“I am just saying it won’t kill you,” Sora told Seo Jun, Mina watched amused from the sidelines while munching on her burger.
“I actually think it will,” Jun retorted, glaring at her. “And before you say anything, I almost killed myself last time while I tried to go to the kitchen for a glass of water because my legs refused to work.”
“You just said you almost killed yourself, not that the training did,” Mina added and received a glare from the man.
“Whose side are you in?”
“I am saying that you are just beginning to build real strength and you could join Nam-Jun and I for training.”
“And I am saying no thank you, I chose to live.”
“You are too soft,” Sora sighed and finally began munching on her lunch, enjoying the rich flavour of the black bean noodles.
“Excuse me for not wanting to fight with a professional MMA fighter!” Jun said while flailing his hands wildly.
“He has a point,” Mina agreed.
“Thank you.”
“So you want to join?” Sora asked Mina, already knowing the answer but deciding to mess with her a little.
She tried to hide her smile once her friend almost choked on her food, though judging by Mina’s glare, she was not doing a good job out of it.
“No, no, no, and no. You don't involve me in your daily torture, you can have him.”
“Yah! Who do you think you are, woman? No one can order me around!”
“What about your dad?” Sora asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Well, yeah, he can. But that is because I live under his roof!”
“And your mum?” Mina asked, smiling impishly.
“... Yeah, she also can. But that is because she carried me inside her for nine months, made sure I didn’t kill myself when I was a brat, and tolerated my existence for twenty-two years.”
“What about your brother?”
“Only when he has blackmail material,” Jun admitted with a sigh, pouting at his tray.
Sora chuckled lightly and placed her meat platter on Seo Jun’s tray. It was her way of apologising for teasing him so much.
“By the way, I am getting my nails done today after classes, want to come?” Sora asked her friends and taking another large bite of her food.
“Yes! I need it already,” to everyone's surprise, that was Seo Jun talking and showing Sora his nails.
Mina was staring openmouthed.
“That girl that you are dating is really changing you,” a surprised Mina said. “Before we had to literally kidnap you to come with us.”
“It is not her, it is her best friend,” Jun drawled with a pronounced pout.
Only when he received no answer he looked up and was faced by an accusing glare and a curious look, then proceeded to blush violently.
“No! That is not what I meant! I'm not dating her friend, you can ask, I swear.”
“Ehm, okay,” Sora said, stretching the word and sharing a confused glance with Mina.
“So explain, when the hell did you began caring about your nails?” Mina asked, tilting her head.
Jun sighed and his shoulders slumped. “Jihyun has this friend that is a makeup artist and he is so flawless that is almost offensive. His hair is always perfect and he is always showing off his perfect hands.”
“So... are you jealous or do you have a crush?” Sora asked, genuinely confused.
“I am going for jealous. At least for now.”
“Okay, cool, at least you will no longer complain when you join us,” Mina said cheerily, patting his arm gently. “Do you think I should get nail extensions, I want them to look like yours.”
“If you do, get short ones. Lucille got extensions and was useless until she got used to them.”
“Your Swiss friend?” Jun asked, receiving a nod as response. “You should stop biting them,” he told Mina, who pouted in response.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever... Oh wait, Sora, don't you have a group meeting after classes?”
And there it was, the reminder of something Sora didn’t particularly want to remember. Her useless teammates and her flunked subject.
“I planned it yes, but they never come so...” Sora shrugged and left the phrase hanging.
“I can kill them if you want to,” Jun offered.
“Well, he is studying to be a lawyer so he can make it in the most legal way possible,” Mina agreed.
“Nah, don't bother with them. Time to go, see you later, okay?” Sora said as farewell and walked towards her building, ready for the next class of the evening.
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Here she was again, waiting. Sora sighed as she munched on some chocolate she found in her backpack and getting ready to leave. Once again, her useless team failed to appear. Though she remembered the useless one hanging in the library and disappearing later... Perhaps Sora intimidated her too much on that time she got on her nerves and now the silent one was scared of being alone in a room with Sora.
