╰┈➤ ❝ [I don't wanna look at anything else now that I saw you] ❞

WHEN THE TWO GIRLS came out of the bathroom, Ji-an's eyes fell on Seo-jun's figure. Su-ho was nowhere to be found, making her slightly relax, as she was not in the mood to confront the boy yet again. Especially not after what he did.

She was sure Su-ho knew about Jug-yeong's secret. It was the only logical explanation to why he was so adamant about not allowing her into the bathroom, but still she wondered how the boy had found out.

Ji-an opened her mouth, about to make their presence known to Seo-jun, before Jug-yeong, who clearly confused Seo-jun with Su-ho, unknowingly interrupted, "Thanks, why did you help me though?"

In a swift motion Seo-jun turned around, revealing he in fact was not Su-ho. This caused Jug-yeong's eyes to widen and her mouth to fall open creating a small o with her lips.

Seo-jun's gaze moved over to Ji-an, looking at the girl's appearance he couldn't help but swallow as he took in the sight of the girl wearing his hoodie. It felt weird seeing her using his clothes but for some reason it didn't feel wrong.

Snapping himself out of his train of thought he turned his attention over to a very surprised Jug-yeong. "Hey, you." He said, before slightly shaking his head. "Forget it. Bring my helmet tomorrow."

Rapidly nodding, Jug-yeong grabbed Ji-an's arm, "Got it!" 

Before getting dragged away by Jug-yeong,
Ji-an quickly threw Seo-jun's jacket over at the boy, making sure to mutter a small thank you before leaving.

Seo-jun sighed as he watched them sprint away before looking down at the jacket on his hand. If he was being honest he didn't know why he helped Ji-an. He guessed it was because he felt bad after watching Su-ho leave her stranded, but still he reminded himself that it was only a one time thing because he knew better than to get close to the girl again.

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

The walk to the classroom was pretty quick, mostly filled with comfortable silence. The moment they entered the classroom they were immediately bombarded with questions.
"Jug-yeong! Ji-an!"

Soo-ah gently touched Ji-an's arm. "Are you alright? You disappeared without saying anything."

Ji-an nodded, feeling bad for making her friends worry. "Yeah, sorry about that." Soo-ah just smiled in response, before turning her attention over to Jug-yeong.

From beside Soo-ah, Soo-jin asked, "Are you okay, Jug-yeong?" She scanned her making sure the girl was okay, remembering how the girl had panicked when they were attempting to help her.

"Yes." Jug-yeong calmly reassured.

Clearly feeling guilty about the mess he caused, Hyun-gyu stepped forward with an apologetic look on his face. "I- I'm sorry."

"Don't ever do that again." Soo-jin scolded, slapping the boy's arm, making him wince in pain, secretly sending the girl a glare.

Jug-yeong smiled, not used to all the attention. At her old school people only looked her way when they needed something or just when they wanted to make fun of her. But here it was different, she had friends that actually cared about her. "No, it's alright."

Soo-ah grinned, happy her friend was alright. Looking over at Ji-an she frowned as her eyes fell on the gray and white hoodie the girl wore. The hoodie stopped at her mid-tight and the sleeves were rolled up preventing them from completely covering her hands. It was obvious the hoodie wasn't hers, it was too big.

"What are you wearing?"

Grimacing, Ji-an followed Soo-ah's gaze, realizing her friend was looking at the hoodie. She stayed silent debating on what to say. Ji-an didn't want to lie to either Soo-ah or Soo-jin but she also couldn't tell them the truth in front of their classmates. But before Ji-an could say anything, Hyun-gyu spoke.

"Huh, that hoodie looks very familiar." A thoughtful look took over his face before he snapped his fingers, his eyes widening in realization.

"I know where i've seen it! It's Seo-jun's!"

The small crowd that had gathered around them went into shock before they all started talking over each other, throwing questions left and right, causing Ji-an to groan in annoyance.

From across the room, Su-ho looked up from his notebook, his attention now on Ji-an. He recalled seeing the girl holding a pair of clothes on her hand before entering the bathroom. And as much as he wanted to believe the hoodie wasn't Seo-jun's, it made sense.

"Enough!" Ji-an shouted, finally shutting everyone up. "Yes, this is Seo-jun's hoodie." Everyone gasped. "And what? It is none of your business so stop with the questions!" And with that the girl walked over to her desk, sitting down and hiding her face in her arms.

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

Finally arriving home, Ji-an halted on her tracks as her eyes fell over the two figures sitting on the dining table.

It was her parents.

The two looked pretty much the same. Her mother still wore her usually expensive dresses and jewelry. She had on the red lipstick she always used and her raven hair was held up on its usual low bun. Ji-an's father on the other hand, just wore a simple black suit with his pair of glasses framing his eyes and a very expensive golden watch covering his left wrist.

Her mother, who had been occupied on her phone, looked up, "Good you're here." Standing up from the chair with Ji-an's father following suit, she said, "We have to talk."

Confused, Ji-an placed her backpack against the wall, "Talk? About what?"

Pushing his glasses up, her father spoke, "Come on, let's talk in the office."

