Rank One (Park Sunghoon FF)

6

Juna stared at Sunghoon for a moment before following him off the bus, where they arrived in front of their friend's apartment. Juna immediately felt a rush of relief. This place felt more like home than her actual house did.

Juna turned to the boy next to her. "Thanks, Sunghoon. I thought you were going to leave me. I got so scared..."

Sunghoon's face remained expressionless. Juna almost groaned when she realized that he was back to his old self again. No more reactions.

Seriously, what's wrong with this guy? Is his reputation as the ice prince that important?

"Go in. It's cold." Sunghoon said shortly. Juna nodded

"I have to call Heeseung first," Juna found an excuse for him to stay a bit longer. He couldn't leave just yet. "Can you lend me your jacket?"

Sunghoon didn't even look shocked. This could partially be because he'd hear that same question every other day.

Damn, why can't you show emotions?

"I don't do that."

"Come on, I'm cold," Juna rubbed her arms.

"Go in and call Heeseung out," Sunghoon answered simply. He pulled out his phone and began typing on it as he walked away. Juna tried to call him but he never turned back, leaving her alone in front of the apartment.

"That jerk...how can anyone like him?" Juna blew a strand of hair out of her face as she rolled her eyes, kicking the dirt underneath her feet. However, a few seconds later, Heeseung ran out of the building. Juna saw how worried he was; his eyebrows were scrunched together. The first thing he did when he reached her was wrap a jacket around her.

"Heeseung!" Juna smiled. "How did you know I was here?"

"Sunghoon told me," Heeseung said, the frown still on his face as he gently grabbed Juna's shoulders and guided her into the building.

Juna snickered. "Sunghoon? I guess he's not as cold as he pretends to be..."

Heeseung hummed but harshly jabbed the elevator button. "Why did he bring you here?"

"My mom called."

Heeseung sighed as he waited for Juna to enter the elevator before following behind her. "What did she want?"

"She wanted me home."

"Do you want to go home?"

"No, but she's going to call the police if I don't. And I don't want to drag you or your mom into this. So I don't know. I don't really want to see either of my parents right now." Juna chewed on her lip as she contemplated what to do next.

"How about you stay here for a little and see what you want to do," Heeseung suggested, pulling her into a side hug. The elevator opened with a screech as they reached their floor. As they walked out, they passed a girl with a black hoodie and sweatpants running to catch the closing elevator doors behind them. Juna recognized her right away.

"Jang Boram?" She turned back but the doors were already closing. She looked at Heeseung. "She's your neighbor?"

"Yeah, she just moved in next door," Heeseung explained. "I heard she transferred to your class. She was in mine before."

Juna raised her eyebrows, interested in the topic. She was curious about the girl since she didn't seem like a talkative person. "Do you know why she switched?"

Heeseung nodded slowly and hesitantly answered. "She was being bullied by the girls in our class and EN-High didn't want to cause a huge commotion and lose its reputation so they decided to just let her move classes."

Juna gasped. She understood what it was like to be mistreated. "And what about the girls? Did anything happen to them?"

Heeseung shrugged as he unlocked the door to the studio. "Not sure, but I don't think they were punished or anything. Their parents are all influential people. The school can't afford to lose its partners."

"What about you? Did you at least try to stop them?" Juna paused, refusing to enter the house before hearing his answer. Heeseung pressed his lips together and tried to tug on her arm but she didn't budge. "Heeseung? You helped her like you helped me, right?"

"Juna, if I could've helped her then she wouldn't have moved." He had a face of guilt.

"Heeseung! Why didn't you at least try?"

"Juna, you know it's not a good idea to mess with the rich students."

"It's not like they would do anything to you!"

"How do you know that?" Heeseung started to raise his voice - which was rare for him. "Juna, I know what they're capable of. If they tell their parents, me and my mom are done for. It's not as simple as just helping a bullied girl."

Juna chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Heeseung...Boram probably had such a hard time..."

"I know. And I feel sorry I couldn't do anything."

"I want to go home."

Heeseung froze at her words. He grabbed her hands and ran his thumbs across the back of them. "Are you mad at me?"

"No. But now I know how much you don't want your mom to get in trouble. So I'm doing what's best for you." Juna gently pulled her hands away. "I'll see you tomorrow, Heeseung." She started to turn away from the door but Heeseung ran in front of her.

"Do you want me to go with you? I can-"

"No. Just let me be. Like what you did with Boram."

Heeseung took a deep breath, looking frustrated. He ran a hand through his hair and clenched his jaw. "So you are mad about that. I explained it to you, Juna. What more do you want?"

Juna looked down at the tiled floor and thought about her next words. She knew it wasn't going to be the nicest thing to say but at that moment, she just had to say it. "Nothing, Heeseung. Nothing from you."

She could hear her best friend exhale forcefully and knew that he was getting mad, but she completely did not expect the next words he was going to say.

"Yesterday. When you asked me how to make someone fall in love..."

He ruffled the back of his hair harshly and Juna looked up at his pained face.

No, no, why are you bringing this up now?

"Heeseung...you said you wouldn't ask about it."

"So it's not me."

"Heeseung..."

He looked away and swallowed before looking back down at Juna, his gaze cold and bitter.

"Do you like Park Sunghoon?"

-

"Say no. Say no. Say no. The answer has to be no."

Lee Heeseung