chapter 3
the psychology of good studentschapter 3
Jooyoung tries to clear her mind when she reaches her dormitory room. As usual she flings her coat and bag away and flops straight onto her bed. She digs her phone out of her pocket and starts to scroll through social media lazily, before putting her phone away and rolling around on her bed because she doesn't feel like doing anything else. She doesn't know how long she's rolled for before she finally decides on something (worthwhile) to do — that is, to watch an animated movie. In her mind she already has a list of movies worth watching to get the waterworks going.
List of movies that make Jooyoung cry:
- Big Hero 6
- Beauty and the Beast
- Finding Nemo
- Frozen (Olaf is a sweetheart)
- SpongeBob SquarePants: The Movie (Yes, she is "sensitive")
- Basically every other animated movie ever
Jooyoung thinks for a while and grabs her phone again. Today she searches for 'Tangled'. It's the sixth (or seventh) time Jooyoung has watched it but it doesn't really matter to her. She decides to casually ignore the fact that she has another paper due in a few days — she had just finished one report presentation, for goodness' sake. She should be allowed her rest, right? She plugs in her earphones, snuggles into her bed, and sighs in content to herself. Definitely right.
During the movie she cries and cries and wastes half a box of tissue, and then when the movie ends she sits on her bed and blankly stares at nothing in particular, because she is so extremely awed at how amazing the movie is. It takes a while for her to spring back into reality, and when she does, she realises it's near evening already. Jooyoung takes a quick glance at her bag but pulls her gaze from it. Instead of working she decides to search around for her lost textbook, one which was priced at over the cost of one week worth of meals (textbooks for college are so insanely expensive).
Yawning, she randomly pushes a few things in her cupboard about and digs her head in to get a better look. It's not there. Then she slides her feet to the bathroom, and then out in the corridor, and then downstairs, and soon Jooyoung has forgotten all about her textbook and returns to the dorms with a cone of ice cream in her hand.
She doesn't know where the time has flown to but when she next checks her watch, she is shocked to know that is it past midnight. Jooyoung is clueless as to where her afternoon had gone, and it is at this moment where she realises she hasn't crafted her email she had promised to craft on behalf of Krystal. The familiar bitterness rises up in her but she knows it's her fault that one: she volunteered, and two: she procrastinated.
Jooyoung had originally planned to sleep early tonight but now her plans have crumbled into something intangible. So she switches on her laptop and vows to herself to finish it good and fast so she can turn in as soon as possible. She know that if she does this fast, she will be able to go to bed in half an hour.
She ends up going to bed at 3 — her YouTube recommendations were too enticing.
The next morning she is unsuspectingly strolling along the corridor after her first lecture, a nice roll of kimbap in her hand when she feels her wrist gripped tightly by someone. She whips her head around in surprise and is greeted by no other than Do Kyungsoo (who is wearing khakis again and a black Nike shirt — does he ever wear something else?).
He pulls her into a room a few steps away from where she was taken victim and shuts the door, creating a loud bang in the process. It is completely dark, and she is immediately frightened. At first instinct she wants to scream but before she gets a chance to, the lights are and she realises she's just in an innocent, empty classroom. Notes from the previous class are still on the whiteboard.
Kyungsoo must have noticed her expression because he blinks at her and his head. "What?" He asks, and Jooyoung rubs the back of her neck.
"Nothing."
"Were you thinking I kidnapped you or something?" Kyungsoo looks like he is holding in laughter, from the way his face contorts slightly, and she immediately feels indignant.
"No! Shut up."
"Rude," he remarks, then proceeds to sit himself on a table. "We gotta discuss today about the exchange programme. The other students involved are coming."
"Ah, okay," she says, continuing to chew on her kimbap. Kyungsoo watches at her and gulps, and she knows what he is going to do before he even extends his hand out.
"Share?" He asks, and breaks into a grin. Jooyoung narrows her eyes at him and stuffs the remainder into , making a big show of her chewing. Kyungsoo's grin falters.
"Fat chance," she speaks with full.
Kyungsoo gets off the table and walks towards her, and for a moment she thinks he's going to attack her, so she playfully continues chewing exaggeratedly and walking backward. She doesn't figure out what he is going to do because the door creaks opens at that time and they both stop to look.
It is Krystal Jung at the door. The kimbap in suddenly tastes awfully like rubber.
