Despite my efforts to finish this chapter Friday, the 23 hour long website crash started the moment I pushed upload. Anyways, enjoy!
"If he's so smart, why is he in a physics class for juniors?" Jan Di asked sullenly as she walked out of her class, Min Ji close behind her. The beginning of the day had started with another bullying incident. Jan Di was amazed at how brutally cruel the F4 had been, watching as Gu Jong Pyo smashed a cake into a girls face. The entire class she had had to listen to students titter about the event, and it was getting under her skin.
"Because he's not in our class," Min Ji said.
"What?"
"He's the teacher's assistant, but he doesn't have to help because he'll never get reported. That's just how it works around here," Min Ji shrugged before waving and rushing off to her next class. Jan Di hadn't yet gotten into the flow of the rush to class. She understood keeping to a schedule- oh, she understood perfectly. She couldn't bring herself to care. The administration wasn't going to call her parents, and even if they somehow got the contact of Korea's wealthiest family, her parents wouldn't mind.
She walked down the empty stairwell, muttering to herself in annoyance. She was walking extra slowly because she didn't want to see Ginger, Sunny, and Miranda's smug faces. Even when they weren't directing their scorn towards her, they made her think of elementary school memories that she'd rather keep buried.
"F4," She growled, shaking her head disapprovingly. "F4? Four what? Four dung flies?" She shuffled her feet, pausing on a step, thinking of new nicknames. "Jong Pyo? Thong Pyo. Ah, I swear, if I ever have to address those F4 flies as seniors I will throw myself from the rooftop," She huffed, stomping. She glanced up from the spot in the floor she was glaring at, and then froze. Sitting at the bottom of the stairs, staring impatiently at her, was F4's Yun Ji Hoo. The same person in her music class, the same person she had met in the music store two days ago. She twisted her fingers together, nervous. Should she just walk away? What if he had heard her?
"Is it true?" He asked after a moment.
"What?" She said nervously. Which part? Four flies? Thong Pyo?
"That you would jump off a roof." She cringed as soon as he said it, and she didn't respond. No, of course she hadn't been serious. Was he trying to get a rise out of her, an apology?
"Is that all you heard?" She asked slowly.
"What else was there?" He said, standing up. "Four Flies? Thong Pyo?" She felt embarrassed, but in the face of one of the F4, she couldn't take back her statement. As long as they terrorized the weak they deserved to be called names. "And by the way," he said, pausing on the same step as her. "It's Gu Joon Pyo, not Jong Pyo. If you're going to have an enemy, you should at least do the decency of learning their name."
_._._
The rest of the day passed without event, and Min Ji promised to take Jan Di to the school's swimming pool and get permission for them to use it.
It was a nice pool. Not Olympic sized of course, but roomy and clean. The pool room was empty except for Min Ji sitting on one of the chairs. Jan Di loved the feel of the water on her skin and finally being able to stretch her muscles. She had been forbidden from swimming too much when she started dancing two years ago. Her trainer was afraid that she would gain too much muscle and not look appealing. Jan Di rolled her eyes whenever she thought about it. After swimming in this school for six months, it would be funny to see her trainer's expression when they saw all the "muscle." It might ease the disappointment Jan Di had felt from all the swim coaches who told her parents that she would never become a professional swimmer and might as well do something else with her talents of coordination.
Min Ji leant her a hand, and Jan Di smiled.
"The two best things in this school are right in this room," Jan Di said, plucking her goggles off her eyes and blinking away the moisture.
"What's that?" Min Ji said.
"This swimming pool, and Oh Min Ji," Jan Di said, and Min Ji grinned as she hauled her friend out of the pool. "Do you have anything to do after this?" Jan Di asked as she took her towel and dried off her face.
"No. Why?"
"Let's get some ice-cream from the store at the end of the street."
"I don't really eat that many sweets. They're not good for you." The curly haired girl bit her lip guiltily. Jan Di's eyes widened, and she felt like she was duty bound to convince her friend. She hated all the diets that her parents and trainers had put her through, even though they were necessary for her job. Oh Min Ji, who lead a normal life, deserved to just put aside ridiculous standards for controlling what she ate and have a bit of fun. What teenage girl didn't like ice-cream?
"I don't either, but this is a special occasion."
"What's the occasion?"
"It's a Tuesday."
