5:50 a.m. Youngji was alone inside the convenience store Jackson told him to go to. Well, she was not completely alone, since the two store employees were there. And they were pretty surprised to see a student inside their store in the wee hours of the morning.

Youngji was already in her second cup of chocolate milk, and scattered on her table are boxes of Pocky and cups of ramen. She was still sleepy, that's why she had to eat more to fight off that feeling.

She can still remember her mother's reaction that morning after seeing her leaving home too early.

"Youngji, honey," her mother called out after coming out of her room, "Why are you up so early? I thought your class starts at 7?"

Youngji was already in her school uniform when her mother saw her, "Ah! Good morning, Mom. I--I need to meet up with my friend for a... a school project," she smiled nervously.

"Where are you going to wait for your friend? It's still dark outside," her mother asked worriedly.

"I'll be fine, Mom. We'll see each other at the convenience store near the school."

Her mother sighed, "Okay, just be safe, honey. Do you want me to bring you there?"

"It's okay, I'll be fine," Youngji smiled before giving her mom a kiss on the cheek, "Bye, Mom. I'll see you later!"

Youngji let out a deep sigh. Her mother was so kind. But Youngji lied to her, "I'm such a bad daughter," she thought to herself.

"Hey!"

Youngji turned to look behind her, and there she saw Jackson with a wide smile on his face, "You really did wait for me?" he said.

Youngji pursed her lips in annoyance, "Shut up. I'm doing this for myself."

Jackson quickly went and sat in front of Youngji, with his elbows resting against the table, he leaned closer to her, "Aww, I like it when you're all grumpy and gloomy."

Youngji was startled; now she was receiving compliments from her archnemesis. She wasn't even sure if he was complimenting her.

"Did you bring my lunch?" Jackson asked as he pulled Youngji's bag away from her, "Is it here?"

"Hey!" Youngji quickly swiped her bag away from Jackson, "You can't just open others' bags like that!"

"Hey you, too," Jackson pouted, "You should be doing me favors since I discovered your dirty little secret."

Youngji's eyes widened, "Are you nuts? Yes I do have a secret, but it's definitely not dirty!" she exclaimed as she hugged her bag tightly. Jackson's eyes were still fixed at her bag.

"So, where's my lunch?"

"Stop, Jackson Wang. It's only six in the morning," Youngji creased her forehead, "Why did you even ask me to go here early in the morning? Let's just be clear, I'm not going to do your homeworks. I will never do that!"

Jackson smiled as he rested his chin on his hand, watching Heo Youngji closely, "Ponytails look good on you."

A quick bolt of electricity went through Youngji's spine after hearing what he had just said. She was both surprised and disgusted by it, "I'm not in the mood for some bullcrap, Jackson Wang! Just tell me why you did this!"

Youngji observed Jackson as he looked up, as if he was thinking of something. A few more seconds passed, and he spoke.

"Nothing, really. There's no reason at all," he smiled.

"What?"

"I said there's no reason why I asked you to come here this early."

Youngji felt her blood rush up to her cheeks because of anger. She could not believe that a person as annoying and irritating as Jackson Wang did exist.

She slammed her hand on the table before standing up, then grabbed her bag; she was ready to leave, "You jerk! Did you know that I only got five hours of sleep because of all this fuss?! I'm outta here!" she exclaimed before turning her back against Jackson. But even before she could take her first step, she heard Jackson whistle behind her, before speaking.

"Ah, I guess I'll have to see my good ol' pal Mark and tell him about how I caught Class 4-B's Heo Youngji stalking him yesterday."

Youngji was startled. She almost forgot about Mark because of her annoyance with Jackson.

"I wonder how Mark will react about that," Jackson squinted his eyes with a playful smile on his face.

"Shiitake," Youngji whispered to herself, "Jackson Wang, you little piece of shiitake mushroom," she closed her eyes shut as she went back to her seat.

"Oh, you're back! How nice of you," Jackson scoffed, to which Youngji responded with a glare. She needed to fight off the urge of strangling Jackson Wang while they were alone.

"What do you even want?" she sighed deeply.

"I want us to go to school together," Jackson grinned, "Then we'll eat lunch together. After that, since we share the same PE class, I want you to carry my sports bag for me. Capisce?"

Youngji nodded hesitantly.

"Then, we also need to go home together. And we'll do the same tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, then the week after this week!" he added. Jackson already looked like a five-year-old who had just received his first pet.

"How long are we going to keep on doing this?" Youngji seethed, and under the table, she was already clenching her fists and wishing that the earth will open up and swallow the person in front of her.

"Hm, for a month, I guess. That would be enough," Jackson responded. He did look sincere when he said those words, so Youngji felt a sense of trust with his words.

"I'll keep your words, Jackson Wang," Youngji creased her forehead, "I'll only be doing this for a month!"

Jackson responded with a nod and a wide smile on his face, before standing up from his seat and grabbing Youngji by the arm, "We should go to school now, peasant!"

