"I can't believe he kneeled to her. In public."
Young Do can't believe this is still an area of interest. Surely after conversing about it non-stop for at least 36 hours would prevent it from still being talked about.
"I thought she'd get on her knees," a boy chimes. Glasses. Black hair. Bastard of some politician.
He's back to his usual profiling; because the dust has finally cleared in his head and if he wants things to go back to normal - he at least needs to act like they are.
"If she did it would probably only be to punch him in the crotch." A girl snorts. Young Do mistakes it as Kang Ye Sol for a minute; both girls share the same nasal, high pitched voice. But Ye Sol and him are friends, of sorts. And she'd transferred schools last year in order to chase her dream of becoming an actress.
"I was imagining a more pleasurable activity," the bastard says and Young Do scoffs.
Nasal girl seems to share this sentiment. "As if anyone could ever find you attractive, much less someone as beautiful as her."
None of you thought her beautiful back when you still regarded her as poor trash.
"She despises Young Do, which means that everyone is better in comparison," greasy haired boy boasts.
Young Do's pleased to see that despite all his big talk he still jumps a meter in the air when Young Do slams his locker shut.
"And yet your face is nowhere near as pretty as mine," he calls. The group are silent now, and Young Do knows from his experience that his voice travels well in the hallways. "Still, it'd be a shame if someone messed it up for you."
It's the first genuine threat he's given since he returned from expulsion. That doesn't mean he's not serious about it.
As he walks off, he hear the girl reprimand him. "Are you stupid? He could eat you for breakfast."
"Please," grease bastard snorts. "That was before. Didn't you see the article? He's a scared kid just like the rest of us. You see the way he left? It's probably because Tae Yeon crooked her finger and now he's gone running."
The girl is silent and Young Do rages internally.
"She's the real threat here. Not that trash bag, he's just pathetic."
Now seems like the perfect time for Young Do to exact his revenge and return the social ladder to how it's supposed to be.
"You knew she was rich, didn't you?"
Out of all his confrontations with Tan over the years, this has to be one of the tamest. The chances of them coming to actual blows is less than 0%; and they both know that. Their relationship's developed reasonably well – and Bo Na likes to comment that they have more relationship arcs than a typical drama couple – to the point that from withstanding and enduring their individual weights made them mature and grow to respect each other again.
Of course, none of this changes the fact that Young Do still hasn't chewed Tan out for withholding what turned out to be vital information from him.
Their relationship – it's worth noting – hasn't surpassed the point of the two of them playing with each other on occasion and Young Do supposes that in a way this could have been another one of Tan's ploys to prove how Young Do thinks recklessly and acts impulsively; but acting incredibly upset with him will help him in his present situation so he goes with it.
Tan's known him long enough to see straight through this however, and doesn't give in to Young Do's pouty act that he filched straight out of Myung Soo's playbook.
"We go to a school literally full of heirs – you're going to have to be a tad more specific about which rich girl you're referring to."
Tan's phone beeps then and judging by the idiotic grin on his face, the sender was Eun Sang.
I wonder what that's like, smiling a something probably foolish and inconsequential without having to second guess myself.
To act impulsively but positively.
I wonder if people think Eun Sang is in charge of Tan like they think Tae Yeon is in charge of me.
They really have come a long way, from shoving each other up against lockers as they fought to chatting as friends whilst leaning against them.
"You knew Tae Yeon was rich since she started, right?" Young Do asks, and Tan scoffs.
"Of course. Zeus isn't the only one who wants to expand to China, you know? The Chairwoman insisted that I take care of her," Tan says, blasé as him and Young Do assess everyone that passes them.
"And you didn't think to tell me?"
"Rachel always said you were horribly impulsive. And that this lead to you making terrible assumptions. I thought it was a hypothesis worth proving," Tan says lazily, and a glimpse of the ruthless Tan that Young Do is more used to peeks through.
