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After the grueling test of patience, endurance, and solidarity that is The God Sejeong #1 incident (as archived by the student council; the number to annotate the fact that it might not be the last), things have been rather calm for the past few days. Nayoung breathes in the scent of June, stretches her limbs, hears a few pops from her joints and picks up another box from the floor.

Grumpily.

Because, it’s Sunday, and she’s still set ablaze from her ensuing cold war with Sejeong, and she’s helping Mina moving into her house and the Satan Jr. packed so much things from home and nobody’s complaining, not even her squabble-doo-asshat of a brother (who’s out right now, part buying himself a century worth of banana milk to overfill their fridge, part skipping out helping duty; damn you Hakyeon!). Probably because Mina is cute and is everything her brother wanted.

Too bad he’s stuck with THE Uncute Little Sister!

Nayoung skims past the living room and skips into the room that’s now Mina’s, and sets the box by the wall, along a couple others already docked there. Mina shuffles into the room soon after, carrying smaller boxes. “The reinforcement has arrived, sergeant!”

She plays along. “How flattering, private, ‘cause I thought I was going to die from dehydration with my corpse decomposing around unloaded boxes.”

“Eh, you drama queen.”

Nayoung slaps Mina’s playfully when the latter is bending over to put her boxes. “So, who’s this helping hand and where?”

Mina’s eyebrows scrunch at the word “helping hand”. Nayoung is too smart to pass up the implication. “She’s, uh, on the way here.”

Before she could finish her hum of approval, a girl in oversized gray shirt clutters into the room with a rather large box, trips over oxygen, falls face-first into the mahogany floor, bounces the box half a meter away from her, and makes a pained whine that sounds like it’s in helium.

The other first year heaves a sigh, “Learn not to rush, Sohye dear,” and steps on the gray mess permeating the floor and promptly leaves the two in her room as she walks back to unload more boxes from the pickup truck. Sohye. At the very least, Nayoung got her name.

As an upright citizen of South Korea, Nayoung lends her helping hand a hand of her own. “Sorry, Mina is a pain in the bum. I apologize in her place as her semi-guardian and her tamer.”

“It’s okay,” she takes her hand, pulls herself off the floor, and blood red drips onto the brown mahogany, “we’re classmates. Friends. Acquaintances? F-friends, kinda.”

Blood… red… “Um, newsflash, Sohye. You’re bleeding… through the nose.”

“Oh? Y, yeah.” Nayoung watches the girl savagely wiping the blood off with her sleeve. Suddenly she wants to introduce this brand new technology called tissue to this Sohye person.

“I suggest you to calm your nose first. You can help us later.”

“Uh, no, it’s been bleeding since I went out of my house. Umm, it’s the heat.”

“Oh.”

“Yup. Now, sunbaenim, we better box back – “

Nayoung pulls the scurrying girl by the collar, halting her gait. “You are bleeding.”

“I know!”

“No, listen, what if you… died along the way?”

“I need to help Mina,”

“No, listen, remember. You are mortal.”

“I need to help Mina.”

Her eyes are resolute. Nayoung sees a level of determination so high it’ll shame T-ARA.

In retrospect, this girl is an utter tool. And a whipped one at that.

She lets go of Sohye’s collar and the girl stumbles her way out to the front door, her back hunched as her hands fumbling to stop the blood from dirtying the floor. Mina hands her a tissue and Nayoung witnesses Sohye looking like Jesus just salvaged her out of her past sins. Eyuck, puppy love. A pollutant way worse than a mutated carbon monoxide. Nayoung sharply inhales air, realizes that she’s breathing in Summery Puppy Love, and coughs it back out, sticking out her tongue to shoo away the bitterness clustering into her sense.

“You dying yet, gramma?” Mina says offhandedly, walking into the room with another box.

“Rude.”

“Get to work, then. Chop chop!”

She lightly backhands Mina’s chubby cheek after making sure she has toned down her frustration. “Have respect, child.”

“You’ve been so cranky… am I not welcome here?”

There it is. Mina’s million won pout, her Achilles Heel. It turns her knees weak and all jello, brings down her cardiac performance, and overall ruins her life with its many cons. “No, no. It’s my allergy.”

“Eww, you’re just bitter Sejeong ignored you these days just because you saved the wrong princess – “

Nayoung flings a leg as Mina sticks out a tongue and bounces out of the room, leaving behind a loud and taunting “Biiiiiiiiitter!” for Nayoung to mull over. She is bitter, simply because she couldn’t stomach so much happiness around her. Not when everything in her life has been slowly crumbling apart one by one. Perhaps it’s the loneliness of having her best friend giving her the cold shoulder for reasons she couldn’t exactly pinpoint. Perhaps it’s the fact that her night has been empty without Sejeong’s annoying phone calls and talks about the weather, ty tutor brats, and the lady down the street selling croquettes out of what Sejeong deduced as sewer rat meats.

