╰┈➤ ❝ [ I wounded the good and I trusted the wicked ] ❞

IT WAS EXAM DAY AND KIM JI-AN WAS BOTH NERVOUS AND DETERMINED. After talking with Chin-sun the night before, she went to her room and studied some more, feeling her anxiety build up at the thought of failing the exams. She was confident of every subject, but she was still having some trouble with fixing the mistake Lee Su-ho had pointed out on the math stuff. So, she'll have to trust herself and hope for the best.

With an iced coffee on one hand, and her phone on the other, Ji-an read over her notes, having taken a picture of them the night before to make it easier to review them. She was so concentrated on her notes that she didn't notice the staircase nearing her path, if it hadn't been for someone pulling her back by her backpack, she would've fell down the stairs. She stumbled back into the person's chest, almost dropping her cup of iced coffee.

"Sweetheart, how many times do I have to keep saving you from falling until you actually pay attention to your surroundings?" Han Seo-jun asked, a smirk on his lips as he stared down at her.

Ji-an turned to face him. "Apparently, not enough times."

Seo-jun wrapped his arm around her shoulder as they walked down the stairs. They were outside of the school grounds, making their way to their first class. "Have you studied for the exams?" Seo-jun asked, before realizing what he said. "Scratch that, that was a dumb question. Of course, you've studied."

The girl raised an eyebrow at him. "What is that supposed to mean?"

He matched her expression, finding her question unnecessary. "When have you never studied for an exam?" He mentioned and when the girl stayed silent, he nodded to himself moving his attention to the path in front of them. "Exactly."

Ji-an took a sip of her coffee. "I actually care about my grades, not like you." She placed her phone on the pocket of her uniform blazer, knowing she would not be able to study with Seo-jun talking to her. "You never study. I'm surprised you haven't been held back already when all you do is sleep in class."

Han Seo-jun chuckled, letting a smug expression form in his face. He honestly could not be bothered by it. "I care about my grades when I'm actually failing, but why would I need to study when marking all my answers as number three always gives me a passing grade?"

The girl frowned. "You still do that?" She let out a sound of disbelief. "How does that even work?"

Seo-jun shrugged, not having an answer either. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that it's effective. You should try it on the questions you don't know."

She considered his words and gave him a nod. "I might actually do that." She padded his cheek with a smile. "Thanks."

"I'm really the best boyfriend, aren't I?" He asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves now."

For the most part, the exams actually went smoother than Ji-an expected. Doesn't mean she didn't struggle with her math test, but she still did pretty decently. There were moments where she had to follow Seo-jun's advice and pick number three because the questions were just too confusing. Two days after, the results for the exams came. To Ji-an's disappointment, her math grade didn't change as much as she would've liked to. But her rank still remained as third so at least that was good. 

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

Kim Ji-an smiled at the camera, posing while lying on the ground, her dark brown hair prettily curled as it lay behind her in perfect waves. A light purple dress was adorning her frame, the material nice and silky. There were multiple cameras around her, the bright lights of the studio a little blinding but nothing she wasn't already used to. The director of the ad spoke from behind her as the photographer continued filming her. "You're doing amazing, Kim Ji-an. Just one last smile to the camera on your far left and we are done." The girl did as instructed, successfully finishing her first shoot after so long of not modeling.

She raised to her feet, proceeding to be bombarded with compliments about how well she did. The girl could only thank them, smiling proudly at their praises. It felt really nice to be appreciated for her work.

The director of the ad approached the girl with a huge grin on his face. "That's was absolutely perfect. We will be contacting you soon so you can see the finishing look of the ad before it's released to the public."

Kim Ji-an nodded returning his smile. "Thank you, it was a pleasure working with you."

"Oh, no the pleasure is mine. Believe me. Don't be surprised if you see me again for another ad." With that being said, the man left.

Ji-an was ushered away by the stylists as they had to make sure nothing happened to the dress and accessories she wore. Once, Ji-an was back on her normal clothes she left the building, quickly making her way to the closest bus stop. She had asked Soo-ah, Soo-jin, and Jug-yeong to come help her buy a dress for the upcoming party Lee Joo-heon, Su-ho's father, was hosting. There were still two weeks left before the date of the party but Ji-an wanted to find her dress as quick as possible. Those type of events were very fancy and Ji-an didn't have a dress that really matched the vibe.

