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The morning was freezing, its the kind of day where your breath turns to mist and the cold seeps right into your bones. Inside the classroom, the air was thick with nerves. The only sounds were the rustle of paper and the calm, steady voice of the math teacher as he began returning the graded exams.
Yeong-bin sat at his desk, back straight and chin held high, radiating confidence. As class president, top marks were an obligation to maintain his status. Inside, however, his fingers drummed an anxious beat against the wood of the desk.
"Yeong-bin, excellent work as always. Ninety-eight" the teacher said, dropping the paper onto his desk.
A small and smug smirk tugged at Yeong-bin’s lips. A ninety-eight was nearly untouchable for anyone else. He leaned back in his chair, ready to soak in the silent admiration of his peers. But the smirk froze when the teacher stopped in front of your desk.
"And for the vice-president... a perfect score. One hundred. Congratulations, the best in the class."
To Yeong-bin, the silence that followed was deafening. The paper in his hands crinkled under the sudden pressure of his grip. He stared at the back of your head with an intensity that burned.
It wasn’t just a grade. To him, those two points were a direct wound to his pride. He could feel envy crawling up his neck… an acidic and stinging sensation that tightened his chest.
How was this possible?
He had pushed himself so hard, studying day and night and yet he still wasn't the best. Seeing the quiet joy in your posture as you accepted the exam was unbearable.
He watched your profile as you carefully tucked the paper into your folder. In his eyes, your efficiency wasnt admirable… it was a direct threat. Every bit of praise the teacher gave you felt like a personal insult to him. His anger began to crystallize into something colder and far more dangerous: resentment.
“This bitch” he thought, his jaw clenching so hard his ears ached. “That’s it... she’s definitely fucking with the teacher.”
Yeong-bin looked down at his desk. His mind was already at work, tracing lines and scouting for your weaknesses. Being president gave him certain liberties, certain access… and above all, an image of reliability that no one would dare question.
You didn't realize it yet, but your success was about to be jeopardized. Yeong-bin wouldn't settle for just reclaiming the top spot, he was going to make sure your spotless record had a stain you could never wash away.
(...)
Weeks had passed and the winter air still forced you to keep your hands buried deep in your pockets. From the rooftop, the school courtyard looked like an anthill of aimless uniforms, but your eyes didn't see anything. Your mind was still processing the words of the new student… Oh Beom-seok.
"Yeong-bin just put weed in your bag" he whispered, his voice barely audible. "He’s going to ask the teacher to do a bag check."
You felt a flicker of surprise, but you smothered it instantly. Of all the bad boys in this school, the only one you actually found attractive was the one trying to ruin you.
"Why me?" you asked. "I've never had a problem with him."
"He hates you" Beom-seok replied. Seeing your skepticism, he pulled out his phone with trembling hands. "If you don't believe me, see for yourself."
You took the phone. As you scrolled, Yeong-bin’s contempt materialized in text. It wasn't just insults, it was a systematic campaign of hate and denigration. You read how he questioned your intelligence, how he reduced your academic merits to sexual favors and how he used biting words to strip away your authority as vice-president.
A spark of disdain ignited within you. Yeong-bin wasnt just envious, he was predictable and vulgar. Handsome? Sure, but a total loser.
"Beom-seok… I need to take photos of this" you said, noticing the boy tense up immediately. "Listen, you can change the chat background right now. That way, if anyone sees the screenshots, they won't know they came from your phone."
The boy nodded quickly, relieved by your foresight. You had no intention of exposing Beom-seok, a useful informant was worth more than a rushed revenge. You waited for him to make the changes, took the photos with your own phone and handed his back with a brief nod of thanks.
The bell rang, signaling the end of break. As you headed down the stairs, your mind was already weaving a story. You knew the screenshots were powerful evidence, but you also knew someone like Yeong-bin would always have an excuse… like blaming someone else or claiming the chat was just a joke. You needed more. You needed to destroy his credibility before the teacher even opened your bag.
Walking into the classroom, the atmosphere felt different. Yeong-bin was there, sitting with that trademark air of superiority. His eyes locked onto you the moment you crossed the threshold. You walked to your seat as if everything were normal and, as you opened your backpack to put your phone away, you saw the small bag of weed strategically placed inside.
You zipped the bag shut without a single muscle in your face betraying you. Instead of sitting down, you walked straight to Yeong-bin’s desk. You stopped in front of him, letting the silence stretch long enough for the rest of the class to start paying attention.
