| Minji |

"Song Minji, how is everything going with the Esports event for the festival?" Oh Nara inquired, the council president gazing knives at her through a pair of smart looking glasses.  

With such a controversial event, the entire room paid mind out of interest. 

Minji nodded with a feigned smile. "Everything is proceeding well, I've gotten Seoul Tech to agree with the plan, and already reached out to the school board with a budget proposal to convert our school auditorium." 

Truthfully, it had crashed. Everything had halted since him. That jerk, Lee Dohyun, she didn't even want to think about it because then his words would echo into her mind. Two full days had passed and since then zero progress had been made. 

"Good, I know it wasn't really up your alley, so I was worried. But it's good to see that everything is going well." The president expressed with a smile. 

However, behind her lips, Minji could read her pompous gloating. 

It didn't take a psychologist to see that none of the girls on the student council liked her. And why would they? 

Some of it was her association with Jiwon and her somewhat infamous clique. 

She felt a soft nudge on the side of her arm, her eyes shifted slightly to see Seungwon. 

"Let me know if I can be of any help." 

Frankly, it was mostly because of him, just having his attention garnered frowns from every female council member. 

But in defense of their jealousy. Could you really blame them? 

There was something about Seungwon, maybe it was his athletic build, handsome grin, and incredible stature. Just by his appearance, he was heaven sent to accomplish greatness. Then add in his innate ability to make others feel comfortable through his attention to detail and playful personality. 

The meeting ended as they finished the rest of their itinerary, and as soon as the clock struck 5:30; the other sunbaes started leaving towards their assigned study rooms.

The handsome soccer player as usual was heading straight to practice. 

That's when she remembered Haerin's suggestion. He was the one who had put together the list for Chungdam's roster. Perhaps she could just request him to swap a single name of the 4 recruits.  

That would instantly clear up any hindrances. 

"Hey Sunbae..." Minji mustered up the courage to interrupt him. 

Just ask. Just say that—that saekki (jerk)— Lee Dohyun, couldn't be reasoned with. 

"Minji-ssi?" Seungwon who had already gotten up, was met by two of his teammates. 

The first, Cha Inhyeok, slapped his arm around the shoulder of Seungwon, before turning his attention on her. 

Even if she found Jiwon to be mostly bearable, this guy wasn't. Someone who had crossed the line when he became physically flirtatious on their first encounter. 

Despite being friends with Seungwon, the two seemed to occupy completely different ends of the spectrum. The studious golden boy and the spoiled bad boy. 

Every time she saw him, his gaze always was on her, but not in the same way that others were. There was something impure about the way his gaze would start with her legs and travel up... and always conveyed some sense of ownership over her. 

"If it isn't our beautiful Minji. I haven't seen you in a while." Inhyeok greeted oblivious to her discomfort toward shim. 

"Congrats, I heard you're the one hosting the new LoL tournament. I'd be happy to step in if you need another player." Somehow coming from him, it didn't sound congratulating. 

Suddenly, it occurred to her if he would be the person Seungwon swapped if she decided to change out Lee Dohyun. 

"Um, actually..." No, no matter how she disliked the rude sunbae, this ert would be 100 times worse. 

"...It's fine. It's nothing, good luck with your practice." She assured him, her hands trembling at thought of having to work hand-in-hand with Cha Inhyuk. 

"Alright, if you're sure. But Minji-ah, don't hesitate to reach out if you need any help with anything. I'm really looking forward to this." Seungwon obliviously flashed his golden grin before leaving with Inhyeok their other teammate. 

Minji waived politely before leaving the room as well. 

It was Friday. She paced down the hallway, ready to snatch her things and head to the agency. After a week of frustration... the idea of seeing her friends again seemed the only thing to look forward to. 

Turning the corner of the hallway, her things nicely tucked between her arms, she noticed a familiar figure blocking her path. 

"Dohyun sunbae?" 

"Hey, do you have a second?" He looked strangely friendly, considering how they had parted before. 

Minji met his eyes... then everything else. He actually looked half descent wearing a more casual navy sweater over his school shirt. 

But what was he doing here? Sure it was after school, but didn't he have work?

"I wanted to apologize." 

She crossed her arms, veiling her legitimate shock at this sudden extension of a half-hearted apology. 

"I was a little too harsh the other time." 

"I'm glad you know." She murmured, feeling slight guilt as well. 

It wasn't like he was completely wrong, it was just... it was just too blunt. Minji just hadn't prepared herself to hear it. 

While she conditioned herself to ignore the fake smiles, the murmurs, the gossip and brush it all away to jealousy. Being called out so blatantly for her shortcomings and sometimes judgmental attitude was new. 

"Can I make it up to you? Do you have plans tonight?" He offered. 

This flabbergasted her, her jaw almost dislodging after dropping in stupefied shock. 

"Excuse me?" Was he trying to ask her out? 

"No, I don't mean it like that. Trust me, I don't mean it like that at all." He waived his hands in flustered denial. 

"Then, explain." She pestered him for an explanation. 

"I just want to show you something. To change your mind about me and the people you look down on." Dohyun requested. 

"I have practice tonight." Minji turned him down with a smirk. 

Judging by his interactions with her, he clearly didn't know about her: former national gymnast, multiple time beauty queen winner, and current trainee for SM Entertainment. 

Then again did he even know anything about the entertainment world? 

"You may not know this but I'm actually a trainee for—" 

"SM entertainment." He interrupted, as seemed to be a rude habit of his. 

She lifted an eyebrow in confusion... so he knew? 

Dohyun chuckled before shaking his head. "Pretty sure everyone in this school knows about you or has overheard people talk about you." 

