The Pretty and Smart Girl
Dongtae had been trying to concentrate on a calculus problem he had been stuck on since earlier in the day. He had taken all the notes he needed and had made sure to listen and pay attention to everything the teacher said, but he still couldn't get it. Sure, he could ask his girlfriend, Mio, for help, but ever since X had been defeated and the Dice had been destroyed, Dongtae had tried to prove to Mio that he didn't need dice to be smart. He could be smart without it.
Ever since X and the Dice were destroyed, everyone who had had some sort of interaction with the Dice and had changed their physical appearance were able to stay the way they were. All supernatural or inhuman abilities were taken away. Such as; Time Pause, Clairvoyance, Levitation, Psychokinesis, Teleportation, and Cloaking.
Everyone except Dongtae and Mio had forgotten everything that had happened before, even Eunju...
For those who had changed their intellectual abilities, they were restored to how they used to be in intelligence.
Dongtae had fully filled his stats for intelligence, so now that he no longer had Dice, he was sort of struggling. He wouldn't call himself dumb or stupid. In fact, he always made the top 100 list of his class, but there were some subjects that truly got to him. He'd had a face down with Mio earlier in the week when she had asked him if he needed any help studying or with his homework. Dongtae, letting his pride come first, had told her he didn't need her help, he could do it himself; he wasn't dumb.
Groaning and bringing his hand through his hair, disheveling it, Dongtae realized his mistake. Why hadn't just accepted Mio's help?
He let his pencil hit the table in defeat and instead decided to take out his lunch and eat it.
"Damn, she's hot."
"She's such a beauty,"
"I heard that she's the school scholar!"
"I think everyone call's her Mio."
"I'm so glad she's our class representative, she's amazing."
Looking up, Dongtae saw what—or more like who—was causing the commotion. Mio had come into the class after going to the cafeteria to buy her lunch. He couldn't help but stare at her beauty. Of course, that wasn't exactly why he was with her, but it was something that always caught him in a daze. Her pink hair was in the usual pixy cut, but she seemed to have straightened it even more, her cat like, green-blue, eyes, sparkled with the hint of mischievousness and her mouth was set in to her knowing and cute smile she had every time she would look at Dongtae. He felt as if she saved that smile just for him, and he couldn't help and be warmed by that.
Mio scanned the room, clearly looking for someone. Dongtae quickly looked away, not wanting to get caught staring.
"There you are," Looking up, Dongtae saw Mio make her way towards him. He also noticed the alluring eyes that followed her from the many males in the class.
Trying to ignore them, Dongtae smiled up to Mio and said, "Hey,"
Mio, smiling, leaned in, and said, "Let's go to our special place and have our lunch together."
Dongtae tried not to blush, but he wasn't able to stop himself from almost turning completely red. Sure, they never actually did anything other than eat—and a few, couple of kisses here and there—but the way Mio said it, it was as if she were suggesting something else.
"Mio," he complained.
Mio laughed, that soft, yet teasing laugh of hers, that one she saved only for Dongtae. She grabbed his arm softly. "Sorry, sorry. Now come on, let's go before we run out of time."
"Fine," Dongtae said, quickly shoving his homework into his bag, "but let me repack my bento."
Mio made a noise of indignation, "Can't believe you started eating without waiting for me, Dongtae."
"I-I—" Dongtae couldn't form a coherent word at how nervous he was. Of course, he could easily talk to her any other day. In fact, he loved talking to Mio. She would always talk about random facts and her daily things so passionately he couldn't help but hang on her every word. But every time he was put on the spot, he couldn't help but stutter his way through the conversation. Maybe it was because he still couldn't believe that Mio would like someone like him, or simply that Mio was just so damn smart and amazing. He just couldn't wrap his mind around it. Even so, he really liked Mio. A lot.
"Hey, Mio!" Dongtae looked up to find whoever was calling out to Mio.
It was another first-year student. She was friends with some of Mio's friends. They'd hung out together before, when they had all gone together to see a movie.
She was tall, with a blonde pigtail, dusty blue eyes, and an array of freckles all over her face. She was one of the few foreigners in the school.
"Ray, hi." Mio called out, clearly hiding the fact that the interruption bothered her. Dongtae could tell, she was holding her hands together behind her back.
The girl came running towards Mio, stopping to catch her breath.
"Mio!" she said as she took out a white envelope from her packet.
"They told me to give you this," the girl, Ray, said. "It was a group of third years."
And she took off, leaving the envelope in Mio's hands.
Dongtae immediately frowned and clenched his hands, that wasn't the first white envelope Mio had gotten since they had made it back to school. Most of them were from boys trying to ask her out. For some reason, no one knew that they were dating and Dongtae didn't care at first, but now it was truly starting to annoy him.
"Is it another one?" he asked as he watched her open it.
Mio scanned the note in her hands. Her hands clenched and her eyes narrowed, Dongtae could clearly tell that they had written something that Mio clearly did not like.
"Mio?" he asked.
She looked at him, and he could see the swirl of emotions running through her eyes, before they went a steely cold. Shit, whoever had written or confessed, had done it in a way that Mio had clearly hated.
