--

Love , Joohyun realized, was like getting er-punched in the gut.

It started, as all good stories, go with rumors.

Joohyun Bae had never paid much attention to rumors, having been the subject of too many a nasty gossip that she had promptly decided from early on that minding her own business was the best way to go about her life.

As such, it became a habit to immediately classify pointless, meaningless rumors to the bottom of things she deemed worthy of her attention (among others: online games, loud noises, trash, and social media platforms—Joohyun still didn’t get what the fuss was all about).

Joohyun was well-through on the second day of her second year in high school—about to enter fourth period Literature—when she felt a sudden, and frantic tap over by her shoulder.

Few people have mustered up enough courage to touch Joohyun Bae, much more befriend her, but Minseok Kim seemed to have done that in a span of a month and a half, back when they were first years and partners for a class of Professor Medulla’s they were both failing.  

“Hey.” Joohyun greeted with a raised brow in response. “What’s up?” She followed him to a space away from the door of the classroom she was about to go into, as he gestured for her to come closer to talk. People were giving them a wide berth now, and Joohyun could practically feel the stares they were getting. Great.

“You know how Yongsun was the one conducting the orientation this morning?” Minseok began, after a beat of a moment. He spoke with a quiet, calm air. That, coupled with his gentlemanly demeanor (and a personality that was none too overpowering) was what drew Joohyun to extend an olive branch of friendship towards him.

Joohyun resisted the urge to fix up his artfully tousled mouse brown hair. It looked soft, though—and immaculate when paired up with his glimmering eyes— and Joohyun allowed a regretful sigh to travel past her lips. Joohyun nodded.

“Of course,” she smirked. “How could I miss Yongsun, and her twenty carbon copies, running about the premises?”

“Well, your arch-nemesis is right there.”

“My what?” Joohyun asked, unsure if she heard him right.     

“You know,” Minseok shrugged and gestured rather pointedly at Joohyun, as though he was stating an obvious fact of life, “your enemy for life.”

“My archenemy,” Joohyun deadpanned, drawling the words out as she pieced together what her friend was implying, “is a first year?”

He nodded vigorously, and Joohyun rolled her eyes. What was it with boys and their need to find a rival? Life wasn’t a B-rated movie. Joohyun never particularly cared knowing which superhero sent her parents to jail, much more what for. It all happened such a long time ago—though her father served his time much longer than her mother—and when her parents were both released from their sentences, they made it quite clear that it was all in the past.

But Joohyun had always been a curious girl, and a quick visit to the local library (for there was no internet back when the mister and the missus Bae ran rampant in all their villainy glory) was all it took for her to know the name of the hero that stopped the feared cryokinetics—Glacier and his wife, Jadis—from sending the world to an endless slumber of winter: the Red Lightning.

Joohyun remembered how awed she had always been of the crimson-caped heroine. Never mind if she somehow, singlehandedly, sent both her parents to jail; leaving Joohyun to grow up, for the first five years of her life, with her elderly grandparents. The Red Lightning dominated the hero industry back then; wowing the world with her superb flying abilities (flying at a speed faster than sound), and her shocking strength. Rumors even ran around that she had the ability to leap through time—what with her unparalleled speed, and Joohyun wouldn’t hold it against her if she could. She was just so perfect, so beautiful, so imposing, so heroic, and Joohyun Bae soon, quietly (she wasn’t certain her parents would take to her being a fan of the woman that publicly humiliated them despite their reformed ways), found herself enthralled.

Sky High was a community of open secrets and rivalries, and as soon as she got here, Joohyun quickly found out that her hero often ran about in the guise of mild-mannered Mrs. Kang, a travel agent who had a family and a pending divorce to an accountant. (Joohyun knew this much because Chanyeol, one of her kids, was a year above her—such a prodigy in hero work that Sky High, eventually, allowed him to skip his final year; though too self-involved to even spare anyone he didn’t deem worthy of his attention—much more the daughter of a couple of side villains his mother had put to jail years ago—a glance, that Minseok and a few other friends of Joohyun’s gave up on labelling him her rival to begin with.)

 She’d heard he had a younger sibling, and despite knowing she’d be late for class, Joohyun’s curiosity overpowered her and she followed Minseok to where he claimed he’d last seen Yongsun leading the first years—the gymnasium.

