A/N: Helloooooo everyone! :D A new chapter <3

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“What! I-I don’t even know you!” Jiyong exclaimed, his jaw –if it already wasn’t- hitting the hard cement of the floor. Alright, he did recognize her as the girl from before, but this was too sudden. Coming up to him like they had known each other for ages and announcing that they were enemies from then on… Ridiculous, Jiyong thought, lines forming in between his brows.

“Yes, even if we don’t know each other, we are enemies now. You got it? And you know why, don’t you?” The pony-tailed girl sputtered hotly, wagging her finger at Jiyong.

“I really do not know what you’re saying. Why would you want to do this, when we just met each other only 3 minutes ago?” Jiyong retorted, folding his arms. He felt childish, arguing back at someone who didn’t quite make any sense. However, he was curious on finding out what he had unconsciously done to anger her.

She let out a short, derisive laugh. “Ah, what were you doing just now? Hmm?” she remarked sarcastically, before continuing in a cold tone. “You actually let Oppa grab you and run away! From me! What’s your purpose of doing this? Are you out to separate my dear, loving Oppa from me?” At this, she looked shyly in the direction of Seungri, of which the said man turned away immediately.

Jiyong couldn’t think of anything on the spot. On one hand, he found it extremely hilarious - the girl before him was so smitten with Seungri that it became laughter inducing; yet on the other, he pitied Seungri, who seemed to have been pathetically targeted for her shameless expressions of admiration. Jiyong swiveled, and he couldn’t help but smile at Seungri’s look of helplessness.

As soon as their eyes met, Seungri straightened and walked to Jiyong’s side, his arm extending out across Jiyong’s chest as if protecting him.

“Don’t drag Jiyong into this. I was the one who led him away, Dara, it had nothing to do with him,” Seungri spoke harshly. He refused to maintain eye contact with Dara, instead glancing around the room. By then, half of the class had already gathered around to see the commotion, and they gasped synchronously at Seungri’s words. Jiyong’s face began to heat up. He tried to maneuver the firm blockade, but his weak hands did nothing to help him.

Dara frowned deeply, but went back to her pouts a split second later. “Oppa…! How can you do this to me? Can’t you just treat me like how you did a year ago? I missed that so much,” She widened her saucer-sized eyes, blinking adorably and perhaps started to fire bolts of lightning from her eyes, but Seungri wouldn’t have any of that. He gave a bored look and started to lead Jiyong away, leaving Dara whining in the background.

The chime of a bell signaled the start of school. Everyone shuffled back to their seats, inclusive of Taeyang and Jiyong, who shared a slight smile before facing to the front. Jiyong tapped his feet lightly, feeling rather nervous of what was going to happen next. He didn’t think that it was the appropriate time to talk to Taeyang, and so he looked around instead, scanning the multi-colored heads in the room. He subconsciously looked to the back of the classroom, and was surprised to find Seungri already looking in his direction. The brown-haired flashed a toothy grin, and that little gesture somehow managed to calm some of Jiyong’s nerves. The 17 year old nodded, mouthing the words ‘Thank you’ before grinning back.

“Alright class, look in front,” a man in his thirties walked in hastily, carrying a large laptop bag and a few stacks of papers. He looked fashionable for a teacher, Jiyong thought, eyeing the leather jacket and intricate scarf. After getting hold of a marker out of nowhere, the man began to scribble something – perhaps his name – on the whiteboard, before turning around to address the class.

“Welcome back to SR Academy, and I’m your new homeroom teacher for this year. I hate honorifics, so feel free to address me as Tablo, alright?”

As soon as Tablo paused, the class burst into applause, probably cheering for the fact that they had gotten a receptive teacher. Jiyong clapped along, not knowing what the class is so excited about. Beside him, Taeyang whispered, “We got a really fierce teacher last year. He drove us to hell and back, that Mr. Yang, and so we’re glad we got a nice one this year.”

Jiyong made a noise of approval. He liked the teacher as well, seeing that he sounded friendly and all.

At this point, Tablo looked in the direction of Jiyong and announced, “It looks like we have a new student in class this year. Let’s have him introduce himself!”

Jiyong was stunned. He didn’t prepare anything for his introduction! It has been quite some time since he attended school, after all. What was he supposed to say, in front of thirty-plus strangers? Standing up shakily, he balled up his fists and took small steps towards where Tablo was.

Alright, no time to worry anymore. Just be natural and introduce yourself. Jiyong took a deep breath, steadying himself.

“I’m Kwon Jiyong, and I’m seventeen this year. I’m really glad to be joining this class, and I hope I’ll be able to make more friends as the days go by. I’ll definitely have a lot to learn from you, so please do guide me along. Thank you.”