"You thought now was the time to start listening to Rachel?" Young Do asks incredulously. If anything, having spent so much time in close proximity to Rachel as they paraded around as almost siblings had made him more protective of her - and it was no secret the hell that Tan had put her through.
It was always going to be one of them ending up engaged to Rachel, and Young Do often wonders if it had been him if things had ended up differently. Especially now that Tan was finally standing up for himself and refusing further engagements and his fathers tax scandal had turned Lee Esther of of the prospect of marrying into the family at all.
Tan fixes him with that look. The look that reminds them there are things in the past that are better left undiscussed.
"She was right. Besides, it's not as if I didn't try to stop you. You're the one who took things too far." The again goes unspoken between them.
"Stopping me by telling me I'm being stupid and telling me I'm causing potential trouble with a very rich heiress who has massive away over Zeus' future are two very different things, no?"
A group of girls pass by them then, some of them the ones who had listened to him being called weak. Young Do bares his teeth and the four of them at least are still scared of him if te way they scamper off is anything to go by.
"I wanted to see how it played out. You're not the only one who likes to assess new threats," Tan replies.
"What else do you know?" Young Do asks. He had a pretty good inkling that the Chairwoman had informed Tan of Tae Yeon before her arrival; and the whole point of this conversation was to see what else he could dig up on her life.
There had been a couple of other articles on the internet, but nothing consequential. Appearances and photos - he'd even gone to the trouble of attempting to translate some of the Chinese articles to see if there was anything important.
It hadn't been worth it. Just facts and figures about her parents' companies and how beautiful and young she was - as if Young Do couldn't have come to those conclusions by himself.
"I'm assuming you mean asides from what you know?" Tan says rather lightheartedly, and Young Do shoots him a look straight back. "I know that she was rather insistent about starting in the second week of the school year - told the Chairwoman she would be on holiday but I'm pretty sure she wasn't. I thought she wanted to make a scene and have people talking about her - but she ducked under the radar as much as she could," Tan mused.
"Requesting to transfer in the second week," Young Do wrinkled his nose. It as abnormal, to say the least. He'd been absent when she first arrived, but after gathering she rescued Eun Sang from the vindictive claws from some of the other girls (which he supposed she did out of the kindness of her heart and not wanting to see anyone fall prey to them) and then proceeded to stay out of the spotlight it definitely seemed like she didn't want to make a scene.
To make even less of a racket, wouldn't you start the year with everyoen else?
"I didn't see that on her file," he added belatedly.
"Her file?" Tan asks incredulously.
Young Do shrugs as if looking at her private details was nothing out of the ordinary. "I snuck a look at it when the Chairwoman called me in for one of our weekly chats. To make sure I knew that Jeguk would not stand for bullying and all that nonsense. Managed to get her address, skimmed over everything else."
Tan's phone buzzes again and as he taps out a reply to Eun Sang which probably consisted of the word 'love' and 'missing you' and various other stupid things that Young Do didn't have time for - he replied to Young Do as well. "I've read it. It's nothing interesting."
"She'd kill you if she found out, you know."
An entertained laugh escapes Tan's mouth at this. "And here i thought that Tae Yeon's expertise about you wasn't mutual."
"I'll have you know that I know a lot about her." His list hadn't grown all that much since her first day - but the importance of information on her had changed.
Quality over quantity, right?
"Not enough to avoid resorting to asking me for help," Tan points out and Young Do's back to his days of wanting to punch him.
"You haven't given me anything good enough to classify as help," Young Do reminds him and wonders if it was really worth taking the chance that Tan knew something considering he'd probably be reprimanded for taking too much of an interest later on. Especially if Tan passed on his desperation for information to Hyo Shin who would undoubtedly miscontrue this information as some sort of sick love story before passing it on to Rachel.
And that would not end well.
"I do know that although she's not made many appearances in Korea, she's made plenty in China. Everyone adores her there - boys line up to take pictures with her to take home to their families to bring good business," Tan offers and Young Do knows how Tan likes to play. He saves the best for last and this time Young Do doesn't bother hurrying him because he knows he won't - just hopes it will be something he can use to put him back on top. Literally, maybe. He thinks it would be nice to see Tae Yeon squirm underneath him.
