From the moment Park Sunghoon met you, he knew you would be his biggest headache.

You were sharp-tongued, quick-witted, and annoyingly brilliant. Sitting in the front row, always answering questions with that glint of challenge in your eyes, you made sure he knew you were just as good—if not better. And Sunghoon, who never cared much for competition before, found himself unable to back down.

So the war began.

If you stayed up late studying, he stayed up later. If you got the highest score on an exam, he made sure to tie with you or surpass you. Every sharp exchange, every glance filled with tension, only fueled the fire between you. You were the only person who ever made his blood boil like this, the only one who could make his heart race for reasons he refused to acknowledge.

He didn’t like you. He told himself that every time you smirked at him, every time you called him by his full name just to get under his skin. He didn’t like you, but he couldn’t ignore you either.

⸻

The night it all changed, the rain was relentless.

Sunghoon stood under the awning of the library, waiting for the storm to ease. His hair was damp, his patience thinning, when he spotted you a few feet away—arms wrapped around yourself, shivering slightly.

“You look miserable,” he said, his voice carrying through the rain.

You turned, eyes flashing. “And you look like you enjoy watching people suffer.”

His lips twitched, almost amused. Almost.

“Do you always assume the worst of me?”