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the hallway was its usual chaotic mess—students weaving in and out, backpacks slung over shoulders, and lockers slamming shut. voices echoed off the high ceilings, and the early morning sunlight spilled through the windows, casting a soft golden hue over everything. it was just another school day for most people, but for yuwon, the thrill from the previous night still pulsed through her veins.
standing by her locker, she had to work hard to keep her expression neutral, though the corners of her lips kept twitching upward in amusement. beside her, jake was grinning ear to ear, clearly still riding the high from the race. yuwon glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, his cocky stance practically oozing, even if he wasn't the one that had raced, he liked how fear looked on heeseung's usually arrogant face.
"you should've seen him," jake said, barely able to keep a straight face. "he looked like he was about to throw up. i swear, heeseung had no idea what hit him."
yuwon grinned, biting her lip to keep from bursting out into another fit of laughter. "i know, right? i could see it in his eyes—pure panic. he probably thought he was gonna die."
jake shook his head, chuckling. "nah, for real though. i was standing there thinking, man, do i need to call an ambulance or something?'" yuwon's laugh was light, but there was a sly gleam in her eyes as she glanced over at jake. "well, i did let him go first, just to mess with him a little."
"and you messed with him hard" jake elbowed her playfully. "he's probably still trying to figure out how you beat him when you were literally behind him the whole time." his smile turned a little more mischievous as yuwon let out a quiet snicker, pressing her lips together to keep from laughing out loud. "you know, i wear that helmet all the time but when he looked over for a moment i had this dreadful feeling he would figure it out somehow and recognize me" she murmured, a playful glint in her eyes. "but nope—completely clueless."
"heeseung? figuring something out?" jake scoffed, rolling his eyes dramatically. "please, like he ever uses his brain" yuwon bit back another laugh, shaking her head. "you're terrible," she said, though there wasn't a hint of reprimand in her voice. she was just as bad, and they both knew it. "but hey, speaking of heeseung . . ." jake smirked yuwon raised an eyebrow, already sensing where this was going. "what about him?"
"you're not slick, yuwon," jake said, his tone teasing. "you totally enjoyed it. you didn't just want to scare him—you liked seeing him all rattled, huh?"
"me? enjoy it?" she put on an innocent face, widening her eyes as if the idea was ridiculous. "i was just racing. nothing personal." jake gave her a knowing look. "yeah, okay. but come on, you're always talking about how unbothered you are by him, yet you've got this. . . special focus when it comes to him. like, last night? you could've gone easy, but you didn't."
