INTRODUCING ...
CHOI YEJI .

IN hindsight, Choi Yeji probably should have known better. If there is one thing that all her years of schooling should have taught her, it's that she should not leave her assignments to the last possible minute. Her parents certainly wouldn't approve of the poor studying habits she's developed since moving away from Busan, at a prestigious private school nonetheless. But not even Yeji – smart, intelligent and organised Yeji — is capable of studying an three entire chapters worth of content in one night. She's a genius, not a miracle baby.

She's managed to claim a corner of the lobby for herself, away from the rest of the competitors that are milling around the building. Her chemistry worksheets are scattered haphazardly around her, highlighters spread out, different colours corresponding to different keywords and terminology. Her pen flies wildly across the paper as she chews on her bottom lip, her hand aching from the uncomfortable position, but she's on a deadline, and she doesn't have time to deal with pain.

       Besides, she really doesn't want her chemistry teacher to get in contact with her mother again. For whatever reason, Mrs Kim seems to love sending Yeji's mother frequent reports about Yeji's grades, and she knows that if her overall marks slips by even half a percent, her mother will know. And then Yeji will have to listen to an hour long lecture about her studies through video call with both of her parents present on the other end of the line. Yeji hates having two teachers for parents.

The side doors open, and people come flooding into the lobby, the white noise in the background increasing in volume, but Yeji has a particular talent for blocking it all out. That, and her best friend is also prone to circling around her every so often, making sure no one else attempts to distract her.

       A quick glance up tells her it's the rival dance team from Noir, the only other company in direct competition of Yeji's own dance studio, Cloud 9. The rival studio like to walk around competitions like this with their noses in the air, acting like they're the best team to ever walk the planet, so it it always gives Yeji a boost to knock them down a few places whenever Cloud 9 beats them at competitions. Which, not to brag or anything, happens most of the time, because Yeji's studio are currently on a winning streak, one that she doesn't want to end today.

They're all swarming around a figure in the middle, but Yeji's not close enough to hear their chatter, and it's nothing more than background noise from where she's sitting. She's actually managed to make decent work of the questions she was supposed to finish from the textbook, and she might just have enough time to finish going through the chapter summaries before class the next day, even if it definitely won't be to the standard her teacher is expecting from her.

       Yeji figures she has at least another ten minutes before she's expected to be back on stage for the adjudication, which is why majority of the performers are milking around out here instead of crammed into small dressing rooms back stage. It also means that Yeji isn't allowed to touch any of the stage makeup that her best friend spent at least an hour doing before they even arrived at the venue.

She spares a glance up at the crowd, still a distance away from Yeji's little study corner, but they're loud enough for the buzz of chatter to be a distraction in the back of her mind. Her pen flies across the paper, answering the questions on memory alone from years of advanced chemistry tutoring. It's only when the chatter from cluster of people closest to her dies down that she glances up again.

The crowd parts like something out of a movie, and Yeji gets a clear view of none other than Hwang Hyunjin, one of Gangnam's most well known heart throbs, whose name is spoken even in the hallways of Yeji's own school, despite the intense rivalry between their schools.

In Yeji's opinion, that's enough incentive to hate the boy. She can already hear her mother's lecture on how hate is a strong word – the same lecture that her mother has probably given hundreds of students whenever fights emerge in the classroom, especially back when she taught preschool aged children before switching to a full time position in science, and Yeji and her siblings have heard it several times whenever they got into petty arguments. But strong dislike doesn't even begin to describe how Yeji feels about the boy.

Besides, Hyunjin has plenty of other fangirls, if the group hanging off his every word are anything to go by. One girl who doesn't throw herself at his feet won't make a difference, Yeji thinks to herself. She scrunches her nose when they glance in her direction, and hopes they don't bother wasting their time trying to pick on her. Unfortunately, Yeji has no such luck.

       "Maybe you should stick to your schoolwork," says Im Dahye, one of the more competitive dancers on the rival team, coming to a stop in front of Yeji's self designated study area. Yeji's spoken to the girl outside of the competitive atmosphere, and she's nice enough most of the time, if a little blunt, but as soon as there's a prize to be won it's like a switch is flipped.

"Yeah, why don't you stick to math instead of trying to beat us all the time?" says another girl that Yeji doesn't know by name, but she's wearing a vicious smirk that would most likely send other girls running. Instead, Yeji gives them the most vicious glare she can muster, but Yeji is about as harmless as a puppy and they don't look intimidated in the slightest. One of them even has the nerve to kick at a pile of Yeji's worksheets, sending them flying across the floor.

"It's chemistry," Yeji says through gritted teeth, snatching her worksheets back. "Though I'm not surprised that it doesn't look familiar to you. You'd have to actually go to school to learn it." 

       She receives a glare far more vicious than her own in return for her statement, but Yeji doesn't really care, especially since Dahye takes that as a cue to start ushering away all the other girls that seem to follow her around like ducklings, leaving Yeji to study in peace.

       A shadow falls over her, only one figure left who has yet to walk away, and from just a glance at his shoes, Yeji knows that it's Hyunjin. She looks up at him, an eyebrow raised, ready for whatever teasing or attempt at flirting is no doubt about to come, but all he does is hold out one of Yeji's worksheets.

If it were anyone else, Yeji might be thankful. But since it's Hyunjin, Yeji only stares at him, positive that the boy must have some ulterior motive.

"Good luck on your maths test, cutie," is all Hyunjin says, an attractive smirk on his lips as he walks away.

"It's chemistry!"

Hyunjin ignores her.

Yeji's fuming by the time the dance competition ends. It doesn't help that for the first time this competition season, Cloud 9 comes second to Noir, and the smug grin on Hyunjin's face is enough to make Yeji want to slap him.

.

PIT-A-PAT / hwang hyunjin.
-PUPPYNIEL
[ JULY 8, 2019 ]