“…Okay, class. That’s the end of today’s lecture,” Jieun announced, closing her notebook. She waited for the bell to ring. “Once the bell rings, you guys can clean the classroom. I’ll be in the staffroom if you need me. Oh, and remember that you guys have midterms in two weeks! Study for your midterms!”

The bell rang. The rest of the class got up and started to clean the classroom. Jieun started to make her way out the door and headed straight to the staffroom.

Jungkook, who had been keeping his eyes on her, quickly pushed a few tables to the side and started to run off to catch up to her.

“Dude, where are you going?” one of his friends asked, stopping him.

“Sorry, I need to go ask Ji—I mean, Miss Lee something,” Jungkook said, shrugging away the friend’s hand. He ran off, searching for Jieun. When he saw her turn at the corner of the wall, he quickly started to run towards her. “Ji—“ He stopped himself when he saw a few students stare at him. “I mean, Miss Lee! Miss Lee!”

Jieun stopped her tracks. She turned around and waited for Jungkook to catch up with her.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Um, I was wondering if you can not come to our house for a few days?” Jungkook pleaded.

“Why? Does Kiha not want me?” she asked him.

“Well, um, no, not exactly…”

“Does it have to do something with Changmin?”

“What? No—“

“Or do you not want me to be there—“

“What? No!” Jungkook exclaimed, interrupted her. He gasped and covered his mouth when he realized that he was being too loud. A small blush appeared on his cheeks. “I-It’s not like that, it’s just…” He glanced up and noticed Chanyeol coming out of the boy’s bathroom with a mop and a bucket. “Chanyeol! Perfect! Chanyeol, come here for a second!”

Chanyeol pointed at himself, slightly confused with why the younger man was calling for him. Nevertheless, he approached the two, but kept a firm distance away from Jieun.

“You called?” Chanyeol asked, paying more attention to Jungkook.

“Explain to Jieun why it’s best not to come to my house,” Jungkook said.

“Why can’t you do it yourself?” Chanyeol asked.

“Because she thinks that I don’t want her to be there,” Jungkook explained.

“Then why don’t you just tell her that it’s not that you don’t want her there, but it’s because Kiha’s been busy on the phone trying to negotiate something with the editor and director?” Chanyeol said.

Jungkook pointed at Chanyeol and looked at Jieun. “See? He explained it perfectly.”

“Wait, an editor and a director? Negotiations?” She frowned. “Did something happen?”

“You didn’t hear from Kiha?” Chanyeol asked, a bit surprised. “Depending on how Kiha’s webtoon does in the next few weeks, he might get his webtoon turned into a drama.”

Jieun dropped her jaws. “D-Drama? A drama?” She turned to Jungkook with a huge smile. “That’s huge! I’m so proud of him!”

“Well, it depends on how well he does everything and if he can keep up with the director,” Chanyeol said. “This director is one of the best directors, but he’s really stubborn with everything. If the webtoon doesn’t go his way, then the drama offer is gone.”

“That’s too bad,” Jieun murmured. “Well, tell Kiha that I won’t be able to come to his house for the whole month. Besides, I got teacher tasks to accomplish.”

“Is that why you’re going to the staffroom right away?” Jungkook asked. “Do you need any help?”

“No, I’m good,” Jieun said, smiling. “I’ll see you next time, okay?”

“Okay,” Jungkook murmured, giving her a small wave, “bye…”

“I’ll see you some time, too, Chanyeol,” Jieun said, giving him a small look. Chanyeol only shrugged his shoulders, but nodded afterwards. 

She started to head to the staffroom. When she glanced back, she could see Jungkook acting flustered while Chanyeol rolled his eyes and went back to work. She figured that Chanyeol must’ve said something that made the little boy all red and anxious.

I wonder what Chanyeol said, she thought.

In five minutes, she arrived at the staffroom. She was just about to make her way to her desk until she saw a familiar older figure sitting on her chair. She let out a loud gasp and placed her hand over her heart.

“K-Kiha?” she stuttered, shocked to see him.

Kiha looked up from his phone and raised his hand. “Oh! You finally came!”

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her eyes wide. “Why are you here? What about being busy with drama?”

“Oh? So you heard about the drama offer?” Kiha asked, a bit surprised. “Well, it looks like I came here for no reason. Bummer.”

“Wait, do you even have permission to be on campus?” she asked.

“I’m close with the principal. He lets me roam around,” Kiha said, assuring her that it was perfectly okay for him to lurk around the school. “As long as I don’t cause any disruption, then I am freely allowed to roam around.”

“So what are you doing here?” she asked, getting another chair.

“I wanted to see you.” Her heart skipped a beat. “I didn’t know if you were coming to my house today, and I didn’t know if I’d have time to go to your house later, so I figured that I should just come to you.” He looked around. “Are you busy right now?”

“N-No, not really,” she muttered. “Anyway, what did you want to talk about?”

“I just wanted to rant,” Kiha said.

“Isn’t it unappealing for a man to rant to a woman?”

