The finals were around the corner, at least by Sora’s standards, so she was studying at the library. Not that it was a decent place to do so, there were many students hanging around – some were doing homework while others chatted merrily, as if the place was a social club. With a sigh, Sora took out a bag of chocolate covered almonds and began munching merrily, thinking about how her life changed the past months.
Korea was an adventure, she was always aware of that. Strict social norms and beehive mentality combined with a pretty narrow perspective on the world and fierce competiveness. In other words, the law of the jungle was applied to almost every single interaction. That is something she dearly missed, aside from the food, of course.
Respect your elders, respect your seniors, and be polite and demure. Strive high but do not have the audacity of besting men, maintain yourself pretty, never talk back, never break away from the traditional stereotype, and much more trash that Sora did not want to repeat for her sanity’s sake. That is the part she did not enjoy or missed at all and what chased her away from the country in the first place, among other things.
Thinking about it, there may be parts she enjoyed.
Ever since she can remember, Sora succeeded at everything she tried by sheer force of will and hard work. Success was almost a drug that she refused to leave. It was particularly amusing how much it affected the university’s status quo.
In the eyes of the students, she was the foreign student that either bought her place to the top or seduced her way up. However, Sora always wore her innocent facade and, sometimes, even went as far as helping others, just to keep the animosity at bay. So despite of all the people that disliked her, she was surprisingly well liked around university.
In the eyes of the teachers, she was that student that abandoned her roots and had the audacity to return, at least in the eyes of the more traditional ones. There were teachers that actually liked for her dedication, though, considering she only worked hard on the subjects she liked, there were not that many. In spite of this, the only thing those who did not like her could bring against her was the subtle way she used formal language to disrespect them. As far as Sora was concerned, being called the subversive and extremely pervasive student that was polluting others with strange ideas was a compliment, even if the words used leaned to the crude side.
Considering all this, Sora could happily say she was having fun.
Taking her last year of Business Administration in Seoul National University was definitely proving to be an entertaining experience. Of course, it was not enough to seduce her to stay.
Sora built too much of her life in Zurich. From leaving her house at the tender age of fifteen for a scholarship, knowing her parents would never support her was hard enough. Fortunately, she had someone who supported her from the beginning and helped her to start her new life away. In order to not disappoint the person Sora considered her saviour, she worked hard in order to achieve her goals.
Graduating high school at sixteen, being accepted with a full scholarship in the University of Zurich at the same age. Studying countless nights to achieve her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering and Economics two years later, then working even harder to get her master’s degree and applying for the fast-track Doctoral programs for outstanding Bachelor's degree graduates that the University offered and taking Business Administration as second major. Those were hard years that Sora would never regret.
At twenty, Sora could claim she was a pretty accomplished individual. Not that she actually cared about it, something few would believe. She had a debt of honour to pay and nothing would stop her until she made that person that always protected her proud.
Her chocolate bag was empty, Sora noted with a disappointed sigh and took out another from her backpack.
Classes were not that terrible, but her classmates were. In Korea, there was a strict social hierarchy dominated by age. Considering Sora was the youngest of her class, she was at the bottom of the chain. Her constant outstanding performance brought much resentment from her classmates, though her gentle demeanour forced others to act civilized or being seen as bullies. However, this also brought the negative side effect of people believing her to be a docile person, thing that bruised her ego much more than she was willing to admit. While many continued to mistake her quietness for shyness and her penchant for reading with lack of social aptitude, Kim Sora was anything but meek. Instead, she likened herself to a silent strategist who had more patience than words and preferred to analyze before taking any decision.
Sora took another chocolate covered almond and stretched, heaving a satisfied sigh when the bones of her back cracked. The library emptied considerably, nothing strange considering it was almost lunchtime. As she stretched out, Sora noticed a heavy yet awfully familiar gaze on her. She sighed and began putting her things in her backpack.
Ever since the incident at the beginning of the semester, Sora decided to avoid the troublesome guy and save herself future headaches. Unfortunately, this proved to be a rather arduous task because of two very important factors. One, they shared many evening classes, far too many for her comfort. Second and much more important than the first one, the troublesome guy refused to be ignored or to leave her alone.
He always greeted her when he saw her and, unfortunately, Sora had a reputation to keep so she was forced to acknowledge the troublesome guy’s existence. He always tried to speak with her and there were times she was not able to make any excuses. That troublesome person only brought problems.
