𝑴𝒊𝒏-𝒆 || Min Ho x Reader

✧˖° 2 | 12

After our conversation about Stella, I realized that Min Ho wouldn't learn to take my concerns seriously. Not without intervention. Thus, I decided to make him feel the same way I had when he was around her.

And Ray, a closeted individual who had history with him, had become the perfect candidate.

The library had always been a  comforting space for me; a constant hush of rustling pages and murmurs. I spotted Ray easily enough: sitting at a wide table in the back, scrolling through his phone instead of studying.

Here we go again, I thought, suppressing a sigh at my flashbacks to last semester.

I straightened my bag over my shoulder, and walked towards him with purpose. The click of my shoes against the carpet made Ray look up at the last second, raising his eyebrows as I stopped in front of him. 

"There you are," Ray remarked, making room for me and setting down his phone. "The pettiest person I know."

I rolled my eyes, sat down, and leaned over to skim the problem on the homework. The entire page was, notably, blank. "You've been productive."

A flash of light suddenly caught my attention. A moment later, a ripple of surprised whispers spread through the room. I glanced up to see a cluster of female teenage students huddled around a phone from afar, their eyes wide.

There was a funny moment where we all stared at each other—they clearly had been unaware that their flash was on—before they scrambled behind a bookshelf and practically ran out the door.

"Ladies still can't resist me," Ray said with a sarcastic sigh. "That's helpful to your cause, isn't it?"

"Just— just do your work."

After an hour of scolding him over Chemistry, my phone buzzed. Frowning, I opened it to see none other than the image of Ray and I leaning close circulating around social media. The caption speculated about me "moving on." Our faces were slightly obscured by the low resolution, which I was somehow thankful for it, even though that was the whole point. 

Min Ho, I knew, would see it.  I could practically feel his gaze burning into the back of my head, even though he was across campus. 

"You know, I'm actually  impressed," I admitted at the end of the session. Ray had improved a lot over the break. "Did your self-discovery also cause you to discover studying?"

"Yeah, kind of," he answered, surprising me. "I've just been doing a lot of practice tests, mostly. Hey, you know my grade's an 88 now?"

"88?" I repeated, astonished. "That's the cutoff for Chem Honors." My class, I wanted to add.

"Yeah. I'm thinking I might transfer; Honors gets extra points on their weighted grade. It would bring up my weighted GPA."

"Hm," I mused, genuinely surprised. "That's a good idea. You should talk to your counselor."

Ray packed his work into his bag and stood up with a grin. "I will, and I'll update you tomorrow."

Ray in my Chem class?  What could be better for my plan?? I thought to myself excitedly. Ray switching to a higher class meant a lot more time between the three of us—me, him, and Min Ho.

The first few days of our arrangement were light; casual. I made sure to be seen with Ray in the library, at lunch, walking to and from the dorm buildings... but not enough to seem fake. Just enough to place an idea in Min Ho's head.

Predictably, it worked.

Of course, Min Ho didn't say anything at first, but I could feel the shift in his demeanor. The way his gaze lingered on Ray whenever we were in the same room. The slight frown of his lips whenever I laughed at something Ray said.