chapter 25
the psychology of good studentssix months later
Jooyoung has decided to camp out in Kyungsoo’s room again tonight because she knows if she’s alone in hers, she will definitely procrastinate. And she has an essay due in two days, so that is not an option.
She’s in uncomfortable clothes due to the fact that she had to bring some exchange students round in the day and she couldn’t possibly wear her usual lazily-put-together attire.
“What do you mean uncomfortable clothes,” Kyungsoo laughs when she complains. “You’re literally in a shirt and jeans.”
“My shirt is starchy. And these jeans are tight,” she groans, pulling on her jeans for emphasis. “Come on. Let me live.”
“You’re an idiot,” he says affectionately, sliding an arm around her waist. He sweeps some stray strands of hair off her face gently, his finger grazing her forehead softly. “So? What do you want me to do?”
She grins. “Let me wear your clothes.”
His reaction, as expected, is nonchalant. “Sure,” he says, shrugging. An arm still around her waist, he uses his other, free hand to point to the cupboard. “You know my clothes are all there.”
Jooyoung is strangely excited about this because in her year of dating Kyungsoo, she’s never properly worn his clothes. She’s worn his scarves and hats and coats, but never a shirt or bottoms. Although she has an army-green shirt of his tucked in her cupboard just because she likes the smell of him.
She flings open the cupboard and Kyungsoo tells her to take her pick. But all she sees is khakis and some awful tees. And a compartment full of the same black socks, and one pair of watermelon socks, from the time they went to Myeongdong and he bought matching pairs for the both of them. But she isn’t too picky with her clothes anyway, so she just picks a random pair of khakis (the only choice, anyway) and a black shirt.
It is after Jooyoung’s changed into the clothes that she realises this isn’t what she expected as well. She had wanted to experience wearing her boyfriend’s oversized clothes for once, and walking around in nothing but a shirt long enough to be a dress, having always read about it in books and watched it on TV.
But Kyungsoo’s shirt hardly reaches her thigh. Sure, it’s loose and a little big, but her usual shirts are loose as well, so this doesn’t feel any different. And his khakis aren’t way too long for her, just baggy. Besides, they aren’t very comfortable. Jooyoung realises she should’ve known this would happen — Kyungsoo, though more buff, is just a little taller than her. This makes it easy to kiss, but for situations like this, having a boyfriend with her approximate physique isn’t the best.
“This fits,” she groans when she tumbles into his room again. “It isn’t supposed to fit this well.”
Kyungsoo laughs. “I’m sorry you have such a small boyfriend,” he jokes, knowing what her initial plan was. He always knows. “My clothes look really good on you, though.”
She rolls her eyes, posing at his desk. “That’s because I’m a great model.”
“Or,” he says. “I have good taste in clothes.”
She sighs, looking down at her legs. The whole boyfriend’s clothes thing is a failure, but Kyungsoo suddenly comes towards her and wraps her in a tight back hug, kissing her cheek.
“Aw, don’t be sad. I’ll let you study on my bed?” He proposes, his cheek pressed onto hers.
“Nah,” she brushes off, and tries to get out of the hug and grab her bag to start work, it Kyungsoo only holds her tighter.
“On my lap?” He cajoles. “Come study on my bed, on my lap.”
She doesn’t respond visibly, but she’s cheered up a lot. She's so easily appeased, gosh. Jooyoung lets him pull her onto his bed, and he goes to take her laptop for her. Then he snuggles under the covers and pats his lap, which Jooyoung goes to sit on.
“Is it uncomfortable for you?” She asks, aware she’s probably really heavy.
“Do you think it’s uncomfortable for me?” Kyungsoo asks ambiguously, securing her there with an arm around her waist. But he notices Jooyoung’s doubt, so he quickly catches her lip in a quick kiss. Then he her hair gently. “It’s not. I love this.”
