Seungwan doesn’t get why Joohyun is in school, but she can see that Joohyun is working hard. The first day that Seungwan was able to find Joohyun in the library, she was hidden in the depths of the reference area, where the study room doesn’t have a window and the light flickers. According to Seulgi, there used to be a ghost that haunted the study room, which is why no one ever likes to go there. She’d caught Joohyun in the dark, standing on top of the table, adjusting the loose bulb on her own. 

Joohyun jumps off the table with a brush of her hand. “What’re you staring at?” She sharply asks. 

Seungwan gasps and darts her eyes away. She hugs the books to her chest more closely. “You could’ve called the custodian to fix that.” 

“After all these years they still haven’t fixed it,” Joohyun shrugs as she taps the light on. “There was only one person that fixed it.” She rounds the study table, where Seungwan sees the stack of books and the syllabi open beside it. There are a few highlighters littered beside them and a pencil case and older modeled graphing calculator. 

“Who was that?” Seungwan asks curiously, following Joohyun into the room. 

Joohyun doesn’t answer and sits down. She pulls her syllabi. “So we have Microbio, O-chem, Calc 2, and Physics together. Do you have the notes?” 

Seungwan nods quickly and puts down her stuff on the table across from Joohyun. She pulls out the notes she’s taken in the last two months of the material. She hands them to Joohyun but the woman doesn’t look at her, taking a second as her eyes scan the syllabi. 

Joohyun finally looks up and raises an eyebrow. “You can just put them down.” 

“Oh right,” Seungwan says before placing her notebooks down. “We can go through them together. We can either do one subject at a time or one chapter of each subject at a time. It’ll be difficult to catch up on so much work in a short time because the material builds–” 

“You can leave them, I’ll look through them myself,” Joohyun curtly says. She folds her hands nicely before here and stares up at Seungwan with her hard eyes. 

Seungwan darts her eyes away from the piercing dark eyes. She can’t help her heart from jumping every time Joohyun stares at her. She pushes up her glasses. “I-I can’t,” she stammers uncontrollably. 

“Why not?” 

“Because I need them too,” Seungwan says firmly. “They’re my notes so it’s important for me to keep them together so I can study too.” 

Joohyun huffs and sits back in her seat. “Why would you give me your original? People usually give their copies.” 

“It would destroy the purpose of going over the material with you.” Seungwan reasons. “I said I’d catch you up and I don’t want you to fall behind because I didn’t actively help you.” 

Joohyun shakes her head. Again, there’s an incredulous scoff. “Fine then. Sit. Tell me what I need to know.” 

“Eh?” Seungwan is surprised. “You’re letting me help you?” 

Joohyun raises an eyebrow. “You said you wanted to help. So do that.” 

“Oh.” 

“Why’re you like that?” 

Seungwan blushes. “Sorry.” 

“Don’t be sorry. What’s wrong with you?” 

Seungwan bows and apologizes again. “Sorry.” 

“Stop apologizing. What do you even have to be sorry for?” 

Seungwan tenses. 

“Well?” 

“It’s just…” Seungwan hates that she’s nervous. Joohyun is picking at her insecurities that she probably doesn’t know about Seungwan. She pushes up her glasses. “Most people tell me to get lost. They think I sound arrogant and they don’t like it. So they don’t want my help.” 

The stern look on Joohyun’s face softens as if she understands. She just sighs and waves Seungwan over. “Come on, just sit down,” she says this time more gently. “There are two months worth of material I need to catch up on; I won’t be able to do it alone if I have to catch up quickly.” 

What Joohyun says puts Seungwan at ease, but it doesn’t stop her from being shy around the stern-faced woman.

Seungwan is the type to show up to school early, spend time in the library, and make her way to where she needs to go. Even though she gets stopped by some of the boys to about her weekends or sports players ‘accidentally bumping’ books out of her hands, the worst is when the other rich girls make snide remarks about her family and her, Seungwan holds her head up high, ignoring them.

However, since Joohyun has been at the school, the attention has been on her. The whispers only stemming from her beauty and devolving into insults about her. 

“God, she’s so pretty.” 

“I bet she paid for it.” 

“How would she? Wasn’t she on scholarship?”

“Don’t you know how much escorts make?” 

Or the leering that occurs when she’s around. 

“She’s got a nice . The school uniform is hot on her.” 

“I bet her men would pay to see her in it.” 

“Do you think they’d pay alot?” 

“How much would I have to pay?” 

