♧ ELEVEN ♧

Lee Sungjong was very, very relieved to be was seated next to Lee Seulbi for the freshman orientation. At least that was one good thing after a rough start to his morning, all thanks to Nam Woohyun. After poking him awake earlier than usual, the older boy dragged him off to Daekyung University in the wee hours of the morning, only to leave him alone for council duties. Poor Sungjong decided to catch up on his missed hour of sleep outside the library, only to wake up two minutes before the scheduled freshman orientation. After running like a madman to the main social hall, he was really not in the mood to be his most sociable self to other people. Thank God they were arranged in alphabetical order.

"Hi," he gasped as he barely managed to crawl into his seat.

"What happened to you? You barely made it," Seulbi asked out of curiousity. Sungjong, with his hair in a disarray, looked like he had sailed the seven seas just to get to the hall on time. "Woohyun again?"

"Let's avoid mentioning his name for now, alright? Did you come in with Sunggyu-hyung?"

"Let's not talk about him either." Seulbi's eyes narrowed at the mention of Sunggyu's name and from there Sungjong could deduce that it wasn't that great of a morning for her either. Ever since the whole faux shoot-out incident, the two had been more vocal and transparent about their bickering. Jungyeop let it slide because he thought that the banter was cute. It reminded him of his sons Jinki and Shin, which were coincidentally Sunggyu's and Seulbi's dads. Correction: Sunggyu's "dad".

The student turnout of Daekyung, one of the top universities in the country, was no joke. The hall was packed with eager students from the different departments comprising the School of Business and Economics. The rows behind him went on and on that Sunggyu had to strain his eyes to make sure that the last row was really the last row. Everyone seemed to be present save for that one vacant seat a good number of spots to his left. He had to give that person props. Whoever that person was, he or she had a lot of balls, ditching freshman orientation. It could be easily spotted from the stage too, where the members of the student council were making their introductions after the school's director and dean had made their welcome speeches.

"Hey everyone, I'm Jung Nicole, secretary-general for this school year!"

“I’m Kim Kibum, and I'll be in-charge of Internals side as your Vice President.”

"Hi, I'm Nam Woohyun, your Council Vice President-External for this school year. In behalf of our Council President Lee Hongki who is on his leadership seminar in the States right now, we, your student council for this school year, welcome you to Daekyung University! It is our job as your duly elected student council to let each and every one of your voices be heard, so if you have any concerns, please don't hesitate to approach us. Also, this year, we have several exciting events in store for you, both academically and non-academically related, so please anticipate them! We sincerely hope that you guys will have a very fruitful school year ahead and we really look forward to working with each and every one of you."

A lot of swoons could be heard after Woohyun had made his introductory speech. Sunggyu nearly barfed in his distaste, looking over to Sungjong, who was making just about the same scrunched-up face sans the retching noises.

As the dean took over the mic for a few more announcements, Sungjong's gaze managed to lock with Woohyun's momentarily before said person's attention trailed off to Seulbi who was seated beside him. Sungjong could sense the excitement coming from the greaseball and he did not take that as a good sign. He began to briskly tap on his companion's shoulder. “Hey. I think your cousin’s looking this way.”

Seulbi blew her bangs out of her face, her eyes darting around to look at anything and everything except the stage in front of her. “I know.”

Sungjong grew worried the moment Woohyun had started making small waving gestures at them. “Seulbi, maybe you should wave back.“

“Ignore him, Sungjong. Just ignore him.”

“Um, I don't think that's a very good idea."

The subtle waving grew obvious as Woohyun resorted to wider hand gestures. A few delusional girls to Seulbi’s front and back were already giggling and primping under the assumption that it was them he was waving to. Distracted by the growing noise in the middle of his announcements, the school dean momentarily paused to check what the commotion was all about. Woohyun's sad attempt to catch Seulbi's attention did not go unseen.

“… Is something the matter, Mr. Nam? I would prefer it, though, if you found a better time and place for your extremely subtle flirting.”

Woohyun grinned apologetically. “It's nothing, ssaem, please do carry on. I just spotted my cousin in the crowd-- eyes off, Kibum, you're not allowed to look at her!" he announced, shoving away his friend who had been craning his neck to catch a glimpse of the Lee Seulbi whom Woohyun loved to brag about.

The next words he had yelled out for the whole hall to hear made Seulbi want to drop out of Daekyung, crawl under a rock and die.

"Hi baby girl!”

The whole hall had broken into even louder whispers and murmurs. They had only heard rumors about the last and youngest grandchild of Lee Jungyeop and her entry into this university, and now that Nam Woohyun himself had confirmed it, everyone was craning their neck to have a look. Sungjong couldn't help but empathise as Seulbi slid down her seat so that only the crown of her hair was visible to the eyes of the public.

What a good way to start the school year!

<<<< >>>>

Sunggyu definitely did not sign up for this.

