chapter 1
「Love Story」━ unfolding。CHAPTER ONE
JANUARY 3, 2012
Winter recess had just finished and everyone welcomed the New Year with happy smiles and broken resolutions. Most of the Star members had hoped for better grades and promised themselves or their parents that they'll do better from this point onwards. New year, new me. The one person who's grades were the last thing on their mind? Son Jina.
Because she was only playing out romantic love at first sights, cute dates, dramatic love lines, and beautiful high school romances in her head. The girl envied all those around her who had a boyfriend to boast about and the girl had blurted out she too had someone she was seeing at the moment when her friends asked about her love life. Everyone believed the girl, minus the exception of Minhi of course because at one point the girl had done the exact same thing though for different reasons. Jina didn't want to be left out and Minhi just wanted people to shut the up about her and Sehun. Which proved to be of no use because she had lied that her "boyfriend" wasn't a student at Jeguk so no one felt the need to watch their mouths or stop the shipping between them.
"It's not like your boyfriend will find out about this anyways," was what they mostly said.
Jina had hung out with her friends over the break at a mall and encountered who might have possibly been the most gorgeous looking guy in the world. So the girl without much thought, sneakily took a picture of the boy and once school rolled around and people pestered her about her so called boyfriend again, the girl had whipped out her phone to show off her picture.
"That's Park Jinyoung!!"
And that was when all hell broke loose. Jina immediately broke out into a cold sweat when her friends recognized who the guy was, possibly even knows the boy personally, and Jina was sure she was going to get reported to the cops for defamation or something. But of all the bad luck that was being downpoured on her, she hadn't expect the boy to attend Jeguk as well.
"Did you hear about Park Jinyoung dating that girl from Star?"
"The Baekho prince?"
"To be fair all the boys of Baekho are princes. But yes, your prince from Baekho.
"I need to see this 's face asap and pull out her hair. How does someone like that end up dating Jinyoung? It's like heaven and hell, day and night."
Jina frantically moved out of the way of the upperclassmen at their discussion, hands on her chest with her phone gripped tightly. At least they don't know her face. Before Jina could really comfort herself with that thought though, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
At this point, Jina found herself staring straight into the boy she recklessly named her boyfriend. And the same boy? Oh he had such a beautiful smile on his face. Apologetic, but nice as regardless. Jina mentally sighed dreamily at his handsome features before her mind started working again and she realized why he had that apologetic smile on his face.
She held both her hands up, waving them to dismiss anything he was thinking.
"I know this was wrong of me to do but I swear to buddha this isn't what you think! So like all my friends have boyfriends they're always talking about and I didn't want to feel left out and then a few days ago I saw you at the mall looking so beautiful and everything so my fingers just snapped a picture of you and like one thing led to another and when my friends asked me again about my boyfriend, my hand just whipped out my phone and proudly passed around your picture that was on my phone. Which my fingers somehow set as the screen wallpaper and lockscreen." Jina made an attempt to defend her actions and quite hoenstly, she was surprised that Jinyoung even understood what she was saying considering how fast she spoke she felt all the air in her system leave her body. She even gasped a bit at the end of her statement for air.
That was when Jinyoung let out a hearty laugh, his irresistable eyesmile making its appearance. Jina had half mumbled what she was saying, probably because they were in the middle of the hallway and everyone could hear them if she spoke any louder but Jinyoung had listened well and heard everything. So his gears started turning and an idea came up. He leaned in towards Jina, who involuntarily blushed when she heard the cooing of the bystanders.
Was he going to kiss me?
"I can promise to be your boyfriend but from this point onwards, you'll have to do everything I say. Unless of course, you'd like me to help you clarify this lie, little miss who cried wolf."
The girl didn't put much thought into what he said, only paying attention to the first half and blurting out yes three times in a row because of how desperate she was about this whole situation. Jinyoung let out another chuckle then draped his arm around her shoulders.
"Let's go shortie." The fangirls around spazzed hard at their interactions but Jina's mind seemed to have finally understood what just happened. And that evil smirk on his face when he said, "little miss who cried wolf."
