chapter 16
the psychology of good studentsThe next morning Jooyoung goes to the student government meeting in a sour mood. She grumbles at Minseok when he says hi, and he’s very confused, but knows it’s unwise to question her when she’s in this state.
It’s rare that Krystal Jung is on time, even earlier than Jooyoung, but she can’t find any wonder nor positivity in that. The last person she wants to see is Krystal herself but it has to be this day in particular she decides to come early. Great luck — just like how she decided to acknowledge her feelings and suddenly all this nonsense gets stirred up out of the blue.
Jooyoung goes to her seat wordlessly and feels Krystal’s stare on her, but she can’t care less.
“Hey, Vicey,” she chirps, although in a less enthusiastic tone as she would usually. Of course Jooyoung ignores her completely. She doesn’t even look up.
Krystal is still saccharine sweet the entire meeting, and actually heads the meeting for once, instead of relying on Jooyoung to do everything. It’s as if nothing happened to her, as if she just totally didn’t lie to the entire student population, and Jooyoung wonders if this is what it’s like for a person to be heartless.
And the entire day it is made glaringly obvious that the rumours are spreading further. Screw Krystal and Kyungsoo for being so popular the entire university has heard of them. After the meeting she hears people talk in shrouded whispers about them dating. Before (and during) her tutorial more people discuss it. And after she comes out from her second lecture in a row in an extremely cranky mood there’s a huge group of people literally shouting about it.
“Do Kyungsoo is a lucky guy!” The guy yelps, while others around him cheer him on obnoxiously. She can hardly make out anything besides the deafening cheering, and it’s annoying. She tries to squeeze her way out of the hallway but it’s difficult.
“Is Krystal taller than Kyungsoo?” Someone else asks, and Jooyoung hears a familiar chuckle.
“Hey! Don’t make me out to be such a midget,” the voice says laughingly, and it is, of course, no other than Do Kyungsoo who’s attracted this huge load of people right in front of her lecture theatre.
“Screw you,” she mutters under her breath, hugging her books to her chest as she jostles with a few people who don’t even seem to notice her trying to get away.
Jooyoung hears Kyungsoo’s voice again. “Actually, it’s all a misunderstanding. I’m not actually-“
“Dude! There’s no need to be shy! We know it’s your first time dating and all but this is something to be proud of!” People cheer this guy on again but Jooyoung hears Kyungsoo speak up once more.
“No! For real. Krystal and I are just friends.” Jooyoung turns around and tries to spot Kyungsoo but he’s too short and she can’t see him — just yesterday didn’t he tell her it ‘depends’ if the both of them are dating? What’s this now, all of a sudden?
“What a liar, Do Kyungsoo!” Another laughs. “Krystal will be very sad.”
“No, but-“
His voice is drowned by boos, and Jooyoung stands in the crowd, feeling frustrated.
“Just believe him! He’s not being shy!” She begs softly, but no one hears her.
Kyungsoo then starts laughing, and begins to walk away. The excited group of students follow him, but he doesn’t say more about the Krystal thing. Instead he asks about lunch and everyone starts talking about food all of a sudden.
Jooyoung’s eyes trail after the crowd. Did Kyungsoo just leave it like that? She knows it was difficult for him trying to insist he isn’t dating Krystal, but did he really just stop the conversation like that without anyone knowing the truth?
She growls. Stupid Do Kyungsoo.
Hugging her books even tighter to her chest, she turns to walk away. Then Jooyoung realises she needs yet another good think so she sits herself down at the nearest bench and plonks her head on the attached wooden table.
She hasn’t thought about much when she feels the presence of someone beside her.
“Hey?” The voice asks softly, but Jooyoung just wants to kick its dumb owner. She wants to be alone — how can she think about Kyungsoo when he’s just... there beside her?
“Go away,” she grumbles, her head still on the table. “Go back to your big group of friends.”
Kyungsoo laughs. “I don’t want to. I want to be here with you.”
