CHAPTER 16
♚ the country? the skies? you can have them ♚
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“Can’t you see I’m busy?”

“… You’re cutting grass.”

I didn’t bother looking up at Yooyoung, my gaze focused on the blades of plants by my feet, a ruler and scissors at hand. “Our lawn needs t.”

She stared as I snapped a few blades. “… You’re literally t it.”

“As I just said.”

She removed my hat that was guarding me from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. “What the hell, Jinah? It’s the school festival today! You could cut your grass later!”

I ignored her and placed my ruler to another patch of grass, so as to determine just where to snip it precisely. “It’ll be too dark later.”

“You helped prepare for it, didn’t you? Don’t you want to see the result of your… of the entire school’s effort?” Before I could obviously reject her, she continued. “This only happens once a year-“

“And so does Christmas. And even my birthday. And even your birthday. In fact, even yesterday can only happen once a year! Tomorrow, too! Oh, so very few days that happen once a year.”

“Were you always such a smartass?”

“No, sometimes I’m asleep.”

Without even looking, I knew she rolled her eyes. Sweet, predictable Yooyoung.

Her next words caught me off guard though.

“Ren asked me to fetch you.”

My hand faltered, making the cut I just made uneven.

… Damn. I’ll have to repeat the other patches I just cut again. How can he affect me like this without even being present?

Yooyoung knelt by me and stared at the shorter blades of grass. “He looked really… eager about something.”

“Eager?” I echoed.

“That’s what I think. I’m not the expert on reading people.” She made a move to poke at a ladybug nearby, but I grabbed her wrist to prevent her from doing so. She stared at me warily. “… So, what happened on that date a few days ago?”

I placed my finger forward towards the red insect, just inches away from it. “He did a bunch of stupid stuff… He said he’d make me like him again if I said I no longer had feelings for him.”

“What did you say?”

“… Show me what you’ve got.”

Yooyoung grinned and patted me on the back appreciatively. The strength of her pat made me lean forward, scaring the ladybug away. I watched as it flew away before shooting a glare at my friend. “Oooh~! So the guy’s gonna start pulling some moves on you?”

“Apparently. I mean… I managed to like him without him doing anything special – imagine what’d it be like if he actually tried? I want to see it…” I muttered, looking up and seeing the ladybug land on the stone gate of my neighbor’s home.

“Then go to the festival! He probably has something planned for you!” she said, reaching for my hand again and pulling me up. A cat suddenly came and slammed its paw down on the ladybug, crushing it.

I looked away from the event and regarded Yooyoung with a frown.

“Lime told me not to come.”

“This is stupid. This is so unbelievably stupid.”

“Relax, this disguise is full-proof! Your s aren’t that big.”

I tugged on the cap atop my head to hide my side glare at her. “You’re one to talk.” I didn’t own any jeans, so I had to borrow Yooyoung’s – which were obviously too big for me because of her superior height. I was wearing one of my brother’s oversized jackets with the hood on and my long hair was hidden under a baseball cap.

I was ‘supposedly’ disguised as a guy.

“But doesn’t my face at least seem a little feminine?”

“They’d sooner mistake Ren for a girl before you.”

I couldn’t say anything back, since she was right.

I stood by the large gates in front of Pledis Academy, looking around. There were several people coming in through the gates. If our Christmas party was something solely for the students to show off their pretty dresses and high-class decorations, the school festival was an activity for everyone.

As we walked from the school gates to the high school building, I made sure to make eye contact with every person I knew. And as much as I didn’t want to admit it, no one recognized me. “I know my features are plain, but I could certainly discern if one of our female classmates was trying to pass off for a guy!” I said to Yooyoung in disdain.

“Yeah, you. We’re not as observant and smart and geniuses like you,” she drawled out.

I stared at her.

Her lips twitched upward. “Your ego feel better now?”

“Yeah, thanks.”

