Seulgi’s eyes almost popped out of her head in shock at the girl’s audacity. Her face was contorting as though she had taken a bite out of something extremely sour, “Excuse me?”

Joohyun folded her arms, a conceited smirk upon her face, “Most of the student body is anyway. So just tell me. I’m used to it.”

“Oh my god, stop it.”

“Wait a minute…” Joohyun looked like she had suddenly remembered something, brows drawn together pensively. “Those roses I’ve been seeing in my locker… please tell me they’re not from you.”

The girl before her answered by smacking herself on the forehead.

“Why?” The council president continued, surveying her through teasing eyes, “Did I guess correctly?”

“The fact that you would even think that is testament to your utter stupidity and shamelessness. I am not having this conversation,” Seulgi raised both palms and executed a perfect eye roll before turning on her heels and marching back towards her seat. As soon as she was comfortable in her chair once again, she decided to make her point doubly clear, “For your information, I would never dream of dating you, much less send you flowers. Not for a million dollars, not even for a billion. Even if you were the last girl standing on earth, I’d choose a lonely death.”

Joohyun only giggled to herself, wondering why the girl was acting all defensive even though she was just kidding.

Seulgi appeared to be bothered by the subtle laughing, and quickly fired back, “What’s so funny? You’re so annoying, Bae Joohyun. I should’ve just left you there to die this morning.”

That was when the girl’s head snapped towards her in realization, “You were the one who brought me to the sick bay?”

Seulgi lifted a brow inquisitively, “Should I not have done that? Come to think of it, yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have.”

“No, no, it’s just… I didn’t expect something like that from you.”

“Okay, now that is just offensive--”

“I didn’t mean it that way,” Joohyun interrupted the girl’s sentence. Then, as sincerely as she could, she softly declared, “Thank you.”

Silence ensued for the next few seconds and Seulgi knew things were going to get awkward if she did not say something in response soon. Drumming her fingers on the table restlessly, she muttered monotonously, making sure to throw in something scornful, “It was nothing. Good thing you’re not some fat pig. But you’re right in that neighborhood so if I were you, I’d pick up a book on Slimming 101.”

“Yeah alright, sure,” Joohyun said with a chuckle that sounded almost cheerful, her tone devoid of its usual sting. It was a rare moment, which made Seulgi ponder if she could ever get used to it if their future conversations were all going to be like this.

Peace and quiet took over for a few minutes, prompting Seulgi to come up with another question to fill the uncomfortable gap. “I know it’s none of my business but why didn’t your parents come pick you up? Did that nurse actually call them? She seemed pretty irresponsible to me. You can so sue her lazy if--”

“I felt fine after she gave me some water so there was no need to contact my parents.”

“Oh, please,” Seulgi waved a hand. “She should’ve at least informed them or something. Isn’t that basic protocol?”

“I don’t know,” Joohyun seemed rather reluctant to discuss the issue for some reason.

“What? So did she or did she not try to call your parents?” Seulgi remained adamant.

The absence of a response from the council president induced a more impatient command, “Yah, Bae Joohyun.”

“My parents are not in town.”

“Oh,” Seulgi nodded briefly before following up with another question. “That wasn’t so hard to answer, was it? Are they away on vacation or something?”

Joohyun looked up from her work and fidgeted slightly in her seat, “Business.”

“Who are you staying with then?”

“I live alone… with my younger brother,” the girl replied seconds later, retracting her pen with a quick click before setting it aside.

“Pardon?” It was apparent that the information was not sinking in too well.

“What is this, twenty questions?” Joohyun gathered her papers and tapped them on the table firmly to align them in a neat stack.

“It’s How to Effectively Kill Time with Som