The girl that followed him religiously actively and blatantly hated Sora and the troublesome guy only added fuel to the fire by being particularly gentle with Sora only when the strange girl was there to witness it. He also invited her to parties every single week. Of course she could make excuses every once in a while, but it would affect her image if Sora kept refusing, especially considering that guy always invited her in front of many witnesses. In the end, Sora sacrificed four hours a month going to different parties, always taking Jun and Mina as her faithful shields, along with a pack of soju for the masses.
It was quite tiresome and Sora did her best to interact with the gossipers for a few moments before hiding away and leaving an hour or so after arriving.
Sora had the slight suspicion the troublesome guy enjoyed creating uncomfortable situations for her in order to test her reactions and, while she did not mind playing along every once in a while, she was not known to be a patient person.
She stood up and put on her backpack, taking the bag of chocolaty treats in hand while she left the library, pretending not to notice the troublesome guy watched her every movement. Tomorrow she was not coming close to the damned place, Sora decided once she took a breath of fresh air. Not that she wanted to be in there in first place, she reminded herself.
A group meeting, that is the reason Sora was in the library. A group meeting on which she was the only one to attend. As fate would have it or, better said, as a chauvinistic professor would have it, she was assigned the worst possible partners for the group presentation. A lazy bum that was expected to fail the class, a careless git that was unable to use its brain for higher functions, and a useless brat that was too damn quiet and not smart enough to make up for it.
Sora was already predicting her first failing grade.
Until now, none of those persons showed up to any of the group meetings she convened, citing their busy schedules. What did they think, that she had time to spare? Until now, only the useless brat sent Sora her assigned part, though it was so terribly done that she was forced to send it back for corrections. That was the only document she received and the presentation was only a week away. Were they expecting her to do the project alone? Extremely likely, especially considering the useless professor lived up to her assigned title.
“Either all of you work or make sure I do not find the free loader. If I do, all of you fail.” Those were the exact words of the professor. What was she expecting when she assigned those wastes of space as Sora’s teammates. No, forget that, she already knew. The professor was expecting Sora to do everything by herself and ensure those three students did not fail the subject. Such a cheap tactic. Offensive and useless in Sora’s case.
If they thought she would do everything alone and keep quiet, they were sorely mistaken. Sora was many things, but forgiving was not amongst them, just ask her parents. She would take retribution for this and her scholarship be damned. While she needed to get certain grades to keep her scholarship, her pride was a hundred times more important. Besides, it was not as if she was lacking the offers.
Either way, Sora was sure her guardian would help her as always.
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Yunho arrived to the door of the presentation room, where Sung was already waiting, looking through the glass door.
“What are you doing?” Yunho was forced to ask, almost giving the man a heart attack in the process. Sung shushed him frantically.
Then he heard that awfully familiar voice.
“...no, no, I'm telling you I'm sure, grandma. Please don't worry, okay?”
It was the little girl talking with someone over the phone, she was the only person in the room.
“Yes, I'm eating well. Too well, actually. I think I will end up weighting more than Nam-Jun weights if I keep eating at this rate... Not this weekend, the next one... Mhm, okay. I will visit Chairman Lee on Friday then... Mmm, not really, but I guess I will begin working on that. You do know you were the one to force me to work with you. Right? I don't think that is the kind of job an intern should do... Okay, okay, I get it. I shall call this paid slavery... Right. Mhm? Ah, okay, love you too. Take care and I will call you tomorrow, okay?”
Yunho listened to the conversation, utterly transfixed. This was a side of the little girl he never saw before. It was amusing, especially considering how hard she tried to keep to herself.
While Yunho lacked many qualities, he was quite observant. Yes, he noticed the little girl tried to avoid him ever since that incident, but he was simply fascinated and far too curious to leave her alone. In all this months, her strange reactions and the way she managed the small obstacles he sent her way only managed to increase his curiosity. A shame, really, he could have done without all the parties he was attending just to watch her interact with others and perhaps suffer. Just a little
The little girl was clever, Yunho admitted that. She always interacted with the key people, the ones that would tell others she was present and even brought soju and snacks to share. She always left an hour or so after arriving while her friends stayed late most of the times so everyone believed she also did. In the eyes of the student body, she was a shy yet kind girl that was always friendly.
It was quite a fascinating process to see the students’ opinion of the little girl shifting little by little, at least in Yunho’s opinion.
From being that exchange student that was far too smart and pretty for her own good, to becoming just another student that always helped when she had some free time. Though her gentle disposition only managed to aggravate a few others, namely Somin.
