[t e n]

♤Chapter 9♤

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Author's P.O.V.♧

•10 years later•

"Ji-Rae, hurry up! We might get late"

"I'm coming brother, wait up!"

"Man Weol, why don't you help Ji-Rae instead of just shouting to her to hurry up" Leeseong flicked Man Weol's forehead, growing annoyed at his behavior.

"Ow!! Okay, okay. Sheesh that's one strong finger you have there Leeseong"

"Are you going to keep on babbling or should I show you how strong my hand is as well?" Leeseong replied back menacingly, threateningly holding his palm up to the other's face preparing to do who knows what to him.

Immediately, Man Weol scurried behind and took Ji-Rae's books from her so she could walk properly and finally catch up to them. The books were really heavy since they were so thick and there were already a lot of them.

"Why did you even bring all these books with you Jiji?" Man Weol asked Ji-Rae.

"I'm studying for finals. I wanna ace them so I could get a chance to be a scholar at a different school in another country. Korea maybe. I've already gotten high marks on almost all of my tests and subjects. I even overheard some of the foreign teachers talk about how well I was doing" Ji-Rae smiled, taking a book from the top of the stack of books and skimming over some pages.

"That, and some other 7-12 students too. I've heard about it a couple times too from students in the hall" Leeseong hummed, thinking of who those others could be.

"But the education here is already great though. Why would you want to get a scholarship in Korea?" Seongjun asked, taking the book Ji-Rae was holding and closed it shut before putting it back on the stack of books Man Weol was carrying.

"I don't know, I just feel like I wanna go and learn there. I mean, there's no harm in aiming for a scholarship in Korea. Plus, don't you miss your home country after being away for nearly over 10 years?" Ji-Rae reasoned, her hands doing all sorts of motions, waving around in front of them.

"...Isn't Korea YOUR home country?" Seongjun paused.

"Oh... yeah. But still-"

"Calm down kultaseni, no one is stopping you from doing what you want. We support whatever your choice is, as long as it isn't something that you shouldn't be doing" Joonsung smiled encouragingly.

"Goodness, you sound so cheesy right now" Man Weol snickered, earning a look from Joonsung.

"I still don't get the idea though. I don't like it either" Seongjun muttered.

"Too bad then, because I'm still going with it" Ji-Rae replied with a cheeky grin .

"Whatever" Seongjun rolled his eyes.

"There's the school gates. I'll head to my classroom now! Man Weol, escort Ji-Rae to her classroom with her books. I'll wait for you in my classroom" Joonsung waved to the four siblings and went on first to his own classroom.

The other three along with Man Weol went to their classroom which was in the 3rd floor of the school. Ji-Rae, Seongjun and Leeseong were in their Junior year and they shared the same classroom since 6th grade which made them an honor student along with some others in the school.

Man Weol and Joonsung were in their senior year and also share the same classroom while Baekjun is in his 2nd year of college.

Ji-Rae and Seongjun were both 16, Leeseong being 17, Joonsung and Man Weol are both 18, and Baekjun was 20.

"Alright we're here. Here are your books, rakas." Man Weol grinned, handing Ji-Rae her stack of books when they reached the door of their classroom.

"Thanks big brother" Ji-Rae smiled, turning around and entering her classroom when she was pulled back by her uniform. She almost dropped her books if it weren't for Leeseong who took the stack immediately from her hands.

"You forgot something" Man Weol pouted, pointing his cheek. Ji-Rae scoffed in disbelief, Leeseong glared at Man Weol from behind her for the sudden action he did.

"Are you serious? What are you, my boyfriend?" she retorted.

"Is it wrong to kiss your brother's cheek as thanks?" Man Weol reasoned, still pouting.

"You punk! Just hurry up and get lost will you! Before you get late!" Leeseong butted in, swatting Man Weol looked shocked and walked away, mumbling words of defeat.

▪︎Recess Time▪︎

"I see that you all are having a hard time grasping today's topic... We'll take a break for now and discuss it again tomorrow. You all are dismissed"

The students got up from their chairs and left the classroom, all eager to head to the cafeteria and clear their minds of the difficult lesson they had today. Ji-Rae and Leeseong wasnleft behind, busy putting their things back in their bags while Seongjun was waiting for them by the door. Ji-Rae was about to zip her bag close when a hand landed on her desk.

