At a certain private high school.
"—And that is all for today's lesson. Any questions?"
"""No, ma'am."""
The teacher gathered her scattered notes, ready to leave the podium after dismissing the class.
"Ah~ finally over!"
"Weekend classes are such a bore, ugh."
Amongst the murmurs of complaints, one girl remained quiet as she packed up her things.
Lim Jang Mi focused on speed as she shoved all of her books into her bag. She glanced at her watch briefly with a slightly frustrated frown.
As soon as she closed her bag, she quickly walked out of the classroom.
"Hey, Lim Jang Mi! Aren't you going to the library today?" A girl called out from behind her. It was the norm for the more diligent students to spend an hour or two at the library after their classes to compare notes and review their lessons together.
Jang Mi spared her classmate a side glance. "No. I'm going back early today," she dryly said, her frown deepening as if simply stopping to talk was a waste of her time.
"Geez, alright then. Go, you snobby girl! You didn't have to glare at me like that!" the classmate harrumphed. "It's not like there's a difference if you come or not!"
Jang Mi ignored her classmate as she rushed down the hallways.
Today was Yeo Ri's birthday, yet she was stuck at school for the annoying summer programme, causing her to be late to her friend's birthday party. On top of that, her cruel mother even went so far as signing her up for an additional intensive cram school programme in preparation for her college exams... which she wouldn't be sitting for until she was a third year.
She inwardly grumbled about how excessive her mother was being even though she had just started high school, but she understood the pressure somewhat. The high school she had chosen to attend was one of the best in the country, and the competition was fierce. Even in the last term examination, she had only managed to snatch the 13th place despite all her hard work and extra lessons. It was a far cry compared to her constant top three placements during middle school.
However, she had another reason for working so hard and accepting her mother's gruelling education plan.
As she passed by a certain corridor, Lim Jang Mi allowed herself to stall her feet, a small smile gracing her lips as her eyes wandered to a certain poster.
[Lee Gun, Valedictorian, Class of 20XX. Accepted into S University's Faculty of Law]
Among a series of notable alumnis, Gun's face was displayed proudly on a large life-sized poster. With a record of straight number ones from the moment he stepped foot into the campus, and a long list of achievements in academic contests and competitions of various levels, Lee Gun truly belonged in the school's hall of fame.
Jang Mi felt that it was a pity that she didn't have a chance to experience school life with her long-time crush. However, it felt good enough to be able to see traces of him all around the school. It was a shame that Yeo Ri, too, didn't attend the same school as her. Imagine how much fun they would have had together!
Jang Mi sighed as she took her eyes off the poster and picked up her pace.
Outside of the school gates, her mother's familiar grey-coloured car was parked across the road so as to not block the traffic.
"Mom, let's go, hurry," she rushed as soon as she slipped into the passenger seat.
"What, no 'hello, how are you, class was so-and-so'?" her mother clicked her tongue at the girl's lack of proper manners.
Jang Mi sighed again as she fastened her seatbelt. "...Hello, mom. How was your day? Class was as usual today."
"Is that so? Well."
Mrs. Lim nodded gingerly at her daughter's half-hearted greeting, barely accepting it.
"Can we go now? Yeo Ri's party started ages ago and I don't want to be late." Jang Mi fell into her seat sulkily as she pulled out her phone, ready to inform her friend of her impending arrival.
"Fine. I'll let you off since it's the weekends and you need to wind down anyways." With her daughter secured in her seat, she pulled out of her parking spot and drove away, with the mechanical voice of the navigation system leading her.
"I heard from Yoo Na's mom that over-studying will be more harmful than helpful for a student your age. Not good to be too stressed and all that. Did you know her eldest scored an internship at NASA?" her mother clicked her tongue again, both in awe and envy.
Jang Mi raised her head with another sigh. She rolled her eyes, "Are you telling me to become a scientist now?"
"Well." Mrs. Lim shrugged. "I just want you to pick the best path for you. Of course, science is good, and aiming for law school as you are now is good too. It's also okay if you decide to aim for medical school. In any case, there's still one more year for you to make your choice."