The schedule was killer, school workload was killer, even the walking distance between his next two classes was killer. He already had a mountain of Literature papers piling up on him due for next week. And to think it was only the first week of class. Sungjong was there with him every step of the way and was holding off better than he was. Seulbi, on the other hand, was often nowhere to be seen in school, having enrolled into classes with a different schedule. He only got to meet her on the way to school and on the way back home.

To top it off, the pressure piled onto him by Woohyun was nerve-racking. "Remember whose name you're carrying," Woohyun had told him the night before the semester started, "If you do so much as to disappoint abeonim, I will personally make sure to kick your before exposing you to the family as a fraud."

Like he had a choice in this anyway, when said threatener was practically the one who blackmailed him into continuing this crack job. At least they had come to terms on concealing Sunggyu's fake identity of the returned Henry to the general public. The more people knew about it, that harder it was going to be for him to leave-- that much they could agree on.

Sunggyu and Sungjong were now on break, freshly off from their English class when they bumped into Dongwoo on the second floor bridge... and a whole sea of girls down over by the first floor.

"What's the commotion all about?"

"Those three are really pushing it. Look," Dongwoo chuckled in amusement before pointing to the cause of the massive crowd. Sunggyu and Sungjong simultaneously slapped their foreheads in embarrassment.

[Muse - Supermassive Black Hole]
It looked like a scene fresh out of a K-drama. Three good-looking guys, in the names of Nam Woohyun, Lee Howon and Lee Sungyeol, were walking smugly side-by-side through a whole hallway of screaming fangirls (they could have sworn they saw some of the female faculty and staff as well) who looked like they were about to worship the ground where they passed. Everything seemed to be set in slow motion too.

Sure they were fawned on a lot by their hotel staff and househelps, maybe back at their highschool too, but the two never counted on their popularity to explode this big. Dongwoo seemed to have read their minds and instantly had something to say to satiate their curiousity. “I think it’s high time that you two learned about this generation's Woollim 4.”

"This is insane! Woollim 4? What are we in? Real-life Boys Over Flowers?!?" Sunggyu scoffed, but Dongwoo paid him no heed and begun his little narration.


“Let me start of with Nam Woohyun. He’s 20, pretty much known for his great leadership and professionalism when it comes to work. With his good looks, golden voice and chocolate abs, he's also the Lee family’s resident heart prince. Why? Because he’s captured so many of them with his sweet words. I've lost count of the number of girls he's had a few dates and dinners with. But he refuses to take anyone seriously in the romance department because he thinks the world can’t handle it.”

“That just makes him sound all the more like a stuck-up piece of snot,” Sungjong muttered under his breath, yelping when Sunggyu had hit him on his arm. “Hyung!”

“He’s paying your scholarship fee and he’s providing your board and lodging. Don’t be an ingrate.”

Sungjong stood true to his conviction. “No, he doesn’t! Mr. Boohyun and Mrs. Soyeon do, and I've only agreed to stay over for a semester because they felt really bad about their son ruining my lodging options. They’re really, really wonderful and kind people! I can’t say the same for their son though— it makes one wonder where they picked him up from? What kind of sane person hides someone else's shoes and underwear on a daily basis?!?"

“Well, you can’t blame him for being playful with you, he’s secretly always wanted a younger brother. Sunggyu's older than him. Hoya’s already preoccupied with Sungyeol. And well, Seulbi’s a girl."


“Next in line would be Lee Howon, known as Hoya; 20 years old this year. He’s the star MVP of the family, soon-to-be captain of Daekyung's soccer team as their star striker and is a 3rd dan black belter in taekwondo. His athleticism is no joke, he's a great dancer, a good disciplinarian, and he's a complete health buff, which makes him pretty much the manliest one in the family..."

"... and the only sane one, if I may add," Sunggyu mumbled under his breath. The rest were a bunch of whack jobs.

"Aside from the usual, he plays basketball, volleyball, tennis, rugby, even extreme and death-defying sports— you name it, and he can play it. Excellently too. This guy just doesn't know how to lose. You'd be writing your own death wish by challenging him to a sports competition.”


“Lee Sungyeol. He's also turning 20 this year, which makes him the taller half of the Irish twin-tandem of Woollim."

"Wait," Sunggyu interrupted. All this time, he had been thinking that Sungyeol and Seulbi were of the same age. "He's born in the same year as Hoya?!? How is that even possible?"

"While Hoya was born in March, Sungyeol is a December kid, born in his late premature stage-- that's roughly 34 weeks into gestation. He's the family techie and gaming guru and is completely gungho over mechanical tinkering. He's been the delegate to electronics and technology conferences on Woollim's behalf for ages now. His room-- he practically lives in a tool shed-slash-gaming paradise! Believe me, he would have done extremely well in an Engineering course, but his main interest is in innovating for the family business.”