It’s probably the cold, even though right now it’s the start of June and everyone’s rocking clothes with less sleeves. It’s the cold. It blinds her from the happier aspects of her life. If there is even any.

Nayoung sighs, and steps out of the room, feeling a bit cold in her thin tee.
 

---

After unboxing half of Mina’s stuff, they decided to have a lunch break. Mina gallantly ordered a Chinese take-out for them, as a thanks for helping her with the move-in.

Sprawled on the floor with unhealthy, too-spicy boxes of rice, chicken, and some unorganic veggies cooked with too much MSG, Nayoung thinks this is the ideal self-destructive lunch for her decaying self. The TV is on, showing a comedic variety show no one really cares about.

Sohye starts a conversation. “Why did you move out of your parents’ house?”

Mina swallows in a loud gulp before she answers. “Ummm… my house is kinda far from school and me and Nayoung’s parents knew each other from way back. I’m practically their imaginary cutie little sister because I act all nice around them.”

“And is totally oblivious of how demonic your “inner beauty” really is.” Nayoung adds in.

“So yeah, I’m staying here until… further notice. It’s closer to the school, plus my parents trust Nayoung because she’s the “big sister role model I need to reform my whiny ways”.”

Sohye hums a short “hmmm…”. Nayoung switches the topic. “The camping trip is in two days, you kids prepared everything yet?”

Mina shakes her head almost too immediately. “My group is a disaster anyway. No use in trying to CPR the situation, it’s a dead horse already…”

“Oh? Who’re these dumbos you’re stuck with?”

Sohye squeaks when Mina points an accusing finger at her. “Sohye, Somi and Soyeon. Park. Park Soyeon.”

“The shady kid who has a history of curbing down a local gang?”

“Yeah. 2016’s Al Capone. Or Iceman Kluklinski. She also breathes out parkours.”

She sounds like an ideal disaster factor already. Sohye speaks up, “At least we have a better surviving rate now because Soyeon with her metal bat is pretty much invincible,”

Poor girl’s quickly shut down when Mina shoots her a, “You attract bad luck worse than Nayoung, so shush.” Mina turns to her, diverting the topic. “Who did you team up with? Heehyun?”

Nayoung relayed a story from days ago when Miss Jea announced the camping trip for the first time. At the time, the class was sent abuzz but Nayoung was too busy trying to catch her class’ pet hamster since the guy jumped over the glass case (who trained the thing Naruto moves?!) and as the one in charge of that guy for the week, Nayoung had to play a cat and mouse game with a frickin’ rat familio in a class.

When finally caught the little guy in a vice-like grip, Heehyun tapped her shoulder and asked her whether she wanted to team up with her. Nayoung saw the people behind Heehyun – Chanmi and Juna – and quickly power-walked to the opposite direction, bumped into the wall, and released Sasuke from death by asphyxiation all in a span of five seconds.

In the end, she managed to team up with Suhyun, Chaekyung, and Seohyung, narrowly avoiding Heehyun’s catasthropic lineup of a “team”. Heehyun filled the Nayoung-shaped hole with Siwon, the school’s swim team Ace with capital A.

“You narrowly escaped death…” Mina’s brows shape themselves into worries.

“Suhyun is still bad news, but at least Chaeky and Seohyeung will be there to chain her down, they’re, uh, okay in the head.”

Since the group is limited to the people in class, Nayoung couldn’t team up with her fellow student council members outside her class. Seohyung and Chaekyung are her only beacons of light.

Conversation died down and they munch on their own boxes, until Mina puts a stop to it with a question she dreads the most:

“What’s with you and Sejeong?”

“We’re good.”

Mina squints her eyes at her into straight lines, does an impression of Sejeong (“We’re A-Okay with each other, it’s just that Nayoung has been rather butthole-y these days I don’t have the required patience to even hold a five minute conversation with her without wishing for the Trumpeteer to blow the horn and end the world already.), and gets Nayoung to backpedal her statement.

“Okaaay… we’re in a cold war.”

Sohye blinks confusedly. “Aren’t you two dating each other?”

“Dear, two people in a relationship are allowed to feel the need to stab the other. It’s perfectly humane.” Nayoung sighs, and digs her spoon into her rice. “This convo is over whether you like it or not, kids.”

Nayoung doesn’t feel like talking anymore as her mind takes off to the jumbled thoughts that’s been haunting her for the past few days. Mina and Sohye talk about school and the first-and-second-year camping trip, giving her the necessary time for herself.

