The next day, Jihyun got out of bed and saw Hyorin sitting at the kitchen table with her arms crossed. Confused, she took a seat across her and munched on some bread. 

"Mind explaining to me why Sehun brought you back and you are dressed in clothes that are not yours?" Hyorin raised her eyebrows and Jihyun glanced down at her outfit to see herself still dressed in Sehun's oversized jersey and basketball shorts. She remained silent and Hyorin shook her head, "I called you so many times! I was late and you weren't home, I was so worried. You don't know how relieved I was when I saw you in Sehun's arms." She commented and Jihyun's eyes widened.

"What do you mean I was in Sehun's arms?" She finally spoke as she tried to recall what happened after she boarded the bus. "Well, he rang the doorbell and when I opened it, he was carrying you in his arms while you were asleep." She stated and Jihyun eyes went even rounder. 

"Anyway, where did you go? You didn't answer my phone calls at all." She asked sternly. "My battery went dead. I went out with Sehun after that... you know, incident." She drifted off and Hyorin knew what incident she meant as she nodded in understanding and didn't ask any further. "Please call next time." She said worriedly and Jihyun nodded in relief, glad that she didn't ask any more questions. "I will, sorry for making you worry." 

"Now tell me what's happening between you and Sehun. You are his girlfriend?!" She squealed as she let out a teasing smile. "Come on Hyorin, you know better than anyone else he hates me. He probably used me as a shield, nothing more." She said softly and she sighed inwardly at the thought of it. 

"But you were wearing his clothes yesterday!" She shrieked. "We were just fooling around and my clothes got wet. He gave me his clothes as an act of courtesy." She explained and Hyorin nodded. 

"Did he explain to you about the whole thing yesterday?" Hyorin asked while Jihyun shook her head, "Nah, he looked too troubled. I didn't want to bother him." She said and Hyorin nodded. "Well, I hope he solves the problem quickly." 

--

When they arrived at school, the EXO boys were waiting for them at the entrance and they all greeted each other happily. Jihyun took a glance at Sehun and realized he was already looking at her, and he quickly looked away in embarrassment when she caught his eye, making her chuckle. 

Once they entered the school, an ear-splitting shriek caught their attention and everyone turned towards the voice. 

"Oppa!" A girly voice screamed and a figure rushed towards Sehun, clutching onto his arms, evoking stares and whispers from the students. 

She's so pretty!

Who is she? Why does she know Sehun? 

Another competitor?!

The rest of the EXO boys, including Sehun and Kai looked appalled to see her in the same uniform at school. "Why are you wearing our uniform?" Sehun asked in annoyance while she kept her cheerful mode, "I just transferred here! Aren't you excited? We're going to be studying together again!" She let out a huge smile.

"Why are you doing this?" He hissed and Minjung smiled, "Didn't I tell you yesterday? I want us to go back to how we were like in the past."

"Minjung, I have already told you, I moved on. Don't do this, you'll end up hurting everyone."

"I don't believe you! I know you still love me, is it because of the girlfriend you told me about yesterday?" She shouted and all the students surrounded the group in a circle, watching the show. "Yes, I have a girlfriend now, so leave me alone." The EXO boys except Kai were dumbfounded when they heard Sehun had a girlfriend, because they had never heard of such news. 

She peered behind Sehun's back and saw Jihyun standing next to Luhan. Smirking, she pulled Jihyun out with all her force and Jihyun was too shocked to react, thus getting pulled along to the front.

"It's because of this girlfriend of yours, isn't it?" Minjung asked loudly, while Jihyun stared at her in shock. It seemed like she wasn't the only one in shock as the students that were surrounding them gasped in surprised, even the EXO boys apart from Kai.

 "Stop it Minjung." He repeated sternly and for a moment, Sehun thought she was about to back off. However, she raised her hand in return and was about to land on Jihyun's cheeks, and before he could react, Luhan stepped up and pushed Jihyun to the back as he stood infront of her protectively and held onto Minjung's hand. "No one touches her without our permission. Get lost, you're not welcomed here." He hissed and she looked at him in fury.

"So now you have more than one knight in shining armour to protect you, huh?" She smirked while Jihyun stayed quiet. "I won't let this go." She said before stalking off to class. "Are you guys going to continue staring?" Chen said fiercely to the crowd and they quickly dispersed for class.

"You have a lot of explaining to do, Sehun. Rooftop for lunch, everyone." Suho said firmly and everyone nodded before separating into their classes while Sehun let out a sigh. 

Things didn't get any better. It was true, Minjung enrolled in SM College and got into the same class as Sehun, Jihyun, Hyorin, Tao and Kai. Being able to pick her seat, she automatically chose the empty seat beside Sehun and smiled sweetly to him as she settled down. 

"Just like old times, isn't it?" She said while Sehun kept his eyes fixed on the board. Her smile faltered, and she cleared awkwardly before turning to the front as well. 

By lunch, the entire school had knew about the incident in the morning, and most of them were labeling Jihyun as a flirt since rumors of her and Luhan had been spreading only yesterday, and today morning, she was known as Sehun's girlfriend. Ignoring the stares and gossips, Jihyun headed to the rooftop with Hyorin and the EXO boys, and she was silently thankful for that since she didn't need to tolerate the stares. 

"Now explain yourself." Suho stated as the 14 of them settled down in a circle. 

Letting out a small sigh, Sehun began.

“Minjung came to school yesterday, I don’t know how she found me, but I was just walking to the library when she approached me.” He stopped for a moment, scanning the reactions of the boys before continuing, “She wanted to get back together with me.”

