Knew You Were Trouble | KAZUJIN

Chapter 2: Unnoticed

Yunjin couldn't get the new girl out of her head. It wasn't just that Kazuha had brushed her off so casually—Yunjin was used to being flirtatious and receiving at least some kind of reaction, even if it was just an eye-roll. But Kazuha had treated her like she was a passing thought, someone not worth remembering. It was driving Yunjin crazy.

The next morning, Yunjin strolled into school later than usual, her red hair loosely tied back and a pair of sunglasses perched on her head. Her friends fell into step beside her, joking and laughing, but Yunjin's eyes scanned the hallway, searching for any sign of Kazuha. The mystery of her disinterest was starting to feel like a puzzle Yunjin was determined to solve.

Meanwhile, Kazuha was seated in her history class, flipping through her notes with focused determination. Her first week at this new school had been an overwhelming blur of faces and voices, but she refused to fall behind in her studies. Despite being reserved, she loved diving deep into subjects that interested her, and history was one of them. The past fascinated her, and she had a tendency to get lost in facts and stories, sharing her knowledge if anyone bothered to listen.

"Kazuha, right?" A voice interrupted her concentration, and she looked up to see a classmate smiling at her. "We're doing a group project on the Civil War. Want to join our group?"

Kazuha nodded, her relief evident. "Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." She packed her things and followed the classmate to the back of the room, where a group was already forming. As they began discussing the project, Kazuha found herself speaking more freely, her voice gaining confidence as she shared her thoughts. It felt good to engage, to contribute to something, even if she still felt a little out of place.

Elsewhere in the school, Yunjin was in the gym, going through drills with her basketball team. But her focus wasn't on the court. Every so often, she'd catch herself wondering if Kazuha was somewhere nearby, thinking about how her dark eyes had stayed so calm, how her voice hadn't even wavered when she'd turned Yunjin down.

"Captain! You with us?" One of her teammates snapped her out of her reverie, and Yunjin groaned, running a hand through her hair.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm here," she muttered, grabbing the ball and taking her position. But even as she moved through the drills, her mind wandered. How was it possible for someone to just... ignore her?

By lunchtime, Yunjin's curiosity had only grown stronger. She made her way to the cafeteria, her usual swagger intact. She spotted Kazuha sitting with a few of the cheerleaders, her head bent over a book while the others chatted and laughed around her. Yunjin couldn't help but stare, trying to figure out what it was about Kazuha that kept drawing her in.

"Hey, Yunjin," one of the basketball team members called out, waving her over to their table. Yunjin hesitated, then sauntered over, but she chose a seat with a clear view of Kazuha. She wasn't sure why she was so invested in this game of watching and wondering. Maybe it was the way Kazuha seemed so unaffected by everything around her. Maybe it was how Yunjin felt an unfamiliar sense of... insignificance, like she didn't matter at all in Kazuha's world.

Her friends noticed her distraction and nudged her playfully. "Who's got your attention?" one of them teased.

Yunjin didn't answer. Instead, she leaned back in her chair, her eyes narrowing slightly. "Just a puzzle I haven't solved yet," she murmured, more to herself than to anyone else.

Across the room, Kazuha finally looked up from her book, catching Yunjin's gaze for the briefest moment. But instead of acknowledging her, Kazuha simply closed her book and turned back to her friends, completely unaware of the storm she was stirring in Yunjin's mind.

Yunjin wasn't one to dwell on someone who didn't immediately give her the attention she craved. If Kazuha wouldn't play along with her charm, then she'd simply move on to someone else—or at least, that's what she kept telling herself.