AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hello! I'd just like to give you a heads up. No, I'm not insane, I actually went to the extent of searching on Google Maps the whole of Seoul to find a real highschool inserted in the kind of setting I imagined, that was the perfect distance from a residential area, then I even found a metro station (coincidentally called Junggok Station - if you know what I mean) with the perfect house just a couple blocks away, all to make this fanfic as interactive as possible.

I can't believe it all played in my favor. So, Watty doesn't let us add links amidst texts like I can on the other places I post, but you'll find out that if you type the bolded, underlined links on your browser (if you're really curious to see!) they'll take you to google street view so you can look around the place!

Anyway, this goes to say I do take pride in all my effort (it took ages aaaaaaaaaaa) and strive for quality, I couldn't be happier with how it turned out, so I hope you enjoy it!

×

Monday, 11:30 AM

I was going to find the mint haired boy.

I had decided that I had the right to know exactly what I, myself, had inadvertently gotten myself into. No matter if I had been seen by the man or not, no matter if I was just a passerby who stopped for a little too intense of a chit-chat that didn't end so nicely, no matter how small my part had been or how little me existence and involvement meant when compared to the bigger spectrum.

I risked, ultimately, my own safety (read, my own ) to save a stranger guy who I knew for sure was owing money to a murderous, drug cartel Lord. It could've ended much worse for me and just because it didn't, it doesn't mean I was going to get over it and move on with my life without further justification.

And that boy was going to give me them justifications.

Perhaps, deep inside, I also thought I might be able to help him. I didn't know how to, I didn't know if I could, but for some reason I was as willing to, as I was curious about it all. He would refuse of course, he was a rude, moronic jerk. He could even be dangerous, what did I know?

But at the same time, I knew he couldn't be that bad. He didn't strike me as the drug dealer type.

I just knew there was more to the story.

So, I was going to make Sugar boy my own personal project.

Granted, my free time was rather limited; it was summer holiday but I, just like Ji-hwa, had gotten stuck with summer school for extra credit as I hadn't been able to pass Maths at my first attempt. In fact, whoever managed to pass it at first wasn't, in my humble opinion, human at all.

I'll be damned.

I had free time in the morning 'till 11:00 AM, which was useless anyway because I used it to sleep in, since I got home late at night from work. Then I had Maths from 11:30 AM to 03:00 PM with a lunch break. How lovely. From 03:30 PM to 05:00 PM I had to babysit my mother's friend's toddler while she was attending her yoga class - I'm still trying to grasp that fact. How she managed to get me to accept to do it is still a mystery for me.

It was probably the 'don't you dare refuse' face she threw at me from behind her friend's back, the day she went over to offer me the job.

So, my free time and summer holiday was reduced to nothing but weekends.

Oh, the joy.

The question now, was how to find the boy.

Seoul, capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, 233.67 square miles in area, 25 districs, over 11.8 million citizens - reasons why I didn't need extra credit on Geography right here. The odds of finding him were about nule. Just my luck. I needed to come up with a plan. If couldn't go to him, could I make him come to me? Highly unlikely, seeming he was bent on convincing me to forget about all that happened.

I though all this as I walked down into Junggok underground station, just a couple blocks from my house.

The place was packed, as usual on a Monday, even during summer vacation. The poor souls that had gotten stuck with extra credit like me and who lived around the Junggok residential area, dragged themselves inside looking for empty seats. I knew there was none so I didn't bother. I held the vertical security rod and let my body balance back and forth, side to side, with the movement of the high speed train.

I let my thoughts travel away from Suga and the night in the alley for a moment and contemplated my chances of finally finishing Maths. I had two months to pass this, so I could go forth and apply to college. It was pointless to try and and apply without a subject complete. I needed to finish this summer so I could move on to college. I was going to turn nineteen next February. I didn't want to fail and then have to go the whole of next year through the 12th grade again just for finishing Maths. Seventeen to eighteen year olds were normal to be in highschool, but I didn't wanna be their mother and go through the embarrassment of being 20 and not in college yet, because by the time I finished, it'd be almost my birthday again. The perks of being a February baby.

Lost in my thoughts and cursing my luck, I jolted when I heard the automatic voice recording through the speakers, telling me I was arriving at my stop.

I followed the crowd out of the train and walked up the stairs and out onto the streets. Sookmyung Girls Highschool was right at the heart of the city, on the side of a very busy avenue, surrounded by very high residential and office buildings. Be honest, it wasn't the cheapest highschool in Seoul, but my mom insisted we could cut on everything but education and so she did.

I spent my Maths classes pushing Suga to the back of my mind - along with the folder in my backpack that I took everywhere since the beginning of my research. Trying to focus my best, motivated by the horrifying possibilities of failing.