"Oh, Jooyoung! Hi Vicey!" Krystal grins widely and waves, her hair bouncing behind her. She is clad in her netball attire again, and her figure looks better than ever. Jooyoung can't care less — she is more concerned as to why the heck Krystal is here. But is too full with seaweed and rice so she still can't speak.
Krystal turns towards Kyungsoo this time, who looks extra short compared to Krystal. "Hello!" She exclaims in a voice too sweet for Jinkyung to stand, and extends her hand for him to shake. "You're Do Kyungsoo, right? I think I've seen you at one of the recent parties before. I'm Krystal Jung!"
Kyungsoo takes her hand. "Hi," he smiles amicably and shakes his head. "But I don't think it's at a party you saw me, though. I don't go to parties — maybe you saw me along the corridors or something before?"
"Oh, really? Because I thought I –"
"Since when were you in psychology?" Jooyoung cuts in mid-conversation, directing the question to Krystal. She has swallowed down the last bit of kimbap stuck in and is now staring at the both of them, partly confused because she still has no idea how Krystal got selected for the trip, but mostly feeling piqued because she was expecting this trip to turn out great and for her to be surrounded by amazing scholars, but looking at Krystal here just made her lose interest in going in the first place. London means nothing to Jooyoung if she has to go with someone as fake and annoying as Krystal. She feels a little mean but it's not like she can control her feelings.
Krystal bats her eyelashes obnoxiously. "Sorry, what?"
"Since when," Jooyoung repeats, keeping her aggressiveness to a minimum. "Were you in psychology?"
Krystal looks at Kyungsoo, then hits him on the shoulder daintily and bursts into peals of high-pitched laughter. "Silly, I'm not! This is a combined major trip. Hey, did you know Minseok's coming too? I heard you got selected by Prof PCY, he didn't tell you who's going?"
"Minseok?" Jooyoung asks incredulously. This is slowly turning into a student government officials' trip, and she doesn't like the fact that it is. She is fond of Minseok as a friend (he's really responsible and nice), but putting Minseok, Krystal and her together is a horrible decision. Besides, Minseok hates Krystal's guts, so that is a problem in itself already (and Krystal is either too dense to know, or just is too cocky to care).
It seems like the only thing to remind her it's not really a student government officials' is the fact that Kyungsoo, who is leaning casually on a chair looking as unbothered as ever by the situation, is going as well.
A few more students come in a few moments later before Minseok does. When he enters Jooyoung immediately drags him to the side and sits him down beside Kyungsoo, who waves at him. Minseok looks terribly shaken, and Jooyoung thinks she can guess why.
"I know, you didn't expect Krystal to be here as well, right?" She says, speaking softly to him so that Krystal herself, who is admiring her nails, wouldn't hear her. (As much as she dislikes Krystal it would be mean to make it obvious that it is so.)
Minseok snaps out of his daze and stares at Jooyoung instead, a new kind of 'shaken' smeared all over his face. "Krystal's coming?" He asks in horror, his eyes widening to reveal lots of whites. "Krystal Jung?"
Jooyoung nods to confirm it, then narrows her eyes at Minseok. "But what else were you so affected about, though? When I sat you down, I mean."
His mouth opens, as if he's going to speak, but he closes it again. And then he stands up abruptly and drags Jooyoung away. It's rare to see Minseok so affected by something not about Krystal, so Jooyoung is extremely curious.
He tilts his head to gesture Jooyoung to look in that particular direction. "Is Do Kyungsoo going for the trip as well?"
"Yeah. You know him?"
He suddenly gets a mystical look on his face, and Jooyoung sees the corners of his lips edging up. "Not really."
"Then…?" It's strange to see Minseok acting like this — he only ever gets a look as dazedly fascinated as this when he returns from the paediatric hospital after spending time with the kids there. Besides being a paediatric surgeon, Jooyoung has never seen Minseok interested in anything else.
"It's going to be a good trip," he nods, smiling, and pats a confused Jooyoung on the shoulder before returning to his seat beside Kyungsoo. He strikes up a conversation easily and looks brighter than she has seen him for the past few weeks. And Jooyoung still has no idea what is going on with Minseok.
She goes for her shift at the convenience store in the afternoon, after she has finished all her classes for the day.
"Friend. I need to rant," she says as she bursts into the store and slips on her work uniform over her shirt. Jina looks up from whatever she is doing and pulls Jooyoung over, sitting her down on a stool behind the counter.
