Chapter One ⭑ Yusong High's Princess

(Or, it starts with a lip tint and ends
with a strawberry muffin... and
Hanwool almost getting a cardiac
arrest.)

There are two types of people in Yusong Technical High-school:

One, those who want to be like Pi Hanwool.

Two, those who want to be with Cho Sarang.

The first one is obvious. After all, he's the ultimate powerhouse of Yusong High. The son the director of the Yeonbaek Gang who has been born with a silver spoon in his mouth and a whole business of dirty riches in his inheritance and on top of that he's also the number one student in school rankings; both in studies and in fighting.

On the other hand, everyone wants to be with Cho Sarang because she is Yusong High's princess.

With a radiant smile always present on her lips, a rosy tint in her cheeks, big brown eyes that sparkle with utmost kindness and naivety, a presence that brightens up a room whenever she walks in, a sweet voice and an even sweeter personality, it's no wonder that many people consider Sarang to be the only good thing in the hellhole that the Yusong High actually is.

A sweetheart, that's what she is.

Some might even consider her too-good-to-be-true angelic self not fitting for a place like Yusong High which has been nicknamed as 'the school for future criminals', where a fight is breaking out at every corner and violence is usually the way to settle all matters, no matter how small they might be.

Her presence is seemingly too bright for a place like this; a place with cracked walls, no discipline, pungent smell of cigarette smoke hanging in the air, peeling paint on the walls, delinquent students lazing around, an oppressive atmosphere and a carnivorous environment where only the strongest survive.

But somehow, she has made her place in between all these thugs and delinquents.

Sarang walks down the corridor to her classroom, watching as students instinctively part like the Red Sea to make way for her. She can feel the way they stare at her in awe, especially the first year freshers who have heard about her but are only getting to see everyone's beloved sweetheart now.

Though outwardly she's smiling, her lower lip is slightly jutted out in a small sad pout as if showing that she's not as happy as she's making it look like.

She's about two corridors away from her classroom when someone runs upto her from behind and then proceeds to casually sling their arm around her shoulders.

Sarang doesn't even flinch at the sudden action because this is an occurrence that happens quite often and she knows the only person who would ever do something like this is Ma Minhwan ━ Pi Hanwool's right hand man, a certified pain in the ass and Sarang's self-claimed future brother-in-law.

There's not many people who approach the princess of the school so fearlessly and carelessly. Over time, she has been dubbed as something untouchable by the students of Yusong High despite her not knowing anything about fighting. And even though they know that Sarang would always greet them with a smile and indulge them in a conversation if they approach her, Pi Hanwool won't be as lenient.

Everyone, except Sarang (bless her oblivious heart) knows that if you even dare to look at her the wrong way, you'll have to deal with Hanwool and no-one wants to make themselves a target of Hanwool who is basically a walking death sentence.

Minhwan leans forward and then props his chin on her shoulder as he regards the brown haired girl with a wide and carefree grin on his face. His dyed dark-bluish hair is covered with a bucket and he's twirling a bright pink lollipop in between his other hand's finger that's not dangling on Sarang's shoulders.

"Aww," Minhwan speaks up with a grin, "Why is our Princess pouting like she's about to cry?"

Sarang rolls her and opens her mouth to tell him to get lost but before she can say anything, the boy with the bucket hat interrupts her.

Minhwan hums thoughtfully, "Oh right, I almost forgot that you're a crybaby and this is your default expression."

Minhwan passes a smirk to her before dissolving into condensing snickers which makes Sarang huff in annoyance because she is not a crybaby.

She just has a low pain tolerance and she cries when someone shouts or gets angry at her and she also doesn't like seeing others in pain. She just has great levels of empathy and those levels are so great that she always bursts into tears when she sees someone else crying. You can call her an empathetic crier. Okay... maybe she is a crybaby but it's not her fault that she's a little sensitive!

"That's really mean." She grumbles under her breath but it goes unheard in the midst of her friend's laughter.

"Why the long face though, Princess?" Minhwan asks once he recovers from laughing at Sarang's crying abilities.

