chapter three: project

jeongyeon would always envy those things she watches on movies, like being super rich, having super powers, having an intelligence quotient like what jimmy neutron has.

she once envied having magic too. she wanted to zap her calculus teacher into a turtle.

why would she though?

she was so pissed when she didn't passed her first quiz regarding analytical geometry. she wanted to blame it all to her teacher. her teacher would teach as fast as she could, oblivious to her students who are sleeping soundly.

good thing her teacher changed, and that's probably one of the happiest thing that happened to her life.

she also envied having a limousine who'd fetch and pick her up at school. 
she'd love to mock those who bullied her and show off how rich she was.

but now, all of those envys flew out of the window. a simple life is what she wants when she realized those things are not important.

jeongyeon regretted sharing the things she envys to her sister, sungyeon.

why?

sungyeon, who's currently a bummer due to the success of her ice cream business, is currently driving her to her school.

jeongyeon sighed. she never agreed to seongyeon being her driver. she's deciphering as to why her sister chose to do this.

like, she has her own business to be busied with, why is she using her energy for this kind of thing?

sungyeon even said that she's fulfilling her sister's dream. only that her car is not a limousine, but a mustang though.

"you know you're not really inclined to do this," jeongyeon tried to convince her sister for umpteenth time. "i can bring myself to school, or wherever i wish--"

"i'm just making it up for the past months i've been busy with my business," sungyeon muttered while her eyes are set on the road. "i missed bonding with you."

jeongyeon wanted to appreciate this gesture, but she couldn't. and she doesn't even understand why.

"fine," she sighed deeply. she figured that she'll stress out her brain and she wouldn't be able to answer a thing on the exam later.

"wake me up when we're there." she plugged her earphones and leaned on to the window.

she slept the whole time so that her brain could relax and would function more later.

"we're here," sungyeon announced after stopping her car infront of the majestic gates of their school.

"thanks," jeongyeon yawned while getting out of her sister's car.

"i'll meet you later, okay?" sungyeon opened her window and smiled at he sister.

jeongyeon smiled back, not bothering to mutter a word. she her heel and walked her way to the entrance.

she saw some of her schoolmates wearing expensive clothes for the day.

it's thursday today, and their wash day. so students would probably raid their closets to find something suitable and presentable.

jeongyeon chose to sport a big sweater and a black skinny jeans. she paired it with her favorite white sneakers.

she doesn't care about flaunting gucci's and stuff, she just wants comfortable clothes.

"good morning, miss yoo!" the kind bodyguard greeted her with an enthusiastic smile, but quickly contorted into a worried look when he noticed the latter's gloominess. "what's with the grim look, miss?"

jeongyeon placed her bag on the conveyor belt as the lady guard inspected her body.

unlike the male guard, the female guard was silent.

"good morning too! i'm just kind of worried for my exam later." she replied to the other guard while waiting for her bag.

"well, that will only probably be a piece of cake to you!"

jeongyeon smiled at the remark. her bag finally went out of the conveyor belt and she thanked both of the guards.

her phone ringed while she's looking for a comfortable bench to sit on. she picked it up and placed it on her ear.

"hello?" her eyes lit up when she saw a bench near the garden. perfect spot!

"are you already there?" nayeon asked on the other line.

"yes, i'm here near the garden." she sat after dusting out the tiny dust. "why?"

"wait for me there! i'm going to tell you something."

"'kay," she wrinkled her nose. nayeon's gossip must've been about some guy.

"i'll hang up, see yah!"

jeongyeon placed her phone back to her bag and opened her biochemistry book.

after a rougly ten minutes of reading about macromolecules-- the topic that will have an exam later, nayeon arrived.

wearing a floral spaghetti strapped dress inside a denim jacket, she smiled at jeongyeon who's busy reading.

"good morning!" nayeon greeted her as she wrapped her arms around her friend. she scanned jeongyeon's clothes and praised her.

"looking good today, huh?"

"whatever," jeongyeon replied as she tap the seat next to her bag, signalling nayeon to sat there. the latter idly obliged.

"so what's up?" nayeon asked as she settled on her seat.

"sungyeon drived me to school," she opened up as she hid her biochemistry book. "and she'll probably do that for the next days."

"why can i sense your dismay?" nayeon's eyebrows knitted into a curious expression. "aren't you glad though? i'm sure you missed your sister."

