Minjin's false-step and Mun Sara's understated warning

As Minjin entered through the back door of the classroom, her eyes instinctively landed on Minjun. A smirk crossed her face as she approached their desk, though her expression soon turned to a frown.

Upon reaching her desk, Ms. Yun entered through the front door. Minjin sat down, dropping her backpack with a loud thud, which caused their nearby classmates to turn and look at her. Meanwhile, Minjun, engrossed in his notes and reading a book, smirked quietly to himself.

"You're early," he said without lifting his gaze from his work.

Minjin didn't respond, but her face showed irritation. She arranged her book and notes on her desk and placed her backpack behind her chair. 

Minjun smirked again. "I guess threatening you actually works." He paused mid-sentence to write something down, then turned to her. "Wait, it kind of feels like you don't really want me to pick you up."

Minjin smirked slightly and turned to him with a sarcastic smile. "You're quick at figuring that out," she teased.

His expression turned slightly glacial as she looked away to focus on her notes again.

Ms. Yun stood in front of the class, looking around at her students. "Everyone, as you know, the midterm exam is coming up in two weeks. I want to announce that during your self-study session, you can help each other study." Her gaze briefly scanned the room before landing on Minjun. "Minjun-ah, I'll leave the rest to you."

Minjun focused on Ms. Yun. "Ne, saem." Then he glanced back at Minjin. "Aren't you also attempting to escape again?" he teased lightly.

Minjin snorted. "I don't want you to chain me up again," she said, her tone dripping with sarcasm as she kept reading her notes.

Minjun smirked before returning to his notes. "If I could, I would." 

Minjin rolled her eyes and chose to ignore him.

As the self-study progressed, Minjin kept her gaze outside the window, finding it quite annoying to be confronted by girls who adored Minjun.

A moment later, their usual female classmate approached Minjun again to ask for help with her studies. Upon hearing her familiar voice, Minjin slowly turned her head toward them. Without hesitation, Minjun agreed to her request, grabbed his notes, and stood up from his desk to walk with the girl toward the group of female classmates.

As they walked side by side, Minjin noticed the shy body language of their female classmate, who was trying to act casually next to Minjun.

She couldn't help but snort to herself at the sight.

Minjin kept her gaze on Minjun, whom their female classmates surrounded. He laughed patiently when one of the girls didn't understand his explanation at first, repeating it with a smile. Some girls pretended to listen intently, while others stole glances at him, nodding along. Then, one of the girls asked if Minjun could help her and the others until examination week. With a grin, Minjun promised that he would. 

One girl stood up to disperse the crowd and handed him a drink and a sandwich. "This is for you in case you're hungry," she offered. 

Minjun smiled and accepted the gesture. "Gomawo." 

Minjin's face twisted slightly at the sight.

Mun Sara, standing at the back of the rows, kept her eyes on Minjin as she observed Minjun and the other girls. She noticed Minjin's twisted expression of disgust, which led Mun Sara to suspect that Minjin might be jealous of Minjun's closeness with their female classmates. Overcome with emotion, Mun Sara walked over and sat beside Minjin, placing her notes on the desk.

"Minjin-ah, help me with this," Mun Sara asked, trying to sound casual.

Minjin turned to her. "Sara-ah, I've noticed a lot of girls surrounding Minjun. Aren't you jealous?"

Mun Sara looked at her with shocked eyes while Minjin stared back with genuine curiosity. Mun Sara kept her gaze fixed on Minjin. "You know that I like Minjun, right?" She asked.

Minjin nodded innocently. "Yeah, you told me, didn't you?" she replied.

Mun Sara struggled to hide a smirk at Minjin's response. She wondered whether she should be offended that Minjin had always been aware of her feelings for Minjun but was also behaving oddly around him.

"Minjin-ah, as you see, a lot of girls like Minjun-ah." She faintly smiled as her eyes drifted to Minjun. "What can I do about it?"

"So, you just watch him with other girls?" Minjin asked.

"I can't do anything about that," Mun Sara said, sighing deeply. Then she returned her gaze to Minjin. "Minjin-ah, I am glad that you know that I like Minjun-ah. You are the only one I told that." She then held Minjin's arm. "Let's keep that in mind, okay, Minjin-ah?"

Minjin's eyes widened at Mun Sara's unexpected suggestion, but she quickly nodded in response, attempting to seem casual. "O-of course, Sara-ah," she replied.

Mun Sara attempted a smile while drawing her notes nearer to Minjin, who was trying to hide her discomfort with the situation.

### 

When lunch arrived, Minjin couldn't stop thinking about her last conversation with Mun Sara. She was in line for food trays in the cafeteria with Kim Aecha and Heo Yeong-hwan. Her focus only shifted when the server asked her which dishes she wanted on her tray. She tried to smile and politely indicate her preferences.

After gathering their meals, they headed to the table occupied by Lee Deji and Choi Ye-joon. Minjin quietly took a seat next to Kim Aecha, her eyes naturally drifting to the other side of the path between the tables, where she noticed Minjun approaching a table with Mun Sara and Bang Eun-Kyung.

Her eyes remained fixed on them until she noticed that Mun Sara had sat down next to Minjun while Bang Eun-Kyung took a seat across from them. She shifted her gaze back to her tray, recalling how Mun Sara had continuously wrapped Minjun's food last week when they dined at Heo Yeong-hwan's Samgyupsal restaurant. 

She let out a silent snort when she realized that Minjun had casually allowed her to do that.

Looking back at them, she saw Minjun and Mun Sara chatting comfortably. It struck her that Minjun openly accepted every gesture from the girls who liked him, yet he remained mean toward her. Frustrated, she abruptly dropped her chopsticks into her bowl of rice.

Choi Ye-joon, who was sitting across from her, noticed how Minjin placed her chopsticks on her rice bowl. "Ya, Minjin-ah, you shouldn't put your chopsticks down like that; it's considered disrespectful," he remarked.

Minjin let out a deep sigh and picked up her chopsticks. "Sorry, Hyung," she replied.

"What's wrong?" Choi Ye-joon asked as he continued eating.

Minjin sighed again, her shoulders slumping. "It's nothing," she said.

As she kept eating, she once more recalled her earlier conversation with Mun Sara. It was evident that Mun Sara was trying to make Minjin aware of her feelings for Minjun. Minjin sighed quietly to herself again, realizing that Mun Sara was subtly warning her not to have the same feelings.