She crumpled the paper in a ball in her hand, and stared at it for a second before she looked up and smiled at Dongtae. He could tell it was one of her fake smiles.
The irritation and anger she felt was clearly coming out in waves surrounding her body.
"It's fine," she said, shoving the ball of paper into her jacket pocket. "Go ahead and eat here. I'll go take care of this and then I'll come back."
"But-" Dongtae started, but Mio cut him off.
"It's okay," she said, "I'll be back before you know it. Don't miss me too much!"
Dongtae could no longer argue, because Mio gave him one last smile and took off.
Dongtae had only one option. He was tired and sick of other guys hitting on Mio and making her uncomfortable, so without hesitating, he decided to follow her.
Dongtae hid on the side of the small corner leading up to the school's roof. He watched Mio turn a corner and there were at least three male students from school waiting for her. Looking at their color shoes and side of their school uniforms, he could tell they were third years. Ray hadn't been lying about them being third years.
The one in the front was on the taller side with black hair, while the ones on the side had more of a brown color, but still lured on the tall side.
Mio was petite in general, but compared to their height, she was very small; fragile, as if they could snap her in two in any second. But Dongtae knew better, even without the Dice, Mio was still strong. She had made sure of that, especially when she took time from their break to train herself in self-defense moves. She practiced them on Dongtae many times, for him to know that she was still as strong as she used to be.
Mio crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared the three of them down—up? —as they all gave her a once over.
"I guess you showed," The middle guy walked forward, a smirk on his face, clearly giving Mio leery look and not hiding it at all. Dongtae had to clench his fists and bite his tongue to keep himself from walking out of his hiding spots and jumping those punks. He knew better than interfering with Mio's 'battles.'
"You called me out here, what do you think?" Mio glared at the middle guy, but also kept her eyes on the other two.
"The names Janoo," the middle guy gave her a wicked smirk and then stuck up his thumb to the left, "that's Seoul," he pointed the thumb towards the right, "Tariq."
"Nice meeting you," Mio gave them a nod, "now, why did you ask me to come here?"
Janoo hummed, "'Cus I like you and I want you to be my girl."
So blunt! Dongtae glared daggers at him from his hidden spot. That bastard!
Mio stared at him for a second, "Tell me," she said, and Dongtae knew that look, the cold eyes, the hard set of her mouth; he had seen her give that look to idiots who commented to her how pretty she was whenever the two went out on dates. "Why do you like me?"
The one on the left, Seol, laughed, "Oh, don't act innocent, you must know. We wrote it all on that note too."
"Yeah," the one on the right, Tariq licked his lips, "you're hot."
Dongtae saw Mio shift her position to when where her hands were behind her back and she hummed.
Oh, no. She was pissed.
"Oh, really?" Mio showed them a sweet, cute smile; one that Dongtae could easily see through.
"Yeah," Seoul took a step forward, as if he wanted to pounce. Dongtae got himself ready to jump any second and defend Mio.
"Seoul," Janoo warned the other boy. He was easily the leader, he had that leader kind of look and stance. Dongtae also had to admit it; the guy was pretty good looking.
"The one who came to confess, was me," Janoo gave her a smug look, as of him liking her was a blessing from the gods.
Mio cocked her head to the right. "Really? And why?"
Mio was playing a fool, Dongtae could easily see that. He was her boyfriend after all. He knew her better than anyone else. She gave Janoo a questioning look, scrunching her eyebrows and her lips were in a pout.
Janoo walked forward, making both Dongtae and Mio tense. Mio wasn't visibly tense, but she clenched her hands behind her back, while Dongtae tried to scoot closer towards them, getting ready for anything.
"Stop," Mio brought her hands from behind her back and placed the right arm in front of her, extending her hand and making a pause motion.
Janoo immediately stopped. He was around five feet from reaching her while his two other friends had stayed back.
"Why?" Janoo smirked, "isn't this the part we kiss and we tell each other how much we love each other?"
Dongtae had never had the greatest urge to punch someone as much as he did then. Janoo was seriously arrogant, and Dongtae knew Mio hated people like that.
In fact, her serious look was back. She took a few menacing step forwards, surprising Janoo completely. Her hair was being blown back by the air, showing how scary her face looked.
"Tell me," Mio said as she looked up to Janoo, crossing her arms. They were about a few feet apart, but for Dongtae they were too close for his comfort. Mio may go ballistic any second and kill the guy. How would Dongtae be able to intervene?
"Why do you like me? Give me a good reason," Janoo looked completely confused, as if he had no idea what he had walked in to.
"I-" Janoo seemed to think about it. His face became red. "I don't think that matters. Just know that I like you."
"No," Mio gave him a smug look. "This is a confession, so you better tell me."
Janoo was quiet for a second before he clenched his fists. "I like the way you are. You don't care what anyone says, and you always express yourself freely. You're so smart. Everyone thinks you're a goddess. You care for others and for our school, no matter who they are. You're pretty and smart."
Dongtae was taken back, he did not expect that. He was waiting for this guy to say one of the many responses Mio got. That she was beautiful, gorgeous and that's why they liked her.
