For piqahbyg97 ^^ Okay, way overdue and I apologise. Also, this scenario went a different way than what I had in mind, but I hope it's alright~ 

They say that the more you hate, the more you love. You don’t know who the first to say that was, but you’re not exactly denying it outright. Because maybe, just maybe, you’re starting to see where they’re coming from.

Maybe not from your side just yet, but you can’t help but start listening to your instincts. It’s been almost a year of all this, of Mr. Popular, Choi Seungcheol getting on the last of your very nerves with his shenanigans.

Maybe it all branched from the first day you met him. You have to admit that you didn’t make one bit of a decent first impression when you accidentally spilled your lunch all over him as a result of two clumsy left feet, but you apologised profusely, and you even offered to hand wash his uniform. To which he waved you off. He didn’t say a word when he looked at you, but he didn’t seem entirely furious before the rest of his clique and a good few open admirers crowded around him, volunteering to clean him off.

No matter how not-that-ticked-off he did look at the time however, Choi Seungcheol seemed to decide that from that day on, you wouldn’t forget him.

It started off with that one time you were running late for school early in the year. It was a common error, sleeping through the alarm clock and whatnot. Coincidentally, Seungcheol was too. And when he spotted you running frantically behind him, trying to get into school before the gates closed, even though you were still a good few metres away from him, you swore you saw the slyest smirk ever grow on his face in the span of a second.

He raced ahead to get his feet onto school grounds, and before a member of faculty could touch the gates, he stopped them. At first you thought: Okay, cool, he’s going to wait for me. But nope, that jerk just volunteered to close the gates himself. And you watched him, so close to reaching the school as he quickly pushed the gates shut.

When you finally got there, he had already fixed the locks into place.

“Oh, come on!” You groaned.

“Sorry, student. You’re about two minutes late. Such a shame, where’s your sense of responsibility?” He teased, placing his hands on his hips mockingly.

You grabbed the bars of the gates and brought your face closer to whine more effectively. Desperation had the most control over you at this stage, so you decided to make sure to exaggerate your pout.

“Please? Just this once? I’ve never been late in my life… And I promise to never ever be late again!”

You’re not sure if the next part was real, if Seungcheol really did take a moment to smile like a kid to himself, and then stop himself, but you could tell you amused him. Perhaps enough for him to let you in, but that turned into wishful thinking when he flashed a smug expression and walked away.

It didn’t stop from then on. Seungcheol found other ways to mess with you that followed a similar goal - getting you into trouble. Instances that mainly involved framing you. He’d pretend you were copying his work, stealing little things from him, putting gross substances on the teacher’s chair that stained their clothes when they sat on it and then blaming you, and so on.

You tried to defend yourself each time, but the teachers saw this as ‘rudely talking back’ and it only made them increase your punishment. Sometimes they would make you clean the classroom, other times they would keep you back after school to write a five page apology letter, sometimes, when Seungcheol would frame you in P.E., they would make you run laps, other times, when Seungcheol would frame you in Science, they would make you scrub every inch of the lab.

But the strange thing was that Seungcheol would always drop by or even stick around to watch you suffer. Hence, why you started wondering if he was a sociopath, or had other motives.

This time, Seungcheol said that you were copying his test yet again. So, this time, they made you write a eight page letter of apology addressed to him. It would’ve been just five as usual, if Seungcheol hadn’t butted in and made you snap at him. And of course, this time, Seungcheol is right here with you, leaning his head on his hand propped on the desk next to yours, so entertained that you have to give him a handwritten apology.

“This is bullying, I swear,” you complain, staring at the blank pages in front of you.

“What? You don’t want to own up to the bad, bad things you did to me?” He fakes a pout and you groan.

“You know very well that I’ve done none of those things. And I don’t even know what you have against me!”

“Well, one of them’s your lunch.” He smirks.

You turned to him, biting on your lip and shrugging.

“Well, I apologised for that already. I just don’t understand how anyone could do something like what you’ve been doing to me unless…”

“Unless what?”

“Oh… nothing. It’s just that, you must know that I really really hate this.”

Seungcheol lets out a chuckle.

“Well, the more you hate, the more you love,” he singsongs.

Your ears perk up.

“So, you admit it?”

You catch him so off-guard that his eyes widen. You even surprise yourself with your sudden bout of confidence, but you decide to follow through with it.

“A-Admit what?”

“That… umm… Okay, maybe, just maybe, okay? You might be even the tiniest bit interested in me?”

The moment the words leave your mouth, a whole wave of regret washes over you when Seungcheol doesn’t reply. He’s staring right through you as if what you’ve said was pure nonsense and you clear your throat.

“Oh my God, forget that. What am I saying, that’s not even possible. You probably just hate me so much that you can’t help but want to ruin me. Okay, forget that happened.”

You mutter sorrys under your breath and inch further away from Seungcheol in embarrassment. You can’t even look him in the eye now and you try to distract yourself by grabbing the pen and starting to think of what to write. It doesn’t help that you have to write this letter to him.

“No…” Seungcheol interrupts, his voice much quieter. “You’re err… You’re right.”

He scooches in closer to you when you finally look at him wide-eyed.

“I’d rather if you didn’t tease me for that, it was a mistake, okay? I know I was stupid for letting it slip out. I’m so, so stupid, so can we let it go?”

“No, I’m being serious. I admit that what I’ve been doing is a pretty mean way to get your attention but hey, it works?”

He clears his throat when you don’t respond.

“Well, if you are serious, your method ,” you finally spit out. “You’ve pretty much ruined my school reputation and made me feel like crap when I couldn’t clear my name.”

“Yeah. I’m sorry,” he pauses, taking a breath. “Remember that one day I made you late? At the time it was just to get even. But then you were so close to me, and it became fun teasing you for your reaction. So, I kept messing with you to watch how you’d react, then you started getting punished, then I started feeling guilty and that’s why I’d check on you to see how you were doing. And then, I realised the times you were being held for punishment became the perfect opportunities to spend time with you, so I kept the cycle going. It’s messed up, I know, but I’m really sorry.”

Silence builds up second by second as you take some time to process what you’re hearing. This had been something you suspected was going on, but then again you couldn’t bring yourself to believe it was true.

“Hey,” Seungcheol speaks up again, tapping you gently on the shoulder. “I realise that you would’ve felt terrible because of me. I’m sorry if you’ve ever felt like there was something wrong with you just because I chose you to mess with. Which isn’t the case, you know. I like you the way you are.”

You manage a small but genuine smile.

“Thanks.”

Seungcheol puffs his cheeks and looks up at the ceiling.

“‘Cause that’s exactly what a guy wants to hear after a dramatic confession, thanks.”

His remark makes you laugh, nudging your shoulder into his.

“Well, I don’t exactly hate you, even up to this point.”

“But that also means you don’t exactly love me either,” he moans.

“Exactly. But you know what might help?”

“What?” Seungcheol asks excitedly.

“An eight page handwritten letter of apology addressed to me,” you smirk.

You watch him sulk, but accept the pen and paper from you. It’s amusing, you think, being on the other side of the situation and observing him receive his punishment. Somehow, it becomes comforting to stay here with him and study him as he concentrates on the words he’s putting down. It’s as if time isn’t even passing at all, and you don’t even know how long or how little it takes before something in you sparks.

“Hey, Seungcheol.”

“Yeah?”

“I think I like you too,” you smile, and you swear you see the biggest grin ever grow on his face at this exact moment.