There is no way that Joohyun doesn’t hear the conversations. It’s obvious that she does with a hard glare constantly on her face. She hates being there and everyone seems to know it. 

“Why is she even here?” 

“She must’ve made so much money as an , why come back to school?” 

“Maybe she wasn’t that good.” 

“Scholarship my , she’s stupid for coming back.” 

“She must have a thick face.” 

“Maybe Headmaster Lee is one of her clients.” 

“Fat chance, he was the one that kicked her out. I bet it’s someone else that has more power than him.” 

Seungwan hates hearing the whispers. It makes her feel bad for Joohyun. She doesn’t deserve it because everyone is entitled to their own lives and secrets. It has nothing to do with anything else. She hates seeing how isolated Joohyun is from everyone, but then again, it’s refreshing to see Joohyun not make an effort to fit in. It’s clear the older woman cares only to get her degree and leave, much like Seungwan.

“You don’t really have to go to school to learn, Joohyun noona,” Park Chanyeol stands by her locker. His face is as arrogant as his brother’s while he leans against the locker beside Joohyun’s. “Your beauty is worth more than your brains.” He clicks his tongue as he looks her up and down. “I could take good care of you. Much better than hyung.” 

Joohyun rolls her eyes. She grabs what she needs from her locker and slams it shut. She turns away from him and walks away. 

Park Chanyeol pushes off the locker quickly. He’s not one to be rebuffed. The only other person that’s done that is Seungwan and it hurt his pride so badly, that from time to time, when Seungwan is in his line of sight, she’s the victim of his bullying. 

“Come on, noona, what do you say? You don’t even have to give me a friendly discount.” Chanyeol grabs at Joohyun’s elbow and she finally reacts. 

Joohyun rips her elbow out of his grasp and whips around to grab his wrist to twist around his back. In a single move, she pushes him face first against the lockers with a loud thud that a crowd starts to look at them.

Seungwan stares in shock at the scene as it unfolds near her. 

Joohyun pushes him forcefully against the metal. “A rich piece of like you should learn to buy manners,” she hisses into his ear. 

“What did you say to me?” he growls angrily. As much as he pushes back, Joohyun seems to have the strength to hold him in place. “Take that back, you .” 

Joohyun twists his wrist just a little bit, earning a loud yelp. “Call me a again and I’ll have you whimpering like one.” 

Chanyeol spits to the side. “Shut up, .” 

Joohyun doesn’t miss a beat and kicks the back of his knee, slamming it into the locker. Chanyeol howls at the contact and crumbles to the ground as she lets him go. There are several loud gasps and whispers. Seungwan stares in shock as Joohyun coldly looks down at him before walking away as if nothing happened. 

Joohyun pushes through the small crowd that’s formed until she runs into Headmaster Lee when he walks out of a classroom a few doors down. 

At the end of the day, Joohyun gets called to the headmaster’s office in the middle of class. Seungwan worries that she is going to get kicked out all over again. 

But she doesn’t. If Joohyun got talked to by Headmaster Lee, nothing came of the conversation because Joohyun is back at school the next day as if nothing happened. She’s still cold and cool as ever as she makes her way to her lockers and from class to class. The whispers haven’t stopped yet, but the way people part ways for her as if she is about to hit them is laughable. 

Seungwan doesn’t condone violence but Joohyun defending herself is remarkably commendable. It’s also nice to see her nemesis whimpering like a because of Joohyun. 

Joohyun quietly and quickly turns into one of the most badass students on campus though. Not just because she didn’t take Chanyeol’s , but she doesn’t take anyone’s . It must be her age and experience, Joohyun knows when to speak and when to act. While everyone knows she can stick up for herself, when things get really bad, she’ll step in. 

Jimin is cornering a freshman with her two friends. The girl had accidentally crossed paths with the senior and bumped her, which ticked off the tiny firecracker. She’s in the middle of berating the freshman when Joohyun happens to walk by. 

“You take picking on someone your size too seriously,” Joohyun snidely comments as she stops behind Jimin. The freshman against the wall looks terrified at Joohyun’s appearance. 

“What?” Jimin snaps and turns to the older woman. Joohyun isn’t that much taller than Jimin, probably a few centimetres but her presence is a bit overwhelming. 

Joohyun raises an eyebrow at Jimin, not repeating herself, but adding fuel to the fire. “You must be making up for how small you must feel, picking on someone who bumped into you by accident.”

“I’m not small!” Jimin screeches, her finger pointed at Joohyun threateningly. “Do you know who I am, you hag?” 

