The Exo boys were soon immersed into their project which they found easy to do since their shared a classroom. Overall, the student council and Exo left each alone but needless to say, they were not friends. It never made sense to Exo what role Gaeun had in the student council but while the others seemed to be fearful of the student council, they openly avoided Gaeun. They also seemed to avoid Kaori but they put it to the fact that Kaori and Gaeun were almost always together. Kaori was usually playful and smiling so it didn’t make sense to avoid her. She was probably the most approachable in the student council. Gaeun, with her doll-like face, never seemed to care about her schoolmates and generally left others alone. However, they understood the fear one day after a scandal. It started when Alice and Hyelim called out to stop Darae during the weekly morning assembly. “Darae let me ask you something,” Alice said smiling and waving at the guys who were nearby. “That is if you don’t mind. I mean you’re kind of the new queen or something right?” Hyelim added sarcastically. Darae just stared. “It’s nothing but it’s so, so beneath you to associate with someone like Gaeun,” she said, whispering Gaeun’s name as though it were a bad word. Darae gave her an icy cold stare. “School rules clearly state that all students are to be seen equally,” Darae said in a dangerously low voice, “no one is beneath anyone.”
She gave Alice a once over. “Well at least not officially,” she corrected herself, “though there are some who are just worth less than others as a human.” Alice and Hyelim scoffed and let the SE class walk away. However, a few other kids who overheard the exchange started gossiping and Gaeun, who heard about the exchange, was more irritated than usual. Her walks were sharper as was the tone of her voice. At lunch, a stupidly brave or just plain stupid girl decided to rub Gaeun the wrong way by muttering, “I bet she’s herself to the student council as well. Why else would they let her hang out with them.” “Maybe she sold herself for votes for the student council too,” another girl smirked. The student council (except Ran) and Gaeun happened to be walking by when this was said. The boys were already seated nearby getting ready to eat. “Those girls are just mean,” Suho muttered. He stood up to interfere. No one (except for Gaeun and the two girls) really saw what happened next. There was a shriek and a strangled cry and a bunch of movement. Soon, the boys found Gaeun standing over the table where the offending conversation took place. In her left hand she held the first girl by her hair and in her right hand, she held down (also by her hair) the second girl’s head to her lunch tray with her feet on her back. “Gaeun,” Darae warned. “It’s not a personal fight,” Misao said looking bored at the scene, “they seemed to have forgotten why we became student council. They forgot why they voted for us and as you know, THAT’S THE MOST IMPORTANT PART OF PRESERVING THE HARMONY IN THIS SCHOOL.” Any student who was about to interfere stopped and watched helple