"Jan Di, you're just being-"
"Wait for me to change, I'll buy it for you!" Jan Di called as she walked off into the locker room, closing the topic for debate.
_._._
The ice-cream parlor had been lovely, and both girls were back at Hana High walking on the concrete wall around the building waiting for Min Ji's mother to come and pick her up. Jan Di had realized why Oh Min Ji didn't like sugar; it made her very hyper and loose lipped. She was laughing at some of the things that Min Ji was spewing, the energetic girl saying everything that came to mind with no filter. They walked all the way around the school, and by the time they were at the back door they were in hysterics. A couple of people were on the lawn, some practicing sports, others just enjoying the weather while it lasted. That's when disaster struck. Min Ji, breathless from laughing and eyes dancing, misplaced her step and her foot slipped off the edge of the wall, sending her tumbling to the ground.
"Oh Min Ji," Jan Di said in shock, and jumped down to where her friend had fallen. "Are you alright?" Then she noticed the full gravity of the situation. Standing in front of the two girls were the four members of F4, and Min Ji's ice-cream was now a puddle of milky goo on top of the shoes of... Gu Joon Pyo.
"I-I-I'm so sorry," Oh Min Ji stuttered, and Jan Di looked between the grim disgusted face of Gu Joon Pyo and Min Ji's stricken face, and felt sick when she realized that her friend was tearing up. "I'll buy you a new pair, I promise. I-"
"Are you kidding me?" Gu Joon Pyo said, and then laughed harshly. "Are you rich or something? Do you know what I had to do for these shoes? These are special edition, they sold out the day they were released, and I was the first in line to get a pair. You're dead, you idiot girl."
"I-I'm sorry, I swear I'll do anything to make it up to you, please."
"Anything?" Gu Joon Pyo sneered at her. Jan Di's eyes narrowed darkly. What was he thinking? She was worried. Looking at the other three senior guys, none of them looked even mildly concerned with something bad happening. Yun Ji Hoo didn't even look like he recognized her. They couldn't count on anyone stepping in for them.
"Yes!" Min Ji said.
"Lick them. Lick my shoes clean."
"What?" Oh Min Ji whispered, completely humiliated, and the sight of her tears set Jan Di off. How could it be that only moments before they had been having such a good time? If only she could pull status and order the guy to back off! But she wasn't in the world of status and respect anymore. In the nitty gritty realm of commoners, she would have to earn some power here before she could start pulling it.
"You said you would do anything, right?" The words hung in the air, and Min Ji looked away, blinking away her tears. It was time to step in.
"That's enough," Jan Di said, stepping between the two and pushing Min Ji slightly behind her. "It was an accident, and she said sorry. What, do you think she wanted to spill on your shoes?" She scoffed.
"Who do you think you're talking to so informally?" The boy scowled at her as though she was an annoying yippy dog. "Address your seniors with respect. If sorry was good enough, then there wouldn't be laws and police." Jan Di rolled her eyes at the age old proverb. "Besides, it's none of your business."
"It is my business."
"Yeah?" He said sarcastically. "Why?"
"Because she's my friend. I suppose people like you don't understand what a friend even is," she said, her haughty tone of voice condemning the word 'you' as though Gu Joon Pyo was a piece of gum stuck to her shoe. His eyes narrowed, unbelieving that someone had the nerve to address one of the F4 in such a fashion.
"Alright, then show me what real friendship is. You lick it," he said. Jan Di blinked, uncomprehending.
"What?"
"If you lick them, I'll let both of you go. Just this once." Jan Di sensed Min Ji quivering behind her. No way was she letting Min Ji feel responsible for this. And there was no way that she was licking this big idiot's shoes! A heavy pause gave her a moment to think what to do. She lowered her head, as though going through with the punishment. A split second passed, and her impulse control disappeared. She whipped back up, smashing her own ice cream come into Gu Joon Pyo's nose.
"Hey!" He staggered, falling onto his backside. She would have laughed if she wasn't so furious.
"Take your shoes to the cleaners, and if you still can't get them clean, send me the bill. Guys like you make me want to kick something! You better not cross me again or I'll definitely target you," she said, glaring. After a moment of complete shock and silence from everyone witnessing the spectacle, Jan Di turned around, not bothering to watch the other guys pick up their defeated friend.
"Jan Di," Min Ji whispered in horror. Jan Di smiled at her friend.