As we entered the high school premises, Yooyoung turned to me with a huge grin. “Do you smell that, Jinah? It’s the scent of class unity, creation of school memories, budding new romances and… kimchi.”

“I just smell kimchi,” I replied back bluntly.

As we neared our classroom, I took note of even more… odd people around. I tugged on her sleeve. “Lime didn’t want me to come,” I repeated.

Yooyoung sighed in exasperation. “You said that like five times already. Why are you obeying her anyway? I thought no one could order you around!”

“She said ‘please’.”

She stared blankly at me.

“… And offered a dozen ‘free passes’ to be late.”

“Our school has that?”

“No, but being the principal’s daughter, she does… And so should I!”

She ignored my pleas until we arrived at our classroom.

“Lime is not the kind of person to plead!” I said again in my defense. “Something serious is going on!”

Yooyoung sighed and finally turned to me. “Serious? What can she do at a cultural festival?”

I held up my two hands, palms wide open. “Ten people. On our way to the classroom, I saw ten people that shouldn’t be here.”

Yooyoung frowned. “Shouldn’t-?”

“Yooyoung!”

At the voice, I looked down so the visor of my cap would cover my gaze.

I could tell she tried her best not to roll her eyes at my behavior.

Ren smiled up at her. I caught a glimpse of his waiter uniform… and silently thanked the girls in my class for coming up with such a costume and having him wear it. Our class was doing a café, I had offered to do the decorations on the weekend as my ‘contribution’, so I wouldn’t have to come during the actual festival itself.

“Did you bring…?” He tilted his head and peered at me. I lowered my gaze, tugging at the tip of my cap to hide my face further. “Who’s this?”

“Cousin,” Yooyoung easily said. There was a pregnant pause, my gaze still downward.

I almost took a step back in shock when my eyes met with Ren’s. He was bent down in front of me, looking up at me with a huge grin.

“Why are you wearing boys’ clothes?” he asked with a laugh.

“Why are you wearing a girl’s uniform?”

… De ja vu.

I pointed at him and faced Yooyoung with a triumphant smirk. “He recognized me!”

“He’s one of your closest friends! It’d be pretty sad if he didn’t!”

The grin was still on his face. “I’m one of your closest friends?” he asked, still staring up at me in amusement.

“You don’t exactly have a lot of competition for that title.”

Yooyoung raised up her hands. “Before you two start flirting, I’m out. I’ve delivered who I needed to deliver.” Before leaving, she placed a hand on my shoulder. “… It’s the school festival, she won’t pull anything. Stop overthinking.”

I narrowed my eyes at her slightly in suspicion. “I could be right.”

No, wait.

“I am right,” I corrected myself.

Yooyoung scratched the back of her head. “… So… what are you going to do about it?”

“Do about what?” Ren asked, getting further confused by our conversation.

Yooyoung smiled at him before facing me again. “Well, if you’re going to go up against a queen, best you have other royalty to back you up.”

I stared at her smirking face. “… I bet you thought that statement sounded so clever and cool-“

“Let me have my cool moment!” she said in dismissal, leaving me behind. But then she opened the door to the classroom again. “And be sure to head to my club’s booth too!” I waved in agreement and she left again.

“What are you scheming?” Ren asked, suspicions laced in his tone.

I looked around our class’s café. “… None of these customers are familiar to you?”

Ren gave a once over at the guests before facing me again. “No, why?”

 I held up two fingers. “There are two here.”

“Two-?”

“Ren!” one of female classmates called out, barging into our conversation. She had her hands on her knees and was panting hard. “I’m sorry, I’m late! I’ll take over now!”

He smiled at her. “It’s fine. Rest for a moment first. You uniform is with Yujin by the kitchen.”

She smiled back, but then frowned and peered at me. I lowered my cap again. “… Wait… Have we met before?”

I shook my head.

… And my eyes widened in surprise when I felt Ren’s arm wrap around the back of my waist. He pulled me closer to him and I could hear the loud beat of a heart – which I’m pretty sure was mine.

