented way of showing appreciation.
When Hyun looked up, her eyes instantly caught Rui’s, who had a smile on her face that’d been so fake she could nearly peel it off. As the area around the newspaper rack began to clear, students having taken the majority of the papers, Rui began walking over. Way too slowly for Hyun’s comfort.
“So, did you like it?” Rui bit her nail as she giggled, that stupid giggle, eyebrows raising as she sought her answer.
“You are the worst fucking person I’ve ever met, you know that?”
“I thought you’d enjoy this more, having somebody think so much about you.”
“Well, you think about me so much that if I didn’t know you, I’d assume you’re obsessed with me.”
“I’d assume you’re a big fake who can’t do shit, after..” Rui pointed to the newspaper that Hyun held onto. “This.”
“Everything you wrote is so obviously untrue that it’s laughable.”
“Nevertheless, people will still decide to believe the first in the ranks. And student President.”
“Sure, until the paper gets pulled and I beat you again next week.”
“As if.”
“And still, it always happens.” Hyun rips the editorial page from the newspaper, skimming it over once more. “You know, if you keep writing stuff about me, people are gonna start thinking you have a crush.”
“After writing one thing about you? You wish.”
“Well… ‘Just because she looks so good in the pair of jeans she always swears on wearing, doesn’t mean anyone she’s tried to date has ever wanted to look at any other part of her’. First of all, you’re fucking disgusting. Second, thank you for staring at my ass so much.”
Rui ripped the paper from Hyun’s grip, crumpling it up into a ball and biting her lip. She took a deep, slow breath, as if she’d been trying to inhale all of her surroundings, before turning around and walking in the other direction.
Only then did Hyun notice the students that remained near the newspaper rack, right as they slowly began to disperse. The two of them had cleared the stage of their spectacle. There was no longer anything to stand around for.
“Wumuti, please enlighten me,” Haru took a slow seat beside them, taking in the rest of the room. “Why do Rui and Hyun always debate each other during practice?”
“Why do you think the school has one of the top performing debate teams in the region?” they answered with another question. “And that half the school is trying to get on the debate team?”
“Doesn’t answer me. There’s other people on the team, right? But they somehow always end up with each other.”
“I think I might have some idea of why that is, actually,” Wumuti carefully took their phone from their pocket, so as to not let it be seen by many. “Watch this.”
On Wumuti’s phone, a video played, one that appeared to have been taken a few weeks earlier in secret. The clip showed Hyun rushing into the debate team room as soon as school had ended, eagerly whispering something to their coach. After receiving a clearly annoyed nod, she nearly started to squeal as she set down her binder at a front-row desk. Wumuti paused the video and let their phone slide back into their pocket.
“I have no idea what she said, but I have a small little hunch she asks before every practice if she can debate Rui.”
“So what you’re saying is that she very obviously wants every chance to be close to Rui.”
“And the other way around. You saw what happened with the newspaper.”
“I’ve never seen the paper get pulled and confiscated from everyone so quickly,” Haru sighed.
“It hasn’t happened before. Rui became the editor last year, after she found out Hyun wanted to take photos. They haven’t really let her have that much… freedom, when it comes to editorials.”
“So, Hyun joined first even though Rui was complaining about them both being involved in it the other day?”
“That’s just how it is, yeah.”
The both of them halted their conversation as soon as the debate in front of them started. The entire room listened intently as Rui and Hyun debated on a topic nobody had actually entirely known, likely due to most of their insults being about the girl in front of them instead.
Their debate shifted from ‘your opinion doesn’t matter’ to ‘your life doesn’t matter’, and the rest of the room only watched in complete silence, in order to not miss a word. Tension rose once they ignored the definitely fake wooden podiums in front of them, and instead stood closer to each other. Phones were taken out.
“Maybe, Kuanjui, if you stopped wearing so much makeup, I’d actually believe you were against branding bias,” Hyun pointed a finger in Rui’s face, letting her words slip from her mouth like they were venom, coating themselves all over Rui’s body.
“Oh, so you think I’m ugly?”
“Did I say that?”
“So you think I’m pretty, then. Got it.”