Well, there was nothing to do now, so she decided to wait five more minutes before getting the hell out of there and enjoy her evening like a normal young adult.
She sighed once again and began scrolling through her documents, the bright screen of the laptop reminding her she needed a new one because that was the lowest it got. Sora opened the document containing her part of the presentation and decided to print it already, whether it needed more polishing or not no longer mattered. In the end, she was going to fail the subject thanks to her useless teammates and the even more useless professor that dumped that hopeless bunch with her.
She sent the document, walked towards the printer, and waited for the process to end.
I only have one month to prepare... Well, I technically had almost six months, but those are details. At least I don't really have to worry about classes here. Sora’s fingers loomed over the warm, recently printed pages and began putting them on her folder in order as they hot out of the printer. I already confirmed my schedule for the summer classes. Lucille will get really mad when I tell her I won’t stay for long. I should get her something nice, Sora decided. I really hope professor Kang accepts me in her remedial lessons even though I was not in her classes this semester. If not I will have to wait until the next semester to have her, though it's not that far away.
Sora picked on her fingers as she waited for the printer to finish its job, remembering why she never used the equipment in the university. It was either too damn slow or far too obsolete to actually be of any use. She sighed once again as she examined her hands.
I hate them, Sora thought as she examined her hands. They were not necessarily ugly, though her hands were unnecessarily small. Well, considering she was below average in height, only by a few centimetres, mind you, they were proportionate to her body. However, that did not mean she had to like them. Small hands that needed constant hydration because her skin was too dam dry, and short, chubby fingers. Sausage-like fingers, she reminded herself.
When people saw her, the first impression they got of her was that Sora was a pampered child. Honestly, most of her clothes were gifts, she just happened to be surrounded by people with taste (a taste very different to hers, mind you). Her features leaned on the exotic scale thanks to her heritage. Both of her progenitors were Korean, though her mother was half Swiss half Korean. Unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you saw it, Sora inherited much more than her brother did from their unknown foreign grandfather.
Her hands were just the cherry on the top. Having long nails was apparently enough for people to claim to know you. If you had long nails, in the opinion of the general, not to say ignorant populace, meant you were utterly incapable of taking care of yourself.
Sora cooked, her mother made sure she was a more than decent cook before she even hit fifteen. She even enjoyed it now that she did it for herself and was not forced to. She was constantly cleaning her apartment, having two furry babies that tended to make a mess was enough motivation. Not to mention all the fur, enough said. She was more than capable of carrying her things and punching people, Nam-Jun could personally confirm the latter.
Most people did not really understand the reason why she kept her nails the way she did. It was stupid, Sora was completely aware of that fact. It did not mean she would stop any time soon.
She hated how small her hands were. She could clearly remember her mother’s words when she was scolded for not doing certain tasks. Her mother always blamed her laziness and Sora’s obvious desire to keep herself as pretty as a lady did by pretending to be dainty and delicate. Her mother always had some kind of criticism for her, it was normal.
Her father did not say much, only that Sora’s child-like hand would turn off any man with a sense of moral. Her brother just laughed and she, well, she remained silent. That is what was expected from the youngest child, not to mention youngest daughter of a traditional Korean family.
So once she left her parent’s house, the first thing Sora did was allow her nails to grow, knowing her mother would immediately call her a scarlet woman, or a lady want to be. She also didn’t get near a stove for two years or so, until she was craving tteokbokki so bad she actually made them herself. It was a bit of a shock to realize cooking was not that bad when you didn’t have anyone looking over your shoulder ready to judge you or having to satisfy any other person than yourself. Ever since, her aversion to cooking was cured, sort of.
Later on, her nails became an essential part of her. Having them styled and perfectly manicured was as natural as brushing her hair. It became a characteristic that defined Kim Sora.
The printer’s loud beep signalled it finally finished its work and almost gave her a heart attack in the process. Sora finished ordering her papers while swearing to never use the university equipment again.
It was done, she had nothing else to do here because it was blatantly obvious her teammates would not come.