Following her parents, Ji-an started fiddling with the large sleeves of Seo-jun's hoodie. She could feel her anxiety start to build up as she stared at the back of her parents head. Ji-an wondered what was so important that they had to talk in the office.

The office usually meant bad news. At least that's what she remembered from it. Since she was small her parents told her to never go into the office unless she was given permission. And sadly she had to learn that lesson the hard way.

Entering the office, Ji-an closed the door behind her. She watched her father sit on his desk and her mother sit down on the chair across from him while she just stayed standing close to the door in case things got heated and she had to leave fast.

Interlacing his finger on top of the table he spoke. "There's a reason why we wanted you back."

Now this was nothing surprising, she knew her parents wouldn't just send her back to Korea without a reason. She was well aware the two didn't care about what she did unless it interfered with their plans.

"Is it because you missed me?" The girl sarcastically said only gaining solemn stares in return.

With a roll of her eyes, Ji-an's mother scolded. "Stop with the jokes Ji-an. This is serious."

"This past year the company hasn't been earning the money it should and adding to that, a couple of months ago someone stole a lot of money from the company. People aren't buying our products as much as they used to and I've tried paying different sellers to sponsor our products but it's not enough." Her father explained.

"What does that mean?" A prominent frown was plastered on Ji-an's face as she looked back and forth between her parents.

Pouring himself a glass of whiskey her father took a sip of it before answering. "It means we're bankrupt. Between the stolen money and paying other sellers to sponsor us,
we've run out of money and if we don't do something soon, we'll have to sell the company and we could risk losing everything."

Ji-an crossed her arms."Okay, and how does this have anything to do with me?"

"It has everything to do with you, Ji-an!" Her mother said as she stood up from the chair. "Since your break up with Su-ho, Lee Joo-heon stopped sponsoring our company. His support was the thing that was keeping the company a boat. But nothing is completely lost, we can still fix things but we can only do it with your help."

"My help? What do you want me to do?"

Walking towards Ji-an like a lion circling it's prey her mother said, "I don't care how you do it or what you do to get it, but you better find a way to make Lee Su-ho get back with you."

Ji-an shook her head. "What? No, I may want Su-ho back but that doesn't mean I'm gonna do it for his money! No, I'm not doing it!"

With a fake smile the woman took a piece of hair that had fallen on Ji-an's eyes and pushed it back behind the girl's ear. "Sorry to remind you princess, but if Su-ho broke up with you it must be because you did something wrong. And frankly I don't care, I just want you to do what we're telling you to do."

Anger boiled inside Ji-an as she listened to her mother's words. She never did anything to make Su-ho break up with her. He did it because he wanted to, because he was grieving his friend's death, but obviously her mother didn't know that.

"Haven't you thought that maybe the person that stole money from the company was Ji-hun? He's constantly in need of money." Ji-an raised her brows, as she watched her mother's smile slowly fade.

"Watch your words, Ji-an." The woman warned, giving Ji-an a piercing look. At this point the two were practically glaring at each other as Ji-an tried to bite back the words that so badly wanted to escape her mouth.

There were lots of things she wanted to say. Like how her brother was the way he was because of her mother's favoritism towards him. That probably part of the reason they don't have money was because her mother was always buying expensive dresses and jewelry that she didn't need.

But as much as she wanted to say them out loud, she knew she couldn't.

Feeling the tension, Ji-an's father spoke, trying to calm the situation and convince his daughter to help them. "We're counting on you, Ji-an. You already said you want Su-ho back, this shouldn't be a difficult task." Her father was right. She did want Su-ho back.

The thing is she didn't know how.

Removing her eyes away from her mother,
Ji-an looked over at her father. "I see what I can do."

With a final glare towards her mother, Ji-an left the room, making sure to close the door harder than she should. On her way to her bedroom, her phone started ringing. Taking it out of the pocket of the hoodie she saw it was Soo-ah and Soo-jin calling her on FaceTime.

Tapping the answer button she was greeted by Soo-ah. "Hey."

"Hi." Ji-an said as she started going up the stairs.

"What are you up to?" Soo-jin asked.

"Nothing, I just finished talking with my parents."

"Your parents? They're back?" Soo-ah was slightly surprised and also a bit concerned knowing Ji-an's talks with her parents never ended well.

Ji-an sighed, "Yeah, sadly." When she entered her room, she threw herself on her bed, stretching as she did so.

Over the phone Ji-an could see Soo-jin frown, "What did they want to talk about?"

Licking her dry lips, Ji-an explained. "To summarize everything, we're bankrupt thanks to Lee Joo-heon not sponsoring the company anymore and because of that they want me to get back with Su-ho given they believe that's the only way we can save the company."

Soo-ah's eyes widened in disbelief. "Are you serious?!"

"Hundred percent." Ji-an said with a small nod.

"Are you gonna do it?" Soo-jin asked, curious as to what her friend would do.

"There's something I haven't told you guys."
Ji-an admitted with a heavy sigh escaping her lips.