Youngji swiftly pulled her arm away from him, "What are you doing?! And who are you calling a peasant?!" she gave him a glare before walking past him towards the door. Youngji has no plans of going to school with her most-hated person. What would the other students think? That she and that jerk were dating? So, Youngji just kept walking ahead of Jackson, keeping herself inches away from him on the road.

Jackson just followed her, keeping up with her quick pacing. And since he was taller and his steps were longer, he was able to reach Youngji effortlessly.

"Why are you such in a hurry?" he asked, but Youngji just kept her eyes fixed on the road, not minding Jackson behind her.

"Hey, Heo Youngji."

She just kept walking.

"Heo Youngji."

She just kept silent.

And one of the things Jackson Wang didn't like was being ignored. He quickly held her by the arm and pulled her closer to make her face him.

"You peasant! Answer me when I ask you a question!" Jackson scowled.

Youngji was startled, but she was not the type who would just back down, "I--I don't want to go to school with you!" she retorted.

"Tch, do you hate me that much?" Jackson smirked, "I thought you'd do everything I say for a month. Well, unless you want me to tell Mark about yesterday."

The only thing Heo Youngji could do was to let out a deep sigh. Clearly, Jackson Wang had her wrapped around his finger. She gloomily started walking beside him, fighting the urge of pushing him in the middle of the road and have him run over by cars.

-

"What?! Are you serious about that?!" Hara exclaimed which startled the other students inside the classroom. She slammed her hands on Youngji's table with a devastated look on her face, "Youngji, you can't just let him do that to you!"

Second period had just ended, and it was already time for lunch. Hara approached Youngji to eat lunch with her, but instead, she was welcomed by bad news.

"Calm down, Hara," Youngji whispered as she tried calming her friend down, "It's okay, I can handle him. I--"

"Handle that immature douche bag? Are you kidding me?!" Hara was literally fuming. Even the students around them were giving her a surprised reaction; it was their first time to see Goo Hara upset and ablaze.

"But Hara, he saw me watching Mark secretly. I don't want him to tell Mark about it," Youngji bit her lip in anxiousness, before resting her chin against her hand; "I'd die if Mark discovers my secret."

Hara let out a deep sigh, "Look, Ji. I'm telling you, nothing's wrong about crushing on your schoolmate. Don't let Jackson Wang drag you around just because of that. Confront Jackson, tell him 'I'm not scared of you! So what if you'd tell Mark Tuan about me?' There, do it like that! Show him who's the boss!" Hara smirked, trying to convince her friend. But Youngji seemed unamused by it.

"Ah, that's easier said than done," Youngji pouted, "My whole life will change if ever Mark learns that I have a crush on him. That might sound very shallow, but my last year in high school would be ruined if that happens."

"Look, Ji, your burden will be lessened if you confess to him already," Hara patted her friend's head, "I'll help you out!"

But Youngji only shook her head, "Thank you, Hara, but that would be unnecessary," she forced a smile.

"Heo Youngji! Where's Heo Youngji?" a loud voice called out from the door. Everyone turned to look, including Hara and Youngji, and there they saw Jackson Wang with a serious look on his face.

"I'm looking for Heo Youngji!" he repeated. With that, Youngji already stood up, carrying her bag. But Hara held her by the wrist and asked, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be having lunch with Jackson Wang today," Youngji sighed.

Hara quickly ran to get her bag, "I'm coming with you!"

Jackson already approached the two and pulled Youngji away from her friend. He was already wearing a frown on his face; he never liked waiting, "I'll be borrowing your friend for a while," he told Hara, who didn't let go of her friend.

"No! Youngji's eating lunch with me!" Hara insisted, furrowing her eyebrows just to intimidate him, but it was useless.

"Well, let's just ask Heo Youngji about that," Jackson smirked, as if he was pretty sure that Youngji would pick him over Hara. He turned to look at Youngji, "Are you going to eat lunch with me or with Hara?"

Hara widened her eyes, trying to send a mental message to Youngji to choose her... which she did, "I want to go with Hara!" Youngji beamed.

"Wrong answer, let's go!" Jackson quickly interrupted before dragging Youngji out of the room. Hara quickly followed them as well.

"Jackson Wang! Bring her back here!" Hara called out. The three passed by Class 4-A's classroom, and just in time, Jaebum and Jinyoung went out of the room, witnessing the fuss Hara, Jackson, and Youngji were creating in the corridor on their way to the cafeteria.

"Was that... Jackson?" Jaebum asked with a confused look on his face.

"Yeah, and he's with Heo Youngji. Oh, and Goo Hara was running after them," Jinyoung mused, before breaking into a laughter, "A love triangle! It's a love triangle! I’d better tell Yugyeom and Youngjae about this!" Jinyoung quickly grabbed his phone from his pocket to call his friends.

With that, the two quickly ran to the cafeteria to catch up with the three.

___

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Omo! Thank you so much for the 40+ subs in just two days; you guys are all awesome. Oh, and special thanks to sicajay999, PANICMOON, and shea_shariff for giving this story an upvote! /virtual hug/ ♥ I updated too soon, I guess, so please let me know what you think of the second chapter at the comment box below. Happy reading! :)