"i wanted to feel happy though, but i can't and that's making me irritated." jeongyeon sighed. nayeon can sense the finality in her tone. "what about you? you told me you'll tell me something."

"oh, about that," nayeon chuckled as she enumerated the things she's about to announce to her friend. "there's this one guy in the college of business administration."

"and?" jeongyeon raised a brow, but quickly narrowed her eyes when she realized something. "the business ad building is like a street away from yours, how did you got there?"

"h-huh?" nayeon's eyes widened at that remark. she really often forget how smart and quick-witted her friend is. "sana visited her boyfriend there, she tagged me along."

jeongyeon nodded, gesturing her to continue. she wasn't really satisfied with her explanation.

why does she felt this unsatisfaction anyway? the problem with high iq people is that they would feel satisfied 'till the question in their head would be answered completely and without any traces of ridicule.

"h-he's so handsome and hot!" she squealed and held jeongyeon's shoulders to shake it. jeongyeon only rolled her eyes. "and guess what?"

"what?" jeongyeon narrowed her eyes as she pick up her journal inside her bag. she really doesn't find boys here at their univeristy attractive enough. sure she can list down some of the handsome creatures but none of them attracted jeongyeon, though.

"he asked for my number!" nayeon squealed again, rocking jeongyeon's shoulder again.

"you gave him your number, don't you?" jeongyeon started to write some notes.

nayeon shook her head. "no, i didn't."

"and why is that?"

"he should atleast exert an effort to look for me." nayeon arrogantly tucked the strands of her hair behind her ear.

"well, good luck to him." jeongyeon muttered. "you're a cheerleader and probably, everybody knows you, well, except for those who doesn't watch you though. but i'm guessing he'll be texting you after your first class."

nayeon's eyes widened at that. "w-what to heck?"

"it doesn't take a genius to figure that out," jeongyeon told her when she noticed that her friend was speechless. "and i bet he already followed your sns."

nayeon grabbed her phone from the pocket of her denim jacket. she quickly checked her social networking sites. her eyes widened when she saw that this handsome student of the business ad is already following him. "look!"

she lend jeongyeon her phone. jeongyeon didn't took it though, she only peeked at it and saw that her hunch was right. she smirked.

"don't do anything shameless when you're talking to him," jeongyeon warned her friend as she packed her things, preparing to leave since it's only a matter of ten minutes 'til the buildings would open.

"aye aye captain!" nayeon chuckled as she prepped herself too.

jeongyeon and nayeon went to their respective buildings. while walking, someome shrieked behind.

well, it only means that it's the great park sooyoung.

"hi!" she greeted her friend with hugs and kissed in the cheek.

"i missed you girl!" nayeon said to sooyoung. they haven't seen each other for three days since sooyoung's been busy and so as nayeon.

"me too!" sooyoung hugged nayeon too. she turned to jeongyeon and hugged her too.

"how's your third year as a civil engineering student, so far?" jeongyeon asked when she saw the thick book of coastal engineering in her arms.

"it's hard," sooyoung sighed. they started to walk to their buildings. "but it's fun though. since i really love buildings and all."

"it's going to be your last year next year," jeongyeon said to her. sooyoung smiled at that. she really can't wait to be an engineer.

"i still have a year to go," nayeon mumbled sadly. she's taking up architecture. she then turned to sooyoung and smiled. "we're going to graduate at the same time!"

sooyoung laughed at that and they started to talk about things as they walk.

"sooyoung, we're already here at your building." someone from behind announced to the three girls who's busy chattering.

it was jimin, and he's with taehyung. jeongyeon and nayeon didn't know that they were there. they were too absorbed with their stories.

jeongyeon's eyes narrowed. she still finds jimin annoying and even the words he says irks her.

sooyoung turned and saw the giant letters 'c e'. it pertains to the civil engineering.

"see you later at sungyeon's ice cream parlor!" she bid her farewell and kissed them goodbye.

"bye!"

"hey," nayeon called out jeongyeon who's blankly staring in the unknown as she walks towards her department. she rocked jeongyeon's shoulder when she didn't respond to her call.

jeongyeon turned when she felt nayeon rocking her shoulder. "what?"