Minji felt her internalized annoyance start to grow. Despite knowing, he still treated her like this? 

"Well, since you know, I'll be heading out." She walked past him, intentionally slamming her shoulder against his. 

Jeez, considering he was a gamer, he was much more muscular than she had imagined... perhaps it wasn't just his face that was barely half decent. 

"I'll participate in your event if you come with me tonight." He suddenly offered up an ultimatum. 

Minji held her next step, pausing her entire body to consider her options. She had never missed practice before. 

She already had trouble gathering the trainers respect because of her special practice schedule. 

Instead using her pure drive and memorization talent to pickup dances faster and help younger trainees. Only because of this dedication was she able to prevent much of the gossip and skepticism from her peers. 

But this event, it was clearly important to Seungwon. She didn't want to let him down. If it meant wasting one night on this total loser, it'd be something she'd have to bear. 

"If you take me anywhere weird I'll have you arrested. If you try to make a move on me, trust me when I say I'll report you. My mother's a lawyer." She threatened, referencing her mother's career, a phrase she NEVER leveraged. 

"Nowhere weird, it's in Sangam-dong, so we'll have to take a bus." He revealed as if it was no big deal that they would have to take a 30 minute bus. 

"Like Mapo-gu Sangam-dong? Are insane? Are you really going to kidnap me?"

However, Dohyun didn't answer, instead his eyes traveled to her outfit. 

"Ya! Where are you looking?" She exclaimed at his audacity. 

Dohyun rolled his eyes, before pointing towards the bag tucked between her arms. 

"I'm guessing there's clothes in there. I'd suggest you change, where we're going I'd imagine you don't want to be recognized by your uniform, especially with your name tag." 

"Fine. Meet downstairs in 20 minutes. You're lucky I pack extra clothes for weekends at the dorms." 

Fueled only by the thought of a proud smile on Seungwon sunbae's lips, Minji headed back to the restroom to change into some of the clothes she packed for this weekend. 

Wondering if there was anything that wasn't ratty gym clothes for long practices. 

Never realizing that this decision, this split-second whimsical decision would change the course of her life forever.

. .

Standing on the crowded bus was suffocating in itself. She couldn't understand how some students bore with this everyday. 

It smelled of sweaty teenage boys, cheap perfume, and old people. Not to mention she was forced to stand because of the lack of open seats, her legs wobbling every time the bus drove over a pothole. And there were more than a few of those. 

She had only chosen this outfit because this was the only semi-casual combination that didn't make her look like she had just finished PE class. 

Dressed in a pair of safety shorts and an oversized black t-shirt, topped off with an oversized cardigan draped over. Her bare legs flinched every time someone else bumped into her. Not to mention the sickening stares of the other boys and middle aged men on the bus. 

Everything about this was so repulsive. Should she dial the police and say she was getting kidnapped? 

"Is this your first time on a bus?" There was something about his attitude and stupid smirk that made her really want to slap him. 

Hold it in. Hold it in Song Minji.

"I'm not that rich you know." 

"Right, tell that to your luxury backpack and Gucci cardigan." He joked, his chin beckoning to the 2 million won piece of fabric that was totally wasted when worn in front of him. 

"It's Burberry stupid." She retorted before realizing she was only feeding into his superficial impression of her. 

"Case and point." 

"I don't need to take a bus in my daily routine that's why. My mom drives me to school on her way to work and I can walk from school to SM. Besides my house isn't even that far from the school either." She unknowingly started defending herself. 

"So you live in Apgujeong then?" 

(Apgujeong is one of the wealthiest neighborhoods in Gangnam, Korea's equivalent to Soho)

Minji rolled her eyes, she wasn't going to win this argument. 

The two grew silent, as the bus lurched to a stop in front of a mall. The back door opened and several peoples began crowding out. In the rush, Minji was pushed forward, losing balance she was propelled at the large man in front of her. She was about to brace her head for collision against a total stranger, when she felt two hands rush grab her shoulders tightly, pulling her back.

Her backpack collided against something hard, and she realized in his effort to steady her, her leather bag had slammed against him.

"Wow, is this what I get for helping you." He scoffed, his hands still gripping the sides of her delts.

"You didn't have to stand directly behind me." She retorted. 

"Ya, you really think carrying this backpack you wouldn't get pickpocketed otherwise?" Even if his blunt words were spoken rudely, Minji understood his reasoning. 

He was alerting her to the luxury brand bag she had swinging loosely behind her. Minji quickly rotated the straps of her backpack, so she could cradle it in front of her.

"Just take that seat."

Minji followed his finger to a single open seat and seeing that there were no elderly waiting, she snatched it up.

It was a two seater, and much to her chagrin, the other stranger got off at the next stop. Part of her prayed he wouldn't sit next to her. While the rest of her was repulsed by the possibility of sitting next to a total stranger. 

Of course with her luck, by then, the bus was empty enough that there was no one left to fill the seat besides him.

She scooted in one seat to allow him to sit on the edge. Not wanting to converse, she opened her phone and pondered texting her mom.

Technically, unless SM ratted her out, her mother wouldn't know she wasn't at practice. She always went straight to the SM dorm after practice on Fridays and spent the next night before returning home Sunday night. 

Besides how could you explain this? There was no way her mother would ever approve of this. But she didn't understand the context of the situation. Hadn't she been the one to say, seek the most enviable position? 

Dating Seungwon sunbae was practically her golden ticket. A star midfielder whose path from a SKY University to undoubtedly playing in the K-League if not in a premier league.  

And the first step to dating him would be to make a good impression through her ability. 

Which unfortunately meant appeasing this idiot. 

"Look here." 

Averting her gaze from her still empty text message, she noticed that Dohyun had reached into