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it’s a nice sunny day when you’re in the classroom. by afternoon, it’s turned into a fantastic summer day that has girls tying their suit jackets around their waists and boys shedding theirs. showing off whatever ugly ass t-shirt they wore under their button up that day. or the really stuck up ones who keep their suit jackets on like a certain someone you know.
and fuck, it really is hot.
the girls next to you keep fucking yapping about guys that they think are hot. you honestly think they should think more about the air conditioning that is not cooling you off even a little.
you’re fanning yourself when the girl who has pushed her glasses up about ten times in the past five minutes turns to you. the sweat collecting on her pores has made her glasses slip more than a few times down her nose.
the girls next to her have their bangs sticking together, looking less like bangs and more like twigs on their forehead. you’re not incredibly close to anyone in your class so you stare at them with disinterested eyes. and they stare at you with an air of apprehensiveness.
“do you like anyone?”
you think about it for a second.
most people at yeo-il were straight laced. you’re the best school academically in the yeongdeungpo area but that’s mostly because of your brother.
no one at your school catches your attention. they don’t draw your eyes and make you fantasize them on a body pillow. mostly because they were all basically the same with the occasional crazies. alot of guys didn’t show much personality though. textbooks filling up that hole in their hearts.
and most people didn’t talk to you anyway because of the massive baekjin gang affiliated elephant in the room.
“no.”
is all you say as you return your attention back to the board.
your brother is na baekjin. it’s not really a flex but he’s the leader of the union. you two didn’t outgrow the system of the orphanage. technically you were both still under the care of the orphanage but you just didn’t live there. it sounds confusing because it is. but you dont really care to find out the specifics, your brother shoulders the responsibility on his own for the both of you.
all you know is that he crushed your hand in his palm when you were younger and there was talk that a couple wanted to adopt only you. and you cried about your bright red hand and at the prospect of leaving your older brother.
so now you live with your older brother in a nice apartment. something he rents with the money that he gets from the union. you’re around two years younger than baekjin. you take after him in some ways.
cool demeanor and a little cruel. and that’s about where the similarities end. baekjin is knee deep into his studies. you think he assumes that this is the only way you two can get out. that and putting himself at the mercy of older men so he can gain money from different schools.
you don’t really care about all that. you like talking to people online, vaguely studying good enough for tests, and lazing around while listening to music. your life is pretty much great.
other than this hellish heat.
you’re wearing a tanktop and shorts when baekjin comes home. an earbud in your ear as you have the phone shoved into your pocket. there is sweat escaping your pores in places you never realized you could even sweat through.
you’re standing in front of the freezer in your apartment. the door open as you let the cold air blow to your overheating body. you’re probably making the rent skyrocket but that’s not really your issue right now, is it?
your soul is fighting you to hide in the freezer. you should hide in the freezer. you can imagine it now. your frozen wonderland.
you can be exactly like elsa, the cold never bothered her anyway. and the cold doesn’t bother you.
it’s this fucking heatwave that is currently hitting south korea that’s bothering you.
you wonder if north korea is also being hit with it. but you think they have bigger fish to fry in that place. actually, they might need more fish to fry there in general.
you don’t register the door unlocking as you stare at the freezer. your brother’s voice carrying to you like a slap in the face.
“don’t climb into the freezer.”
his monotonous voice slices through your continuous thoughts of north korea and their food situation. your eyes slide from the bags of frozen vegetables to baekjin opening the door.
“first you say i have to go to university. now you say i can’t climb into the freezer? what’s next? pay my own phone bill?”
he doesn’t dignify your snark with a response as he takes off his shoes and puts them to the side. your brother has always let your childish complaints wash over him. he listens to your whining with a straight face before leaving you to pout. you turn back to the wondrous bliss that is the freezer when you hear a second pair of footsteps follow your brother’s. you think there’s an amused snort at your words.
“excuse me.”
a different voice says, and you see someone else walk through the door. from the angle you’re at, you can only see the boy’s profile.
he has purple hair that glints in the sun through the window. it parts down the middle and is a little tousled, like he’d just gotten into a fight. it’s also incredibly curly and curls against the nape of his neck. half rimmed glasses perch on his nose as he saunters into your apartment. and he’s wearing a jacket despite the beating sun that you know is assaulting the innocent outside.
the boy strolls into your house as he follows in taking off his shoes. not even sparing a glance in your direction as he follows your brother to his room. he’s making incredulous observations about the apartment to your silent brother.
ooh nice place, baekjin
this where you bring all your girls?