“And lastly but not the least, the only rose among the thorns, and the object of those three's affections who is currently not with them right now, Lee Seulbi. She's turning 19 this year. Blessed with inherent wit and good foresight and intuition, she's Woollim's super brain and is always one step ahead of everyone. It helps that she's a very well-rounded and talented person too! You'd be surprised by the number of things she knows."

"You mean like a jack of all trades?" Sungjong quipped.

"On a higher skill level than that-- an all-arounder. She really excels in everything, and by everything, I mean everything! I have yet to see something that she can't do well on! The nicest thing about Seulbi is that she doesn't brag about it! Though she used to be a little cheeky and playful about it to people she's allowed into her comfort zone."

"Is she not human? How does anyone even find time to learn different set skills on hand?" Sunggyu snapped.

Dongwoo looked rather uncomfortable continuing. "Rather, I'd say she's preoccupied herself with doing several things ever since..."

Let me guess, since London boy broke her heart and left, Sunggyu thought.

"... ever since her parents passed away. Like I said, she didn't want to burden anyone with her incapabilities, so she took the responsibility onto herself."


The three grew silent after that. It was definitely not the nicest way to end such an a dynamic introduction. Dongwoo knew he had to clear this atmosphere somehow and set the mood back on track. “On another note, that Woollim 4 lineup is going to turn into Woollim 5 pretty soon. I'm rather excited as to what special talents you'll be showing us, Sunggyu."

Sungjong burst out in laughter. "Hyung? Hyung excels in sleeping and nagging and at sports. He'll be so superb!"

"Hey! One more and I'll push you off this ledge and tell Sister Mi-Nyu it was an accident."

"Well, cheer up, dude. Knowing your superior gene lineage, you're going to be great! I can smell it. We just haven't found your niche yet, unless you're keeping it hidden from the world,” Dongwoo grinned, raising his eyebrows knowingly. "Now come on, those three are calling out to us! They want us to meet them downstairs."

Sunggyu swallowed with so much difficulty. His shoes felt like lead as he followed both Dongwoo and Sungjong, who had continued chatting. The pressure that Woohyun had piled on him earlier started feeling ten times heavier. Those four were super students-- there was no way he was capable of meeting up to their standards because they weren't even related in the first place!

As for Dongwoo, he was equally popular with the student population as well. Everywhere he went, people would always stop to give a friendly greeting or exchange a few casual words. He seemed to be just as close with everyone, and everyone's extended family for that matter. He might as well have starred in his own sitcom. "Everybody Loves Jang Dongwoo"-- it would have been a sure hit.

"Are you sure you're not Mr. Popular here at Daekyung yourself?" Sungjong teased.

“Nah, I’m just Jang Dongwoo, everyone’s friendly happy-go-lucky neighbourhood dinosaur!”

They had all met up at the foot of the stairs. Today was the day Woohyun promised to show them their usual, practically self-claimed territory-slash-hangout spot on campus before their next class. Coincidentally, they had ran into Seulbi, who had been stuffing books into her backpack from her locker. "Before you scream some absurd name at me, don't or I'll really consider dropping out," she snapped, directing her words at Woohyun.

"Are you still mad about freshman orientation, mon cher?"

"What do you think, poubelle?" Woohyun's face fell, obviously burnt by such a strong comeback. Sungyeol let out a loud snort. Dongwoo pointed his thumb towards the trash can to fill in for Hoya, who looked totally lost in translation.

"Hey, want to come with us and see our hangout?" Sungyeol invited. "You're welcome to stay there too, you know. Is Daekyung that big that I don't get to see my baby cousin around?"

"I have class in ten," Seulbi quickly dismissed.

"Great, I can walk you. Hand me your calculus and algebra book," Hoya offered. When Seulbi didn't budge, he took them from her arms instead.

"I miss calculus!" Sungyeol quipped again. "Maybe I should sit-in for the heck of it. You're still under old Kang-ssaem, right?"

"Come to think of it, you've never shown us your time table," Woohyun mused.

Seulbi's tolerance level had reached it limits. She snagged her books back from Hoya before closing her locker shut. "Don't memorize my time table. Don't come barging into my classes, same goes for sitting in. I can carry my own books and I can walk myself to my next class too. Why can't you just leave me alone for once? I don't need your babying! Not now, not ever!"

Seulbi held back and bit her lip after seeing her elder cousins wince at her sharp words. Admittedly, she did go overboard there, having been too fueled by her embarrassment from freshman orientation.

The girl cleared and her tone grew softer as she spoke to them. “Don’t you three have class in 10 minutes? Accounting, Accounting, Economics with Dongwoo,” Seulbi reminded, pointing to Hoya, Woohyun and Sungyeol respectively. "I'll join you guys for the rest of lunch time. It's our only common break today. Then maybe... you can give me a quick tour around the school."

“Awww, I'm touched, Bee. You actually memorised our time tables!”