The girl’s eyes widened. A few of our classmates had caught sight of us and stared as well.

“Don’t go making moves on what’s mine,” Ren said with a kind smile, but in a completely monotone voice.

The girl’s jaw dropped, and I caught sight of a few shocked expressions from those that had heard his statement.

What is this guy scheming?!

She held up her hands and shook her head violently. “Oh, no! I wasn’t thinking about that at all! Really! It’s just, well, um, you see… he looked familiar and uh-“

Another waitress-classmate of mine quickly went beside her fumbling friend. “Oh. My. God. Are you two like…” She held up a finger on each hand and placed them together. “… together?” she said, trying to hold back a huge grin.

I knew her. She was my classmates that had this hobby of writing male slash fanfiction and constantly talking about it- Oh, no. Was she implying-?!

“What do you think?” Ren said with a smirk, leaning his head in a little closer to me.

She squealed and the stuttering girl flushed red. “Can I see your face?! Please, please, please!” she pleaded, bending down slightly, trying to catch a glimpse of me.

I looked away, holding onto the tip of my hat so my hand would cover most of my face. Though I didn’t look like a very feminine girl, my voice certainly wasn’t masculine enough to fool anyone.

“He’s so shy~!” she gushed. “I was wrong about you, Ren! I never knew you’d be the dominant one!”

Dominant in what?

I felt his hand cover my own, his fingers intertwining with mine – that girl squealed again – and he led me out of the classroom. “Tell the president I’m on my break now!” he said in dismissal before we left the classroom.

When we were of safe distance from our classroom, I glared at him. “I appreciate you trying to help keep me undercover, but really?”

“It’s more fun if they think we’re together.”

“Fun for you!”

“Just for me?”

“… Okay, Hinyi’s reaction’s was pretty nice and I want to see how fast Sinjun would spread the news. I also have an idea of whose homophobic among those that saw us,” I admitted. “Best you be wary of Haneul, Sunnim, and Ileuyun now.”

Ren stared down at me, clearly amused… Was I that entertaining today? “You know their names.”

“It’s March,” I deadpanned.

“Have you ever spoken with any of them though?”

“… I spoke to Hinyi once.”

Ren sighed and shook his head in disappointment.

I didn’t like how he reacted. “I’m not some big authority figure of the school like you. I don’t need to be nice and friendly with everyone. I’m perfectly fine with my own circle of friends.”

“Jason, Yooyoung and you? That’s can’t even be considered a circle – it’s a small triangle,” he replied, disapproval in his tone.

I stared at him. “… I thought it was a square, actually.”

It was only then I realized he was still holding my hand when he suddenly tightened his grip. “No, I’m sorry!” he said, panic in his voice. “It’s just well, those two are your best friends. So I automatically assumed… I mean… We’re friends too, of course! Aron’s a friend too! You may not think you’re friends, but I’m sure Baekho does! And Minhyun considers everyone with a skirt his friend! You and JR both share a lot in common and and and… It’s actually a pretty big circle, you got there!”

He frowned when he took notice of my growing smirk during his monologue.

“… You enjoy seeing me panicked and flustered, don’t you?” he asked with narrowed eyes.

“It doesn’t happen often,” I said, no longer hiding my grin.

Ren sighed and continued walking, tugging at my hand for me to follow suite. “… Why are you dressed as a boy anyway?” he finally asked.

I stopped walking, making him halt as well.

“Sixteen.”

“I don’t mind…”

I sighed for the umpteenth time in the past five minutes. “I won’t turn around to take a peek at you… You know, I could just leave the room-“

“And risk the chance of Lime seeing you alone? No.”

I tapped my foot impatiently. “How long does it take you to change?” We were in the student council room, where Ren’s belonging were. He had requested to change out of his waiter uniform and into his school uniform… and practically ordered me stay in the room, facing the opposite direction.

“The buttons are a bit complicated… You could help-“

“No.”

“Pru~ude!” he teased.