Now is not the time for those thoughts, not when she would sacrifice you to your father just for fun.
"And that she's made some minor appearances at events here and there; just enough to make sturdy connections but not big ones to draw attention to herself," he continues. It's all stuff that's probably come straight from the Chairwoman's mouth which means it's legitimate - even if the Chairwoman herself was a bitter old bitch she knew her research.
"Then there's my own observations - including the fact that she has a bunch of older oppas who would probably kick your ass before you knew what was happening," he concludes.
"I don't really classify Go Min Kyung as a 'bunch', Tan," apparently he's been played all along because that's nothing all that important - he'd known that Tae Yeon had a close relationship with him, and that he was obviously protective.
"Perhaps not, but he seems determined to protect her. And seems to have contacts of his own. Did you know he's listed as her emergency contact for the school?"
No.
"You're serious?"
Tan shrugs - the twinkle in his eye betraying the fact he knows exactly how potentially important this information could be. "Him and her actual brother, judging by the shared last name. Plus, she seems to care about what he thinks of her a lot. The other night when Myung Soo was DJing - the reason she hid behind you was because this guy at the bar was watching her."
This was definitely brand new information.
"You should've seen the look on her face. He watched her until she came over talking on the phone, acknowledged him with a nod and he disappeared." Tan crossed his arms smugly. "Is that good enough information for you?"
Young Do emitted a low whistle. "Potentially. She was on the phone with Min Kyung. Sounded kind of like she was explaining where she was."
"Leading you to assume she values him a lot?"
The 'you' is to make it clear Tan wants no involvement with whatever escapades Young Do is about to get up to. Not when Eun Sang has befriended her and it could risk him losing her.
Young Do flashes back to the way Min Kyung had kissed her on the side of the head before he left and said 'I love you'. How he'd eyed Young Do warily and Tae Yeon had been eager to dismiss the idea of them dating.
"She said she had her heart broken, right? First loves were destined to fail if you were friends first?"
Tan's confirmation is more out of courtesy than an actual need for agreement, but it's nice to see nonetheless.
"What if friendships were destined to fail if you were lovers first? If you can't forget that heartbreak?" The way her jaw clenched when he called her jagiya springs to mind; and he wonders if that's what Min Kyung calls her. "If you still care about your love enough that you can't be apart - but won't be together?"
"I know what you're implying, and it's dangerous."
Young Do grins, an action plan taking place.
We'll see who's embarrassed now.
"Dangerous sounds like a lot of fun."
Young Do finds her pretty easily once school finishes - walking towards the exit and stopping as she presumably waits for Min Kyung to roll up in that fancy car of his. His mind's brewing with all the possibilities and he's almost giddy in anticipation, so excited for when the opportunity to embarrass her finally presents itself it's almost like Christmas.
There's an event taking place on Saturday, a function held by some Chinese company as an attempt to form more ties with Korean ones - and as his father's just secured a contract with them he's expected to attend either way.
And, now that Tae Yeon has finally broken out onto the social scene in South Korea and made a considerable splash; it's only logical for her to be there too. Especially considering it's by another Chinese company and foreign business tend to stick together for mutual support.
It'll be a good platform to execute his plan. Gives him a couple of days to figure out his strategy and perfect it - then when the time comes execute it perfectly.
Somehow, all of this manages to go out the window when he spots Min Kyung on the opposite side of the road, leaning against his car with shades pushed back on his head. They make eye contact, and Min Kyung tilts his head to the side and smirks just slightly.
Almost like gloating.
What's there to gloat about?
Young Do can sort of handle the looks that he's been receiving from the rest of the student population, because they're blind followers who hop on to the winning streak of anyone that's currently on top.
But coming from him, someone who he's witnessed first hand is as close as you can get to another person with Tae Yeon; it holds a different meaning.
It feels a lot more personal when Min Kyung winks at him; even if Young Do's not sure why.
