Kang Nari
Things only worsened after lunch when Nari saw a notice on the notice board.
We thank the generous donation of Kang Nari's family. It is because of our families' support that Shinhwa can continue being one of the best institutions across the country...
Nari did not bother reading any further as her mind had long zoned out after reading the first two lines.
Her family had made a donation. Why?
The day only got more confusing, and Nari felt sick to her stomach.
She stared at the board in disbelief when she heard a scoff nearby.
"I see some families are already using their grabby hands to hang on to the rich thigh of the Gu family." One of the minion triplets mocked. Nari could still not remember their names individually and it seemed it served no purpose to do so at the moment.
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at them which only caused them to stomp and walk away.
One thing was for sure, with everything that had happened so far, Nari's position had only become solidified as she became untouchable. Just the idea of Jun-Pyo making pursuing her would cause an uproar but the donation came at the right time. It helped established Nari as an heiress in her own right.
Just what was her family planning?
The two incidents felt too good to be mere coincidences. Could all of this be related to why she was made to attend Shinhwa High?
The crowd had slowly dispersed but Nari remained glued to her spot, lost in confusion.
She needed some sleep, she concluded.
"Hi." Came a voice from near her ear, sending shivers down her spine as their breath hit her ears.
Nari controlled the urge to jump as she was startled from her spot. Instead, she turned out in a hurry, only to find Gu Jun-Pyo's face dangerously close to her own.
Widening her eyes, she immediately took a few steps back, only to have him step equally many forward until she was caged between the wall and him. However, he made no effort to move his arms as they remained in his pockets. But just his aura was imprisoning enough. Since their last confrontation about Geum Jandi, there seemed to have been a change in Jun-Pyo almost as if he was filled with a newfound confidence and clarity.
"We need to talk." Nari finally managed to utter. She did need to talk to him and clear everything up about the morning.
Instead of saying anything, he simply raised his eyebrow and tilted his head to the side, urging her to go on while still maintaining the eye-contact. It intimidated Nari, if she was to be honest with herself. Jun-Pyo was dangerous when he was not in the mood to be humored. And if she wanted any clarity, she needed to be careful with her words.
It hurt her how powerless she felt when it came to him simply because she had a small idea of what he was capable of, especially with the power of the Gu family behind him.
"What was the entire fiasco this morning?" She asked, trying her best to maintain the eye-contact he seemed so adamant in keeping.
"You know I am almost hurt by your choice of vocabulary. Surely with someone as educated as you can come with a better choice of words to describe what happened this morning." Jun-Pyo tutted as he reached out to grab a strand of her hair and twirled it around his bandaged index finger.
Now that Nari looked at him once more, he seemed tired. She realized she had failed to notice it under the bright lights of the hallway but in the moment when his face was intimately close to hers, she saw the smallest details of his face.
There were traces of dark circles under his eyes which probably weren't so visible from far away as there had been an attempt at concealing them. Though his aura reeked of confidence, physically, he did seem a little relaxed- almost tired-like.
"I'll help you out." Jun-Pyo broke the silence as he tucked the strand behind her ears and gingerly slid his thumb down her jaw instead. The action froze Nari as she held her breath, her heart picking up pace.
"An offer was made this morning." He started, pausing in his movement and keeping his thumb still at her jaw.
"I would like for you to be my girlfriend. I mean it just makes sense, doesn't it?" He declared like it was the most obvious thing in the world before dropping his hand from her face and tucking it back into his pocket.
"You the goddess of Shinhwa and I, well, the heir of Shinhwa. We are perfect for each other. Instead of standing against each other because of outsiders, we should be with each other, instead." Jun-Pyo's face gestured at the notice behind them on the board before gesturing at himself, certain his words made sense to any sane person.
However, it only angered Nari.
Outsiders?
Was he really referring to Jandi as an outsider just because she did not come from a rich family? The underlining nuance of his words made Nari's throat close up.
She let out a harsh breath in attempt at calming herself.
Just what was she expecting anyways? For Jun-Pyo to actually made sense and talk without feeling entitled.
Certainly not.
"None of it makes sense, Jun-Pyo." Nari started, hoping to actually talk some sense into him.
"Stop with whatever game you are playing." Nari warned.
"I thought you wanted me to do my worst?" Jun-Pyo smirked. Before Nari could respond, he spoke once more.
"I believe you are being too judgmental." He raised his hands in defense. Nari opened her mouth to retort back at him but he cut her off once again.
"All I am saying is give me one chance." Jun-Pyo gave her a small fleeting smile and for a second, Nari melted. She almost gave in when her ears started ringing with Jandi's screams for help, her tears, the trauma she endured when she was bullied and isolated.
Nari remembered the trauma she had gone through, and she knew it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair to blame Jun-Pyo for the bullying she went through in the past, but she couldn't help it. Because regardless of the person standing in front of her, only thing mattered was what they stood for. And to her and many others, Jun-Pyo stood for bullying, pain, and entitlement.