By this time, some of the boys’ faces displayed shock, while Sehun continued, “To cut the story short, I told her Jihyun was my girlfriend so she would give it up.”  He concluded and Jihyun couldn’t help but feel a bit upset. She was right; after all, she was just a tool to reject Minjung.

“Don’t you know the consequences of your actions, Sehun?” Luhan asked with slight anger in his voice, and Sehun flinched a little at his tone. “I didn’t know she would’ve entered the school and tell everyone about it.” He retorted.

“I suggest you clean up this mess with Minjung. A lot of people are calling Jihyun names, especially after the rumors with Luhan, and now she’s your girlfriend, what would people think of that?” Suho said with concern.

It suddenly hit him that his actions were not only affecting himself, but it was also affecting Jihyun. He hadn’t thought about it till Suho mention it, and now that he did, he felt guilty.

He told Minjung he had gotten over her, but it was just a means to show that he wasn’t a weak person, and he definitely didn’t want to look like a fool, letting her know that he was still here even after the fact that she left him. It was pride.

It wasn’t because he didn’t want to get back with Minjung, his mind told him that it was everything he had ever wanted for the past 1 year ever since she left. Those days he spent reminiscing and hoping she would come back to him, and when finally she did, the feeling of wanting her back wasn’t as strong as before. He wasn’t as happy as he thought he would be, and thus, he doubted if he was still in love with her. His reflex was to claim Jihyun as his girlfriend, and when he did, he couldn’t help but feel a slight happiness and relief wash over him.

“I have my ways of settling it.” He finally said after recollecting his thoughts. Taking a glance at Jihyun, she was immersed in her own thoughts and didn’t seem like she was listening at all. Heaving a sigh, he stood up from his seat and headed towards the exit, “I’ll see you all after school.”

Informing Hyorin she needed some time on her own to study, Jihyun headed towards the library after school to catch up on some work. She was on her way there before she met face to face with Minjung, who gave her a menacing stare and walked up to her.

“So you are Kim Jihyun?” She narrowed her eyes and Jihyun nodded, slightly intimidated by her strong approach.

“You don’t look like the type that Sehun would like though.” Minjung said as she scanned her up and down.

"What the hell? What does she even mean by that?" 

She stayed silent as Minjung continued on, “I heard you are Luhan’s girlfriend, not Sehun’s. So tell me, you are not really Sehun’s girlfriend, right?”

“I don’t think that has anything to do with you.” Jihyun said in retort before trying to walk pass her. Grabbing onto Jihyun’s arms, Minjung yanked her back to the front, “That has everything to do with me. I want Sehun, and the thing that’s getting in between us is you. I suggest you back away and stop playing with Sehun because you are with Luhan. I didn't think you'd cheat wth that innocent face of yours.” She said menacingly.

“Well, what if I don’t want to?” She said haughtily and Minjung was surprised at her new found confidence. “W-what?”

This time, it was Jihyun’s turn to smirk.

“Try and get him if you can.” She said with pride in her voice. She didn’t know where she got her confidence from, but she just felt a burning urge to retort back and tell Minjung that she wasn’t as weak as what everyone thought she was. She wasn't going to get trampled on by the insults and gossips, she could also stand up for herself.

Brushing past Minjung without waiting for her reply, she headed towards the library. When she arrived, she saw Sehun who was burying his heads in Chemistry books and she chuckled at the sight. “I guess he isn’t that bad after all.” She thought to herself as she saw him concentrating on the books for the project.

Joining him at his table, she pulled a chair beside him and he didn’t notice till he finally looked up after finish writing his notes, and jumped a little when he saw her.

“Oh, you’re here.” He said in acknowledgement and Jihyun nodded, “Why didn’t you tell me you were working on the project? I could’ve helped you.” She said and he scratched his neck awkwardly, “I, uhm, wanted to do it myself as an apology for screwing up our plans to do the project yesterday.”

“So, how’s it going?” She smiled at his thoughtfulness and peered at the project, where only a few questions were answered. “It’s harder than I thought.” He said in disappointment and Jihyun took over the textbook.

She spent the next 2 hours teaching him the entire chapter since she had already read up on it. Teaching and doing the project at the same time, it took them another 4 hours before they finally finished up the project, and both of them felt accomplished, especially Sehun with the new Chemistry knowledge.

“I seriously do not understand how you store all those knowledge in that pea brain of yours.” He remarked and Jihyun furrowed her eyebrows, “Is that the only thing you can say after I imparted my Chemistry knowledge to you? How ungrateful.” She clacked her tongue in annoyance.

Amused by her reactions again, he smirked and folded his arms to annoy her more. Seeing as how he refused to thank her, she packed up her things hastily and stomped out of the library without looking back.

Chuckling to himself, he gathered his things and quickly left the library as well, catching up to her. With his long legs, he was walking next to her in no time. Realizing his presence, she quickened her pace but she was no match for him as he merely sped up a little and reached her running pace.

Just then, her stomach let out a small growl and she blushed in embarrassment as Sehun heard it. “Come on, let’s get some spicy rice cakes.” He said before pulling her to a nearby road stall. However, she stopped him and turned the other way, “I’m not giving in just because you offer me food.”

He laughed, knowing she was just putting up a strong front, “Yeah sure, go back to the dorms feeling hungry, because Hyorin’s at singing class today and you’ll be eating instant noodles at home alone.” He shrugged and headed towards the roadside stall. Hesitating for a moment, she quickly caught up to him, “I’m only here because I’m hungry.” She said as she stuck her hands into her jacket and walked with him while he smiled in amusement.