"Hey Seulgi."

Seulgi clenched her jaws. She continued to walk forward, pretending that she didn't see Sehun smiling at her with the usual chummy look. He smirked when he noticed that she was ignoring him, as if he was expecting her to ignore him. Quickly, he walked right next to her, following her pace as she refused to give him a glance.

"Why are you ignoring me?" he asked innocently.

"Oh, Soojung!" Seulgi exclaimed, completely ignoring Sehun's words. She ran off, finding Soojung, who was at her shoe locker. Sehun scowled, but caught up to her anyway.

"Seulgi. Perfect timing," Soojung said. She pointed up at the ceiling. "Seunghwan is waiting for you with Taehyun. They wanted to talk to you about something."

Seulgi widened her eyes. "To me? Really? About what?"

"Not sure. You should definitely go as soon as possible," Soojung said.

"Alright. Are they at my classroom?"

"They should be. If not, then they would probably be at their own classroom. Who knows, maybe you'll be lucky enough to see Jongin in the morning," Soojung said. She flashed her a smile and whispered, "if you really want to see him, you should go and check his classroom first. Then you'll be able to start up a small conversation with him before seeing Seunghwan and Taehyun."

Seulgi squealed internally while saying, "Thank you! Thank you so much!"

With that, she quickly sped off to see Jongin in the morning. Sehun was about to follow her until Soojung grabbed his arm, preventing him from going any further. He narrowed his eyes, but smiled at her.

"What's up?" he asked.

"Please stop getting in the way of Seulgi's happiness," Soojung said.

"I'm not?"

"You don't sound very confident with that tone," Soojung pointed out.

"Well, I don't think you were very confident in Seulgi. After all, you ended up spying on our entire group the other day when we were at the café," Sehun said. Soojung stared at him, shocked. "Hyeri's laugh is easy to detect, especially when she laughs like that."

Soojung crossed her arms. "So why didn't you call out on us?"

Sehun's smile faded as he remembered how he felt near the end of the day. The sudden memory of Seulgi acting flustered around Jongin bothered him immensely. Annoyed, he only shrugged his shoulders and tried to smile, but anyone who saw him could tell that he was faking it.

"I just didn't feel like it," he muttered. "It would've been boring to expose you."

Soojung paused. She examined his fake smile and took note of it. There was something wrong with him, but she wasn't exactly sure what it was. She only gave him a simple smile before leaving, making herself a mental note to figure out why Sehun didn't expose her before.

/ / / / /

There he was, already sitting at his desk, doing some last-minute review before class started.

Seulgi hitched her breath as her chest squeezed at the sight of Jongin studying in the morning. She never would've imagined seeing such a glorious sight. The way the morning sun just shined on him made the entire room visually-pleasing. Her fingers curled near the edge of the door as she bit her bottom lip, unable to think about anything except for his charming figure.

Handsome and smart, Seulgi thought. Definitely my type.

"Are you going to stand there all day?" The peculiar voice immediately irritated Seulgi. Seulgi whirled around and glared at Hyeri, who gave him a smug expression. "So are you moving?"

"I will," Seulgi snapped back. She quickly whirled around again. "In a minute."

Hyeri rolled her eyes. "Pathetic. You can't even talk to him properly."

"I can!" Seulgi insisted.

Hyeri gently pushed her aside. "Move. I need to get in."

Seulgi glared, but didn't say anything as Hyeri stepped inside. Hyeri called for Jongin's name and changed her expression to a much more bright and innocent smile. Seulgi scowled at the total change of atmosphere. Jongin looked up and gently smiled back at Hyeri before noticing Seulgi at the door. He made eye-contact with her and gave her a small wave, causing Seulgi's heart to skip a beat as her cheeks reddened.

Just as she was about to wave back, Sehun appeared right behind her, purposely bumping against her shoulder so that she couldn't wave back. Seulgi dropped her jaws and stared at Sehun, who smirked and stuck his tongue out as he made his way to his best friend and Hyeri. Seulgi grumbled a bit to herself as she made a tight fist with her hands.

"Hi, Jongin," Sehun said, dropping his bag on his table. "What are you reading this time?"

"Just reviewing my notes," Jongin said. "Nothing much." He glanced over at Seulgi, who was still at the door. "Does she need anything?"

"Her? Don't worry about her," Hyeri insisted.

"I'll go talk to her," Sehun said. He walked back to the door and stared at Seulgi, who refused to budge from her spot. "What are you doing here?"

"That's none of your business," Seulgi snapped.

"It's my business when you're stalking my best friend," Sehun teased.

