the vicious circle

Chapter 01

"Look! There's another letter for you, Y/N!" cried your best friend, peeking into your locker. She was carrying a small corsage box, addressed to you, which she had found aligned with that letter, mysteriously appearing in there even though you were pretty sure it was firmly locked.

"Gift for me?" you exclaimed. "From whom?"

Your best friend, Eun Jung Hana, an attractive blonde, gave you the box and chuckled.

"That's a mystery" she said.

"There's no card on the outside... just your name," she said, tugging at your arm with an impatient shrug.

"Hurry and open it!"

Nodding, you quickly untied the ribbon on the box, and both of your eyes anxiously peered immediately when the covering of the box came off.

"Oh, a bracelet!" Hana whisper-yelled, lifting out the exquisite jewelry with one hand while the other covered her gaping mouth out of shock.

"Damn! Look how glowy it is, must be worth more than my whole existence!" she batted her eyelashes, twirling the shiny object in her palm.

"No way! I think it's... it's artificial! I wonder who..." You paused as your hands picked up the tiny envelope in your locker and eagerly opened it.

A blush crept over your face, and your best friend teasingly asked, "Which admirer is it this time?"

You rolled your eyes at her statement. Well, it was kind of true because you had dozens of admirers who would frequently ask you out or leave presents for you in random places. You just discouraged their attentions and offers. But this! This was new.

"I can't understand this," you replied with a puckered brow.

"The card says Jeon Jungkook. How can this be possible?"

"This is the fifth one in a row!" Hana said. "And the sender is the same guy. Like you said, it's impossible."

You agreed but remained puzzled. You had known about Jungkook since middle school days. Back in high school, he was the school's heartthrob, and now here in college too. He was pleasant and generous, didn't mind at all giving a hand to students who came from low-income households, sparing large sums of money he had. He could easily afford the best because he was coming from one of the first families in South Korea, otherwise known as the Jeons.

So it was an obvious fact that girls were head over heels for him. They even made up this 'honorific', "Sugar Daddy," that seemed to tag along everywhere he went. You found it rather insulting than an honor, as though money was the only important thing about him.

But he had this quirk in his personality that gave off bad boy vibes. For example, he FREAKING had a tattoo tainting his whole right arm and lots of ear piercings that further boasted those unruly vibes. Surprisingly, he had the total opposite of what he exuded. He was the smartest student, the class topper, and performed outstandingly in front of the professors and in exams. Almost everything about him was PERFECT.

"Girl, this is insane! What if this secret admirer of yours is really Jungkook?! I can't believe this. Can you expect him to be this invested on a girl all of a sudden?" said your best friend, who was busy scanning your bracelet.

No, of course, this was strange. It was not likely him to do these sweet stuff. One thing you had observed about him so far was that he never had an interest in the slightest degree in any of the girls here, no matter how beautiful or sexy they looked.

"I don't think Jungkook sent me this," you said, coming out of your trance. She hummed.

"I believe the whole thing may be a setup," she said slowly.