And screw Rachel because as always, she's right, and Young Do is impulsive.
Too impulsive for his own good.
So he throws all of his perfect calculations out the window, acts on instinct, and runs up to Tae Yeon.
Tae Yeon swears to break off all ties with Go Min Kyung.
It's something that she probably should have done a long time ago, for the sake of her sanity and mental wellbeing.
It's also something she's never quite managed to do - because everytime she even threatens to severe their relationship Min Kyung makes those puppy eyes at her and reminds her of all the reasons she keeps him around and probably wouldn't be able to function without him.
It's co-dependent and it's horrible but times like these, when she's too tired to care, it doesn't matter.
The reason for her annoyance this time, is more to do with herself than him but one of the reasons she likes having him as a friend is because she can blame him for whatever she wants without feeling bad about it.
Tae Yeon was tired and hungover and it was only the middle of the week. The onslaught of a headache was fast approaching and had been since thr morning - so much so that Tae Yeon had almost insisted Min Kyung take her to Starbucks in the morning so she could get a massive dose of caffeine.
And then reply in Mandarin when the barista asked what her name was to write on the cup, just to see them get flustered as she watched on with a straight expression to ease some of the fatigue.
It was a sick, twisted thing to do and gave her a similar kick; the kind of thing she had a penchant for doing when she was in this mood.
Tae Yeon made a mental note to promise to never drink on a weekday again - because no matter how impressive her alcohol tolerance was; Min Kyung's friends could drink circles around her. They also liked to egg her on and the two made for a terrible combination.
After insisting that Tae Yeon could take herself home and leaving Young Do to return to Zeus on his motorcycle - she'd spent at least half an hour wheedling Min Kyung's location out of his circle until someone finally cracked and gave in.
Which was an accomplishment because as a general rule they weren't really supposed to be that bad at sustaining under pressure.
"You shouldn't be here," Min Kyung said, standing under the pulsating lights and if Tae Yeon hadn't drunk coffee on the way there she'd have been too tired to withstand them. It was dark and smoke hung heavy in the club they were standing in, and Tae Yeon had trouble making out his face even as he stood barely a metre in front of her.
All in all, it hadn't been difficult to find him. She'd walked towards the largest group of people she could see, a good five metre gap separating them from the rest of the patrons - and found him in the middle next to other faces she recognised but couldn't always remember the names of.
"I didn't trust you to come back in one piece," she replied. It was in Korean, no matter how much she wanted to disguise her words so that the swarm of bodies pressing in on her couldn't understand. His friends trusted her enough to let her come here even when Min Kyung insisted she stay away; so she trusted them enough to speak so they could understand.
"Tae Yeon-"
"You can't blame me. Your track record hasn't been good as of late."
One of the reasons Min Kyung was still her friend was the way he knew exactly what she was talking about without it having to be said - this being one of them.
"I know I shouldn't have given him the number - but don't you think he deserves to try? I couldn't lie anymore I-"
"It's okay," Tae Yeon whispers, and she'd downed a shot of something strong before making her way over here - courtesy of one of the girls that hung around Min Kyung (Jin Ri, Tae Yeon thinks her name is) and it gives her enough courage to suck it up and kiss him on the cheek. "I mean it's really not, but I forgive you."
Min Kyung squints at her. "You must be really drunk to let it go that easy. Or really stupid. Which explains why you thought coming here would be a good idea."
A group of people push past their own group, and Min Kyung holds her tight for a moment as they past and Tae Yeon scoffs. Eyes rake over her dress and her shoes, and she shrugs in reply to the unspoken question.
"If I was going to come see you, I had to look the part, right?"
She accepts the leather jacket he drapes over her shoulders and she shoves him backwards, almost toppling over in her heels but she rights herself before he makes a move to catch her.
"I couldn't expect you to keep me a secret, I forgive you. We've been through worse, right?" she asks. Worse things have been endured than him handing out her phone number; worse things that they've survived so far.
"Doesn't mean you should purposefully seek out bad things."