“You wrote a full editorial about how nobody can have me except you, and I’m the one who thinks you’re pretty?”
“If that’s what you took from what I wrote, maybe they should let the issue be republished so you could reread it again.”
“You said it yourself: It was all about how much you appreciate me.”
Rui groaned, “Whatever. And don’t act like you don’t wear any makeup, I can basically point out every brand you have on your face right now.”
“Awwww, so you stare at me that much?”
They definitely both talked out of turn, instead of having prepared rebuttals. They truly didn’t need to throw insults at each other in front of a full room, though that appeared to be their specialty.
And, though neither would publicly admit it, they kind of loved it.
8pm. That’s what the clock said.
Rui had stayed in the library multiple hours after she needed to be there, she figured the supervising librarian would nearly get pissed enough to kick her out. Nobody needs to be in the school building this late, she could imagine them saying. It didn’t matter, she knew she needed to use all her studying tactics she’d come up with. Their next test had already made its way on the horizon so quickly, Rui could’ve missed it, if she wasn’t always on top of her academics.
The studying had been long forgotten now, though. Something else kept them in the library. Someone else, actually.
Though Rui appeared to stare at the book in front of her, her line of sight had been fixed on Hyun, who sat all the way on the other far side of the library. Despite that, and despite Rui’s notably poor eyesight, she felt as though she could still see her clearly. Hyun had been reading a book too, she pointed out. Fucking copycat.
There had been no reason for her to be here this late, though she knew Hyun’s reason would likely not be too different from her own. They both wanted to get in more studying than the other.
Rui watched Hyun diligently. To anybody else, it would’ve appeared as though she’d been hired to glare at her, with the narrowness of her eyes and silence of her breaths.
When Hyun looked up, she looked down. When she felt Hyun’s eyes off of her, she looked back up. She already grasped the fact that Hyun definitely knew she was in the library as well. Likely because this wasn’t the first time this happened, nor would it be the last. The two had fake-crammed their studying into the last potential night, to glare at and possibly psychologically sabotage the other.
Sometimes that included comments more.. flirtatious than they liked. Well.
The next time Hyun looked up, Rui forgot for a split second that she needed to look away. Their eyes caught each other, which let her know it’d definitely been too late to stop looking now. Hyun winked. She responded with a chuckle, though her straight face displayed her seriousness.
“Don’t even think about it,” she mumbled, too quiet to be heard, as she let her book leave the front of her face. The taller girl mirrored her actions seconds later.
Hyun stood up as her eyes pierced deeper and deeper into Rui’s being. Rui’s eyebrows furrowed, exhaling sharply. “Is there something you want?” asked Hyun, “You should really stop staring, if there isn’t.”
“I will look wherever I need to,” Rui’s voice amplified.
“So you need to look at me? Instead of studying the contents of the precious textbooks next to you?”
“I have it all memorized. It's you who should study more, miss second place.”
“Which means you’re just here to try getting me distracted again. Expected,” she dramatically rolled her eyes as her slow steps towards Rui began.
“You realllllyy wish I thought about you all the time, don’t you, love.”
“I don’t have to worry about that,” Hyun pushed her hair back, “you’re obsessed with me, Kuanjui.”
Rui continued the mirroring of actions Hyun had started, flipping her hair to lay behind her shoulder. “I’m at most obsessed with being better than you, just like you are with me.”
“I’m not obsessed, though. I just have my priorities, which somehow always happen to include you. I wonder why.”
“We’re just interested in the same things. Nothing more, nothing less, despite what you’re wishing I say.”
Hyun now only stood a few meters from Rui’s seat, though it already felt too close. It felt like they only stood at arms reach. “You’re so… crazy, aren’t you.”
“What makes me crazy that doesn’t make you the same, hm?” Rui pushed herself to stand up. Now standing across from Hyun, she looked almost powerless. Lesser. Second place. Hyun’s height made her look up and nearly submit, something she could usually get past, though this moment proved itself to be different.
Hyun walked closer. Rui took a step. “Do I even have to say it?”
“Say it, Jinhyung. Say what you want to say, I dare you.”