Looking at Mio, Dongtae realized that even she was caught a bit surprised, but she quickly hid it as Janoo looked at her expectedly.
"Listen," she patted his shoulder. "You seem like a nice guy—not your friends—but you seem like a nice guy, and I'm sure any girl would like to go out to you but…" Dongtae jumped when Mio suddenly turn to look towards his direction. "I have a boyfriend and I like him very much, and he's hiding behind over there. He has been for the past thirty minutes. Crouching over, his back is probably in pain." The look Mio was giving Dongtae made him embarrassed and his whole face go red. She motioned for him to come out of his hiding place. "You can't find someone like him often, and he's all mine."
Dongtae was standing beside her now. He realized he was probably a bit taller than the Janoo guy. He made a bold move and stepped closer towards Mio.
"What!" Janoo was completely red, stepping back. His friends came running towards their leader's side. Dongtae took a step forward and positioned Mio behind him protectively.
"You bitch!" Seoul yelled, "you lead Janoo on! You didn't say you had a boyfriend!"
Mio shrugged. "You never asked, and for him to come forward and confess while two of his friends stand back and watch is him intimidating me into dating him."
"You…" Janoo came running straight towards Mio. Dongtae pushed her back and stepped forward. He glared down at Janoo and prepared himself. The fist fame flying and Dongtae was able to stop it with his arm. This asshole was going to try and hit Mio. He had never felt so glad to have followed Mio and not listen to her.
Janoo looked at Dongtae with surprise and then with fear. Mio had once told him that Dongtae face when he was angry was truly terrifying, he hoped she was being serious with him then, because he was truly enraged then.
"You!" Tariq, was running straight towards them, but Janoo stopped him with a motion of his hand. The boy stopped, but he didn't look happy about it.
"This is my fight," Janoo tried freeing him from Dongtae's grasp, but Dongtae squeezed his fist even more, enough for it to start hurting and for Janoo to fall to his knees. Dongtae got right into his face, and pulled him up by the shirt.
"You ever, ever, try to hit Mio, or speak to her or even look at her, I will find you and kill you. You hear me?" Dongtae gave Janoo a shake when he didn't answer him. "You hear me?"
"Yes, yes!" Janoo fought against Dongtae's strength, trying to free himself.
Dongtae gave him one more glare, before he let him go, dropping him.
Janoo gave him one more glare before he and his two other friends ran off, leaving only Mio and Dongtae on the roof.
"Fucking assholes." Dongtae growled.
"Dongtae…" Dongtae felt shivers down his back. Shit.
He turned around ready to beg Mio for forgiveness because he had followed her and had gone against her wishes. Instead, when he turned around, Mio came forward and embraced him, catching Dongtae unawares.
She gave the brightest smile and pushed forward, locking her lips against his. Dongtae, completely surprised, stood frozen for a few seconds before he wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, enjoying the feeling of her lips against his.
Mio was soft, and her body was warm. Her tippy toes reached the brink of his shoes, reminding Dontae to lean down a bit.
Her lips were soft and tasted like sweet sugar, her hair smelled like strawberries—probably from her shampoo—and she tasted like honey—maybe from her lunch?
When Mio pulled away, his face was completely red.
"Mio?" he asked, not sure why he had kissed her. She still had her arms around his neck, her body flushed against his.
If he hadn't been used to Mio's behavior he would've passed out, but after the six months of them going out and having gone through everything, he could easily handle it.
He wrapped his arms a bit tighter around Mio's body. "Thank you, for being with me."
Dongtae blinked, not ready for that type of answer. Mio was always open with her feelings, but that confession seemed more genuine and rawer than any of them.
Dongtae tried to give her a soft look, and leaned down, giving her a soft kiss. "Thank you, for always standing by my side."
Mio laughed happily l and let go of their embrace and grabbed his arm, tugging him close to her body.
"Come on, lunch is over," the warning bell rang, and Mio started them towards the door. "And anyways, we have a date after school today."
"A date?" Dongtae had never heard about a date before. Had he forgotten something? Her birthday? Anniversary?
Mio laughed again, seeing his scared look. "Don't worry, it's a study date."
"Study date?" He raised an eyebrow.
"You haven't been able to understand that Calculus homework, have you?" Mio gave him a smug look and Dongtae's face turned beer red as he shook his head in a 'no.'
She got on her tippy toes and gave him a peck on the cheek. If her kisses kept going on, Dongtae may pass out.
"Buy me a drink and we'll call it even." Dongtae couldn't help but chuckle. Everything seemed to be coming into place and he couldn't be happier.
Slowly, he entwined his fingers with Mio's, and he couldn't help but feel his heart flutter once more with her smile that she always saved for him.
Mio was surely the pretty and the smart girl of the school, but she was also so much more and she was all his.
Thank you for reading and giving my fanfic a chance. I just want to say that if you're reading this fic, that you're awesome because this fandom isn't that big. If you're reading this, please message me anytime. I especially need someone to talk about Dice: The cube that changes everything!
None of the characters belong to me. Credits to the writer of Dice: The cube that changes everything.