Author's Note: Do you ever just get the urge to update a fic about a non-canon pairing from a show you only watched once a full 7 years after you last updated? Just me then. If anyone is still out there let me know and I'll try to actually finish this thing.
Rachel wasn't sure how long she stayed sprawled on the floor against the lockers, the eyes of her classmates burning into her, the ringing in her ears a small kindness that kept their furious whispers from penetrating her mind.
All she knew was that she eventually found the strength to push herself to her feet and collect what was left of her dignity, stumbling slightly until a hand found its way to her shoulder, steadying her body even as her brain was left reeling. She let herself hope for one, brief, traitorous second that it was Young Do, come back to check on her or apologize or just…exist in the same space as her without one of them running away.
For once.
But when her eyes finally managed to focus on the figure in front of her it wasn't Young Do.
It was Myung Soo, looking just as broken, inside and out, as she felt.
Rachel took in his bloody lip, his rapidly swelling eyelid, that crestfallen expression on his normally annoyingly joyful face and felt a fresh wave of sadness wash over her.
Why were they doing this to each other?
Why were they living in the cracks between their parents' expectations and the cruelty of the world in general? Why were they pushing those walls in on each other every chance they got?
But the sadness was accompanied by anger.
Not at Young Do who had plenty to answer for but at the circumstances that had never given either of them a chance at more than scraps of love and self worth.
The circumstances that had destroyed Cha Eun Sang's life and then deposited her within the reach of the starving, snarling beasts that passed for students at this god forsaken school.
The circumstances that had left Kim Tan so lonely and desperate to protect his chance at happiness that he couldn't see the line between bravery and cruelty anymore.
Enough. It was enough now.
"Are you ok?" Myung Soo asked, wincing as the words stretched his lips far enough to break open the cut there anew.
"Are you?" Rachel countered skeptically, brushing off his concern in favor of reaching out to tilt his head with her customary lack of gentleness so she could better examine the bruise already blooming on his cheek.
He winced, shrugged, sighed as she let her hand drop back to her side.
"He shouldn't have hurt you."
Rachel felt excuses spring unbidden to her tongue.
He didn't mean to.
I shouldn't have gotten involved.
It doesn't hurt anyway.
In the end what she offered him wasn't any of that.
"He shouldn't have hurt you either," She told him, a comment met by an almost grateful nod.
A moment of understanding passed between them, unlikely allies who were beyond making excuses for the messes made by Young Do's rage and yet loved him all the same.
A few minutes later they had gone their separate ways, Rachel forcing herself to keep her head held high even as she limped slightly towards the bathroom furthest from the incident as though putting a few extra feet of physical distance between herself and what had happened could make a difference.
Staring into the mirror there wasn't much evidence of what had happened.
There was probably a lump forming on the back of her head but her hair was effectively covering it, that shiny perfection serving yet another purpose now.
The only sign that anything had happened at all was a tiny cut on her cheek she didn't remember getting and the tiredness hovering behind her eyes.
Not that it was exactly a new look for her in that regard.
Tired was the default.
Tired of the balancing act to keep her mother happy.
Tired of lying to Jung hwa even if it was by omission.
Tired of dancing around how she felt about Young Do.
Tired of…
"Rachel?"
Rachel's eyes met Cha Eun Sang's through the mirror, the girl's signature slightly terrified expression firmly in place.
What timing.
"I'm a little busy," She told the other girl without any heat.
"I heard what happened," Eun Sang insisted, like the plucky, unlikely heroine she was. "I wanted…well, I thought someone should check on you."
Rachel resisted the urge to laugh.
She was Eun Sang's charity project now.
It would be mortifying if she could bring herself to care.
"Do I look like I need your help?"
Eun Sang raised an eyebrow and tilted her head as if to point out just how much it looked like that was exactly the case, as if to point out just how Rachel had fallen from the perch she used to make fun of her from .
Rachel sighed.
Maybe learning to admit defeat occasionally was in her best interest even if only to herself.
"I came as soon as I heard!"
Bo Na chose that moment to burst into the bathroom, hair flying behind her like the mane of a particularly useless horse Rachel used to ride, a sparkly pink bag clutched in her hands like a weapon.
She paused when her entrance was greeted by only silence from the other two girls, her free hand coming to rest on her hip.
"No humiliation is so bad a little makeup can't fix it," She declared as though she were speaking an obvious truth.
Rachel and Eun Sang exchanged an incredulous glance, a silent conversation enabled only by humor and joint exhaustion from the effort of hating each other.
Rachel surprised herself by breaking first, chuckling, feeling genuine if brief relief when Eun Sang joined her.
Enough. It was enough now.
She just needed to find a way to make Young Do see that.