“What’s so unappealing about a human being ranting to another human being?” Kiha asked. “In fact, it should be an honor for someone to hear another person’s rant. It means that they trust you a lot.”

Jieun pressed her lips and nodded. “Okay, go on. What did you want to rant about?”

“I wanted to complain about the drama,” Kiha said.

“Why? You don’t want it?”

“No, it’s not like that. I really want it, I do.” He sighed. “The director really likes my work. He likes it so much that he has other ideas for it. He wants to have the female lead end up with the second male character because he thinks that I’m making the male lead too ‘childish.’ Ridiculous, I say! Ridiculous!”

“Is it difficult?” she inquired.

“No, it’s quite easy. I can definitely make it work, but the problem is that the second male character isn’t based on Jungkook.”

“Are all your characters based on someone in real life?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“Who’s the girl based on?”

“That’s…another story,” Kiha said, deciding that he should delay the truth. “Anyway, the second male lead is based on an ex-boyfriend.”

“What’s the ex-boyfriend like?” she asked.

“He doesn’t have a solid structure. He’s mysterious and it’s only known that he used to love her before leaving her for someone else.”

Jieun kept quiet for a moment. She wasn’t sure, but she kind of felt like the second male lead was based on Jiyong.

“The second guy really sounds like Jiyong’s personality,” she whispered.

“What was that?” Kiha asked.

“Huh?” It took her a moment to realize that she had said those words aloud. “O-Oh! Sorry, no. I was just thinking—“

“No, continue,” he said.

“It’s nothing. In fact, it’s a topic I hate—“

“I can wait,” Kiha said seriously. “Go ahead, talk.”

She bit her bottom lip. “W-Well, I was just saying that your second male lead sounds a lot like a guy I know. His name was Jiyong.”

“Jiyong?” He stared at her. “Kwon Jiyong?”

Her eyes widened. “How do you know Kwon Jiyong?”

“Lucky guess. I was going to guess Kim Jiyong or Park Jiyong.”

“Oh.” She tried to read his expression, but couldn’t tell if he was lying or telling the truth. She let out a small sigh and continued. “Well, I was just saying that he seemed very similar. I mean, the Jiyong I know was mysterious and quiet. He didn’t talk much, but when he did talk, he spoke wisely and indifferently.” A small smile formed on her lips. “To me, he’s my savior.” She looked up at him. “I think I talked about him before.”

“Yeah, I think you did,” Kiha murmured. Maybe that’s where I got my inspiration from.

Her smile faded. “He was a gentleman and knew how to care for a woman. It’s too bad that I didn’t have the power to stop him from leaving my side. He was kind and caring.” Her voice softened. “He’s probably the first and last man I will ever truly love…” Something tightened in . “If I had another chance to meet him, I would swear to never let him go…”

Kiha studied her expression the entire time. He noticed the gentle expression she made and the way she looked like she was about to cry. It was clear that Jiyong had meant a lot to her.

Maybe the director’s right, Kiha thought. Maybe it’s best for Jieun to end up with a guy like Jiyong in the webtoon rather than someone like Jungkook…

“Okay,” Kiha said, taking a deep breath. “I’ve decided.” He snapped his fingers. “The second male lead will be based on Jiyong. I’ll build a better structure for the second male lead and I’ll be basing him on your true love.”

Jieun’s eyes turned wide. “No! You can’t do that!”

“Why not?”

“If you’re going to do that, your female lead will suffer.” Her voice became even more quiet. “Stories like mine will only result in a bad ending…”

Kiha frowned at her. “Why are you so negative right now? Brighten up!”

“I-I will,” she mumbled. “It’s just that every time I think of him, I get this heavy feeling in my chest. It hurts. A lot.”

“Well, I might’ve pushed you too much,” Kiha said. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. It’s just my fault for being weak at subjects like these,” she said. “Just don’t base the second lead on Jiyong, okay?”

He dropped his jaws. “Why not?”

“Like I said, the characters won’t be compatible,” she claimed. 

He grumbled. There was a short pause before he got another idea in his head.

“So you won’t mind if I twist his story with mine, right?” Kiha asked.

“What?”

“You know, like I’ll keep certain aspects of Jiyong while I keep some of my own life experiences,” Kiha said.

“No, that’s impossible—“

“Great! I’m inspired!” Kiha exclaimed, shooting up from his seat. A few teachers stared at him. Some glared at him for being disruptive of their tasks. He placed his two hands on Jieun’s shoulders and smiled. “I’m off to write!”

“Wait, wait!” she exclaimed. She tried to get up, but he had already scurried out of the room. She sat at her seat, dumbfounded.

I hope his story does well, she thought, gulping. I really, really hope that he does well…

~ ~ ~

It had been a month since Jieun had last seen Kiha. Like she had told Jungkook, she was fully occupied with her career. She didn’t have any time to go and visit Kiha at his house, nor did she have any time to strike up a friendly conversation with Jungkook at school. If she ever talked to Jungkook, it was mainly for midterm preparations. 

So when she finally visited Kiha’s house for the first time in a while, she felt extremely nervous. She was scared that he might’ve forgotten her, especially since he was so busy with the webtoon. The last thing she wanted was to visit his house and be chased away by the house owner himself.