In Yunho’s humble opinion, Somin was a strange person. And if he called someone strange when Yunho was perfectly aware of how out of the norm he was, that person was really strange. Chaerin had a strange obsession with him ever since they met when they were freshmen. The girl managed to be in all of his classes and followed him around. The only reason why he never called her out on her behaviour was because of how damn useful she was.
Somin was a social butterfly and generally liked. She always covered up for him when he was not in the mood of socializing and even went as far as offering relief every once in a while. However, Yunho tried to keep her at arm’s length. Perhaps she hoped he would one day try a romantic relationship with her, but Yunho tried to never raise her hopes. After so long, she was perfectly aware of her position in his life and defended it with zeal, or at least that is what he wanted to believe.
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Yunho observed in the corner of his eye how Sung observed the little girl and something unpleasant settled in his core. Sora was his person to annoy.
He knocked on the door and opened it, feigning a surprised expression. “Oh, sorry to interrupt. Sung, didn’t we reserve this room?”
“Um, yeah,” Sung said as colour rose to his cheeks and he cleared his throat quite audibly. “Yes, yes we did.”
The little girl composed an abashed smile and bowed apologetically to them. “I apologize, Yunho sunbae-nim, Sung sunbae-nim.” Sora tucked some of her wild hair behind her ear and put on her backpack, bowing once more. “Have a good day.”
Yunho observed the reason for his latest vexations leave without giving him a second look, though she did not bother to actually acknowledge Sung’s existence so that small detail gave him a small consolation, as petty as it was.
As he took out his laptop, Yunho was hit with a small epiphany. The reason why the little girl always managed to rouse his curiosity was because she was constantly besting him and he did not like that, hence, his obsession to make her life harder.
In the past months, Sora managed to dethrone him of his position as the best student. For some reason, she was constantly getting better grades than he was... Though perhaps it was time to admit he was not used to the competition and doing the bare minimum was no longer a viable option if we wanted to get back his spot. Though at least now he no longer have a dozen sycophants begging him to “help” them with their homework or invite him over for “study sessions”. Personally, Yunho avoided the first like the plague and would rather eat dirt than agree to the latter.
Years of experience taught him few women had pure intentions while inviting him to study sessions. While he enjoyed the pleasures of the flesh, he did not particularly wished to be intimate with every woman he met. He had specific persons, attractive ones, if he may add, for that purpose. He may be many things, but as available and used as a public restroom he was not.
On the other hand, study sessions with fellow males always ended up weird one way or another. After some beers once they deemed to have studied enough, they started being awfully candid. While he did not particularly mind having blackmail material on his classmates, Yunho did not fancy in the slightest the uncomfortable and quite embarrassing spectacles he was forced to witness.
Yunho walked towards the window in order to open it and saw the little girl chatting freely with her two friends, waving goodbye at them. He did nothing to hide his smirk as he took out his phone and texted to Sora’s next hurdle.
“You know? I just noticed how similar you and Sora are,” Sung commented, looking intently at him.
“How so?” Yunho asked, genuinely surprised at the notion.
“Well, you know, both of you are too kind for your own good. You know what everyone said about her a few months ago and even I believed some of that crap, but she never said anything and took it all silently... I actually feel pretty bad about all that because she is always helping others, even the ones who spread all that crap about her.”
“Well, her friends never stayed silent.”
“Ah, true. Park Seo Jun ended up beating the living crap out of that Jung guy and his friend for saying some pretty nasty things about Sora... I do wonder why no one made a scandal out of it.”
An amused huff escaped Yunho’s lips at the memory. How could he forget about it when it was a scandal. Jung Ha-Joon was the youngest son of the owner of a small but pretty well known company so few messed with him. It was the scandal of the semester when the little girl’s bodyguard beat the living lights out of them for something he overheard them saying in the restrooms.
Thanks to his weekly dinner with his father, Yunho knew Jung’s father started a lawsuit against the little girl’s bodyguard and the University for refusing to take action. The next week, his father informed him how the lawsuit was dropped and how Jung took the rest of the semester off and would be sent abroad. It was curious, to say the least, but as much as he tried to get some information, no one had any idea of what happened.
“There’s also Mina,” Sung said and did not bother with more details. They were not necessary.
Kwon Mina was a major in fashion design and minor in business administration. Through the years, the woman earned herself a reputation for being a spitfire and the life of the party. If Yunho allowed himself to be honest, he admitted the woman was pretty and clever, quite a catch for anyone able to follow her pace.
“I really don't know how those two ended up befriending Sora,” Sung sighed.
