╰┈➤ ❝ [And so I became the butt of the joke]❞

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?!" Kim Ji-an asked, her eyes momentarily settling on
Soo-ah's sweaty face before returning to the bright screen of her friend's phone.

Han Seo-jun narrowed his eyes, his tall figure towering over Ji-an's smaller one as he stared at the picture through the gap of her shoulder. "Yeah, is this some kind of joke?"

Soo-ah dramatically sighed. "That's what I should be asking you. First thing I see in the morning is this all over the school's webpage. If you're surprised imagine how I feel. I feel like I've been lied to, betrayed, hurt, deeply heartbroken because I thought we were in the same page but now? I'm very-"

"God, do you always talk so much? We don't care about how you feel right now just tell us what happened." Seo-jun interrupted.

"How am I supposed to know what happened? You're the two main stars of the school now, so please enlighten me."

Kim Ji-an shook her head her eyes never leaving the device in her hand as she examined the pictures. "We don't know okay? We're just as confused as you are. The only thing I know is that this pictures were taken yesterday and I know I may forget about certain stuff but I'm hundred percent sure that Seo-jun and I never kissed."

Removing Soo-ah's phone from Ji-an's hands, Seo-jun zoomed in on the picture. "All the pictures were taken in the same angle so you can't see if our lips really touched or not." He shook his head before passing the phone back to Soo-ah. "t's obvious someone was trying to make it seem like we were kissing."

"Well, it worked because all everyone is talking about is you two secretly being a couple."

Ji-an ran a hand through her hair her eyes wandering around towards the group of students watching them before an idea popped in her head as she turned her head to the two with a smirk. "This is exactly what we needed."

"What do you mean?"

"Sooner or later we would've had to make our relationship official, but now that this happened we won't have to do it." She chuckled. "They basically did it for us, all we have to do is act as if it's real and play along to whatever they believe."

Seo-jun nudge Ji-an's foot. "Relationship? What do you mean? I don't know what you're talking about." He made exaggerated face gestures towards Soo-ah as a way of telling
Ji-an, Soo-ah didn't know about their lie.

Unimpressed with the boy's attempts of being discreet, Soo-ah said, "I know Han Seo-jun."

The Han boy turned to Ji-an. "She knows? I thought you said no one could know about it."

"I did, but Soo-ah and Soo-jin were the ones that gave me the idea. I couldn't keep them in the dark." Ji-an explained like it was obvious, making Seo-jun's mouth fall open in disbelief.

"Soo-jin knows too? Great is there anything else you want to tell me?"

The Kim girl rolled her eyes. She thought he was being too dramatic when instead he should be happy that more people knew. "Oh don't be so dramatic the more people aware of our plan the less people you have to pretend around."

Han Seo-jun looked away knowing what she was saying was true but not letting her know he agreed.

He hated to admit when someone else was right and Kim Ji-an being the same didn't help in the matter of keeping things peaceful. Even since they were kids they used to argue over who was right, always making Su-ho decide between the two. Surprisingly once the Lee boy had chosen who was right neither of the two dared to complain because they trusted Su-ho's judgement since he was the smartest out of the trio.

"I still don't like the fact other people know about it."

"Could you just admit that I'm right?"

"Last time I did you said it was weird and I should stop doing it. This is me taking your words to heart." He placed his hand over his chest sending her a smile which the Kim girl rolled her eyes at.

It was like he could never take anything seriously and that annoyed her to no end. "Actually I do have something else to tell you." Seo-jun raised his eyebrows waiting for the girl to elaborate as she grinned mischievously. "Those pants make your ass look smaller than it already is."

Soo-ah muffled her laughter by covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes going back and forth between the two.

The Han boy tried twisting around attempting to see if what she was saying was true but failing at it. "My ass isn't small."

Ji-an scrunched her nose with a shake of her head as she leaned back taking another look at Seo-jun's behind. "Looks pretty small to me."

Suddenly before the boy could retort something back, someone stepped in between Han Seo-jun and Kim Ji-an wrapping their arms around their shoulders.

"There is my favorite couple!" Cho-rong grin widely, Ji-an returning his greeting with a small smile while Seo-jun scowled at him knowing his friend was about to make a big deal out of the situation. But Cho-rong didn't pay any mind at the Han boy's sour expression as he squeezed their shoulders.

"I can recognize a love letter when I see one. Even if I've never received one in my life, but that's besides the point because now my boy Seo-jun has a girlfriend." He ruffled Seo-jun's hair, making the smaller boy slap his hand away.

"Are you done?" The Han boy asked, as he tried to fix his hair back to how he originally had it styled.