As she walked even closer, Rui could only continue to follow. It was as if she was being pulled in by her magnetic force, though the force had only been herself. She could’ve walked away, and she didn’t. Perhaps she wanted to be as close as possible, even though that’d be the last thing she’d ever admit to herself or anyone else. The thought remained in her head.
They were now truly way too close. Only steps away from each other, they nearly felt the other’s heavy breaths mix with their own.
“If you just told me you were attracted to me,” Hyun began, “I would say it back. But you can’t, and you won’t let yourself. It’s embarrassing.”
Rui nearly slapped her, and then nearly kissed her.
Her response had instead been an exhale filled with enough anger to blow up a city. And enough longing to spill out of her body. She stared at Hyun. At her messy hair, dark eyes, pouty lips, collarbone.
Rui was verrry distracted. Everything she had studied up to that point left her mind and got replaced with Hyun. As if she’d studied her instead.
After a few more exchanges of breaths, everything that inhabited her mind at all had instead been Hyun. Nothing else, no ranks.
Ranks were all anyone could ever think about, everything revolved around the students’ rankings. The next rank update provided even more proof of that truth.
The first person who seemed to even glance at first place had been Hyun, who found her name right where she expected it to be. However, when her eyes darted downwards to steal a look of the runner up, she didn’t find Rui’s name there.
Because Rui was third. For the first time since.. maybe ever.
When Hyun turned around, she saw the same Rui glaring right at her, a fire in her eyes that heated the air. Guess she hadn’t beat Rui in seeing the updated rank board, and guess Rui thought she was to blame on her lower rank. As usual. Though Hyun knew this time, she should probably run away before she could come up to her and begin arguing.
Trying to ignore Rui’s sharp scowls for most of the day had been easy, though she couldn’t lie, she noticed every time the former looked straight at her, despite not looking back. Rui had clearly tried intimidation to get Hyun to quarrel with her, and admittedly, she felt a little scared of whatever words the black-haired girl had prepared for her.
But by the time she’d finally been able to go back home for the day, after yet another successful day of being herself, something felt off.
Footsteps. Quick ones.
The sound coming from behind her only became louder.
“You cheat,” Hyun could hear softly in the background, the sentence becoming more evident as the footsteps came closer. She recognized the voice instantly and snapped her body around to see Rui storming at her. “You cheat!”
Hyun sighed and squeezed her eyes shut momentarily. The way the setting sun hit Rui’s face somehow managed to make her look threatening, something Hyun didn’t see in her often, no matter how Rui would say otherwise. “Alright, what did I do now,” she groaned.
“I know you cheated. I just- I just know, alright?”
“And how did I cheat? I think I’ve done pretty well in the past without cheating, no?”
“There’s- ughhhhh,” Rui snarled, “you really don’t think it’s weird that I’m in third and not second?”
Hyun put a hand on her hip. “I literally have nothing to do with that. Like, genuinely nothing. How could I change someone else’s grades anyways?”
“Well- I- whatever. Regardless, it’s basically impossible to get that many bonus marks without sucking up to the teacher who graded your test.”
“I can suck up to whoever I want,” she leaned into Rui and her glaring face. “Yet I still didn’t. I just beat you again. And this time, you just need to deal with two names above yours.”
“I know you cheated, just admit it, bitch!” Rui’s voice heightened in volume as she tried to fight back her tears. Crying would only make her more embarrassed than she’d already gotten that day.
She then let her fist up to try and punch Hyun, directly in the face. The latter grabbed onto her arm before she could. “If you touch me, I’ll get you suspended by tomorrow.”
“I hate you so much, you couldn’t even imagine.”
“I’m quite aware.” Hyun’s hand instead moved to her bag, though her eyes remained locked onto Rui’s. “And.. I guess you caught me red-handed, didn’t you.”
“Yeah, I know I did, now give-” Rui caught Hyun’s wrist, though her hand was instantly pushed away.
“Don’t.” She took a few steps away from Rui, her shadow going over the shorter girl made her to be the threatening one now. “I didn’t cheat this time, but I have every correct answer for the next test right here,” her hand left her bag, holding a small envelope. “Guess what, I do suck up to teachers. When you’re attractive enough to make some of them say things they definitely shouldn't, it’s painfully easy.”