The class stayed silent. Then, out of the corner of his eye, Seungri stood up to clap. He even did a small shout to show his support. Subsequently, more people started to do the same; Seunghyun, Taeyang, and then the rest of the class – with the exception of Dara, who was frantically rolling her eyes. At the sight of this, Jiyong gave a brilliant smile, feeling a new surge of exuberance. He made a 90-degrees bow before literally skipping back to his seat.

As Taeyang patted him on the back, he felt a huge sense of relief rushing down on him like a gigantic waterfall. He was so, so glad that majority of the class welcomed him, making him feel at ease to be joining the class. He had expected some to be unhappy of a new presence, but it seemed like he was worried for nothing.

Looking back, he saw two different things; Seungri giving him two thumbs up, and a jealous Dara shooting death glares at him.

At this, he couldn’t decide whether the first day of school was a good or bad one.

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“Oooh! I’m so glad to be back here!” Jiyong lunged at the couch, hugging the cushion like a lifebuoy. Hurling his bag to one side, Seungri joined Jiyong on the opposite end of the couch, his body slumped against it. Neither of them had expected the first day to be that hectic.

“Me too, I’m so tired,” Seungri pulled down his tie in a fast motion and instantly grabbed the drink placed on the table. “I just hope Mrs. Park won’t give us a project just tomorrow, that’ll be crazy.”

“Hmm-hmm.” Jiyong sat up, grabbing a drink for his own. As he sipped the iced tea, his eyes travelled east and landed on Seungri, who was taking swift and heavy gulps, looking as if he had a thousand problems to down. Slowly, Jiyong placed his cup back down on the table and sat up straight, coughing lightly to get the other man’s attention.

It worked apparently, as Seungri got up to face Jiyong. “What’s the matter? Do you need anything?”

“Well…” Jiyong started to rub his fingers together, choosing the right words to use. “I don’t want to be rude or intrusive of your personal life…but how is Dara related to you?”

Seungri’s warm expression turned cold at the mention of Dara’s name. He placed the cup back to its original place, his head dipped as he let out a long, dragged-out sigh. Looking up, he asked, “Do you really want to know?”

“Yeah, I’m curious about it. It seems like she likes you a lot, but you aren’t reciprocating her feelings…” Jiyong paused as Seungri’s face darkened further. “I-If you don’t want to say anything, it’s oka-“

“I’ll tell you, since you are curious,” Seungri interrupted. “Actually…Dara and I had a complicated past. We used to be together.”

Jiyong gasped. Although he had expected that to be the case, it was still surprising to hear that Seungri had actually liked the hysterical, overreacting Dara.  

“O-okay…What happened then?”

“She used to be that sweet girlfriend, you know – making special lunches, knitting things for you to hang at your phone, and stuff like that. In the first week that we were together, I truly felt how it was like to be loved. Of course, I liked her back, and I tried to do anything and everything she wanted,” Seungri had a dreamy look on his face, but it was gone as soon as it came.

“I thought it was going to work out - that relationship, but I guess I made the wrong choice right in the beginning. Just a few days after the first week, she became greatly sensitive, often chiding me for talking to girls or letting them flirt with me. She even checked my phone to see who I had conversations with!” Seungri’s eyes burned with anger. “I tried to tolerate for a few days, even going to great lengths of talking to her nicely to stop her from doing such things.

But no. She went on with her possessive ways, stopping me from going to parties or even attending a simple class gathering. I was slowly losing my friends, just because she wants me to be revolved around her finger.”

Jiyong listened with great concentration. He felt extremely bad for Seungri, who had to endure so much just to sustain a relationship that was so hard to maintain.

“Of course, I knew that I had to stop it. And so I broke up with her, thinking that she could find another who would be willing to accept such absurd behavior. But she didn’t give up, and what you saw today is just a repeat of what has been happening for the whole of last semester.” Just as Seungri ended his sentence, he looked apologetically at Jiyong.

“I’m sorry that you’re dragged into this. But Dara’s like that, thinking that anyone close to me is helping me fend her off. I’ll try and talk her out of that, so you won’t be troubled in school.”

“It’s okay. Compared to what you’ve gone through, what she’s doing to me is just something small. I’ll be able to deal with it,” Jiyong replied, beaming.

“Thanks for understanding, I appreciate it,” said Seungri as they both got up from the couch. “Let’s go get some work done, shall we?”

With that, Jiyong and Seungri picked up their bags and headed for the study room, both feeling rather light-hearted.

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Yay this is my longest chapter yet~ which is a good thing, I suppose? ^^ Featured a bit of Tablo because he's my love hehe. Hope you all liked this chapter, please do comment to let me know how you all feel/constructive comments to improve my writing/any random comments. <3

Oh yes I have Prelims the whole of next week ._______., and so I will try my best to update the next chapter by next sunday ^^ Do stay tuned, and thank you for reading! ♥Crimsonn