parallels | baewoo

parallels

jiwoo was sitting with her friends in the cafeteria.
she fidgetted with her fingers, feeling bored.

"jiwoo? are you listening?"
kyujin snapped her fingers, getting the other's attention.
"uh, huh? yeah."
she said dryly.

she, indeed, was not.
she had been looking at a particular person.

"HAHHAHA THAT'S SO FUNNY."
the obnoxiously loud person exclaimed from across the cafeteria.
she turned to her side, making eye contact with jiwoo.
immediately, a mischievous smirk formed on her face.

"well well well, look who it is. kim jiwoo."
she began walking towards the table jiwoo was sitting at.
jiwoo looked away, pretending not to notice her.

"hey, we're skipping school tomorrow, wanna join us?"
the other asked.
"oh wait, i forgot. miss perfect would never do such a thing!"
she continued, not giving jiwoo a chance to even reply.
she was clearly taunting the younger girl.

"what do you want, bae jinsol?"
she glared at the taller girl, who had blonde streaks in her short hair.

bae jinsol, who was one year old than jiwoo, was the notorious for being a troublemaker and absolutely obnoxious in JYP high school. although she was undoubtedly attractive, most people were terrified of hanging out with her despite having crushes on her.
kim jiwoo on the other hand, who was one year younger than jinsol, was completely in parallel to her. she was the school's beauty queen, with looks akin to a princess's and she always maintained good grades. many female and male students have had crushes on her, resulting in her locker being filled with love letters at the end of the week.
jinsol always relished bothering and teasing jiwoo, making jiwoo annoyed everytime they interact.
jiwoo had vowed that she would never ever like someone like bae jinsol.

"nothing. just admiring your looks, is all. you are the prettiest, after all."
jinsol simply said.
jiwoo scoffed.

"don't tease me."
she said in a sharp tone.
"am i really?"
jinsol chuckled, giving her a wink before turning to leave.

"oh her again..."
kyujin frowned.
"yep, she's so annoying. ugh."
jiwoo rolled her eyes.
but deep down, a fluttery feeling engulfed her insides.

"who's going to be volunteering for the 100-metre dash?"
the teacher asked loudly.
unsurprisingly, no one raised their hand.
she sighed, before looking at a certain student.
"kim jiwoo, how about you?"

what happened after became a blur.
it had been settled.
jiwoo was to represent the class for the 100-metre dash during the sports carnival.

"good luck, jiwoo! you can do it!"
sullyoon gave her junior a pat on the back as she had her other arm around kyujin's shoulder.

jiwoo got in her position.
she was focused on the race.
suddenly, a certain short-haired girl watching her while holding a bottle of water caught her eye.

bang!
the gun had been fired.
everyone started running, taking jiwoo by surprise as she started a second later, but luckily caught up to them.

she felt her stamina about to deplete towards the end of the dash but bae jinsol was staring at her with a firm look as if to say: 'you have to win.'
she gave a final dash towards the finish line, clinching the gold medal for her class.

"YES! I KNEW YOU COULD DO IT, JIWOO!"
kyujin ran excitedly to the exhausted girl as sullyoon smiled brightly at her from afar whilst strolling over.

while kyujin was absolutely squeezing the air out of her with a tight hug, jiwoo saw jinsol from afar giving her a small yet genuine smile before turning away.