Sora waited patiently as the students left the classroom and her teammates remained quiet. The atmosphere was quite tense and it was almost perfect.

Finally, the last student left the room in hurried steps and the professor closed the door. The woman walked at a leisure pace towards her desk and took a sit, then proceeded to look at them intently.

“So, is anyone ready to explain what happened today? I want to know the truth,” the professor stated, not looking away.

The silence remained, though Sora was more worried about how cold her hands felt against her jeans. They actually looked pretty weird, the little purple veins were showing through her skin, giving it an almost blue hue. Perhaps she should really put on her hoodie and ignore the stain.

“Mister Park, Mister Jung, why don't you begin explaining why you didn't expose today?”

Her question was met with silence as the two guys fidgeted in their seats. Well, this was damn uncomfortable and they were wasting her time, she had classes to attend, damn it. Not everyone had their time to waste.

“Nothing? Very well. I said that, in this group project, either everyone passed or everyone failed. Congratulations, you all fail it. Dismissed, Miss Kim, stay behind.”

Great, Sora thought with annoyance. She really did have classes to attend in less than ten minutes and she did not exactly fancy the idea of running around the building. As the other three students stood up, Sora looked at her phone and immediately touched the recording option, ready to activate it. One always had to be prepared, right?

Once her useless no longer teammates left, the professor spoke. “I am particularly disappointed in you, Miss Kim. Why do you think I assigned those particular students to you, eh? All these months you showed me how responsible you are and how easy it is for you to understand different concepts. Why didn't you  help them?”

“I wasn't aware of that being my responsibility, professor,” Sora said, no longer in the mood to be playful after the woman’s accusation.

“It was inferred. I believe you are smart enough to understand that, if your grade depends on the group performance, you help your teammates.”

“And how was I supposed to do that when they never attended the meetings?” Sora asked, smiling sweetly at the professor.

“You could have found a way of finishing the project then. Do you know what will happen now? The four of you will fail my class. Mister Park is in a difficult situation with the university and he is about to be expelled from the program. But you already knew that and didn't care at all. Right? You are a scholarship student, Miss Kim, you are not allowed to fail any subject. I thought keeping your scholarship would be more than enough motivation for you to make sure your team passed.”

And that is where Sora’s patience snapped. Well, it was not her fault.

“Professor Lee, what makes you think I need the scholarship?” Sora asked, giving the professor one of her favourite close lipped smiles that made her dimples stand out.

“So are you planning to pay for your next semester?” the professor asked back, raising her eyebrows, though there was a small smile playing on her lips.

“I actually have multiple offers from different universities, abroad and national. To be honest, Yonsei University has been particularly insistent with their constant offers. I have no need to remain here.”

“What about your classmates then. Apparently you are lucky enough, but what will happen to them?”

“How am I supposed to know, Professor Lee? They are only my classmates,” Sora retorted, adding a small pout at the end. The woman huffed.

“What an egoistic decision.”

“What was I supposed to do then? Do everything by myself?”

“If that is what it took,” the professor snapped, scowling at Sora.

“I think this conversation extended for too long, professor. I actually have classes in a few minutes so, if you excuse me,” Sora said and bowed to the woman.

It was only a light bow and Sora kept her hands in her backpack straps, then left the room. Perhaps she should have controlled herself better, but in the end, Sora’s reputation would back her up. She worked hard to be seen as the epitome of the perfect and respectful student while Professor Lee was not very well like neither among students nor among the staff. In the end, it was her word against the teacher and Sora knew she had more support that the woman did, especially when one considered the conversation she just recorded.

With a sigh, Sora sent it to her grandmother along with a simple text.

* The presentation went horrible.

And that was that, her grandma would take care of everything, so Sora had nothing to worry about. Was she acting like a spoiled child? More than likely, but she honestly had no desire to deal with people, especially not for such a trivial matter as this one.

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Yunho sighed heavily, something he had been constantly doing for the last fifteen minutes. Apparently, the most interesting topic of conversation was the little... Nope, Yunho scolded himself for using that nickname. Kim Sora turned into the most interesting topic of conversation and his group was unable to stop talking about her, much to his chagrin and Somin’s annoyance. Good. At least that way he was not the only one to suffer.

