The Love Scandal ♪ Nishimura Riki

1 ♪ a losing debate

Chapter one

The outside temperature rises steadily, wiping away any distant memory left of winter. The woeful greys of winter clouds are swapped for saturated shades of green and orange. All signs of intemerate snow were covered up by bright sun rays. Additionally, the solemn look on people's faces during January was replaced with radiant smiles that competed against the sun itself. Along with that, school became just a tad bit more enjoyable.

Jihyun removed the headphones atop her head, hanging them around her neck as she sat in shock when the realization had dawned on her. She was going to be debating against Riki. It was a small piece of information emailed to her by the club leader-often times the moderator-but Jihyun had only just registered what it meant as she paused her song-right before she got to the chorus, too!

It was a belated realization and Jihyun was suddenly unsure if she even wanted to attend the club today. Granted she was nowhere near afraid of him, but Riki was different, he was a challenge. He was the same year as her, but his skill was like that of a sophomore already, or even better. He was practically the second-best debater on the team-right below Jihyun of course, and ironically, Jihyun never spoke to the guy.

She wasn't intimidated, but the task seemed so daunting all of a sudden. But at the same time, it was an even bigger opportunity to prove herself. Riki's good, Jihyun had heard him debate before, but was he better than her? Not quite. She was always first, always ahead, so Jihyun brushed her hair behind her shoulder and pretended to not look affected by her thoughts. Despite that, it had Rohee asking regardless.

"What's on your mind? You spacing out over there."

Jihyun looks over at her with a fixed expression. Only a tight smile of awkwardness and determination. She shakes her head. "Ah...it's nothing I'm just thinking about classes as per usual, y'know," She says, stretching her arms out.

Rohee raises her eyebrows comically and squints like she's assessing Jihyun on the spot. It's a bit exposing as she can see right through Jihyun's act as well as her words. She spreads her bangs around her face to keep them out of her eyes. "You're doing good though, no? I mean, I haven't heard you complain about your grades yet."

That was true, but at the same time, complaint or no complaint, there was always a reason for Jihyun to worry about her scoring. However, this time it was only a lie to get Rohee off of her case. Jihyun nodded. "Yeah. I am. All A's of course, but that doesn't mean I can't think about them. I'm constantly stressing over having them 90 and above."

Out of some sudden burst of relatability, Rohee groans loudly and slaps her hands against her cheeks before lying on the desk. "Bro, don't get me started. I am literally on the edge with anatomy. I have a 91 and we have one more grade going in after this I'm going to be on my A game-no pun intended."

Jihyun huffs a laugh through her nose. Anatomy is the only class Rohee talked about when talking to Jihyun over grades. It must be pretty troubling. Given Jihyun's assumption that the class was excessively labeled with hard-to-understand scientific terms, she stepped away from that major or minor altogether. But while at it, She decides to slip in the information while she can. "I'm debating against Riki today."

Rohee rears her head to look at her. Suddenly out of her ongoing mind rant about anatomy the moment Jihyun had spoken, her eyes full of surprise as they widened at the statement. "Woah, good luck."