Park Chaeyeon
"Whew... it's so hot..."
Whoever had cranked the heater up to maximum must have been crazy. As time passed, it only got hotter and hotter.
She'd worn the down jacket Jihoon had bought her — a pricey goose-down one since he said he wanted her to stay warm — and now she seemed to be feeling the heat more than anyone else.
Tiny beads of sweat began forming on her pale white skin.
It was so unbearably hot that Chaeyeon finally gave in and unzipped her jacket, opening up her chest area.
Plenty of other girls had already exposed their chests, feeling just as hot, but she was sweating more than she'd expected and felt the urgent need to let some of that trapped heat escape, even if just for a moment.
She knew she might get cold later, but she couldn't just sit there baking forever, so she slipped the jacket off entirely.
"Ahh... I can actually breathe now..."
With the jacket off, Chaeyeon's slender neck and collarbone were exposed.
On top of that, her clothes were damp with sweat, clinging to her skin and hinting at her sensuous figure.
She'd only taken it off because she was too hot, without a second thought — but the boys in the room forgot all about their cheerful conversations and just stared at her, dumbfounded.
Even Jaehyeon, sitting next to her, couldn't tear his eyes away.
For all that they were guys, the way they tried to sneak peeks was pretty adorable.
But what could they do? A girl like Chaeyeon was already bound to one man until death — she wouldn't even glance at another guy.
Still, even though he was staring just as openly and annoyingly as the other guys, she could let it slide for Jaehyeon.
After all, he'd let her copy today's homework, and last time too — for that much, she could show him a little something.
Besides, once summer came and clothes got thinner, it wouldn't be much different from this anyway.
"Chaeyeon. You look kinda sexy."
"What does?"
She had a pretty good idea, but she tilted her head and played innocent.
Honestly, compared to others, her clothes were thinner, and with the sweat making them cling to her body's contours, yeah, it probably did look a bit sexy.
But that only worked because she was a pretty girl with a great body. If it were any other girl, it probably wouldn't have been a big deal.
Hmm... actually, it was kind of turning her on.
She seriously considered seducing Jihoon like this later, once he finished all his urgent business, and letting him take her right then and there.
"No... it's nothing."
As time passed, the sweat quickly dried.
All the hot air trapped inside her jacket had escaped too, and she was starting to feel cold, so she put it back on and shook her head.
"Um... I'm gonna go to the bathroom real quick."
Her body had gone from cold to warm again, and now her lower half was sending her a signal.
"Want me to come with?"
"No. I'll go alone."
It was cold out, and there was no need to drag someone to a freezing bathroom just to shiver alongside her.
So she got up by herself.
Slide.
Just then, a guy appeared.
He spotted Chaeyeon getting up and broke into a wide smile.
"Hey, Chaeyeon. You look pretty today too."
With a fairly handsome face, tall height, a solid build, and what seemed like plenty of money — his whole body was decked out in luxury brands — the guy approached her and casually threw out what sounded like a pickup line, saying she looked beautiful as always.
"Oh. Thanks. You look great too."
His name was Geon Daegeon.
No matter how many times Chaeyeon told him she had a boyfriend — that she was already closing in on a thousand days with him — he refused to believe it and kept pushing himself on her like a persistent mosquito.
Chaeyeon was thinking.
That guy was annoying. So incredibly annoying.
Even when she dropped her nice-girl act slightly and warned him to stop coming at her, he just thought she was playing hard to get. He was an idiot, plain and simple.
Well, she'd once come across a social hierarchy pyramid while scrolling through social media — from the bottom up: ugly guys, ugly girls, average guys, average girls, pretty girls, handsome guys — and she thought it wasn't entirely wrong. It had some truth to it.
Because in reality, appearance carried enormous weight, and it was common to see handsome guys ranked way above pretty girls.
So Geon Daegeon had probably used his good looks and wealth to seduce every girl he'd ever wanted.
He'd probably never failed to get a girl before. So Chaeyeon's reaction — the one girl he couldn't have — must have thrown him off completely.
And the fact that she reacted differently from all the women he'd had before seemed to make him even more obsessed.
Geon Daegeon was right in front of her now, looking down at Chaeyeon — who was about a head shorter — and reaching out his hand.
His hand was heading toward her head.
But Chaeyeon had already given her entire body, heart, and soul to one man. There was no way she'd let that slide.
She immediately stepped back, dodging his hand.
"......"
No woman had ever dodged his hand before.
Geon Daegeon furrowed his brow in displeasure, staring at Chaeyeon as she acted completely unfazed.
