“WHAT on earth happened to you again, Ahn Yujin?” 

Yujin’s friend, Kim Minjoo, could only shake her head at the sight of the other girl. She looked worse than when she was preparing for the exams. She literally looked like she didn’t get a wink of sleep. Her dark circles were so severe that even the concealer took no effect.

“What did you do last night?” Minjoo asked before taking a bite of her sandwich. It’s free time for the two of them and Minjoo bought a sandwich from the convenience store for them to share. “Don’t tell me you suddenly find out that there were questions at the back of the exam paper that you didn’t notice while taking the test?”

“There were questions at the back of the paper!?” Yujin shrieked which only made Minjoo lose hope for her friend. 

“You’re really something, Ahn Yujin…” Minjoo sighed. “So, tell me what happened last night.”

“I have embarked on a mission, Minjoo.” Yujin dramatically raised her fist. “I am off to reveal who Professor Kang is going to marry!”

Minjoo let out a loud scoff. She was worried for a moment that she forgot that Ahn Yujin’s favourite writer has announced her marriage. She honestly thought it was something else… like a confession of some sort…

“So, Professor Kang didn’t tell you who and now you’re trying to reveal who it is yourself?” Minjoo smiled and took a sip of her chocolate drink. “I knew it. She really loves playing games like this with you.”

“She just loves making fun of me.” Yujin sighed and it was shortly followed by a yawn. “But I am all set to find out who it is.”

Minjoo rolled her eyes as she shook her head. “You gave her another weird idea, I see. She would not reveal anything now until you figure things out.”

Minjoo’s sight then landed on a familiar face from the other side of the school grounds. She then looked at Yujin whose eyes were half-opened while munching her sandwich. Minjoo took the opportunity to pivot her body in a way that Yujin won’t be able to see the person that she just saw a while ago. 

“So, how are you going to figure things out? Did Prof. Kang give you some clues?” 

Yujin stiffened at that question. Even though Minjoo might be a very close friend of hers, she just can’t reveal what the professor told her yesterday. She also promised that she won’t say anything to anyone.

The truth that most of the renowned stories of Kang Seulgi are based on her own love experiences should remain a secret. 

“She gave me some clues.” Yujin’s thoughts travelled to that certain book in her bag. She re-read that story the whole night and no matter how many times she has already read it, it never failed to send her to tears in the parts where her heart was touched so deeply. “I’ll work out on it first and then share what I found with you.”

“T-Thanks, I guess…” Minjoo was relieved when she confirmed that Yoo Jimin finally left with her group of friends. She didn’t notice that Yujin was already looking at her.

“What are you looking at?” Yujin asked which made Minjoo jerk. She then followed where Minjoo was looking and saw the basketball team walking. A smirk curved up on her lips before Minjoo could even deny anything. “I see, you were looking at your crush, huh?”

Minjoo suddenly felt pain at the back of her head. “Don’t start with me, Yujin. Please…” She clicked her tongue before looking away. She then started cursing the basketball team inside her head for having the best timing.

Yujin just laughed. “What’s wrong with having a crush? You don’t have to be shy like that. Normal girls tend to like men like your crush.”

“He is not my crush…” Minjoo weakly sighed. 

Yujin just shrugged her shoulders and chose to change the topic before she even gets hit by an uppercut. “I actually read Let’s Forget It last night. It’s the reason for my fatigue now.”

“That book again? How many times have you re-read it anyway?” 

“I don’t know. I lost track already.” Yujin pulled the book out of her bag and showed how worn out it was to Minjoo. The latter’s jaw just dropped. 

“You did that to a signed book!? You’re really something, Ahn Yujin!” 

“What should I do? Put this on display? Books are meant to be read. It’s just serving its rightful purpose to me.” The girl proudly answered her confused friend. “I just felt like reading it again after hearing the news of Prof. Kang’s engagement. I mean… this story is just—“

“The worst story ever.”

The two friends were surprised when someone suddenly spoke behind them. When they looked up to the owner of the familiar voice, they were met with the icy cold glare of non-other than the Ice Queen herself—Professor Bae Joohyun.

“P-Professor Bae!” Yujin called, almost shrieking. The two immediately stood up from the bleachers where they were sitting. Professor Bae Joohyun, the one with the most popularity among the male students, looked at them first then at the book and then at them again.

“I can’t believe I am seeing that nasty book again after all these years.” Prof. Bae commented with much disgust to the book. “I thought all of its copies were already burned and its digitals were already removed from the internet forever.”

“Wow… You really hate this book so much, Prof. Bae…” Yujin commented in disbelief. How can someone who loves reading hate a highly-acclaimed masterpiece such as [Let’s Forget It]?

“I don’t really hate it.” The professor took a pause before rolling her eyes. “I just despise it. I loathe it with all of my heart.”

The two friends just looked at each other with ears asking if they were hearing things right. If Kang Seulgi became a literature professor because she’s a writer herself, Bae Joohyun became one not because she writes but because of her love for reading. She’s very knowledgeable about literary works and became a respected critic after all the thousands of books that she has read. 

When asked about the books that she didn’t like at the very least, Professor Bae would always answer about [LFI]  despite it being the work where her best friend, Professor Kang, became popular. It is one of her opinions that was greatly opposed by other critics and readers alike but she never changed her perspective about the story despite all of those. Her hatred for the book is a well-known fact but hearing her talk about it in person was quite an experience for Yujin and Minjoo.

“Please don’t make me see that book ever again.” 

The Ice Queen left just like that, leaving the two students confused. Yujin followed the professor by sight while she fell deep in her thoughts. 

‘Prof. Kang technically claimed yesterday that she had a special relationship with Prof. Bae, didn’t she? If Prof. Kang writes about those special relationships then the other party would surely know that she was the one Prof. Kang wrote since it is about their memories together.’

Yujin fell deeper into her thoughts as she looked down. Conan glasses magically appeared in her face which made Minjoo facepalm. The girl with the longer hair gasped when Yujin suddenly shouted in realisation. She held Minjoo by her shoulders.

“G-Go to the club meeting without me, Minjoo. I just have to take care of something. I’ll see you later!”

With that, Yujin quickly disappeared as she ran like a popular hedgehog to wherever she was going. Minjoo just smiled at the sight of her hyperactive friend who was just out of energy just a while ago.

“Typical Ahn Yujin…”

“PROF. BAE!”

Yujin took a quick break after running quickly. She then saw Professor Bae about to open the door of her office looking at her with those cold eyes. “What do you want from me, Yujin-ssi?”

“Tell me, Professor! The reason why you loathe [LFI]... It’s because you are Irene*, aren’t you?” (*Irene is the name of the love interest of the protagonist of the story)

Just like that, with the blink of an eye, Yujin saw her whole life flashed before her very eyes. The next thing she remembered was being pinned in the wall with the professor shorter in height holding her by the neck. The other students around were shocked with what’s happening. 

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