The Real Us

. chapter 3 .

The following day, Taeryoung decided not to run away from Kyojun who had been wanting to walk her to school every day for the past week. She styled her hair and applied some light makeup before taking a deep breath and leaving the house. There she saw a male figure waiting in front of the gate surrounding her house.

"Hey, Kyojun... I'm sorry for igno-" her words came to a halt when the male turned around to face her. It was none other than her new "boyfriend," Park Sunghoon.

The male's cold expression sent shivers down her spine. She pursed her lips recalling the deal the two had made the previous afternoon. Her thoughts were interrupted by him.

"Dimples?" he seemed surprised as he bent down to eye level with her once more. "I have dimples," the girl stated, confused, "Why do you seem so surprised?"

"Just an observation," he said as he took her hand, startling her. "Let's go," he said as he began walking, practically pulling the poor girl behind his long-legged strides.

-

The two could feel many pairs of eyes on them as they held hands and walked through the entrance to Hanyuk square, the open grass area at the center of the school. Sunghoon led the girl to a bench and signaled her to sit.

"Why are we waiting here?" She asked, looking around, a bit embarrassed at the attention she was getting. "We're waiting for her." The male narrowed his eyes saying the last word. As if she had been cued by the universe, Kang Jiyun walked just into view. Upon seeing her, the male wrapped his arm around Taeryoung and pulled her close to him.

"Hey! Park Sunghoon!" Jiyun chimed before she noticed the female sitting besides her idol and she stormed over, feeling her face turn red. "Who are you." she narrowed her eyes at Taeryoung who was trying her best to not show any fear on her face.

"This is my girlfriend, Taeryoung." Even if it was all planned, Taeryoung couldn't help but feel strange hearing those words. She glanced up at the first year who's lip was quivering like she was about to burst into tears at any given moment.

For a second, Taeryoung sensed a flicker of hatred flash across the girls face before she turned on her heels and ran away, bawling loudly. Other students stared as she ran past, but Sunghoon breathed a sigh of relief.

"Alright," He said as he removed his arm from around the girl and checked the time on his phone. "Class is going to start soon. Let's go."

-

Upon arriving in Class 2, Taeryoung waved goodbye to Sunghoon and shuffled over to her desk, trying to ignore the surprised looks people were giving. "TAERYOUNG." she heard a familiar voice call. She prepared herself to get yelled at for not informing her friends about her new "relationship," but instead she found them melting over the supposed cuteness of it all.

"When did you guys meet?" "When did you start dating?" "How long have you been together?" by now almost all the girls in the class were surrounding her desk. "Who confessed first? Him or you?"

"Uh-" Taeryoung stalled for a second before she smiled "he did." The girls cooed and kept exclaiming how jealous they were that they didn't have boyfriends yet. If only they knew it was all fake. Taeryoung sighed to herself.

The following week, Sunghoon began to pick her up and drop her off at her house, but one day she asked him, "Do you want to go eat?" The male seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden offer, so she added, "don't worry, we probably won't see anybody there so we won't have to pretend." He hesitated but finally he complied as he was hungry from a long day of school.

The two arrived at a small restaurant and sat down at a table in the back corner. After making their orders, (they ended up both getting chicken skewers) the two sat in silence. "So," Taeryoung tried to lighted up the atmosphere. "What do you like to do outside of school?"

The male looked at her, then at the table. "I used to ice skate."

"Used to?" she questioned. The boy nodded and the girl thought she noticed a bit of sadness cross his eyes.

"My parents made me quit because they want me to focus on my studies."

"Ah.. I see"

"I still sneak out to skate sometimes though. It helps clear my head when there's a lot on my mind."

Taeryoung was a bit surprised to hear him being this open. The most the two had actually conversed was when they planned what their "getting to know each other" story was.