a note from the author: hello, dear readers~ i’m finally back from my little holiday break and i’m ready to write! also, welcome to all my new readers/subscribers – ‘a second look’ has now reached the 50 subscribers milestone! thank you for the continued support through reads, subs, and comments. i hope you enjoy this chapter ♡

Study date.

Jinyoung wasn’t exactly sure what that was. Was it studying or dating? To him they were completely opposite concepts. Studying is academic and totally not romantic. You sat there in silence usually while reading. It was a solitary activity (or chore, depending on how you look at it). Dating on the other hand is usually two people doing something with romantic intention. School was probably the last thing on either party’s mind when on a date.

With a sigh, Jinyoung let his head lay against his desktop with a thud and turned his head to look at his tabletop clock. The face read 9:30AM. Miyoung and him agreed to meet at 10AM. He should be heading out soon. Leaning back in his chair, Jinyoung stared down at whatever he could see of his outfit. Under a washed out grey button up he wore a plain white tee and black jeans. Even though he was wearing he staple outfit of high school teenagers, the somehow managed to second guess himself. What if it was too casual? What if she took the ‘date’ part of ‘study date’ seriously? He shook his head to get a hold of himself and ultimately decided to go with what he was wearing. After all, it was just the library.

Grabbing his bag from the edge of his bed, Jinyoung slipped it onto his shoulder and headed out of his room. He figured it would be better to leave now since he was going to walk to the library. As he was heading to the stairs, he passed by his brother’s room whose door was wide open. He briefly stopped to wave goodbye to the younger version of himself sitting on the floor playing some creature capturing game on his handheld console. However, his brother closed his device and ran out of his room as Jinyoung reached the top of the stairs.

“Wait, where are you going?” His brother gestured to Jinyoung’s backpack, “It’s Saturday. There’s no school today.”

“I’m going to the library to study,” Jinyoung answered. Why were his younger siblings always so nosy?

Leaning against the doorframe, his brother crossed his arms, “You never go to the library to study.”

When Jinyoung was unable to come up with an excuse as to why he was leaving the house to study (because really, he never did), his brother snickered and said that he has ‘good luck on your date’ before heading back into his room. Though Jinyoung’s face remained expressionless, his bright red ears said otherwise. Kids these days… how did they know so much about teenager things?

Jinyoung turned the corner to the library at the same time Miyoung hopped off at the bus stop nearby. His heart almost stopped as she stopped by the fountain at the entrance, waiting for him since they were both five minutes early. Luckily for him, she hadn’t seen him duck behind a nearby uncut hedge. Peeking through the leaves, his heart almost stopped when he caught sight of her. There she was, practically glowing brighter than ever (as if it was possible). Compared to their dull grey uniform that washed out even the best-looking students at their school, Miyoung was wearing a dress with those rounded white collars (peter pan collars to be accurate, but honestly – Jinyoung was the last person to ask about that) and flats. A simple light pink hairband that matched the shade of her dress sat prettily atop her light brown curls. Jinyoung swore she was someone he had seen in those nightly television dramas his younger sister and mom watched.

“Hey, Miyoung. You’re here early,” Jinyoung cleared his throat, casually slipping a hand into his pocket as he made his way up the stairs. He stopped in front of her and did a once-over her outfit as if he were seeing it for the first time, “Wow you look different- I mean, obviously you’re going to look different because you’re always in school or cheer uniform but like… I mean… you look nice… yes.”

Miyoung giggled, watching Jinyoung look away and mumble something under his breath like he was scolding himself. She reached a hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, “Thank you. You look different in a nice way too.”

“So… should we go inside?” Jinyoung tilted his head towards the front doors, earning a smile and nod from the shorter girl.

For someone who only ever ordered “iced coffee, milk, no sugar”, Jihoon had quite the confused look on his face as he stared at the coffee menu overhead. Now, he was more than aware he could order his usual at any shop and they’d know how to make it, but today he was feeling peckish. He wanted to drink something sweet and eat something too. Maybe he would order one of those asiago bagels. They looked appetizing under the display lights.

“You look the same way I do when I see the first page of an exam I didn’t properly study for,” a voice said from behind him, causing his to spin around in their direction. His brows raised in surprise to see the bespectacled girl who frequented the soccer field sitting at the far side of a booth table.

Jihoon took a minute to regain his composure and headed towards her table, “You’re Jinyoung’s friend.”

“So are you,” She responded, earning an amused laugh from Jihoon. She started moving her papers that covered the table into one pile as he invited himself to sit down, “I don’t know if Jinyoung ever told you my name, but I’m Hwang Sooji.”

“Park Jihoon,” He returned with a warm smile, setting his gym bag underneath his seat. After crossing his arms and leaning them against the table, he motioned to all the books and papers in front of her, “What’s all this for? Death Days or midterm week?”

“Both actually,” Sooji filled her cheeks with air before letting out a slow, tired breath. Death Days was the Lila student population’s way of calling the final days before midterms. It referred to the days they spent trying to start and complete assignments and teachers assigned last minute on top of studying for exams.

The dissatisfied look Jihoon gave her reviewers gave his thoughts away, “I have yet to start studying, honestly. I guess this is the difference between A-Class students and B-Class students, huh?”

“Mm… A-Class isn’t all sunshine and rainbows, I suppose,” Sooji’s voice trailed off as a lingering thought wandered from the back of her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. She notices he’s wearing a soccer jacket that didn’t belong to their school, “Did you have practice?”

“Yeah, I did, but not for our school team. I also play for a club nearby my dad coaches,” Jihoon explains, “I don’t know if you know soccer club history, but my dad was the captain of the Lila soccer team for all four years he attended. That’s why I’m workin