“Oh dear,” Joohyun furrowed her brows, “Coach Boomer must be sorting them into their Hero and Sidekick classes.” Minseok laughed in agreement, and bounded ahead, but Joohyun lagged behind, watching her friend skip ahead of her. (Minseok liked jumping from place to place with a single bound, but Joohyun didn’t appreciate having to hurriedly scurry after him. So they compromised.)

There was something curiously disconcerting about seeing the wide array reactions of the students, right after they are sorted. A mixture of emotions ranging from glee and satisfaction to those who got into Hero Class, to downright disappointment at the newly dubbed Sidekicks. (Hero Support, but really. Hardly anyone uses the term, save for Mr. Boy.)      

They snuck through the gymnasium’s swinging doors, the ear piercing voice of Boomer filtering through, shouting: “SIDEKICK!”

XX

They say that when Warren Peace first met Will Stronghold, one shared glance between the two sparked a rivalry that lasted a lifetime (or rather, half a year or so, before a series of events occurred that led them into becoming the best of friends).

Joohyun wasn’t sure what to feel with Seulgi Kang.

The moment she saw her in the middle of the raised platform, her hair fluttering around as Coach Boomer announced to the world her incompetency with being associated to the Red Lightning, Joohyun knew Seulgi would be something important to her. Though of what reason, she wasn’t sure.

Despite being the daughter of one of the world’s most powerful superheroes, surely this powerless first year wasn’t worthy of being called Joohyun Bae’s archenemy?

Joohyun who became the head of the cheerleaders at the end of her freshman year. Joohyun who held a record-breaking five-week winning streak in Save the Citizen (she lost when they brought out the mechanical fire- breathing robot dogs Tech Society had decided to modify. Joohyun hates dogs). Joohyun who could build ice castles and infantry weapons out of thin air if she wanted to.

It didn’t help that Seulgi was entirely different from Chanyeol.

The elder sibling was tall and imposing. He carried himself with a demeanor of blatant self-assurance, never afraid of drawing attention to himself. When she was a first year, Joohyun could remember that she would oftentimes see him laughing raucously with his friends, loudly and carelessly, as though he did not have a single care in the world.

Seulgi, from what Joohyun could see, was more delicate. She was thin and petite—taller than Joohyun by a mere couple of inches.  Her features were sharper than Chanyeol’s, more cunning and cat-like, and if it were not for the sole similarity of their ears poking awkwardly out of their head, Joohyun would have dismissed the thought of them as siblings thereon.

Seulgi Kang, Joohyun soon learned, was also more introverted and quiet. She kept to herself, and, save for a couple of friends here and there, she rarely spoke with anyone else.  Word had quickly spread of what had transpired in the gymnasium that even Minseok had quit egging Joohyun onto Seulgi.

“It’s just wrong, you know?” He replied when Joohyun had confronted him about it, a few weeks later. “I mean,” he ducked his head, lowering his voice to a shady whisper. They were in the cafeteria eating lunch together. “You’re a hero, and she’s a sidekick. There’s an imbalance. I feel sorry for her, too. I can’t imagine living up to the reputation of her family, while being… that…”

Joohyun nodded, nibbling off the edge of her chocolate bar. She ignored the meaningless chatter of one of Yongsun’s clones sitting by her side, an anecdote of something that happened to Yongsun and her girlfriend, Byulyi, early in the morning. Her eyes wandered off to the far side of the cafeteria, to where she knew the first years usually clumped around.

Seulgi was eating her lunch with several people. A girl she usually went around with, and a couple of guys—Joohyun recognized them as the dance team’s new recruits (she knew because just last week, they missed their Monday cheer practice due to the troupe’s tryouts taking over the gymnasium; and in spite, Joohyun sat through the whole duration of the auditions, glaring holes at the back of stupid Donghae Lee’s head). Seulgi too, became part of the team, and Joohyun recalled her astonishment at seeing the timid girl at the try-outs, dancing like a trained professional.

