Amber blinked at the sound of JieMi's voice, feeling a warm hand on her shoulder. Her eyes widened, feeling the tell-tale thrum of warmth through their bond. It was comforting, relaxing and she welcomed it. She relished it. She sank into his touch, feeling the weight of her situation lift from her shoulders.
"I ran into her and made her fall."
She glanced back at him, her eyes snapping to look to the sight of JieMi. He stood, tall and stiff as he stared head-on at the teacher not meeting her eyes. Had he always been this tall?
"A-ah! Mr Wang!"
Amber watched as the clear sign of favouritism flickered over her professor's face. He fumbled, appearing befuddled at the sudden turn of events. The whispers from the students had grown, morphing into one of surprise and shock. The poison in their words was changing into muffled confusion.
JieMi was one of the most famous people in the world.
He would no doubt be one of the more famous ones in the school. It was pretty obvious that he was one of the pride and glory of KUOA. And his name would later become a part of the alumni wall. A wall meant for the school to exploit and use to lure in more students. They would be milking the prestige from his name as much as they could and they needed him more than he needed them.
"I should get the zero instead. I came in later than her and I was the reason for why she was late. I apologise," he bowed deeply, his face melting into the neutrality she was used to seeing.
She knew that face. It was the face he gave to media agencies who probed too deep, asking the dumbest of questions. The face he gave to rambunctious fans who did not respect their privacy. The customer service expression.
"It's fine, Mr Wang. You're physically not required to be in this class. You do not have to...Care about this situation." Her professor was clearly sweating profusely, fumbling for a reason to not have to punish JieMi.
He was supposed to be their model student. If word got out that he obtained a zero in this class, questions would be raised and answers had to be given. If the answer was that he had been a minute late from class. Sure, it was all within the right of the professor but in the eyes of JieMi's fans...
They would be out for blood.
"Sir, it was my fault. I'll have my guardian write to the Principal in apology." JieMi's grip tightened on her flesh, his thumb gently rubbing circles into the nape of her neck. She realised then that she had been trembling, quivering from fear and she pressed her hands together in an attempt to steady herself.
"No, no it's alright. S-sit down the both of you!" The professor's face was flushed as he stammered. "We'll begin the class," he turned, clearly flustered.
He raised his head, finally noticing the noise from the rest of the students. The spikes of laughter seemed to make him even angrier because he bellowed. "QUIET! We will begin now!" The laughter ceased, dropping into softer whispers.
"Come on," JieMi mumbled, tugging at her wrist.
She numbly followed him to an empty seat at the corner, watching as he politely asked a student if the seats were empty. He pulled at the chair beside him offering her a seat as he slipped out his laptop and fumbled with the charger port. Warily, she took her own seat beside him confused at the turn of events.
He had been kind to her. He could have ignored her, made his way into this lecture hall without caring about her situation. Gone to his girlfriend who was definitely somewhere in this lecture hall. She glanced at him, watching as he propped his head up with his left hand, his other hand idly tapping on the computer.
He was being nice.
She turned back to the lesson, her mind in a turmoil. She could barely concentrate, the proximity of his body sending hers into overdrive. It seemed to know that this was her soulmate, the soulmate that she had exchanged bodies with.
She could smell him, delicious and musky in the air and she was aware of his every action. She flushed a little, struggling to maintain her composure when her traitorous mind repeatedly flashed the image of his cock like a damn spam advertisement in a pirated site.
She broke out of her thoughts when he pulled out a notebook and scribbled over the surface. He slipped it over, pretending to be aloof as he stared ahead at the slideshow her professor was currently going through. Amber peered at the words, her fingers running over the surface.
I'm sorry.
She bit her lips, nibbling on it as her eyes traced the messy Korean handwriting. The strokes, long and swift, were somewhat ugly in their placement. She wanted to shove it back at him but right now...She just didn't have the heart to be mean.
She wasn't used to being mean but she didn't want to accept his apology. It was never okay with JieMi. JieMi had single-handedly tore her life apart. She pondered over what to write and decided on something simple and universal.
Thank you.
She slid the notebook back to him. She watched as he stared at it for a few seconds then a small, sad smile graced his lips as he picked up his pen.
It was my fault.
She read it and scoffed, scribbling over the paper. The nib digging a little too strongly into the innocent paper.
You weren't obliged to do that for me and you didn't have to, so thank you.
He frowned, his brows furrowing at her words.
But I was the one who made you late. Do you not blame me?
She smiled then, a cruel bitter one. Blame him?
JieMi, go back to your girlfriend before she kills me.
He spluttered at her words, pursing his lips as he turned to look. Amber followed his gaze, noting that his girlfriend was seated in the last row. If she squinted hard enough she could make out her frantic hand signs telling JieMi to get his ass there or else he was dead.
JieMi turned to meet her eyes, his brows furrowed. He looked conflicted, his jaws clenched as he watched her. Amber simply smiled, her eyes cold as her lips quirked upwards before turning to look back at the professor.
Professor Choi seemed to have calmed down a bit and was conducting the lesson in his usual dreary tone. He switched the screen, revealing the assignment brief for their final project.
"We'll be doing pair work. I want all of you to apply the skills we've learned in class this semester," he droned, clucking his tongue. "We're talking about observational lighting on black and white photography."
Her professor clicked on the screen revealing the requirements. Five sets of photographs of your partner and a short description. Amber squinted. Plus a shortened link to a survey to indicate who you've partnered with.
"You're free to go once you've entered the survey." Her professor called out, ending the class as he left, racing off quickly probably to vent his anger. Probably to spread more crappy rumours about her to the other teachers. Amber did not care. Although, she did care about the assignment.
Shit. She glanced around, noting the cheery grins of her classmates as they picked their best friends as partners. She was going to have to hang around and wait until the odd-numbered student appeared.
Unsurprisingly, JieMi rose to go fumbling to keep his items. He was noisy as he kept his things, his pen clacked against the wooden table as he swiped them into his bag.
His girlfriend had probably threatened him with something via text judging from how fast he was handling and tossing in his stationery haphazardly. Amber sighed, biting her lips. She wasn't one to judge but his relationship sounded a little too controlling for her taste.
Oh, look at that, even JieMi couldn't stand her.