ch. 40

"i'll ruin you."

-monster

"so you're telling me that some guy asked you to the dance and you said yes even though you don't like him and he keeps trying to act like your boyfriend ever since and it's annoying you because you don't see him that way so you lashed out at him yesterday?"

eunbi sighs and dramatically reclines into her seat. "yes. exactly that."

"well damn," jimin says as he turns the wheel. "you got yourself in a big mess, huh?"

"i was just trying to be nice!" she shouts in fury, waving her hands around. "like would you say no to someone who proposed in front of, i don't know, the entire school?!?"

her older brother takes a minute to think about his response to that situation if he was in his sister's position, being surprised by his own decision. "when you think about it, saying no would just embarrass the poor dude."

"exactly! point proven!"

the male glances to the side, maneuvering the van into the drop-off section of the school. his eyes notices a familiar black-haired boy leaning against the school gate with his eyes searching for something in particular. a smirk tugs on his lips at the thought of eunbi's reaction once he speaks up about his sighting.

"well, talking about proving your point." he nudges his head towards the boy. "wooyoung is waiting for you right now."

hearing that causes his sister to ruffle her hair out of frustration, letting out a loud groan in the process. filled with dread, her hands make their way to her face and they slowly drag her skin downward.

"oppa," she whines with tears threatening to fall down. "can i skip school today? actually, can i skip the rest of the school year?"

he rolls his eyes at her pathetic acting. "sorry, but that kind of stuff doesn't work on me."

when they pull up to the curb, the girl slaps her brother's shoulder with all the hatred she could muster. "you piece of shit."

"you piece of shit," he taunts in a jeering manner. "shut up and get out of the motherfucking car, bitch."

she lifts up her hand to throw a fist at him, causing him to back up against the side door in fear, before she exits the vehicle with a victory grin. she turns around to bid him goodbye, but instead she is greeted with a middle finger. she gladly returns the gesture before she walks toward the school entrance.

when she sees her friend from afar, she looks at the floor and takes in a deep breath to calm her nerves down. she continues to approach wooyoung, making eye contact with him and waves her hand at him.

seeing him straighten his posture, she runs up to him with a forced smile.

"hey, can we talk?"

their eyes widen when they both asked the question at the same time, but they let a small chuckle after a few minutes of silence. he points in the direction of her classroom and she nods, so the both of them begin their way to her class.

at first, no one speaks up as they awkwardly walk beside each other in silence, catching everyone's attention. the pair can hear the whispers being thrown around the campus and they simply ignore their remarks.

not bearing the quietness between them, eunbi decides to start the conversation.

"sorry for lashing out at you yesterday," she apologizes. "i wasn't in a good mood yesterday and you happened to be the closest person to me when i decided to go off."

"it's okay," he replies, a soft smile pulling on his lips. "i also want to apologize for making you uncomfortable. i was doing things without your permission and never considered your feelings."

they lift their gazes from the ground and make eye contact with one another.

the girl shows him a reassuring smile and touches his shoulder. "it's my fault for never saying anything, so i don't blame you."

for once, the raven-haired male can feel relief travel through his body.

he sheepishly rubs the back of his neck and diverts his attention to the floor again, his cheeks painted with hues of pink. his heart loudly pounds against his rib cage and his mind replays the image of eunbi's smiling face.

"i guess you can say that it's hard to control yourself when you're next to the person you like," he bluntly says, causing the vocalist to choke on the air.

she grabs her water bottle and takes a huge gulp of the liquid as wooyoung pats her back. she bangs her fist against her chest until the uncomfortable feeling disappears and both of them wipe the cold sweat from their forehead.

"wooyoung-ah, about that..."

his gaze immediately makes its way to the brunette, who is avoiding eye contact now. her fingers fiddle with each other and she bites her bottom lip.

she doesn't want to tell him.

she doesn't want to hurt him.

but at the same time, he needs to know.

the longer she hides it, the longer his love for her will grow.

she takes a moment to prepare herself, closing her eyes for a while. when the confidence comes to her, she looks straight into his eyes.

"i'm sorry, but i can't return your feelings."

he takes in those words like a bullet in the heart, the pain slowly seeping into his system. the whole world seems to crumble under his feet and a foreign sensation builds in within him.

"just give it some more time," he says in a pleading tone. "maybe in a few weeks, you'll be head-over-heels for me."

she shakes her head. "believe me, i would think so too. but it has been a week since the showcase and nothing has changed."

feeling uncomfortable with her friend's sudden change in demeanor, she spots her classroom from a distance. she quickens her pace as an attempt to escape the tense situation wooyoung has created, but he manages to stop her by grabbing her backpack.

"i'm handsome, talented, funny... what is it that i don't have?" she hears from behind, his voice wavering a little when he asked her.

she tries to move forward, however, the black-haired male keeps a strong grip on her.

"you're fine as you are, wooyoung!" she slightly shouts, gaining everyone's attention to the pair. "i don't mind if we go to the dance together; it's just that i see you as a friend!"

in his eyes, everything stops moving as his hands loosen their grip and release the girl from his clutch. she takes a few steps away from him, holding onto the straps of her backpack, and turns around to meet his gaze.

"i-i'm sorry, wooyoung. i didn't want to lead you on any long-"

she stops talking when she sees him lift his hand in front of him.

"it's okay. it's my fault for not accepting the truth."

an awkward silence washed over them after the heated argument between, the both of them not saying a word to each other. people in the hallway look at one another before they begin chattering about the scene playing in front of them, their eyes staring and their fingers pointing.

"the playboy got rejected? that's a first."

"i can't believe he's begging a girl to stay with him."

"has wooyoung always been this pathetic?"

"what a baby; he can't take no for an answer."

eunbi glares at every person, which urges them to disperse from the hallway and into their designated class.

letting out a sigh, the brunette returns her gaze to her friend and flashes him a forced grin. "so, we'll talk about our plans for the dance with the others during lunch?"

he simply nods his head, not wanting to speak, and the girl pulls out a spare lunchbox from her backpack. "this is for you; i noticed how you haven't been eating lately so i made you something."

and the both of them disperse to their classroom.

as he walks to his class, he can feel the pent up feeling from before him grow in size. his hands ball into fists and his gaze hardens at the memory of their bickering that is playing in his mind. he tosses the lunch she has made for him into a nearby trashcan.

he cannot believe that she had the audacity to humiliate him in front of all those people.

he is someone all females love, someone all females wish to have.

yet all except one denies his charms.

park eunbi.

to have his pride taken down that very moment...

calls for vengeance.

with a cunning smile, he begins to brew the plan that will strip the princess from her tiara and her throne once and for all.

and he knows the perfect person to help him.