To Mira's disappointment, the rumours about Jongin and her still hadn’t died down. The Academy still wondered about the two of them.

Sighing, Mira made her way to her English class. Students started whispering things into each other’s ears when they saw Mira enter the classroom.

Just ignore them. Mira told herself, it was becoming a mantra to her.  

Luckily to her relief, her English teacher came in and started the lesson right away and like that English lesson flew by. Mira quickly packed up her things and left to go to her next class. She was glad that Mrs. Lee, her Social Studies teacher had already arrived which meant that she didn’t have to listen to students saying y things about her. Mira quickly took a seat next to the window and waited for the class to begin. 

“I have some good news everyone,” Mrs. Lee stated with a cheeky smile.

Students groaned, not wanting to hear her so-called good news. They all knew it was going to be bad news. Mrs. Lee was always full of surprises, but Mira didn’t mind that. She actually liked Mrs. Lee. If she had to choose one of the best teachers in the Academy, she would pick her. Mrs. Lee viewed things differently from the other teachers. She also wasn’t biased like some of the rest. She would treat all the students equally and mark them fairly. 

“We’re going to be doing a project!” She declared as she was the only one that was clapping her hands in glee.

Mira just hoped that it wouldn’t be a partner work. She couldn’t stand it. She had worked with partners before and she ended up doing all the work alone. She wanted to scream in annoyance when she heard Mrs. Lee say that the project had to be done with a partner.

“This year, us teachers have decided to spice things up,” Mrs. Lee literally said with a smirk. Students eyed her, scared and in curiosity. “You can choose your partners from other classes,” she finally announced the 'good news'.

Mira sighed, she was even more annoyed, but the others cheered in excitement. She heard girls stating how they were going to work with their boyfriends while others were happy that they could finally work with someone else for a change. This also meant that now they could finally work with someone older as well. Some girls were beyond excited.

“Omg, I can finally work with Jongin oppa!” One girl exclaimed in happiness. 

Wait, Jongin's a senior? Mira didn't even know that Jongin was older than her. She had always thought that he was the same age as her, but slowly she finally realised everything. She had never once had any classes with him which made sense. 

“I guess everyone is happy about the good news,” Mrs. Lee literally winked while some students laughed. “Alright, if I can get your attention everyone!” She raised her voice, trying to quiet down the class. “We all need to go to the seminar room,” she stated all of the sudden. Everyone in the classroom had a confused look on their faces, even Mira. “Students from other classes are all going to be there because this project is really important. Everything will be explained there so please let's get moving!” She headed toward the door, leading her students. 

Students were still a bit confused, but did as they were told and made their way to the seminar hall.

Mira quickly chased after Mrs. Lee who smiled at the sight of one of her best students. Mira was a no doubt a straight A student, she was in fact placed as one of the top five students in the Academy.

“Hello Mira,” Mrs. Lee childishly greeted Mira who politely bowed.

“Is this project required to be done with a partner?” Mira asked.

Mrs. Lee lightly chuckled. “As much as I know that you hate interacting with others, this project is really important and yes, you must work with a partner,” she replied, making Mira sigh in disappointment. “It won’t be that bad Mira, maybe you’ll make friends," she positively encouraged her and entered the seminar hall. 

I guess it can’t be helped. Taking a deep breath, she followed Mrs. Lee inside. Mira’s eyes widened when she saw that a large number of students had already filled up the hall. A few teachers were up on stage, talking to each other. She averted her eyes from the people and took a seat at the very back while some students moved away from her as they wanted to find somewhere else to sit, they didn’t want to be near Mira.  

Soon a teacher from another class spoke into the microphone. He looked around in his mid-30s. “This project is worth 45% of your overall report,” he stated, surprising everything in the hall. 

Holy , that’s like nearly half the mark. Mira decided to pay more attention to what the teacher was saying since she now sensed that this project was in fact something really important.

Suddenly, someone barged into the seminar hall, gaining everyone’s attention. The bad boy was none-other than Jongin. His eyes wandered around the hall and then landed on Mira who quickly looked away.

Just ignore him. She mentally said her mantra.

Some teachers asked Jongin as to why he was late and scolded him, but Jongin couldn’t hear them at all. He smiled as he made his way to sit next to Mira who let out a sigh since she knew that people were already glaring at her. The teacher on the stage cleared his throat, trying to get everyone’s attention back on him.

“Like your teachers have already mentioned earlier, it is a partner work so no one is working by themselves,” he pointed out. Mira felt as if he was only referring this statement to her. “The topic has to be on something which is a recent issue. This information then has be presented in a speech and the best work will be published in the newspapers," he finally announced the actual real, 'good' news.

The hall buzzed with chatters. Some gasps could be heard from here and there. Overall, everyone was surprised and excited while Mira just sat there with an expressionless face. She was surprised, but wondered why the teachers had decided on something like this. Obviously, getting their work published in the newspapers was something really rare. Only the Government and the top editors were the only ones allowed to get their work published for people to read in the Capital. 

“Alright, quiet down. Now it’s time for you to choose your partners. Remember this project is really important so do pick the right person and don’t take this lightly,” the teacher warned, but students ignored him and looked around the hall, trying to look for their friends to partner up with. “And please tell your teachers who you have partnered up with by the end of today.” He quickly added.

Mira awkwardly sat there, not knowing what to do. No one didn’t even want to be near Mira, they hated her so why would they even consider partnering up with her?

Suddenly, a voice startled her from her negative thoughts. She turned around to see Mrs. Lee who brightly gave her a smile. “I must say you really have a good taste in picking a partner,” she chuckled at her own comment. Mira tilted her head, not knowing what her teacher was blabbering on about. “Well, I hope you get along with Jongin.” She gave Mira a wink and went to other students.

