“Come with me,” Joy said, grabbing a hold of Sungjae’s wrist. As a co-worker passed by, she told her, “Unnie, I’m going on my break.”

Joy removed her apron and cap and then dragged Sungjae with her out the door.

The two of them didn’t walk very far--just one block down until they reached the same noodle shop Sungjae and his friends ate at last weekend. The girl sat down inside and requested a bowl of beef ramen when a woman came by to take orders.

“Are you getting anything?” Joy asked her classmate, giving him a quizzical look.

“Uh,” he suddenly felt flustered, glancing back and forth between Joy and the waitress. “Me too--a beef ramen, I mean.”

“First things first, I don’t like Yoon Gi,” Joy stated when the waitress left. “Second, who are you to involve yourself in my business? And third, quit stalking me!”

“I’m not stalking you,” Sungjae immediately interjected, causing the girl to raise an eyebrow at him as if to say, oh, really? He ignored her. “I’m just trying to negotiate a plan with you.”

“A plan?” She scoffed. “I don’t want to be a part of one of your crazy schemes, Yook Sungjae. I have more important things to do, like studying and working. I don’t have time--or any care--to work with you on something so irrelevant.”

“If it’s really that irrelevant, then why do blush every time I mention Yoon Gi’s name?”

“I do not!” Joy exclaimed, her normally milky white visage reddening. Now it was Sungjae’s turn to an eyebrow, but he did it more to mock her.

“Look, at first I was being nice by letting you join me willingly--”

“No, you were being a freak and following me around until I said yes, which I still won’t,” interrupted Joy.

“--but now you leave me with no choice but to force you to agree,” the boy declared. “Like I said earlier, if you don’t help me, I’ll tell him. And I’ll make sure that the entire school knows, too.”

Joy’s face remained red, but this time it was out of embarrassment and anger. She really didn’t know how to respond, which the boy took as his cue to keep going. “And that’s not all. I’m sure your restaurant would be more than grateful to get an influx of customers when I tell everyone that our lovely Park Joy works there.”

Joy wanted to bang her head on the table or use the table to bang Sungjae, but instead she gripped onto the table so hard her fingernails left indentations in the wood. She couldn’t possibly let the idiot get away with exposing her secrets. The Red Velvet one she was okay with, but the whole Seoul Senior High population did not need to know who she had her eyes and heart set on. Not only would her chances of being with the smartest, handsomest, most talented person ever be ruined, but the Min Yoon Gi fan club would not let her complete her last year unscathed and her classmates would no longer take her seriously with this dent to her reputation.

The waitress returned with two bowls of beef ramen, chopsticks, and napkins. Sungjae immediately went in for the kill, devouring anything he deemed edible. Meanwhile, a conflicted brunette stared at her food, carefully calculating her next move.

Eyes still on the dish, she exhaled softly and said, “I’ll do it.”

“Tell me everything you know about her,” Joy said the following morning at Red Velvet, where she and Sungjae had agreed to meet after finally boarding the crazy train with him.

“Her name’s Bae Irene, she’s a college student, and she’s really pretty,” Sungjae replied.

“That’s it?”

“Ooh, and she was ranked as the number one most attractive student during all three years of high school,” the boy added.

“Seriously, that’s all you’ve got?” Joy shook her head in disappointment. “You’ve liked this girl since kindergarten and you can’t even tell me which college she goes to?”

“Well, just because I like her doesn’t mean I’ve actually talked to her,” Sungjae retaliated, causing Joy to roll her eyes. “See, that’s where you come in. You’re supposed to change that for me.”

“How, though? She doesn’t do blind dates. I don’t know how to just magically put the two of you in the same room,” she said.

A light bulb flickered on in Sungjae’s head and he hopped up in excitement. “That’s it! What if you guys arrange plans to hang out and then you call at the last minute and bail on her? And then I can coincidentally come in and Irene will fall for me!”

“Woah, woah, woah, hold up,” Joy interjected, motioning with her hand for the overly eager boy to sit back down. “That plan’s not gonna work.”

Sungjae pouted. “Why not?”

“Because in order for Unnie to fall for you, you need to be worthy of having anyone fall for you,” she said bluntly while looking at and casually stirring her coffee, a dumbstruck look forming on the boy’s face.

“The way you are now doesn’t match her ideal type,” Joy informed. “She likes guys who are smart, suave, fit, and talented--qualities you clearly don’t possess.”

“What?” Sungjae said in disbelief, voice slightly cracking. “That’s not the least bit true.”

“You’re ranking is so low it’s a miracle you’re even graduating,” Joy began. “Every single day I catch you snoring and drooling in the back corner of the classroom. The only thing remotely close to physical activity I’ve seen you done--and keep in mind we’ve been going to the same school since elementary--was when you knocked me out in dodgeball, after the part where you begged Coach Ahn to let you back in the game since your team benched you for so much. And I don’t think stuffing five hotdogs in your mouth without gagging is considered a talent. That’s just gross.”

