whenever hyeri's eyes accidentally spotted the boy who ruined her plans for the future, her blood hissed in her veins and her nails sank into the flesh of her palms.

what made it worse was that he always knew whenever she looked at him. it's like he had this secret power to feel the glares of hate she'd shoot in his direction, and he always returned her efforts with the upward curl of his soft lips.

one day, hyeri swore her teeth would shatter from how hard she clenched them. for someone so passionate about managing stress to benefit cardiovascular health, na jaemin's care was nonexistent when it came to her.

a hard nudge on her arm grabbed her attention, and hyeri turned to find her cousin, haein, giving her a bored expression. "you're staring again."

hyeri opened her mouth to object, but there wasn't much she could say. she was staring, despite it being with malicious intent.

she turned back to jaemin, and when he puckered his lips at her, she nearly jumped out of her seat. if not for haein's tight grip on her shoulder, she would have been halfway across the classroom with fists swinging in that cocky jerk's direction.

"don't kid yourself. he would get you expelled from this and every other university in the area if you so much as lay a finger on him." as much as she hated it, haein was right. all hyeri could do was glower in the pretty boy's direction.

na jaemin. top of their graduating class.

second to only her, yoon hyeri.

not that it mattered, with a face like his. hyeri scoffed at the memory that never stopped nagging at her brain, her face flushing in rage. she hated him for what he took from her, even more since he never showed an ounce of remorse.

sure, it had been a little while since, but the wound still festered.

"okay, miss president," their teacher, mr. kim called, lifting his head from the book in his hands long enough to spot hyeri. he waved her over with a smile, and the girl fixed her face and posture before approaching the front of the classroom.

she forced a grin as she looked around at the club members, intentionally skipping over the one with blinding white hair dye. "good afternoon, guys! as you know, your volunteer hours for the week are due. once i get all of your forms back, i'll announce our upcoming project!"

the club members passed their completed volunteer forms to the front of the room, where hyeri was ready to collect them. they took a few minutes for those wanting to share their experience before hyeri connected the class projector to her laptop.

her powerpoint appeared on the whiteboard, and mr. kim dimmed the lights before returning to his book.

the title read, health & wellness fundraiser in bold lettering.

some murmurs were heard throughout the room, some groans, and a scattered cheer or two. hyeri ignored it all as she clicked through her slides. "our health awareness club will be teaming with the wellness club for the university-wide fundraiser event at the end of the month. we'll get a table to decorate and come up with events to raise money for the club. our goal is $200, with any extra cash getting donated to women's reproductive health clinics in struggling communities."

stepping away from the laptop, she opened an expo marker with a quiet click and glanced at the club from over her shoulder. "any suggestions for activities or prizes?"

"oh! stress balls are a must!" a girl in the front called out, and hyeri wrote stress balls on the board.

"what about fidget toys?"

"an activity could be the board game, operation!"

"maybe a heart monitor game? or a stress test?"

"condoms." someone added, earning snickers from the class. hyeri added it to the board, nonetheless.

she nearly snapped the marker in half when a new voice filled her ears. "you know, sex is a great way to relieve stress. and it's good for cardiovascular and overall health."

hyeri's face scrunched with her scowl, but she relaxed with a long exhale before turning away from the board and meeting jaemin's smug face. "thank you for the input, vice president. anyone else?"

she caught haein's look of warning from across the room and brightened her forced smile. "okay! this is definitely a good start. i'd like for all of you to write up which ideas are your favorite and why before we meet next week."

the club mumbled out a mix of responses, most unhappy with getting club homework on top of their actual class work. taking a moment to hum, hyeri turned the lights back up and faced her fellow club members.

"on second thought, just email me if you come up with anything else. i'd love to hear your input!"

"and if hyeri isn't available, contact me, instead. the vice president." jaemin added as he rose from his seat with the others. hyeri swore she would pop a vein, but her face remained neutral.

"i'm always available," she reiterated, "but yes. if you prefer, jaemin is also a point of contact for this club." hyeri had to grit the words through clenched teeth.

he gave her his best shit-eating grin before leaving with the rest of the club members. a small group of girls consisting of their newest members, nami, hara, and minjeong, thanked hyeri and cheered her on as their club president before exiting with the others until all that was left was hyeri, haein, and mr. kim.

hyeri slapped her laptop shut, catching mr. kim's not-so-subtle side-eye, and offered him a more genuine smile. "thanks for letting us use your class again, mr. kim."

mr. kim waved her off and quietly shut his book. "it's not a problem. this stuff is useful to know, after all."

snorting, hyeri replied, "what, the fact that sex reduces stress and improves health?"

"yeah."

"oh." hyeri felt herself blush.

laughing, mr. kim grabbed his leather computer bag and adjusted it over his shoulder. "kidding. you girls have a good week. i expect to see you both in my visual communications class?"

haein nodded as she finally reached hyeri's side, and the two waved goodbye to their teacher as he locked the door to his classroom before they parted ways.

once they were alone, hyeri dipped her head secretively and lowered her voice to say, "is it bad that i find him extremely hot?"

haein gaped at her, but a bewildered smile quickly followed. "hyeri!"

"just saying, no condom would go wasted with a man like tha—ow!"

"yeah, ow. he's our professor!"

hyeri rubbed the tender spot on the back of her head where haein smacked her. "he's, like, twenty-seven!"

"twenty-seven and too old for you!"

pouting, hyeri let haein loop their arms together as they exited the building. the student parking lot had cleared out quite a bit now that morning-to-noon classes were finished, so it was easy to spot their cars.

and the figures leaning against hyeri's.

from where they stood, it looked like the three people were arguing, and hyeri immediately felt her stomach turn to lead when she recognized them. she released her cousin's arm as she hurried across the lot and over to her best friend.

"renjun, hey!" she called once she was close enough for the group of guys to hear her. one of the men had a finger pressed so hard against renjun's shirt that it wrinkled, and hyeri shot a glare in his direction.

"what are you doing here, lee haechan?"

•
first ch is up!!

for clarity, this is the enemies/rivals to enemies with benefits to lovers draft. i'd love to hear any thoughts you have so far! also, the playlist is published to my spotify (link in my profile) 🤍