CHAPTER 3
♚ you make me a better me - is that still me? ♚
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“No, the answer is seventy-four point five. If you put the x here than transpose this… Is something wrong?” My two classmates stared wide-eyed at me. “What?” I asked again.

He shook his head and laughed, but didn’t say anything.

“Tell me!”

His companion was the one to speak. She smiled warmly at me. “We’ve been classmates with you since middle school.”

“Yes, that’s why you approached me because you know of my skills in math.”

“No, it’s because you seemed more… friendly.” She said. I frowned and looked up at the two students standing around my desk. “I remember asking you about a problem last year, and you had said ‘Why don’t you know this?’, ‘Your study habits are obviously so and so’, ‘Do better’ and other… such things. It was quite a scolding. But now…”

I opened my mouth, but then shut it. After a few seconds, I muttered, “… I suppose I have a better control over my mouth now.”

 “We’re not saying you were mean or anything before!” Lies. I obviously was. “I mean, that’s just how you are… who you were,” the guy said with a grin. “Keep it up with the boyfriend, Park!”

“What boyfriend?”

The girl laughed. “Well, your friends at the moment certainly didn’t cause a change in behavior, so we thought you got a boyfriend or something… and you’re getting quite nervous.”

It was only then I realized that my calm façade was breaking and I was fidgeting… because when they had said boyfriend, the first person to pop into mind was my only bleached-haired friend.

I heard a laugh from my seatmate. Yooyoung was busy with her own assignment, but she was grinning like a fool.

“You are so into him.”

“It’s darker than usual,” Ren observed, looking out the classroom’s window.

I looked out the window as I put on my bag. “It is getting close to winter. The nights are longer… earlier.”

Ren stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked alongside me as we headed out of the school building. “I’ll walk you home.”

“Oh, you don’t need to. You offered before remember? But my house is just a ten minute walk away-“

“It’s darker than usual,” he repeated.

“… Sure, the sky is grey and all… But it wouldn’t even be black yet by the time I get home-“

“Jinah.”

I laughed. “I enjoy this too.” He looked at me in confusion. “Remember during my first detention? You were so aloof and polite, kind of like now. I enjoy this side of you too.”

A small smile graced his lips. “’Too’? What’s my other side?”

“The devious one.” He put on a show of hurt – I didn’t believe it. “You’re a lot blunt and meaner than you let on… But you do smile quite a lot, and dare I say even immature at times. It also shows that you must be a very kind and open-minded person if you can manage to put up with my way of speaking and observations-“

“Even if they’re wrong.”

“They are not!”

“Sure, sure. Whatever makes you happy.”

“You tease me. That’s… fine too,” I said, wrapping my blazer tighter around me. I focused my gaze on the ground. I didn’t want to look at his face to see his reaction to what I said and what I’m about to say.

“Hmm?” he hummed. “A masochist?”

“No!” I quickly responded. “It’s just that… Everyone’s usually intimidated by me and I talk very… ah, bluntly. And if I catch something suspicious, I’ll exploit you without a second thought. So, no one really… likes talking back to me.” Yooyoung and Jason were the only ones that could handle me, and I thought they'd be the only ones as well.

I gulped and clenched my fists, eyes still fixated on the ground.

“You’re able to handle and control my arrogance – and I really, really needed that. Thanks.” My classmates back in middle school had only proved how proud I was back then… and how I had changed.

“So… a masochist it is.”

“Ren!”

He laughed and suddenly hooked arms with me. My eyes widened at the sounded contact. “You don’t need to thank me. If I have an… ‘aloof’ and ‘childish’ side. You also have several different ones. You are kind and you can be humble – it’s just a different side of you. I didn’t make it.”

I clenched onto his arm tighter – yes, I was taking advantage of the situation! – and laughed. “Sometimes you say the cheesiest things.”

“Oh, please. You were all ‘Thanks for making me realize my inner M’!”

“I am not a masochist!”

“Right, because my bullying obviously didn’t help you at all.”

I pouted at him. His smile fell when I did that. “Your cute side…” he suddenly said with a smile, facing forward again. He didn’t continue his sentence though.

“… I have a cute side?”

“Doesn’t exist.”

I groaned. “I know, I know. Even when I was young I was hardly adorable… Well, your cute side…”

“… What about it?”

“It’s cuter than mine and comes along too often,” I deadpanned, irritation clear on my face.

He smiled. “Is that a good thing?”

I nodded. “Very… even though I really hate it.”

I did not let go of him until we arrived at my house.

“I see that your personal charm is enough… as unbelievable as it sounds,” Jason said with a laugh.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You’ve had a good day at class. So good that you’re brave enough to talk back to me… I’m betting that you managed to answer Ms. Shin’s questions, huh?”