"Sorry about your ice cream," she said cheerfully, ignoring what had just happened. "I'll get you another one next week."
"Hey," shouted Gu Joon Pyo, and when Jan Di turned back she frowned. "Don't walk away!"
"Are you serious?" Jan Di said, irritation turning to outrage at his audacity. Couldn't this guy understand to quit when he was ahead? "Don't you know the 36th strategy is to run away?"
"Listen here," he said, and all of a sudden he was very very close, his finger pointed accusingly in her face. She leaned back, the fact that she could count each of his eyelashes and feel his breath a warning that she was far too close. "You do not want to mess with me. I know you're new around here, but I don't care. Apologize or I'll-"
"You'll what?" Jan Di said, eyes wide, daring him to say what he was threatening. His face froze for a moment, and it was just long enough to become obvious that something had distracted him. He didn't even look away from me though? What a weirdo. His eyes returned to a glare, and he pushed her back, just hard enough for her to stagger.
"You'll regret this you dumbass," he spat, and then turned heel and stalked off, followed by his entourage who all looked smug about something. Jan Di drew herself up to her full height, affronted. So, he's a guy that likes to push girls? What a bastard.
"Are you okay, Jan Di?" Min Ji looked like she couldn't decide whether to faint or burst into tears.
"Fine, fine," she said. She swallowed, pulling her eyes away from her opponent's back. "Should we go see if your mom arrived yet?"
_._._
Taking the bus home, Jan Di relaxed her forehead against the cool glass. The ride wasn't too busy, the passengers who took the bus from work already home. She sighed. She had a lot of homework left to do. The maid had told her that her mother wanted Jan Di to treat this school as seriously as any other. She folded her arms. At any serious school, she would report the F4 idiots straight to the administration. She didn't like needlessly taking things into her own hands if she wasn't involved. But if Gu Joon Pyo's mother was the head of the school board, Jan Di would only be making another enemy. Not only that, but at this point she couldn't leave the problem to someone else. He had insulted her pride by asking her and Min Ji to lick his shoes, and she would not let that go down without at least trying to destroy his grip on the student population. He would regret the day he had ever pushed her.
Kicking off her boots as soon as she was through her door, she clutched her growling stomach. What to make... She still felt perplexed by the phenomena of choosing what she had to eat and working for it. She had learned how to use the rice cooker yesterday, and today she wanted to try and tackle the dried ramen noodles. The noodles she had always eaten were fresh, but she didn't have a choice.
"Jan Di! I heard you come in," Jae Kyung said, bursting through the door that had been left open. "You hungry? Me and Ga Eul were going to make something."
"I've already started the water for ramen, just come over here," Jan Di said cheerfully as she eyed the tomatoes sitting on the fruit stand. Maybe she could figure out how to make this soup a little more interesting...
_._._
"You what?" Ga Eul was looking at Jan Di in shock. "To-"
"Yes, to Gu Joon Pyo," Jan Di said, slurping her bowl of noodles. She was amazed at how good the ramen had turned out, and was a little pleased with herself. "He crossed the line, I can't help it if I make enemies."
"Chew your food without talking," Jae Kyung said glumly. "I always miss all the fun stuff..."
"Fun?" Jan Di said in disgust. "He was about to make Min Ji burst into tears. I wouldn't call that fun." She shook her head as she ate the last mouthful of noodles.
"I'm glad you've got a friend," said Ga Eul, already finished with her dinner. "I thought you might be a loner."
"Oh, I am a loner," Jan Di deadpanned. One friend didn't make up for years of being set apart from her peers. Ga Eul just blinked in surprise and shook her head.
"What do you think is going to happen?" Jae Kyung asked. Jan Di sighed, staring morosely at the empty bowl in front of her.
"I suppose they'll give me that red card thing."
"What?" Jae Kyung raised an eyebrow, leaning forward in curiosity. "Red card?"
"Yeah, Min Ji explained it to me," Jan Di said, getting up to take the dishes back to the little kitchen. "Apparently once you've been marked by F4, everyone in school gets to use you as target practice and bully you as much as they want."
"Are you serious?" Ga Eul said, looking concerned.
"I know! It's terrible logic."
"Jan Di, what if-"
"It can't be that bad," Jan Di shrugged as she went to drop off the dishes. There was quite a large pile of dirty plates now. The maid who came to check up on them told Jan Di that she would have to wash her own dishes until her father decided she deserved a break. Nothing had motivated her to start scrubbing the nasty food particles off yet.