Seulgi's face quickly reddened. "I-I'm not stalking! I-I just wanted to tell him 'Good morning' before I go back to class…"

"What? You waved already. Go along now," Sehun said, shooing her away.

Seulgi glared at him. "I'll go when I want to go, oka—"

The bell rang, alerting the students that school was starting. Sehun's smirk grew wider as Seulgi's face continued to crumble. She quickly pointed her middle finger straight at Sehun's face, who curiously gazed at her slender fingers.

"This isn't over!" Seulgi declared. After that, she made her escape, heading back to class so that she wouldn't get scolded by the teachers.

Sehun chuckled and turned around, heading back to Jongin and Hyeri. As everyone began to take their seats, Jongin couldn't help but ask him a question.

"Do you get along with Seulgi?" Jongin asked.

"Me?" Sehun pointed at himself.

"Yeah. You seem to get along with her," Jongin said.

Sehun wasn't aware, but a small smile formed on his lips. "I don't know. She's fun to mess with."

"Do you like her?"

Sehun's felt his heart squeeze. He looked at Jongin and blinked before scoffing and shaking his head.

"No," Sehun told him. "It's not that. I just like messing with her, that's all." He turned to Jongin. "Do you have someone you like?"

Jongin suddenly became quiet, earning Hyeri's and Sehun's curiosity. A small shade of pink appeared through his tan cheeks as he shyly played with his fingers, refusing to make any eye-contact with his friends.

"I-I can't say that it's a crush," Jongin stuttered, "but there's someone I'm definitely interested in…"

Sehun grinned and turned to Hyeri. "Did you hear that? He's 'interested' in someone."

Hyeri glared at him. "What are you trying to say, Sehun?"

"Didn't you say that you'd start caring if Jongin is interested in someone?" Sehun asked, reminding her about their conversation a while back. 

"Why? Is it bad for me to start being interested in someone?" Jongin asked half-jokingly.

Hyeri glared at Sehun, but then looked at Jongin with a weak smile. "It's nothing. I just…want to look out for you."

"As a friend," Sehun quickly added, causing Hyeri to hate him even more. Sehun chuckled. "Oh, the teacher's coming."

As the class started, Hyeri couldn't help but feel bothered about what Jongin had said. It was rare for Jongin to be interested in anything, especially when it comes to romance. He wasn't never really serious about getting into a relationship. However, the facial expression he had was different. The way his voice grew small and how he stammered over his words made Hyeri feel uneasy. It was a new side of Jongin that she had never seen—a new side she was never expecting to see.

I have to act quick, she realized. I'm pretty sure he's interested in Seulgi because that has been trying to cling onto him. I need to figure out why Seulgi is doing all this and put a stop to it. I can't let Jongin be under her influence anymore. I just can't. He's going to get hurt, and that's the least that I want for him.

While Hyeri focused on her own thoughts, Sehun curiously glanced over at her, studying her expression and wondering what she was thinking.

She definitely feels threatened about her position. He sighed. Well, I don't blame her. It's like everyone is trying to strip her away from her princess image. It's only about time until she gets exposed and people realize that she's not what she appears to be.

/ / / / /

"Seulgi! Let's go outside and each lunch!"

Seulgi looked up, feeling extremely happy when she saw Seunghwan with Taehyun at the door, waiting for her. She quickly got up from her seat, ready to run to them. However, Soojung cleared loud enough for only Seulgi to hear. Seulgi turned around and noticed that Soojung was trying to give her some sort of gesture to not go—at least, for the moment.

Seulgi bit her bottom lip before looking at her new friends. "I'll catch up with you guys in a bit! I got some…school things to finish."

"School things?" Seunghwan frowned, but stopped when she saw Soojung give her a look to leave. Feeling slightly threatened, Seunghwan just nodded. "Alright, I'll message you when we found a place to sit down."

"So she's joining later?" Taehyun asked.

"I'll be real quick!" Seulgi assured them. Seunghwan and Taehyun glanced at each other, shrugged, but left anyway.

Seulgi smiled until they were finally gone from her sight. When she turned around, she noticed that Soojung had already left the classroom. She quickly made her escape before bumping into Jackson, who was a bit surprised to see her in the halls.

"Ouch!" Seulgi yelped, rubbing her head. She glared at Jackson before softening her expression. "Oh. It's just you."

"Is Youngji not in there?" Jackson asked. "Aren't you eating with us today?"

Seulgi paused, then frowned. Was Youngji inside the classroom? She wasn't really sure. It had been a while since she last had a proper meal with her. Seulgi just shrugged.

"I don't know, but I'm not eating with you guys today."

"Again?"