Sungjae blinked, her words rendering him speechless. When he opened his mouth to object, Joy made a face that read, ‘oh really now?’ He sank into his seat.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already taken note of all your unlikeable qualities and, as usual, I have a plan,” Joy said matter-of-factly, unveiling a makeshift scroll. She unrolled it to reveal a charted out timeline (which, of course, was laminated) titled Operation: Reformation. It had a very detailed two-week procedure to turn the dreamer into the man of Irene’s dreams.

“What is this?” Sungjae blurted out as he read the chart’s contents. “Practice exams and makeup work for three hours a night, a 6.5-kilometer run every morning, Irene lessons Monday, Wednesday, Friday with pop quizzes whenever?!”

“Um, did you not read the description? ‘A very detailed two-week procedure to turn the dreamer into the man of Irene’s dreams,’” the creator read aloud. “You wanted my help. So in order for you to impress Irene, you need to impress me first. I can’t just let her go on a date with anybody.”

“But--”

“Oh, would you look at that!” Joy glanced at her watch. “We’re right on time for the first part of the day--running!”

“I can’t… No more… please,” Sungjae begged as he and Joy neared the school grounds. They paused so he could catch his breath. “I never thought I’d be excited to see this place.”

“Are you really that out of shape? It was just a twenty-minute run, and half of the time you were walking,” Joy teased, moving ahead of him. “Every morning, I wake up at 5 AM to go for a run.”

Hearing that tidbit, Sungjae felt his body ache even more. With legs wobbling like jello, he slowly followed after her.

The two students entered the school, Joy leading the way. They walked the empty hallways until they arrived outside the teachers’ office. When Sungjae realized where they were, he asked in a hushed tone, “What are we doing here?”

“We’re here to get your grades up,” Joy whispered before going inside. Sungjae gulped in worry.

“Good morning, seonsaengnims!” the class pet said in her cheeriest voice, the cheeriest Sungjae had ever heard or seen her be. She also wore a huge smile on her face, as if she had just used Botox. Sungjae noticed that the teachers didn’t seem to mind, though, acting like this was Joy’s normal behavior around them.

Joy approached their homeroom teacher at her cubicle, the same person Sungjae had impersonated the other day in his efforts to persuade the girl into joining forces with him. Using aegyo, the class rep said, “Annyeonghaseyo, Kim-seonsaengnim. I was wondering if it was possible for Sungjae-ssi to redo his past assignments and tests for a better grade. Recently, he’s asked me to tutor him as a way for Sungjae-ssi to turn over a new leaf.”

Teacher Kim glanced from her favorite student to her most despised one, trying to find some truth in this fishy story. When they made eye contact, Sungjae nodded his head repeatedly, his expression desperately saying, ‘yes, it’s true!’

“I don’t know, Park-ssi. That would involve a lot of makeup work. And I don’t think the school would ever allow it…”

Joy amped up the aegyo and gave the poutiest of pouts. “That’s too sad, Kim-seonsaengnim. I see a lot of potential in Sungjae-ssi… And I’ve always thought you were the most understanding teacher here, who’d be able to see the potential in him, too.”

Teacher Kim perked up, eating up the flattering comments, her favorite things to hear. She reconsidered the situation. “You’re right. I am the most understanding teacher here, and it would be such a waste of potential if we didn’t give people second chances, right? Yook-ssi, wait right here while I go print the papers.”

Sungjae turned to Joy in disbelief. “Was it really that easy?”

Joy grinned. “Looks like you can handle everything from here. I’ll be outside.”

While waiting for her classmate, Joy whipped out the laminated schedule and checked off what they had already accomplished. She smiled in admiration at how carefully detailed it was. And not only was the chart detailed, but it was also synced up with Joy’s daily regime.

She glanced up when she heard footsteps at the end of the hallway gradually increasing in volume. Her face crimsoned immediately.

Walking closer and closer and bobbling along to the music playing through his headphones was the one and only Min Yoon Gi.

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Author's Note:

First things first, I'm soooo sorry for keeping you guys waiting! Please forgive me >.< Second, thank you so much for reading, subscribing, upvoting, and commenting! I can't believe y'all actually like my story; it makes me really happy ^-^ Special shoutouts to Cat315, QueenVelvet, heartwilldrive, damnurv, Sellly, and xyxy60 for commenting!

Also, please keep in mind that the characters used in this story are completely out-of-character.

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Preview:

"I say you use what you know to your advantage. Show how much you support him by cheering him on during games or approaching him about his music,” the boy advised.

“That’s it? And then what?” Joy asked.

“And then you leave. Simple as that,” Sungjae said. “You’re just giving him a compliment and then walking away. Nothing creepy to it at all as long as you remain cool and collected. None of that blushy stuff you do, okay?”