“Stop lying,” she says, hating how her heart still jumps at Kyungsoo’s words when he’s stirred up such a big mess.
“I’m not, though,” he denies, and he says it so frankly Jooyoung can’t help but peek up. He smiles at that, and they make their first eye contact since after London. He lies down on the table too, his face barely inches from hers. “There we go,” he whispers.
No! Jooyoung can’t handle the closeness — she might give up being angry too easily — so she springs up and so does Kyungsoo. “Can you just go away?”
“But how can I not be here when you’re angry at me? I don’t care, Han Jooyoung. I’m going to stay,” he states, conviction evident in his voice. She holds back asking him why he didn’t insist with as much determination when his friends were teasing him about the Krystal thing.
Jooyoung lies back down on the table, refusing to look at him. But then she feels an arm around her back, sliding across to her waist. She wants to call for help badly because her heart is on the verge of death. Kyungsoo always knows her weakest spots. Always.
“I’m sorry,” he says, almost pleadingly. “I know I upset you, Han Jooyoung.”
It melts her heart. Honestly it does — but she still holds back her speech and doesn’t say anything back to him. She just doesn’t want to.
There’s a small silence where Kyungsoo seems to be analysing her reaction (none), before he takes a deep breath and speaks again, “I don’t do aegyo, but...”
Jooyoung shoots up in horror. “You better not, Do Kyungsoo.” She hasn’t had time to mentally prepare herself! Why is he attacking her instead of soothing her?
She watches as he braces himself, closing his eyes. Then when he opens them up again, he looks up at Jooyoung with the most adorable big eyes and small pout. Goodness, he is too cute.
“K-Kyungsoo is sorry that he wasn’t considerate of Jooyoung’s feelings,” he implores, his words spoken in a slight lisp. It is a weak attempt (he at it, basically), but for some reason it still manages to worm its way into Jooyoung’s heart.
“What the heck?” She says, holding in her laughter. She mustn’t give in now. Not so easily.
“Is your heart fluttering because of Kyungsoo? Please forgive Kyungsoo,” he implores, still looking at her with those big childlike eyes.
Jooyoung doesn’t answer his question. “One more time you speak in third person, I’ll throw my books at your face.”
“Free books! Kyungsoo is very happy. Kyungsoo wants.”
She narrows her eyes at him. “Do Kyungsoo.”
Then he bursts into laughter, obviously embarrassed at what he had just done. “Okay, fine. I’ll stop. But forgive me?” He tilts his head to the side, and Jooyoung continues to look at him with narrowed eyes.
“Only if you promise you’ll attempt to clear up the mess you two made,” she says. “And the next time someone asks you about Krystal tell them you two aren’t dating. Insist it until they believe it.”
“Promise,” he says, relieved. “So we’re okay now?” He asks, and Jooyoung shrugs in response.
Then he points in the direction of the cafeteria, grinning. “Lunch?”
She stands up, books in her hand, and begins walking towards the cafeteria without waiting for Kyungsoo. “Screw you. Let’s go.”
After lunch Jooyoung has another tutorial, and Kyungsoo insists on walking her there, so he does. But when they reach the classroom, instead of leaving, he finds a table nearby and sits there, taking out his phone to presumably play games again.
“Aren’t you going for your class?” She asks.
“I don’t have any class now,” he says.
She raises her eyebrows. “Then why are you sitting there?”
“Waiting for you to finish,” he says matter-of-factly. She rolls her eyes.
“Don’t be crazy. Go and do something else.”
This isn’t the practical Do Kyungsoo that she’s used to. This one’s... strange, starting from the point he did the aegyo. But people’s minds change when they’re ridden with guilt — Jooyoung didn’t think Kyungsoo would be this guilty, but since he looks like he is, she decides to just let him do whatever he wants to get rid of it. Besides it’s not like she’s not enjoying it. It’s a little sweet. Just a bit.
She doesn’t argue with him any further, and instead just goes into class. And when she comes out, she doesn’t know what she’s expecting, but he’s still there.