“Well, yes. But that’s beside the point. You and Ren… You and the Ren of the student council are close friends. Friends!“

“Oh what? He gets ‘the’ and I don’t?”

“… Yes.”

I glared at him. He just chuckled in response. “I need Yooyoung with me. Your masochistic side always appears when I’m with her.”

“I am not a masochist!”

I paused, recalling my conversation with Ren about that… Well, I guess now I know what it’s like in Jason’s shoes. “What’s taking her anyway? It was just a brief chat with the basketball team’s manager, right?”

Jason shrugged, but then frowned when he saw her heading our way. “Apparently not. Hold onto your drinks.” He held onto his water and I took hold of my iced tea and Yooyoung’s orange juice.

Yooyoung came and slammed her fist on the table, a force that would’ve knocked down our beverages. “Irritating… damn… idiots…” She sat beside me and began stabbing her kimchi with her chopsticks. Jason and I allowed her a few minutes to cool down. She turned to me. “You’re friends with Ren, right? Tell him to tell Baekho-“

“Oh no! Not again!” I cried out. Jason sniggered. Oh, he’s definitely in a good mood today. Even laughing at me. “Another dispute with Baekho? Really? Sort it out yourself, Yooyoung… or better yet, stop fighting the guy!”

“He thinks he’s all that-“

“He kinda is,” Jason chimed in. Yooyoung glared at him. He smiled sheepishly back.

“He even dragged the council president into it! Damn it! I swear next thing you know their entire… what was their party called again?”

“Nu’est.”

“That Nu’est gang is going to control all the clubs by martial law or something!”

“We voted them in. We practice democracy in this school. I’m sure they’ll listen to your voice if said properly and politely,” Jason said.

“Screw politeness!” she said.

“Cheers!” I agreed, clinking my drink with hers.

“Jinah!” Jason exclaimed in exasperation.

“What happened anyway? Oh, no let me guess.” I placed a finger to my chin and pretended to ponder over it. “Baekho was being nice too you – as usual. Your pride didn’t appreciate any help given to you. You probably figured that he thought you were incompetent, when he was probably just being a nice guy. Whatever that matter was is probably of importance, since they dragged JR into it, but since it was still Baekho’s idea, you still did not agree-“

“Why are you on his side? You’re my friend, aren’t you?” Yooyoung said with a pout.

Jason and I exchanged looks before facing her again. “Last year, when each member of the parties gave their speech, Baekho seemed the most nice and smile-y of them all. Heck, that was his selling point!”

“He could be two-faced!”

“Now you’re just being judgmental,” I said with a click of my tongue.

This time, it was my two friends that looked at each other and then at me. “Jinah… you judge everyone in the first few seconds you meet them,” Jason said with a smile. “And you openly admit it.”

Yooyoung leaned back on the chair and grinned. “Setting aside my obviously right stance on this Baekho thing, I just want to say that Ren sure is doing good for you… You totally like him, Jinah.”

I glared harshly at them. “I do not!” Fan girling over his looks and having a crush on him were two very different things.

“Oh, please. When you were recounting that whole uniform incident a few days ago you were smiling like some school girl that was talking about her crush!” Yooyoung said with a laugh.

“Because she is a school girl that was talking about her crush!” Jason said, joining in with Yooyoung.

I opened my mouth to argue with them, but then shut it. Who am I to tell them they’re wrong? I had honestly never had a crush before, maybe this is one. Ren was certainly attractive, overly so that I could take a picture of him and post it on my wall. (But I won’t… No.) I admit he was different from guys… from people in general that I’ve met. And maybe he did help my personality a little. But I just didn’t have that romantic feel to it. The only experience I have with this would be my friends’ stories on their own love lives and a few novels. I did not feel at all uncomfortable when I was with Ren – my hands didn’t get sweaty, my heart didn’t beat faster and there were no butterflies in my stomach. The exact opposite actually, he always set me at ease. No matter how difficult or bad my day was, that detention at the end of the school period made it all better.

There was a snap of fingers in front of me. It was Yooyoung trying to get my attention.

I blinked. “No, I don’t think I have a crush on him. He’s a great friend, but the whole blushing and butterfly in my stomach thing isn’t happening.”

“Took you five minutes of spacing out to think about that?”

“Well, I believe it was only three minutes and forty-two seconds.”

“… You were with a girl earlier, weren’t you?” I said suddenly, staring intently at Ren. “You smell of women’s perfume.”

J’adore. I’d recognize that scent anywhere.

He smiled. “Wrong again, Jinah.” Ugh. “Well, technically, yes I was with a girl. Several actually.” My eyes widened. “My classmates,” he said with a laugh when he saw my shocked face.