Sora threw her backpack on her shoulders and exited the presentation room while looking over the recently printed papers. It was not bad. She was actually expecting fading colours or strange colouring in inappropriate places. Apparently, the university printers were not that terrible, only slow.
Someone crashed with her and, if her hold on her folder was any less tight, she would have dropped it and scattered pages throughout the library stairs. Sora looked up, ready to apologize and her words were caught in her throat. Damn it, she should have known who the culprit was.
“You should be more careful, unless you want to get hurt,” the troublesome guy said in a honeyed voice that was almost pleasant to listen. For once, there was not a polite smile on his lips.
“Don't worry about me, I am not that delicate,” Sora retorted, not bothering to compose her usual facade either.
They looked at each other’s eyes for an intense moment, it was no more than a few seconds that felt far too long. Finally, the strange guy smirked, looking genuinely amused at her answer.
“I am glad to know that, but you certainly play the part well. Extremely well, if you ask me.”
Sora huffed and looked away, debating on whether to continue the conversation or just walk away. In the end, she was just too proud to allow another person to have the last word.
“I would also like to return the compliment, Yunho-ah,” Sora spat back, composing a little smile, the one she reserved when she wanted to look as cute as a puppy.
The strange guy’s smirk turned into a full smile, dimples, eyes crinkled, and all that crap. That certainly was a strange reaction in Sora’s humble opinion. The colloquial suffix she used was extremely disrespectful considering the situation. They were barely acquaintances, very reluctantly, in Sora’s case. The troublesome guy was older than she was, and they were in the same year, or at least she thought they were. All in all, she was being a condescending, disrespectful brat to her male senior and that in Korea was a big no.
If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
Yunho did not look offended at all, only amused.
“Take care, sunbae-nim,” Sora said at last and walked away, the feeling of the troublesome guy’s heavy stare did not leave her until she left the staircase completely.
That guy was similar to her, Sora was now sure of that. However, she did not think for a second they were sorted in the same category and even less considered the possibility of them having the same nature.
Unlike her, Yunho was impulsive at the wrong moments and that was a flaw he would come to regret sooner rather than later.
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Yunho stared at the little girl as she left, unable to suppress his amusement or control his smile. That girl was definitely a little spitfire, something he was definitely not used to but it was a welcomed change.
In Korea, women were raised to become deferential, quite lifeless dolls, and utterly boring. If a woman was anything other than humble, obsequious, meek, soft-spoken, and whatever similar adjective you wanted to add, they immediately faced brutal criticism. Of course, Yunho intellectually knew Korea was a pretty homogenous country that only a few decades ago began its globalization process. The behaviour that westerners considered normal, such as kissing someone on the cheek as greeting, would cause a heart attack to the older generations and a prominent blush on the younger yet conservative ones.
What could he say? He was perfectly aware of this situation. If a woman did what a man does, she is immediately called gashina, scarlet woman, or some less polite adjectives. Though this rule applied to a worldwide level, he guessed. The difference in Korea was that women were broken to compliance or shunned if they refused to do so.
While men tend to like innocent looking girls that dion't party, smoke, date around, or have many male friends, Yunho actually likes women with some fire in them. Someone who would actually tell him to go and sleep with a seal for all she cared and was willing to call him out on his mistakes and hypocrisy. Someone who was actually independent and was not bugging him constantly for attention. Actually, someone who wouldn't give a single flying crap if he went to party and expected the same favour in return.
Thinking about it, if Yunho dated someone, that woman had to be totally and utterly independent. In Korea, women were expected to stop working once they got pregnant, some actually decided to stop working once they got married. If he was honest, he could not exactly understand their motivation but he was in no position to judge. He was not exactly a woman.
The woman he decided to marry, as he eventually would thanks to his father’s pressure, had to be ambitious, Yunho decided. Focused on her carrier and personal growth, not seeing the marriage as a way out of working or as a way of securing financial stability. He needed someone who understood his non-existent desire to have children and was fine with it, at least for the first decade or so of marriage. Or until his father pressured him to have children because those two would certainly not have them in a near or a distant future. Or maybe until a fortunate accident happened and his father died a horrible and tragic death.