"Well, it's not that I don't think you can handle it, but what if the paparazzi find out?" Ga Eul said.
"What do you mean?" Jan Di asked slowly. She sat on the vacant chair by the window, glancing to the streets below. Paparazzi. Even in a place like this she might have to worry about press.
"Imagine something really crazy happened. If a reporter got a picture the lead singer of Loveli getting, I don't know, a slushie dumped on them, who knows what would happen."
"Or getting their lunch tray dumped on them," Jae Kyung pointed out. Ga Eul ignored her, focusing on Jan Di, who waved her off.
"I'll be fine. I've promised my dad I wouldn't let anyone know who I was. He said I had to go all six months without my 'star power' or whatever. No one can know, or I'm in deep-"
"Well, we've got your back no matter what," Jae Kyung said, changing her tone of voice to cheerful and effectively ending the conversation. "So who wants to go out tonight?"
_._._
Despite the fact that they had no money and quite a lot of homework, Jae Kyung dragged them to the mall. The older girl had always loved shopping, and Jan Di and Ga Eul didn't mind it either. Jan Di preferred keeping one wardrobe without adding too much, but now that she didn't have her closet with her... Well, it was a different situation. Ga Eul looked lovely in everything she wore, but for some reason was fascinated by the little hand warmer gloves that had the fingertips and thumbs cut off, although she claimed that they looked too silly to wear.
"Jan Di, what do you think guys around here like? Cute style or tom-boy?" Jae Kyung held up two different hangers, displaying the styles.
"Ha?" Jan Di said, confused, pulled from her own thoughts.
"Day dreaming again?" Ga Eul asked.
"I think that you are out of every guy's league. Every guy," Jan Di said, taking a seat outside the changing rooms. "They should just be glad they get to look at you."
"Cute style it is! You have great taste," Jae Kyung said, ignoring Jan Di, and disappeared inside to change.
"Are you getting anything?" Jan Di looked up at Ga Eul, who was looking at a big shiny purse.
"I already have enough clothes," Jan Di insisted.
"How about we both get a dress? For formal occasions?"
"Do you think we're going to be invited to any out here," Jan Di asked. She wondered if there might be a school dance. That would be a shopping event all on its own, if what she had seen from TV was true. Who would I go with, she mused.
"Just get one! It'll cheer us up." Jan Di hesitated, but grinned and jumped up as Ga Eul dragged her towards the formal wear area.
"By the way Jae Kyung," Ga Eul asked as they checked out. There goes our emergency money for this week. And next week, Jan Di thought dismally. "Any particular reason that you're picking out an outfit to impress boys?"
"Who said I was?"
"You did." Ga Eul pointed out. There was a silence, and the two younger girls exchanged a look.
"Wow," Jan Di said in surprise, smiling from ear to ear as she noticed Jae Kyung's mischievous smile. "Two days in and she's already got her eye on one. You really move fast."
"Who is it?" Ga Eul pressed, curious.
"I'm not telling," Jae Kyung said. Jan Di and Ga Eul gasped and beg but Jae Kyung couldn't give up the power of a secret so quickly. "I don't even know if I really like him yet. I'll have to see if he likes me first and if he's going to ask me out."
"Is he a senior?"
"Yes."
"Is he tall?" Jan Di asked, her suspicion about who it might be stuck onto the only four senior boys she knew; the F4.
"I'm not saying," Jae Kyung stuck out her chin in refusal. The two girls groaned and protested all the way down the street until Jan Di pulled them into a coffee shop. She usually didn't drink caffeine before bed, but the buzz of happiness and the grin that wouldn't drop called for a change in habit. The rush of protecting her friends from harm once again had made her feel something, something very good that she wanted to pursue. She ordered a tea, while Jae Kyung drank coffee and Ga Eul hot chocolate.
"This is the dream life," Ga Eul said. "No schedules."
"Real sleep," Jae Kyung nodded in approval.
"Terrible food and dirty dishes," Jan Di said, nose scrunched up. "What?" She added innocently as she saw they were giving her a sarcastic look.
"Admit it, you liked the ramen noodles," Ga Eul said.
"What?" Jan Di's eyebrows shot up. "Those dried out strips of cardboard?"