“Jinhyung, give that to me,” Rui closed the gap between them once more and reached for the envelope, though this time, Hyun put her hand high enough out of reach.
“But… I won’t use it. Not if you behave.” The ends of her lips curled.
“Behave?! You sick freak,” she knew not to try reaching for the paper again, only rolling her eyes.
Hyun giggled, which maybe made Rui more angry, though at this point Hyun doubted whether that was possible or not. Getting on Rui’s nerves had been her specialty, after all. It felt even more enjoyable with no crowd.
Haru found watching two specific girls arguing more gratifying than finishing their own schoolwork at times. Even when only one of the girls walked through the hallways while they were there too, they’d stop and watch and listen.
This time, Haru perused the hallway as Hyun walked by, not in a discussion with Rui, but with a different upperclassman they didn’t recognize. “I don’t know why you’re making such a big deal out of this,” they heard the sentence come from her mouth.
“For the drama,” the upperclassman replied, “and you certainly have something to do with it.”
“I just.. study a lot, and put time into elaborating on my answers. It really isn’t that hard…”
“You really think nobody else does that, Hyun?”
“Of course not- of course other people do, I guess my results just turn out better.”
“I guess that explains the lack of drastic changes in the upper rankings, besides yourself and Rui, of course.” As the two older students stopped in their places, Haru stopped next to the water fountain to continue listening. “On that note, how do you feel about her getting third place this week?”
“.. Again, why does any of this matter?”
“Again, because you definitely have something to do with it.”
“Kuanjui and I switch ranks every week, why does it matter so much if another student happens to do particularly well once in a while?”
“Mmm. If I were you, I would’ve said she’s a slut who deserved to finally learn her lesson.”
Hyun didn’t respond right away like she had done previously. Instead, she looked to both sides of the hallway surrounding her, as if she was trying to examine who stood near her. After moments that felt oddly longer than usual, she looked back to the person in front of her, bringing her hand to slap them in the face.
The already silent hall got quieter, if that’d been possible. Haru’s eyes widened as they shuffled their body closer to the water fountain.
“What the hell?” the now flustered upperclassman’s eyes widened.
“You don’t fucking say that, alright?”
“And you don’t hit people for no reason! What did I even do?”
“You don’t call her a slut,” Hyun scowled, pulling them forward by their shirt collar, “you don’t call her anything, actually. A. ny. thing. Yeah?”
The upperclassman whispered, though it was very clearly meant to be heard. “I- I didn’t know you wanted her all to yourself-”
“Don’t even start with me,” she pushed their back onto a nearby locker. “If I hear you saying anything about Kuanjui again, then I’ll actually hurt you. I’ll fucking end you. Alright?”
They rolled their eyes, mumbling a small yeah before Hyun let them go.
Haru stayed silent. They didn’t really know what to think of the scene in front of them, though the sound of water automatically flowing behind them made them run from the scene as quick as possible.
Somehow, their dynamic had made even more sense.
The Student Government meeting had been much louder than usual, likely due to Rui and Hyun’s newest altercation. About banner colors, of all things. As the President and Event Coordinator, disputes such as this one still seldom took place. Surprisingly.
“Do you even know which school you go to?” Hyun asked, “Who made the girl who doesn’t even know the school colors the President?”
“I earned my title, Jinhyung. You wouldn’t know what that’s like.” Rui delicately pushed her hair behind her ear with her finger, before slamming the same hand onto the wooden table. Her actions moved in such opposition, it felt like she’d been two different people. “Pink is much more striking than, well, white and blue.”
“It also doesn’t represent the school at all,” Hyun, instead of leaning forward the way Rui had, opted to lean back instead. Her laid back nature seemed to piss Rui off even further.
“Why does it need to? It’s for a bake sale,” she clasped her hands together, the gems that laid on her elaborate nails refracting the light and sparkling.
“Yeah, a bake sale I organized. Yet as President, you’ve somehow decided you need to insert yourself in everything I do.”
“So you would rather that every event be a complete mess, hm?”