So, Yunho wanted someone outspoken, ambitious, preferably intelligent, highly independent, and utterly unapologetic.
For obvious reasons, few Korean women fitted the ideal he had of an adequate partner. At least until now.
While Yunho was not terribly self-aware, he possessed enough of that trait to realize that his curiosity on the little girl turned into a crush. A potentially toxic one, especially by the way he had been acting towards her, but not that Yunho actually cared about a healthy relationship when everything else in his life was kind of screwed up already. What would another unhealthy fixture would affect his already messy life?
It was easy to see how physically attractive Kim Sora was, at least by the standards Yunho learnt to appreciate. Small face, delicate features, large eyes, lithe figure, and generally doll like appearance topped with some exotic features. However, that was not hard to find when one looked hard enough. What Yunho actually liked was her cynicism, how perfectly deferential she appeared to be until she opened her mouth. The way she insulted people with the utmost respect and pretended to be unaware. He particularly enjoyed whenever she publically talked about the rumours about her with her friends, as if there were no witnesses.
“You know? I heard I am easier than a one plus one sum. Considering how I haven’t even had the time to date or fool around since I arrived, I wonder what that makes other people.”
Yunho would never forget that day, the first time she actually spoke about her rumours. And what a way to do it, right in the middle of a full cafeteria, when she had a third of the room trying to listen on her conversation. More than one choked.
That small event, followed by the later ones, would immediately classify Sora as a difficult person to deal with if it was not for her innocent charade. The soft spoken, easy going, eternally kind, and so ever helpful girl could not be hard to deal with, right?
Personally, Yunho just watched from the sidelines as she wrapped the student body around her little finger and laughed at their stupidity.
If this stupid little crush didn't leave in a month, then Yunho would take measures. He would either drown his sorrows in a pack of soju or date for a time one of the girls his father approved of, or he would actually be stupid enough to pursue the little girl knowing she would reject him. Or at least he hoped she did, if she was insane enough to go out with him then he would actually begin worrying about her sanity, or lack of thereof.
No woman in her right mind would ever date the person that put her through what he put the little girl through.
Unfortunately, he had the slight suspicion she was not in her right mind and Yunho knew that, if she ever accepted him, he would regret his decision.
Fortunately, he was not in his right mind either.
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Sora was lying on her bed with Mina while Seo Jun was sitting on the carpet and playing with her cats. The day was far too long, but not necessarily in a terrible way.
After going to the spa to get their nails done, yes, the three of them, they decided to hang out as they did so many years ago. It really had been too long since Sora went to the movies and stuffed herself with junk food. Overly salted, greasy, extremely unhealthy, and utterly delicious junk food.
Now she felt as bloated as a pregnant whale and it was more than perfect.
“I don't think I will be able to move,” Mina groaned and took another spoonful of ice cream.
“Me neither,” Sora agreed and followed Mina’s example.
“Ditto,” Seo Jun sighed, “give me,” he almost whined and opened his mouth so Sora fed him a spoonful.
It was definitely like the old times. The three of them hanging out and only having to worry about school and exams. For a few hours, Sora would forget about everything else.
“The only thing we need is to go to a PC room,” Mina said while playing with her spoon.
“I’ll pass,” Sora immediately said with a grimace.
“Well, you do suck at playing games,” Jun acknowledged with a nod. “But let’s be fair, you read and ate while we played.”
“I don't like gaming,” Sora defended herself, taking a spoonful of the ice cream and sighing at the flavour.
“You ate our snacks,” Mina reminded her with a pointed look, earning a flick on the forehead for her efforts.
“Details.”
Sora smiled once Mina stuck her tongue out at her and took another ice cream spoonful to feed the man that decided at last the bed was more comfortable than the floor. However, instead of accepting the treat, he slowly denied with his head. His expression changed completely to the more serious one that was only reserved for either strangers or extremely serious situations. This time, she had the feeling it was going to be one of those really unpleasant situations that she rather not experience or talk about.