“I don't know man, I heard Kim Sora has a full scholarship. I think she will lose it now. You know how the old hag of Lee is,” Minho said, continuing the conversation Yunho ignored the first part of, but this did sound interesting.

“Totally. I kind of feel bad for her,” Sung sighed, taking a sip of his banana milk before talking. “Lee really is a bitter old hag, I can’t believe she paired Sora with Kangin. Junwoo is not that bad, but he tends to be a lazy bum.”

Ah, so that was the name of that guy. Well, at least he was close enough. Junwoo kind of sounded like Jorogumo... Right?

“I really don't think she will lose the scholarship,” another guy said. This one was in their presentation team but Yunho really couldn't remember his name so he was labelled as the guy.

“Well, scholarship students do have to keep a minimum grade,” Minho retorted.

“Yeah, yeah, I know that. But she is like, really smart. My older brother is doing his MBA and he always greets Sora when they see each other. Apparently, she is also beginning her MBA.”

Well, this was information Yunho was really not expecting. Despite of how pitiful his classmates were while gossiping about a girl that barely knew about their existence, he had to admit they were a good source of information about her. Then a cold shiver went down his back. Was he becoming a stalker? Maybe the useless of Sungmin infected him. The horror!

Then Somin snorted, in a very not Somin like fashion and Yunho forgot about his train of thought. Everyone in the group was looking at her.

“What?” she snapped, looking over her phone.

“That is what I want to ask you, what is so funny?”

“Well, nothing much. It is just that you are all idiots for believing those lies. Yes, she has slightly better grades than us, but so what? She is not that smart,” Somin retorted, pushing back her hair in an exaggerated motion.

“Well, you can ask my brother and his classmates,” the guy said with a shrug.

Yunho sighed once again. It was a well-known fact that Somin disliked Sora from day one because of how her exotic features effortlessly captured the attention of others. It was also really well known that Somin had a bit of a narcissistic complex... Her dislike towards her might also have to do with how much attention Yunho paid to Sora, just a little bit though.

“I would rather not waste my time,” Somin huffed as her gaze returned to her phone.

“What, are you jealous?” Minho teased the girl, earning a glare as a response.

“Of Kim Sora? Why should I ever be? Really, you all act like idiots with her. It's almost offensive how you ate up her little act today, it was her fault Kangin reacted that way. You all know he's about to be kicked out of the program and can’t afford to fail a subject at this point.”

Yet once again, Yunho sighed, already predicting the discussion he would be forced to listen to.

“How was it her fault? Come on, woman, let us all be honest in here. We all know Kangin is a downright violent bastard with no qualms on hurting girls.” Yunho had the suspicion that that girl in particular didn't exactly needed or even appreciated the help, but he would rather not voice his opinion. “We all know he spends his time getting drunk, partying, and shagging with any woman that will allow him to.”

Minho’s usually friendly smile was gone and Yunho thought he never saw that guy as annoyed as he looked at the moment. It was actually a tad intimidating. Minho was a big guy addicted to sports so his body was easily twice Somin’s body. It was easy to forget how easy was it for him to hurt others when he was normally acting like a competitive puppy. Yunho made a mental note to never forget that fact again.

“We all know Kangin is lazy,” Sung agreed, almost looking too eager to have an argument with Somin. “There is actually a betting pool on when will he drop out of the program.”

Somin huffed once again but, fortunately, decided not to continue the discussion. Perhaps it was because everyone knew she would lose and she was smart enough to acknowledge that fact, even if it was to herself. Kangin was quite hopeless, Yunho was more than ready to agree with that statement.

“Come on, come on,” Yunho said, interrupting whatever Minho was beginning to say. “We all have classes to attend and we will be late at this rate.”

He delivered his announcement with a smile that only widened when everyone jumped at his statement, running to his or her next class in the most literal way. Unfortunately, Somin remained at his side while he calmly walked to the next lesson of the evening. He swiftly ignored her presence.