"You love them! Ga Eul, you saw the way that she scarfed down the bowl today," Jae Kyung teased. "She even drank straight out of the bowl."
"That doesn't mean- No way-I was just making sure I didn't go to hell for not eating it all, that's all-"
"Everybody! Jan Di loves ramen!" Jae Kyung shouted to the room. A couple sitting at a booth across from them gave them side eye,
"Jae Kyung, now you're really acting like an idiot," Jan Di said, rolling her eyes as she curled her fingers around her cup.
"Don't act so high and mighty. Who came up with the lyric '1-2-4-score?'"
"Hey, it rhymed!" She protested, setting her cup down to gesture wildly in indignation.
"Doesn't mean it was good."
"Yeah, it really wasn't good," Ga Eul agreed.
"Whose side are you on?" Jan Di said, and the stare down commenced. Jan Di stared at Jae Kyung, and then at Ga Eul, who in turned stared at Jae Kyung as well. Jae Kyung always held her eyebrows in the most ludicrous way, and it only took a second for them to burst into giggles. When Ga Eul burned her tongue on her hot chocolate trying to get to the whipped cream they only laughed at her harder. Strolling home, each complained when it was their turn to hold the bag of purchases, an when they bid each other goodnight they did so by scathingly shoving each other through their doors, cackling in-between empty threats. Jan Di couldn't help feeling grateful that she had such great friends, and decided, as she stared at the closed front door grinning like an idiot, that she would do everything in her power to protect her friends from harm.
_._._
Jan Di woke up the next morning with a strange feeling in her stomach. It wasn't until she reached her locker until she remembered why. One hand on the lock, she paused. This was it. The moment she opened this locker, she would be a target.
Well, she had faced worse.
Sure enough, as the door opened out came floating the red card with a skull on it and the initials F4.
"What is this nonsense," she sighed, stomping on the card as people behind her tittered.
"Everybody! Geum Jan Di got the red card!" Jan Di snatched up her textbooks and headed for her first class.
It was only when she saw the doorway to her classroom did she remember who just so happened to be sitting in the seat behind her. She grimaced, trying not to let the thought bother her. What would he do, with the teacher there? She stomped in. She stopped for a moment when her eyes reached the blackboard. Disgusting slurs were written all over it, along with some ridiculous drawings. Ignore it. She had dealt with haters before. Walking over to her desk, she was about to take off her bag when she realized that the spot she had sat at for the last two days was gone. There was no desk at all.
"What happened to your desk?" someone said, and a peal of laughter burst out from the crowd lounging around. Jan Di was glad at least that that rock head Gu Joon Pyo wasn't here yet. Min Ji hadn't showed yet either.
My notebook! Jan Di's eyes went wide when she noticed her planner with all of her new school information laid on the floor, graffiti scratched across the cover. She reached down to grab it, but it moved. Moved? The class erupted again into roars of laughter as she tried again to snatch it up. Someone was obviously pulling it, but no matter how many times she tried to step on the string it just ended in her looking eve. She straightened up, realizing that she had walked straight out of the classroom and towards the garbage can.
What the... Her lips pressed together into a tight line as she saw her desk, its surface completely defaced by the students of the school. She didn't even want to read what was written there. Her stomach turned looking at it, and she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She had to get back to class. She spun around, leaving the desk where it was. Who needed a desk? She walked with her head held high, as she had always done in middle school and elementary when people called her names. Kids could be cruel.
"Geum Jan Di, sit down." He didn't meet her eye, and the entire class was smirking and giggling. At the back sat the culprit, Gu Joon Pyo. He looked uninterested as he messed around on his phone. So that's it. The teachers couldn't do anything because of that fowl idiot's mother. Well, then she would have to take what help she could.
"I can't find my desk," she said, smiling pleasantly at the teacher. Adults always liked it if you seemed cheerful, for some reason. "And I don't want to miss the lesson, would it be alright if I sit here?" She didn't wait for an answer as she glided over to the teacher's desk, and took her place at the high backed office chair. There was a moment of silence in the room, but the teacher just shook his head and went back to writing on the black board.
Jan Di could've sang. She had triumphed this first task, and the rest of the class knew it. They glared, and someone threw a gum wrapper at her. She could only turn her smug eyes on the boy in the back, who suddenly seemed possessed with the urge to grind his teeth. He could grind his teeth all day. Gu Joon Pyo would not get the better of her.
