Part 1/2

CHAPTER 1

Italic=Flashback

MAY 2010

“Oh, start? Hi, hello. My name is Kang Seulgi.  I'm 19 years old.” 

Seulgi's POV 

“As limit x approaches one, you can find the limiting value.” I yawned. Boring math, I thought. The words of my teacher became slurred as I laid my head down on my desk to have some shut-eye. The camera approached me, “Don't look at the camera,” Pd-nim instructed. “How can I when it's right in front of me?" I questioned. 

As you can tell, I'm being filmed. 

“Just ignore it.” Did I ignore the camera? No. Instead, I smiled at it, trying to look cute. Well, technically I'm already cute but— “You idiot. Stop looking at the camera.” 

But it wasn't just me. 

I looked at the girl beside me, “What are you looking at? Listen to the teacher.” she said. I sneered at her. 

This annoying brat as well. 

The bell rang. “Let's end it here.” the teacher said. “Everyone, bow.” the girl beside me announced. “Thank you, ma'am.” we all said in unison. I stood up holding my notebook, about to leave when she held my hand, “Where are you going?” she asked. “None of your business.” I said in a matter-of-fact tone and started to walk away. “PD-nim, can we stop recording for a moment? It's really hard to work with such an idiot,” I stopped in my tracks. I looked at her, offended. “Keep rolling,” the PD whispered. “‘Idiot’?” I asked her. “We've been filming for days. And the whole time, you kept moving around like you're crazy. I couldn't focus at all because you were so restless,” She said. “The camera was right there. What do you want me to do?” I argued back. “You gotta focus in class. Are you saying you can't do that?” she questioned, eyebrows furrowed. “You can ignore me and focus all by yourself. Are you saying you can't do that?” I asked her back. The camera was now facing me. “All right, I guess you don't care at all about getting good grades. Sure, I totally get you. But still, I refuse to let you drag me down with you.” I sighed. She was getting on my nerves! I faced the camera, “You all heard that, right?” I faced her, “Whatever. It's your social skills that couldn't get any worse.” I said to end the argument. 

“Why did I agree to this,” the girl whispered but it didn't slip my ear. “Yeah, I know, right? Why did you agree to this?” she shot me a glare as I walked out. 

“My name is Bae Irene. 19 years old. I think I first saw Kang Seulgi in tenth grade.” Irene recalled.

Irene's POV

“This much again?” The librarian questioned. “I'm reading less because I have exams soon.” I answered. “You'll read all the books here by the time you graduate.” the librarian said while checking out the books I borrowed. “Here. Enjoy.” she said with a smile. “Thank you.” I smiled at her. I was about to go when something caught my eye. APRIL'S TOP BOOKWORMS — 1ST: KANG SEULGI, 2ND: BAE IRENE. I furrowed my eyebrows, “Ms. Jung,” I called. “Who is Kang Seulgi?” I questioned, eyes not leaving the paper. “She's in first place this month too?” I asked as I looked at Ms. Jung. “Oh, Seulgi?” she looked at me, “I think she was over there.” I went to where Ms. Jung pointed, 

“Hey,” 

“I met her somewhere that didn't suit her.” 

Irene's POV

“I'm Bae Irene from class 5,” I said. “What's your rank?” I questioned. “What rank?" She asked back, rather dumbly. Who doesn't know what rank is, I thought to myself. “Your grades,” I answered nonetheless. “I'm 267th.” she answered. “The total number of students here..” I blinked a few times in confusion. “There are 267 students,” she finished my sentence.

“Back then, I thought that she was just a strange kid.” 

“No, wait. That was the second time we met,” Seulgi corrected. “The first time we met was when we started high school.” 

“The student who entered with the highest grades is Bae Irene,” the principal announced. New high schoolers were currently gathered inside the gymnasium. Irene marched towards the stage while the students clapped. 

“Her name's Bae Irene?” a student questioned. “What a funny name." He continued. 

“I watched her because she walked like she was entering the battlefield.” Seulgi said.

Irene bowed after receiving her certificate and marched back to her spot. “Hey, look at her skirt,” the boy said. “She’s obviously a teacher's pet. She’s a stereotype.” the other guy said. “They all have the same style,” the guy's friend continued. “Hey, look at her shoes—” they quickly stopped when Irene glanced in their direction. Though, her gaze wasn’t directed at those who chatted about her, it was directed at a girl who was staring at her. 

“We met eyes for the first time so I was trying to be nice by smiling,” Seulgi said

“Hey,” Irene called out. “What are you looking at?” She asked which took the girl out. 

“But she seemed ill-tempered.” Seulgi continued. 

The girl glanced again but quickly looked away when Irene turned in her direction. 

“Anyway, I thought I’d never be involved with her again,” Irene told the PD.

Being the class president, Irene was tasked to collect her classmates’ notebook and give it to their teacher. She went to the teacher's room, a room that she knew all too well. “You’re here,” her teacher greeted. She looked behind her teacher and saw a student, hands in the air, probably being punished. “Kang Seulgi!” the disciplinarian called when the said girl’s arm was bending down. The girl immediately straightened it. 

Kang Seulgi… She's kinda familiar, Irene thought. Oh.. rank 267. 

Irene remembered. They locked eyes for a second but Irene broke the contact when her teacher called her. “Did you think about that offer?” the teacher asked. “The Producer’s a friend of mine. He won’t trouble you too much,” he tried to convince Irene. “But you don’t have to if you think it will affect your grades.” He said. ‘Will it just be me?” Irene asked. “No, with one more student,” he smiled. “It’s a documentary where they observe the best students and the worst students for a month as they spend time together.” He explained. A slap was heard. It turns out, the disciplinarian had hit Seulgi with paper, because her arms were slacking again. “Anyway, just think about it.” Her teacher smiled before returning his attention to his work. “Will I get paid if I do it?” Irene questioned. Her teacher looked at her, “Of course.” She bowed in respect. She went out of the room but not before glancing at Seulgi’s state. She looks like she’s about to cry, Irene thought before finally leaving.

“She was the exact opposite of me,” said Irene.

Kang Seulgi’s family, run multiple food restaurants. All in the same neighborhood, literally. Each restaurant was just in front of the other. A middle-aged man was seen running around, looking busy. Having to run five restaurants at the same time was hard for the parents of Kang Seulgi. But, they managed in the end