Don’t do that to my heart!

“This is Minyun’s perfume actually… Sprayed some on me by accident. Perhaps it was a gift from a girlfriend of his. But I doubt they’d give him a women’s scent.”

“Territory marking,” I said. That must be one rich girl to give away an expensive perfume like that.

He pondered over it for a moment but then nodded when he understood. But then a smirk spread across his lips. “Were you jealous?”

“What? Of Minyun’s perfume?”

“No, of your early deduction. When you thought I was with another girl,” his grin was growing wider.

I glared at him. “No! Don’t get full of yourself now!”

Ren pouted and looked at me with those puppy eyes of his.

“Yes, I was! Is there something wrong with that?!” I hastily admitted.

He grinned again.

This guy…! Taking advantage of his cuteness!

I glared harshly at him. “I really want to hit you!” 

“Just have to be more honest, Jinah~”

I groaned and rested my head on the table, still facing him though. I suddenly sat up, shocking him a little. “Today is my thirtieth day in detention.”

He nodded, a small smile on his face. He was clearly impressed at how I had only realized an hour into the detention. “Last day of detention today.”

“It took a while for me to adjust to coming on time, so I still had a few tardies… So I have seventy-nine lates at the moment. One more and I get more detention, right?”

“Yes, that’s what we agreed on.”

“Can I be late tomorrow?”

I was asking him if he wanted to continue seeing me. I was hoping that he enjoyed my company as much as I enjoyed his. He was smart – he knew what I was asking for.

“… No.”

… Well, that .

“There would no point if I were to allow you to be late again,” he said. “So, no. Come on time tomorrow.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, well aware how disheartened I sounded. I’m not going to hide my disappointment… because I really can’t. I rested my head on the table again.

“Let’s go eat out tomorrow.”

I suddenly sat up and stared at him.

“There’s this café a few minutes away from here.”

A huge smile graced my face.

He was smiling at me as well.

“I’d much rather spend time with you outside than in this classroom.”

“You’re going on a date.”

“No, we’re not. It’s basically what we do almost every day lately… Just with food.”

“Yeah, so a date.”

“That made no sense.”

Yooyoung was smiling like a maniac. “A da~ate!” she said in a singsong voice.

I stared blankly at her. “I don’t know you.”

“Okay, so here’s my advice-“

“In the past year, you’ve had three relationships that lasted two weeks at most. I don’t want advice from you.”

Yooyoung took hold of my hands. “You’re finally going to hang out with a guy that isn’t Jason or your brother – can’t I at least try to make sure you don’t mess it up?”

“It’s just Ren, how can I mess it up?”

“What?” We both looked front and saw the fan girl seated in front of us. Yujin had stood up and was glaring down at our seated selves. “Did… you just say you’re going on a date with Ren-oppa?” she said in a low and very threatening voice.

I shook my head. “No! We’re just going to eat out and talk!”

“Yes, a date!”

Yooyoung smiled at me. “Told you that’s a date.”

I stared at her, my face clearly saying ‘Not now’.

Yujin went over to my desk and slammed her hands on my table. It was still twenty minutes before the bell rang for lunch, so there was only a handful of students in the room, so we were only given a few glances in curiosity. “And who do you think you are, Park? Me and the rest of the girls knew you were too stupid and plain to actually catch his attention – so what are you doing?”

“Just being me,” I said, looking up and meeting her eyes. “Maybe he likes the stupid and plain.”

Yooyoung stared at me wearily. “No, that was you and your former taste in guys.”

“You think you deserve his attention?!”

“No, I don’t deserve it at all. He’s way out of my league,” I answered. The girl’s eyes slightly widened at that. “I’m sure you know, but Ren is drop dead gorgeous. You could literally stare at him for hours and not get tired.” She nodded in complete agreement. Yooyoung rolled her eyes at us two fan girls. “I know I’m not as good looking as that. I’m not as popular – in a good way – as he is. He’s a nice and responsible guy, being secretary and all. Overall… he’s a better person in general. I’m not even on par with him.”

“Exactly!” she exclaimed.

“But I sure as hell am better than you. So who are you to talk down on me?”

Before I could register what happened, there was already a sting and red mark on my face.

Did she… Did she just slap me?

“Fights in school have decreased significantly from the start of the academic year… so to hear that the newest fight in several weeks was between two ladies is very… disappointing.”

My eyes were locked on the student council president’s desk. It was mahogany brown, very old. It was probably the desk of the first president… looked about thirty-six years old. It was well taken care of though. There was a stain on one corner, perhaps soft drinks or coffee. There were several papers piled on it. I focused on one pile that wasn’t perfectly stacked up. The… fifty sixth piece of paper was a little to the left by half a centimeter-

“… to go. Your record is clean, so I’m willing to dismiss what you did today. Just don’t do it again.”