Yes, because I needed to if I want to get away from all of you, Seulbi wanted to reply but wisely held her words back. 

<<<< >>>>

The next few days transitioned smoothly into the next school week without anymore embarassing mishaps and weird fanfare, until that eventful Wednesday. The pair wandered around the hallways of the school, confused. Wave after wave of massive throngs students madly rushed towards their direction, pouring out of the building like a flood gate every next few seconds or so.

“Fire?” Sunggyu mouthed as he caught Seubi’s eye despite the number of people squeezing by to get through.

“No alarm,” she mouthed back at him as they continued to counterflow. When their effort was getting them nowhere, she signalled him to take a left turn towards the administration offices. Even those facilities were completely devoid of people. A sign that said "Lunch Break" had been hastily taped to the window and it would have been perfectly fine had it not been eight in the morning.

"What's going on?"

"Beats me. Only three people in the Seoul can cause a commotion this big: the president, UN Secretary Ban Ki-Moon, or Lee Minho. Judging from the number of girls in the crowd, I say it's the latter."

Seulbi nodded her head solemnly. "Great deduction skills."

"Are you making fun of me?"

Everything she said seemed to set Sunggyu on high alert, and it was honestly funny to see him so antsy, so she decided to go along with the flow. "Maybe."

Suddenly, Hoya was right behind them, cutting their first argument in the longest while short. “Good, I didn't have to look far. Family meeting, you two,” he informed them, quickly ushering the two upstairs and a little further into the glass annex walkway on the third floor, over to where Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Woohyun, and an equally confused Sungjong were waiting for everyone. Seulbi immediately caught on to the serious, grim atmosphere.

"What's wrong?" she asked in concern, turning to the person easiest to pry answers from. "Hey Sungyeol, answer me. What's wrong?"

"That's what's wrong." The tallest one only pointed outside the glass windows over to the field and Sunggyu and Seulbi peered over.

The crowd that had amassed at the school gates was even bigger than the one that had gathered around Woohyun, Sungyeol and Hoya a couple of days back. The whole university, not just the School of Business and Economics, had come out to greet whoever had arrived. Over by the driveway appeared one limousine escorted by three sleek black BMWs of the latest series.

"Did the President of South Korea come over to visit? Can he even do that unannounced?"

It was strange to see the very cheerful Dongwoo so serious for once. "I would gladly take the President of South Korea over this guy, Sungjong."

The limousine finally pulled up at the main gate. Bodyguards exited from the BMWs, some trafficking through the crowd to clear a path, some attending to the door and out stepped that day's VVIP. He was dressed simpler than when Sunggyu had last seen him; now he was just in a simple plain grey v-neck with a windbreaker over, black pants and black hightops. Apparently, that didn't defer the crowd, especially the girls, from going into a squealing and screaming frenzy. Sunggyu's eyes quickly trailed over to Seulbi but the girl remained indifferent as she continued observing the scene before her.

Only Sungjong couldn't quite relate to what was happening right now. He scratched his head. "I don't get it. Who's he?"

That question prompted a whole series of chain reactions from the five: Woohyun's glare intensified even more; Dongwoo massaged his temples; Hoya bit the inside of his cheek; Sungyeol balled his fists tightly and Seulbi visibly stiffened.

“Take note, you two," Woohyun mumbled darkly as he cocked his head towards the direction of the school's newest celebrity-status student. "That person, right there, is public enemy number one.”

"What a show-off. His arrogance makes you want to tear him to shreds. Why I oughtta--"
"Look at that jerk, prancing around like some king! This isn't a runway for your unnecessary, unclassy airport fashion!"
“… most evil, most foul…”

Sungjong and Sunggyu looked exasperated as the four boys went on and on like a bunch of catty school girls. They’ve been bouncing numerous negative adjectives and opinions around, but not one of them answered Sungjong’s question.

“L Kim.”

Seulbi had finally decided to break her silence, crossing her arms as she finally teared her sight off the crowd. “He’s the son and heir to the Jeguk group of companies who came back after spending three years in London," she continued. "If the media hasn’t elaborated on it enough, Woollim and rising newcomer Jeguk aren’t exactly on the best of terms. I wouldn’t even call it healthy competition. I think you could pretty much infer by now where our alliances and rivalries lie.”

Sungjong murmured a quiet ‘thank you’ in response, feeling guilty about being the cause of this awkward atmosphere. By now, everyone else had grown silent.

“Don't give me that look. Someone had to say it.”

Sunggyu frowned as he continued to observe her sudden 180-degree switch. Just a few weeks ago, whenever London boy drifted into their conversation, she would always have that somber look etched on her face, and with this new piece of information on hand he somehow understood why she was that way. That directly pitted Seulbi, heiress to Woollim, against L, heir to Jeguk. But now, Seulbi's eyes were cold and unreadable this time.

Then again, this could have been a front she put up in front of her cousins, but she sounded serious. A bit too serious for pretend play.

