They say high school is one of the best times a person can have in his or her life. If that doesn’t apply, then university life should do the trick.

Some would beg to differ.

For Goo Junhwe, university has been mostly uninspiring. It’s slightly better than high school alright, but everything he’s experienced so far is not enough for him to actually like it. There's not much to be happy about when both his school choice and program course are heavily influenced by his family's business, and his social life has been relegated to hanging out at Bobby's apartment with Hanbin, playing basketball with Yunhyeong-hyung and Chanwoo, or being nagged by Jinhwan-hyung. He couldn't care less about attending parties and club-hopping escapades either. Still, Junhwe manages to go through each day if only to be a filial son to his parents.

There's one thing Junhwe struggles to tolerate the most though. That is his Advanced English course subject that he only took because his mom insisted on it. Junhwe didn't see any reason why he should need to "advance" his English skills when he can speak and understand enough for a conversational level. It’s not like their business required communicating with foreigners either.

Jinhwan and Yunhyeong both told him it wouldn't hurt learning more and he retorted by saying he'd rather have the extra sleeping hours instead of sitting through 2 hours of English classical readings he gives zero s about. But then, what's the use of complaining when he's already taking the damned subject?

So he sits through class and pretends to be "interested enough" just so the professor won't call him out for being the odd one. It works 90% of the time. The downside is by pretending to be a good student, he gets so bored the temptation to drop the subject becomes increasingly strong.

There’s also Kim Donghyuk.

Kim Donghyuk is Advanced English's golden child - the dude with the word "NERD" screaming all over his image from his dumb Harry Potter glasses to his oversized flannel shirts and his backpack that he wears like an elementary school kid. On top of that, Kim Donghyuk always enters Advanced English as if the subject is God's gift to humankind or something. The guy's smile is too sunny and too happy it makes Junhwe feel like he missed something important in life. He certainly didn’t like that.

It pissed Junhwe off on the first day. He wouldn't even waste his time knowing the dude's name if not for some noisy girls behind him who muffle-squealed "Oh my gosh it’s Kim Donghyuk!" like the guy is some celebrity. That got Junhwe a little curious so he had spared Nerdy another once over but Junhwe still didn't get it.

He would have ignored Kim Donghyuk by then but when class started and the discussion shifted to what Junhwe filters as background noise in his mind, Nerd Guy would raise his hand for Q&A and in between discussions to not only answer, but to share his own ing interpretation of La Miserable-whatever it was. The professor loved it, his classmates welcomed it, Junhwe despised it. The worst thing is class time has since been extended to 5 minutes because of those impromptu discussions. That was when Kim Donghyuk solidified his presence in Junhwe’s life as a big annoyance.

From then on, Junhwe made it his Advanced English hobby to secretly mock Kim Donghyuk whenever he does something remotely nerdy (which equates to almost everything he does). Junhwe would pull faces behind his laptop or would count the number of times Nerdy would raise his hand. He'd sort it by class date and topic and so far he has 2 pages of it in his notebook.

Mocking Kim Donghyuk has become Junhwe's main reason for attending Advanced English 101.

Junhwe knows its mean (and pathetic) but no one's actually being harmed by it. Not even Kim Donghyuk. So who cares as long as he could go through Advanced English without combusting out of boredom and annoyance?

♦♦♦

"Junhwe please! You have to go with me. I can't go there alone."

"You're a university sophomore Hanbin. You can."

"Dude, do this as a favor for me. Come on!"

Junhwe huffs and tries to ignore Hanbin rubbing his palms together in plead. It boggles him why Hanbin can't just go in that performing arts society showcase by himself when he doesn't even plan on talking to the girl. Lee Hayi doesn't even know his existence.

"Don't ignore me Goo Junhwe." Hanbin frowns and sets aside their iced coffees so he could lean more on the table towards him. "Come on man. I wouldn't even ask you if Kimbab and Yunhyeong-hyung don’t have a date that night. Jinhwan-hyung’s sis is visiting so he can’t come. You're the only one left for me."

“You’re forgetting Chanwoo.”

“The showcase starts at 9. Our maknae’s still a baby who needs to sleep early.” Junhwe blanches and expects Hanbin to glare at him but he just sighs. “Like I said, you’re the only one left.”

Junhwe rolls his eyes for the hundredth time since the conversation started. Kim Hanbin is by no means someone he owes his life to and he has 3 newly downloaded movies he’