Rank One (Park Sunghoon FF)

5

Ahn Juna and Park Sunghoon sat awkwardly together at the bus stop. Juna was fiddling with the hem of her uniform skirt and Sunghoon was scrolling mindlessly on his phone. Finally, Juna thought of something to say.

"Can I have your number?"

Sunghoon looked up at her for a second before handing his phone to her. "Type yours in." He looked away uncomfortably.

"By the way, do you know who that other girl in our group is? Jang Boram?" Juna asked as she handed his phone back to him after saving her contact name with a heart emoji. She shut his phone off so he wouldn't see what she did until later. She even cringed at her actions but you gotta do what you gotta do. Maybe this would leave a stronger impression on him.

"No. She's never approached me before." Sunghoon shrugged.

"Oh, please. You don't even remember the girls who approach you, much less girls who don't." Juna rolled her eyes at him. 

"Yeah, what's your name again?"

"You're kidding."

"I'm really not." He raised his hands.

"I really hate you, Park Sunghoon."

Sunghoon fell quiet for a whole minute. Then he suddenly laughed. For the first time around Juna. Usually, he would only laugh when he was with his friends.

"You're the first person who's said that to me. Sounds foreign."

Juna stood up as she noticed his bus making a stop in front of them. "I'm honored, Sunghoon." 

He stood up and followed her and the bus doors opened. Juna was about to pay the bus fare for both of them but Sunghoon grabbed her arm, stopping her from swiping her card.

"Juna. It's on me."

A smirk spread across her face. "I thought you didn't remember my name."

"Can you just shut up?" Sunghoon said as he swiped the card quickly and ushered her to go find a seat. She laughed and walked to the end of the bus, where there were two empty seats. She took the one next to the window. Sunghoon plopped down on the seat next to hers.

Suddenly, Juna felt a buzz from her phone. She smiled when she saw that it was a text from Heeseung.

Heeseung: You okay? Sunghoon's still with you right?

Juna: Yep. We're on the bus to his house right now. 

Heeseung: He's taking care of you?

Juna: I'm taking care of myself. But don't worry too much. Sunghoon's not bad to be around.

Heeseung: I see. That's good. Well, if your parents give you a hard time later today, call me and I'll be there.

Juna: Thanks, Heeseung! I will.

"Heeseung?" Sunghoon glanced over at her phone. Juna quickly turned off her phone and nodded. "And you two are...?"

"Friends. We've been close friends since we were kids." Juna made sure to clarify that she was available so he could go for her if he was already interested, which she highly doubted. "Are you and him close? You two are in the same friend group, after all."

"Not the closest but we talk."

They fell quiet again. Juna mentally bickered with herself for not being able to hold up a conversation with someone she was trying to get to like her. Still not saying anything, she slowly looked at Sunghoon and observed his features - the tiny movements when he breathed. His skin was fair, his eyes were complimented by his thick and attractive eyebrows, and his dark black hair fell over the sides of his face, framing it. Juna caught herself staring for way too long. And Sunghoon did, too. 

Without looking at her, he smirked. "I thought you'd be different. Seems like you're mesmerized by me, too?"

Juna shook her head and snapped out of her little daze. "What? No. You're just delusional. Not every girl on this planet has a crush on you."

Sunghoon looked at her, that arrogant smirk still on his face. "Then what were you looking at, hm?"

"You have something in your hair."

"What?" Sunghoon was caught off guard by her reasoning.

Juna stood up and leaned down, one hand gripping the seat in front of her and the other hand on Sunghoon's shoulder for support. She blew imaginary dust off his hair before sitting down and smiling innocently as if she didn't just try to give him butterflies.

"Now it's gone."

Sunghoon looked at her, almost confused. He was probably questioning her actions. One moment, she didn't seem interested in him - or even hated him, but the next, she acted like she liked him. 

Juna grinned as Sunghoon swiped a hand through his hair in frustration. She was just glad to get a reaction out of the school's ice prince. 

"You can't just do that, you know," Sunghoon said after a while. "It's-"

His words got cut off when Juna's phone rang. Her mother. Of course, it was her mother. She called Juna after midnight a bunch of times the night she stayed at Heeseung's, but Juna let her phone die so her mother couldn't reach her. Now there was no excuse. She was going to have to return home that night.

Juna's hand started shaking by impulse and she glanced nervously at Sunghoon. 

Oh right, he's not Heeseung. He doesn't know...

"What's wrong?" he frowned as he noticed the petrified look on Juna's face. Anyone could've seen how scared she looked. 

"Sunghoon...my mom..." Juna showed him her phone. He had a puzzled look on his face so she forced herself to say more. "I'm scared of her."

His eyes softened. "Is there a reason?"

Juna nodded.

"Can you tell me?" He asked, his tone gentler than before.

Juna shook her head. She wasn't ready to tell Sunghoon, someone she barely knew, about a shameful thing she'd been keeping a secret from everyone, except Heeseung and now his mom.

"I didn't go home yesterday. And now I don't know what to say to her." Juna said the bare minimum for Sunghoon to understand the situation.

"Do you need my help?"

"Can you pretend to be Heeseung? Can you tell my mom that I'm not going home today?"

"Heeseung?"

"I stayed at his house last night."

Sunghoon looked at Juna for a bit, contemplating. Then before the incoming call could've ended, Sunghoon grabbed her phone a bit harshly from her grasp.

Juna flinched when she heard her mother's voice even though the call wasn't on speaker. She heard every word. Every insult. She bit her lip and held back tears.

"Miss, Juna won't be coming home tonight. And if you keep talking to her like this, I might just keep her here with me." Sunghoon snapped, his voice harsher than Heeseung's but Juna's mom wouldn't be able to notice that.

Juna could hear her mother screaming back. "LEE HEESEUNG! Bring her back home this second! I will call the cops if she's not here in thirty minutes."

Sunghoon looked at Juna to see what she thought of the situation. She quickly motioned for him to hang up. Hastily, he pressed the red button before any more words could be heard and dropped the phone onto her lap before getting up, just as the bus came to a stop.

Juna's eyes widened. Was he leaving her?

She reached a hand out and grabbed his arm. "Sunghoon."

He turned back with a raised brow. "What? You're not getting off?"

"Huh? I thought you lived-"

"It's Heeseung's house."

-

"Why am I being so nice to her? This can't happen again."

Park Sunghoon