Today is a sunny Sunday.

What’s Sejeong up to?

Is her mother okay? It’s been a while since she asked.

Is her brother still overworking himself? It’s been a month since she asked.

(What happened to us?)
 

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They’re told to come to the school ground at 5 in the morning, so Nayoung knows what to expect: sleep-walking zombies carrying carrier bag twice their size, Juna running over three grown men with her bike as she sleepily treks her way to the parking spot, Yoojung losing balance and toppling over because of her bag that’s thrice her size, and Doyeon throwing herself to the ground to cushion Yoojung’s fall.

Nayoung rubs her eye, stifles a yawn, and is pulled back to earth by Suhyun’s loud “naaaaooong”. Honestly, it’s early in the morning and she’s too tired to deal with Suhyun’s so early in the morning – with Mina, student council, and her study clogging up her week – but before Suhyun could rope her into a long banter about something trivial and irrelevant, Miss Kahi voices her megaphone and tells them to line up with their bags set aside.

As Kahi gives out directions, Nayoung finds her eyes straying to Class 2-B for the umpteenth time. And zooms into the backview of Sejeong listening intently. And even without looking at her from front and center, she could tell that Sejeong looks tired and that someone should feed her all the good food in the world and – and how it’s been a while since she has seen Sejeong at all…

“Where’s class 2-A’s girls’ leader?”

Unfocused, she faintly hears the distant murmuring of her class trying to push the responsibility of leader onto one another…

“The leader will be the first one to be held responsible should something happen and will receive twice the punishment of her members so please choose wisely.”

“KIM NAYOUNG, MISS, KIM NAYOUNG.”

Before she could voice out her protest, Juna tackles her legs, she falls forward, Heehyun locks her wrists behind her, and Chanmi drags her by the collar to the front. It’s not just her “friends”, her class as a whole made her a sacrificial pancake. Resigning to her fate, she lets herself being brought forward like a cattle…

And sees Class 2-B’s leader tying the blue headband to her forearm, Kim Sejeong.

And their eyes meet.

And Sejeong quickly tears their 0.5 second long eye-contact apart.

Well, at least she has a red headband tied tight on her head now. It helps her diminish the blossoming headache trying to tear her head from inside.
 

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The train ride is okay, so far, except for the fact that Suhyun is snoring peacefully beside her with her head on her shoulder and really, Nayoung is a good friend… except for the fact she’s been sleeping for two hours, looped an arm around hers, practically binding them tight. And that they’re still an hour away from where they’ll drop off.

Seohyeung, from the seat in front of theirs, peek on them with a degrading smile. “Feeling the cramp?”

“I think I lost a limb.”

The choir club member’s face twists into a sympathetic smile. “Wish I could help, but Suhyun is practically impossible to wake when she’s in a deep princess slumber.”

Deep princess slumber my ! Nayoung screams to herself as Suhyun’s drool dribbles onto her left sleeve. “Save me.”

“Don’t you have anything to do?”

“My phone ran out of juice and I forgot to bring a book with me.”

“Death might be the fastest way out, Romeo.”

Seohyung does a villainous cackle. Nayoung kicks the seat in front of her, taking care not to wake Suhyun from the tremor.

And that’s when she looks up to someone blocking the light, standing beside her.

It’s Sejeong. In her hands are two energy drinks.

“Sejeong…?”

Sejeong’s eyes are on her, then on Suhyun who’s deep in her “beauty sleep”, then back to her.

It might be just her, but did someone lower the temperature to somewhere below subzero…?

Nayoung sees fire in Sejeong’s eyes – blue, cold instead of burning hot. It spells Death in a language Nayoung doesn’t speak, and thoughts of how to survive this take the forefront of Nayoung’s overworked brains. “I came here to give you something that might help your fatigue, since I noticed how you looked tired, but I see that you’re busy with something else… Nayoungsshi.”

“D, don’t –sshi me. It gave me chills.” Nayoung shrinks into her seat.

“My apologies. It’s been a while.” Sejeong smiles. Something insincere. Nayoung holds down a “brrrrr”.

“Um. So, um… you’re still up for that energy drink offer…?”

Her childhood friend shrugs. “Only if you want.”

“Please…?”

Sejeong hands her and Nayoung carefully takes the bottle without having to lean even a little bit forward. “Sorry. Suhyun is… weighing me down. Can’t wake her up.”

“I can see that. Can’t wake your princess up.”

“What’s your problem?”