He’s been getting more and more outwardly affectionate and every time Jooyoung thinks she can get used to it, he does something that makes her heart swell with so much love. Before they dated, she had no idea the miserly, yet nonchalant Do Kyungsoo would be this sort of boyfriend. She’s so lucky, she thinks.
“Love you,” she says swiftly, then turns to her laptop and starts doing her work. He merely chuckles and presses his lips to her hair. This time, he leaves it there as she studies.
During her study breaks she tells him about everything that’s been going on, because she knows he likes it when she does (and she likes it too, when he does). “Did you know? Krystal’s been writing poetry recently! Her therapist recommended it to her and she says it works sometimes. And her poems are amazing — she should have majored in the one of the Arts, maybe Literature.”
She continues, Kyungsoo smiling softly at her the entire time. “And Minseok’s finally becoming a doctor! Like, he’s going to intern at a hospital but we can officially call him Dr. Kim Minseok. Oh, wait, I think you already know this.”
“Yup, he told us when we three were together,” he laughs, but it doesn’t stop her.
“Okay, but I’ll tell you something I bet you don’t know. Minseok is bringing Jina to Japan to celebrate! I’m so excited for them. Jina’s been telling her about their plans every shift we have together,” Jooyoung says, then sighs dreamily, nudging Kyungsoo. “When will we do something like this, huh.”
“It’ll come. Be patient, dumbo.”
She can’t help but get excited at the prospect of a trip — it’ll be like London all over again, except this time, no classes. Except this time, Kyungsoo will be holding her hand wherever they go. Except this time, their days and nights will be filled with love.
“Where will you bring me to? I’m fine with anywhere. Where do you wanna go? Ooh, do you think we’ll be able to afford a trip to Australia? I really want to see the –“
She’s forcefully cut off by Kyungsoo, who gives her a sudden kiss on the lips. It leaves her quiet. He chuckles, “Did you come here to do your work, or get distracted by conversation?”
He does have a point, Jooyoung thinks. So she quickly shuts herself up and goes back to her essay, which she knows she probably won’t finish by tonight, but whatever. She’s dealt with the aftermath of procrastination so much that she’s almost expecting it every time she is given an assignment.
And this time, she has Kyungsoo beside her, so what does she have to fear?
It is too noisy in the cafe to actually be doing her essay but Jooyoung is there because she has no choice — she’s wolfing down her lunch and trying to cut her essay so it fits the word limit. The deadline is in 30 minutes, and she has approximately 150 words left to cut.
She throws her head back in frustration after reading her essay for the thousandth time in the row and finding nothing else to remove. Sitting up straight, she decides she gives up, staring around the cafe blankly. But then her eyes catch a familiar figure, and she pokes her head out further to take a better look.
Isn’t that Kyungsoo?
Jooyoung is sitting rather far away from his table but she can see him rather clearly, with his signature khakis confirming his identity. He’s seated beside a male friend Jooyoung can’t identify, and opposite them are two females. She’s about to take a picture of him for fun and text it to him, but then she suddenly realises the atmosphere of the meal there doesn’t seem usual.
The girls have their long hair curled to sleek perfection, and they’re wearing sundresses which are way too elegant and pretty to be everyday wear. They are giggling the way girls do in dramas to impress... their blind dates.
One girl reaches out her hand to playfully touch the forearm of Kyungsoo’s friend, who flexes for her, and the table spontaneously bursts into laughter, all expect for Kyungsoo, who merely gives a polite chuckle. She bores her gaze into him for the longest time but he doesn’t notice, so in the end she gives up and texts him.
To: Jooyoungie's Scrooge
this better not be a double blind date right now mr do kyungsoo
She continues staring at him menacingly as his phone lights up with the notification and he goes to check it. His body shoots upward in shock and his eyes dart around the cafe until they lock with hers.
She narrows her eyes at him, and he raises his arms to form an ‘X’. The other three at his table seem too occupied to notice his weird actions. Jooyoung sees him pick up his phone and desperately type something in.
Then she receives a message.