Joohyun smirks at the insult. “Yeah, a shrimp,” she deadpans. 

There are gasps around them. The poor freshman is so terrified but can’t contain a snort at the comment. Jimin goes red in the face. 

“You–!” Jimin raises her hand to slap Joohyun when Joohyun snatches it out of the air. Her eyes go wide at the grip around her wrist. 

Joohyun sneers, no other words necessary. She pushes Jimin back so that she stumbles. Jimin looks like she’s about to retaliate when the bell rings. Everyone around them scuttles away to class, the freshman shoots her a grateful look before running away. Joohyun doesn’t say anything and leaves the scene. 

Seungwan is walking to class, trying to annotate the next chapter for biology, when she feels a bump at her elbow and her books she’s balancing in her arms go flying. . I should’ve been more aware of my surroundings. She thinks as she drops down quickly to pick everything up. 

“Shouldn’t carry too many things, ing nerd,” Sehun teases as he walks away. His friends laugh along with him as they tag along. 

It doesn’t end there. 

“Ah, Son Seungwan, what to do with you?” Chanyeol crouches down before her with a menacing smile on his face. He doesn’t help her get her stuff, only stares at her. 

Seungwan ignores him. She hates that he’s even looking at her now. To think that they were supposed to be engaged by now. She’d rather flay herself than be in any type of relationship with him. 

“Come on, don’t be like that, jagiya,” he taunts. He cups her chin so that she looks at him. 

Out of reflex, Seungwan slaps him away. Her eyes shoot daggers at him before she quickly gathers her things up. 

“You wouldn’t have to suffer so much if you just loosened up.” 

Seungwan clenches her jaw. 

“You know what? Maybe you should ask for Joohyun noona’s services,” Chanyeol teases with a nasty smirk on his face. “I bet for the right price, she’d loosen you up.” 

Seungwan snaps and slams the books she’s collected onto the ground before Chanyeol. “Yah! Don’t talk about her like that!” She yells.

Chanyeol is unfazed. The smirk stays on his face and his pupils grow wide. There are bystanders staring at them with interest. Seungwan notices the stares after a moment and flustered by her own reaction reaction, she bends down to grab her things and rush off. 

Joohyun sees the whole thing from the upper landing. 

Seungwan rushes into the bathroom. She feels her heart pounding inside of her. She hates losing her temper because it only serves as fuel for people to pick on her. Meek, quiet nerd is enough, but adding a temper is just more fodder. People are sick, they just want a reaction. 

As much as she can ignore the comments and bullying, Seungwan can’t stand what Chanyeol says about Joohyun. She doesn’t understand why it bothers her so much because Joohyun can very well stick up for herself. Maybe that’s the problem, Seungwan knows better. She knows all of the terrible things that goes on in this school, but she doesn’t do anything about it. For her sake, she ignores it. 

It makes her feel like a coward. Joohyun sticks up for people when they’re wronged and she doesn’t care about her reputation even if it’s already tarnished. How could she do that? Seungwan finds herself torn. She knows Joohyun deserves better, but what can she do? She just wants to get to the light at the end of the tunnel. 

“Are you okay, Wannie?” Seulgi finds her in the bathroom as she splashes water on her hot face. There’s concern written across the taller girl’s face. “Are you hurt?” 

Seungwan just shakes her head, feeling sheepish that her friend has to find her in this state. 

“What did Chanyeol say?” Seulgi gently places her hands on Seungwan’s upper arms to provide her comfort. “You can tell me.” 

Seungwan sighs. What’s the point in telling her friend? Neither of them can do anything about it. How Chanyeol treats her is because of who she is and the power her family holds. She shakes her head. “It’s okay, Seul, I’m okay. Just ignore him.” 

Seulgi isn’t easily convinced, but she respects Seungwan’s space. She pats the shorter girl’s head. “You want to see what I got from the convenience store this time?” she offers to cheer up the girl.

Seungwan can’t help but chuckle. “Sure, Seulgi, what disgusting thing did you buy this time?” 

“It’s not disgusting! It’s cute!” She says as she reaches into her backpack to pull out a baggie of colorful gummy worms. “I got two kinds! I tried to pick out all the orange and blue ones but they mostly come as orange and green or pink and blue.” She pouts childishly at the gummy worms and takes one of the green ones out to eat. 