…aaah you fuckin’ bastard.
have you ever even dated a girl?
he seems content on talking and laughing to himself. your brother not humoring his assumed subordinate as they beeline straight into baekjin’s room. the door clicks close and you vaguely wonder if they’re going to have sex. you don’t know your brother’s sexual preference, you’re not really all that interested in that.
but you are interested in that boy. if that was the guy baekjin really was going to fuck in his room mid day then he has impeccable taste. maybe you really are your brother's sister after all. after a couple years, you thought maybe your older brother got switched with another one.
baekjin has become so cold. when you both were still living in the orphanage, he had come back with bruises. whispers spread. people were scared of him and baku stopped visiting. people looked at both of you differently.
you held his hand despite it, but you didn’t know who this boy was anymore.
but seeing him now, going to his room with a handsome guy-
this has to still be your brother!
of course, the na siblings have incredible taste in men!
you quickly grab a popsicle from the freezer that houses your hopes and dreams and you dash to your room. closing your door and booting up the thing that separates you from your brother.
a vaguely normal social life.
there was no social hierarchy on the internet. at least not where you are. maybe if youre like in an insane reddit group with moderators. but you’re faceless and no one knows that your brother is na baekjin.
no one is scared of you and no one is intimidated when you speak. you don't have to act the way people expect you to just from hearing your last name. and you don't have to deal with all the social stigma that comes with it.
and oh look! your friend is online!
user-na-me
dude.
user-na-me
he’s so fucking hot.
StinkyBalls366
Who
user-na-me
my brother’s friend
StinkyBalls366
Your brother has friends????
user-na-me
I’m Done With You.
StinkyBalls366
Whatever man
StinkyBalls366
Are you gonna talk to him????
user-na-me
i’m gonna like throw up if i talk to him.
StinkyBalls366
What does he look like
user-na-me
….not important
StinkyBalls366
R u fucking with me.
user-na-me
HES TALL AND HAS A HOT VOICE OK. WHAT MORE DOES A BOY NEED.
StinkyBalls366
THATS LIKE HALF THE GUYS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD
user-na-me
YOU can’t talk. YOU e dated someone named @LitClit0
StinkyBalls366
DONT @ THEIR ACCOUTN YOU BITCH
you close out of text messages and stare up at the ceiling.
ok whatever, who said your friend needed to understand? all you need is your own self validation. thats how you’ve lived for most of your life anyway.
immediately you activate your secret abilities which include stalking your brother’s following on instagram. your lovely lovely baekjin barely has a following. nor does he have posts. or a personality at all.
but he does follow some people! those people are you, baku, and some other guys. you assume they’re from the union. so you scroll through his following and don’t see purple hair anywhere. and you don’t feel like walking all the way to baekjin’s room to see what his face looks like.
lest you walk in on… something more devious…
so you let your fickle dreams of seeing the faceless beauty who came into your house drip away. like the sweat that’s dripping down your face.
…
at 2am, you wake up to a phone call. when you groggily answer, your online friend’s voice booms through the speaker. cackling and getting immediately to the point as you open your mouth to tell them to shut the fuck up.
“dude, did you see this trend?”
“obviously not.”
to that, your friend links you to a tiktok. it’s a trend where girls post their exes and you and your friend go through a couple together on call. suddenly, you’re not all that bothered by being woken up at ass o’ clock anymore.
you go through making fun of what the guys look like and making fun of the girls for feeling the need to post these. you laugh in your room as your screen illuminates your face. right after you watched one where the girl revealed her boyfriend was cheating, your friend speaks up with something other than laughing.
“you should do it. i’ll pick someone for you to post.”
“no fucking way. people from my school actually follow my account.”
“come on!!! who cares!!!”
a fantastic point has been made! you don’t really know why you even cared what anyone thought. there was only some mutuals from school who followed your tiktok. and you don’t really care if they see. so whatever. you doubt anyone would know it’s you anyway. there’s like one post with your face.
“fine but they have to be actually hot.”
both of you talk idly as you assume your friend is scrolling through different accounts trying to find a guy for you to post. you go back to doom scrolling on your fyp because what else do you do at 3am? study? to the disappointment of your brother, you’re not a fucking nerd.
“ooh! what about this guy?”
you get sent a picture of a guy with straight brunette hair. it’s a photo someone else took of him, he’s carrying some guy by his hair and he looks pretty fucked up. a bruise on the apple of his cheek and a grin that splits his already bloody lip.
he’s decently tall and appears to have a good built. there’s a mole under his left eye and his eyes seem to crinkle with his smile. his hair is a little messed up and seems to be ruffled. maybe from someone grabbing it.
he’s attractive, you can say that much.
he’s wearing a black tanktop in the picture and baggy jeans. both of which are splattered in blood. haha. it’s a pretty good joke your friend just sent.
this guy looks like a fucking murderer!!!!!