“Not a single school function this term has been a mess. You really just want me to fail, don’t you.”
“I don’t even have to want it, love. Some things are just meant to be.”
“Maybe the ranks would reflect that, then.”
Rui’s teeth gritted. “Pink would still stand out a lot more, which is why we’re using it. And that’s final.”
“Maybe that’s why you think every school event is a mess,” accused Hyun, “they all look like shit because you swear on making shit decisions.”
“A shit decision would be like.. kissing you, not choosing a nicer color for a fucking banner.”
Hyun crossed her arms and tilted her head. A conceited smile didn’t directly appear on her face, though she clearly had such an expression sitting at the front of her mind. “Alright, then kiss me.”
“... What?”
“If you don’t want the banner to have the school colors, I’d assume you want to kiss me as well, since all you do is make ‘shit decisions’. Am I wrong?”
Rui’s palms found their way back on the table, a scornful expression covering her face as she pushed her body up from her chair. She paused and closed her eyes. “I hope you die.”
“I hope so, too. Maybe in my next life I’ll be in a school where the Student Government President understands how colors work.”
Rui only responded by storming out, the door slamming to conclude her dramatic exit.
8pm. The library once again found itself to be Rui’s current whereabouts. She actually decided to read the book in front of her, memorize every single word and concept she could until she’d recite them like her name. After her shameful fall in the ranks in the most recent update, it’s what she knew would be necessary to move up the two spots she’d declined in. Failing for too long wouldn’t be a good look on her, that negative look would only translate to possible future school and career choices.
She knew why she’d done so poorly compared to usual on the previous test, and she knew the reason had been stupid. Hyun’s stupid provoking had gotten to her, and had stayed on her mind over the test material. So had her face. And hair. And body. And it was gross, imagining Hyun’s likeness while the test sat in front of her was nasty and annoying and gross.
It hadn’t been the first time it happened to Rui, though the results showed it to be the worst.
She didn’t even try to steal a glance of Hyun right now, despite the girl not sitting as far away from her as usual. She wondered why Hyun had even stayed in the library in the first place. After that performance, the one from when the ranks updated, where she revealed she’d probably just cheat on the upcoming test. It was disgusting, knowing the only reason she was here would be to provoke her.
Her theory proved true when Hyun started tapping. Tapping, tapping, tapping. She tapped her foot on the ground, the sound silent enough to not disrupt the librarian, but loud enough to drive Rui to the edge.
Calm down, she thought to herself. And that she did, she attempted to take quiet, deep breaths in order to not lose her cool. She read the pages of her textbook, the textbook she gripped so tightly that the sharp ends of her nails engraved small dents in the hardcover.
Hyun tapped. Again. Rui breathed. Again.
Rui began to count the taps. Twelve, thirteen, fourteen. She let the words on the book insert themselves into her mind with even more power, perhaps ignoring the tapping would be her ‘behaving’ enough for Hyun not to use her stupid cheat sheet. She couldn’t ignore it. Twenty-seven, twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty. Rui decided that if Hyun reached sixty taps before noticing she wasn’t interested in an altercation, she’d start one anyway.
The taller girl’s smile only grew on her face as she noticed Rui’s clear irritation, and how she’d clearly been trying to hide it.
Forty-three, forty-four, forty-five. Rui didn’t exactly know when math formulas began looking like Hyun’s eyes and every detail surrounding them, though it annoyed her further. She let herself count. Fifty-eight, fifty-nine-
“You know you can study at home, right?” Rui, on the brink of explosion, got interrupted by Hyun directing her a question. “I know why you study here instead.”
Rui’s body shot up. “I’m gonna kill you, bitch.”
“If one day, right before a test, I was actually busy and not sitting in the library until the sky turned black, what would you do?”
“Why does it matter? I actually have to study this time, especially since you’re not even going to bother.”
“I already told you; I’m not using the answer sheet. I’ve already finished my studying, and I know you have, too.”
“You told me you wouldn’t use it if I behaved.”
Hyun’s response was only a wink. Well, not before she stood up and started to walk away. Rui followed.
“Respond to me, would you?” she asked, her steps moving quicker as Hyun exited the library door. “Or do you not have anything to say?”