"I want to wipe that annoying look off his equally annoying face," Sungyeol growled.

"Better yet, send him back to London," Dongwoo piped.

"I commend him, though. He has a lot of nerve showing his face around here," Hoya sneered, his eyes narrowing into finer slits. Sungjong and Sunggyu have secretly monicked that 'judging you right now' expression as his face-- it was amusing as long as they weren't the ones it was directed to. A cocky smirk formed on his features as he turned to Woohyun, "Shall we go down to greet him, hyung? After all, it's been awhile."

"You're right, Howon. Where are our manners? It would be rude of us not to," Woohyun replied, straightening up from the railing he was leaning

"Leave me out of your school girl fight. I have class to get to. Excuse me," Seulbi dismissed, readjusting the strap of her backpack. The remaining six watched her retreating figure as it disappeared round the corner.

"It's better if they didn't meet head on anyway," Dongwoo reassured. "I don't think any of us will be able to hold back if he manages to lash out at our Seulbi."

Woohyun gave one last look at the corner where Seulbi had disappeared off to before letting out a deep breath. "You're right. Let's go."

Sunggyu and Sungjong, however, not wanting to be a part of this weird family rivalry wherein they absolutely played no part in, tried to sneak off as well, but Hoya and Sungyeol had pulled them both by the scruff of their collars, dragging the two along with them. "You're coming with us!" the Lee siblings told them simultaneously.

"Can't we all just live a normal college life with cupcakes and rainbows?" Sungjong tried to plead against the taller Sungyeol. "I don't want to get unnecessarily beaten up."

"Deeper into the hole we go. Why did I even sign up for this?!?" Sunggyu groaned, unable to help himself against the stronger Hoya.

<<<< >>>>

Well that escalated quickly.

The whole school must have been following recent news for they instantly parted like the Red Sea the moment someone managed to spot Woohyun and company. Once again, Sunggyu dragged his lead-filled shoes, trailing behind the whole gang as they made their way to face off with L Kim, who had a wry look of amusement plastered on his face.

"Nam," he acknowledged. "It's been a while."

"L," Woohyun gritted back, not liking how the younger one addressed him so casually. The Jeguk heir only gave them his smuggest smirk as he proceeded to single out each member of their group.

"Jang."
"L."
"Howon."
"L."
"Hello, loser."

Sungyeol balled his fists, holding back a punch. "That's precisely what L stands for. Glad you learned something in England-- at least your education didn't go to complete waste."

"Likewise. I'm glad you even made it this far to college."

"Why you--"

God when was this childish back-and-forth throwing of names going to end? Sunggyu got it: they were all nicely reintroduced and reacquainted. He let out a frustrated grunt, feeling very uncomfortable to be placed under the scrutiny of almost the entire school. Wrong move. L’s eyes lit up in recognition the moment he set his eyes on Sunggyu. A small frown marred his face after that and once again, Sunggyu felt that same surge of anger he felt that night at the Lotte Hotel.

it, he remembers.

Luckily, L decided to pay no more further attention and instead turned to Woohyun, who had his hands in his pockets the whole time. “I see you’ve snagged new cronies, Nam. I knew you were always insecure, but not to this extent.”

"And I see you're still friendless as ever. Your pleasing personality didn't manage to get through to anyone?" Hoya challenged, threatening him by taking rather big steps forward, but Woohyun eased him, raising up his hand in attempts to calm his cousin.

“Well, we're all here to personally give you our greetings, L-ssi!” Woohyun's fake and forced smile immediately phased into one of arrogance and cockiness. “You have no business here at Daekyung. Get lost.”

And there was that infamous lopsided smirk of his. The piercing glare in his eyes looked extremely cold, but the Lee’s seemed unfazed by it. “The Kim family owns practically half of the stock shares of this university now. It would be practically impossible for me to ‘Get Lost’ as you so nicely put it,” he retorted.

L's eyes seemed to be scanning the vicinity, looking for someone as he ignored Woohyun’s incessant response chatter. A familiar face in the crowd, perhaps? He grew more and more frustrated as each second passed, until finally, he decided to take it out on the person right in front of him. "Nam, that mouth of yours just won't shut up, won't it? Have you tried using a roof sealant?"

"You arrogant son-of-a--" Woohyun gritted as he stepped dangerously close to the younger boy.

"Break it up there, all seven of you!"

The school dean came running in to put a stop to their nonsense before the first fist was thrown. "I don't care if your families want to cut each other's throats. No fist fights or demonstrations of violence on campus. If I see any of you like this again, corresponding measures for your misconduct will be undertaken, are we clear? You're grown-ups, for God's sake, not children!"

"Sorry, ssaem," they muttered in apology.

"The same goes for all of you! 8:30 class started fifteen minutes ago! Go!" the elder dean barked at them. Pretty soon, the crowds started to disperse, getting back to their regularly scheduled program called 'school'. Coldly, Myungsoo turned to follow the dean as he had to get to the administration offices anyway for his timetable and other things.