From: Jooyoungie's Scrooge
i accompanied my friend here!!! i’m not the one finding a date i promise i’m not even trying
So it is a blind date. She rolls her eyes, though Kyungsoo can’t see. Jooyoung is butthurt and he knows it. But she’s not exactly jealous, she knows him better than to really think he’s finding another girl.
He’s still looking at her like he’s a little puppy when she’s finished reading the text, but she continues to give him a flat look. He looks dejected. And when the girl opposite him asks him a question he distractedly answers her, being as polite as he can, before going back to looking at Jooyoung.
Then he puckers his lips and she knows he’s sending a kiss across the room — he did that once during class when there were no more seats left together (it made her laugh out loud and get stared at by everyone around her).
Jooyoung openly rolls her eyes at him this time, then sends another text to him.
To: Love
just giving me a kissy face won’t cut it
She looks up to see his face form a hint of a smile as he reads her message, and she holds her own in. When he raises his head to look at Jooyoung again, he puckers his lips even more adorably this time. She prevents herself from giving any reaction (although her heart is bursting; he’s too cute) and instead proceeds to pack her things up since she’s given up on her essay anyway.
Jooyoung packs the last of her pens into her pencil case, and she sees Kyungsoo suddenly hurriedly excuse himself from the table. Luckily the girls seem more interested in his friend anyway, so no one tries to hold him there. Then he walks towards her briskly. She stays at her spot, quietly slinging her bag across her shoulder, waiting.
As soon as he reaches her, Kyungsoo intertwines their fingers tightly and moves his face close to hers. “Here or outside?” He asks huskily.
Jooyoung shrugs, acting nonchalant. Although she really, really wants to smile.
“I decide then,” he says, then swoops in for a kiss, right in the middle of the cafe. She can’t help but smile against it, loving how his lips mould so nicely against hers, how his hands grab her waist so tightly, how he seems like he’s flaunting her off to the entire cafe.
When they finally break the kiss after what seems like eternity, his hand is now cupping the back of her head, and she’s flushed. “Your friend and your two dates are going to see,” she says.
“Doesn’t matter,” he says, shrugging. “I’m not the one wanting to find a partner.”
“But the girls are going to think you’re a jerk.”
“Maybe I am,” he jokes, but when Jooyoung gives him a deadpanned look he concedes. “Okay, let’s not do this here then.”
He picks up her bag from the floor and swings it across his own shoulder. Then he grabs hold of her hand and pulls her out of the cafe. “We’re continuing somewhere else, Han Jooyoung. Don’t you think you can escape.”
“I cant believe you just ditched them. That’s so unlike you.” Jooyoung and Kyungsoo are in a small restaurant, and it’s a little early for dinner, but it doesn’t matter. They pore over the menus, comfortable and cozied up.
“He’s the one finding the date. I just accompanied him because I was scared he would chicken out. But, look at him — he was quite confident after a while, so I fulfilled my duty,” Kyungsoo says matter-of-factly. Then he closes his menu shut and smiles at Jooyoung. “Ready to order?”
She nods. “I guess.” But she hasn’t technically decided on her item of choice yet, so when the sever comes to their table and Kyungsoo has made his order, she’s sent into a flurry.
She lays the menu flat on the table and points out her options. “Do Kyungsoo, should I get Seafood Noodle Soup or Fried Rice?"
"You are so indecisive," he groans.
"Hurry. Noodles or rice?"
Kyungsoo openly rolls his eyes and sighs. "Noodles,” he deadpans.
Jooyoung smiles, handing her menu to the server. “Okay, can I get a portion of Fried Rice?"
The server looks momentarily confused, and turns to glance at Kyungsoo. He gives him a knowing look and a quick dismissive swat of the hand. "She's always like this."
She doesn’t question further and instead mumbles a repeat of their order, before scurrying back to the kitchen.
“I‘m not always like this,” Jooyoung singsongs as a refuter to his previous statement, resting her chin on her propped up palms. “I only do things like this to annoy you when you have exams.”