Hyun turned in her spot. Rui stopped right in front of her. “You always make it such a performance, every time we argue,” said Hyun.
“That doesn’t mean you’re not complicit.”
“What?”
A chuckle escaped Rui’s mouth before she spoke again, “All you do is find reasons to get on my nerves. When I ignore you, you throw enough of a tantrum that I can’t resist saying something about it.”
“… Hey,” Hyun remarked, “Have you ever noticed you stare at my lips sometimes when you talk to me?”
Rui instantly looked up at Hyun’s eyes. Truth be told, it wasn’t something she caught herself doing enough, as she’d noticed it during practically every conversation. “It’s because you’re taller than me.”
“Sure,” Hyun rolled her eyes and turned around to walk away again, her strides larger and steps faster. “Not because you’re obsessed with me.”
“What makes me obsessed, hm? Tell me, you’re too fucking scared to tell me.”
The two girls somehow found themselves outside, Rui still chasing after the other one. When Hyun didn’t turn to face Rui again before responding to her, it made her body tremble. “You joined the newspaper team because you found out I liked photography, you joined the debate team because I was close with the then captain. And I joined Student Government to compete against you for President, I care about the rankings so much because you’re cute whenever I beat you and you get angry. We sit in the library after school every two weeks to stare at each other. I..”, Hyun sighed, “guess that makes us both a bit obsessed, hm.”
Rui pushed Hyun’s shoulder, forcing the latter to face her. She stood even closer than she’d done before, letting them once again feel each other’s breaths. Her eyes shut for a few oddly calm moments. When she began to talk, she let her words come off as bitter as she could. “We just like similar things, and getting in the way of each other makes us both feel…”
“Rui.”
“What is it now?”
“You wanna kiss me so bad, it makes you look stupid.”
Rui gulped. Hyun raised her eyebrow, though Rui barely caught a glimpse of it before catching herself staring at Hyun’s stupid mouth again.
Hyun’s head tilted as she waited for a response. Her chuckles were silent, air-filled, teasing. Rui decided to give a chuckle in return, biting her lip and instantly letting it go.
“And who said you didn’t wanna do it right back?”
She watched as Hyun’s lips began to curl, who could only mumble in response. “Nobody said that, actually.”
Rui’s face mirrored the girl in front of her, as she lifted her feet to bring her face even closer to hers. She leaned in far enough so her lips barely grazed over Hyun’s, mumbling right back. “... I thought the slander article would be enough to win you over. Thought you’d be all over me after that.”
“Oh, I’ve been all over you since way before that.”
Yet the rankings still mattered. Everything revolved around the students’ rankings, though most students didn’t even bother checking whose names filled the #1 and #2 spots. Hyun always appeared to stand near the board alone as soon as she got to the school building, seeing where her name laid with every new update. This time proved no different, she smirked as she saw her name on the screen.
“What, you happy?” Rui promptly walked up to her, like she commonly did, though she didn’t just keep her usual distance from the other girl. She instead put on their most extravagant performance yet.
When upperclassmen and underclassmen walked past Hyun pushed up against the board, Rui’s hand in her hair as she kissed her with all the passion and force in her body, it was truly a sight. Rui let her tongue slip into Hyun’s available mouth, Hyun let her hand slide across Rui’s slim waist. They explored how they fit like puzzle pieces together in front of the students who crowded around them, like a dance full of emotions and stories only the two of them could ever perform.
“Congratulations on getting first place two updates in a row,” Rui gasped for air once she removed her face from Hyun’s for a couple moments. “You’ve won. You used the answer sheet, didn’t you.”
“No, I’m just that much better than you.” Hyun’s half-closed eyes looked right at Rui’s, as she giggled at her own joke. “Congratulations on… second place, love.”
“Whatever, I hope you fall and crack your skull.”
“Of course you do.”
One specific student watched them with intent, though not in a way they were proud of.
Haru sighed as the girls continued their scheduled spectacle, taking money from their wallet and patting Wumuti on the shoulder, who gladly accepted the cash prize for their win. After all, they had to win a when-are-they-dating bet with a younger student eventually.