"Okay." Jina holds her hand, and Jooyoung takes a deep breath.
"She's going to walk past here with her whole posse of friends in 3… 2… 1." They both look out of the window, and true enough, Krystal Jung is sashaying out of campus with a large group of girls who carry the exact same vibe she does — airy, glamorous, but slightly dumb.
"That's Krystal Jung. There right at the front," Jooyoung gestures. Jina scrunches up her face in disgust. Jooyoung had ranted to Jina so many times about Krystal that she knows everything — from how Krystal claims to be busy and skips meetings when she is actually partying, her utter irresponsibility as the President, and how fake she is in general.
"Ew," Jina mumbles.
"I know." They both sit in silence for a while as their eyes trail Krystal and her so-called squad. Then Jina turns to Jooyoung.
"Is that Krystal girl what you want to rant about today?" She gives her hand a little squeeze, and Jooyoung feels slightly comforted.
"I'm just annoyed because she's going on the exchange programme with me. The one to London I told you about."
"That !"
"Yeah," she mopes. "Especially since she's being even more fake than usual recently. There're quite a few guys coming on our trip and she's up to every single one of them."
Jina sighs. "Hang in there, okay? Ultimately people go for personality over looks — I mean, I shouldn't be the one saying this since I do feel attracted to good looking people, but still. Look, I'm your friend despite your looks. That says a lot."
Jooyoung narrows her eyes. "Is that supposed to be comforting?"
"What I said is true, okay? The last part especially. You've gotta admit your looks compared to Krys- hey! Ouch! Stop hitting me, you idiot. Han Jooyoung!"
After a while, when Jina has untangled herself from her mess with Jooyoung and both of their shifts are about to end, Jina is on her phone reading something intently, her eyes lighted up. It doesn't shock Jooyoung when she suddenly starts to bounce up and down.
"Oh my gosh, Nam Joo Hyuk and Lee Sung Kyung are dating again!" She exclaims, grabbing Jooyoung by the shoulders and shaking her in excitement. Squealing, Jina squishes up Jooyoung's face as she presses them together with her hands. "Tell me it isn't the best news ever."
It isn't the first time Jooyoung has to go through this — Jina is forever reading entertainment news articles out loud and giving reactions so big one would think something extreme had happened. Jooyoung manages to shake her head even with Jina's hands on her. "It isn't. Who are they?"
Jina let go of Jooyoung and stares at her incredulously. "Where was your mind when I was talking to you about the drama I was watching? Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo? Does that ring a bell?"
She contemplates for a while, then shakes her head. "Nah," she says passingly, but she takes Jina's phone from her to get a better read at the article. The screen is back to its home screen, however, and Jooyoung realises the wallpaper is of a different guy yet again.
"What happened to the Haechan guy? He was your new wallpaper just days ago."
Jina grins at her. "I changed my taste after the boy with the hoodie came. You know, the one who bought the discounted ramyeon? I like shorter guys now."
Jooyoung scoffs. Does Jina really think Kyungsoo is that cute? She proceeds to squint at her wallpaper. "This guy doesn't look short though."
Jina snatches back her phone and brings it to her chest in a defensive stance. "He is short!" She exculpates, as if being short is a merit. "My Woozi is really short! It's just the angle."
"You're weird."
Jina isn't listening to her again. Instead, she is staring in the direction of the door, and urgently hits Jooyoung on the shoulder aggressively. "Oh my. He's here he's here he's here," she repeats breathlessly. Jooyoung turns around, amused, to find Kyungsoo walking to the fridge looking for a drink.
"Speak of the devil," Jooyoung says, and Jina looks like she's going to faint when Kyungsoo starts walking towards the counter with a can of coffee in his hand after selecting for some time.
It comes as a small surprise when the can of coffee in his hand is not one that is discounted. Jina scans the coffee with shaky hands.
"That'll be 1200 won," she squeaks, her voice unstable. Jooyoung snorts inwardly at her — Jina is always nervous around guys she thinks are cute.
But Kyungsoo doesn't budge nor take out his wallet. Instead he smiles at Jina, then turns to stare straight at Jooyoung. "Treat me, will you? I had four classes today and I'm going for my next one in 10 minutes. I'm beat."