Sungyeol tapped Woohyun on the shoulder once he was sure everyone was out of earshot. "Hey. Why didn't you just tell him about Sunggyu-hyung?"

"It's not like I'm embarassed of him or anything, it's simply not my place to do so," Woohyun simply replied. "I think it's better to keep Sunggyu's identity a secret amongst ourselves for now. If we let it out that he's Henry when he's not made his transition yet into our kind of lifestyle-- people are going to be expecting so much from hyung, and if he doesn't meet it, there'll be mudslinging on the Woollim name. I don't want to put that kind of pressure on him, so we'll wait until he's ready."

The rest, realizing Woohyun's point was right, quickly agreed.

Nice save, greasy tree, Sunggyu sighed in relief.

<<<< >>>>

"Have you found some portal to another dimension in there because it's taking you eons."

That drawl was unmistakably from L. It had been a couple of days after their face-off at the main gates and so far, he had done nothing thus far to terrorize either Sungjong or him, unlike what Sungyeol anticipated, up until that moment. It seemed to Sunggyu that he had been waiting for the perfect moment to strike, now that he wasn't with any of the Woollim boys, or Dongwoo or Sungjong.

But to be honest, he'd take it over having Sungjong stuck in his shoes right now.

Sunggyu hastily shoved the rest of his stuff into his locker before closing the door. He hadn't even been there for ten seconds and the guy was already insisting that he move out of the way. "You know, for a kid belonging to the upper echelon of society, you're rather rude to someone you barely know. Did Jeguk teach you that?"

"The same goes for Lee Seulbi's gold digger. Who are you to talk to me in that manner?" L shot back.

The heir's insults held some truth in them. The impetus to him staying was really 70% because of money and 30% because of Lee Jungyeop's health. But to go so far as to label him a gold digger? That definitely ticked Sunggyu off because he had not in any way squandered that money for completely selfish purposes.

Dongwoo had advised them that it would be best to walk away upon provocation but there was no way he was going to let snooty rich spoiled brats walk over him like a door mat. Especially not this one. Sorry Dongwoo, he thought bitterly before giving his reply.

"Clearly, someone of importance to you. Look at you, you can't keep your mouth shut out of awe, your jaw's practically hanging," Sunggyu jeered, even daring to pat the other's jaw to prove a point. L had angrily swiped his hand away but did nothing more about it. "What, all talk, can't hit?"

From the corner of his eye, he could see that the heir had curled his fist tightly and was ready to let fly.

"Are you done?"

Both guys turned to see Lee Seulbi standing there with an equally cold, piercing glare that could very much rival L's. Sunggyu gulped and slowly backed away as much as he could. He felt like he had been caught in the crossfire of World War I, between the Allied and Axis powers that were sizing each other up, waiting to fire the first cannon.

"I asked you if you were done," Seulbi addressed, her tone calmer now, uncrossing her arms as she approached them. "If not, then be done after you punch him in the face or something."

That was a very evil thing to say. How could she leave him poor and defenseless? Much to his surprise, L put his fist down but did not uncurl it. His knuckles were still white and taut.

"What? You weren't planning to hit?" Seulbi challenged.

"You're irksome. Here, have your boyfriend back," L spat, betraying a lot more feelings than he had intended to as his expression turned sour. Sunggyu almost swore there was a tinge of jealousy laced in those words of his.

"Yeah, thanks for returning him in one piece," Seulbi whistled back in complete sarcasm before grabbing onto the Sunggyu's arm, steering him into the opposite direction, away from L Kim. It was an angrier staredown from L's end, compared to how he glared at Woohyun and the gang earlier. Unfortunately for him, Seulbi didn't want to lock horns head-on. From the looks of it, she wasn't even planning to pick up the other end of the rope to their game of tug-of-war. "Let's go, Sunggyu."

“My welcome greeting.”

That effectively stopped her in her tracks.

“You weren’t with your cousins earlier when they came to give their greetings,” L continued, slipping both his hands into his pockets. “At least they had the decency to. You weren’t there at all.”

If Sunggyu's hunches were also right, he could have sworn that the guy sounded rather bitter about that. He realized that the more Seulbi and this L guy interacted with each other, the more confused he got about what they really thought about each other.

“Trust me, you won’t be pleased with my greeting anyway.”

"Has Woollim become this prideful?"

"I see you're still as hot-headed and as stubborn as ever," Seulbi mused. "Sure. I'll think about it."

“I think I changed my mind. I've decided I don't want it."

That sense of familiarity must have ticked him off. L's tone had gotten dangerously low and Sunggyu noticed that Seulbi's grip on his arm had tightened.