“people are gonna think i dated a criminal!!!”
“don’t you like those kinda guys?!”
you try saying that it’s different because you don’t voice those thoughts aloud. you just like watching boys fight sometimes. it probably came from baku teaching baekjin how to fight. you loved watching them from behind walls, your wide eyes blinking.
but it was a secret. because you, who yelled at your brother when you found out he formed a gang, should not be liking beat up boys. boys who will make your income lower by 10 billion percent when you’re older.
you doubt delinquents make good income. and your brother only does because he’s insane.
your friend is practically begging you to do it and you say you won’t do it unless you get to pick one for them too. and so, the agreement ends with two posts.
one with the brunette boy smiling like a crazed psycho carrying a lifeless guy by his hair.
and the other with a big smiley picture of your brother’s old friend. he looks different than you remember but he still has those chubby cheeks and big eyes.
“who is this guy anyway? he looks really cute.”
“his name’s baku. he used to be my brother’s friend.”
“your brother had friends-“
“IM SICK OF YOU.”
and so, you hang up and fall back asleep for another listless day at school in about 2 hours.
…
your brother is gonna gut you.
oh god.
you’re brother is going to kill you.
you posted the stupid tiktok at 4am and you didn’t think much about it since you fell back asleep. and when you woke up, you got ready for school as always. you settled your face back into the monotone look that matches your brother’s. wiping away the smile that was etched to your lips a few hours before.
it’s only until you get to school when you realize something’s off. usually, people skirted past you. they didn’t really like interacting with you, hence your last name. but this seemed excessive.
people were literally going around you in the hallway. you’re starting to think you fucking reek because why the hell is everyone avoiding you. you look down at your uniform and discreetly sniff yourself.
um.
you smell fine.
you washed your uniform after the hellish afternoon you had yesterday. and you only realize what happened when you open tiktok to doomscroll during lunch and you see 100+ notifications.
omg r u actually seongje’s ex?
Yo you’re fucked, you’re baekjin’s little sister right?
LMAOAOAOAO SEONGJE’S A FUCKING DOG.
oh you’re fucked.
your face immediately drops as you scroll through the 100+ follows and messages you’re still getting even as you sit at your desk. all of them talking about one, “geum seongje”. apparently the guy in the picture you posted.
you open the likes and your stupid tiktok has over 1000 now. you feel like your soul is going to leak to heaven from your lips. you barely even had 50 before. which was something you loved because you were so far removed from baekjin.
but now you have a hundred comments asking for proof and you only have one question.
…
WHO THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GEUM SEONGJE?!
you have never fucking heard of this beast. theres girls commenting under your post, jealous of you. how are they jealous of you, he looks like some fucking guy. he looks like a fucking murderer in the photo you posted.
and then there’s comments saying that they told geum seongje and he said he didn’t know who the fuck you were.
oh youre fucked.
apparently hes second in command in The Union. literally how did you not know that. you curse your disinterest in your brother’s affairs other than the hot boys he brings home. fuck fuck fuck fuck, you are so fucked.
as you have your head in your hands staring at the phone on your desk, is when your friend decides to message you.
StinkyBalls366: Dude. I. Am so sorry.
you immediately pick up the phone with near frustrated tears in your eyes.
user-na-me: IM GINA. GLKILL YOU
you slam your thumb on the call button and stalk out of school. you could care less about school and no one dares to stop you. your stupid reputation and the stupid tiktok don’t change the way people look at you in your grade after all.
and when your friend answers with apologies running out of their mouth, you immediately start whining.
“he’s baekjin’s vice president!!!! dude baekjin’s gonna kill me!!!!”
“whoa like draken in tokyo revengers?”
“THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT.”
“IM SORRYYYYYY”
as you walk aimlessly around yeungdeungpo, you whine into the phone childishly. much more than your wonderful baekjin would ever emote. maybe he’ll emote more emotion after you’re in your grave. oh man, and what about geum seongje?!
oh man.
“oh hey, but i’m glad we did it because that baku guy dmed me. he’s super cute so thanks!”
“haha. good. for. you…… KILL YOURSELF.”
you yell into the phone and suddenly someone calls your name from behind you. and you groan, your mask of indifference already fallen and broken on the ground at this point. you are your authentic self without prying eyes and your brother’s reputation.
“what?!”
your voice dies at the sight of five girls. five girls from different schools?! they tell you that they saw your post of seongje. and they start walking closer to you in measured steps and you start walking backwards.
your friend on the phone is hearing all of it and choking up laughing.
because these girls are all from different schools but it seems they’ve all come together for one thing. to see if you're actually geum seongje’s ex.