“I heard they are childhood friends,” Yunho provided, smiling a little at his teammate’s defeated expression.
“Too damn overprotective.”
“You interested?”
“Who isn’t? Small face, doe eyes, feminine, doesn’t party too much, and doesn’t date around.”
“Well, well, well, aren’t you an hypocrite?” Yunho asked, adding a small smirk to pretend he was joking. “You party every week and date every girl you can.”
“Cut me some slack, I'm a man,” Sung said as if that explained everything and Yunho composed a smile.
He was once again reminded why he rarely interacted with his classmates and why so many women liked him. Apparently, the key was treating them as the persons they were instead of the idealized and quite ludicrous persona they were pressured to assume.
“Yo!” someone said as greeting as two persons entered the room.
“Sorry for being late, the witch was torturing us,” Minho sighed, collapsing on the closest chair.
“By the way, Kangin is organizing a meeting in the usual barbeque place this weekend.”
“Is he crazy?” Sung snapped, looking quite scandalized at the notion. Yunho was forced to agree. “The presentation is on Monday, you better not go or I'll personally kick your ugly behinds.”
“Wasn't planning to either way, my parents will kill me if I fail a single class this semester,” Minho managed to say over his pronounced pout. “I feel bad for that girl in Kangin’s group, the whole group is a mess.”
“Your friend is in that group, right?”
“Ah, Kangin,” Yunho said, a bit confused by the question.
“No, I meant Kim Sora.”
As much as Yunho tried, he suspected he was unable to hide his surprise. “We are not that close, only casual acquaintances.”
“Liar, I heard you talking with that creepy guy about her,” Sung accused Yunho.
“Sungmin? That man has problems,” Minho agreed wholeheartedly. “Why would you ever talk to him about a girl when you know how he is?”
Suddenly the conversation turned to dangerous waters that Yunho would rather leave untouched.
“He can be a bit weird,” Yunho agreed, “but he is not a bad person. He asked me how he could thank Sora for helping him in one of their classes.”
“I do hope he doesn’t get all creepy with her, that poor girl doesn’t deserve it.”
“Okay, I think we gossiped enough. Time to start!” Yunho announced, tired of discussing the dangerous topic.
With annoying groans, the others agreed and began working.
While Yunho was annoyed with his own carelessness, there was nothing he could do now. It was not convenient for anyone to know he was speaking with Sungmin so it was time to begin doing damage control. At least he was careful enough.
The new obstacle he sent the little girl’s way was something Yunho needed to see, wondering how she fared against it.
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As Sora walked towards the parking lot, she noticed that creepy guy she made the mistake of helping once. Ever since that day he always tried to engage with her and even going as far as trying to follow her around in order to catch her alone because he was too much of a coward to approach her when she was with her friends. Once again he was following her. How annoying.
Once she left the gates, she saw the familiar car parked near the seating benches and was walking towards it when someone blocked her path. Great, the creepy guy grew a pair at the most inconvenient time.
“Hey Sora, It is been a while since we talked,” Sungmin said in an amicable tone and she gave him a tight smile.
“It has been a while, sunbae-nim,” Sora said in a dismissive tone. Anyone would notice she did not want to talk, but the creepy guy did not... or maybe he did but just decided to dismiss her.
“So, how are you doing? I heard you dethroned Yunho from his position.”
With a sigh, Sora glanced longingly at the familiar car. “I wouldn’t know, sunbae-nim. I don't really care about the rumour mill, as you may know, few things they say are true.”
“Ah, of course, of course. You wouldn’t believe the things they say about me.”
“I would,” Sora said and dropped her smile, but composed her expression soon enough yet not nearly as fast as to put the now uncomfortable man at ease. “Goodnight, sunbae-nim, I have to leave now.”
“I can take you wherever you need to go!” Sungmin immediately offered, regaining his enthusiasm. “I have free time and it will be faster than walking.”
“No need, sunbae-nim,” Sora said, looking over the man’s shoulder and smiling at the approaching figure.
“I got tired waiting for you in the car,” a familiar deep voice announced and the creepy man almost jumped away from her. Good.
“Sorry for making you wait,” Sora said prettily, walking towards him.
The tall man approached her and placed an arm around her shoulders. “...And you are?” Nam-Jun asked in a dismissive tone, his judging eyes raking over the creepy man’s figure.
“He is only a classmate,” Sora said, interlacing her fingers with his and ignoring the creepy man’s intense stare. “Good night, sunbae-nim.” She said and bowed slightly, “come on, I missed you.”
