Jake, amused, follows his sulking friend, who can't forgive him for not giving her a head start and beating her during extracurricular taekwondo classes. Hearing his giggles behind him, she turns to face him in the main hallway and glares at him.
- Just don't piss yourself with joy - she tells him coldly, crossing her arms over her chest. - And what are you laughing at? - she adds, seeing that he is turning red with laughter.
- Yuna , you have to know how to lose. Why are you so terrible?
- If you weren't making fun of me, I probably would have ignored it - she says, looking at his face. And once again, she can't stand his joy. - Will you stop being so stupidly happy? - she asks him in an irritated voice.
The blond boy puts his hand to his mouth and tries to look serious. For a moment, he succeeds, but seeing her expression he bursts out laughing again.
"You're stupid." Her words don't hurt him in any way. Their conversations always go like this. They're like a friendly dog and cat. They love to tease each other, but they'll always take their side.
"Hi Jake ." They both look to the side as an attractive second-grader walks past them, catching the boy's eye, tucking her hair behind her ear and smiling flirtatiously.
He knows who this girl is. They spent the night together a few days ago.
- Don't tell me this is your next victim... - Yuna looks at him with disgust in her eyes. - You'll end up getting an STD.
"Honey," he tells her, putting his arm around her. "I know how to protect myself."
The twenty-year-old girl smiles lousy and shrugs his hands off her shoulders.
- Thank goodness for you, because it would be worse than catching a disease if you had fathered a child with one of them.
Jake squints at the profile of her face.
- Are you jealous, my friend? Does the thought of me becoming a father scare you?
Yuna bursts into fake laughter.
- Dream on, idiot.
He follows her with his gaze until she's out of sight. He stretches in the middle of the hallway, his gaze finding a group of first-year students talking about him.
- There are easy pickings this year - he whispers under his breath, thinking that he won't be bored because there is plenty to choose from.
***
That day, Wonyoung avoids her friend like the plague. She can't forgive him for deciding a boy she's had her eye on as his next victim. She won't let him hurt her. Furthermore, she'll protect him at all costs, though she doesn't understand why she cares so much.
Every time she thinks about him, her heart beats faster. She still can't understand what's happening to her.
She's completely smitten with him. Is it like love at first sight?
She's coming back from the parking lot because she left a book in the car that she borrowed from Jake for the vacation. She wants to give it back to him while he remembers. As she heads through the courtyard, she texts him asking where to find him.
Her lack of interest in her surroundings causes her to bump into someone's body in the main doorway, and if it weren't for the person grabbing her around the waist at the last moment and pulling her towards them, she would have had a rather unpleasant encounter with the stairs.
Her eyes widen as she notices herself being held by the object of her desires. The first-year hunk is looking at her so intently that her mouth goes dry. A shiver runs through her body, a strange excitement she feels, something she has never experienced with any other guy.
"Are you okay ?" he asks her as he helps her stand up straight and removes his hand from her waist.
- I'm fine, thanks - she replies.
- By the way, I would also like to thank you for standing up for me.
Oh, god! Is he trying to make contact? Wonyoung thinks in panic.
"My friend attacked you for no reason, so I took the right side," she replies, looking away.
She doesn't understand it, but she can't look him in the eye! She acts like a shy girl seeing a crush.
Get a grip on yourself, she thinks.
"Most people will side with a friend even when they're wrong, so I appreciate your honesty," he says, smiling brightly at her.
He's a really nice guy. Wonyoung spends time around some awful guys, so she immediately picks up on his likable nature.
- I hope Niki never picks on you again.
She's like a fucking idiot who's terrified of talking to a pleasant guy. She just walks past him in the doorway and into the building. A little further on, she stops and blows air out of her mouth. She turns around and watches the man, guessing he's waiting for someone.
Clutching the book to his chest, he looks with disappointment at his former friend who approaches him, casually talking to him.
Once again she is jealous seeing them together. Why is it so hard for her to get in touch with this man? Why is she acting so strange around him?
Are these the symptoms of falling in love for the first time?
***
Wonyoung pushes the book into her friend's hands, staring absently at one spot. She still can't come to terms with the fact that she acted like an idiot and didn't lead this conversation differently.
She had her chance and totally screwed it up! Somi managed to connect with this man right away.
"Damn her. That's another time she's tried to take the man I like," she mutters to herself, completely forgetting about Jake's presence.