"it has been a month since you and jimin have 3 classes together," nayeon started. jeongyeon narrowed her eyes, she probably won't like where this talk will be heading. "you never mentioned anything to me since then. mind telling me what happen?"

"nothing," jeongyeon deadpanned and faced the road.it's true
jimin's not pestering her anymore and that's probably one of the things she thanked the heavens.

"really?" nayeon eagerly asked. she somewhat ship the two. yeah, she could be banned in her sister's ice cream parlor if she ever voiced this sailing ship of hers.

"yes, and stop asking questions about him. we have our own lives to talk about." jeongyeon brushed the topic off. knowing that there subject is probably three meters away from them. he could easily notice if he was being talked about. she tapped nayeon when she saw her building.

"oh, okay, and thank you friend! i didn't noticed that we're already here! see you later!" nayeon hugged her one last time. jeongyeon smiled at her.

"don't go tailing sana again! atleast act demure!" jeongyeon shouted when nayeon waved at her for the last time. nayeon rolled her eyes but nonetheless, smiled.

she started to walk again and smiled as she started to familiarize herself with macromolecules.

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"take a seat everyone and let me discuss your performance task for this semester."

the nerve-wracking exam was finally done. well, for the others but jeongyeon seemed at ease when she first glanced at the test paper. her face was painted with an 'i knew this thing would come out".

back to the performance task that mr oh would be announcing.

the students were busy chattering about their answers and once again, amazed at how their teacher was brainy when it comes to set-ups for the quizzes.

mr oh tapped the table and every head turned to him. good.

"is everyone now settled?" he asked and they all nodded their head.

"okay, so i have announcements in store for you. so brace yourself and be prepared to face hell...next week."

okay, that'a not a good sign. jeongyeon sighed when she can vividly see the cogs working on their professor's head.

mr oh was so serious that none of them blinked. well, except for park jimin who wasn't fazed by his intro and for yoo jeongyeon who's pinching her eyebrows.

jeongyeon started to question why she enjoyed his classes when he actually gave a hard project.

"first, i'll be having a five-day leave  starting next week." he announced.

all of the students infront of him groaned. yeah, he did succeed on making these college kids to have a class fulk of laughters and jokes.

"i'll be back, kids. don't worry!" he assured them with a smile.

he wasn't that old. based on his physique, he must be around twenty five or twenty eight. he was also handsome too, and not to mention a jokester. that's why even the guys likes him as their professor.

"next is someone is transferring here to join you in my class."

"it must be someone who's famous that even his transfer is being announced." jihyo whispered to jeongyeon. the latter only shrugged her shoulders.

"and for the much awaited project," mr oh tapped the table to produce a drum roll sound effects. "will be by threes, and i will give the pairings later after discussing the content."

mr oh explained the project's content. everyone groaned in frustration when they realized how hard it was. the only hope they have is to be grouped with someone who's hardworking and intelligent enough.

"we will have a group with only two members since you guys are only 32. the transferee will join your group when he arrives tomorrow."

"and now, for the groupings." mr oh took a black box under his table. he started to pick three papers inside at the same time.

he then announced the groups, everyone was waiting with crossed-fingers.

everyone was called except for two persons. jeongyeon didn't know if destiny was playing a game and chose them as their players. on the otherhand, jimin, as always, didn't care.

mr oh smirked when he realized that his two excelling students were grouped. interesting, he thought.

"and for the last group," jeongyeon rolled her eyes. "wow, park jimin and yoo jeongyeon."

their blockmates clapped their hands. they've already know who'll get the highest score in this project.

"that's all, class dismiss." mr oh bid his farewell while smiling to everyone.

"looks like you're unhappy with the fact that we're grouped together." jimin smirked, wanting to .

"whatever," jeongyeon rolled her eyes without sparing him a glance. she shove all of her things and went straight to the door.

she heard jimin's annoying laughs when she stormed out of the door. she gruntled.

she thought jimin was done pestering her, turns out, he just took a rest.

great, just great.

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"i have always thought that i'm unfortunate when it comes to random picking," jihyo sighed as she sipped on the carton of chocolate milk. "the groupings awhile ago proved it to me once again."

jihyo was her companion during breaktimes since nayeon nor seulgi would accompany her since their building was far from hers. jennie and jisoo will be out of the list since their course were about business and it's literally a few blocks away.