“There are some things I only want to see on my wedding night.”

“Our wedding night?”

“Hurry up.”

I heard him laugh. I sighed in exasperation… and was glad he couldn’t see my smiling face at his words.

After a much longer time than needed, he was finally clad in his school uniform. He sat at JR’s seat, leaning back on the large, rolling chair. I was sitting in the chair across the desk, looking out the window behind him. “One more,” I said, pointing to a small figure that could be seen from our view.

Ren looked at where I pointed briefly before facing me again. “Do your thing.”

I stared blankly at him. “My thing?”

“Your long monologue thing that’ll explain everything in the past and future chapters in one paragraph.”

I didn’t understand his explanation, but decided to let it slide. “O… kay. So… there are students here that shouldn’t be here. I’ve lived in this district for years – and I’ve seen a total of six different school uniforms that are completely foreign. I could tell from the material of one that it came from Seoul, it’s a special branded cloth that’s only seen there. There was this other student who wore XXX brand of shoes – a total rich kid. And if you’re rich kid around here, you’d be in Pledis, not to mention his own uniform also-“

“Those six schools you saw are all from Seoul?” Ren said, cutting to the chase.

I did not like being interrupted when I was speaking (showing off) my observations. I sighed and nodded. “Well, I know for certain four of them are from Seoul – you could assume that the other two would be as well. And well… they’re all delinquents.”

“You’re sure about that?”

“I could go on a lo~ong monologue on how I know that they’re troublemakers.”

He smiled. “I believe you. And you think Lime paid them to come here?”

“… I’m missing something,” I admitted. “I know they’re here on her orders, but they’ve come from too far, and a good number of them look well off. She has… something that they want, and I don’t think it’s money… And I shouldn’t think they’re after you and your friends. I mean, you didn’t even recognize the two delinquents at our class café.”

Ren looked away so as to avoid eye contact.

“Wait, you do know them?”

“Maybe… I don’t remember every insect I’ve crushed.”

My eyes widened at the very… foreign tone of voice and facial expression. Insects, he called them. It clearly looked like he was reminiscing something… unpleasant. “They’re your enemies,” I concluded. “You and the rest of the council… your middle school was in Seoul, wasn’t it?”

“… Yes. We weren’t very… friendly back then,” he said, grinning sheepishly. “So, that’s why Lime brought them here? To take care of us?”

“No, she’d get very little in having you five get hurt. They’re going to run rampant throughout the festival when she gives the signal.”

Ren’s eyes widened, understanding of the situation finally dawning on him.

“Fights here… fights there… a bunch of visitors and students alike getting caught up… It’d ruin the school’s reputation.”

“But she’s part of this school too. Her father’s even the principal!”

“She’s Lime,” I said, as if that explained everything. “Right now, this school belongs to you five. She could care less since it’s not hers… well, not hers yet.”

Ren groaned and rested his forehead on the palm on his hand, gaze down on the wooden surface of the large desk. “Everyone’s having fun… Why would she… For such selfish reasons…”

Instead of responding, I stood up and gave him a small nod. “Anyway, that’s all I wanted to say. I’m going back home. I certainly don’t want to get caught up in anything.”

Ren’s head shot up and he looked up at me in surprise. “You’re not going to help us?”

I tried to bite back my laugh. “What? Of course not. She requested that I stay home – so as not to meddle, most probably. I agreed. I already broke my word by coming and telling you about her plans… don’t want to make it worse by interfering.”

“What? So you’re siding with her?”

“I’m on the winning side… But right now, I’m not sure who’s at the advantage, so I’m siding with no one. I’m not going to help her… and I’m not going to help the student council either,” I said, frowning at his distraught expression.

Did he really think I’d interfere with something as big as this? I’m a nosy person, but all I do is talk. I don’t take any action whatsoever – especially in events like this. This was saved for the big people in school. I was an observer, not a doer.

“Winning side? So if she succeeds with this plan of hers and this school is under her again… you wouldn’t help us at all?” he asked.