"My lip tint." Sarang answers with a sad and wistful sigh.

"Huh?"

Minhwan looks at her expectantly for an explanation about her cryptic one word answer.

"I lost my lip tint yesterday," Sarang sulks as she stares at the floor with sadness at the loss of her lip tint.

"It's just a lip tint. Lighten up, future sister-in-law." He pinches her cheek affectionately with a grin. "Or else Hanwool might break someone's neck thinking they've upset you." Minhwan mutters the last sentence under his so that it doesn't reaches Sarang's ears.

Sarang scowls at him as she swats his hand away from her cheek.

"You're delusional to think that I'll be your future sister-in-law. My sister won't ever marry someone like you." She says, still scowling at his grinning face and rubs her sore cheek which he had pinched earlier.

"I'm not delusional. I'm manifesting."

"Keep telling yourself that." She shoots back at him. "And its not just any lip tint. It's my emotional support lip tint."

"Wasn't your emotional support item a pair of chopsticks?" Minhwans asks in a genuinely confused tone with his eyebrows furrowed.

"No. They're my good luck item, silly."

"My bad, Princess." Thankfully, Sarang doesn't detect the sarcasm in his words.

And then, as a display of casualness, he leans back and takes his arm off of her shoulder before clasping both of his hands behind his neck. He clears his throat and then, with as much nonchalance he could muster, he asks, "So, uh, what's the brand of this emotional support lip tint of yours?"

He's trying to act as unsuspecting as possible but the way he keeps fidgeting is enough of a giveaway that he's upto something but Sarang is too oblivious to get it and so, she falls for whatever he's scheming.

"Kaja's Jelly Charm in the Peach Fizz colour." She answers eagerly, happy to talk about one of her favourite things. "It's such a pretty shade, Minhwan and it looks even prettier on my lips."

"I'm sure it does." He replies absentmindedly as his attention is actually on memorising the name of the brand and also the name of the specific shade.

Minhwan is so focused on committing the name of the lip tint to his memory that he doesn't even notice that Sarang is now looking at him with doubt.

"But... why are you asking about the brand of my lip tint?" She asks curiously, "You've never been interested in makeup before."

Minhwan looks at her like a deer caught in headlights.

"I- uh. You see, um-" He scrambles to answer her but nothing comes to his mind at the moment.

"You what?" Sarang slightly leans forward as she narrows her eyes at him, causing him to avoid her eyes as he looks at anywhere but her.

He opens his mouth to pull some straight bullshit excuse out of his ass but thankfully, before he can even get a word out, his name is called out.

"Minhwan."

The whole corridor falls silent.

The students who had already made way for Minhwan and Sarang to pass, now press themselves even further into the walls as if they want to become one with the concrete. It feels like even the temperature of the air has dropped down a few degrees. There's a cold sharpness present in the air that wasn't here before. The student's eyes are on the floor, their breaths low and quiet as if they're scared to make a single sound.

There's only one person who has this effect.

There's only one person in Yusong High-school whose presence imparts such fear in others.

It's none other than the future heir of Jjeongbuk's most ruthless gang, Pi Hanwool.

He's standing there with his hands his pockets. His posture is relaxed and straight but something about his aura ia menacing and guarded. He's not alone, there is Kim Sunchul, another one of Yeonbaek Gang's member, standing behind him like a faithful dog. His lips are in a straight line, facial expressions passive and indifferent but there's a chilling glint in his eyes, something sharp, firm and authoritative that makes the hair on Sarang's nape rise in alert.

She watches him with parted lips at his sudden surprise appearance but he blankly keeps staring at Minhwan who's now smirking at the other boy.

Then, Hanwool's eyes flicker to Sarang and her breath stutters in her chest at the intensity of the eye contact. She can't understand whether he's assessing her or glaring at her. His cat-like eyes narrow at her a little as if he's picking her apart with his eyes. Yep, he's definitely glaring at her.

Hanwool's eyes linger on her for a moment before going back to Minhwan.

He gives Minhwan a small nod and then walks away towards the rooftop where his makeshift throne is.