"Yeong-bin..." you began, softening your voice and putting on an expression of deep pity.
"What do you want?" he spat, visibly confused by your approach.
"I want to say sorry" you let out, exhaling a heavy sigh. You noticed the conversations around you die down as everyone tuned in. "I... when I rejected you, I didn't think it would affect you so much that your grades would drop like this."
A collective "oooooh" rippled through the room. You watched the blood rush to Yeong-bin’s face, staining his cheeks a furious red. You looked down shyly and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"I wanted to clear the air... it’s not that I don’t like you," you added. "I just think we need to focus on our studies right now. I dont want you to keep getting distracted because of me."
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" he yelled, jumping to his feet and getting inches from your face. Rage had blinded his ability to think clearly.
"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" the class erupted, fueled by the sheer drama of the situation.
"Silence! Everyone sit down!" The teacher’s voice cut through the noise as he entered the room with a stern look. "We’re doing a bag check. Right now."
The search was quick. When the teacher pulled the bag out of your backpack, the room fell into a deathly silence. He asked you to follow him to the faculty office without another word.
Minutes later, you were in the office with the teacher and the principal, both looking at you with disappointment. They asked where the bag came from and that was when you made your final move.
With eyes glistening and a trembling voice, you told them the story you’d crafted. You spoke of Yeong-bin’s "feelings", how you had rejected him days ago to stay focused on exams and how he had taken it as a personal vendetta.
"He threatened to get back at me, but I never thought he’d go this far" you said, handing over your phone. "Here’s the proof of how he planned to frame me and how he talks about me in private."
The principal scrolled through the screenshots while the teacher confirmed that, indeed, Yeong-bin had been the one insisting on a bag check that morning. The teacher added that when he entered the classroom, he found the two of you in a scene that seemed to confirm your story of a romantic conflict.
As the principal read the degrading insults and the teacher dialed Yeong-bin’s mother, you were given permission to head back to class.
You walked down the hall with a firm step. When you opened the classroom door, every eye was on you. Yeong-bin was still there, face pale, waiting for his turn to be led to the slaughter. Before sitting down, you looked him right in the eye and gave him a quick and sharp wink.
He sank into his seat, realizing far too late that you hadn't just saved your own skin… you had used his own envy to bury him.
(...)
A month had passed with astonishing speed, turning that classroom incident into a blurry memory for most, but a fresh scar for Yeong-bin. After the scandal, his mother hadn't just moved him to a new school… she had imposed an emotional exile, forbidding any contact with you, convinced that your "toxic" relationship was the root of all his problems.
In his new environment, Yeong-bin had managed to reinvent himself. That’s where he met Woo-young, an MMA fighter with an imposing physical presence. They’d become close and Yeong-bin was grateful to have someone like him as a friend.
The night was just beginning, but trouble was already brewing. Woo-young had a slight frown as he checked his phone, asking Yeong-bin for a favor.
"Hey, my cousin needs a ride from another bar. Her friends flaked on her and I don't want her out alone this late" Woo-young said protectively.
Yeong-bin nodded, grabbed the car keys and headed to the address with his friends. When the car pulled up in front of the bar, the door opened and a familiar figure walked toward them under the streetlights.
When they saw you, Jung-chan and Tae-hun burst into laughter. They knew the whole story and loved messing with their friend about you.
"Check it out! It’s Yeong-bin’s girlfriend" one of them joked, smacking the driver’s seat. "What a coincidence, right? There’s your girl."
Yeong-bin felt the air leave his lungs. His hands gripped the steering wheel, but before he could say a word, the vibe inside the car shifted drastically. Woo-young turned slowly toward his friends, a cold look in his eyes that silenced them instantly.
"She is my cousin" he said, his voice vibrating with an implicit warning.
You climbed into the back seat, met by a silence so thick it was almost solid. You recognized your classmates next to you first, then the driver. Woo-young didnt even wait for you to get settled before turning to you and then back to Yeong-bin, narrowing his eyes.
"You two know each other?" Woo-young asked. His tone was no longer that of a friend, but of someone weighing whether or not to start a fight. "Yeong-bin, is there something going on between you two?"
"No" you said firmly, just as Yeong-bin shook his head, avoiding your gaze in the rearview mirror at all costs.
"Nothing. We have nothing" he added, his voice a pitch higher than usual.