"I thought we agreed you should stop referring to yourself as a bad thing," Tae Yeon muses.
"Look-" he says, whispering as people chatter loudly around them. It's still too dark and the smoke makes it feel like she can't breathe but she came here to prove a point.
Tae Yeon interrupts him before he can finish. "I told you, no matter what you do, how stupid you are, how much trouble you get into; we're in this together." She jabs a finger sharply at his chest and he pretends to wince. "Always. No matter what - I'll follow you, okay? Literally. Except in the bathroom. That's gross."
Min Kyung smiles and lets it go; stops trying to push her towards the exit.
Then he buys her another drink and she knows he knows his apology is accepted.
Tae Yeon has no time to worry about stupid boys calling her - no time to let it get her so upset.
Plenty of time is reserved, however, for feeling sorry for her drunk ass.
After all that had transpired, Min Kyung actually managing to make it to her house with her safely (minor injuries taken before she'd arrived) Tae Yeon now had a killer headache and swore that the next time she saw Si Hyun she was going to make sure he got so drunk he was on the verge of dying of alcohol poisoning as payback for watching her suffer.
All she wanted was to go home and nap.
It was good, in a way. All day she'd been so cranky no one bothered to gossip about her - at least not where she could hear them; and by some miracle even Choi Young Do hadn't made an appearance.
The last bell had rung five minutes ago and now she was free.
And of course, because her universe is far from fair; that is the exact moment that Young Do bounds up to her. Tae Yeon doesn't think she's ever seen him move so fast, which probably means the conversation about to follow isn't something to anticipate.
Just because their last two conversations had been on friendlier terms doesn't mean she isn't prepared to chew him up because she genuinely isn't in the mood. He should be expecting it anyway. He knows better than I confront her in front of such a large audience if he wants to avoid further embarrassment on his part.
Young Do manages to grab at her shoulder, spinning her around so she's facing that god damn Jeguk building again and away from the oncoming cars - she's been scanning the lot for Min Kyung to save her from this hellhole so she could just sleep - and then towards him so he's invading her personal space.
Then, just as she snaps, "What do you want?", with no warning whatsoever his hands tangle in her hair (she belatedly regrets wearing it down) and he's pulling her towards him in lieu of a proper response.
When their lips crash together, it's not exactly pleasant. He'd slowed them just enough so she didn't go crashing into him painfully; but there's still a lot of force. His grip on her hair is strong but loose enough for her to back away if she wants. Unfortunately for her she's tired, and even if the last time she was kissed was long time ago her brain acts on instinct and her mouth responds long before she can comprehend her actions or their implications.
Young Do kisses her greedily, swallowing her gasps as his fingers thread themselves insistently through her hair. Pulling her up to his height she stumbles for a moment, lips still attached; grabbing onto the collar of his shirt for support.
Then Young Do is pulling away and she breathes in heavily through her mouth to make up for the oxygen loss. He grins widely at her, his trademark smirk. "Nothing at all," he says then winks, leaving her standing there to join Myung Soo who's watching with his mouth wide open.
Dazed, she barely registers the rest of the students gawking at her until another arm slings around her shoulders. Whipping round, prepared to punch whoever it is because although her nerves are frazzled its finally settling in that Young Do was courageous and stupid enough to try that; she sees Min Kyung regarding her with a stony expression.
"Just friends, huh?" He asks. Then he marches her to his car, pushing her inside a lot gentler than it looks.
Tae Yeon doesn't catch Young Do's self satisfied grin before Min Kyung slams the door shut.
Oh Young Do, what were you thinking? Probably weren't, too busy thinking about the fact you thought you finally had Min Kyung figured out. If only things were that simple whoops.
And there we have my other favourite chapter to write (asides from the actual kneeling). Ah, fun times.
As I am now officially on Summer I can hopefully finish chapters a lot quicker (especially since I've managed to avoid writing incredibly long ones which is a lot better for my sanity).
Talk to you guys soon!
Love, Tea