On the other hand, Star was preparing themselves for the club hours of the day, or at least half of them anyways. The other half spent it pestering Jina about her high profile love story with one of the Baekho members. It's not false to say Star hated Baekho, but if one of them was dating someone from Baekho, they are willing to give that specific Baekho member extra chances to prove themselves as something more than a posing .
Taehee and Minhi had spoken a few times over the break concerning the merge of their clubs and had decided to give Oh Sehun a welcoming present by pranking the out of him. And because they disliked the other Baekho members as well, decided to expand their welcoming gift to the other members as well. So they came up with plans to balance a bucket of flour on top of the door, leaving it slightly opened so they'll walk in by themselves. Thumbtacks laid beneath a bunch of pillows placed on the chairs prepared in advance for the Baekho members to sit. Armed with feather dusters to cleanse the members of all things negative, and even violent doodles around the words WELCOME TO STAR, BAEKHO. In smaller letters were the english words, P.S We all know who the real stars are. It took some convincing for the Star members who liked to stay out of trouble such as Jaejoon but at the end of the day, all they need to say is that what they're doing is for Star and everyone would come piling around to listen in on the plans.
Jaejoon was in charge of balancing the bucket and bringing enough feather dusters for the club that afternoon since the members know about his super power in being invisible. When he had run into the principle on his way here though, only because he was a centimeter off from crashing into her, he meekly gave a reponse towards Darim eyeing the bag in his hand.
"We're cleaning up the club to welcome Baekho haha." Darim's poker face didn't change though because who the even cares, not her for sure. And the boy fled, nearly with tears in his eyes. Why was he appointed this of all people.
The boy then ran into Wenhan, the school's swimming captain next and saw the person he wouldn't pass off a chance to see. Even though he'd only admire her from afar, it brightened his day whenever he just saw her smile. Even if she was currently in the embrace of the swimming team captain. That swimming team captain Jaejoon tried so hard to hate but ended up going with the fact that he hated Wenhan for being such a nice guy that it was impossible to actually hate him. The two sunbaes greeted Jaejoon with a friendly smile, asking him a few questions just to get a conversation started. But Jaejoon knew if he was late to the club, he'd have hell on his heels and excused himself from the two of them. Not that he would like to stay any longer to watch the couple be lovey dovey anyways.
He will always remember the first day he met Yongsun. It was his first day of class and Jaejoon was a nervous wreck. Jaejoon was born in Ulsan but when his father was promoted and relocated in Italy, Jaejoon had moved with his father and older brother. His mother had died giving birth to him so it was only the father-sons left. Jaejoon had been living in Milan ever since 1998 and with this being his first time back in South Korea at an age when he can remember his surroundings, he was dreading that maybe the kids here wouldn't like him either. Just like the kids in Milan who grew up teasing him for being Asian in a relately non-Asian environment, especially the way he looked. Which explains the boy's confidence issues.
Yongsun was on the welcoming committee and when she saw how worried the boy looked, especially with his head down as he tried to look for something, she approached him with a friendly smile.
"Hi! Welcome to Jeguk! I'm Yongsun, part of the welcoming committee. You'll make lots of friends here so don't be so scared! I can be your first friend too."
Jaejoon let out a smile at her kindness but didn't say anything.
"Do you need help getting anywhere?"
"I'm looking for classroom 3-214."
"Oh that's easy to get to. I'll accompany you there. I can also give you a quick guide around if you need it."
Jaejoon rejected her offer for the guide but did thank her after she dropped him off at his class. It was nothing dramatic or spectacular but Jaejoon has been smitten ever since then.
When Jaejoon finally got back to the club, he was immediately put to work. And because half of Star is too busy with Jina and her love life, Taehee had requested the help from some of her admirers. Taehee was in charge of well, nothing. Since she had to run off to reject another confession, the true reason why she brought in helpers. Even if she managed to convince the others that it was because they were being useless - oops, useless beings she means. With the girl working on bettering herself, her first step was to quit cursing. So the girl had been holding her tongue whenever she can.
Taehee made her way to the indoor swimming pool, where Wenhan was currently showing off around his girlfriend and Yongsun was cheering him on at the sides. Taehee tried her best not to squeal at the good looking man and the visible abs, quickly walking through the area to get to the other door that led to the hallway leading to the outdoor pool. But she hadn't even made it to the end of the hallway when a boy, whom she could put a name to the face as the one who requested the meeting, briskly walking past with his head held down. He didn't even listen to her when she tried to call out to him.