The door swung opened after Jieun pressed the door bell for the second time. Instead of Kiha and Jungkook, her eyes landed on Chanyeol, who was wearing an apron with gloves. Jieun stared at him for a long time, and he stared at back with his lips tightly pressed against each other.

“Pft—“ Jieun spat out into a small laugh. She politely covered with her hand and looked away.

“Hey, hey,” Chanyeol said, frowning a bit. His cheeks were in a deep shade of crimson. “Don’t laugh. It’s not funny!”

“I’m sorry,” she said, giggling. “I just didn’t expect to see the mighty Park Chanyeol wearing cleaning gloves and an apron.”

“Don’t laugh. Seriously. It’s not funny. This is my source of income,” he said. “Anyway, are you coming in?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” Jieun said, smiling to herself. She stepped inside the house and looked around. Chanyeol closed the door behind them and started to walk back to the kitchen to finish washing the dishes. 

From the entrance, she could hear Kiha’s voice muttering in the  living room. She was about to call for him until Jungkook sped over to her side and placed his index finger over his lips.

“What’s going on?” Jieun whispered.

“Quiet. Uncle Kiha is on the phone,” Jungkook whispered back.

“Oh. Should I come back later?” she asked in a low tone.

“Just stay in the kitchen with Chanyeol and keep quiet,” Jungkook said, pushing her away from the living room. “By the way, the midterm was really hard.”

“Nice try. I know that you’re trying to get the details on the results from me, but that’s not going to work,” Jieun said, flicking Jungkook’s forehead with her fingers. The student gasped in pain and stared to rub his forehead. He glared at her, but when she turned her back against him, he made a small smile.

Chanyeol, who noticed Jungkook’s behavior, scoffed and continued to wash the dishes in silence. 

“What?” Jungkook asked Chanyeol.

“Hm?” Chanyeol replied innocently. “Nothing, nothing. What?”

Jungkook leered at him, but didn’t say a word.

“So how long has he been on the phone?” Jieun asked them.

“At least an hour,” Chanyeol said. “He had to take fifteen minutes off because he needed to talk with the editor.”

“Wow,” she murmured. “This thing takes a long time, doesn’t it?”

Before anyone could say anything else, Kiha came in running with the phone clutched in his hand. He had a large smile stuck to his face. He started jumping up and down, but eventually grabbed onto Jungkook’s shoulder to compose himself.

“It’s done!” Kiha shouted. “The drama! The drama is confirmed!” He let out a loud laugh while everyone started to shout in celebration. “Can you believe it? My webtoon is getting into a drama!”

“That’s amazing, Kiha!” Jieun exclaimed.

“Do you know the actors or actresses?” Jungkook inquired.

“No, but I heard that they’re chosen already.The director wants me to meet the actress. We don’t know who the actors are going to be. They’re still pending.”

“So you know the actress?” Chanyeol asked.

“Yeah, but I forgot her name. I just know that she’s an idol,” Kiha said.

Jieun was about to say something until her phone started ringing. She looked down and noticed that it was Jiho.

“Um, sorry. I need to take this,” Jieun said, feeling bad for interrupting the bright mood. She quickly crept out of the house and made her way outside in the fresh evening air. She swiped the green button and placed the phone next to her ear. “Hello?”

“Damn it, Minah! Give me back my phone!”  Jieun could hear Jiho screaming for his phone in the background.

“Hello? Hey, Jieun! It’s me, Minah!” Minah cried out.

“Minah! Hi!” Jieun greeted. “Why are you calling for Jiho’s phone?”

“Oh, the company confiscated my phone for now. Anyway, guess what?” Minah asked.

“Minah? Minah, I swear, if you’re using my phone to call Jieun, I’m going to—“

“I’m going to act!” Minah revealed. “I’m going to be part of a drama! I’m going to be the female lead!”

“Wha—Oh—I—Congratulations, Minah! I’m so happy for you! I don’t know what to say,” Jieun breathed, trying to get her words together. “What drama?”

“It’s based on a webtoon,” Minah continued.

“A webtoon?” Jieun repeated. Her eyes widened. It can’t be…

“Yeah! I’m meeting with the author in a few days to discuss about the character,” Minah continued. “I want to nail the part since it’s my first time going into acting, you know?” She started to squeal. “And guess what? The author lives so close to where you live! This means that I can come and visit you!”

“I’m going, too. Tell her that I’m going, too!” Jiho said in the background.

“Oh, and Jiho’s coming,” Minah added.

“By any chance,” Jieun said, “is the author of the webtoon a person named Jang Kiha?”

“…Come on, Jieun. How’d you find out?” Minah asked. “Did Jiho say anything?”

Jieun kept quiet for a long time. She stared at Kiha’s house while she absent-mindedly listened to Minah call out for her name through the phone.

Kiha’s webtoon is going to be in a drama. Minah is going to be the female lead. Her eyes widened. Jiho and Minah are coming over. Jiho and Minah are coming over…!