“I saw that guy, Lee Sungmin, lurking around,” Seo Jun said and the drowsy and relaxed atmosphere immediately dissipated. Yes, this was definitely one of those conversations Sora did not want to have at the moment, or ever, if possible.
“What are you saying? You don't mean...” Mina gasped, leaving the phrase hanging and looked at Sora, her eyes were as wide as saucers.
“I'm not sure, but I think he began following you around,” Jun said with utmost seriousness. “The first couple of times it was a casualty, but now I constantly see him lurking in the corners. Sora, what do you know about him?”
This time Sora sighed and decided to talk. “Not much to be honest. I helped him once during class and he has been trying to talk with me ever since.”
“You knew?” Mina gasped, looking horrified at the notion.
“Well, I did notice him trying to approach me constantly, but I really don't think he is following me around.”
“You don't get it,” Mina hissed, all amusement gone from her features and looking a little paler than usual. “There is a reason why he has a bad reputation and it has nothing to do with how awkward or strange he can be. Sora, he is literally known as a stalker.”
“I swear we are not exaggerating,” Seo Jun promised, looking into her eyes. “Last year there was a big scandal regarding this. Before that, he was only known as the guy who pesters girls and constantly asks one out until she either gets a boyfriend or accepts. Then, last year, everything was revealed. It was a really bad scandal.
“There was this freshman in the architecture department. She was pretty enough, I guess, so he helped her around for a few days. We thought they were dating, that is what he told everyone but the girl denied all the rumours and began avoiding him. After that, he began stalking her.
“He was literally always following her around in the campus and even went as far as follow her to her house and trying to break to her room. It got so bad that her brother came to pick her up and drop her to her classroom every day. It was actually creepy. Before, Lee Sungmin only had rumours about his weird behaviour and being too insistent when asking out a girl but, after that, all the rumours were confirmed.
“You are watering it down,” Mina scolded Seo Jun, her face contorted in a pronounced frown. “Sora, when I say that things got ugly, I mean things got ugly. Really ugly. He followed her around all the time, was constantly calling and texting her no matter how many times she changed her number. He also spread rumours about her, really nasty ones that everyone believed in the first few months. Do you know? He even went as far as photo shopping her face in the bodies of porn actresses.
“Her parents went to the police but they did nothing. That guy’s father is in the board of some important company so his family bought his way out. After her parents tried and failed with the police, her brother went to the media. At first, no reporter wanted to mess with that guy’s father and the news channels were also unwilling. So her brother took social media and it actually worked and got so big the reporters were forced to portray the news or lose their reputation. The police also got involved because they were facing a lot of public backlash.”
Well, if they wanted to creep Sora out, they were doing a damn good job. The strange guy was immediately renamed as the creepy dude that should be avoided.
“You know how shitty the laws are in our country,” Mina continued her rant and Seo Jun nodded frantically. “While the girl’s name and situation was made public, Sungmin’s identity was kept in the dark.”
“In order to protect his reputation,” Jun said in a high-pitched tone, obviously disgusted by the situation.
“But everyone at school already had an idea of who the guilty one was... Hell, everyone knew Sungmin was the responsible one. You have no idea of how many parents and students tried to get him expelled but his father managed to keep in there somehow. I think he also paid the girl and her family to move away and not pursue further legal action because the last thing I knew of her is that her father was offered a good job in Japan and they were moving.
“So now you know why he is dangerous. Honestly, he is a psycho that should be avoided like the plague or be thrown to a pit of magma.”
“Sora, please tell us if he keeps following you and I will begin picking you up from your classes,” Seo Jun said and immediately raised his hands in surrender when the girl in question gave him the stink eye. “I know you are more than capable of defending yourself, but Sungmin is one of those guys that don't respect a woman unless she is with a man.”
“Another reason why he should be thrown to a magma pit,” Mina added unhelpfully.
“I get it,” Sora sighed, admitting her defeat. Well, a person like that would creep out anyone. “But I don't think you have to worry. Nam-Jun casually picked me up the only time he managed to talk to me alone.”
That was it, she knew her friends did not need more explanations than that. Judging by Mina’s gleeful expression and Jun’s goofy grin, Sora imagined she managed to put them at ease.