"Hey-"
"Aren't you a late one, as always Taehee."
"Jongin? What are you doing here?"
"To thank a beautiful lady for having a meal with me." Jongin greeted Taehee with a quick peck on her forehead. At least it wasn't on the lips again.
A week ago....
Shortly after the news of the merge between the two clubs came about, Taehee had left the ruckus to reject another confession which was held at the swimming pool. When she was walking through the hallway that led to the outdoor pool, she saw a bunch of a girls giggle to themselves with clothes and shoes in their hands. They had run towards the outdoor swimming pool and proceeded to hurl all the belongings into the waters.
Taehee let out a short laugh at their actions. What kind of guy would be able to bring about those reactions?
Her question was answered when she heard a familiar voice shouting for the whereabouts for his clothes coming from the showers.
She laughed a bit more before finally answering the poor fellow,"Some girls threw them into the pool."
"And you didn't stop them?"
"Well, I was sort of caught up in the moment—"
She heard Jongin let out a sigh before saying, "Can you get the clothes out of the pool then?"
"No. I can't swim and I'm not going to risk drowning."
"Then bring me my bag can you? My locker number is 88 and the lock number is 4110."
"What's the magic word?"
"Seriously?!"
"I would but I can't. I have another confession to reject."
"Ji Taehee!"
"Kim Jongin. Glad we're acknowledging each other."
"If you help me with this I can help you reject the confession."
"Hmm...alright, but break it to him gently."
"No promises!"
Taehee headed off towards her locker first to grab the towel she never uses since she didn't do in any of the sports classes and even found the pool net in the janitor's room to fish out Jongin's clothes. She had passed the bag and towel to Jongin first before trying to get the clothes in the pool. Jongin had gotten dressed by then and came over to finish getting his sock that proved to have drifted too far for Taehee to reach.
"So the guy showed up.."
"How did he take it?"
"He took it well. If you count him looking as though he was going to cry as he walked away well."
"What the hell did you say to the poor guy?"
"I didn't say anything! He called out your name, I answered back. He somehow assumed that we were together seeing me and me being the messenger—"
"Why would you show your self?"
"He was a member of the swim team so he's seen me plenty of times anyways."
"Are you—?"
"No, I'm straight. Anyway, thanks for helping me out. Let me treat you to a small meal as a way of repaying you."
"I don't know. Were you lying to me about the "confessor" and the confessor's actually you?"
"No, you're not really my type."
"Ouch. But as long as it's not a date or anything, I'll take you up on the offer."
Through the meal they shared together, they had become friends and Taehee was half expecting anything between her and Jongin to stop at that. Even though he did kiss her lips as a goodbye, she told herself it was just how Jongin was.
Back with the situation at hand, Jongin had a rather proud smile on his face. He overheard a swim team member having plans to confess to Taehee and found out when and where. So when everyone had gone, Jongin showed up at the meeting spot to help Taehee out. He had found out her dislike in rejecting love confessions since she feels bad about it all the time. Jongin did take Taehee as a friend and as a friend, you always help out your friends who are in need.
"I would ask you to have another meal with me but you have club hours right now right?"
"And I would take a handsome guy on that offer anyday but I can't miss today's club meeting."
"How about this weekend then?"
"Seeing as I definitely don't have plans now that someone chased him off, sure."
"Sounds great. I'll make sure to book the best hotel in town."
"And I'll definitely bring my iest pair of lingerie." The two exchanged a small laugh before Taehee headed back to Star and Jongin headed back to the swim team.
Once Taehee got to the entrance of the club, the Baekho members were already standing outside. Probably thinking whether they should head in or not. Taehee looked for her cousin, Sehun, who was trying to peer over Ian's shoulder to see who sent him a text just now, and saw that it was from Minhi herself.
Don't be the first one to come in.
Don't say I didn't warn you hehe.
Though the opposite can be said for Sehun.
Minhi, Taehee, and Ian's uniformed hope to get Sehun through the doors first came true when the boy got annoyed Minhi didn't send him a message. Sehun charged in first and the awaiting bucket came tumbling down...