The sound of his light footsteps against the floor breaks the tense atmosphere that had previously settled in the corridor. Everyone watches with baited breath as Hanwool walks away. And only when his figure is no longer visible, do they let out the breaths they have been holding.

"Well," Minhwan breaks the silence in a carefree tone as if Hanwool hadn't given half the student body a heart attack just by his unannounced presence, "Duty calls."

He ruffles Sarang's hair and then pats her cheek gently before sauntering away in the same direction Hanwool had gone to, probably to the rooftop that's 'owned' by the Yeonbaek Gang.

Sarang watches Minhwan walks away with a huff as she pats her head to redo the mess he had made of her hair.

Still, Hanwool's blank stare lingers in her mind.

"Why does he always glare at me like I charcoal grilled his pet goldfish?" Sarang mumbles to herself with a shudder.

 ⭑   

The chatter of students fill the air of the school front yard as the bell rings, indicating that the school is over.

Some quickly run back home, some leisurely walk back while shoving people out of the way, some stay back to hang out with their friends, some make plans on where they should go to eat and just like that the school's front yard gets filled with students leaving the school after another day of surviving.

Sarang is walking with a group of girls from her class. She won't call them her friends, more like her acquaintance. She knows that they're not with her for her friendship but rather the benefits her company gives them ━ from expensive shopping trips to using her name to get away with literally anything else.

Sarang knows this, but she doesn't ever confront them. She let's them get away with it for reasons that she's too afraid to face yet.

Should we go and eat tteokbokki?" A girl suggests.

"I'm in!"

"Sounds good."

"Yeah, sure."

Other's agree with her but Sarang keeps quiet. Seeing her silence, another girl turns to her with a raised eyebrow.

"What about you, Sarang?" She asks, "Won't you join us?"

Sarang gives them an apologetic smile in return, "Sorry, I can't. I have to study for tomorrow's test."

That's a big fat lie.

Rather than studying, she's going to go to the makeup store to buy her lip tint. And that lip tint is only available in a specific store in Seoul which means that she'll have to catch a bus and go through a long and uncomfortable travel before getting reunited with her emotional support item.

But she doesn't tell her classmates this because she knows they'll drag her with them, saying that it's just a lip tint like Minhwan had told her. For her, it's not just a lip tint and no-one understands that. With the excuse of studying, she's sure to get away.

Groans of protest leave the mouths of her classmates as they tell her various things like who even studies or why would you study when you know your rank won't change.

Instead of answering any of their complaints, Sarang just gives them another apologetic smile.

Soon enough, the girls leave to get tteokbokki and only Sarang remains.

She sighs and rakes her fingers through her hair.

A sudden gust of wind passes by which makes goosebumps rise on her arms.

She reaches for her jacket only to realise that she'd left it back in the classroom.

Sarang groans loudly and curses her tendency of always leaving something behind. She would've left it behind if it was an ordinary jacket but it's a vintage Chanel twead jacket given to her by her mother on her last birthday so she must go back and get it. Moreover, the air is cold and Sarang (who has a very weak immune system) would rather not get sick.

"Let's go get it." She sighs to herself before trudging back towards her classroom begrudgingly.

The walk back is nothing short of torturous and by the time Sarang climbs up the last staircase leading upto the third floor where her classroom is, she's panting and a thin line of sweat has broken out on her forehead.

She takes a moment to catch her breath before walking towards her classroom only to stop in her tracks when she sees Hanwool, the ruthless Pi Hanwool of Yeonbaek Gang, leaving her classroom.

His back is turned to her so he doesn't catch that she'd seen him leaving her classroom.

Sarang watches with baited breath as Hanwool walks away and only let's out a breath when he turns a corner.

"What was he doing here..?" She wonders out aloud in a quiet voice.

Then she suddenly shakes her head.

"Whatever." She mutters. "It's not any of my business."

With that, she enters her classroom and walks towards her assigned seat where her jacket is neatly folded on her desk.

Sarang frowns.