Jang Mi turned away from her mother. All the 'choices' her mother gave her was the kind of options that would lead to a cushy high-paying, high-status type of job. She wasn't in the least bit interested in any of them, but what could she do? What her mother wants, she gets. At least Gun, too, was aiming to become a practitioner of law. To be able to stand beside him as a peer was enough motivation for the young love-stricken girl to strive for excellence as her mother had so often wished for.
"Is this the right place?"
Jang Mi snapped out of her train of thoughts at her mother's inquiry. She looked up, and seeing the familiar name of the apartment building, she nodded. "Yeah, this should be it."
"Don't stay out for too long. Come home by seven," her mother cautioned.
"I know. Bye, mom." Jang Mi eagerly got out of the car, ignoring her mother's nagging.
"Jang Mi—"
Jang Mi closed the door quickly, not allowing her mother to finish her long ramblings.
After jotting down her name in the visitor's logbook, Jang Mi immediately headed for the Lee sibling's house.
It was her first time at their house ever, and it made her somewhat nervous.
Finally, after looking around for a few minutes, she found the correct door and pressed the doorbell.
"Jang Mi? You're here."
Gun stood behind the door as he welcomed the younger girl into the house, causing the girl's heart to skip a beat. She hadn't expected Gun to be answering the door, and the butterflies in her stomach fluttered as she took in his appearance after several months of not seeing him.
"Jang Mi?" Gun stared at the girl with a puzzled expression as she silently stood still, frozen from nervousness.
"Ah—um—" she nervously stuttered, blushing.
"—Oppa, is that Jang Mi? Jang Mi! Come on in!" Yeo Ri's pretty head popped out beside her equally good-looking brother.
Finally realising her own strange behaviour, Jang Mi's cheeks flushed even more with embarrassment. "Ah, um, yeah... happy birthday, Yeo Ri!"
Her beautiful friend flashed a joyous and innocent smile, "Thanks, Jang Mi-ah. Come in, make yourself at home."
Jang Mi coughed awkwardly as she followed the two hosts into their new home.
The house was rather spacious, considering that only two people were living in it. While the space seemed simple and bare due to the lack of decorations, the siblings had all the basic furniture already put in place. The curved, flat-screen television mounted on the wall across the sofa was playing a movie.
Although she had never seen what Yeo Ri's old house looked like, judging from the way the girl acted during middle school, she knew the girl lived just one step above absolute poverty. Jang Mi was glad that her friend was doing well now after everything that she had gone through.
"Jang Mi! Why were you so late?! Couldn't you have skipped your summer classes?!" A familiar annoying yet endearing voice spoke up.
Jang Mi huffed at her friend, Min Chae, who was complaining about her tardiness.
"Unfortunately, I can't. These classes are way too expensive for me to not take advantage of them," she sighed forlornly. Her heart ached at the thought of the amount of fees her mother had so easily doled out. It was tantamount to half of the semester's tuition fee; as if it wasn't already expensive enough since the school she was attending was a private one! It was a bit of a stretch for a middle-class family like hers, but of course—her mother's ambitions and expectations knew no bounds.
"That's true," Gun added knowingly. He graduated from the same school, after all, and he'd been able to attend the school completely free of charge thanks to his grades. The summer and winter programmes were immensely helpful in preparing for the coming semester, and it was good for those aiming for Ivy League schools as well since the programmes included not only academic lessons but also extra-curricular activities. Gun had also taken advantage of the programmes and participated in many competitions recommended by the school during his time there.
"Whatever. Now that Jang Mi is here, can we finally eat the cake?" Min Chae felt her head hurt as soon as Jang Mi mentioned her absurdly pricy posh private school, and quickly changed the subject.
Jang Mi hit her friend playfully before making herself comfortable in an open seat. She greeted the rest of the party attendees with a slight bow as she took her seat.
