Rank One (Park Sunghoon FF)

31

As usual, Sunghoon's stepmom greeted them with a warm smile at the gates of the big mansion he lived in. Though Juna wasn't sure if she was faking it or not. From what she saw, his stepmother seemed to be a nice woman but from what Sunghoon described, she secretly had ill intentions. But regardless, Juna gave a small bow and still greeted her respectfully.

Sunghoon's dad hardly ever stepped outside of his room, much to Juna's relief. When he did, he only stared at her disapprovingly before moving on with his life. Sunghoon explained that his dad's health had deteriorated so he'd calmed down a lot compared to his normal state.

"Are you sure you don't want to have dinner with us, Juna?" His stepmother asked the same question every time Juna came. She always refused, however, because she had to be home by six or her parents would think she was lying about studying.

"My parents would probably want me to eat with them," Juna lied with a smile. "But thank you. Maybe some other time."

Before his stepmother could say anything else, Sunghoon grabbed her hand and pulled her upstairs to his room. He shut it with an annoyed sigh.

"Every time I see her...it annoys the hell out of me," he complained.

"But she seems nice," Juna said. "Are you sure you're not misunderstanding her? I think she's trying."

"Trust me, I know," Sunghoon said firmly, rubbing his temples. "Her and her son. They just want the money."

"But-"

Sunghoon quickly cut her off. "Let's not talk about this anymore. Focus on us."

Us. Us?

That simple word caused Juna's face to heat up and she cleared her throat in embarrassment. "Do you want to study for the exam tomorrow for a bit?"

Sunghoon smiled and led her to sit down at his desk. "You can do that. I'll watch you."

Juna hit his shoulder lightly. "No, what? If you're not going to study then you're going to help me."

Sunghoon happily agreed and they put on their serious mindset, actually studying for tomorrow's exam. Despite him helping her with the material, Juna could tell that he was distracted by something. He would stare at her or lick his lips once in a while, causing Juna to have to snap her finger in front of his face every few seconds to snap him out of his daze. 

"Are you okay? You seem distracted." Juna spoke up about it after she had to get his attention for the hundredth time. "Were you even listening to me?"

"What? Yeah, I was." Sunghoon answered quickly, his hand going to rub the nape of his neck.

"What did I just say?"

Sunghoon's mouth opened and closed again before he decided on an answer he knew would piss her off. "You asked if I was listening to you."

Juna reached out and flicked his forehead. She knew it didn't hurt but he still reacted dramatically. He let out a groan and rubbed his forehead as if trying to wipe off ink from his skin. It made Juna question herself for a second.

"Did I actually hurt you?" She asked.

Sunghoon chuckled at her question and shook his head. "Nope. But I'm glad you asked."

Juna couldn't help but smile at him.

Cute.

A buzz from her phone made them both jump. Juna flipped her phone over to see that it was Boram. After what she told Sunghoon, she had been hanging out with Juna less and less. Boram had no idea Juna knew that she snitched and Juna didn't confront her about it, wanting the girl to reveal the truth herself. But that never happened. 

Sunghoon let out a scoff like every time he did when Boram appeared. Juna could tell how much he hated Boram. He even snapped back to the teacher in front of the whole class (which was rare for a quiet and reserved guy like him) until he could switch out of the seat next to Boram.

"What does she want now?" Sunghoon said.

Juna shrugged and shook her head dismissively. "I don't know. Probably just something about school. Did you know she's rank three?"

"I honestly couldn't care less."

"She's right behind me, you know." Juna frowned, sitting back and crossing her arms.

Sunghoon raised an eyebrow like he didn't know what he was trying to say. "Yeah? So what about it?"

Juna pressed a hand to her forehead and sank down in her seat. "I don't know...I'm scared she might, well, do better than me on these exams. And I really don't want my rank to drop."

Sunghoon gently removed the hand on her face and wrapped his hands around hers. "It's not going to. You're doing nothing but disappointing yourself when you say that. And look, I know I'm not the best person to say this but so what if you drop a rank or two? You still have next year to make up for it. I mean, I'm not saying it's going to happen. I just want you to stop stressing yourself out."

"Thanks, Sunghoon. But when you're rank one, do you really understand how I feel?"

Sunghoon looked taken aback when she kept pushing the topic. And this wasn't the first time she had acted like this about grades or ranks. "Why are you so hung up on that, Juna? It's not good for you. Ranks aren't everything."

"They are to me."

Sunghoon took a deep breath as if to stop himself from saying what was on his mind before slowly talking again. "Okay. I get it. Let's keep studying then."

-

Juna woke up to Sunghoon pressing a kiss to her forehead. He smiled at her as she rubbed her eyes, trying to wipe away the drowsiness.

"It's almost time to go," he informed her, brushing back her messy hair gently.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier? And how did I even fall asleep?" Juna frowned, trying to recollect her memories of how she went from studying to slumping on the desk.

Sunghoon shrugged. "I was showing you logarithms but when I turned to look at you, you were asleep. You were tired. I couldn't wake you up. Besides, you need all the sleep you can get for tomorrow."

Juna gave him a small smile before standing up. "I better get going then."

Sunghoon seemed surprised and clumsily stood up after her, stumbling and grabbing the edge of his desk for support. He then cleared his throat and straightened himself. "One thing before you leave..."

"Hm?"

Sunghoon didn't reply but slowly licked his lips and brought one hand up to cup her face and the other rested on her waist. Juna gasped when he pulled her closer, his face almost touching hers. His eyes flicked down to her lips and back up to her eyes again, searching for permission. 

He's going to kiss me.

What now?