“Loser,” she mumbles, but a smile plays on her lips. Kyungsoo squints at her in disapproval, but extends his hand to her. She doesn’t take it. Still, they walk around campus together, for more than a short while.
In the night when Jooyoung is tangled in her sheets watching videos on her phone, she suddenly receives a call from Kyungsoo.
“What,” she says flatly when she picks up. Jooyoung honestly really doesn’t want to be this way to Kyungsoo anymore, but she doesn’t know how to transition, so she’s just going to let him take over. Anyway he probably knows that since she picked up the phone, she’s not that angry anymore — she’s told him her phone habits before (including when she will/will not pick up her phone) on one of her random rattles to him.
“Give me a schedule of all your classes. I wanna pick you up after every one,” he says. She is stunned, but then Jooyoung hears him switch off the tap in the bathroom and concludes it is one of those random shower thoughts he had.
“You are weird.”
“Hey! This is all for you,” he indignantly says, and she holds back a smile. So this is how he's trying to appease her. She still is a little surprised as to why he's trying so hard. The rumour was extremely bad, yes, and she is still hurt, but that doesn't mean he needs to be at her beck and call just because of that.
“I don’t know this Do Kyungsoo.” But she goes to grab her crumpled class schedule from her bag anyway, flattening it out so she can take a picture of it to send him.
“Get to know him from now on,” he laughs. “But he never changed, so technically you’re quite acquainted already.” Jooyoung hears him fall onto his bed and she tries her best not to imagine a Kyungsoo fresh out of the shower, ready to go to bed. She knows it will do many things to her heart.
“That’s nonsense.” She scoffs. “Since when did you do things like this? At least, without asking for a meal or whatever in return.”
He merely laughs again at the other end of the line, and the phone vibrates from the sounds he’s making and tickles Jooyoung’s ear. She swallows.
“Do you want to pay me back with a meal then?” Kyungsoo asks. She can always hear his smile (if he does) when he talks. He’s smiling now.
“No,” she answers, twiddling with her bedsheets.
“Mean,” he chides gently. “Anyway, it’s getting late and you should be sleeping soon, so send me the schedule and go right to bed okay? Goodnight, Jooyoung.”
She wants to say something else but her mind is blank all of a sudden. So she nods instead, giving in. “Okay then. Night.”
Jooyoung honestly doesn’t expect much the next morning. So it doesn’t come as a surprise to her when she doesn’t see him outside her lecture theatre after her first class. Although she does feel a little disappointed. Just a bit.
She begins to walk off, having to go for her shift at the convenience store anyway. Subconsciously she slows down her pace in case it isn’t that Kyungsoo’s a no-show, it’s just that he’s a little late. Jooyoung realises she’s becoming spoiled, expecting people to wait for her after classes and all that — she didn’t use to be like this; she used to be practical, cool Han Jooyoung, who fended for herself and didn’t need company.
She’s relying on Kyungsoo a lot recently.
So when he comes up behind her, looking as if he had just run a race (although he’s trying hard not to make it obvious), she has to hold back the smile forming on her face. Jooyoung reminds herself she can’t be a burden — it would make her feel guilty herself that she's giving him so much trouble.
“It’s unnecessary for you to wait for me like this after every class,” she says, meaning every word of it, but not liking how it comes out like a scowl.
“That’s what you think,” he replies nonchalantly, walking slightly ahead of her. She takes bigger steps to catch up, and slows only when she’s beside him again.
“Seriously, Kyungsoo.”
He gives her the stink eye. “What if some strange men come after you?”
She laughs. “Strange men? We’re on campus!”
“Still.” His voice goes down to his lower register again and makes Jooyoung momentarily stop in her tracks. “I wanna be there just in case to protect you.”
She once again tries to hold back her smile. And now Jooyoung thinks she can try to convince herself that it’s okay, that she’s not a burden. That she can’t keep trying to live in solitariness when deep down she does like company. That she, like everyone else, deserves people who care for her (and not just look up to her as a scholar).