"Weird." She mutters as she doesn't remember folding her jacket. With a shrug, she grabs the piece of clothing and puts it on only for her to feel something heavy in her jacket's pocket. She also doesn't remember putting something in here.

Confused, she reaches inside her pocket and takes out whatever it is in there.

Her eyebrows shoot up in surprise and her lips part as she stares at the lip tint in her palm.

Kaja's Jelly Charm in the Peach Fizz colour. It's the same one she'd lost, the one she'd been planning to buy again. It is still packaged and sealed so that means it's brand new. But how did it get here and who-

The realisation hits her like Truck-kun hits the female protagonist in those isekai manhwas.

(Minhwan asking her about her lip tint. The rumours about how Pi Hanwool had skipped the rest of the school day after lunch because he'd went to Seoul. Hanwool leaving her classroom. Her jacket being folded so perfectly and the lip tint in its pocket and not to mention, the faint scent of men's perfume lingering in the air ━ its all coming together now.)

Something foreign blooms in her chest.

Sarang gazes at the lip tint in her hands with warmth.

She wonders how she could give Hanwool her thanks. Maybe, a thank you note. Maybe, something sweet. She should call Minhwan and ask him about the things Hanwool likes. She's do it today so that she give Hanwool her thanks tomorrow.

A small smile curls at her lips ━ its different than the smile she usually gives other.

This one is softer, gentler and more delicate. This one is without any mask of forced happiness or pretense. This smile feels intimate. It feels genuine. It's the kind of smile that blossoms only when a person is truly touched.

Maybe, he isn't as bad as she'd thought he was...

⭑

Pi Hanwool is an analytical loser at heart.

Yes, contrary to the popular belief, he does possess a heart.

The thing is that despite him being outwardly apathetic along with his cold and harsh personality, Hanwool is actually someone who pays attention to the detail.

It may come off as a surprise to other students who view him as nothing but the ruthless top dog of Yusong High-school.

For them, he's merciless and cruel.

But he knows that deep down, he is a pragmatic little loser.

He is self-aware about that, thank you very much.

He is someone who needs to plan every little detail of every second of every day meticulously. He doesn't like surprises neither does he likes to do things spontaneously. He's someone who likes following a routine. Not only that but he is also a neat freak. All his things should be arranged in his preferred way of absolute perfection. He doesn't like to clutter his stuff and all his notes, assignments and even training equipment should be organised in a very specific way. Even the throne of chairs he has made for himself of the school's rooftop has been designed in a meticulous way. His desk (both at school and at home) shouldn't have anything on it except his notebook and a single blue ink pen and there absolutely shouldn't be any edibles on it.

The last rule is something that everyone in the school knows. Some idiot with a big ego had found out the hard way when he had intentionally spilled his drink on Hanwool's desk. And as a result, Hanwool had beaten him up so badly that he couldn't leave the hospital for three consecutive weeks.

So yeah, edibles or anything else but especially edibles are a huge no-no to be placed on Pi Hanwool's desk.

Wait a moment...

Is that a freaking a heart-shaped strawberry muffin on his desk just above his book of Fundamentals of Electrical Engineering?!

He stares (correction: glares) at the muffin and if looks could kill, even the atoms of the muffin would've been disintegrated from existence.

Maybe, sleep deprivation is catching upto him and he has started seeing things because there's no way in hell that there would be a goddamn muffin on his desk.

Hanwool blinks once and then twice to clear his vision and then looks at his desk again.

It's not a mirage caused by sleep deprivation.

There definitely is a heart-shaped strawberry muffin on his desk.

A guttural sound, something between an indignant huff and an annoyed grunt, leaves his mouth as he marches upto his desk and grabs the muffin in a vicious manner as if it has personally offended his entire bloodline and then inspects it carefully before proceeds to take a small sniff of the muffin albeit a little hesitatingly.

"It doesn't smell like it's poisoned." He mutters to himself in a low tone with narrowed eyes.

In his mind, he starts to think about the possible suspects who could've pulled this stunt.

There's no-one in his classroom right now and all the students are automatically cut off from the suspect list because he knows that those rascals would never dare to do such a thing to him, they're literally terrified of even standing in his way when he walks the hallways.