Soo-ah chuckled. "Oh honey, we know. You think we haven't noticed how strange you've been acting?"

Grabbing a pillow, Ji-an rested her head on it. "I'm sorry guys, I just couldn't tell you in school. At least not with Jug-yeong being around. I don't want her to know."

"Why? What happened?" Worried, Soo-jin asked.

With a sigh, Ji-an finally told them everything that happened. From her talk with Su-ho to how Seo-jun ended up helping her after
Su-ho left her to go help Jugyeong.

"You're kidding right? I can't believe Su-ho did that! Do you want me to give him a lesson?" Soo-jin offered, making Ji-an chuckle.

"No, there's no need for that."

"So, what are you planning to do?" Soo-ah questioned.

Sitting up from her bed Ji-an said, "I want him back but I don't know how. Do you guys have any ideas? It's obvious he still has feelings for me but he's too stubborn to admit it."

Soo-ah snapped her fingers. "Well, you could always make him jealous. If he thinks that he completely lost you he is gonna realize his mistake. After all, there's a saying that says you do not know what you have, until you lose it."

Carefully listening to Soo-ah's words, Ji-an's eyes widened as an idea came into her mind. It was a very reckless idea but she was sure it would work. "Soo-ah, you're a genius!" She smiled. "I have an idea. If everything goes as planned I'll let you guys know, okay?"

Soo-jin pointed a finger at the camera. "You better tell us."

↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷

"What to remember about the economy in the earl-"

Ji-an closed her eyes, zoning out the teacher's words as she rested her cheek against the palm of her hand. The night before she stayed up until late talking with Soo-ah and Soo-jin, making the girl barely get any sleep.

She also slept through her alarm so she had to get ready as fast as she could, ending up with her going to school with her hair up in a messy bun and comfy clothes that weren't even on the school's dress code, but at the moment that was the least of her priorities.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder she quietly groaned, twisting around on her seat, her sleepy eyes fell over an amused Seo-jun. "God, you look terrible."

"Jeez, thanks for the compliment." She rolled her eyes. "Is that why you're bothering me? To tell me how bad I look?"

Seo-jun leaned back against his seat. "Aren't you going to return the shirt and hoodie I gave you?"

Yawning, Ji-an shook her head, "No not really. You made a terrible mistake by giving me your clothes, sorry I mean my clothes cause they're mine now."

Glaring at the grinning girl, Seo-jun was about to speak before a loud noise from the front of the classroom caught their attention.

"What is it?" The teacher asked, as he looked at Jug-yeong who had abruptly stood up from her seat.

Putting a hand over her stomach the girl let out a painful groan, "I'm sorry, but can I be excused to the restroom?"

Frowning, the teacher nodded. "Sure thing." With the teacher's dismissal, Jug-yeong practically ran out of the classroom making the class erupt into laughter.

"If she lived in the era of Joseon Dynasty, she wouldn't be called a lady. It doesn't matter in this day and age though." His words made everyone laugh, yet again.

The teacher grabbed his books. "Wait for me. I have to go too."

Ji-an watched the teacher leave before turning back to Seo-jun. Completely unaware of the look Su-ho was sending them from across the room.

"Do you have money?" The words felt forgeing coming from her mouth as she was so used to hearing them come from her brother.

"Money? Don't you have money of your own?" Seo-jun asked with a slight raise of his eyebrows.

"I do. But I left my wallet at home." Ji-an explained, hoping to convince the boy. She knew that if she wanted to survive the day, she needed to drink some coffee.

Seo-jun scoffed as he crossed her arms over his chest. "Just because I helped you yesterday does not mean I'll do it again."

"Pretty please?"

"No, go ask one of your friends." He said, as he moved his head in Soo-ah's direction.

"But they're too far away." She whined, which only made the boy roll his eyes.

"You're very annoying." Seo-jun placed his arms over the desk, resting his cheek on top of them before closing his eyes with a sigh of content.

"Why? I'm lovely." Ji-an poked Seo-jun's cheek, making the boy quickly slap her hand away. "Come on Seo-jun, I need some coffee if I want to survive the day!" Realizing the boy wasn't having any reaction she asked, "Are you even listening?"

"I am listening, I'm just not paying attention." He mumbled as he snuggled more against his arm.

Knowing the boy wasn't going to help her, Ji-an was about to turn around when she saw
Jug-yeong walk in and over to Su-ho's desk. Just like she did a few days prior, Jug-yeong placed a drink on top of his desk before walking away. Trying to ignore what she saw, Ji-an turned around in her seat, deciding to do the same thing Seo-jun did and just sleep through the rest of the class.

——————— ↶*ೃ✧˚. ❃ ↷ ˊ——————

—-Joy

Heyy

I know this update was shorter compared to the one before but I promise the next chapter would be longer and with plenty of Sian moments.

I just wanted to post this chapter, to show you guys how Ji-an's relationship with her parents is and to have things more settled before starting the main plot of the book which you guys can already guess what it is. 😏

If you haven't watched the trailer I made for the book go check it out! It's at the start of the book right after the summary.

Don't forget to comment and vote!

See you next time!