Seungwan smiles, feeling lighthearted at Seulgi. She throws her arms around the taller girl’s shoulders for a hug. There’s a surprised squeak that Seulgi lets out. “Thanks for being here,” she mutters into Seulgi’s shoulder. 

Seulgi pats Seungwan’s back with her free hand. “Of course, my buddy,” she quietly says, “I wish I could do more.” They stand there in the bathroom, basking in the peaceful air, the muffled sounds of high school outside the sanctuary of their current space. 

The door swings open with a squeal, catching their attention. 

Joohyun stands in the doorway, looking impassive as she stares at the two of them. Her eyes look at their intimate position and an eyebrow quirks up. Seungwan feels uncomfortable under her gaze and peels herself from Seulgi.

Seulgi bows slightly. “Sunbae,” she greets carefully. 

Joohyun glances at Seulgi before her eyes fall back on Seungwan. “You left this behind,” she says, holding out a red composition book. 

Seungwan quickly takes the book from Joohyun. As she grabs it, Joohyun doesn’t relinquish her grip and tugs the book towards her, pulling Seungwan along. She nearly slams into the older woman, not expecting strength. 

“What did I say about defending me?” Joohyun lowly asks. “Don’t do that again.” 

Seungwan feels her heart shake inside of her. “I didn’t even do anything useful…” she sadly laments at the reality of things. She really didn’t do anything. 

“Exactly,” Joohyun points out. Seungwan’s shoulders fall. “Don’t get riled up by the likes of Chanyeol because of me. He’s not worth anything to either one of us. When you graduate, he will be nothing but a distant memory.” 

There’s a weight in Seungwan’s heart that comes off at Joohyun’s words. She stares into the dark brown eyes in awe. Seungwan has always wanted to hear those words and to hear it from Joohyun makes her feel relieved. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. What she’s working so hard towards can be a reality. 

“Thank you, Joohyun-ssi,” Seungwan whispers with sincerity. There’s a surprised look on Joohyun’s face. 

God, she looks beautiful.

“I’ll remember what you say.” She smiles brightly at the older woman. 

Then the strangest thing happens. Joohyun’s eyes only get wider. Suddenly, she coughs, turning her head to the side to reveal her bright red ears. “Good then,” she grunts. “I’ll see you in class.” She exits abruptly, the back of her head shaking. 

For some reason, Seungwan can’t help but smile because it seems like Bae Joohyun can seem cute?

“Ooooh, does our Wannie have a crush?” Seulgi asks mischievously as she drops an arm around her shoulder. Seungwan feels her cheeks go hotter than before and she shrugs off Seulgi’s arm so they can get to class.

After hearing her words of encouragement, Seungwan feels a bit more sure of herself. She takes things day by day, going about her business, studying hard, participating well in class, and at the end of Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, she gets to study with Joohyun. 

Being around Joohyun is actually quite nice. 

Joohyun is diligent in her studies, which makes it easier for Seungwan to be around. She is focused and quiet, but when she is stuck on a problem, she’ll spend a few minutes working it out on her own before conferring with Seungwan. Once they arrive at a solution, Joohyun thanks her and goes back to working. The lapse in silence allows Seungwan to also go back to her studies. Some days they’d go a whole two hours without saying anything to each other. 

At first, Seungwan felt awkward, wondering if she should interject and offer her help. The one time she did, Joohyun glared at her and immediately returned her focus to Seungwan’s notebook and compared it to the text. 

After three weeks of spending time with each other, three days out of the week, for two to three hours a day, Seungwan finds herself glancing up at Joohyun. Each day, her eyes linger seconds longer than the last because of how captivating the woman is. Seungwan doesn’t mean the beauty that everyone can blatantly comment on everyday. Joohyun is pretty, but Seungwan finds her beautiful. 

While Joohyun scowls down the halls everyday and pensively stares out the windows, when she’s studying it’s like a whole other person. Joohyun’s eyes soften but they’re focused. Her brows knit whenever she’s thinking or when she’s stuck. She bites the corner of her petaled lips when she’s writing out a problem. When she stretches, she throws back her head revealing the expanse of her smooth pale neck, and her arms reach for the ceiling tugging her dress shirt out of her skirt. The sound that comes out of always distracts Seungwan, the soft moan of a good stretch is melodic. 

Joohyun strips off her jacket and tugs off her tie. There’s a bit of force that she does it with and Seungwan tells by the way the fabric loudly slides across her neck. Without thinking, Joohyun s the first two buttons of her dress shirt. Joohyun rolls her neck, black hair shifting back revealing her collarbones. 