"I'll be right back."
Ignoring his sharp gaze, she walked out of the classroom and headed to the bathroom.
As soon as she entered, she went straight into a stall and locked the door.
She quickly pulled down her pants and let it flow. Pssshhh.
"Whew... that was close..."
The thought that she might have wet her pants if she'd waited any longer made her shiver.
After letting out every last drop, she flushed, stood up, and straightened her clothes.
Just as she was about to go back to the warm classroom.
The door opened and someone came in.
It was a women's bathroom, so of course they were girls.
"Ugh, seriously... Park Chaeyeon. Why does that bitch keep wagging her tail at Daegeon?"
"I know, right. She acts like she's managing her little harem or something, but she won't even properly shut him down. Disgusting."
"I had a feeling she was like that. That's why there are rumors she does sugar dating, you know."
"Sugar dating? Honestly... I could see her doing that. Every move she makes looks like she's trying to lure guys in."
"Yeah, I thought so too. Turns out she's just a slutty whore."
Giggle. Giggle.
Oblivious to the fact that the person they were talking about was right there, they kept tearing into Chaeyeon, finding it hilarious.
Managing a harem? She'd told him she had a boyfriend and tried to shake him off, but he was the one who kept coming at her.
And as for the sugar dating rumors — she'd never heard that one before. But these three girls were talking about it like it was established fact.
Creeeak.
Chaeyeon opened the door and stepped out.
"Uh...?"
The three girls, who had been fixing their makeup in the mirror, stared blankly at Chaeyeon, who had just emerged from the stall.
She walked past them, washed her hands, and opened her mouth.
"Hey."
Chaeyeon was always smiling warmly, always kind and gentle — but now her expression had turned ice-cold.
The fake, sweet demeanor was completely gone.
She was a beauty who looked gorgeous even when angry, but now she was showing her true colors.
"Sugar dating? Me? Why the hell would I do that?"
She met each of their eyes, one by one, slowly.
She was dumbfounded.
Even if she did sugar dating, how much money could she possibly make?
Jihoon already gave her more than enough — occasional allowances, buying her things here and there.
"And I told you I have a boyfriend. We're about to hit a thousand days. So why do you keep linking me to that bastard?"
She'd clearly said she didn't have anything going on with him, so why did they keep acting like she was single? She had no idea.
"I'm so in love with him that I've already planned out our marriage and even the grave we'll be buried in together after we die. So why would I be 'managing a harem'?"
She flicked the water off her hands.
Drops of water scattered — some landing on them too.
"Stop talking nonsense, and stop badmouthing me behind my back like this. It's annoying."
She clicked her tongue and walked out of the bathroom.
She'd been acting nice, and they took her for a fool.
They must have been shocked by this side of Chaeyeon — who they'd apparently seen as a pretty pushover — because their voices didn't reach her at all until she was far away from the bathroom.
When she entered the classroom, the warmth hit her, melting her cold expression back into something soft.
"Chaeyeon, you're back?"
"Yeah."
The only girl in the academy she could call a friend gave her a suspicious look.
"You took a while. Was it number two?"
"......"
Going to the bathroom alone and being gone for a while did invite that kind of assumption.
Flinch.
Jaehyeon, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation from the side, shuddered.
Even if she had taken a dump, there was no way she could admit the truth.
And she hadn't even taken a dump in the first place, so saying she did would be ridiculous.
"No, it wasn't."
"Heeey~ really?"
"I said it wasn't."
She didn't understand why her friend was so obsessed with poop, like an immature elementary school boy.
Even if it had been true, she could have just pretended not to notice and moved on.
"Fine, whatever you say."
She didn't push it further.
Probably because she knew that if she kept insisting, Chaeyeon would just double down — a strong denial meant a strong affirmation, or so they say.
Slide.
The back door of the classroom opened.
The three girls who had been gossiping about Chaeyeon in the bathroom — and gotten chewed out for it — walked into the room.
She hadn't expected them to be in the same class.
Or maybe she should have?
Given how openly they talked shit behind people's backs, they were perfectly suited for Class C.
Still, she'd laid into them pretty hard, so they probably wouldn't be stupid enough to keep spreading those lies like they were the truth.
Chaeyeon didn't think much of it. As soon as the bell rang, she half-heartedly opened her textbook and propped her chin on her hand.
And just like that, drowsiness came flooding in.
She didn't even try to resist. She surrendered to the wave of sleep, blinked a few times, and drifted off.