When he had woken up that morning he hadn't expected the day to be so full with drama. If he was being honest the one reason why he even got out of bed in the first place was because he knew Ji-an was going to give him back his helmet. But if he had known his day would have such a rough start at an early hour he probably would've skipped school, probably.

Cho-rong pulled away from them, moving to stand beside Soo-ah with his large smile not once leaving his lips. "I'm sorry but I can't help being excited! This are the best news I've received. Seo-jun has a girlfriend! I knew I was right for believing in fortune cookies."

Ji-an frown, "You believe in fortune cookies?"

"Oh my God! You also believe in fortune cookies?!" Soo-ah turned to Cho-rong, sounding a lot more happy than Ji-an as she stared at the boy with child-like excitement in her eyes.

"Of course! Seo-jun always tells me to stop believing in them but his words never stopped me from believing and now look. He finally has a girlfriend just like the cookie said." Cho-rong looked at Seo-jun. "I told you that's what the cookie meant."

"Wait?! You're telling me you guys already knew what was gonna happen thanks to the cookie?" Her eyes widened. "Come on tell me what it said!"

Ji-an's frown deepened as she stared at the two, specifically Soo-ah, in bewilderment. The way her friend was acting as if she had no clue about her fake relationship with Seo-jun was concerning, if you took in mind how bad of an actor Soo-ah was.

Cho-rong nodded as he started reaching for something in the front pocket of his pants. "Actually I have it with me right now."

"He can't be be for real." Seo-jun murmured to himself as he stared at his friend in disbelief. His expression perfectly matching Ji-an's.

Right as he said it Cho-rong took out the small paper proving Seo-jun's words incorrect before passing it to Soo-ah who started jumping in her spot like a small child that was just given their favorite ice cream flavor. "One time someone told me if you throw the paper away it gives bad luck so since then I always save the papers."

Clearing her throat Soo-ah opened the paper before reading out loud the small words written in the paper. "Love would soon knock at your door, don't hesitate and let it in before it's too late." She squealed. "That's so romantic!"

"It's just pure coincidence."

"No it isn't!" Soo-ah and Cho-rong said at the same time making Ji-an raise her hands in defeat.

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

"Lee Su-ho won't stop staring at you." Soo-jin said, as she sat down across from Ji-an and Soo-ah. Jug-yeong was nowhere to be found but none of them questioned it as it left them with more freedom to speak about Su-ho. The news about Kim Ji-an's relationship with
Han Seo-jun had already spread like wildfire and it seemed to not be leaving the students conversation anytime soon as they kept looking at their table every couple of minutes as they whispered among themselves.

"Good." Ji-an took a sip of her juice, her eyes catching Lee Su-ho's as the two did eye contact. There was a non readable emotion in his eyes that the Kim girl couldn't place but didn't bother to figure out.

"Aren't you not even a little bit worried about another fight happening between Lee Su-ho and Han Seo-jun?" Ji-an shrugged at Soo-ah's question, that being the only response she gave her friend as she kept her eyes glued on Su-ho.

Soo-jin nodded swallowing a bite of kimchi before saying, "She's right Ji-an. I don't think you being in the middle of all that mess is a good thing. Maybe we should've thought about this more before doing anything."

The Kim girl turned to her friends not noticing that even after breaking eye contact, Su-ho wouldn't stop looking at her. "Nobody said it was a good thing Soo-jin, but if they decide to fight again that ain't my problem. The whole purpose of this little lie is to take a reaction out of Su-ho but I know he won't do anything drastic. He's smart. He knows another fight won't cause anything good. Plus I think is a little bit too late to back down now."

"You're right." She sighed before taking a hold of the girl's hand. "I just don't want you to end up getting hurt."

Ji-an squeezed her hand giving her a soft smile that Soo-jin was quick to return. "I won't. I promise."

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

Once Ji-an was done with her food that's when she felt the need to pee so she stood up from her seat making Soo-ah and Soo-jin give her weird looks. "Where are you going?"

"To the bathroom. If I don't go now I'll for real pee myself." She realized her voice had been a little bit louder than she had intended by the glared that some people gave her.

"Hey! We're eating here!"

Ji-an rolled her eyes. "My bad, I didn't know I was the only one with a normal functional body." Taking a hold of her tray she walked away from the table and to the trash can to throw away the left over food she didn't eat before placing the dirty plates and silverware where they belong.

Walking out of the lunchroom, the Kim girl took out her phone wanting to check over her social media. A week ago she had been invited to a modeling casting call and they told her they would contact her to let her know when she could come and audition.

But before she was able to check she was taken by surprise when she saw all the notifications coming from Go-woon. The capital letters in each message gave the answer away.

Go-woon must have seen the pictures of her and Han Seo-jun, and now the younger girl was freaking out and in need of answers.