So, he knows that they won't ever have courage to do something like this because they know that if they did, Hanwool would become their walking death sentence. Moreover, every student in this school knows the Three Absolute Rules of  Surviving Yusong High, which are;

a) Learn how to fight if you want to survive here.

b) Never ever fight with the students from other grades. Only fight those in your grade level.

c) If Pi Hanwool declares that you have a target on your back, you're as good as a dead fish.

So yeah, no student could've done this.

His next suspect is Minhwan, his friend (highly debatable) and his right hand man and honestly, he's the strongest candidate because he does has an obsession with pissing Hanwool off in ridiculous ways. And that guys isn't scared of him like the others are because they've known each since they had been toddlers so he could definitely do this.

But even Minhwan knows not to cross certain limits and putting edibles on his desk certainly crosses every limit.

He's about to throw the muffin out of the window and storm out of the classroom but then something catches his eye.

Under the muffin, there's a small note written with a pink glitter pen and has hearts drawn around the words "thank you <3". 

Someone who writes with a pink glitter pen had done this prank to him. Great, as if it couldn't get any worse.

He feels piping hot anger simmering in his body the more he stares at the note.

He will not be bested by someone who writes their notes with pink glitter pens.

Hanwool clenches his jaw in irritation as he crumbles the note in his fist. With the muffin gripped tightly in one hand, the note in his other and continously cursing his mind, he exits the classroom with purposeful strides.

One thing is clear from his gait; someone's about to get their neck broken by his hands.

There's no-one in the corridors right now except for a few students who immediately cower when he passes by them but he doesn't even pass them a single glance.

Just when he turns a corner, he bumps into something or rather, someone.

He's about to give the person in front of him the most menacing glare of their lifetime but his whole demeanour falters when he realises who has bumped into him.

It's Cho Sarang.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heart slams against his ribcage as he looks down at the girl who's better known as Princess of the school.

Hanwool does not consider himself a weak man but when Sarang looks up at him with those brown doe eyes and a smile on her pretty face, the soft scent of her fruity perfume entering his nostrils, his knees turn to jelly and he feels like he will fall down to his knees at any moment.

They're close, close enough for him to count her every eyelash. He's never been this close to her before. He should step away from her personal space now that the surprise of bumping into her has faded but he doesn't.

Hanwool knows that this is wrong yet he can't stop himself from indulging in his silent desire to keep her close to him just for a minute longer.

Get a grip, He scolds himself mentally.

Clearing his throat, he takes a small step back.

"Hi, Hanwool." Sarang smiles at him brightly, though he can detect a flicker of hesitation in her expression.

He simply nods back at her because he knows that he'll make a fool of himself if he actually talks to her.

Sarang's smile falters a little at his behaviour but she quickly covers it up.

She gives him another smile, this one is more strained than the first one but Hanwool just stands there like a rigid statue made of stone.

She's about to walk away after muttering a quick goodbye but then her eyes fall down to the muffin in his hand.

Her expression shifts ━ and it's not a miniscule change. Her whole demeanour brightens.

Her eyes widen and then start twinkling in excitement as she looks up from the muffin to his face and Hanwool feels his breath hitch. She's grinning from ear to ear and Hanwool thinks that she looks like a bunny. A very cute bunny.

"You found the muffin!" She bounces on her heels like a child high on sugar. "I was so worried that someone might throw it away."

Hanwool short-circuits at the information that the muffin on his desk had been from Cho Sarang, the girl who is his first love.

Suddenly, all thoughts of breaking someone's neck at leaving a muffin on his desk vanishes from his mind and the only thought that remains is the fact that Sarang had baked something for him. For him! She even left a note. A note written with a pink glitter pen with hearts!

Hanwool doesn't think there's anything cuter than that.

(He can feel both the angel and the devil on his shoulders judging him hard for his hypocrisy.)

"You baked this? For me?" He manages to speak out even somehow.

Sarang nods with a toothy grin.

"But... why?"

Her smile softens, "It's a thank you for the lip tint. I saw you leaving it on my desk yesterday."