The Baekho members shook their heads. This was why they were standing at the doorway.
Everyone in Star turned towards the door at the ruckus Sehun caused, laughter erupting at his tattered form. The boy had quick enough reflexes to catch the bucket in his hands and coughed at the powdery mess around him, looking up at the Star members possibly hoping for some help. But nope, they were still just laughing for the most part. Minhi's laugh was obnoxiously apparent, overlaying the laughter of everyone else with her single voice. And she had her phone in her hands as she snapped about 300 pictures of the current event.
The Baekho members pushed Sehun out of the way and walked in, most of them with their arms crossed in front of their chest to appear intimidating. Or really to warn the Star members not to think about doing to them because they will not sit still about it. Inyoung stood next to the mess and held his hand out for Nora to take, guiding the girl inside the club room without coming in contact with the flour. He attempted to take the bucket out of Sehun's hands though the boy refused, his grip still strong on the buckets,eyes staring hard at a specific individual before a smirk made its way onto his face. Sehun shook himself a bit so the flour fell back into the bucket before heading for Minhi. The oblivious girl was too busy flapping her arm like a walrus, complimenting herself for her photography skills.
Jaejoon saw though and just as Sehun lifted the bucket over the girl's head, Jaejoon pulled Minhi away. Minhi gave Jaejoon a questioning look and Jaejoon pointed behind Minhi; Sehun was pouting and at the same time glaring at Jaejoon for ruining his prank. Minhi was hysterical at this point, slapping Jaejoon lightly on the arms as her way of saying thanks while the boy shuffled away because of Sehun's hard glare. And to get away from Minhi's "light" slapping. He knew the red would be coming soon.
Soojin finally saw what was going on after entering the room, being one of the last ones and didn't think twice to head over to Sehun with a towel, helping him get as much flour out as she can. Within Baekho, Soojin was probably the closet to Sehun considering he was her brother's best friend. She had met him before even joining Baekho and when she saw a familiar face in the club she did end up joining, they have gotten on more comfortable terms. Sehun thanked the girl, letting out a grateful smile. The two were visibly close which caught Minhi's attention.
He actually has female friends?
Inyoung was looking around the room and getting himself used to the surroundings. There would be plenty of fights but having like minded souls around him would be so much fun. Baekho was getting boring with everyone for the most part using most of their time to study, even though he would never admit that to anyone, especially not to Nora. His daily shenanigans were never appreciated and although Inyoung laughed off their annoyed expressions, it still hurt him. Nora saw her boyfriend's toothy smile and nudged him a bit.
"You shouldn't be this excited about joining a bunch of barbarians you know." Inyoung's smile never faltered, used to Nora's bluntness by now.
"I'm sure you're right but it'll still be an unforgettable experience either way, so why not make the best out of it instead. Besides, if they are really animals to you, you shouldn't waste time getting annoyed at them. That'll just make them happy to know they got under your skin." Nora can agree that Inyoung had a point but she wasn't going to say it to him directly. Inyoung understood it nonetheless.
Seo Kangjoon burst through the door, flying over the mess at the entrance, cursing under his breath for almost damaging his new shoes. He halted for a brief moment seeing all the new faces then headed towards a familiar face, where Taehee sat at the sides praying for one of the Baekho members to sit on the thumbtack embedded chairs. Kangjoon saw her line of sight, and grabbed a chair along the way thinking she Taehee was being so kind as to tell him to get comfortable.
"New club members?" Before Taehee could stop Kangjoon, the boy had already flopped into the chair. A little too hard might I add so the impact was huge. The boy bounced right back up, squealing then cursing as his hand caressed his .
"What the was that?!" He stared at the girl though the girl just shrugged as if she never saw the chair in her life before. Kangjoon's shouts had successfully caught the attention of everyone and not wanting the Baekho members to find out from what, Taehee diverted Kangjoon's attention instead so that he would stop screaming and checking out the chair.
"Seriously Kangjoon if you would have come to the club meetings you would know. It was announced before the winter break that Baekho and Star are being combined. When was the last time you even showed up to school? Cause if you had, you would've heard of the news. It was all everyone's been talking about for days!"
"Really? Cause the only things I've been hearing about were that you got quite close to some swim team guy. Finally getting that huh Taehee. What was his name?"