She lingered after class for a moment to thank her teacher for his generosity, and in the hallway walking to her next class she wondered where Min Ji had gone.
"Heads up!" Someone called, and Jan Di glanced up just as something hard smashed against her head. A cold liquid seeped into her hair. She gasped, shocked, wincing from the impact. It was an egg, and apparently there were more of those where that had come from. She could have sworn that the hallway had been nearly empty, but suddenly there were students everywhere laughing and throwing things at her. Someone flung an open bottle of baby powder while another student stood on a bench and shook the contents of a bag of flour over her head. A bottle of glitter was unleashed, and Jan Di closed her eyes to keep it from damaging anything.
So this is how this school works, she thought dismally, trying to walk away from the crowd but being shoved back into the circle. A notebook- her notebook- came sailing through the air and she grabbed it before they had a chance to take it back. The cover looked even worse, and now some of the pages inside had writing on it. Whore. Dumbass. Worthless. Scum. Bitch.
This had happened before. This has happened before, Jan Di. She would be fine.
"Is that all you've got?" She said, and her voice resonated in spite of the noise of the crowd. She wasn't a singer for nothing. "Is that all you've got? More! Bring more." There was a pause, but they didn't respond. They continued. More eggs. More flour. She glanced around at the guilty. She recognized many of them- they were her classmates after all. She spotted Ginger, Sunny, and Miranda leaning against a locker, exchanging whispers and grinning like a child in a candy store. They scuttled off, and as Jan Di watched them go, wincing as the egg whites dribbled into the back of her uniform. Her eyes went wide at what she suddenly saw and her heart missed a beat. At the end of the hallway, Min Ji was watching the events unfold, eyes wide. Jan Di opened her mouth to say something, but closed it again when she realized the truth. Min Ji couldn't do anything. Min Ji turned her face away, and ran towards the stairs and out of sight.
The number of my new friends returns to zero.
_._._
The attack stopped eventually and everybody went back to class. The mess they left would be quite a headache to clean up, but what was worse was her uniform. The eggs had made a sticky mess combined with the flour, baby powder, and glitter. She couldn't go back to class. Her mother's wishes for her to do well would have to wait. She staggered down the stairs, swallowing and taking deep ragged breaths to keep her anger from boiling over. She knew she didn't deserve this, but she also knew that she was to blame. Hadn't everyone told her to keep her head down? She wasn't cut out to fit in in this world.
She didn't make it to the bathroom, sinking onto the stairs. "Surrender?" She said aloud to herself. "Surrender." She considered the word, and then said louder, "Surrender my ass! Do you think you can walk all over me? I'm Jan Di." She felt her jaw tighten, and Jan Di sighed as she felt the familiar burn behind her eyes. No, she couldn't be crying. She wouldn't. Not here, anyways. "You messed with the wrong person. This is nothing- this-" she shouted, and then closed her eyes, holding back memories of all the terrible names she had been called all her life for every quality she had. Being an adopted child in a world where blood was everything hadn't been easy, but she thought she had escaped this bullying nonsense. Her insecurities were bubbling up all over again. She knew she wasn't beautiful. She knew she wasn't smart. Is that why they were so eager to hurt her? The ache in her skull made her cross her arms across her chest, one palm pressed to her forehead. Who knew that being egged hurt so much? She tried to pretend the eggs were just cold water. She inhaled again, and her chest shuddered. She was a mess.
Footsteps echoed around her, and she flinched. Why had she stopped here? The stairwell was another perfect place to attack her. "Who's there?" It was only one person, one very tall person who she had to look up to see their face.
"Every time I see you, you are so noisy."
It was Yun Ji Hoo, and her eyes went wide. He must have heard her. Again.
"Well I have a right to be," she muttered. "Look at me, I'm... I could be a pancake."
"A pancake?"
"Eggs, flour?" She raised an eyebrow. "That's how you make pancakes, right?"
"Sort of," he said. For a moment they looked at each other, the oddness of this encounter sinking in. The boy took out his handkerchief, and Jan Di stared in surprise as he leaned forward and started dusting off her face.
"I-it's alright I can do it myself you don't have to-" She began quickly, not completely sure why she was trying to stop him from helping her (it was after all his fault). But she shut up when she realized he wasn't going to stop. He took her hand and placed the cloth there, and then continued to walk up the stairs.