 (Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but Joohyun thought her dance was amazing. She moved her limbs and cocked her body accurately to the beat, as though she was performing a form of delicate art. It was beautiful, and Joohyun appreciated it even more upon coming to the realization that she was the only contender who didn’t attempt to spice up their performance by extravagant displays of superpowers. Not that she had a choice; Joohyun shrugged, in an afterthought to herself. )

As Joohyun watched, their table lit off in a ruckus of laughter. One of the guys spilled something on himself, and his friend was roaring off in a peal of hyena-like laughter. Seulgi’s friend in a mixture of amusement and pity, had gotten up to help the poor man clean up, chuckling and giggling to herself.

Seulgi was laughing, and it struck Joohyun that she had never seen her smile before. (Not that she had any reason to, she would think later on.)

Her cheeks bunched up, folding her eyes into adorable crescents. They were like tiny pink apples, and Joohyun—despite being all the way across the room—was hit with the inexorable urge to squish them together. was open in laughter, and Joohyun kind of wanted to get up and tell the rest of the cafeteria to shut up because she had never heard Seulgi Kang laugh before, and she kind of, sort of, wanted to hear it.

“Joohyun?”

Joohyun blinked when she felt someone poke her gently on her cheek. She turned to see Minseok and Yongsun staring quizzically at her. Minseok was holding up his half-eaten burger. Ketchup stuck to a corner of his lips, and Joohyun cringed at the sight. “What are you staring at?” Minseok asked as Joohyun fished around for a napkin in her bag, and handed it to him.

“Me?”

“Yeah.” Yongsun pouted. “You didn’t even notice the disappearance of my clone and me coming by, and you hate it when they vanish in thin air. You say it gives you the creeps. I say you’re just jumpy.”

“I—“ Joohyun her lips as her gaze darted between her two friends. Minseok tilted his head curiously, hair shaggy and ruffled. Eyes alight with cunningness. A strange sort of nervousness hit her, and at that moment Joohyun decided to lie.

“I—I was looking at the first years.” She nodded to the side, as casually as she could muster. Yongsun raised her brows, and a low whistle escaped her lips.

“Ooh-la-la. Well, I can’t deny that they are cute, and if I didn’t have Byulyi with me I’d have—“

“Ah, really.” She was silenced by a balled-up napkin Minseok threw at her, a slight jealous tone tinging his normally placid voice. “You have a girlfriend, and—and,” his eyes flickered over to Joohyun’s, “don’t get those ideas into Joohyun’s head.”

Joohyun blushed at what they were implying. “It isn’t like that.” She waved her hands in front. Then exhaled, and then opened as words smoothly and seamlessly flowed out to weave a believable lie.

“I was thinking of recruiting more lifters, guys preferably, for our cheerleading team. “ Joohyun rolled her eyes in fake-exasperation. “God only knows how many times the girls have complained about aching shoulders, and body-weight. I heard that the first years have three guys who have super-strength.”

“Huh, I heard that too from one of my clones.” Yongsun rubbed her chin. “One of them is a girl, actually.” She perked up. “Ooh! We’d probably have a better chance of convincing her in joining our team.”

Joohyun nodded enthusiastically, picking up on their interest, and effortlessly diverting the topic from her. It was a half-truth, anyway. They did need more lifters, and as Joohyun and Yongsun discussed about details for next week’s annual cheer tryouts while Minseok listened on in bored resignation, Joohyun tried to forget about that weird that feeling encompassed her not a few moments ago. A feeling that drifted past pure curiosity, and felt something more like the times she’d gaze upon Minseok and his fluffy hair, or whenever he’d flash her his cute bunny-like smile that Joohyun knew was only solely-reserved for their inside jokes.   

A few minutes later, when Minseok and Yongsun were too distracted in their bickering, Joohyun almost snuck another glance towards Seulgi’s table. She caught herself in time, and forced her (unwilling) attention onto whatever tart piece her two friends were talking about.

XX

The new lifter came by the name of Joy Park.

She was a gorgeous first year. Tall, confident, and with a pretty face that didn’t match her eerily cunning smile. She had super strength, and the moment Joohyun saw her throw a beat up pick-up truck all the way across one end of the football field to the other, she knew she was Hero material.

She could cartwheel, do flips, and even dance. And apparently, she was also good in karaoke. Joohyun supposed that when she said that, Joy was insinuating that she had a strong voice; otherwise, she wouldn’t know what to make of that sly smirk and dark glimmer in her eyes. But she didn’t have to worry, because a month after try-outs, she found out that Joy had a girlfriend—she’d overheard Krystal Jung complaining how a snooty brat like Joy ended up with such a sweet girlfriend—and a couple weeks after that, she’d caught Joy and said girlfriend out on a date at a park in Joohyun’s neighborhood.   