"Gu Jun-Pyo, you know what your problem is? You feel entitled to everything in the world, be it people's lives, emotions, well-being, or even admiration. And now you think you are somehow entitled to me because of this some sort of sick hierarchy this school has going on." Nari gritted out.
"No sane person in their right mind would even glance at you twice let alone actually give you a chance. So, stop with these sick games." Nari ended. She expected him to lash out at her, but she only found him staring at her intently.
"Except you see, little lily, these aren't games." Jun-Pyo took a step closer to her as she pressed her back further into the wall, hoping it would swallow her.
He placed his hand on the wall, next to her head and leaned in. Nari held her breath. She wasn't sure what she expected him to do but she was ready to kick him if he crossed the line. He was attractive, no doubt. But she wasn't going to let go of her morals for a pretty face.
"As you said, Kang Nari, I do have a sense of entitlement, don't I? And since I have felt entitled to you, I suppose it is only a matter of time before I have you." Jun-Pyo was dangerously close now. Their noses were almost touching and all the while, he never broke the eye-contact.
Nari looked at him baffled.
Just what was his goal? Why was he so adamant on 'having her'?
Unable to handle the heat and confusion, she gave rough push at his chest, and he stumbled back almost as if he had been expecting it.
Nari walked away angrily, leaving him behind with an amused look on his face.
Bonus Scene
Yoon Jihoo
It felt right giving the painting to her. It was a painting of her, after all. And so it only felt right.
Jihoo did not know why he had even painted her in the first place or why she had inspired him to pick up the brush for the first time in a while.
He supposed he had been clinging to the ghost of her, desperately trying to find her in anyone he could.
He stared at the digital display at the bus stop, admiring the brilliant display of her.
Her: Min Seo Hyun.
She looked breathtaking, like always. He found himself reaching out to touch her face through the screen, imagining her being physically present instead of her digital display.
Min Seo Hyun was the anchor that held Jihoo together. He had grown unnaturally attached to her and loved her more and more as time went by. If someone asked him to leave his world behind to simply entertain hers, he would. He would do so without a question. He supposed she loved him too, in a way. But for him, she was the bane of his existence.
And so when she pulled away to leave for France, he supposed he became like a wandering ghost, haunting the places she used to frequent, hoping to find even a trace of her in the air and desperately cling to it.
The scholarship student, Geum Jandi, was a completely different story, a stark contract to her. Jandi was loud and unafraid to voice her opinions without buttering the truth up. She was honest and there was a sense of purity to her, very much unlike himself or Seo-Hyun or even Kang Nari who were all haunted by their own selves.
Kang Nari, on the other hand, was somewhat like Seo-Hyun. She dressed like her, carried herself with the same elegance, talked in a similar fashion as well. It could be because she, too, came from a well-off background like the rest of them.
But the more Jihoo observed Kang Nari, the more differences he started noticing.
Nari was elegant sure, but she wasn't confidence like Seo-Hyun was. There was always a sense of unsurity in her moves and words. It was almost as if she was on a constant run from something. Seo-Hyun was always confident and sure of herself and what she wanted to do.
Nari was kind but she wasn't ambitious. She seemingly had no goals or dreams. Seo-Hyun had dreams for herself and for others. She wanted to spread kindness to others by using her power.
Kang Nari was not Min Seo Hyun. She will never be Min-Seo Hyun. She was a person in her own right and it would be unfair to her if he kept looking at her under the shadow of someone else.
And so, Jihoo decided to let go.
He let go the threads he was holding onto and decided to let Kang Nari be Kang Nari.
It seemed she had more things to worry about now, anyways.
What was Gu Jun-Pyo thinking anyways? Pursuing her like that all of a sudden as if he didn't just want to bring her down to dirt level not even two days ago.
Jihoo clutched his head as he felt a headache forming.
"She is beautiful, isn't she?" Jihoo heard a voice. He knew who it belonged to without even turning around.
It was Geum Jandi.
Author's Note:
I know I know. Alot happening but not alot happening at the same time.
Don't worry, Nari will ask questions regarding her family once again next chapter. We will see more of her family in the upcoming few chapters and let me tell you, things are alot more complicated than it seems.
And so this chapter marks the official declaration of the pairings.
Hopefully all of the context clues were enough lmfaooo.
Our boy Jihoo has come back! I hope his pov added at least some level of depth to his character. I do think he was at first, attracted to Jandi because of her somewhat similarities with Seo-Hyun. I wanted to explore a bit more on it while still hinting that Jandi is still going through her cannon storyline all this while. The timeline has been shifted around. And so, we will see Seo-Hyun making her entry soon. Instead of the whole Oh Minji fiasco happening after Jihoo has left, it will happen before.
Everybody say thank you to Oh Minji because she is about help push this plot forward to a whole next level in terms of character introductions and relationships.
Next chapter, we finally get Jandi's POV!!
Everybody cheer!
With that being said,
until next time!!