Chapter 1 - The Second Place Girl

The Second Place GirlThe sound of heels echoed through the pristine marble halls of Daehun International High, a private academy so exclusive even the dust dared not settle. Students passed by with perfectly pressed uniforms, fake smiles, and a hunger for titles titles Park Y/n knew all too well.

Top 2. Always Top 2.

Her name was printed across every bulletin board under the Top Achievers list but never on top. Always just below one name: Kim Taehyung.

He didn't even try. That's what made it worse.

She sat in the library now, nose in a thick economics book she'd already read twice. The midterm rankings would be out tomorrow. Not that she needed to check. She already knew how it would go.

1. "Kim Taehyung"

2. "Park Y/n"She clenched her pen until the plastic cracked.

"Y/n."

She looked up. A familiar face peeked through the shelves Kim Jennie, her cousin, her best friend, and the only one who didn't treat her like a machine programmed to win.

"You skipped lunch again," Jennie said, setting down a container of food. "You'll die before you beat Taehyung if you don't eat."

"I don't care about him," Y/n muttered.

Jennie raised an eyebrow. "You literally wrote his name on your notebook... and stabbed it with your pen."

Y/n looked down. Sure enough, Kim Taehyung was scribbled in jagged ink, surrounded by aggressive stab marks.

"...It's therapeutic."

Jennie sat beside her, voice softer now. "You know you don't have to prove anything to him. Or to Uncle Daehun."

Y/n's jaw clenched at the name.

Her father, Park Daehun, wasn't just the richest man in South Korea he was also the coldest. To him, Y/n was an heir-in-training. A tool. Not a daughter.

"If I don't become Top 1, he won't let me inherit the company," she said quietly. "He'll give it to my little brother. I can't let that happen."

Jennie frowned. "You know Minwoo doesn't even want it."

"I know," Y/n snapped. Then, more gently, "That's why I have to take it. For him. For Mom. For me."

Silence fell.

"I just wish..." she hesitated. "I wish Taehyung would stop being perfect. Just once. Just enough for me to breathe."

Across the campus, a luxury car pulled into the parking lot. From it stepped a tall figure with dark hair tousled by the wind, his blazer slung lazily over one shoulder.

Kim Taehyung.

Students whispered. Girls giggled. Teachers smiled. He offered none in return.

Behind the glint of gold-framed glasses, behind that effortless walk, no one saw the boy inside the boy who still heard his mother's voice saying:

"Why wasn't it you who died instead?"

Back in the library, Y/n was packing her things when an announcement crackled through the intercom.

"Top students are requested to attend the meeting in the headmaster's office. Park Y/n. Kim Taehyung."

Jennie winced. "Want me to fake an illness for you?"

Y/n smirked. "No need."

She stood up, spine straight, chin high.

"If I'm going to see him," she said, "I might as well remind him I'm not going to stay second forever."