"Your handkerchief!" She called, spinning around.
"I don't need it," he said.
"Next time I see you, I'll give to you."
"Next time?" He raised an eyebrow as though the possibility was silly. "I'm avoiding you from now on. You're always disturbing the quiet. Just keep it." With that, Jan Di was left on the stairs clutching the handkerchief with the initials J H embroidered onto the corner feeling perplexed.
_._._
Ga Eul do you have an extra uniform?
Why?
The game has started
What does that even mean?
It means I'm not giving up and going home. Answer the question
Yeah it's in my locker tho
Really? Thats sort of weird
I ruined one on the first day. It was only a matter of time until we needed a second one.
Sometimes I wonder if you're really that smart of if you've got someone working for you
Do you want it or not?
Yes!
Hang out for a minute the bell is going to ring.
Jan Di closed her phone and made her way to where her own locker was. She wanted to grab a gym bag for her dirty clothes, but stopped the moment she entered the hallways where her locker was located. Of course. These commoners were surprisingly efficient in their destruction. Her locker door was hanging off its hinges, and garbage was cascading onto the floor from inside. She didn't bother even trying to clean it out. It barely had anything important other than her gym stuff in it anyways. She turned heel, heading off to where she knew Ga Eul's locker was. The bell rang, and Jan Di waited patiently, ignoring the stares and snickers until she spotted her friend. She waved, and almost laughed at the way Ga Eul's expression went from serene to bug-eyed.
"Jan Di! What happened?" Ga Eul practically ran, shoving people out of the way and stepping on many toes, earning resentful looks.
"I got the red card this morning, and they've been trying to ruin me all morning," Jan Di explained.
"Unbelievable," Ga Eul hissed as she swiveled the lock on her locker open. She tossed the uniform to Jan Di, and the two girls rushed to the nearest bathroom.
"You'd think that these commoners would have something better to do than carry around eggs to throw at people," Jan Di said as Ga Eul helped clean her hair. The sticky substance had started to smell enough to make her eyes water.
"Maybe they're in league with the kitchen."
"Could be, yeah. That would explain why they don't care about wasting money. I thought commoners were frugal." Putting on the new uniform, she felt like she was equipping herself with battle armor. "Ga Eul, I'm going to give it my best to wait this out."
"Just what I expect from Supergirl." Ga Eul affectionately ruffled Jan Di's wet stringy hair.
"Supergirl?" Jan Di rolled her eyes. "That old nickname. Isn't it time to upgrade to Superwoman?"
_._._
She was shouted at in the hallways, and people threw threatening notes at her in every class. She didn't respond, and nothing big transpired that afternoon. Until she arrived at the pool room.
How did they even know that I liked swimming? Jan Di glared at the water, her eyes following the floating pieces of garbage that clouded the surface. No way was she swimming in a pool like this. And I already changed into my swimsuit...
She turned to go back to the locker room, but stopped. Her mouth turned to a frown, her hands to fists. Did this count as giving up?
Somehow Jan Di ended up chasing the elusive trash around the pool. She threw them to the side as her feet kept her afloat, feeling vengeance with each exterminated piece of garbage. Never in all her life had she had to clean up trash. It took her a while, but she finally threw the last beat up can of soda out of the pool. Was this what honest work felt like? She swam, the rhythm lulling her into deep thinking mode.
They can take my desk, I'll find a better one. Ruin my clothes, I'll get new ones. Dirty the pool, I'll clean it up. How long can this continue? Jan Di reached the end of another lap and began to float on her back, relaxing even though her thoughts were tense. Her stubborn smile seemed to challenge the ceiling above her. I'll outlast everything you can throw at me. If they thought they could beat her will, they were dead wrong! Gu Joon Pyo, you're a dead man.
Hello everybody! Thanks for reading! Please write a review about what your thoughts on this chapter! It's 6000 words, 2000 more than my usual. Woo!
Let me know what your favorite part was, or tell me what I could do better, or what you liked. I can't wait for the next chapter! I have so much planned for this story and I'm so excited :) so tell me what you think!
Coming up:
A glimpse from the POV of the boys
Nasty rumors spread
Jan Di confronts Joon Pyo again
Jae Kyung likes someone? What?
& More!
See you next week!
Love you guys :)
~Laila