"Oh." That's adorable. Who gave her the right to be so adorable?!

It's unfair just how much power she holds over him and she doesn't even know about it.

He's so busy internally gushing over her existence to realise that she had been talking to him.

He looks at Sarang when she calls out his name. Belatedly, he realises that she had been saying something that he hadn't caught.

He tilts his head at her like a lost puppy, "Huh?"

"I asked if you like the muffin? Minhwan told me that you like strawberries."

Hanwool hates strawberries.

He likes tangerines. Fuck Minhwan. He must've done this on purpose for his own entertainment. 

"Oh." He blurts out as he looks down at the muffin in his hand that is fully intact. 

Not wanting Sarang to know that he doesn't like strawberries and that he had been planning on throwing the muffin away after beating up whoever had put it on his table, he decides to do something that is completely out of character for him.

Pi Hanwool shoves the entire muffin in his mouth.

Sarang's jaw drops at she looks at Hanwool who is trying his best to not choke on the sweet desert.

He chews as fast as he could, then swallows it with a big gulp. The sweetness hits his taste buds as flavours burst in his mouth. The taste of strawberries is something that he truly dislikes and he already wants to spit it out.

But one look at Sarang's eager, bunny-like expression and he can't bring himself to disappoint her. He forces himself to swallow it down even if that's the last thing he wants to do.

He coughs a little as it goes down his oesophagus.

"Delicious." He smacks his lips for extra effect and gives Sarang an awkward thumbs-up though his usual straight expression remains on his face.

She looks bewildered but then her bewildered expression dissolves into a soft laughter. Hanwool's gaze unknowingly softens as he stares at her.

Her laughter fades out eventually and silence envelops them.

She stares at him for a moment before she catches something from the corner of her eyes, making her gaze flutter downward towards his lips.

Before Hanwool can even process what's happening, Sarang's hand reaches upto his lips and she wipes off a smudge of whipped cream on the corner of his lips with her thumb.

Hanwool.exe has stopped working.

Pi Hanwool, the cruel bully with thuggish connections, short-circuits for the second time in the span of ten minutes because of the same girl.

Sarang's hand lingers on his jaw for a moment, the weight of her thumb pressing against Hanwool's upper lip but then as if realising what she's doing and with whom she's doing it, she blanches.

Her eyes widen and she jerks her hand away from his face.

"Ack! I-I'm sorry," She stumbles over words as her cheeks flush in embarrassment, "I don't- uh, I-, um Bye!"

Before he can respond, she scurries away from him. If one looks closely, they could even see smoke coming out of her ears from the sheer embarrassment at what she'd done. At one point, she almost trips down the stairs but catches herself before she can actually slip.

Hanwool watches her walk away while he's still rooted at his spot.

...Did that actually happen? Or was it another one of his lovesick fantasies.

But the way redness has creeped up his neck and the way his lips are still tingling from her touch, Hanwool knows that it had been real. A choked sound leaves his lips at the realisation and he's thankful that no-one is around to witness this. His heart is beating against his chest so hard that he can hear it.

He raises his finger and gingerly touches the spot where Sarang had pressed her thumb and then looks at the note in his hand.

With his heart still beating at a speed faster than a bullet train, he traces the words "thank you <3" with his index finger before carefully putting the note in the pocket of his blazer.

Hanwool thinks that he doesn't mind being bested by someone who writes their notes with pink glitter pens if that someone is Sarang.

𝕾UZUMI SPEAKS ⭑ hi guys <3 i hope you enjoyed the first chapter. it took some time for me to get this out because the first chapter is always the most difficult for me to write but now it's finally here! hanwool and sarang (should we call them hanrang ?? or sanwoo ?? or any other ship name ideas ??) are my babies. hanwool might seem a little ooc but remember that from outside he's literally like 😐 while internally simping over sarang lol. i can't wait to get more into sarang as a character because she's not just a happy-go-lucky girl, she has her own troubles + her friendship with study group is gonna be goals. vote and comment it gives me lots of motivation.

also meme of the day;