ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ʜᴀᴛᴇ ᴍᴇ

1 | War At First Sight

ᴊᴜɴɢᴋᴏᴏᴋ | ᴘᴏᴠ

"Are we going to fall apart like Romeo and Juliet?" she cried, clutching her favorite pop-up book. She looked so cute, even in tears.

"No. I promise we'll meet again—not now, but soon," I said, patting her shoulder. She’d been crying for hours. We were sitting in the middle of a large garden, and it was spring. The morning sunlight shone brightly, and it was a good thing she was wearing a hat.

"But what if we don’t?" she cried, even harder this time.

"See this?" I removed my locket to show her. "You’re going to keep its key." I handed her the key, and she paused her crying, intrigued. "You’ll open this in the future, and after that, I’ll marry you," I assured her.

Time seemed to slow as she looked at me, her lips, her nose, her eyes...

"Young master, wake up!" Suddenly, I was jolted back to reality by Jongsuk Hyung’s voice.

"Yah! You almost gave me a heart attack!" I shouted, moving away from him as he started folding my blanket.

"Failing to wake up may lead to you arriving late to class," he said, opening the window.

"Because of you, I didn't see her face!" He always interrupts at the worst times.

"You’ve mentioned that every dream featuring her ends with you waking up just before you see her face. It’s something you repeat quite often." Clearly annoyed, he finished tidying up before pausing at the door. "Hurry up. You’re really late," he added before leaving.

This routine has been the start of every morning. He interrupts my dream of her, then tidies up and rushes me off as if I'm helplessly late. He's my dad's right-hand man. He doesn’t need to do this, but he does it anyway, no matter how many times I tell him to stop.

After getting ready, I reached the main gates where everyone was waiting as usual.

"Take care, Young Master Jungkook!" they all shouted in unison. Ugh, I hate this.

"Can you guys stop doing this? I’ve told you a million times—I don’t want to be the heir of the Jeon Gang." I was totally annoyed. I treat them like regular people, and I wish they'd treat me the same way.

"Aish, you’re saying it again. Given that you’re Master Jeon’s only son, naturally, you’re the designated successor," Jongsuk Hyung reasoned.

"And what’s happening here?" My dad appeared.

"Your son’s saying those things again," Jongsuk Hyung tattled. I swear, if he had to choose, he’d pick my dad over me every time.

"Just accept your fate, son. Also, come home earlier tonight—I have something to discuss with you." And as always, he left without waiting for my answer.

---

It’s spring. I love how the cherry blossoms bloom; it makes me feel like all my problems are gone. But of course, that feeling never lasts. I've been trying to shake off my father's men by wandering through the park, but Jongsuk Hyung brought half of the gang just to tail me. The fact that a bunch of shady-looking adults follow me everywhere might explain why my classmates avoid me.

"You guys even followed me here? What’s wrong with you people?" I could barely stand them anymore.

"I have a strong feeling about other gangs or mafias are lurking nearby." There he goes again with his ‘sixth sense.’

"Sensing gangs or mafias nearby isn’t a real skill. It’s nonsense because it can’t be proven scientifically. We should rely on facts, not intuition or feelings. It’s also unfair to judge people based on stereotypes." I tried to get them to see reason.