"Are you talking about Jongin?"
"Wow first name basis already? What a developement! Tell me everything." Taehee rolled her eyes at Kangjoon's inquiring smirk and changed the topic.
"Don't think about leaving early today because we have to introduce all the club members to each other. And tutors will be assigned within the next two club meetings." Kangjoon groaned at the new information but didn't fight back when Taehee grabbed his bookbag from him in case he wanted to run away.
Taehee clapped her hands loudly to get the attention of everyone, taking the lead to organize the ongoing mess. If she didn't do it, she had the feeling they wouldn't be able to go home before 6pm.
"Let's get this over with quickly. I'm sure nobody wants to stay overtime seeing people they don't want to."
"Finally someone saying something productive!" Nora took the liberty of speaking on Baekho's behalf.
"You could have always done us the honor if you were so impatient about this. Really makes us happy to know that you're so eager to get the the joint club going though," Seulhee retorted.
"I just want to minimize the time I have to be around a bunch of idiots who got lucky."
"What the hell do you mean by that!?" Kangjoon held his fist up and at this point in time did not take into account that it was to a girl. Inyoung instinctly pulled Nora behind him and stared at Kangjoon. Inyoung knew the members weren't fond of each other but he had always held Star members in positive light. But if anyone wants to lay their hands on Nora, they were going to be making a big mistake.
"It means, people like you guys don't belong in a school for elites who can actually make a difference for everyone's future." Since Nora quieted down seeing Inyoung get serious,
"A future that is full of is the last thing anyone wants."
"Which is why only people like us should be allowed to go to this school."
"We'll have you know we're just as smart as you s if we tried but nah, we're too busy actually living out our lives."
"You're going to have a tough time proving that to us."
"Not if you guys do your jobs correctly."
"Well then, let's start right away."
The two groups gathered around the circle formed with the desk. The star members kept themselves busy by constantly asking to swap seats with someone and waited for Baekho to finally fall victim to the thumbtacks.
"You could have always done us the honor if you were so impatient about this. Really makes us happy to know that you're so eager to get the the joint club going though," Seulhee retorted.
"I just want to minimize the time I have to be around a bunch of idiots who got lucky."
"What the hell do you mean by that!?" Kangjoon held his fist up and at this point in time did not take into account that it was to a girl. Inyoung instinctly pulled Nora behind him and stared at Kangjoon. Inyoung knew the members weren't fond of each other but he had always held Star members in positive light. But if anyone wants to lay their hands on Nora, they were going to be making a big mistake.
"It means, people like you guys don't belong in a school for elites who can actually make a difference for everyone's future." Since Nora quieted down seeing Inyoung get serious,
"A future that is full of is the last thing anyone wants."
"Which is why only people like us should be allowed to go to this school."
"We'll have you know we're just as smart as you s if we tried but nah, we're too busy actually living out our lives."
"You're going to have a tough time proving that to us."
"Not if you guys do your jobs correctly."
"Well then, let's start right away."
The two groups gathered around the circle formed with the desk. The star members kept themselves busy by constantly asking to swap seats with someone and waited for Baekho to finally fall victim to the thumbtacks.
Taekyung caught Sophia's arm as she was about to sit down, shaking his head lightly at her action. He exchanged his chair with hers and while Sophia was curious what laid beneath the chair cushion, she didn't fail to remember a jumping Kangjoon and decided it was best to let go of her curiosity this once. And honestly, she did not want another incident tied to her name because being known as the girl who nearly set the chem lab on fire was enough. Especially when the people who used it against her were usually the ones trying to see Sophia falter. The girl never paid much attention to the bullies though, with the mindset that they would stop when she didn't humor them with a reaction; which they did.
Taekyung had caught news of Sophia being ostracized by her own club as well as by previous members of the club who have been kicked out due to their grades dropping so seeing them suffer doesn't really have the effect it should on him. The pair of best friends may have drifted apart a bit being in different crowds but they still watched out for each other the best they could. Taekyung looked around and when he saw no one looking, he pushed the cushion off the chair, simultaneously removing the tacks.