Kyungsoo’s elective course examination is ongoing, and the only reason he’s still able to follow his friend out to blind dates, bring Jooyoung out for dinner, and all other things (like gaming, goodness gracious) is because he’s Do Kyungsoo. He doesn’t need to give a hoot about the exams, and yet he'll still top the class.
“But you know I don't get annoyed,” he says, and she knows for a fact that it’s true. Since they met, Jooyoung hasn’t seen him get annoyed over any trivial thing at all — the only one close to that was the jealousy he felt right when they first started to date. That was it.
The food comes soon after and they order another dish of Sweet and Sour Fish to share. Maybe they are more ravenous than they thought, because before they know it they’ve finished all their food and all that’s left is one piece of fish lying limply, alone in the middle of the plate.
"Take the last one." Kyungsoo uses his chopsticks to push the piece towards Jooyoung’s side, but she’s not having any of that.
"You take it,” she says, pushing the piece back to his side of the plate. “You have a paper tomorrow and need all the nutrients you can get."
"But you like Sweet and Sour Fish. So just eat it. I've eaten enough,” he insists, putting down his chopsticks and crossing his arms, as if refusing to budge.
"Can you just..." Jooyoung reaches over and tries to place the fish on his personal plate, but it flies off her chopsticks. Luckily his reflexes are fast and he catches it with the original serving plate.
"The fish just attempted to kill itself because you refused to eat it,” he says humourlessly, both of them staring at that last piece.
"Ha. No jokes about suicide, please.”
"Fine,” Kyungsoo says seriously, shrugging. “But you can't argue against the fact that it felt sad and wanted to die when you rejected it."
He picks it up once again with his chopsticks, and brings it right in front of . She decides to stop arguing with him over it, and eats it off his chopsticks.
“Good girl,” he says, smiling. She knows he would have pat her head, but they’re sitting just a little too far out of reach to do that.
So Jooyoung rolls her eyes instead. “Your sense of humour is horrible,” she says. “But thanks anyway."
“See? This is how much I love you.” He says tenderly, and she rolls her eyes again, but she’s sure he can see the affection embedded within it.
“I don’t see anything,” she teases, raising her eyebrows.
He gives her a flat look.
“Fine. Spit the fish out right now.”
“Make me.”
They’ve finished their food, and she feels extra playful, so Jooyoung runs out of the restaurant before Kyungsoo can do anything. He foots the bill in the end, but the Scrooge doesn’t complain at all. Instead, he runs outside the moment he’s done and traps her in a big bear hug, burying his face into her neck and raining kisses where it tickles the most.
“This,” he says. “Is how much I love you. You can’t see it. You feel it.”
two years later
Jooyoung calls Kyungsoo when there’s no one in her office. It’s rare, because it’s been a busy period and her schedule is chock full of clients filling up her every hour. She’s become a psychologist, for real, and although she’s just a junior one for a bigger organisation, she has big dreams of starting up her own clinic. But that’s for the future.
Now she’s content with her small cozy office and having to bring coffee to her superior once in a while. Besides, she did graduate with First Class Honours in Psychology in the end, so she has no regrets whatsoever in what she’s doing.
“Hey, love,” he calls when he picks up the phone, and she lays her head on the table, happy to hear his voice. They’ve bought an apartment together and see each other every day before and after work, sharing morning and evening cuddles, watching Disney movies together every other day or so, going on old fashioned dates every time they can, but apparently it’s not enough for either of them.
“How’s my favourite Masters student doing?” She asks, staring straight at the photo frame she has of her and Kyungsoo on her table. “Research for your new paper going okay today?”
“You sound like my professor,” he comments, and she guesses he’s still in campus, from the sounds of school she hears at the back. Kyungsoo is going for his Masters degree in Business and Psychology, after much persuasion from Jooyoung and his parents on why it isn’t “unnecessary”. And at the same time, he’s working as a business consultant part-time because he thinks he needs a job too, so that Jooyoung doesn’t end up paying off all the bills without him knowing. Although she says it’s okay, he doesn’t think so.