 What surprised Joohyun the most, despite meeting and befriending the personification of trouble itself, was that she knew Joy’s girlfriend. Sky High was a school of a sizable population, and despite Joohyun’s disregard for the rest of the student body (and whoever her cheerleaders decide to have relations with; keeping up with Krystal’s dating history alone gave her a headache), she recognized Joy Park’s girlfriend as the girl Seulgi Kang always went with.

It was at the same park, at that very moment, when Joohyun knew Joy Park was dating the person she would eventually come to know as Wendy Son, that something was very, very wrong.

As she watched the two giggle and cuddle together, hands wound around each other at the cool weather, Joohyun was struck with the realization that once again, she had been thinking of Seulgi Kang.

Oh my god.

Joohyun wasn’t stupid.

She knew what a crush felt. She’d had a crush on an older girl who used to babysit her and her younger brother when she was in fourth grade. She’d liked and dated a couple of guys back in middle school. And Joohyun was certain that at some point, she’d had a crush on Minseok.

 A tiny part of Joohyun wanted to punch herself hard in the gut, because somewhere along the boundaries of morbid curiosity and utter fascination that she had drawn for herself, she’d went and unknowingly fallen off the deep end.  

Joohyun herself thought it was ridiculous. She’d had guys who were captains of football teams, budding protégés to superheroes, and even the occasional small-time hero, come after her. But to fall for a girl who had barely spared her a glance, despite her utter popularity in the dating scene—well, Joohyun thought it was the saddest of ironies.

Unfortunately, Joy would find out about it a month, or so, later.

Sad irony, or not, a crush was a crush, and Joohyun who had underestimated the weight of her infatuation for the freshman had let her defenses drop.

It was Saturday morning and they were out in the football field. The morning felt crisp and cool, but the cheerleaders were sweating. They were trying out a new routine: one that involved a lot of cartwheels and lifting. It wasn’t until she’d seen Mina Myoui literally burn out that Joohyun decided they take a break.

As the cheerleaders made their way to the bleachers, Joy wound her way to where Joohyun sat, cross-legged, at the edge of the field. “Hey, mom,” she teased, and though she had her eyes closed, Joohyun could practically hear the smile in her voice. Joy had decided to call her this upon noticing her habit of hovering and checking up on the rest of the squad, much to Joohyun’s embarrassment (though she won’t admit that hearing her call her that almost always gave her a warm, happy feeling).

“I don’t have a daughter like you,” Joohyun grumbled. Joy laughed, and she sat down beside her. Joohyun cracked an eye open to look at Joy, before closing it again.

She heard Joy gulping down from her water bottle, before the girl began talking. “I just want to let you know that I’m really sorry for telling you this right now, but, um, I have to be out in an hour or so.”

At that, Joohyun opened her eyes, lethargy eradicated. Joy’s penitent face greeted her, and Joohyun had to ask, “Why?”

Joy bit her lip, and pouted a bit. “My girlfriend made plans for our date, today.” At an afterthought, she added, “It’s been a long time since we’ve had time for each other…” and then blushing at the surprised (and knowing) look Joohyun had taken to, she spluttered out, “It isn’t like that!”

“Come on, Joy,” Joohyun teased, as Joy started spluttering out an attempt at a come-back.

“I was kidding,” Joohyun laughed, sparing Joy any sarcastic remarks. Joy was good kid: responsible, had a good head on her shoulders, and, most importantly, took her duties well as a cheerleader; Joohyun knew that Joy was as sorry as she was for missing out on cheer practice. Quietly, Joohyun racked her head for the name of Joy’s girlfriend.

“Wendy, um, Son, right?” Joohyun tilted her head for confirmation. Surprised, Joy nodded.  Wrinkling her brow, she said, “I didn’t know you knew her name, Joohyun.”

“I wouldn’t have it weren’t for Seulgi.”

 Those words slipped out, and as Joohyun realized a second too late what she said (later on she’d blame the fatigued state of her mind, and Joy’s unusual ability to make her oddly comfortable), she ran through possible excuses she could make up.