"as far as i know, i have been a very good child on my past life," jeongyeon stuffed with the french fries that she bought. "why does the heavens did this to me?"

"wait, hold up!" she slammed the empty carton of chocolate milk at the table. her brows knitted when she understands what jeongyeon have meant.

"you're with park jimin on this freaking project! why are you acting like that?!" jihyo hysterically commented. she has no knowledge regarding jeongyeon's hatred among jimin.

"he's park jimin! park jimin!" she even shook jeongyeon's shoulder. like that would make jeongyeon believe that she has the most amazing partner someone would ever had.

"i just don't like him, okay?" she removed jihyo's hands on her shoulders. "he's a devil after all and i don't like to be near him."

"oh we got some jiminphobia here." jihyo chuckled.

"shut up!" jeongyeon shrugged her off as she sipped on her cola.

"about what you said earlier," jeongyeon tried to divert the topic towards her. "why did you say that you were unlucky, though?"

"having jacksong wang and im jaebum as your groupmates is like having the worst nightmare of the century."

jackson wang has been a hot topic ever since he set foot on this university. he's indeed famous, famous for being a troublemaker. on the other hand, im jaebum was known for his stoic expression and his piercing eyes that can froze anyone once you look at it.

"but i knew them as intelligent people." jeongyeon remembered the time when im jaebum and jackson wang's name were included in the dean's list of their engineering department. "why do you think the otherwise?"

"i am perfectly fine with their wits but it's their attitude i'm talking about." jihyo rolled her eyes heavenwards. "jackson will be noisy as hell and jaebum would freaking froze our project."

"hmm, you're right." jeongyeon sipped on her cola. "it's a complex project and i think it won't take you three too long to do it."

"a group project that is complex requires teamwork and unity to be perfect." jihyo darted her eyes to jeongyeon, targetting her. that made jeongyeon stopped from munching her fries. "i hope yours won't take too long too since you're only two."

jeongyeon thought about the transferee that will be joining them tomorrow. jeongyeon wished that it was someone with humor and would make their group fun, despite the appearance of the devil.

"you've got nothing to worry about cooperation and unity." she replied dryly to jihyo. "if its' academics, then, we'll only talk about academics. no hard feelings will be included."

"if you say so," jihyo shrugged as she watched jeongyeon finished her drink.

"oh by the way, i'm getting all juicy with the new transferee." jihyo gossiped. "i'm curious to know who he is, and i wish he's handsome!"

jeongyeon raised a brow. "how did you know that the new transferee is a guy?"

"oh, i'm just guessing." she giggled. "but who knows?"

"yeah right," jeongyeon shrugged. they went silent for a short period of time, when jeongyeon vaguely remembered that the new transferee will be in her team. "oh, the transferee will be with us for the project, right?"

"uhh... yeah?" jihyo tried to remember and when she did, her smile grew wide. "i pray for his welfare. since he'll be dealing with a hot-headed yoo jeongyeon and hands--"

"who's hot-headed?" jeongyeon cuts off jihyo.

jihyo's eyes widened. she realized how wrong what she said awhile ago. she plastered a worried smile. "uh, oh, n-nothing!"

"no one's hot-headed here!" she shook her head to convince jeongyeon. the latter only, rolled her eyes.

jihyi kept shut since an angry jeongyeon is not a good sight.

the bell rang and the two of them sprinted towards their next class, which was thermochemistry.

jeongyeon loved science eversince. if only she could, she would love to master all areas of science, but, unfortunately, her parents wanted babies not a room full of diplomas.

her phone beeped on her pocket. without any second thoughts, she turned it off.

yeah, no one can ever distract her.

no one.

"i know you're usually quiet, but your kind of different today." sooyoung told her.

they're currently at her sister's ice cream parlor, and yeah, it's the girls type of bonding, hanging out at sungyeon's after class. good thing that the interval time of their dismissals are not so far from each other.

jisoo and jennie were not around since jisoo's been busy balancing her modelling life and studies while jennie's tutoring some freshmen.

"how's your quiz by the way?" nayeon asked jeongyeon.

"hmm, fine." jeongyeon answered as she finished her banana split. "it's kind of hard but still manageble."

"everything is manageable for you, though." sooyoung deadpanned when they sensed jeongyeon's humbleness.
"science will never be easy for me."