×

Classes ended earlier that day since Mrs. Kang had urgent personal matters to tend to, so I took the chance to spend those two free hours in the library nearby, before going to babysit little Ha-neul. I needed to find some material on Trigonometry that was easier and simpler to understand than the teacher's. In my opinion, Mrs. Kang was extremely knowledgeable, but unfortunately her teaching style wasn't my thing - too many exercises and too little in-to-the-deep explanations, which at this moment I was in terrible need of.

I walked into the library and towards the Mathematical Science section down the hall. I looked at the hundreds of books and tried not to feel too demoralized. After a couple minutes I spotted a book I thought could help and pulled it form the shelf at my eyes height.

My heart skipped a beat when through the empty space the book had left behind I saw a blur of minty green about four book stands down the hall.

As fast as I saw it, it disappeared.

Could it be...

I put the book back in its place and my feet started to move on their own.

I can't believe this.

I walked about ten steps, past four book stands and two theme sections when I stopped at the end of a corridor sided by shelves.

And no, I wasn't crazy.

"Are you kidding me?" I deadpanned.

"What?"

"This is where you just randomly pop up for me to find?"

"You've been trying to find me." He raised an eyebrow dubiously. It didn't sound like a question, more like an accusation.

"That's not the point." I dismissed, frustrated.

Of all places I could've and would've gone risk my to find him if I had been set to, he had to just pop up randomly at the library? With a book in his hand, nonetheless.

I wasn't even sure whether to be relieved he was standing right there, or pissed off he was standing right here.

It seemed like life was trolling me.

Trolling me hard.

"That's absolutely the point." He said back in a low voice. "Didn't I tell you do forget about everything and leave it alone?"

"My apologies, I had forgotten you birthed me and I owed you obedience, Eomma." How could he make me go from calm to berserk in two seconds?

He shook his head, not impressed.

"Did your parents not teach you courtesy and respect when talking to older people?"

"I'm truly sorry, Oppa, I seem to have forgotten." I sassed.

"Yuck. Don't call me that again."

"Please, you pretty much begged for it." I rolled my eyes.

"Annoying little person, you are. I'll be damned if I wasn't right."

"How about you go screw yours-!"

I didn't get to finish because his hand was clamped over my mouth - again. This time, I noticed it was warm.

I rolled my eyes, which around him was becoming a habit. He really needed to stop doing that.

I tried to remove it but, once again, his fingers were steel.

Ignoring my struggle, he tilted his head to the left and back on place. Weird. He did it again. He needed to roll his eyes and do it once more with a little extra vigor for me to understand that he was indicating the furious librarian that stood behind him, at the end of the corridor, arms crossed over her chest and a very disapproving look.

Certain her glare had gotten the 'SILENCE!' message across - which indeed it had - she her heels and marched back to the front desk.

"You're too loud for your own good." He deadpanned in a low voice, retreating his hand back into his black skinny jeans's pocket.

"You're too obnoxious for you own good. Actually, make that 'too idiotic'." I hiss-whispered.

He rolled his eyes again.

The jerk.

"What are you doing here anyway? Here of all places. Do you even realize this is a library? Did you walk into the wrong building or something? Just my luck." I asked, perfectly aware of the book clasped in his other hand.

"So? Can I not? It's a public library."

"You don't strike me as the 'library type' of guy, that's what."

"What's that even supposed to mean?"

I made the point by running my eyes over him head to toe. His hair was messier than I remembered, still of a washed out mint color. His ears were adorned by piercings - a loop on each earlobe and smaller piercings up his ears, two of which, on the right ear, were connected by a thin golden string. A simple, black, thin cord wrapped twice around his neck with a choker effect. He was sporting a tight black tanktop under his trademark leather jacket - which was worn out, old, covered in pins and studs here and there. He had silver and black bracelets on both wrists. His black skinny jeans were ripped on both knees and there was a silver chain hanging low from the left side. His feet were in dark red Doctor Marten boots.

"Stop drooling, you're gonna drown us all. I might start thinking you have a crush on me. I mean, stalking my an all."

"Don't make me sick." I even put on a disgusted face for added effect.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, pushing my left shoulder with the tip of his finger.

I swatted his hand away. "I asked first."

"You know, just picking up a book." He said like it was the most natural thing.

And I would've believed, if I hadn't been able to tell he was lying through his teeth.

"Yeah?" I ripped the book from his hand before he could stop me. "Let's see what kind of literature bad boy Sugar enjoys."

Looking at the cover, I couldn't decide if I'd laugh... or if I'd laugh.

So I laughed.

Well, snorted as silently as possible.

"Seriously?"

For the first time I saw him something other than sarcastic and stone faced. He was absolutely embarrassed and at lack of words. For some reason, it seemed like his plan unexpectedly backfired, whichever plan it was.

I read the title, any control over my face muscles lost.

"Serita A. Jakes - The Princess Within - Makeup Tips".

"Uh." Was al