Taekyung had caught news of Sophia being ostracized by her own club as well as by previous members of the club who have been kicked out due to their grades dropping so seeing them suffer doesn't really have the effect it should on him. The pair of best friends may have drifted apart a bit being in different crowds but they still watched out for each other the best they could. Taekyung looked around and when he saw no one looking, he pushed the cushion off the chair, simultaneously removing the tacks.
Baek Sora was watching Woo Jiho the whole time, giddy herself seeing how excited he looked to be in the same room as the Star members that she did not realize what was going on. Sora remembered the first day she met Jiho her sophmore year of highschool, when she clumsily dropped her books and papers. To be fair though, her friend was messing around with her. While her friends were around to help gather the materials, Jiho who was passing by felt the need to help as well, seeing that some papers had landed by his feet. Sora thanked the stranger for his help but couldn't get the curiosity of who he was out of her head.
When club hours came around, she saw him there and the two ended up sitting next to each other since there were no other seats available. Sora took the initiative to introduce herself and they have gotten along quickly since then. The two weren't quite sure what attracted them to the other but they did. And when Sora saw that Jiho seemed determined to switch clubs, she confessed so that Jiho would remain in Baekho with her. Jiho did. Who knew shortly afterwards that the two clubs were going to be combined.
"I'm Soojin." Now it was Soojin's turn to introduce herself to the group and she does not fail to feel eyes on her. Not in the way that she felt a lot of attention on her because there definitely was, but that she felt someone nearly boring a hole through her head. She took a quick look again to see someone smiling at her with his head propped up on his hands.
This someone even had the nerves to shoot her a wink her eyes caught his.
"Hi Soojin. I'm Kangjoon. What a pleasure to meet you."
"Kangjoon, your ing erted smile is so not creepy right now."
Kangjoon decided to ignore the snide remark and Soojin's lack of any emotion expression. He'll get some reaction out of her soon.
"Okay that wraps up all the introductions. We'll make the pairings next time the club meets."
When club hours came around, she saw him there and the two ended up sitting next to each other since there were no other seats available. Sora took the initiative to introduce herself and they have gotten along quickly since then. The two weren't quite sure what attracted them to the other but they did. And when Sora saw that Jiho seemed determined to switch clubs, she confessed so that Jiho would remain in Baekho with her. Jiho did. Who knew shortly afterwards that the two clubs were going to be combined.
"I'm Soojin." Now it was Soojin's turn to introduce herself to the group and she does not fail to feel eyes on her. Not in the way that she felt a lot of attention on her because there definitely was, but that she felt someone nearly boring a hole through her head. She took a quick look again to see someone smiling at her with his head propped up on his hands.
This someone even had the nerves to shoot her a wink her eyes caught his.
"Hi Soojin. I'm Kangjoon. What a pleasure to meet you."
"Kangjoon, your ing erted smile is so not creepy right now."
Kangjoon decided to ignore the snide remark and Soojin's lack of any emotion expression. He'll get some reaction out of her soon.
"Okay that wraps up all the introductions. We'll make the pairings next time the club meets."
But what was Kangchi doing admist all of this unfolding? Yep, just as anyone would have expected. Kangchi was in the corner of the club, made himself comfortable by making a massive pile out of everyone's bookbags and enjoying the chinese novel in one hand, a bag of chips on the other. He was careful with his greasy fingers as he turned the page as to not damage the pages of his precious collection.
"Yah Kangchi did you hear everything we discussed?" Inyoung was the one who checked up on the boy.
While Baekho was used to Kangchi being alone since he was always too into his novels to care about anything else, Inyoung still liked to make sure Kangchi wasn't missing out on too much. Though Kangchi never does because as he's hiding his face behind his books, he is actually listening in on all the conversations. You never know what you can overhear and what you can use against people.
"Yah Kangchi did you hear everything we discussed?" Inyoung was the one who checked up on the boy.
While Baekho was used to Kangchi being alone since he was always too into his novels to care about anything else, Inyoung still liked to make sure Kangchi wasn't missing out on too much. Though Kangchi never does because as he's hiding his face behind his books, he is actually listening in on all the conversations. You never know what you can overhear and what you can use against people.
Guest Appearances
resident's Son Jina
lemonize's Baek Sora
Chaewon1stshipper's Han Taekyung
azure_bliss's Sophia Lee
naerong's Ji Kangchi!
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