"patience, sooyoung." seulgi said to her while her hands were busy texting her boyfriend.

"right," jeongyeon agreed. "your brother is one hell of a monster in science, why don't you ask him to tutor you instead?"

jeongyeon wasn't sarcastic nor lying. it's true. eventhough with the rude attitude, jimin was no doubt, intelligent. he could even surpass jeongyeon's wits.

but it was a still a big question mark to her as to why his name wasn't included in the dean's listers. she pushed the thought at the back of her mind and focused again.

on the other hand, her friends were shocked when jeongyeon mentioned jimin though indirectly.

she noticed the surprised look on her friends' faces.

"what's with the faces?"

"did i really heard it right?" nayeon asked. she even checked if her ears were working.

"i guess so. i heard it too." sooyoung slapped herself. "and i am not freaking dreaming!"

"stop overreacting, guys!" seulgi scowled at them when she was the first one to recover.

"you guys are weird." jeongyeon rolled her eyes at them.

"you are weirder!" nayeon exclaimed. "like, you're the one who told us to not talk about him!"

jeongyeon shrugged. she still holds this kind of hatred to jimin.

but, well, people change, she think?

"in fact, one of our teachers loved us so much that even in groupings, we're both together." jeongyeon muttered sarcastically. she still love mr oh, but the cogs in his head is kind of hard to figure out.

why, of all people, would she be paired with jimin!

"maybe it's destiny~" sooyoung said in a sing song tone. she zipped when jeongyeon threw her a glare.

"hmm," seulgi cupped her chin. "if i remembered it correctly, each class is consisted of 32 or 30 students, right jeongyeon?"

sooyoung and nayeon rolled their eyes. seulgi is at it again.

"uh-huh, we're..." jeongyeon mentally counted the armchairs that was occupied. observing has always been one of her habits, and counting chairs was no exception. "... 32."

"so the probability of having jimin as your pair in that group work is..." seulgi closed her eyes and mentally calculated the probability of being paired with jimin. "... 3.23%."

"now look at that!" nayeon got up from her chair. she really loves playing the role of a matchmaker. "you both are really a match-made in heaven!"

"well, you're not that kind of bad." sooyoung examined her friend. jeongyeon's eyes widened in disbelief. "you're still bearable even if you're short-tempered, so you pass!"

sooyoung got up to hug her. jeongyeon was still in the state of shock that's why she didn't have the urge to push her friend away.

"welcome to the family, sis!"

the three girls laughed at jeongyeon's reaction. it took her exactly 43 seconds to recover. she stormed off of her chair and slapped their shoulders.

"yah!"

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"hey," jeongyeon called out jimin when she met him at the hallway first thing in the morning.

jimin craned his neck and arched a brow.

probably, that means 'what?' right? jeongyeon thought, but nevetheless, continued what she's about to say.

"we'll start the project tomorrow, you decide on the details." jeongyeon brushed past him. she wasn't really planning on staying in jimin's presence.

being in his presence is both intimidating and nerve-wracking to jeongyeon.

can she even survived the four classes with jimin?

of course she should! jimin is nothing but a blockmate.

"okay." jimin replied and started to walk to the other way.

jeongyeon sighed in relief. relieved that jimin's finally gone.

honestly, it took all of her willpower to just talk to him.

she shouldn't act like this, right?

but her friends were shipping them nonstop and that made her attitude towards jimin changed. it started to get awkward.

jeongyeon deeply breathed and started to walk to her first class for today.

"just in time," their thermodynamics professor spoke when she entered the room. she was plastering a smile that's kind of unusual since she's known to be strict.

jeongyeon remembered that the transferee is set to arrive today. oh well, he/she must've been taking up chemical engineering.

"good morning everyone," mrs kim greeted them. "i'd like to introduce your new classmate."

a handsome guy with a brown hair walked infront. wearing a smile, he greeted everyone warmly.

jeongyeon couldn't believe her eyes. the man seems familiar. she slapped herself to make sure that she's not really dreaming.

h-how come? this can't be that guy!

and when the man had introduced himself, she was beyond shock.

"hi! i'm yoon jeonghan. pleased to meet you!"

it really is him! b-but, h-how?

_____________

super slow pacing :<<<
but next ch's probably gonna be fast, hikhok