Taking the bus, it didn't take longer than five minutes for her to arrive at the mall. Walking inside, she immediately spotted her friends. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey!" They greeted, before they took notice of their friend's appearance. Soo-ah's jaw dropped, blinking more than necessary. "Wow, you look amazing, Ji-an."

Jug-yeong nodded her expression pretty much the same. "Your make up is literally flawless."

"The make up? Look at her hair. It's so perfect that it looks fake." Soo-jin said, as she also admired the girl.

Kim Ji-an smiled bashfully at their words. "Don't be so dramatic. I just came from filming an ad comercial that's why I look like this." She explained. "But thank you."

Soo-ah squealed, interlacing her arm with Ji-an's. "You're so cool for that. Don't we have the coolest friend ever?" She asked, looking at Soo-jin and Jug-yeong making the other two nod in agreement.

Ji-an shook her head but there was still a smile on her face. "Come on, we have a dress to buy."

They all made their way to the store. It was a rather fancy one, the dresses not being too affordable but it was the best store for the kind of stuff Ji-an was looking for. She was paying it with her money too, so she had the right to choose whatever she liked.

"Do you have something in mind?" Jug-yeong asked as they entered the store and began looking at the variety of items.

"I was thinking of a dark color palette. I don't really care about the color as long as it's dark. I like the elegant look it gives." Ji-an explained.

Soo-ah hummed, letting her friend know she had heard her before her face light up once she remembered something. "Oh, I forgot to tell you guys there's actually a party happening tomorrow night at Song Min-gi's house. Do you remember him? I think he was in the same class as your brother, Ji-an. He's tall, with deep voice, and really handsome."

Kim Ji-an, nodded. "Yeah, I do remember Min-gi."

"Anyways, It's a celebration party for Hyung-gin's big win. Tae-hoon and I are going." Soo-ah responded.

Jug-yeong frowned, "I won't be able to go. I promised my mom I would help her on the store."

Soo-ah pouted, not wanting Jug-yeong to miss out. "You can't help your mom some other day? Hyung-gin is actually hoping you'll come." She wiggled her eyebrows. "He seems to really like you."

Jug-yeong blushed and shook her head with an apologetic smile. Soo-ah turned to Soo-jin hoping her other friend would say yes. "What about you Soo-jin?"

"I can't go. My dad placed a curfew on me because of the scores I got on the tests." Soo-jin revealed. It was obvious the girl didn't want to go too deep on the subject, so nobody decided to press on the matter. They knew how rocky Soo-jin's relationship with her family was.

Soo-ah's last hope was Ji-an. "Come on, please tell me you can go."

Ji-an grimaced, not knowing what to do. "I don't know. You know I'm not much of a party person."

"Please, Ji-an you have to go!" Soo-ah pleaded, at this point she just wanted to have at least one of her friends with her. "You'll have fun!"

Kim Ji-an sighed, "I'll think about it. I'll let you know if I'm going tomorrow."

Soo-ah squealed and embraced her friend. "Okay!"

Following Ji-an's words, they all began looking for the perfect dress. Each girl grabbed a dress that they thought would look good on Ji-an, including the girl herself, and once they had them, Ji-an went into the changing room to begin trying out the dresses. The first one was the one Soo-ah had chosen. It was long just like they all had agreed on, knowing long dresses was the way to go for a more elegant look. It was a sparkly navy blue dress with spaghetti straps. The dress fitted Ji-an perfectly, hugging her curves in all the right places. She stood in front of the large mirror and gave a small twirl. "What do you guys think?"

"It looks really good!" Jug-yeong said, as she stared at the girl wondering how could someone be so pretty.

"I knew I have good taste. That dress looks perfect on you." Soo-ah said, staring proudly at the dress she had chosen.

Soo-jin scanned Ji-an's appearance. "It does look amazing on you, but I feel like it's a little simple."

Soo-ah turned to Soo-jin feeling offended. "Hey! Why do you always have to complain?" She groaned leaning back on the couch they were sitting. "But it's true, it could use some more of—i don't know something."

