"The next assignment is an analytical essay, and it will count for 20% of your final grade. It is also an assignment that you will do in pairs. Before you start murmuring, you will draw a strip of paper and on every paper is a number. Find the person who has the same number and he or she is now your partner. You are free to discuss with each other until this period ends.” She spent a few seconds looking at every student with her piercing eyes. “Please take this essay seriously. It can drop your grade from an A to a B, but can also bring you up from a fail to a pass." The class was now full of noise compared to the pin-drop silence before.

Aera watched as most of her classmates rushed to the front to pick a folded piece of paper, excited to know who their partners were. The only people that stayed rooted in their seats were two other students who were soundlessly asleep, and her.

One of them was directly behind Aera. Byun Baekhyun was his name. He was loud, reckless, and bold, and she couldn't understand him and his I-don’t-give-a-damn attitude. He skipped classes as he liked and didn’t hand in most of his work. He even comes late for exams! Perhaps it was because of his way of living life, or maybe it was simply his above than average looks, but he was a popular student. What girl could resist a dashing low-key bad boy who happens to love flirting, am I right? However, he was the one person Aera didn't want to be paired up with for any project, ever.

Aera sat still as she watched the scene unfold from her peripheral vision. The smack of the ruler, the sound of a sharp inhale from behind her, and then the scolding. "Byun Baekhyun, aren't you tired of getting yelled at all the time?" Mrs. Lee sighed exasperatedly after a while as she stared at the bleary-eyed student with a sort of defeated look. "Why can't you be like Aera over there?" That was when she stopped breathing. She hated this. She hated when a teacher used her as an example for students to follow. It made her seem like a supercilious , and she was no such thing. Aera never thought she was better than anyone else. In fact, she felt inferior to every single person in the room. Due to unfortunate circumstances, she couldn’t afford to be anything other than a so-called modal student.

The boy simply mumbled an apology, and Mrs. Lee's heels clacked away from them towards Sehun, the other sleeping student. Seeing how the teacher's table was now free of students, she stood up to head to the front. Baekhyun, too, stood up at the same time as she did and Aera noticed that, so she stopped and waited for him to pass her.

He didn't.

She glanced at him for two seconds and from there she realised he was waiting for her to make a move first. His stare was a bit too intense for her liking. Cheeks starting to warm, she quickly waddled up to the front with her head bent down with her ponytail swaying behind her. Reaching the table, she looked at the transparent glass jar and stared calculatingly at the last two strips of paper before picking the one closest to her.

Apparently, it didn't matter if she chose the other one because they both coincidentally had the same number on it.

She had Byun Baekhyun as her partner.

On the following Friday, she found herself facing an empty seat in the library. Aera was not surprised, but she expected more from him since this was an important assignment and he can’t possibly be daring enough to let her do this on her own. But then again, he probably doesn’t give a that she was the principal’s daughter.

She looked at her watch and then at the door. Deciding to wait for a few more minutes, she leaned back on her chair, drained and frustrated. She had long accepted the fact that she was doing this project alone, but part of her really did wish that he would show up and do his part.

His time was up.

Aera painstakingly packed up everything that she had neatly laid out on the table. Bowing her head at the librarian, she dragged her feet out of the school building. Her mother would leave a lot later than the other school staff and Aera refused to wait for her just so that she can get a ride back home, so she chose to take the bus.

On the way to the bus stop, she passed by none other than Byun Baekhyun who was with Kai and three nameless freshmen. They looked like they were having lots of fun with their boisterous laughter and the flirtatious touches.

Aera felt her heart squeeze.

She knew school projects were a bore, but Baekhyun should at least have the decency to tell her about his deliberate absence.

Since many students have left the school, it made the place a lot quieter. Coupled with their loudness, she could hear their conversation clearly. "Do you guys want to hang out at the club?" Kai excitedly suggested. The three girls immediately voiced their agreements.

It was what Baekhyun said that made her pause in her tracks. "Let's go. I don't have anything on anyway." How on earth could he forget when she reminded him the day before?

She spun around on her feet noisily. There was fire in her eyes as she glared at Baekhyun. Aera was not going to walk away and accept this nonsense. The rest of the group stopped to stare between the two. "Can I talk to you, Byun Baekhyun?" She gritted her teeth in annoyance at how calm he was. The girls looked at her with hostile gazes, and Kai was openly entertained by the exchange. Nonetheless, they started walking ahead leaving the two behind after Baekhyun told them to.

Judging by the way he looked at her, she realised that he did remember about their meeting. How ing dare he? "Couldn't you have at least texted me? I waited for a freaking hour." Her furrowed eyebrows and crossed arms did not intimidate him in the least. He was still grinning, not at all guilty.

"I'm impressed that you had that much faith in me." He nodded slowly, as if still replaying what she said in her head but taking it as a compliment in his twisted head.

Aera exhaled loudly through her nose, trying to calm herself down. "You really don’t care, do you?”

"Nope." The toothy grin, the way he lazily spoke, the fact that he wasn't sorry all added fuel to the fire. He knew Aera would complete it with or without him, so why bother? She knew that as well which irked her greatly. She soon realised that she was not only angry at him, but at herself. Being taken advantage of was her middle name. They knew she wouldn't rat them out in fear of being hated on. This was also why she didn’t have any close friends but only acquaintances.

While she was lost in her thoughts, she got distracted by Baekhyun who was tying the shoelaces of his sneakers which weren’t even supposed to be on his feet in school. His shirt was untucked, his hair was a mess (it didn’t matter that he still looked good), and his tie and nametag was nowhere to be seen.

An idea emerged, and it tickled her in a good way. "Let's play a game," she suggested.

"I'm listening." He was now leaning on his left foot instead of his right. He looked bored and it made her lose even more respect for him. How rude.

"Truth or dare, but we're only doing dares. The person who isn’t satisfied gets three wishes." The words were spilling out of before she could even think them through.

"Sounds tempting," he bit his lip in contemplation. "So I come up with a dare for you?" His smile looked evil for a second. Aera nervously gave him a nod. It didn’t take long for him to agree. "Okay. I'm in."

Aera slowly regained the bravery she had earlier as she recalled moments in her school life that made her feel like . She mimicked the smirk he was wearing, and he had never seen her do such a thing, and it strangely aroused him. "I want you to live like me." Baekhyun raised an eyebrow, but otherwise kept his cool. "Since I'm not that evil to drop such weight on your shoulders, I'll guide you along the way. Do your homework, follow the rules, oh, and you have to actually wear your uniform properly. Of course you can still hang out with your friends, date, yada-yada and I don’t really care what you do outside of school." To her, it was not really a dare. He wouldn't lose anything but time and possibly some sleep. He’d actually benefit from this.

"That's ea