Jooyoung manages to properly convince her fickle mind. So she decides to let the smile loose on her cheeks. “Aw,” she says softly.
Kyungsoo looks at her, then lets his own smile loose. Then he goes nearer to Jooyoung such that they walk with their arms pressed against each other, all the way to the convenience store.
Jina’s not here for her shift today, because of her requirements of her residency. So it’s just Kyungsoo and Jooyoung in the store alone for a long time, with him eating snacks (that he managed to get a huffy Jooyoung to pay for, as usual) while doing his assignments.
She’s bored at the counter with no customers to serve so she goes and sits beside Kyungsoo at the table he’s at.
“I’m bored,” she says, then takes out her phone to play games. She’s recently gotten into Sims Freeplay and is having a lot of fun naming her characters after people (there’s a Do Kyungsoo, Kim Minseok and Choi Jina in her house) and making them do dumb things.
“Hi, Bored,” Kyungsoo says, not looking up from his work. Jooyoung doesn’t even bother to respond to his lame joke. But then after a while the door to the store opens with its familiar chime and Jooyoung pockets her phone immediately, turning to look at her first customer besides Kyungsoo.
Her eyes widen unintentionally.
“Oh goodness, wait, what,” she says in a shocked whisper. She doesn’t mean to keep her eyes transfixed on the customer but somehow she just can’t bring her eyes away.
Kyungsoo turns around too, at her reaction, and she smacks him because now it’s way too obvious they’re staring. But he merely rubs the spot she smacked and then proceeds to casually wave to the customer. “Hey, Prof Park.”
Prof Park stares straight at Kyungsoo, his features not carrying any expression as normal. “Hello, Do Kyungsoo.”
“How can you be so casual to Prof PCY? You know him personally?” She asks, still in a whisper and in extreme disbelief.
Kyungsoo shrugs. “He’s our professor. Of course I know him.”
Prof Park goes to take a can of iced tea from the fridge and goes to the empty cashier, before turning around and staring directly at Jooyoung, making her gulp. “Aren’t you going to scan my items, Han Jooyoung?” He says, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh!” She exclaims, getting up in a flurry. “Right. Sorry.”
Prof Park doesn’t say anything as he waits for her to scan his drink. Then as he passes over money to Jooyoung, he turns around to glance at Kyungsoo before fixing his gaze back on her. “Have you eaten lunch?”
Kyungsoo gets up. “Not yet, Prof. We had classes before Jooyoung’s shift here. But her shift is ending in two minutes, so we’re probably going to eat really soon.”
Prof Park takes his drink and snaps the can open. Then with the most unreadable expression ever, he states, “I will treat you to lunch today.” It seems more of a request than an invitation, and Jooyoung opens to make up some lie about being busy but Kyungsoo speaks up instead, smiling.
“Of course! Jooyoung has no more classes for the day. I only have one in the late afternoon, so I’m free now too,” he says. “Thanks, Prof!”
Prof Park grunts as he stalks off, and Kyungsoo follows after him, gesturing for Jooyoung to come along. She is appalled. How could Kyungsoo just agree to lunch with the monster professor so easily?
Jooyoung gives Kyungsoo a pointed glare. “You are so going to die, Do Kyungsoo,” she grumbles angrily, stripping off her uniform vest. Then Kyungsoo laughs and closes his hand around her wrist, and drags her together with him out of the store.
If it’s surprising enough that unfeeling, distant Prof Park would offer to treat his students to lunch, it’s even more surprising that he would bring these students to a fancy Japanese restaurant outside of campus.
“Order what you like,” Prof Park says, crossing his arms. He sets down his laptop on the empty seat beside him and observes the both of them. Jooyoung can feel his stare and it makes her severely uncomfortable.
Plus she doesn’t know what everything on the menu is, because they’re all written as their original Japanese names (but phonetically translated to Korean) wth no explanation nor pictures underneath. She nudges Kyungsoo to ask him for help but he seems like he has no clue what is going on as well.