Yujin next to me stood up and bowed deeply, muttering out apologies. Her hair was still disheveled when I pulled at it and her uniform was still messed up from where I tugged. While heading into the office behind our teacher, I had managed to straighten out my uniform and fix my hair. She shot me a glare before leaving. I blinked. Oh, right. We’re free to go. I placed my hands on the armrest and was about to stand, but JR held up his hand to stop me.

Oh… he had said ‘your record is clean’ to her… obviously not to me. Wait, why were we here anyway? Shouldn’t matters like this be settled with teachers? Don’t tell me even the council dealt with problems like this!

“Park Jinah. You just finished your detention yesterday, are you asking for another one?” I noticed the armband on his left arm: President. I remember how his alias had grown more popular since winning his position, JR standing for Junior Royale. Befitting… arrogant, but befitting. Who am I talk about arrogance anyway?

“No…” Well, yes. I’ve come to really like detention. “I’m sorry for my behavior. I just couldn’t help but retaliate.”

“Jaebal Yujin said you attacked her first. You did not reply, so I assumed that was how it happened,” he said with a raised brow.

My eyes widened. Another setback of me not paying attention. “Ah… would you believe me if I said she was lying?”

“Too late for that. I see that detention isn’t doing you any good-“ What are you on about? Detention the past month was the only thing I looked forward to at school! “-so… a suspension?”

I froze. Did he have the power to do that? I looked up at his eyes… there was no joking in them.

“Oi~ Don’t you think that’s pretty harsh?”

My eyes lit up. That voice! I turned around and saw Ren by the door, smiling at us. My knight in shining armor! “A month of school service would be better.” GAH! You villain!

JR pondered over it.

I looked at him pleadingly. I’d rather skip school and have a suspension on my record than-

He saw the plea in my eyes. He smirked.

… The student council is filled with sadists.

“This suuucks.” I stared at the mountain of papers. I was in one of the school’s record rooms… and was assigned to organize these piles of piles of paperwork. It would no doubt take several days of after school hours to get it done by the end of the week. Basically, I was given a task every week to complete, if I had not completed it, then a week would be added to my punishment. This is forced labor, I swear.

“Would you rather have your record be smeared with a suspension?” Ren asked. He went over to one pile… and looked up, seeing how high it was. “Detentions and attendance aren’t really noticed, but more than half of the universities in Korea would see your suspension and reject you.”

“… At least I have the other half,” I remarked. He rolled his eyes. I removed my blazer and placed it atop my bag by the door. I sat down in the middle and grabbed a random pile. These are all the financial reports for the past few years… meaning no one had organized them in the past few years. JR was certainly taking advantage of the added workforce (me) to get rid of the jobs that hadn’t been done. “Sorry… for having to cancel our date today.” I stared at the piles of paper. “First detention now this… I can’t believe I’m staying behind school for more-“

“Date?” Ren sat cross-legged in front of him, an impish grin on his face.

I frowned. “Is it a date? I thought it wasn’t, but Yujin and Yooyoung kept saying it is.”

“Why do you think it’s not?” he asked, grabbing a pile and straightening it.

I began arranging them by date. “Well, isn’t a date between two people that like each other? Mutual feelings and all that?”

“… Why don’t you think it’s a date then?” he said with a smirk, making me fidget even more.

“Stop… flirting with me! I might hope or something!” I said, not looking up from a paper than said November 32, 2011 – how am I to sort that?

“And if I want you to hope?”

My hands froze. Is he implying what I think he is?

Before I could respond though, his player smile quickly turned childish. “Let’s go to that café now!” He stood up and held out his hand for me to take.

I gestured to the towers of dead, sliced trees around me.

“You color code your same-colored ballpens, have an organizer for your organizers and you even have an index in your notebooks – I bet you could organize this in a few days and it will be fun for you.” He said with a knowing look.

“You noticed that?”

“I noticed a lot more too. So, let’s go, Jinah~!” he said petulantly, his hand still outstretched.

I laughed and took his hand.

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END CHAPTER 3
♚ you make me a better me - the real me ♚

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Chapter 4

 “Say ‘aah’!”

“What? No way!”

“… You won’t?”

“Of course I will! How was that? I ate it!”

_

“Anything, Jinah. You can make him do anything. Are you really going to pass this chance up?!”

_

“Yes, I’m saying I like you! Take the hint!”

A/N: I think this was a filler chapter of sorts? Haha~ I hope you enjoyed it either way. More action in the next chapter, that's for sure! Feel free to comment and suscribe.