The blond boy looks at the nineteen-year-old girl with interest in his eyes.
- Go away, don't tell me that after all these years you finally fell in love...
The confused girl looks at his face and an idea is born in her head...
" Jake, you know how much I adore you, right?" she asks, taking his arm. She looks at him with merciful eyes, and he guesses that this girl is preparing a devious plan for him.
"When you say that, you want to use me for something." He lowers his head and looks at her face. She smiles, looking like a sweet doll now. "How can I help you?"
- Remember when you once told me that you liked Somi , but I wouldn't let you hit on her because we were enemies? - The boy nods, guessing where his friend was going with this. - Now I'll let you. I know she used to have a soft spot for you, so I'd like you to make her fall in love with you.
The blond boy rolls his eyes and sighs heavily.
- Then I have to prepare a good script so she doesn't find out it's your concept - he replies, not being against her idea in any way.
"You're the best friend ever," Wonyoung says, giving him a kiss on the cheek. He's not impressed, because he treats her like a sister.
"So who is this special guy who managed to melt the icy heart of a cold princess?" Jake raises his eyebrows. "Is he the hunk from the school website article?"
This is the first time the nineteen-year-old's girl's snow-white complexion begins to redden.
- You don't need to know everything. Just be glad you're allowed to get close to Somi .
Joker Jake kneels in front of his friend and holds out his hands to her, making a fist.
- Thank you, madam. It means a lot to me.
The teen girl rolls her eyes and turns on her heel, leaving him there alone. She believes her friend will do anything to distance Somi from the first year.
This man is the one everyone falls for. He's like the devil of love, sneaky, charismatic, and damn handsome.
***
After finishing her classes, Sullyoon waits for her sister by the car. She browses social media on her phone, not paying attention to the people milling about. At one point, she gets the feeling that she has been watched for a long time.
She lifts her face and looks with fearful eyes at a boy from her year, who is leaning against the bike, his gaze fixed on her. It seemed to her during class that he was looking at her the whole time.
It awakens a feeling of panic in her.
She dials Wonyoung's number, nervously moving her leg when her sister doesn't answer. She eventually decides to go back into the building to look for her, but as she moves, the eighteen-year-old grabs her hand and stops her.
Furthermore, she looks at him with wide eyes, and a strange feeling of unease shocks her entire body.
- Sullyoon, can I have a moment of your time? - he asks.
"I apologize, but I remembered I have to go back to the building," she replies, wanting to leave, but he won't let her.
- I will accompany you...
- No! - she replies with panic in her voice, and her eyes betray her fear. - I don't want you to come with me.
He boldly touches her face, running his fingers over her cheek. He smiles slightly, and she's scared as hell.
"Let me go," she says in a panicked teenage voice.
- Didn't you hear what she said? Let her go this instant! - Yuna's scream can be heard throughout the courtyard. She quickly walks up to her sister and forcibly rips her hand out of the intruder's grip. She stands in front of her and pierces the boy with a gaze that could kill him on the spot. - If I see you by her side again, I'll turn your balls into ping-pong balls!
- Relax, I just wanted to meet her. - He puts his hands up in defense and walks away, unable to take his eyes off his younger sister for a long time.
" He's weird," Sullyoon says, looking at her sister with frightened eyes.
- I ask you not to go anywhere alone for now. Try to always be with someone from our group.
The youngest sister is the apple of the eye of all the family and friends. She is shy and timid, so everyone has a strong feeling of protecting her.
"What happened?" Niki asks as she and Jake join the sisters in the parking lot. The boys can see that their younger sister is scared.
- Some idiot picked on her. He looked at her like she was meat! - Yuna doesn't mince her words, and Sullyoon's cheeks turn red with embarrassment.
Niki rolls up the sleeves of his shirt as if preparing to attack.
- Who is this scoundrel?
Jake walks up to Sullyoon and wraps his arms around her caringly like a little child.
- Are you okay? You must have been petrified? - he asks her, stroking her hair.
The girl feels like a baby that everyone has to watch over. It's nice, but it's also awkward, because she's already eighteen.
"You don't have to protect me twenty-four hours a day. I can handle myself," she mutters bashfully, but it seems like no one is listening to her at this point.
Each of them wants to act on their own and show this man where the crayfish spend the winter.