Prof Park, of course, notices their confusion. So he calls the waiter over and orders something the both of them don’t know. Then when he’s done he announces to them, “I ordered a sharing platter for the three of us.”
Jooyoung nods and bows slightly in thanks, then it is awkward as silence takes over. Kyungsoo has small talk with Prof Park, both of them definitely more comfortable with this entire lunch than Jooyoung. The food is served fast, and the first thing Prof Park does when the platter is here is to grab two pieces of sushi and place them onto Jooyoung and Kyungsoo’s plates.
“Try the unagi nigiri,” he says, gesturing to the sushi on their plates. “It’s delectable.”
Jooyoung is confused for a moment. Monster Prof serving them sushi? This day has been too bizarre. She bows again and eats the sushi politely. It’s good — really good. But then again it’s not unexpected because Prof Park has such high expectations of everything she’s sure it’ll apply to his sushi too.
“It’s good,” she affirms when of clear of food (or so she hopes). “Thank you.”
Prof Park nods, no hint of any smile anywhere on his face. He starts to dig in and so does Kyungsoo. Jooyoung picks up her chopsticks again when Kyungsoo drops a piece of tuna sashimi on her plate wordlessly.
“Thanks,” she whispers, not sure if he can hear her. She hopes he can.
When Jooyoung’s picked up the sashimi he goes on to grab another piece of tamago maki, placing it on her plate as well. This is one of the times Jooyoung thinks it really was a lucky thing that they clicked so fast as friends — he knows so much about her it’s as if he was there for her for almost her entire life, when in actual fact, it’s been less than a year since they got to know each other. Kyungsoo knows these are the few types of items Jooyoung would order if they go to a Japanese restaurant.
What Jooyoung is most touched about is how he seems to be dishing food for her so unconsciously, like he is meant to. When they go to places together to eat he doesn’t do that, only because either she has her own portion or he’s split the sharing portion so evenly, the both of them can’t complain.
But today he does that throughout the entire meal, and she finds herself not even needing to reach out to the sharing platter to get food. Kyungsoo even picks out the slice of avocado in an uramaki roll before passing it to her (he always eats the avocado for her although he keeps saying she’s a fake millennial for hating it. He also eats her peas.).
As promised Prof Park goes to pay the bill after they’re done, and disappears without even saying goodbye after. Jooyoung is full and satisfied, and also touched by both Kyungsoo and Prof Park.
“He’s not that bad, right?” Kyungsoo asks, nudging her.
She nods slowly. “Honestly who doesn’t think he is a heartless man? But now I’m not so sure. I mean, he brought us all the way here and treated us for no rhyme or reason.”
“He’s not heartless,” he confirms, almost proudly. “Sometimes I think he just goes down really hard on his students because he doesn’t know the best way to have them have low expectations but do well. That’s why his students fail his classes but emerge in the next year higher ranked than their classmates. He’s a nice guy who cares about us.”
Jooyoung thinks for a while. Although Prof Park had pissed her off a few times (for example, the “plagiarism” incident) and scared her on many because of his cold eyes and disposition, and also made her hate herself because of the results she received in his infamous class, he isn’t that bad a professor. Not just because of the sushi. His classes are easy to understand and clear-cut, and his feedback on assignments are extremely detailed and precise (nitty-gritty if you put it negatively) she knows exactly what to do to improve, and he always makes it known that he is available for consultation whenever needed — although no one really goes to him.
So he isn’t a monster. Hmm. Guess Jooyoung was wrong about him.
a/n: not sure if you guys still remember prof park hahahaha but yes! if you do, this is another facet of him that i guess is new :''') have a great day!!
I OWED SO MANY OF YOU REPLIES i’m so sorry!! just replied to everyone i hadn’t replied to aaa but i hope everyone’s having a great 2019 so far! i think it’ll take a while before my next story because of circumstances.... but i promise i’ll be back :”)
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