Unluckily for Joohyun, Joy was also rather cunning.

“Oh!” Squinting her eyes, Joy asked. “I didn’t realize you were friends with Seulgi.”

“We’re not,” Joohyun mumbled, finding Joy’s gaze suddenly unbearable. “It’s just,” Joohyun decided to play the parentage card, “my parents and her mom; she, uh, sent them to jail.”

“Ah.” Joy nodded, and Joohyun deflated in relief. (She missed the knowing smirk in Joy’s face and glitter in her eyes, failing to prepare for what was coming next.)

“For a second there, I thought you liked her.”

“What!?” Joohyun squawked out in shock. “I—h-how can you say that?” She felt warm and heady, and unbeknownst to her, she was slowly turning a bright shade of pink. Joy was a picture of nonchalance, and she shrugged with all the stoic-ness she could muster.

“Well, I don’t know. Seulgi is pretty hot.” Joy paused for effect, and watched in silent fascination as Joohyun’s neck slowly started coloring. “You should see the amount of people who’d scream at her during their dance practices. She does have abs.”

Joohyun gaped at that. She tried to think of solutions to puncture and deflate the incredibly correct idea Joy was forming that she had a big fat crush on Seulgi Kang. Sadly, the imagery of a sweaty Seulgi in a crop top and leggings was far too much for poor Joohyun to handle. Abs, Joohyun, abs!

Joohyun could feel her nose tingling. Her voice dying in , a few seconds of silence soon overcame them. The sly smirk slowly slipped out of Joy’s face, and as she watched Joohyun’s eyes glaze off into the distance, she gave a gentle shake to her shoulder.

“Joohyun, are you okay? Did I break you? Does this mean that I can go on a date with my Wannie?”

XX

It was an incredibly uncomfortable altercation with Minseok Kim that led to Yongsun finding out about her crush.

It was on February 12^th, two days before Valentine’s Day and an incredibly awkward event. Joohyun had found out from Joy two weeks prior that Seulgi’s birthday was on the 10^th. After a week of searching for the perfect gift—a brown-furred teddy bear with beaded eyes, an item that Joohyun took the time to hand wash in the laundry—Joohyun had chickened out on the actual day, much to Joy’s disappointment, and had spent the weekend moping and eating the inordinate amount of chocolates she’d bought for Seulgi.

She had went to school with her shoulders slumped, no longer excited for Yongsun as she went on and on about the dress she’d bought for her upcoming Valentine’s date, hardly annoyed at the vast amount of love letters cluttering up her locker, and numb to the bone as she watched Jimin Park from the dance troupe successfully ask Seulgi out at the entrance of the school.

Joohyun was feeling glum and melancholy, eyes downcast. As she was making her way to third period Physics, she felt someone grasp her wrist at the hall. Not entirely a stranger to unwanted abductions—especially at this time of the year—Joohyun had readied to spear an ice lance at the stranger, before turning and realizing it was Minseok.

“Minseok? What are you doing?” Joohyun stopped in her tracks, forcing her friend to do the same. She squeezed her fist and the semi-formed blade burst into a flurry of snow. Minseok looked incredibly nervous, and he was breathing rapidly. They were in the middle of the hall, and they were getting strange looks, and whispers.

Minseok’s hand was still locked onto Joohyun’s wrist, and his other arm was folded behind his back, holding something that suspiciously looked like a bouquet of purple flowers. “I need you to come with me. Right now.”

Filled with a sudden dreading suspicion at what was to transpire, Joohyun shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I have to get to class.” Then she added, for good measure: “Right now.”

Minseok looked conflicted. He released his grip on Joohyun’s wrist, and ran a hand through his hair. Joohyun considered making a run for it—she had a feeling she knew what was coming. But what if it wasn’t what she expected? What if it’s actually some other girl, and Minseok just needed some kind of pep-talk? Or—  

 Too late; flashing an attempt at a suave smile, Minseok suddenly knelt in front of her. He brandished the bouquet in front of him—lavenders, mixed with a couple of sunflowers; a pretty sight.

Oh good god.

There were some squeals and gasps from the crowd surrounding them, but all Joohyun heard were the words Minseok shot out towards her.