I met his eyes. “… I’d help you. You’re my friend.”

“But my friends aren’t?”

“No,” I simply said.

I saw him narrow his eyes at me. “If I were in your position, I’d help both Yooyoung and Jason for the sole reason that they’re important to you.”

“Well, that’s where we’re different,” I said, taking a few steps backwards towards the door. “I care about you, but not everyone important to you shares that privilege.  I mean, Yooyoung loves all her teammates – do you think I’d give any effort in being friendly with them? My friends are my friends… I could care less about anyone else.”

I could still see the disapproval in his expression.

“That’s not me being selfish or mean… It’s just me not being a saint or overly nice person like you.” I felt around behind me and my hand came in contact with the doorknob. “Anyway, I leave this problem to the student council. After warning Yooyoung and Jason, I’m going back home. I just wanted to see what Lime was scheming.”

I turned around and left the room… but once I took step out into the hallway, Ren’s hand suddenly took hold of mine. He began walking ahead of me, dragging me along. “Where would Lime most likely be hiding?” he asked.

I blinked, hastily following after him. I took notice of a few students eyeing our conjoined hands. “Didn’t I say I wouldn’t get involved?”

“You said you’d help me, right? Well, I’m not going to tell the council about this at all. I’ll take care of this problem,” he said, oh so confidently – with absolutely nothing to back up his proud words.

“What?” I asked in disbelief. “You can’t solve this by yourself!”

“So, you’ll help me,” he said, a sense of finality in his words.

“But-”

“This isn’t between Lime and the student council… It’s between Lime and me. Between those two choices, who would you side with?” he asked, turning his head slightly to face me, grinning.

He clearly knew the answer. He just wanted me to say it.

“… Using my own reasoning against me…” I muttered. I should probably just stop talking to him general. He somehow always manages to get what he wants from me – even when I clearly thought the opposite would happen.

I thought I’d have no part in this fight. I thought he’d clearly stay mad at my words and it’d take some time and making up before we spoke properly again. But no. He twists my words around to get what he wants.

This devious, little-

“Well~?”

“You, of course,” I admitted in defeat.

Why do I like him again?

He turned around all of a sudden and hugged me. “I knew you loved me!”

I didn’t return his hug. “… People are staring,” I mumbled back when I saw some bystanders looking at our bromance moment.

“Let them stare! Don’t underestimate Sinjun, I’m pretty sure half the school knows about my submissive boyfriend now.”

Submissive in what?

Ren laughed and finally let go. He took hold of my hand again and we began walking. “So, where to?”

“… Rooftop,” I answered. “Are you sure you’re making the right decision? The rest of the student council could provide a lot more support than me.”

“You think Lime could beat you?”

“Of course not,” I answered without batting an eyelash.

He turned to give one of his most charming smiles at me. “Then I have the best person at my side!”

While I did love that grin, it was very suspicious. “… Why are you flattering me?”

“I have ulterior motives.”

I rolled my eyes, but smiled back anyway.

“And I need you to stay till we take care of this.” Before I could ask, he spoke up again. “There is a reason why I asked Yooyoung to bring you here.”

“... Should I be wary?”

“You should be enthusiastic, eager, excited!”

“Now, I’m just suspicious.”

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END CHAPTER 16
♚ i'm busy just protecting what's right in front of me ♚

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Chapter 17

“The council worked hard for this festival.”
“Which will give me more satisfaction when I ruin it.”

"You treacherous, conniving, sneaky, wicked genius. If this works, I'm treating you to wherever you like."

"People have been telling me that you're gay... We're your friends, Ren. When were you going tell us?"

A/N: It's been so loooong, hahaha~ The beginning of the festival arc isn't actually worth the long wait, but... It's there haha XD Hope you liked it and please look forward to the next chapter!

Comment if you like and subscribe if you haven't~! :) And kudos to anyone who knows where the quotes at the beginning and end of this chapter came from.