They reached the car acting awfully touchy-feely, just the way they did when they wanted to ward off unwanted suitors or annoy people. Once close to the car, Nam-Jun trapped her between the passenger’s door and his body.
“Is he the guy that has been bothering you?” he whispered on her ear.
“Only a little.”
“Want to give him a show?” he asked wiggling his eyebrows and making her snort.
“Exhibitionism is not really my thing,” Sora quipped, smiling brightly.
Nam-Jun simply smiled at her and opened the passenger’s door before walking to the driver’s door and getting in. Sora felt a familiar hand playing with her fingers and looked at the man.
It was curious how well they knew each other, Sora noticed, but she guessed it was a consequence of interacting for almost two decades. After all, Nam-Jun was her best friend, that one person who knew her inside and out yet accepted fully. In few words, he was her walking sanity. Perhaps it was not strange for her to begin associating comfort with calloused hands, broad shoulders, and sturdy body.
“Tough week?”
“I need to unwind or I may just commit massive homicide.”
“I can help you hide the bodies,” Nam-Jun said, turning on the car. “Or get you a lawyer.”
“Some ice-cream will do,” Sora huffed, smiling brightly.
“A few kilograms of sugar charged, frozen, chocolaty, and overly minty treat with extra chocolate chips.”
Sora hit his arm lightly and allowed herself to relax on the seat. This was exactly what she needed.
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Yunho groaned softly when he moved his stiff neck and rubbed it lightly in order not to inflict himself pain by accidentally touching one of his multiple knots. The life of a university student was definitely not as glamorous as dramas made it look.
As he approached his car, Yunho noticed a familiar figure leaning on it and scowled, hoping no one saw him or he might just murder Sungmin to get rid of the evidence and keep his reputation clean. Despite of his murderous thoughts, Yunho composed a smile.
“So how is everything?” Yunho asked amicably, the politeness almost bringing bile to his throat.
“Why didn’t you tell me Sora has a boyfriend?” Sungmin immediately demanded, grabbing Yunho’s forearm, making his knuckles itch with desire of punching that pitiful human being.
“I don't know what you are talking about,” Yunho said in a serious tone and perhaps Sungmin felt the danger because he immediately retreated.
“It is just that... Damn it!” Sungmin growled, kicking the pavement. “It is just that I really like Sora.”
“When has anyone stopped you?” Yunho said, pretending it was a compliment. “Besides, I don't think she has a boyfriend. Maybe you saw her with a friend.”
“No, no, I'm sure of what I saw! And he was definitely not a student. I don't want any problems, Yunho, but I really like her.”
Yunho ignored Sungmin’s whines as he mentally translated what the pitiful waste of space meant. He most likely followed her and an unknown man intervened. It could be a perfect stranger that jumped in when he noticed a girl was being followed, it could be a friend, or it could actually be her boyfriend. But that would not be much of a problem in Sungmin’s strange mind, so there was another detail. The stranger must either look rich enough to cause problems or strong enough to give Sungmin a lesson.
Such a shame Sungmin was too much of a coward to take any risks. And to think he was just beginning to have fun.
“Well, I guess there is nothing to do then,” Yunho said, managing to look apologetic. “Sorry man, I know you really like her. If you need anything, do not doubt to give me a call.”
“Thanks,” Sungmin sighed, looking disappointed at his answer.
Perhaps he was expecting Yunho to solve the problem. Thinking about it, that was more than likely. Yunho patted the man’s shoulder and got inside his car, immediately driving away.
As he took a much-needed hot shower, he noticed he now owed a favour to the most annoying person in the world. Great, sold my soul to the devil for nothing.
Once out, Yunho began checking his text messages and groaned when he saw the many texts he had from the regretfully familiar name and decided to end the matter once and for all. He had to tolerate the annoying ringback music while he waited the person to pickup.
“Oh, my goodness. What's the miracle that prompted you to call me, Yunho?” asked a high-pitched voice.
“I saw all you texts. What do you want, Jimin?”
“Mmm, is that the way of treating an old friend?” Jimin asked in what could be considered a seductive tone.
“One minute, that is all you have,” Yunho snapped at the woman.
“So boring... Whatever, your guy doesn’t stop texting his ideas to get this Sora girl and I'm about to block him. What should I do?”
“Have some fun, send him to hell, or send him nudes. I don't care, just make sure you don't involve me.”
With those words, Yunho ended the call and threw his phone to the bed. Jimin was nothing but an incompetent leech that he now owed a favour to. A shame it was all for nothing.