There were many familiar faces, but there were some that she didn't recognise either. She could recognise the older Jin Goo and In Guk, as well as her probable-rival-in-love Da Na, and Gun's close friend Ha Jun. There were two girls she didn't know, but they seemed close to Yeo Ri from the way they were talking and laughing together.
"Yeo Ri, my brother says he met you before?" One of the girls raised her phone to show the screen to the birthday girl. It displayed a chat between the girl and her family after she posted a wefie of her and the birthday girl together.
"Your brother? Who?"
"Ryeon Jae Hwan. You know him?"
Jang Mi was surprised at hearing the name, and as she glanced around to see if others recognised the name too, Min Chae caught her sight and gaped. The girl mouthed the name again, hiding her excitement behind her glittering, surprised gaze.
"Your brother is the actor, Ryeon Jae Hwan? The one that looks a little bit like Hyuk?" In Guk piped in suddenly.
Ryeon Jae Ha scrunched her nose in confusion, wondering who 'Hyuk' was, but turned around to reply to the older boy, "Yeah, the actor. He's not really that popular, right?" There was no way she would miss a chance to diss her bro, she thought with a sly smile.
"Ah! Sunbaenim. We recently filmed a drama together," Yeo Ri laughed in response to the familiar name. "We wrapped up my scenes just a few days ago, actually."
"What! When?! He didn't tell me he worked with you! That sh*tt—cough—that mean b*st—cough—person! I could've gone to visit you on set," Ryeon Jae Ha frowned.
Yeo Ri giggled at the girl's demeanour, thinking that she must be pretty close to her brother to be able to swear about him so comfortably. Yeo Ri didn't think she could relate, though, since it would be rather hurtful if she started acting that way with her brothers.
"Yeo Ri, what kind of role did you act in the drama?" Min Chae asked eagerly, seemingly interested in her best friend's professional life.
"Just a minor side character; the younger sister of the second male lead. The director was so nice to give me more scenes. It's also thanks to Jae Hwan-sunbaenim that I got more screen time."
Instead of continuing the conversation, Ryeon Jae Ha seemed distracted by a text she had received. It only took her less than a fraction of a second to register the information she had received before snapping her head up with a strange and somewhat disgusted look.
"You were my brother's love interest?" Ryeon Jae Ha asked, her tone filled with equal amounts of pity and horror.
"""Love interest?!"""
Several people's heads shot towards Yeo Ri, clearly shocked by the revelation.
"You didn't tell me this! So how was it?! Was there... a kiss scene?!" Min Chae shouted. Yeo Ri wasn't sure if her friend was angry or excited from the way her face reddened.
Gun, whom no one had thought was paying attention to the conversation, approached his sister with a displeased but concerned look at the mention of a 'kiss scene'. He could think of a hundred different ways any b*stard could take advantage of his sister under the guise of being her on-screen love interest. Whoever this Ryeon Jae Hwan was, Gun wouldn't hesitate to thrash him if he even so much as looked at his sister the wrong way.
Yeo Ri cringed from their reactions, hurriedly explaining, "There was no such thing! The director discussed this with us, and said that a kiss scene wouldn't fit into the narrative, and adding to the age gap, it was better if the storyline was kept simple."
"Thank god! I was looking forward to watching that drama since the cast was good... aside from my brother." Ryeon Jae Ha heaved a sigh of relief. "I don't think I can sleep well if I saw my brother kiss my friend."
Several laughs broke out at her words. However, upon hearing Ryeon Jae Ha's statement, a few of the men had a strange look on their faces. Gun and In Guk unknowingly synced their thoughts, thinking about how Hyuk had wretchedly took advantage of his own sister. Meanwhile, Jin Goo could not help but flash back to the time he accidentally caught Hyuk and Yeo Ri kissing at the hospital.
Sensing the intangible and subtle discomfort in the room, Ha Jun immediately eased the group into another subject, shooting off questions to ice-break the different group of acquaintances.
Soon, the cake was brought out, and the festive mood was restored.