“BRO WHAT IS THIS? I PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG OF GEUM SEONGJE?!”
your friend scream laughs into the phone. and it’s early enough before noon that you’re not heating up. you have to stifle a laugh before the girls start chasing after you.
now this is just fuckin ridiculous.
you start screaming into the phone and running the other way. you wonder if the boys in the union do this to unsuspecting innocent boys who need to cough up money.
maybe you really should tell baekjin to stop this union shit.
and while you’re at it, you really should pick up cardio!!!
your friend is starting to wheeze at the preposterous situation you’re in and you can’t bring yourself to blame her. because yeah, this is actually insane. this is like a scene from a D rate kdrama.
then when you stop to catch your breath, the girls catch up to you. and you can’t even be bothered to move. actually, you would’ve talked to them fine. you don’t actually care. but why did they start chasing you like you were a kpop idol?!
before they get close though, a figure steps out from the alley that you’re next to. a plume of smoke escapes their lips as a cigarette flicks onto the sidewalk between you and the group of girls. you're bent over with your hands on your knees, breathing way too hard for how much you just ran.
the person steps in front of you. they face the girls and you stare at the back of their head. and you see purple. you almost cry at the sight.
holy shit.
it’s baekjin’s friend.
“hey, fuck off already.”
there’s that cadence you adored in the two minutes you heard it in your household. hopefully he hasn’t seen your post because he might tell geum seongje and then leave you for the wolves of teenage girls.
he’s wearing ganghak’s red uniform and his hands are shoved in his pockets. he’s as tall as you remember seeing and your friend is screeching in your ear. while you stand there with a hand covering your mouth.
the girls who were chasing you seem to freeze up before they glare at you and walk away. you let out a sigh of relief. the sweat dripping down the side of your face and your phone fogging up from the condensation of being pressed against your ear.
“th-thank you…”
you manage to cough out and damn, you really need to work on your cardio. that shit killed you. and baekjin’s friend doesn’t reply to your strangled thanks. and the sun comes out from the gloomy clouds that were covering the sky. they seem to illuminate your savior’s red uniform.
he starts to turn around and you’re very excited to see his face. you wipe the sweat from your brow as you start to straighten your body. you see the line of his jaw and an upturn of his lips.
“you the one who posted me?”
the smile melts off your face as you see it.
half rimmed glasses and a mole.
a shit eating grin as he lazily leans back and cocks his head at you.
shit.
this is geum seongje.
“WHY IS YOUR HAIR PURPLE?!”
you point at him with a trembling finger as you feel the need to pull all the hair out of your head. this is the craziest fucking day ever. he seems slightly stunned by your yell before he tangles his fingers in the curl of his hair. his eyebrows raising before he lets out a snort.
“oh i got a perm and lost a dare yesterday. purple now.”
oh my fuck.
that’s why you didn’t fucking recognize him from baekjin’s following.
“well anyway, not important, dumbass. are you the one who made that stupid fucking post?”
you fumble with your phone as your friend is gasping way too fucking loud and you’re sure even geum seongje can hear them screaming.
“i-i-i didn’t- i didn’t know you were baekjin’s friend!”
you manage to force the words out with your wheezing lungs and adrenaline pumping in your veins.
he seems to consider you for a moment, his eyes rounded. his glasses resting on his nose and you can hear the clicking of his tongue behind his lips. he walks closer, or more like saunters to you. with all the swagger of a lame delinquent.
you squeeze your eyes shut as you brace yourself. you saw in the comments that geum seongje isn’t gonna hold back against you when he finds you. hes ruthless. the tyrant of ganghak high school.
which you made fun of in your head before it was made very apparent by his surrounding aura.
so you say your goodbyes to your big brother in your head as you can feel his shadow cover you.
1
2
3
here it comes !!!
….
….
you feel something pinch your nose close and you let out a hurried breath. your eyes snapping open and you see his face is close to yours now. his brown eyes staring into yours as your cheeks heat up.
“hey-!”
his fingers are rough on your nose. probably calloused like baekjin’s are from fighting. he has a bandaid on his cheek and he looks down at you. and damn, he really is tall. you hold your breath again as he leans in. your noses brushing.
you can’t smell him because he’s holding your nose closed. but you can see his eyes. and they looked amused. a little delighted at your reaction. then he lets go and steps away.
“sorry for your loss, i’m not interested in dating a little na baekjin. one is enough.”
he gives you a smirk as he says that he’ll let it slide. he can’t do anything to baekjin’s lovely little sister after all. but sure, he’s flattered that you’d post something like that.
and you stand there with your heart beating out of your chest and your friend asking what the hell just happened. while your savior and the guy you’re terrified of walks away from you as you see a plume of smoke appear around him.