at shinhwa university, two students dominate their respective circles.
san, a popular and talented computer engineering major known for his chivalry and skill, and wooyoung, the arts student and outgoing gossip enthusiast who has his finger on the p...
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wooyoung had gotten the answer he'd expected—definitely not the one he'd wanted—and that was supposed to be a good thing. his expectations had proven to be reality, meaning there was no room for disappointment because he'd seen this coming from miles away.
the only problem was, he was, in fact, very dejected. he'd seen it coming, but that didn't mean he'd been prepared for the impact. because he hadn't been prepared, the events of last night—the not-so-cruel rejection—rushed through him with such speed that it could have been missed, had it not swallowed up a big part of him when it left.
now, wooyoung had come back down to earth after letting himself metaphorically float for days on end. his focus was back on his mission—find the gossip queen, and move on with his life. this was possibly the thousandth time he had come to that conclusion.
ever since san had entered his life, wooyoung had failed to be decisive. maybe he had always been like that?
he sighed, looking down at the list of names—san's rejects—on his laptop screen, clicking his pen in his right hand. he was fully aware that he was in a lecture room full of people, and the sound of his clicking pen clashing with the lecturer's voice wasn't something to be pleased about, but he couldn't care less. there was too much weighing on him to even care about important things like his carefully curated image.
rejection hurt.
it really did, and now wooyoung fully understood that. he was finally experiencing the turmoil of unrequited love, the way it haunted every waking thought. it was no pleasant experience. he hadn't been interested in san long enough to be heartbroken over the rejection, but he couldn't deny that he liked him enough for it to hinder him from carrying out his usual routine in peace.
at least he had been rejected kindly—hadn't he? whatever it was, it wasn't nearly as cruel as the way san had turned others down in the past, and for that, he was grateful. but even then, his usual "feel bad, feel better" strategy was failing. nothing worked as it should around san; wooyoung's deeply ingrained habits went haywire.
for the rest of the day, wooyoung decided to put off thinking about anything related to san, wondering whether he should keep liking him, even though san had refused to give him a green light. he was just going to go about his day as usual and focus on his mission.
but his mission involved san, which meant he inevitably had to think about him, whether he liked it or not. wooyoung's belief that the universe was always on his side turned out to be false—the universe, instead, seemed intent on setting him up for failure or humiliation.
and as if thinking about san wasn't bad enough, wooyoung was eventually forced to talk about him.
as soon as he stepped out of the arts faculty building after class, someone had been waiting for him, wearing an unpleasant look of knowing on their face.