If he was honest, it was time to admit Somin turned into quite a bothersome acquaintance in the last weeks... let’s change that to months, she was quite bothersome in the last months. Perhaps she saw Sora as a competition, but ever since the day Yunho gave her that pastry as apology, Somin acted hostile towards her.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

He always knew how overzealous Somin was of her position in his life, but he never imagined she would act this annoying. If she followed him around before, now she basically stalked him. In the most literal way, she never left his side and even waited for him outside of the bathroom whenever they went to a party.

There was even this one time when she tried to get hold of his phone when Jimin went through one of her texting sprees and that is the moment Yunho drew the line. He simply dragged her to his car and scolded her, reminding her she was not his girlfriend or even her friend, she was nothing else than an acquaintance.

However, this only seemed to motivate her to increase her stalking, though at least she never tried to get involved in his personal life again.

It was really pathetic. Somin really should find someone who actually cared about her, but it wasn't his problem how she decided to waste her time.

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Sora was abruptly woken up when she felt small paws digging on her chest and groaned, immediately getting the cat off her body and rubbing the sore spots. Damn cats and their damn adorable faces, she could not really scold them. She sat on the bed and grabbed the glass on her nightstand only to notice it was empty. With a sigh, she decided she was too thirsty to go back to bed.

After drinking almost half a bottle of iced tea, her parched throat was no longer parched and her desire to sleep was gone. She checked the hour on her phone and sighed, it was almost five thirty, either way she would have to be up soon.

So she decided to work out a little before taking a really hot shower and getting ready for the day.

Once Sora was relatively presentable, she looked in her fridge for something to eat. There was not much, she really needed to grocery shopping soon. She eyed the almost empty container of cat food and decided she would go that evening. She could starve herself but not the children, they had to be well feed to keep their adorable tummies round.

Taking out some frozen strawberries and sliced banana, she placed them in the blender along with a bit of ginger and finally poured in some milk and a spoonful of protein powder. Smoothies for breakfast were almost as good as ice cream, but healthier... way healthier and, even if smoothies were not as delicious, it was a decent replacement. Especially if you were smart and knew how much milk to add and if your fruits mixed with cocoa powder.

Sora drank – or should it be ate – her smoothie directly from the blender. Ah, one of the beauties of leaving alone, not having to share your food and doing whatever you wanted.

Now, finally sated, she was about to snack on the last slice of wholemeal seeded bread when her phone rang and Sora’s face immediately brightened.

“Grandma!” she all but yelled as a greeting.

Yesterday she was not in a good mood to call the old woman. It was better to text her a little before getting the stress out of her system and then rewarding herself with some overly sweet iced coffee. Though perhaps that name was debatable considering she used less than the tip of the spoon to put in coffee and a full three spoons of cocoa.

“My dear child,” the old woman said in an equally effusive tone. “Are you feeling better today?”

Sora sighed, of course she would worry about it.

“Yeah, yeah, I am fine. I think I just needed a good night’s sleep.”

“That is good to know, I was a bit worried,” said the gentle voice over the phone. “In any case, I am taking care of it already.”

“I guess I will have to thank Secretary Jung later then,” Sora said, not entirely teasing.

The poor man was saddled with anything that her grandmother did not want to do and that was usually related to paperwork in any shade or form. He definitely needed a raise.

“Oh, shush it. In any case, the matter is taken care of, don't dare to worry about in. By the way, the second child of Park Seunghyun returned to the country not long ago. I don't know, maybe you should find a bit of information about him and maybe I can arrange you a date. What do you say?”

Sora sighed deeply and massaged the bridge of her nose. Of course, her grandmother would try to set her up with someone she approved of. Just like she tried every other week.

“Nope, not a chance,” was Sora’s swift answer.

“Oh, Sora, you should really try to date a little,” the old woman said and Sora could almost hear the worried frown, if such a thing was possible.

“I still am in my early twenties, I will think about it later. Like, in five years or so.”

“Fine,” her grandmother groaned, dragging the word.

“Why don't you try to set Nam-Jun with someone?”