"I haven’t spoken to you in three years nor have I attempted to make any sort of contact whatsoever. I’ve changed. I’m not the same person I was. You don’t know me now, and for me, you’re just someone I used to know as well. We will draw the line here right now. So get out of my sight and leave me alone, Lee Seulbi. I don’t want to have anything to do with you. Not anymore.”

There was a considerable moment of silent after that. Sunggyu gritted his teeth, his growing dislike for this L person intensifying. This was the bloodshed that he was trying to avoid back at the Pierre Gagnaire weeks back and he continued to observe her. If ever those words had hurt Lee Seulbi deeply, her eyes did not show it.

"I'll try to keep that in mind. Excuse us." With that, Seulbi ushered herself and Sunggyu away.

"Are... you okay?" he muttered once they were out of earshot.

"Are you stupid or what? Next time, don't do something as suicidal and classless as provocation. You could have cleanly walked away from that," Seulbi, completely ignoring his previous question, warned as she shoved him in front once she was sure they were out of ear shot. "And be careful about where you display your street thug attitude. Heads up, he's a 2nd dan black belter in taekwondo."

"Thank you for that very late memorandum," Sunggyu replied, rubbing his upper arm. "I needed that."

Shaking her head, Seulbi began steering him once again and pretty soon, the two found themselves on the topmost floor of the arts building. The old and unused minitheatre, replaced for bigger and better ones, had been taken over by Woollim 3 and Dongwoo in their free time, restored to mint condition and transformed into the Lee family's common room as of last year, under the guise of club purposes. Back in the day, this place had been rumored to be the hangout spot of the previous Woollim 4; the legacy had just been passed onto them.

No one was chilling there or doing homework for that day. Seulbi sighed as she plopped down on one of the chairs on the back row. Today's workload really tired her out and the silence and calmness was very much appreciated.

"That's strange. Hoya isn't here," Sunggyu murmured, noticing the unusual absence of people. "That guy's usually over there by the corner, lifting weights while cramming for his Korean history class."

"Howon has varsity practice at this time," Seulbi filled in for him. "We're waiting up for him today because Sungyeol has somewhere to attend to for Woollim later. So I suggest you'd get some rest or study or something. Just keep it down. I think I'm getting a headache."

"Wow, you're rather demanding."

"Forget what I said earlier. I'm definitely having a headache right now."

It was very unusual to see the usual no-show Lee Seulbi bum out like she's been living here for ages. It only made Sunggyu wonder about where she went on her usual breaks as he made his way to the aisle seats on the same row, at the end opposite to hers. Might as well make good use of his time. He started pulling out his problem set for calculus, propping both of his feet up on the seat in front of him. Before he set to work, he made sure he had his earphones on. Nell was always good brain-stimulating music, after all.

“Myungsoo.”

It came out as a soft whisper, but Sunggyu’s sharp ears were still able to pick up on that despite being having earphones muffling the sound.

“His real name is Kim Myungsoo,” Seulbi continued on, thinking that he was already listening to music when the truth was, he had yet to play anything. “He’s obsessed with the colour black, and curry udon and kimchi stew. He can't stomach raw food and hates sweets. He gets a double eyelid on his left eye when he’s tired. Also, he's hot-headed and stubborn. He's cold and arrogant. His douchebaggery has skyrocketed to the next level since we all last saw him. It does make one wonder what he's been up to for these past 3 years."

Sunggyu kept his eyes fixed on the calculus problem before him, shooting her side glances every now and then to see if she’s caught on about him actually hearing everything.

"But despite all that, I know that he still has his heart in the right place. That's why, even though he decides to start burning his end of the bridge... he’s still a very important person to me.”

Lee Seulbi made it clear. She was not going to let go of that tiny piece of hope, no matter how hard it was to keep on holding when all odds were against it. Called it idiocy, if you must. But he secretly commended her resilience in not giving up on that one person. 

Seulbi sighed as she finally got up to leave, “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this when you're not even listening. It’s not like I wanted you to listen either." She was just about to push open the theatre doors when something hit her lightly on the back of the head. "HEY!"

The offending object? A crumpled up piece of paper.

"Sunggyu, what the--?!?"

"Oh, that wasn't me. That was a friendly reminder from the high heavens. You needed some reminding," Sunggyu dismissed, pointing to the ceiling as he continued to stare at the same problem he had been staring at for minutes now. "I don't need to be babysat so go off and do your own bidding. Hoya and I will see you later in an hour or so."

Shaking her head at him, she exited and it was only then that she decided to straighten out the paper. Sunggyu had hastily drawn a smiley face before crumpling it up and tossing it over to her-- a friendly reminder of what she had told him back at the streets of Myeongdong, and perhaps something to cheer her up. The corners of her lips could not help but curl into a smile that matched the wide grin on the paper.

<<<< >>>>

Fire exit.