She looked at the hand and up at the owner of the hand. It was the transfer student that they met this morning.

"Um... voinko auttaa sinua?"

"Hei siellä, mietin, voisimmeko syödä lounasta yhdessä? Tiedat, vain sinä ja minä" he answered, a weird smile on his face.

Ji-Rae's nose scrunched in slight discomfort.

"Um-"

"Anteeksi, mutta hän on kiireinen kanssani" Leeseong hit the palm of his hand on the desk, making a loud noise due to the strength his hand has. He moved to stand in front of Ji-Rae, slightly towering over the other boy.

"Oletko hänen veljensä vai jotain? Buzz pois, puhun hänelle eikä sinulle" The other male sneered, eyeing Leeseong up and down. Leeseong scoffed in disbelief at the boy's attitude towards him.

"Entä jos menetät sen sijaan? Haluan vain kertoa sinulle, että olen hänen poikaystävänsä. Hän ei ole kiinnostunut pienestä vaahdosta kuten sinä"

Ji-Rae was a bit shocked and looked at her brother, wondering why he said that.

The two males gave eachother intense and dirty stares for a while before the other boy hissed in annoyance and went away, leaving the classroom.

"Come, let's go" Leeseong sighed out and took Ji-Rae's hand, taking his bag with him before leaving the classroom.

"Why'd you say that you were my boyfriend?" Ji-Rae asked, her eyes still a bit wide from earlier.

"Do you want him following you if I told him that I was your brother instead, then?" Leeseong replied, earning a silent Ji-Rae behind him.

"What took you two so long?" Seongjun appeared beside them, walking along with them.

"The cocky transfer student tried to flirt with my Jiji"

"Oh, the guy that just left earlier. I've already heard lots of students talk about him. They said it's hard to get him to leave them alone... Yet you were there and you sent him off in minutes. What did you say?"

"I told him I'm Ji-Rae's boyfriend" Leeseong smirked, remembering how annoyed the boy looked earlier when he left the classroom in defeat.

"You could've just told him that you were her brother... Jeez"

"He won't leave Ji-Rae alone if he knew that she was single. He might even follow her around. He's disturbing, really..."

"Now that you mention it, he was trying to flirt with multiple girls in the hallways whenever I saw him.."

"Gross" Ji-Rae whispered, shaking off any image of him out of her system.

"Ji-Rae, sit with me at one of the tables. You didn't sit with me yesterday" Seongjun tugged at Ji-Rae's arm, motioning to the cafeteria that they were about to reach.

"But I need to study for finals. I even brought some books from home. The library didn't have these so I brought them here instead" Ji-Rae pulled her arm away from Seongjun, heading towards the library. Leeseong, however, turned her around and pushed her to the direction of the cafeteria, taking the stack of books from her.

"Go and eat first. When you're done you can come to the library, then we'll study. You don't need to rush anything because we have plenty of time for recess anyway. Eat a lot alright?"

"But-"

"You'll do what I say because I'm older. Seongjun make sure she eats a lot. I'll wait in the library"

"Don't boss me around Leeseong" Seongjun muttered and dragged a protesting Ji-Rae to the cafeteria.

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Translations;

voinko auttaa sinua? - can I help you?

Hei siellä, mietin, voisimmeko syödä lounasta yhdessä? Tiedat, vain sinä ja minä - hi there, I was wondering if we could have lunch together? You know, just you and me.

Anteeksi, mutta hän on kiireinen kanssani - Sorry, but she's busy with me.

Oletko hänen veljensä vai jotain? Buzz pois, puhun hänelle eikä sinulle - are you her brother or something? Buzz off, I'm talking to her and not you.

Entä jos menetät sen sijaan? Haluan vain kertoa sinulle, että olen hänen poikaystävänsä. Hän ei ole kiinnostunut pienestä vaahdosta kuten sinä - What if you get lost instead? Just to let you know, I'm her boyfriend. She isn't interested in a low scum like you.