“Ah, that child,” her grandmother sighed and Sora could picture her rubbing her temples. “You know how disagreeable he can be. Ever since he dated that Japanese girl he has not really tried something new with anyone.”

Sora bit her lower lip and kept silent. She was not going to be the one to spill the beans. “Was not that like... Damn, that was like four years ago, right?”

“Something like that. He really was stupidly besotted with her for as long as their relationship lasted. He never told me why they broke up, do you have any idea?”

Once again, Sora bit her lower lip and refused to speak. She was definitely not going to spill this tea to their grandmother. She might just murder Nam-Jun for what happened, go and bitch slap the Japanese girl, and finally disown Sora for keeping quiet. So yeah, it was for everyone’s good interests to keep her trap shut.

“Nope, no idea what happened,” Sora said merrily.

“Okay, don't tell me then. I swear one day I will find out,” her grandmother promised.

“I really have no doubts,” Sora agreed easily. “Gran, I have to get going now, okay?”

“Take care, dear, and do not forget to greet your lovely friends.”

“I promise I won't, bye.”

With those words, Sora ended the call and sighed once again. Then she glanced at the hour and stuffed what was left of her piece of bread in her mouth and chugged in some milk before running to her room to brush her teeth and grab her backpack. As she put on her shoes on the doorway, she realized she was in a good enough mood to actually face the day without punching anyone.

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Sora was sitting at her usual place in the cafeteria as she waited for Mina - today’s designated food retriever - to arrive. While she read one of Stephen King’s latest books, Seo Jun was frowning at his laptop screen as if it somehow managed to offend him.

“So what happened? You look constipated,” Sora asked him out of curiosity and his shoulders sagged.

“I really want to take summer courses to make up for those two years I lost, but I have until this Friday to confirm the classes and I still am not sure on what to take,” Jun groaned, banging lightly his forehead on the table.

“Well, there was nothing you could do. At least you no longer have to worry for your military service,” Sora tried to comfort him, but then remembered that Friday was no far.

“It is really unfair, why women are not forced to do their military service?”

“Because women were and still are considered too weak to fight for the country,” Sora answered without inflection.

“I remember you wanted to make your military service and your parents almost had a heart attack.”

“Too bad it didn't happen,” she sighed and scooted her chair closer to Jun’s. “Come on, let's see those classes.”

Seo Jun only pushed his laptop towards her and she eyed the courses, not really knowing what to do now. Apparently, her friend also noticed her dilemma.

“So I am torn between ‘Business Valuation and Financial Statement Analysis’ and ‘European Union Law’. I was thinking on taking both, but I am working with my mother on her firm and she forgets I am her son and treats me like a normal intern so I am not sure if I will actually have time,” Seo Jun explained, looking at her with pleading eyes.

“Well, I am also working with grandma,” Sora told him as she frowned at her backpack for refusing to open. Finally, she managed to retrieve her planner and took out a piece of paper, handing it to him. “This is my schedule for the summer. I actually had to talk with the professors to see how much homework were they going to assign so I could dedicate my free time to my grandmother.”

“I am kind of intimidated by the professors,” Jun admitted sheepishly.

“I can go with you if you want. You should also talk with your mum about working with her and how much time you can spend with her. Are you planning to take any modelling jobs?” Sora asked, smiling a little when he blushed.

Seo Jun was almost literally stalked by talent hunters from those idol companies that wanted a pretty face when he was younger. He learnt how to cover himself well enough as time went by in order not to attract attention. As candid and friendly Jun was, he was also extremely shy. Besides, he dreamed to become a lawyer ever since he knew what the word meant.

However, in spite of all of this, he was not one to turn down the modelling opportunities that he was offered once he finished his military service for two different reasons. One, it was good money and two and most important, he felt as if he could no longer ask for a monthly allowance to his parents once he turned twenty. Yep, he was proud like that.

“I have a few offers, but I guess I'll talk with my mum first and then decide,” he agreed, sighing heavily in the end.

“Here you go,” Mina chirped in and deposited two heavily stacked trays on the table.

No matter what she said, Sora thought Mina had an ungodly strength when it was convenient.

