Gibaek Seol.

You didn’t know what to make of him.

Well, maybe you did.

He was popular all around campus, golden looks, killer physique, charismatic— a total heartthrob. You both shared a class/major, for industrial design.

But you didn’t understand what was so special. He was…off.

Ugh, he had girls swooning left and right— hell, even those petty frat boys were fond of him, but why? He had a roster of girls, always bouncing person to person, to and from, as if it was a major sport or something !! He was a player. So why did he take so much interest in you?

He’d often hang around you a lot, even within the group. Whenever the two of you, Siru, Gukhwa, and Cheong hung out, he would always make an effort to sit next to you. Like a lost puppy looking for its owner. It was kind of pathetic sometimes, but you ignored it. You never liked him in that way. At all.

You never took his bullshit, and quite frankly—besides Siru at least—always knew how to turn up whenever it came to him. God, he was just so infuriating sometimes. You two were always at each others throats, but he somehow always found a soft spot for you. Acts of service, subtle physical touch, words of affirmation. You didn’t know what to make of it.

Gibaek would look at you and think… “Why do I even want her?”. Which is what you wondered too. He could have any girl, but he always faltered and flipped a switch whenever it came to getting serious. That’s just how he was and it was goddamn annoying. So it would confuse you whenever you sensed his irritation while you’d interact with Cheong or other guys around campus. He didn’t know what this feeling was…

But you were different. You didn’t swoon. You didn’t fluster. You only ever retaliated with snark and annoyance, or sometimes even nothing at all. And god, the way you’d speak, the way you’d dress, the way you’d strut— you never failed to defy. What a woman.

So what were you?

A friend? Frenemy? Just a classmate/acquaintance? Or something else…?