Jina has comically open, and she nudges Jooyoung, who is squinting back at Kyungsoo. "And why should I do that?" She stretches out every word. "Am I even friends with you?" Jooyoung is planning to give Kyungsoo all the sass she has — it is fun teasing him, somehow. Even though she's only known him for two days, it feels so oddly comfortable with him it's almost nice.
"No? You're not my friend?" He looks amused more than anything. "Then… I guess you want to be my girlfriend?"
Jooyoung hears Jina yelp softly and laughs. "I wouldn't want to date someone who is short, brazen, an absolute miser and is wearing the same pair of khaki pants for the thousandth day in a row."
He chuckles as well, and stares down at his pants before looking up at Jooyoung again. "Okay," Kyungsoo says ever so casually, and grabs the coffee before turning around. "Thanks in advance, friend, for the coffee."
The small bell at the door jingles as he exits, leaving Jina still gaping and Jooyoung just shaking her head as she digs her pocket, then stuffs a note and some coins into the cash register.
When Jina has come back to her senses it is her turn to smack Jooyoung. (One could say they had an abusive friendship — they both would deny it readily. Or put the blame on each other.) "You never told me you knew him!"
"I don't!" Jooyoung laughs, dodging her hits.
"You're a horrible friend, Han Jooyoung. You obviously do! And not only that, you guys seem really close!" Jina is shouting now, and the student at the biscuits aisle turns to give both of them a disapproving look. That shuts Jina up.
"I've only known him for a while. We're not close. By the way, you can have him if you want. He's not what you expect," Jooyoung says softly, but Jina just gives her a smug look.
"Who do you think I am? I don't go around stealing my mates' guys," she smirks. (And maybe the part about their friendship being abusive is true, because Jina goes home that day with a reddened arm after that comment — Jooyoung's strength is no joke.)
Over the next few days, when Jooyoung comes for her shift, Jina is always giving her a funny look: the kind she makes when she is teasing Jooyoung about something shared between the both of them.
"What?" She asks on the first day, intrigued.
Jina keeps the expression — and her gaze on Jooyoung — until she reaches the counter. "Your boy came for a steamed dumpling today," she says sleazily, then opens her palm. "It's 1500 won. He said you'll pay."
"Stupid Do Kyungsoo! Does he think this is his house?" Jooyoung bursts, groaning, before unwillingly dumping money into the cash register. She texts him right after, ignoring her co-worker's request to tell her more about Kyungsoo.
To: Scrooge
you're an idiot stop making me pay for your dumb unnecessary afternoon snacks
She receives a reply almost immediately.
From: Scrooge
i told you i don't do unnecessary things the stuff i bought were absolutely needed :D paying for them was unnecessary though because i have you, my buddy. thank you for hitting me with the pillow that night, by the way. it gives me an excuse to get you to buy me things
Jooyoung resists the urge to block him off because she needs to berate him through message if he dares to take things randomly out of the convenience store and expect her to pay again.
On the second day she receives a text even before Jina tells her what he has taken out.
From: Scrooge
hey i got a disposable raincoat because it was raining really heavily just now i can't remember the cost you can ask your friend (and be grateful i didn't choose to go for the umbrella because it costs like 10 times more) thanks again
"Ugh!" Jooyoung wants to pull out her hair in frustration, and even more so when Jina merely laughs at her. "Do Kyungsoo is so annoying, can we blacklist him from this store or something?"
"Even if we can, I don't want to," Jina says in a sing-song voice, but Jooyoung is not amused.
"Stop him if he tries again."
"No."
"Choi Jina!"
"No."
"I swear I'm going to end my friendship with you."
"No."
On the third day, Jooyoung texts Kyungsoo first to make sure he hasn't gotten anything from the store yet. She rushes from her lecture hall to the convenience store, her books tucked under her arm and her hair splayed in a mess around her head.
To: Scrooge
your stupid had better not come in the store yet
From: Scrooge
too late mate i got a can of coffee today
But before Jooyoung can send him an exasperated reply, Kyungsoo sends her another message.
From: Scrooge
it's two for the price of one :) and i took only one, so drink the other one and take it as if you're paying for yourself. i left the can at the counter with your friend
She has nothing to say to that because when she reaches the store, she realises that the coffee Kyungsoo bought is her favourite anyway, and Jooyoung doesn't mind actually paying to drink it, since she's tired as well. So she saves the angry message for the day. And keeps the coffee in her bag for later, because for some reason Jooyoung can't bear to drink it just then.
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 :”)
Comments