Chapter Text
Pilsung High School is one of the more modernized high schools in South Korea, specifically Busan. In Korean, Pilsung translates to “certain victory.” With a name like that, you would think the school is recognized for its excellence in all aspects, no?
Unfortunately, that’s not really the case. Pilsung is mostly known for its exceptional Swim Team, while almost every other sport, art, and other extra-curriculars are simply left in the dirt. One of the best examples of these forgotten clubs is the Literature Club.
The club consists of seven female students, and only opened up this fall, after finding a teacher who was willing to act as the club’s advisor. But as expected, no one really cared about the club when it was first spoken of in the morning announcements. Or when posters were put on the walls. And when said posters were taken down two weeks later, no one noticed.
No one except for Son Hyeju, a senior who attends the school. With her parents pressuring her to join a club, so her college resumes can look better, she figured the literature club would be sufficient. Besides, she hadn’t really been interested in anything else Pilsung had to offer.
A week ago, she’d taken a photo of one of the posters thumb-tacked to the wall, just in case. But honestly, she forgot about the picture shortly after she took it, and wouldn’t remember until she’d noticed the posters plastered around the halls were gone, and in their place were posters advertising a different, unknown club.
After school the same day, Hyeju leans against the wall, next to the new poster, and takes her phone out of her bag. She then goes to her camera roll and scrolls until she finds the photo from a week ago, the one of the now replaced club advertisement.
Literature Club now open!
Meetings are held in room C330 on Mondays and Wednesdays, from 4:30 PM to 5:30 PM. Anyone is welcome!
After reading over it again, Hyeju stuffs her phone back in her bag and pushes off the wall. She was never the kind of person who did more than what was necessary, so she’s never actually thought about joining a club. In her own words, her goal is to, “spend the least amount of my day in school as possible.”
But despite her questionable goal, she still finds herself walking up the marble stairs leading to the third floor. Luckily for Hyeju, it happened to be a Monday, so there should have been a meeting going on.
When she finally stands in front of room C330, she’s breathing a bit heavier from her trek up the steps, definitely not the most athletic person. But she tries to slow her breathing as she cracks the door open and peeks into the room, just to see what she may be getting into.
And when she does look, she sees seven girls sitting down, some writing, some exchanging papers, and some doing nothing in particular, which makes the scene look more like free time, and not an organized club. Hyeju decides that she’s okay with what she sees, and fully opens the door.
And chatter that was going on is brought to a halt as the cheap, wooden door creaks loudly. The third floor of the school isn’t nearly as well-maintained as the first and second floor. That’s probably also why this club was told to have their meetings on this specific floor, to make room for “more important” ones.
Hyeju stands awkwardly in the doorway, fingers fidgeting with the strap of her bag, which is slung carelessly over one shoulder. Finally, after a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, she speaks up.
“Sorry, is this the Literature Club? I wanted to check it out, if that’s not an issue,” she says, looking around at each of the girls. She recognizes one or two of them from her classes, but none of them stand out.
Except for one girl near the back corner of the classroom, who Hyeju saw look up as the door creaked, like the other girls did, but she’s the only one who’s gone back to doing her own thing. Hyeju doesn’t think she’s seen her around before. So either the girl is new to Pilsung, or Hyeju simply isn’t observant enough.
Either way, Hyeju doesn’t have too much time to wonder about it, as one of the other students takes a step closer to her. “Yes, this is the Literature Club. My name is Heejin, I'm the president of the club. And you are…?” She greets Hyeju with a modest grin, holding her hand out for her to shake.
Hyeju shakes the club president, Heejin’s, hand, feeling the warm, smooth skin on her colder, slightly calloused hand. “It’s Hyeju. Son Hyeju,” she replies, giving Heejin a nod, a single jerk of her head. Then, her eyes drift back to the girl in the back of the room once again, as if she’s some sort of magnet Hyeju can’t help but be attracted to.
Heejin notices this, and looks at Hyeju curiously. “That’s Park Chaewon over there, in the corner. Do you know her?” She asks, at the same time letting go of Hyeju’s hand, and dropping her arm at her side.
Park Chaewon… it doesn’t sound like a name Hyeju recognizes. She shakes her head in response to Heejin’s question.
At the sound of her name, Chaewon looks up for a moment, her eyes meeting Hyeju’s and Heejin’s. But only for a moment, and she looks back down at her paper a second later.
And in that mere moment, Hyeju feels a tingly shiver course through her body. She tries to act like it didn’t happen, but it’s no use. Wanting to change the subject, she asks Heejin, “So, um, the club. Can I join? I sort of need to join a club this year, for college and stuff…”
“Right, the club,” Heejin starts, noticing how Hyeju seems eager to move the conversation topic away from Chaewon, but not asking about it, even if she is curious. “Sure. We’ve been looking for more members anyways, and I feel like you’d be a good fit,” she says. Then, leaning in a bit closer, she says in a quieter volume, “And about Chaewon, don’t worry about her. You look kind of… unnerved by her.” Heejin stops for a second, then continues. “But don’t be. She’s not that bad. Even if she is kind of intimidating at first.”
Hyeju takes a small step back from Heejin. “I’ll… I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you,” she murmurs, subconsciously matching Heejin’s lowered tone. “So, I’m in the club now?” She then asks, a bit louder.
Heejin nods. “Yep. The next meeting is Wednesday, but you probably know that, since you already figured out that we meet on Mondays. Make sure to come by if you can, meet the other members. But I won’t hang you if you don’t show, this club isn’t really demanding.”
“Okay, then. I’ll be here. Thank you, again,” Hyeju says, and then she turns around, walking outside of the classroom and closing the door on her way out. But even as she heads downstairs, the only thing she can think about is Park Chaewon, the girl who sat in the corner of the room, as if trying to hide and make herself less visible. But all Chaewon succeeded in doing was catching Hyeju’s attention.