Seungwan feels hot, swallowing to soothe her dry throat. Her eyes follow Joohyun’s lithe fingers as she pulls her fine hair into a high ponytail, revealing her cute ears and side profile. 

“Should I charge you for staring?” 

Seungwan panics because Joohyun has caught her staring. She sits frozen in her seat as her cheeks burn because Joohyun stares back at her with a smirk on her face. “I’m-I-I wasn’t–” she darts her eyes back onto her papers, flustered that she’s been caught. 

Joohyun chuckles in her seat. She sounds angelic and soft. The sound catches Seungwan’s attention and she timidly looks up. Joohyun is smiling into her hand, eyes closing ever so slightly into crescents. It’s a dreamy sight. If there wasn’t a constant reminder that Joohyun was older than her by three years, Seungwan would think Joohyun is her age. 

“It’s okay,” Joohyun says suddenly, when she stops laughing. “Stare if you want to.” 

“Eh?” Seungwan gasps in surprise. “I wasn’t staring!” She waves her hands in protest. Her heart races in her chest at being caught and teased by Joohyun’s words.

Joohyun tilts her head with interest. She folds her arms on the table and leans forward, pressing her chest onto her arms. “I’m not offended, Seungwan-ssi,” she honestly says with a gentle smile on her face. “Stare at me all you’d like.” 

“No, no!” Seungwan protests vehemently, still waving her hands. “It’s not like that. I swear! I didn’t mean to stare. I’m sorry!” 

“That’s why I’m letting you.” 

“What?” Seungwan pauses in confusion. Her heart still pounds in her chest, but the way Joohyun speaks with sincerity makes her heart slow to a deep pound. 

“You’re the only one that doesn’t stare at me like a piece of meat that you can pay for.” There’s a bittersweet sentiment that fills the space. 

“Because you’re not,” Seungwan admits, deflated. Her heart thuds in her chest with a resounding beat. “You’re a person, Joohyun-ssi.” She looks down and fiddles with the edge of her notebook. She’s ashamed of staring even more now. “You’re a good person.” 

“That’s a stretch, Seungwan.” 

Seungwan wryly smiles. “You are,” she reaffirms confidently. “You are working hard even though you don’t want to be here. And you stick up for a lot of people when no one else here does. You’re brave, Joohyun-ssi, and I’m glad you’re here.” 

Joohyun opens to say something, surely a protest, but instead, she shuts . A sad smile appears on her face. “You’re a good person too, Seungwan-ssi.”

Seungwan feels her heart flutter. Maybe she really does have a crush on Joohyun. 

It’s pouring on a Friday when they’re done studying together. They stand at the doors of the school side by side. Joohyun sighs because her jacket isn’t thick enough nor is it equipped for the rain. She rifles through her backpack. 

“Are you okay?” Seungwan asks as she looks at Joohyun. 

“I thought I packed my umbrella,” Joohyun gives up searching and closes up her backpack. 

Seungwan doesn’t think about it and holds out her blue umbrella to Joohyun. “Here, you can take mine.” 

Joohyun stares at her in surprise. “No, no, you don’t have to do that,” she protests. “I’ll be fine.” 

“It’s okay, Joohyun-ssi,” Seungwan insists, holding it out for her. “Seulgi is almost done with volleyball practice, so she is giving me a ride.” She smiles warmly at the older woman. “I’ll be okay.” 

Joohyun looks at her with a soft smile. She’s about to take the umbrella when she hears a loud honk. She jumps in surprise and looks out to the sidewalk. 

There’s an expensive town car sitting at the entrance and the window rolls down. 

“Hi, Joohyun unnie!” A loud girl yells enthusiastically. “I thought you could use a ride!” There’s an enthusiastic wave from the window, the girl not caring that her arm gets a bit wet. “Hurry!” 

Joohyun smiles. It’s one of her warmest smiles and Seungwan feels a tug at her heart to see it directed at the girl in the car. “Thank you anyway, Seungwan-ssi,” she says politely. Her eyes seem to shine brighter than Seungwan’s ever seen it before; it's breathtaking to see. Joohyun doesn’t take the umbrella and uses her backpack as a cover as she runs to the town car. 

Seungwan stands by herself, staring as Joohyun gets in the car. The window is still open and the girl that had been inside pulls Joohyun into a tight hug and clings to her side. Seungwan unconsciously clenches the umbrella in her hand, the tugging in her heart grows. And the town car pulls out of the parking spot.