Woo-young didn't look convinced. He crossed his arms, his broad back blocking half the view through the windshield.
"Because if I find out you tried anything with her after what your friends just said... we’re gonna have a very serious problem at the gym tomorrow" Woo-young declared, keeping his eyes locked on the driver.
"Hey, don't be like that..." you cut in. "Don't ruin my night more than it already is."
Yeong-bin started the car, wishing he could just disappear. As he drove toward the bar, Tae-hun and Jung-chan started spilling the whole story for your cousin’s enjoyment.
"You don't even know, Woo-young" Tae-hun said, leaning between the seats. "She was the vice-president. She beat Yeong-bin on an exam and he lost his mind. There was even weed involved! She made him look like a total stalker in front of the whole school."
"It was a masterstroke" Jung-chan added with a chuckle. "Yeong-bin still has nightmares about that wink you gave him before he got kicked out."
Yeong-bin kept his eyes glued to the asphalt, his jaw so tight his teeth hurt. He could feel the inquisitorial gaze of Woo-young, who wasn't sure how much of the story to believe… because it definitely sounded like something you would do.
"Hey... it was just that" you commented. "Just a rumor I had to start to save my own ass."
The drive continued and, in the rearview mirror, you locked eyes with your old classmate. An imperceptible smile played on your lips. Fate had a funny way of putting Yeong-bin right back in your path.
(...)
The atmosphere at the VIP table was a thick mix of dark smoke, neon lights and bass that thudded directly in your chest.
Under the influence of alcohol and other substances, reality had blurred, leaving only one face in sharp focus: Yeong-bin’s. No matter how many people were around, your eyes sought his and his gaze devoured you with a kind of hunger that only vice could soothe.
You decided the wait was over. The fear and awkwardness your cousin had caused were gone. You stood up with a slow, sensual grace and headed toward him. Reaching the sofa, you turned and stepped past him, giving him a front-row view of your ass. It was an open provocation, a reminder of what he had once envied and now craved to possess.
As you sat down beside him, the distance vanished instantly.
Your fingers disappeared into his hair, stroking the nape of Yeong-bin’s neck with a softness that sat in stark contrast to your defiant gaze. He responded immediately, his hand dropping onto your thigh with possessive firmness.
You shared a blunt, exhaling smoke almost against each other's lips, amidst low laughter and private jokes about your school days. The flirting was palpable, charged with the kind of adrenaline only former enemies understand.
"You know what?" Tae-hun shouted, pointing at you both with a glass. "Just stop talking and kiss already!"
That shout was the spark that set the place off.
"Kiss! Kiss!" the group began to chant.
The same chant that weeks ago had been the prelude to his downfall now sounded like an ovation. Yeong-bin looked at you, searching for a sign of approval and you didn't give him time to doubt. You leaned in and kissed him.
It was a hungry kiss, steeped in the bitterness of alcohol and the herbal taste of weed. Your lips met with an urgency that shattered any trace of the old enmity, transforming it into a mutual conquest. You felt his hand slide up your back, pressing you against him as the roar of your friends’ cheering filled the air. It was a public triumph… a declaration that you were there, you were together and you were raising the white flag.
Woo-young, however, did not share the enthusiasm. He approached, his face twisted in annoyance, trying to break into that bubble of physical contact.
"What do you think you’re doing? Didn’t you say you were nothing?" Woo-young snapped, giving his friend a sharp jab in the ribs.
You pulled just an inch away from Yeong-bin’s lips, but you didn't let him go. You looked at your cousin with an icy calm.
"Woo-young, I don't get into your business or tell you who to date" you said. "Stay out of my life and don't hit him again. Leave us alone".
Yeong-bin let out a choked laugh and hid his face in your neck, a mix of relief and pride. He loved that you "defended" him, that you set a boundary even with someone as imposing as Woo-young. He felt validated, as if he had finally won a battle he thought was lost.
For the rest of the night, he didn't leave your side. His whispers in your ear were constant and his hands never stopped seeking your touch. You both knew nothing more than a few kisses would happen tonight, pushing further would just be baiting your cousin’s rage. But you promised each other to meet up again soon… somewhere private.
To seal the moment, you pulled out your phone. The screen light illuminated your sweaty and smiling faces. In the selfie, Yeong-bin had his arm over your shoulder in a markedly territorial stance, claiming his spot. You posted the story immediately, letting the world see that the school "rumor" had finally become a reality.