Joohyun Bae, I’ve liked you for so long…

--

“Are you alright?” Yongsun asked in concern, as they sat underneath a tree for lunch, cutting off her yapping about the dresses she had picked out for Byulyi and herself. “You don’t look so good.” She attempted to touch Joohyun’s jaw, before hastily drawing back at the sudden frost dusting the tips of her fingers.

“Sorry. I’m fine,” Joohyun sighed out loud, as she stared down at her half-eaten salad. Heaving out another sigh, and finally acknowledging her loss of appetite, she wrapped her fork in a napkin and closed her container. Further off, the bouquet she had accepted from Minseok, who had insisted she take it, lay helplessly at the side.

“Is this about Minseok?” Yongsun asked, in concern. With a quiet and meek voice unusual of her, she said, in a voice low enough to be a whisper: “I’m really, really sorry for what happened. I mean, well, I thought that you’re into him, and I kind of knew about his plans—even though he didn’t tell me about it—because he’d been acting suspicious all week, and oh my god! I should have stopped him—“

Yongsun slapped a palm to her forehead, as she shook her head. “It’s just that sometimes I get the feeling that you like him, and he’s obviously into you, and so I thought it was great if you two got together, because I like Minseok, for you, I mean and—“ She stopped at the hand Joohyun held up.

“Well,” Joohyun began slowly, picking through her word carefully. “You’re not entirely wrong. Minseok obviously likes me—liked me, I guess, with recent events—and, at some point in time, I did like him back.”

Yongsun gasped. “But why didn’t you…?” She gesticulated, and once again, Joohyun heaved another sigh, dreading at what she was going to say next.   

“Because,” she steeled herself for any of Yongsun’s dramatics, “I like someone now” (Yongsun whisper-screamed out a shocked What?) “and I don’t think it’d be fair for Minseok if I accepted his feelings.”

“Oh my god. Do I know this person? Are you two—“ Yongsun connected her two index fingers together, which Joohyun couldn’t decide if she was asking if they were dating, or… something else.

Joohyun cocked her head. “I think you know her,” (Yongsun let out another gasp that came more like a squeal, her previously melancholic demeanor long forgotten) “and um, whatever you meant on the last part, my answer is negative.”

Joohyun pouted at remembering the recent happenings. She could feel the cold emanating from her skin, and she felt around for the gray sweater she’d brought with her today, quickly pulling it on.

“Is that why you’re sad today?” Yongsun gently prodded.

Joohyun nodded slowly. “Yeah. I-I actually wanted to confess to her, but I was too scared and I think she likes someone else, so, well, I guess I was spared the embarrassment.”

 “I’m sorry.”

“It’s probably for the best.” Joohyun said, drawing her knees up to her chest. Her hands play with the grass surrounding them, freezing them in clumps, and then breaking them off. “And if you think about it,” she laughed a bitter laugh, “it might be karma, or something, biting me back.”

“Please. Screw karma.” Yongsun rolled her eyes in exasperation. “I’m just glad you haven’t dated any single one of those hormonal boys that came after you all these years.”

Joohyun laughed, a freer sound than before. Yongsun always had a way, no matter how odd it may be, to make her feel better.

“Well, do you wanna talk about it?” Yongsun placed a reassuring palm on Joohyun’s shoulder. “I mean, I’ve never seen you this heartbroken over someone before, and it might be good to let it all out.”

Joohyun smiled, leaning against the tree trunk, taking in Yongsun’s gentle face, and her compassionate gaze. Taking in a deep breath, she glanced at her phone to check the time. Forty-five minutes before the next period.

Shifting in her seat, Joohyun began to tell Yongsun all about her.

“Her name is Seulgi—You know her don’t you?—And before you say anything Yongsun, let me talk…”

--

Author's note: And I am finally done with the 2nd Chapter!! I'm so sorry for the 3-month delay. Life caught up to me. This Chapter is basically set in the past, in Joohyun's perspective, and how her crush with Seulgi came about. It's been a while since I uploaded something online so let me know what you think  :) I'm planning on updating my other fic, and also adding a bonus chapter to this one-shot I made, so I don't know when I can update this again, but I'll try my best!

Also, if anyone knows any good Wenjoy fanfics, please do tell me. I've read a couple here and there, but the tag is somewhat lacking in material:/