For the time being, Ji-an decided to ignore the messages and just scroll through her Instagram giving she had no idea how she was going to explain everything to Go-woon.

Or if she was even going to explain the truth in the first place.

As she started mindlessly scrolling a notification popped up, the user belonging to the modeling agency she had been contacted by a week ago. Ji-an's initial plan was to take a break from modeling until she could settle down again, but after finding out about her family's financial problems she knew she had to start working again. So when the agency said they liked her image and wanted to invite her to a casting call she did not waste anytime in answering.

When the Kim girl was about to tap on the message she felt someone grab her arm, pulling her into one of the empty classrooms.

The room was dark, the only source of light coming from the windows. There were a few construction items around the floor, and dust covered the surface. Ji-an remembered
Soo-jin telling her about a new dance classroom that they were building close to the cafeteria so she figured it was this one.

"What do think you're doing?"

The lack of light made it difficult for her to analyze his expression but by the tone of his voice she knew he was annoyed. "I think you're gonna have to be a little bit more specific, Lee Su-ho."

"Han Seo-jun." Just saying the boy's name made him angry and he liked to think it was because of their rivalry but deep down he knew that was not the only reason behind his distaste

"What about him?"

"Stop playing dumb, Ji-an. Everyone in school is talking about how you and him are dating and neither of you are trying to deny the rumors. So tell me, is it true? Are you two dating?"

"That's none of your business." She made an attempt to leave but Su-ho extended his arm stopping her from coming closer to the door and also leaning closer to her face. Even if it wasn't intentional, he didn't seem to care or notice for that matter because he didn't make any attempt on distancing himself from the petite girl.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know those pictures aren't real. So whatever you think you're doing, stop."

"What are you my father?" She humorlessly chuckled trying to hide how much the proximity affected her. "Look I know you have this thing where you like to always be in control of things but not this time. This is my life and I can do whatever I want with it. If I decide to date half of the school then so be it."

"That's the thing, Ji-an. It's not just anybody we're talking about. We're talking about
Seo-jun. The guy who stopped talking to you after years of friendship for literally no reason. The same guy you said you hated."

Kim Ji-an furrowed her eyebrows with a slight shake of her head. "I never hated Seo-jun I was just hurt and said things I didn't mean, but now all of that is in the past. So stop sticking your nose in my business and go bother somebody else. I'm sure Jug-yeong wouldn't mind that." The last sentence wasn't meant to come out but it was too late because the boy in front of her had already heard her.

"Is this seriously because of Jug-yeong?"

The Kim girl glared at him, pointing at the door. "Could you please get out of my way?"

"Not until you answer my question."

She sighed. "No, this isn't about her. This is about you and me, and how for some reason you're interested in what I do when you shouldn't. Last time we talked, I asked you if you would care if you saw me with someone else. You said no, so why are you acting like this?"

She already knew the answer and Su-ho knew it too, the girl just wanted him to admit it. To hear him say that he did care about what she did. That he lied and wanted to mend their relationship just as much as she did. But hoping for something, anything to happen didn't change the sad reality. Su-ho's stubbornness was overpowering what he truly felt and not even Ji-an could make him accept it.

Not until he admitted it to himself first.

Another sigh escape her lips, disappointment filling her body as she averted her eyes to the
dust-covered floor. She traced unknown patterns with her shoe, trying to not let her emotions get the best of her as she nodded to herself.

A bittersweet smile was on her lips as she looked back and fourth between his eyes, "Time may pass but memories stay, Su-ho. I know you, I know when you're angry, I know when you're annoyed, and when you're sad but most importantly I know when you lie. You can try using that emotionless mask around everyone thinking you've got them fooled but not me."

The Lee boy finally stepped back making Ji-an take a deep breath pushing a piece of hair behind her ear while Su-ho stared at her with a look that told her everything and nothing at the same time.

Because what was he supposed to do?

He thought it would get easier to pretend, forget, and move on as time passed but now he wasn't so confident. Not now that Ji-an seemed to effortlessly pull at his heartstrings with either words or actions and he didn't know which one was worse.

This time when Ji-an tried to leave, he didn't stop her and only watched her retrieving figure until she was out of his sight.

——————— ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ——————

—Joy

HOLAAAAA

Guess who's back

Your fav Puerto Rican 😏

After a few weeks, It feels good to make a new update for this book. You guys are my favorite readers (don't let the others know) 🌚

I'm sorry for leaving you guys on a cliffhanger for so long. I'll try not to do it again but I won't make any promises. The next chapter it's gonna be...... how do I put this? It's gonna be a lot to unpack I don't think you guys are prepared and neither is Ji-an I'm really going to make her suffer. 😖

But at least we got a Soo-ah and Cho-rong interaction one that we never got in the
k-drama.