“Do you have anything you want me to proofread today?” She asks. This is just another code for “Do you want to snuggle with me today?” — it’s grown into a usual affair that Jooyoung would proofread his research and essays while cuddling up together on the bed.
“Actually, yes,” Kyungsoo says. “It’s on the nightstand on my side of the bed. Read it tonight?”
She nods, and they talk a while more about everything and nothing, before she realises they’ve walked for way too long and she has to attend to a patient.
It ends up being a physically draining day. The moment Jooyoung reaches home, she changes out of her work attire and plonks right on the bed, falling asleep before Kyungsoo even reaches home. She forgets totally about the document she‘s supposed to proofread.
The next day is even worse, with her superior suddenly dropping a whole lot of paperwork on her to complete after work. She wants to pick a fight her superior but she can’t afford to get fired, so she holds it in. When Jooyoung gets home, she has to start on the paperwork, and when Kyungsoo comes into their room as usual and kisses her, she teasingly asks him to move. He does, but stands behind her, tapping his feet on the ground as if he has something to tell her, but is deliberating saying it.
“Have you proofread the document?” He asks after a while. Jooyoung shakes her head and offers a meek ‘sorry’ to him, with the promise they would snuggle up together and read it like they always do — after she finishes what she needs to do.
“It’s okay,” he says, but Kyungsoo twists his foot around on his heel after that, hanging around, and she feels something is off, but she can’t place her finger on what.
The next morning, when Kyungsoo is in the toilet, she finally goes to take a look at the document, mostly out of curiosity as to what he’s written this time. (She still wants the cuddle, so she’ll read it in detail later.)
The front cover writes two words in block: A PROPOSAL.
Kyungsoo walks out of the toilet then, using a towel to dry off his hair. He sees Jooyoung reading his document and stops in his tracks.
She flips it open.
This proposal is directed to Ms Han Jooyoung.
The clauses are as follows:
(i) That Do Kyungsoo brings the aforementioned party to watch every single Disney movie that will ever be released in the future, that movie dates always come with an extra large popcorn set.
(ii) That Do Kyungsoo gives the most satisfactory, warm kisses, hugs, cuddles, and whatever else the aforementioned party wants to do, together.
(iii) That Do Kyungsoo takes Han Jooyoung to be his wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward; for better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness or in health, to love and to cherish, ‘til death do they part.
(iv) Marry me, Han Jooyoung?
That is the most Kyungsoo way she can ever imagine his marriage proposal to be — a literal marriage proposal.
Jooyoung turns her head, and although she has tears in her eyes, although she’s overwhelmed by emotion, although her vision is blurred, she can somewhat make out a sheepish looking Kyungsoo standing right in front of her.
She doesn’t hesitate. She goes right up to him and kisses him fully, passionately, like he’s hers, because he is. And she’s totally, fully, his. It’s a fiery kiss that holds the emotions and memories they’ve made over the past few years of loving each other more than themselves.
“So?” He asks huskily when they finally do break the kiss, out of breath.
“Do you even have to ask?” She laughs, wrapping her arms round his neck. “Of course, Kyungsoo. Of course.”
He pulls her back for another kiss, and this time, they’re both smiling against it. This time they know they’ll have each other for life. This time they know they’ll be able to make it.
a/n: i wanted this last chapter to just be a summative one of how their relationship works heh and yes! krystal’s getting better and dr kim minseok and jina are going to japan and our couple gets a happy ending! :”)
it only hit me now that i won’t be writing about these characters anymore... i’m sad too aaa but i don't exactly like the idea of sequels so i won’t be writing any. but yes, this is the end of the psychology of good students! a longer author's note will be coming out soon bc i have a lot to say HAHA
and i'm starting on a new fic soon! do look out for that too :-) thank you so so much to all of you for staying all the way til here, it means a lot to me :")
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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