“Oh, this is rich, spill,” Seo Jun demanded and Mina voiced her agreement.
“Nothing much. He was being a bit too insistent about taking me home and simply stopped talking once he saw Nam-Jun.”
“Well, it is hard not to be intimidated by a professional MMA fighter,” Mina said, nodding sagely. “But just in case, ask him to pick you up these days.”
“He is visiting grandma,” Sora told them, pouting slightly at the idea.
It was not jealousy, she told herself. So what if Nam-Jun was being fed the delicious things only their grandmother was able to cook. So what if he was allowed to laze around all day long and have those soulful conversations with grandma over a cup of warm tea.
“Aw, look who misses grandma?” Mina teased Sora.
“You do. Both of you,” Sora stated and just for good measure added, “at least I still some cookies left over.”
“Damn,” Jun hissed and immediately composed his best kicked puppy face. Well, he did look as if someone kicked him though the adorable puppy was not present. “Sora, do you know how much I love you?”
“I also love you,” Mina said, using a childish voice that made Sora cringe. Disgusting. Cute and Mina did not mingle in the slightest.
“And I hate you both.”
“Come on, leave Mina cookieless but not me, I did not even bother this time!” Seo Jun begged.
“He has a point, you know?” Sora told Mina, who gasped in a quite dramatic fashion.
Sora was considering sacrificing her last batch of cookies when Mina began attacking them with pillows, starting a pillow fight of epic proportions.
Of course she could not hold back.
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Yunho took a deep drag of his cigarette and stared intently at the city lights below, ignoring the pungent smell of burnt tobacco that would soon dissipate and the almost gelid air of the night.
This was his third cigar of the day, perhaps he needed to stop smoking for a while unless he wanted to acquiesce another inconvenient, unhealthy, yet extremely addictive habit. With a shrug, he exhaled and focused on the smoke before taking yet another deep drag. With a sigh, he reread the texts Jimin sent him.
* Your guy is getting really pesky.
* He is talking nonstop about this Sora girl and how in love he is with her and doesn't stop sending me his ideas on how to get her interested.
* Apparently, he wants to flex his money at the girl’s boyfriend to intimidate him and hire someone to beat him up because he is too much of a coward to try to do it himself.
* Seriously Yunho, if you don't get him to stop I'll start fucking with his little head.
* Though I pity the girl.
* Your guy is a psycho and she'll get the brunt of all this crap you created.
* You owe me a big one for this and you better pay up when I ask you to.
Right, Yunho always knew that involving that annoying woman would only be troublesome in the long run, but he was unable to resist the temptation of giving Jimin a hard time. Besides, he really wanted to keep his hands clean in all this matter.
Now, even if everything blew up and the idiot of Sungmin decided to begin stalking the little girl, if he had't started yet, Yunho was cleared of all the mess. He could bet all his money on the little girl actually teaching that pitiful excuse of a human being a lesson or two. In the end, the university could not exactly feign ignorance if their top exchange student was harassed. And the little girl, she would put everyone in their places and give them that pretty dimpled smile as she did so.
So if everything blew up and Sungmin revealed their connection, it was his word against Yunho’s. There was a reason Yunho tried so hard to keep an immaculate reputation, it was astounding what one could get out with when playing the role of the goodie two shoes.
However, in spite of all of this, he was unable to suppress the strange pit in his stomach and how uncomfortable it made him feel when he thought about the situation.
Yunho took another deep drag and decided to throw away his cigar. He actually needed to study now and the many tomes on the low table of his living room were witnesses to this change, along with the scrambled papers, open notebooks, and different colour highlighters. The latter he had to buy after years of not needing one. What a shame, and here he thought he could go all his university years with only the pen and the mechanical pencil in his backpack.
Well, at least he could say he didn't need to worry about failing a subject this semester. The little girl did not have that luxury, ha!
Though, knowing how crafty she was, perhaps she would make it up in the summer classes or even find a way of not taking them at all. With Kim Sora, Yunho learnt everything was possible.