aurum | ko kyung-jun

[4]

In her mind, Mi-Sun had always been an ordinary student.

Waking up at 6 o'clock. Getting to school by 7. Studying. Lunch with friends. More studying. More studying at her hagwon. Going home. Going to sleep.

Repeat.

Mi-Sun's life had always been rooted in routines. With her military dad and absent mother, she often stayed by herself and had to learn how to do things herself.

Buying groceries.

Cooking.

Cleaning.

Getting to school on time.

Mi-Sun soon learned how to be a fully functional adult when she was only in middle school. Taking responsibility came naturally to her.

She hardly participated in school drama, just keeping her head low and getting through her school day. And thats how it was- up until she met Ko Kyung-Jun.

Ko Kyung-Jun was undoubtedly the complete opposite to Mi-Sun- a bully, delinquent and always rude and dismissive towards their teachers. The two of them hadn't really ever talked to one another as there was no reason to. The two knew of each other being classmates, but thats as far as it went: classmates. Soon that would change, only two months before the class retreat.

***

Kim Mi-Sun and An Na-Hee were walking side by side, the both of them shivering from the cold February weather, talking amongst themselves. They were going to have their lunch break outside, the both of them having brought their own lunch from home. Though Mi-Sun would have rather stayed inside, Nahee had convinced her to come outside and get some fresh air.

Mi-Sun quickly fastend the brown buttons on her beige coat and followed her friend on the way to the roof terrace which featured two benches, when she heard a loud familiar voice.

"What did you just say to me? Repeat that one more time," she heard Jang Hyun-Ho's aggravated voice. She was surprised as the Hyun-Ho she knew from the various spirts competitions was not someone she would have expected to start a fight.

She slowed down her steps, her hand gripping Na-Hee coat as she looked into the alley on her right. Ko Kyung-Jun stood nose-to-nose with Hyun-Ho, a mocking smirk on his lips as his two lackeys flanked his sides.

„You heard me: Congrats on making it to the nationals," he said before tikting his head to the side and laughing slightly, "Oh right- you didn't make it, did you? Sorry." Mi-Sun's shoulders tensed at his mocking attitude towards her fellow athlete.

Only a few days prior had Mi-Sun and the basketball players in her class gone to the biggest city in the district to qualify for the nationals. It was quite a big deal, as the next stage would be going international, which would surely open up great future paths for the athletes. The biggest letdown however was, when the Yooil High School's basketball team barely lost to another school, disqualifying them. Though Mi-Sun was happy as she had succeeded herself, that happiness soon dissolved when she saw her disappointed friends Jang Hyun-Ho and Kim Dong-Hyun. The two quick-witted friends who were always eager to tease her at any given time seemed to have had the life sucked out off them.

While Mi-Sun was normally protective of her friends anyways, the picture if Hyun-Ho silently crying on the bus back home made Mi-Sun feel like she was on fire as she watched the two boys start to push each other back.

Though Hyun-Ho was by himself, he didn't consider backing down as he stood in front of Kyung-Jun glowering right back at him.

Mi-Sun felt her heartbeat rise as the adrenalin pumped through her veins. "YAH!," she shouted as she stormed down the alleyway towards the four boys, making them stop in surprise.

Mi-Sun stopped in front of the four before placing her hand on Hyun-Ho's shoulder and softly pushing him away as she took over his position in front of Kyung-Jun.

"What exactly are you trying to do right now?"

Kyung-Jun, who had a surprised expression couldn't help but falter at the close proximity to the girl. Mi-Sun was able to see the surprise for a split second before he covered it up with the provocative smirk he always had on his face.

"Why? I was just going to congratulate my classmate. Whats wrong with that?"

Mi-Sun looked up at the tall boy with an unamused expression as she took another step forward in an attempt to intimidate the bully.

"Don't fuck with me. You know exactly what you're doing. Stop this now and apologize to Hyun-Ho." Her head turned to her left as she looked past Kyung-Jun at Shin Seung-Bin. "Besides, at least they made the team at all, no?"

The platinum blonde thought he didn't hear her correctly as he aggressively approached Mi-Sun from beside Kyung-Jun. "Shibal, what did you just say to me?"

Na-Hee who had followed her friend began pulling her back as she grew nervous in face of the two notorious bullies. Though she hadn't heard of them hitting girls, from the way Seung-Bin was looking at her friend she thought they might make an exception for Misun.

Similarly Hyun-Ho, while he was very flattered that his friend was defending him, took a step forward standing right next to her, prepared to physically protect her.

"You heard me." Mi-Sun didn't let the blonde intimidate her as he stepped closer to her.

Meanwhile Kyung-Jun was speechless at the girl in front of him. Kim Mi-Sun wasn't someone he didn't know.

Mi-Sun was known for her beauty not only in their class or school but all across the city. Often boys from other schools would skip the last period of school lounge in front of Yooil High School and sneak a glance at Kim Misun.

Kyung-Jun would be lying if he said that he didn't think of her as attractive, however as she bravely stood in front of him on that cold winter day, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat for the first time ever. Kyung-Jun was entranced at the petite girl in front of him, her cheeks rosy because of the cold and eyes fiercely glinting. He couldn't stand the tension anymore as he felt his own cheeks heat up -not because of the cold.

"Whatever," Mi-Sun could only catch his red ears as he had already turned around and walked away swiftly to leave the scene. His two friends could only exchange confused glances at one another before they sent the three friends nasty glares and followed Kyung-Jun's suit.

The remaining three friends were surprised to see Kyung-Ju let this matter go that easily as they carefully watched the three disappearing behind the corner. "What was that?," Hyun-Ho almost couldn't believe his eyes. Mi-Sun's brows were furrowed as her eyes were still glued to the spot the three had disappeared at.

"No idea, let's just be grateful this didn't get out of hand."

***

Following that incident, Mi-Sun went back to her routine.

Waking up at 6 o'clock. Getting to school by 7. Studying. Lunch with friends. More studying. More studying at her hagwon. Going home. Going to sleep.

Repeat.

But for Kyung-Jun everything had changed. He would find himself staring at the girl more often than not. And whenever Mi-Sun accidentally met his gaze his head would spin at the sight of her almond-shaped eyes. It got to the point where his friends found out about his litte crush, not missing a single chance to tease him.

Kyung-Jun couldn't deny is it any longer, he was down bad for Kim Mi-Sun.

***

And Mi-Sun would be a fool if she didn't notice the intense stares the raven-haired boy sitting in the last row was sending her at seemingly every moment. She was confused at his act.

Where was the retaliation for crossing him?

Mi-Sun felt uneasy at that thought and did her best to keep her eyes on her maths exercises while the boy kept his on her.

***
This is part I of their background story, the next part is coming tomorrow :3

Have a nice week <3