Reflections ⋈ Jaehyun

5 ⨝ Powers

it gives jaehyun office romance au 

⋉ 5 ⋊

Pretending to get along with someone you had barely any connection to, let alone a happy memory with, proved to be quite challenging. So when Hye-jin had to decide what topic to talk about to get closer to Han, she settled on their only real similarity - their major. 

"Oh, I hated that class!" Hye-jin exclaimed in frustration as she thought back to a year ago. She wasn't particularly fond of reliving moments from that class, yet the little chat she was having with Han caused exactly that. 

Han shrugged. "It's not that bad," he commented and was even brazen enough to add,
"It's kinda easy." 

"'Easy'?" she repeated, appalled. "Wow. Are you some... genius or something?" 

"Maybe you are just extraordinarily dumb?" he countered snappily. 

Hye-jin raised a brow. "Rich coming from someone who is about to fail Research Design." 

It was a mix of confusion and surprise that made Seo-ah look up at Han in bewilderment. She put her spoon down as she asked in genuine concern, 

"How is it even possible to fail that?" She frowned slightly in worry. "Are you okay?"

"I am not failing it!" Han argued quickly. "They made us write a bunch of complicated texts there, that's difficult." 

"The texts are just a means to showcase that you understand citation rules and research practices," Hye-jin commented. "Meaning your text quality isn't really part of the grading process." 

"What do you know?" he muttered in return. "And anyway, how do you know that I am struggling with it?" 

"Because Mrs Lee asked me if I could tutor one of her students," Hye-jin explained. "But I declined once I figured out what the problem is." 

Han raised a brow. "And what is the problem?" 

"There is none," she deadpanned. "You just don't bother to learn the rules - or even just look them up." She shrugged. "That's nothing I can help with, so you don't need a tutor." 

Han scoffed and looked at Haru. "How are you friends with her?" 

"She's fun to be around," he commented. "She's also pretty nice." 

"Not to me." 

"I can tell," Haru agreed emptily, holding not much sympathy for the boy right now. He was still a little irritated after hearing that he had used his powers on her. 

Mark, after having excused himself for a moment, came back with a shy smile. He joined the group of strangers yet didn't bother to sit back down. 

"So uhm..." he began, laughing awkwardly. "I just talked to Taeyong and he asked if we could meet him at the office." 

Han pointed at himself as he asked, "You and me?" 

"Yeah and..." Mark turned to look at the girl that was watching quietly. "...Hye-jin too." 

"Oh?" she wondered in surprise yet wasn't hesitant in the slightest. She just nodded and looked at Seo-ah. Her friend smiled at her. 

"Have fun," she said but also added, "and be careful. Remember what you told me."

Hye-jin nodded right away. "Don't worry," she assured, while Mark and Han pretended like they understood what she meant. 

Haru, much like his sister, smiled at Hye-jin. "See you later."