“So, you are not going to guess what I heard,” Mina said in a singsong voice, smiling impishly at them. As the social butterfly of the group, Sora was not surprised to learn Mina was already up to date with the day’s rumour mill by her numerous acquaintances.

“So what did you hear?” Seo Jun asked as he retrieved his large bowl of black bean noodles and carefully broke the disposable chopsticks in order not to break them as he usually did. They broke unevenly and he simply sighed, looking defeated.

“Kangin didn't come to classes today,” she began saying and took a spoonful of her broth.

“So why is that important?” Sora asked, not really understanding how was that interesting. Then she stabbed her spicy rice cake and ate it.

“Oh, come on,” Mina groaned, rubbing the bridge of her nose.

“She is quite clueless,” Jun agreed, looking at Mina and Sora frowned.

They were talking about her, right? Well, too bad. She had the social skills of a lonely wolf.

“Kangin was in your group for that presentation and everyone knows it was a disaster. He apparently complained to anyone that would listen until he noticed it wasn't doing him any favours, then he went out drinking with his groupies. I know from one of my classmates that Junwoo went to that reunion and Kangin ended up beating the crap out of him and accused him to conspire with you to make him fail.”

Sora stared at Mina and she guessed her face was contorted in mild confusion because Mina ended up shrugging, looking sheepish.

“Kangin is so weird,” Jun said with his mouth full and tried to steal a roll of kimbap from Sora’s tray before she slapped it away.

She was still hoping to grow a few centimetres damn it, she needed her nourishment in case she had a late growth spurt.

“He is a drunkard,” Mina corrected, “whatever. The thing is that Junwoo said he would complain to the Student’s Dean so Kangin is afraid to be expelled now.”

“Well, he wouldn't need to worry had he not attacked almost everyone on his path when he was still a freshman,” Seo Jun said unhelpfully and took a large bite of his meal.

“That's true.”

“I don't really know him,” Sora decided to add. She really was not good in this kind of situations.

“Wait, wait, that's not all!” Mina almost yelled before Sora could speak again, giving her an apologetic smile. “Chaerin told me something really interesting when we were buying food. Apparently, she went to the administrative building this morning in order to register to the summer classes and all that and she heard some golden gossip about you.”

Sora’s eyebrows shot up when Mina looked at her.

“Apparently there was a ruse going on in the Dean’s office. Chaerin could recognise Dean’s Shin Dong Hee voice and the principal’s voice. The fight got so bad that it could be heard from where Chaerin was and the secretary was forcing her to go away when the principal came out in person. She said he was talking with someone on the phone and apologising profusely. The principal promised that Professor Lee would be closely watched after this and that certain Miss Kim doesn't have to worry about her grade.”

Finally, Sora understood how she was involved in all the mess. Damn it, she really didn't need more attention than what she already got.

“I mean, how many Miss Kim does this university has,” Mina said, earning a deadpanned stare and she immediately corrected herself. “Okay, okay, so how many Miss Kim do you know that had problems with certain professor Lee yesterday?”

“That is a fair point,” Seo Jun agreed and Sora stabbed a few pieces of her spicy rice cakes before filling her mouth, pouting slightly.

“I just want to say that your grandmother is amazing,” Mina said, looking really impressed. Sora only scowled in return.

“If you were not such a good student and that woman assigned you useless teammates, I would perhaps be jealous,” Jun added and Sora stuffed a roll of kimbap on his mouth to shut him up. It miraculously worked.

Sora brooded in silence as Mina and Jun kept gossiping about other students. If people believed this particular rumour about her to be true, then she would actually work extra hard to show her grades were not bought. The gift she was planning to get for Secretary Jung was forgotten. But then again, maybe she should blame the principal because the secretary was nothing if nor extremely meticulous and a perfectionist to the core. She would still give him a gift, she decided.

“You really finished the whole bowl,” Seo Jun said, watching Sora’s empty bowl with his mouth slightly parted. “Where does all that food go?”

“Do you really want me to tell you?” Sora asked while raising an eyebrow and Mina threw her napkin at her while Jun groaned.

“I hate you,” he hissed, pouting at the table.