Ji-an nodded as she looked at herself in the mirror. "I agree, plus the material is kinda itchy and I don't like that."

The next dress was the one Jug-yeong chose. It had a rich chocolate brown color, with flowy long sleeves and made of soft satin. Ji-an could've swore that was the most comfortable dress she had ever worn in her life, and that was saying a lot considering she had worn plenty of dresses in the past. The dress was perfect, but there was a small problem. The color did not favor Ji-an at all.

"The dress is super comfortable but I don't think this color suits me." She said as she showed it to her friends.

Soo-jin and Soo-ah nodded, the latter saying "Yeah, is definitely washing you out."

Jug-yeong pouted. "I really wanted mine to be the one, but I get what you guys are saying."

Next, was the dress Ji-an had chosen for herself. The dress was dark green, made of silk with long sleeves. Just like the one before that, the dress was really comfortable and the color was actually really pretty and complemented her skin. The downside of it was that the dress did not help her figure stand out.

"No." Soo-jin said, and Jug-yeong shook her head in agreement.

Soo-ah had a frown. "That's definitely not the one."

Ji-an gave their friends a deadpan look. "Thanks for the brutal honesty. I bet you guys are being so honest because this is the dress I chose."

Soo-ah returned the look. "You cannot tell me you don't agree with us. The dress obviously doesn't suit your figure. It basically hides it instead of accenting it." She explained, hoping her friend would understand.

And Ji-an did understand, she was just beginning to grow frustrated. "I know! I just I'm growing tired of trying this dresses and now there's only one left. I'm also starting to sweat and you know I hate that. Also, if I don't like it we'll have to look for more and you know how much I hate-"

"Ji-an, you are ranting." Soo-jin reminded, stopping the girl from continuing. "Just try the dress I chose."

"Yeah, it looked nice maybe you'll like that one." Jug-yeong said, trying to reassure her friend and stop her from panicking.

"Fine, okay." Ji-an said, and walked back to the dressing room to change into the last dress. Soo-jin's pick was a black dress with a V-neck and short off the shoulder sleeves. The dress had a thigh slit and was actually a little longer than the others, leaving a little more fabric at the bottom. It was also pretty comfortable and fitted Ji-an perfectly. When the girl came out of the dressing room, the three girls stood up from the couch their eyes wide and mouth open.

"What do you guys think?"

Soo-jin was the first to snap out of the daze. "That's absolutely the one." She stated. "And I'm not saying it because that's my dress but I'm saying it because that's the dress."

Jug-yeong blinked a few times, not believing her eyes. "It looks so stunning. You look like a princess."

"Ji-an, if you don't buy that dress, I'll do it myself. I don't care how expensive it is, you have to get that dress." Soo-ah finally spoke. She then let out a giggle and walked up to Ji-an. Grabbing the girl's hand, she twirled her around. "You look breathtaking. If Lee Su-ho doesn't admit his feelings for you after seeing you in this, I don't know what else to tell you."

Ji-an laughed at the comment. "Okay, okay. I'm getting the dress."

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

That same day after arriving home and putting away the dress she bought, Kim Ji-an took the comic book she had finished reading and made her way to the comic book store in plans of returning the one she had and grabbing a new one. When she got there the owner greeted her and offered to make her a ramen bowl while she grabbed a new comic. So, Ji-an did just that. She searched through the shelf's until she found a new series she hadn't read before. Sitting down on the couch, she began  reading it, quickly growing engrossed with the story. It wasn't until someone sat beside her that she took her attention off the book.

"That comic book is really good." Lee Su-ho stated as he looked at the object on her hands.

Ji-an turned her head to face him, shocked at the fact he approached her first. She knew that if Su-ho said that, it's because the book was actually amazing. Growing up reading multiple comic books gave him the ability to really distinguish good plotted storylines and lame ones. "I just started reading it but I can already tell I'm going to like it."

Su-ho looked at her, feeling a little bittersweet about sitting there with her. They used to do it all the time and now that was just a distant memory. "How was living in the USA? Was it actually good like you had told me?" He asked, feeling terrible for not having made the question before. Su-ho knew the way he acted at the beginning after Kim Ji-an came back was terrible. He was struggling with his own feelings and didn't know how to act upon them, hurting the girl he loves in the process.