That had been Seulbi's secret hiding spot since the first day of school, having nowhere else to run to after that embarrassing Woohyun mishap during freshman orientation. Although it was a closed stairwell, one side had been made of glass, which brought a nice view of the campus. She had taken to the place because it brought her much more quiet and peace than the library could possibly ever offer. The whole stairwell had been her solo turf for the past two weeks of school, with the occassional janitor coming in every now and then on the second floor landing to get some cleaning materials.

So, that late afternoon, she was very surprised to run into L. Literally.

She rushing on her way up to the fourth floor when he came in from out of nowhere and collided into her, sending the two of them toppling backwards. Not their best moment, respectively.

"What are you doing here?" he snapped as he stood up and dusted himself off. "I thought I told you to get out of my sight."

"This is my hang-out spot," Seulbi responded as she got up as well.

"I need it more," he cut off coldly. "I'm not sure if I can hold back right now so if you don't want to get hurt by my words any further, I highly suggest you leave."

He had expected her to put up one last hurrah like her display at the hallway, but this time, she meekly subjected to his wishes and slowly left. He waited until he heard the door close before letting out a frustrated sigh, making his way back up to the building's rooftop, where he had been brooding since earlier. The heir had not realized that he had been standing there staring into space for a couple of minutes now until his phone rang.

It was coming from an unregistered phone number. His sour mood made him want to ignore the call, but it could have been business-related, so he took it anyway. "Hello?"

“Who would have known that after all this time, you still use the same number…”

Before he could even respond, Lee Seulbi had beaten him to it. "You told me to get out of your sight. Clearly, calling you doesn't count, so will you spare me at least a minute?"

He could have seriously ended the call right then and there because he was in no way obliged to hear her out. He did not know what compelled him to keep listening.

“I know we haven’t talked in years, but it doesn’t mean that I haven’t thought about you at all. How have you been? You’ve gotten taller, almost as tall as Yeol now. You’ve lost all your baby fat around your cheeks too. In fact, you’ve grown up so well in these past three years, it’s a shame I wasn’t there to see through it. You're a really bad person, do you know that? To be honest, when you left three years ago without a word, I was pissed. I told you then that we'd sort this family thing out together but you and your bullheaded self decided to selfishly take matters into your own hands. Like Woohyun and the rest, it would be a complete lie to say that I didn't feel the least betrayed by what you did. You're right. All of us going back to the way things were before seems like a long shot, not after the damage you've dealt..."

"... and definitely not when you're being such an about it. I'll apologize in advance if I can't hold myself back, because I'm really tempted to punch you in the face right now."

He whirled around to find Lee Seulbi standing there with him at the roof top. The call had been ended a good few seconds ago. She had her fists clenched tightly. Resolved to his fate, he shut his eyes and braced himself for a good sock to the jaw worth three years worth of anger.

"That's what you wanted me to say, right? Well I'm sorry. If you think that I was seriously going to punch you for being such a douchebag, you're sadly mistaken," Seulbi called out.

His eyes widened as he felt himself being pulled forward. A pair of familiar, comforting arms wrapped around him, and before he knew it Lee Seulbi, sworn mortal enemy of the Kim family, was hugging him like that rivalry meant nothing.

"Thank you for coming back in good health. Thank you for being safe," she murmured with so much affection laced in her voice. "There's just so much more that I want to tell you-- so much more I want to hear from you, but I'm afraid I can't afford that luxury of time from you anymore. So I'm going to be selfish right now and ignore what you told me earlier. Also, I really don't care if you snap at me for it. It's a long shot, but it doesn't mean I'll stop trying."

Inside, Kim Myungsoo was in turmoil. His arms have not left his sides as he definitely did not want to return the hug, but he couldn't bring himself to push her away and snap at her either.

Seulbi realized that she might have held on a little longer than she had intended to and let go, clearing . Myungsoo still stood there, his eyes still wide in surprise and bafflement from her earlier action.The heiress only gave him a little nonchalant shrug. "Well, would you look at the time? Howon must be done with practice. I need to get back."

"You're seriously throwing Howon out as an excuse?!? Why did you--?" His expression demanded to know what that earlier gesture was for. By now, Myungsoo had completely lost all his cool. Lee Seulbi had managed to find a way to slip through the high, solid walls that he had meticulously built up and fortified in a span of three years. He felt breached, threatened, open, and it scared him. Whether he liked it or not, even since before he left for London, only Lee Seulbi had that effect on him.

"What it was. I told you you wouldn't like it, but you insisted on it." A dimpled smile graced her face as she turned to leave. "Welcome back, Kim Myungsoo."

Author's Note:

First of all, Daekyung isn't really one of the top universities in Seoul because that prestige is given to SKY universities, but for the purposes of this AU fic, let's ignore that for the meantime shall we? Second, I've altered Sungyeol's birthday from August to December. And behold, the inspiration for that whole Woollim 3 "runway" scene. I wonder how many times they had to retake this scene, you can totally see Sunggyu and Myungsoo laughing at them at one point.