Before Mira could even ask her what the hell had just happened, she saw Jongin smirking from the corner of her eyes. Oh god, please I rather do this project alone. Mira wanted to go rant to Mrs. Lee about how she hadn’t even agreed to be Jongin’s partner, but it was already too late. Jongin still had a smirk on his face when he walked over to Mira who wasn’t impressed by his bold action. “Do you seriously make decisions on your own?” She glared, her nostrils flaring.

“Well, that was what I was taught, besides I do have my own morals,” he answered as if what happened wasn’t even a big deal.

Mira furrowed her eyebrows. “Well, for your information, you didn’t even ask for my permission and I would never agree to this in the first place anyway,” she retorted.

“Alright, I suggest you find a partner for your project then,” the boy cheekily stated and pretended to walk off.

Three.

Two.

One!

Jongin smiled when he heard Mira call his name. He then quickly wiped the smile of his face and turned around.

Mira sighed in frustration as she ran her fingers through her hair, trying to think it through. She really didn’t have a choice now. Jongin was the best option she had. It wasn’t as if others would agree to be her partner if she asked them anyway. “Fine.” She mentally cursed, knowing that she had just made a bad decision.

Jongin smirked. “This is going to be fun.”

Yeah, this is going to be so much fun. Mira wanted to pull her hair out. 

---

Mira put her books back in her locker and got her bag. She already had so much homework to worry about and now she had an important project added onto her list of worries. She then locked her locker, but before she had the chance to head out the corridor, she felt someone place something onto her head. In panic, she worriedly looked up and saw someone who had a cap on his head while he wore black shades. She couldn’t clearly see his face, but she knew who he was right away when she heard his voice. 

“You nearly gave me a heart attack,” she confessed. 

She had now noticed that she was also wearing a cap. Jongin smirked and took her hand, not saying anything. She wiggled her arms trying to get out of Jongin’s grip, but he was just too strong. She sighed and followed him once again. She seriously hated how he dragged her around because she didn't like people who would take the lead and guide her around as if she wasn't someone responsible. 

“What is the meaning of this?” She asked. There was no reply from Jongin which provoked her even further. “LET GO OF ME!” She shouted, but it was no use.

“Shout even louder, I'm pretty sure that other students would definitely catch us two together,” Jongin simply stated which kept Mira quiet. He was right and she hated that. She just didn’t want any attention on her, plus others seeing Jongin and her together would make the situation turn out even worse. While avoiding the students in the school, Jongin quickly led Mira to the school car park. He sighed in relief when he didn’t see anyone there yet. “You can take off the cap now,” he pointed out.

Mira did as she was told, she fixed up her now messed up hair, but then decided to tie it into a messy bun since she couldn’t be bothered anymore. She was already pissed off and now her hair was pissing her off even more. Sometimes, she really felt like cutting her hair really short.

“Leave it down. It suits you better,” Jongin suddenly commented.

He hadn’t even realised that he had just said that so he quickly cleared his throat, trying to get rid of the awkwardness. Mira just stared at him and wondered what was running through his mind. Jongin had his cap taken off, but his black shades still remained. He then came over to Mira’s side and opened his car door.

Mira nervously glanced at the Red Aston Martin sports car, she wasn't comfortable at the fact that she was going to ride in one of the most expensive cars in the world. She raised her eyebrows at him.

What is he thinking? “Where are we going?” She asked, but then quickly shook her head. What the hell Kang Mira, he can't just drag you anywhere he wants! She was about to walk away when Jongin exclaimed that there were few students walking toward their way so she had no choice, but to get into his car to hide.

Jongin smirked as his plan had worked. He then walked over to the driver’s seat and got into his car as well.  

Mira was both nervous and surprised at the same time. She had never thought that she would enter into a stranger’s car ever in her life, but Jongin wasn’t a stranger to her, was he? She actually didn’t know anything about him, but she just hoped that he was a good guy. It would be a lie if she had said that she hadn't heard the rumours and gossips about Jongin. She had heard about how he was a delinquent and how he was a skilled fighter. However, she didn’t want to judge him. She had no right to judge him. She didn’t believe in rumours. 

She waited for Jongin to start the car, but he was staring at her as if he was waiting for something. She nervously gulped. Maybe, I was wrong. “You better not do something weird-“

But before she could finish off her threat, Jongin leaned in. Her eyes widened and her heart started picking up its pace. She watched his lips twitch into a smirk.

, I shouldn’t have gotten into the car with him. She was mentally arguing with herself as to why she had let her guard down so easily, but Jongin reached for something behind her back. Mira still kept her eyes fixed on Jongin so if he did something weird to her, she was ready to use force to settle anything which was about to happen. 

“Seatbelt,” he finally spoke, revealing what was on his mind and clipped on her seatbelt for her.

Mira shivered when she felt his warm breath, tickling her. She bit her lips and mentally cursed at herself.

Of course. “Sorry,” she said, feeling embarrassed at how she thought that Jongin was going to do something weird to her a few minutes ago.  

Jongin lightly chuckled. “Were you thinking of something else?” He teased. Mira’s protest was unheard when Jongin started his engine. He then faced her with a smirk. “You ready?” He asked, his eyes literally sparkled with excitement. 

Mira didn’t even know where he was taking her, she was even surprised at the fact that she was letting him take her with him. This boy really was making her do things beyond what she had imagined. 

Without her even realising, Mira nodded obediently which made Jongin smile in amusement.

“To infinity and beyond!” He stated and then drove off to the unknown, making Mira hopelessly chuckle with him.