Genre: enemies to lovers!6

Description: Sometimes what you need is one less competitor, and one more friend instead.

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Yoon Dowoon.

Just the mention of his name ticks me off. That perfect…all-rounder…argh. Boys look up to him as their idol and almost every girl has a major crush on him; or at least they agree that he is cute. It’s almost painful for me to watch people sing praises about this guy – seriously, what’s so good about him? Ok fine…I concede: maybe I do know why people admire him so much.

He’s an effortless charmer.

He was blessed with good looks – he has this distinctive baby face with puffy cheeks that makes girls want to pinch them and care for him, although I am sure that he is perfectly capable of taking care of himself. He excels in his studies – the type of sleep through the whole lesson but still is able to answer the question correctly when teachers call upon him. At times, I honestly wonder how he gets all this information without ever paying attention; was he born with it? He also plays for the school soccer team and is their star player. He’d already proven his talent at soccer since he was a freshman, and rumour has it that team captain Park Sungjin even had to chase him down to make him join the team – simply because he was that good. The list does not end here. He’s also a multi-instrumentalist, although he’s best at the drums. Last I saw him; he was playing both the acoustic guitar and keyboard. And who knows what other hidden talents he has up his sleeves?

The fact that he was so perfect didn't help because for as long as I remember, Yoon Dowoon and I had been rivals. We had both been together since kindergarten, progressing on to the same primary, secondary and now, the same tertiary institution. Even if he wasn't in the same class, we pretty much took the same subjects so there was lots of room for competition.

And competition it was indeed.

Teachers we had in common compared us to one another for our brilliance, and we were often on opposing teams during school competitions. It also doesn't help that our parents are colleagues with one another, so I get compared to him even at home. It sparked the competitive streak in us and we immediately became rivals; no official declaration of war was needed and there was the implicit knowledge that our goal was to beat one another at every chance we get.

School exams became the best arena for us to pit ourselves with one another and I really hate to say this but...each time...he beats me. On the rare occasion that I do better in a certain subject, he still has a better overall score than I do. The guy never slips, and it's so annoying.

Yoon Dowoon has always been a cut above the rest, and simply being the best is not enough for him. He has to gloat about it – but only to me just to piss me off.

In the beginning, he was just a minor irritant in my daily life. It is unfortunate that the school library is situated right next to the soccer field and so every time that I am there, and the soccer team is having training, I would be “graced” with Dowoon’s presence during their breaks. He would either having a teasing joke hanging by his lips, or he’ll just refuse to budge, letting the sour smell of body odour stink up my entire area and leaving me unable to concentrate for the next few minute as the smell dissipated. When he was cheekier, he’ll steal my textbook from right under my nose, and then I’ll have to chase him before I finally get it back.

Afterwards, there were very subtle hints of competition. He always gives me that knowing smirk when he knows that he has gotten a better score than me, or after his team has won a competition against mine – a smirk that says, “Hah! Beat you again!”

However, he was the most annoying during exam season – or more specifically, during the reveal of results. He always makes sure that I knew my school ranking very well for major exams – he’ll always check for both of our names before finding the golden opportunity to make eye contact with me. Then, with the famous quirk of his eyebrows, he’ll raise both hands to form the numbers of our rankings side by side and I only needed to read his facial expression to know that I had lost, as usual.

That just made me feel horrible inside. It was one thing to do well, but to have to shove it in my face? Not cool Dowoon, not cool at all. He always gets the last laugh because he indeed does better but for once… I would like to not be laughed at, or be made fun of.

For once…I just want to prove Yoon Dowoon wrong. Just once; I want to be the one to have the last laugh.

Finals were the next arena to battle it out and this time round it isn’t going to be any different. I am seriously going to beat Yoon Dowoon, no matter the cost.

-

In order to achieve my goal, sacrifices have to be made. It became easier for me to reject friends’ request for outings, or my parents call to have a family day during weekends. My flashcards became a constant companion during meal times and my hand never stopped moving. If they weren’t holding a pen or pencil to do questions on paper, they’ll be stuck in air, forming letters and numbers to the question in my mind instead. I hardly saw sunlight, I was constantly stuck in my room like a cavemen. It had slipped from my notice that I was gradually eating lesser and smaller meals, sometimes missing them entirely. Everyone, but me, could see that I was gradually reducing myself to nothing but skin and bones.

I’d thought that I was strong, that I could do this – but the human body has its limits, and one day it seemed that I had pushed it too far.

I was at the school rooftop, eager to get away from the crowds in the canteen. The school bell rang, signalling that it was time to head back down. Closing my books, I stood up but when I did, the blood rushing to my head knocked the wind out of me and white flooded my vision. I could feel my knees buckle under me and I had absolutely no control over my body. I braced myself for I expected to the feel the sharp crack of my skull against the hard floor but nothing came. The last thing I saw was the familiar side view of someone’s raven black hair and his puffy cheeks.

When I came to, the first sensation was the ache that was coursing through my entire body. With some difficulty, I tried to raise my neck to relieve the tightness there and from my periphery, I could make out the blurry image of Yoon Dowoon with his head beside my hand and the heavy weight on my wrist made me realise that he was holding onto it.

“Dowoon-ah”

He awoke with a jolt before saying, “Oh you’re awake! Let me get the nurse.” Just as he stood from the chair, the curtains around my bed swung open and he was chased out while the school nurses checked on me. I expected him to leave now that his business was done here, but he didn’t. I could see his silhouette through the light green curtains. They did some simply physical checks on my body before ascertaining that I was fit to leave. But of course, I wasn’t let off the hook by the stern Ms Park.

“You’re a clear sign of over exhaustion. Take breaks and most importantly, eat your meals. You passed out due to low blood sugar levels. I do not want to see you back here again, understood?”

“Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Yoon Dowoon-sshi!”

“Yes?”

“Send the young lady home, and make sure she eats.”

“I’ll make sure of it. Thank you.”

The nurses then left, and picking up my bag with his free hand, he offered the other to me. As much as I would not like to be in the presence of Yoon Dowoon, I couldn’t push him away because I knew I would collapse if I did so. Instead, I gently took his arm, and he led me out o the room. We walked in awkward silence before he stammered my name.

“Y-Y-Y/N-ah.”

“What?”

“We’ll get dinner now; I know this really good samgyetang place. Let’s go?”

Even though he ended with a question, I knew I was not being given an option. Instead, I weakly nodded my head. Besides, I was hungry. I last time I ate was…12 hours ago?

-

When we finally sat down at our corner seat, Dowoon ordered a large portion without hesitation.

“Yah Yoon Dowoon.”

“Hmmm?”

“You ordered so much food; you better finish all of it.”

“No, we’re going to finish it. Nurse’s orders, remember? It’s my job to make sure you eat.”

Any other day I would have rolled my eyes at him but now I was too tired to even do that. Instead, I let him be stubborn, and left him be.

Throughout the rest of the night, Dowoon did everything for me, and wouldn’t let me lift a finger to do anything except feed myself. “You should conserve your energy.” he said. I watched as he wolfed down his half of a chicken, and asked for more rice afterwards. He ate 4 bowls of rice, and meanwhile I couldn’t even finish my half of the chicken.

Just as I was poking listlessly at the chicken, he took the bowl from me and headed to the front counter to have it packaged and pay for it.

“Yah.”

“Yes?”

I watched as he stuffed his change into his wallet before asking, “How much was the meal?”

“It’s ok, my treat.”

I proceeded to take the receipt from his hand but he quickly threw it away.

“Yah Yoon Dowoon! I want to p