"Ugh," Chaeri groaned, "I can't believe the nerve of him!"

Chunji laughed as the two entered the luxurious dormitory reserved for Rank A students, which was basically a Renaissance manor. "That's the most you've ever complained about anyone before, Cherry."

"You don't get it!" she moaned.

"Oh, trust me, chérie¹; I know. He's my cousin, after all. I grew up with the guy."

"Then I don't get how you haven't gone absolutely crazy by now," she grumbled. "It's like he's from a whole other world!"

He smiled softly. "Give my buddy a chance, alright? He's not all that bad once you get to know him." 

"It would be wise to listen to him," a new voice joined from the entrance of the dorm, "because we'll be spending a lot of time together from now on."

L.Joe sauntered into the dorm with his bags in tow, slapping reality right across Chaeri's face.

She had completely forgotten that he would be joining them in the Rank A dormitory. The dormitory was the only coed dormitory on the campus and its creation was funded entirely on private donations from SK Group during the beginning of the adoption of the ranking system. Thus, the rules about how the dormitory works was very lenient when it came to the cohabitation between Chaeri and Chunji. Chaeri and Chunji living together under one roof did not come under much scrutiny due to their friendship being well-known. 

"You've got to be kidding me," she scoffed.

"I'm the real deal, baby," he smirked.

She completely ignored him and faced Chunji. "Tell Gong ahjumma to pack my bags; I'm moving out."

Chunji's eyes widened. "What? So abruptly?"

L.Joe pursed his lips. "Now now, don't be such a party pooper when the party has barely even started."

She momentarily shut her eyes, letting out a deep breath to calm herself. After regaining her composure, she faced L.Joe once more with a professional, fake smile on her face. "Then, let's start over then, shall we?" she suggested.

L.Joe raised an eyebrow. 

"Welcome to Yonsei Academy. I'm Park Chaeri," she politely introduced, "the student body president. Please feel free to rely on me until you adjust here." 

He grinned as he shook her outstretched hand. "Oh, you bet I will."

<><><>

The sun had barely risen above the horizon when President Park was already well into her morning. She was in the council room finalizing the specifics for the convention to be turned into the headmaster at the start of the school day. She had been an active, essential part of the planning committee ever since the summer of junior year, and needless to say, she was relieved everything was finally coming together. 

As she was organizing the files in a presentable manner, the door to the council room opened, letting in the aroma of fresh coffee into the room. 

"Morning, princess," Chunji greeted while balancing two cups of coffee and a large set of manila folders full of documents. 

Chaeri momentarily looked up to acknowledge his presence before returning to her work. "What do you have there?"

"Let's see, I think this is black coffee, just like how you like it, and I made myself a caramel macchiato with two creams and—"

"I meant the folders, Chanhee," she interrupted. 

Chunji pursed his lips as he exhaled through his nose. "Um, right. It's a list of all of the attending students from the other school to the convention. I know it's confidential, so I didn't look at it." 

She smiled at him in appreciation, walking over to retrieve it from him. 

He placed the cups of coffee on the nearest table and cupped her cheeks in his hands. "It's Kaisei Academy, isn't it?" 

She remained silent.

"Are you gonna be okay?" he asked with his brows furrowed in concern.

She timidy nodded. "I'll be fine," she whispered. 

Though unconvinced, he kissed her forehead and dropped the subject. "Make sure to drink the coffee, princess. I have to go do vice president crap now," he announced, grabbing his cup and leaving without forgetting to flash her an encouraging smile first. 

She chuckled in amusement before returning back to her work. 

When she was just about to depart to turn in the files, her eyes fell upon a folder on the edge of her desk. The tab indicated that it was L.Joe's student file, which she had yet to look through. Curiosity getting the best of her, she picked up the folder and opened it. Much to her surprise, he was an all-star student despite his rebellious appearance. His credentials were impressive enough to be considered for a Rank A. To keep things simple, the guy was smart. There were no negative comments about him from his previous teachers. Basically, he was just a normal kid at school.

Chaeri sighed, suddenly feeling terrible for having judged him so terribly. 

Her eyes were suddenly drawn to the personal information section—precisely, his listed guardians. 

The only parent listed was his father; there was no mention of a mother. That intrigued her for a small moment before she shrugged it off deeming it as none of her business. 

Grabbing her coffee and the files she needed to turn in, she took one last look around the council room and headed towards the administration office.

On her way, she was greeted by hoards of students heading towards the dining hall for breakfast. Among them was L.Joe who diverted from the crowd and fell right in place next to Chaeri.

She suddenly felt awkward walking next to him and for once she had no idea what to say. 

"You're awfully quiet today," he pointed out with a raised eyebrow.

"I-I'm just tired," she stuttered.

He rolled his eyes. "Let me guess, you saw my file?"

She nervously nibbled on her bottom lip trying to think up of a reply.

He shook his head in amusement. "Loosen up, Park. I get it a lot."

She let out a sigh. "It just , you know? I feel really bad but I don't know how to apologize to you," she complained. 

L.Joe chuckled. "Wanna know how you can repay me?"

Her eyes widened as she abruptly stopped to turn to him. "There's a way to make it up to you?"

The corner of his lip raised up with a mischievous look in his eye. Holding up the palm of his hand out in front of him, he proposed, "Go on 5 dates with me."

"What?" she exclaimed, her face scrunching up in confusion. "You're joking, right?"

"Nah," he shrugged.

"Is that really the only way?" she frowned.

"Well, how else am I going to adjust to Korea?" he pointed out.

She sighed. "Do you really have to call them 'dates' though? Can't they be 'tours' instead?"

He pursed his lips and shook his head. "I like the ring of it better," he stated.

"You're impossible," she caved in with a 'tsk'. 

He tilted his head to the side and flashed her a large grin. "See you this weekend then, Park Chaeri," he saluted before spinning around on his heels and marching off to class.

She took in a deep breath before slowly exhaling, wondering just exactly what she had gotten herself into.

"This is so ridiculous," she muttered but couldn't help but smile. "But I guess he really isn't so different after all."

But, boy, was she wrong. 

What kind of L.Joe would he be if there wasn't more to him than his student file?

«»«»«»

¹ - chérie n. French. dear, sweetheart

Author's Note