That takes Sejeong by surprise. Nayoung witnesses her usually chatty best friend struggles with what to say next, brows slightly taut and mouth half open. Usually, at this point, they would just laugh it off and reconcile like good ‘ol Sejeong and Nayoung. Today is not the day.

What comes out of Sejeong’s throat is forced-out sigh, an aversion of the eyes, and she steps back.

Nayoung, on the other hand, is out of her wit.

But. Oh. She gets it now.

Sejeong is just keeping up the whole “fake dating” thing!

God, Nayoung, you’re an utter dimwit! No wonder you’re single, hopeless, and never the first in anything even though you have major dimes in your wallet!

Nayoung tries her best at bravado, doing an impression of caring boyfriends in ty soap dramas on 5 PM, South Korean time. “Sejeong, you’re still the only one for me.”

Sejeong looks at her like she just ate a crocodile alive without skinning it beforehand.

“I mean… you can be rather y at times, but you’re the only one here,” she hits her chest lightly with the base of the energy drink’s plastic bottle, for emphasize, “Suhyun and me… we’re just friends. Good friends.”

Sejeong was about to object, but she’s cut off by Suhyun, who’s still very much sleeping, looping an arm around her neck, rubbing her cheek against her Nayoung’s shoulder and mumbling a “Mmmm… Haeinnie,” so cutely it sends another chills down her back.

“Umm… we are… really, really good friends.”

Sejeong shakes her head, mutters an I can’t believe you, and walks away, back to her car. Everyone has their breath in their throat, watching the soapy complicated love triangle drama unfold. Nayoung notices the audience she’s having.

And they all give her a round of applause. Seohyeung laughs wholeheartedly at her misery. Chaekyung silently sympathizes. She hears a howl of “you go girl, get ‘em all girls”. Probably Juna. Definitely Juna.

On the other hand, Suhyun snuggles closer to her, completely unaware. Nayoung is… half in-awe, half trying to suppress her killing intent. Even in her sleep, Lee Suhyun stays the homewrecking maestro she is.
 

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Nayoung is inside her tent, at 12 AM, and is still very much awake. Sleep is almost impossible since she has so many things on her mind. Thoughts running amok. Possibilities. Uncertainties. The quiet only fuels them louder even further, it makes her deaf from the constant screaming of questions inside her head, even though her body demands sleep.

But crappy things monsooned her day wet. Drenched. From being made a leader against her will, her whole team not knowing how to set up the tent (that ended with Suhyun seducing some boys over to build their tent for them), day one’s task being community service of picking up litters around the base of the mountain they’re staying in, and two of her three tent-mates being the kind of sleeper who won’t be able to sleep unless they have something to hug.

Another reason why she couldn’t sleep: she couldn’t even lift a finger, what with Suhyun koala-hugging her from the left and Chaekyung holding her down from the right. Like some ed up lesbian three-way fantasy.

Both of them having quite some assets doesn’t help… for the first time in forever, Nayoung thirsts for freedom more than success is the distant future.

Seohyeung, on the other hand, is a fast sleeper. Girl managed to cocoon herself in a sleeping bag she brought and dozes off three minutes after she set herself up.

“Ahh… I hate my life.” She voices out what could summarize all her thoughts.

And then there’s Sejeong…

Nayoung looks over Chaekyung’s head and sees her phone, screen black without the notifications to light it to colors. Usually, Sejeong would text her something mundane. Or a late-night phone call. Nayoung would answer at second ring.

It’s been a week since this routine died. Nayoung misses its gaping absence today.

Chaekyung shifts in her sleep, and naturally, her… bazoongas rub themselves against Nayoung’s arm. She gulps down the guilt of feeling her friend’s, though against her will.

Suhyun flings a leg over one of hers. Now she’s even more trapped than ever.

She should’ve… taken… Heehyun’s invitation instead…

Sighing, she glances at her phone once again. Black screen. No pop-ups. Before this whole thing, Sejeong epitomizes late-night annoyances (that she thoroughly welcomed), but now…

Sighing for the hundredth time, Nayoung tries a little bit too hard to brush the thoughts. She’s feeling rather sentimental tonight.

“Mmmnn… Haenniee…” Suhyun whispers to her ear.

“Shi…yooon… don’t leave meee…” Chaekyung whispers to her other one.

They’re being all touchy-touchy with her while whispering another woman’s name. If this isn’t ed up, then what is…?

Sighing for the millionth time, Nayoung closes her eyes, and tries a little bit too hard to sleep.
 

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Note(s): [1] a set-up chapter. The real Hell starts the next chapter ;; had to divide it into two parts because of… reasons

[2] Even tho my Mademoiselle Nayoung didn’t make it, I’ll try to keep this fic alive ;;