Ji-an closed the book, struggling to hide her surprise. "It was good. I learned a lot of new stuff while living over there. It was hard at first to adapt to the cultural differences but I got used to it quickly. Sometimes I even miss it a little."

Su-ho listened intently to her words. He was glad she had some time for herself after everything that happened leading to her leaving. Before he could open his mouth to speak, the owner approached them with two bowls of ramen. "I saw you two talking so I made you a ramen bowl too, Lee Su-ho." He placed the bowls on the table and smiled at them. "I'm happy to see you guys together. It's nice to see some stuff remain the same." Oblivious to everything, he left them alone, not realizing the way his words affected the pair.

Ji-an took the bowl and began eating just to occupy herself for a moment. Su-ho did the same and both of them remained in silence for a while. Ji-an placed the bowl on her lap as she chewed her bite, trying to recollect her thoughts. Su-ho watched her, his thoughts drifting to Han Seo-jun. He didn't believe they were actually dating, the thought just couldn't settle in his mind. Despite this, he still felt boiling jealousy anytime he saw them together, holding hands, or just talking.

"I'm guessing you're still the smartest student on the whole school." Ji-an said, swallowing her food.

The boy nodded and ate more ramen. "Yeah."

Ji-an leaned back on the couch and chuckled. "I know those exams were literally a walk in the park for you." She sighed. "I wish I could be that smart."

Su-ho placed his bowl on the table and turned his attention towards girl. "You've always been smart, Ji-an. Don't discredit yourself."

The girl shook her head. "Not smart enough. I studied a lot this past week but it was pretty much in vain. Even with your help, I wasn't able to get to my goal. I feel like I could've done so much better but at the same time I really gave my all. I don't know how I could do better than that."

Su-ho hated when she talked down on herself. He knew the reason behind it was her family's mistreatment towards her. It really played a number on the girl's confidence. Just like Ji-an completely despises Su-ho's father, Su-ho despises her whole family. It was a mutual thing.

Slowly and a little hesitant, Su-ho took Ji-an's hand in his, making sure to look her in the eyes when he spoke. "You did great. I know you studied hard, you always do. And even though you didn't reach your goal, your grade on math did increase." He offered her a small smile. "I'm proud of you. I've always been and always will be."

Ji-an looked down at their hands, hoping to hide her blushing cheeks. He was acting different yet familiar. Like the Su-ho she's always loved and left behind. "Thank you, Su-ho."

——————— ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ—————

—Joy

Yapping time!!!!

Never make me describe dresses again 🙂

I wasn't lying when I said Ji-an WILL BE the main character of the story. She has everyone wrapped around her finger and we love that. Also why are y'all so mean to Su-ho?!!! He's getting better 😓

I have some stuff to say so bear with me.

First of all, thank you SO SO much to all of you who've always supported this book and faithfully commented. This book has reached 50k reads and I can't believe it. That's crazy. I'm so grateful for you guys and all my ghost readers too. The love you give to this book is more than I ever imagined. Thank you so much 🥹🫶🏼

I'm asking you guys—actually BEGGING to please spam with more comments. Don't only let me know at the end of the chapter that you liked it, but also comment through it all.

I've said this multiple times before but I'll say it again, comments are my ultimate motivation. It's the thing that keeps me going and lets me know y'all enjoy the story.

The joy I feel when readers leave comments is unmatched. So if y'all are enjoying this quick updates, please motivate me to continue. Spam and demand for updates. Idc.

Reason behind this quick updates is not only because of my sudden level of inspiration, but it's also because I've finally completely planned like more than half of the book. I already had stuff planned but it wasn't really set in stone given there were some parts that I needed to work on.

Fun fact: We are getting super close to the juiciest parts of the book, so buckle up. The falling in love is about to start, and I'm saying this for the readers that think Ji-an already loves Seo-jun. This is a slow-burn guys, please a little more patience. I understand the eagerness but 😩

If you do see me take long for the next chapter, it's because there's some stuff that's going to happen and it might take me some longer time to write. I'll also most likely take a mini break cause I've been writing none stop. So be a little patient.