Seulgi's face scrunched up. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, I hardly see you because we're in different classes, but what about Youngji? I thought she's been eating with you whenever I had extra club practice during lunch," Jackson said. His face turned into a deeper scowl. "Don't tell me that you've been leaving her to eat alone."

"I'm sure she's been eating with some other group. She's good at making friends," Seulgi said. "Besides, she has you. If she's lonely, she'd go and watch you practice while eating her own lunch, right?"

"Well, yeah, she can do that, but what about you?"

"I have new friends now. You don't have to worry about me," Seulgi said. She patted his shoulder. "As her boyfriend, I think you should be with her more."

Jackson's eyes widened. "What? I mean, yeah, I'm dating her, but what about her friends—"

"Look, I'm running late. I need to meet Soojung before I go and have lunch with Seunghwan and Taehyun—"

"What about Youngji?"

Seulgi, finally annoyed, glared at him. "She's going to be fine on her own, okay? If you're so worried about her, then why don't you quit your club and spend more time with her? Besides, isn't she alone now because of you?"

Jackson's face turned to a look of confusion. "W-What do you mean?"

"If you weren't dating her, we three could've been friends. We could've been our little trio, happy and go-lucky, but nope! You just had to ruin it. Now, you guys make the third wheel of almost everything. I'm sick of you, you know?"

Jackson became quiet for a few moments.

"Is…Is that how you see us, Seulgi?" Jackson asked her quietly. "I don't know if you've noticed, but Youngji has been keeping her distance from me as much as possible so that you don't feel left out—"

He was interrupted when Soojung appeared out of nowhere, extremely irritated.

"Seulgi!" Soojung snapped, grabbing both of their attentions. "Are you coming?"

"I-I am!" Seulgi exclaimed. She turned to Jackson. "Look, I don't really know much about what Youngji has been doing, but I'm sure she's fine. You can go in there and see her talk with her classmates. I'm leaving, okay?"

"Seulgi, we should really talk—"

"Seulgi, go ahead first," Soojung told her. "I'll meet you there shortly."

"Okay, okay," Seulgi said, absolutely obeying Soojung's order. She scurried off before Jackson could say anything else.

After Seulgi was out of the area, Soojung crossed her arms and looked at Jackson. Jackson was silent for a few minutes, waiting for Soojung to say something. When he realized that she didn't really have anything to say to him, he let out a soft sigh. Just as he was about to turn around and join Youngji for lunch, Soojung's words stopped him:

"Things aren't going well between you and Youngji, right?" Soojung asked. "Because she's worried about Seulgi?"

Jackson whirled around. At first, he appeared shocked to hear such a thing. However, his expression crumbled and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

"Unfortun…" Jackson's voice faded before he shook his head and made eye-contact with her. "No. Never mind. It's none of your business."

Soojung was about to say something, but decided to keep quiet. She only nodded.

"I understand," Soojung said. "I hope things work out between you two."

"Thanks," Jackson muttered. He turned around, walking away. Soojung glanced behind her shoulders once before running back to the empty classroom, where she hoped that Seulgi was patiently waiting for her.

/ / / / /

At the empty classroom, Soojung quickly took out a picture and slid it to Seulgi. Seulgi took the picture and glanced at it while Soojung opened up her little journal, writing something down.

"Do you recognize that face?" Soojung asked.

"Choi Jinri. One of Hyeri's friend, also dubbed as the 'Gossip Queen' of our year," Seulgi said. "What about her?"

"She's next."

"Next?"

"She's our next target," Soojung told her.

Seulgi frowned. "No way. I don't want to be friends with her. She spread so many bad rumors."

"She's also someone who can spread your name to the general public," Soojung said. "She has a lot of outside connections. She's one of the reasons why people outside of our school know Hyeri and why guys from other school come over and confess to her. She goes to a lot of social events, so you can learn a thing or two about how to get close to people and know their weakness."

Seulgi sighed. "Fine. I just need to talk to Taehyun, right?"

"Wrong," Soojung said quickly.

"But I thought she was friends with Taehyun before she joined Hyeri's group?"

"She cut off connections with Taehyun because he hindered her image." Soojung paused and flipped her little notebook. "Well, she doesn't out with him in public. Also, she finds him more 'fun' when she drinks with him."

Seulgi widened her eyes. "Woah, wait. She drinks?"

"She's been drinking since middle school," Soojung said. She paused. "With Taehyun, of course."

"Are you sure they're not close? They sound pretty close."

"They have a complicated relationship. They're kind of like…night friends. If either of them feel distress, they'll go out late at night and get wasted," Soojung said. "That is, when they wake up."

"Taehyun never said anything about it."

"Neither of them actually say anything about it. They don't want to be seen near each other or anything in day light."

"So how do I be friends with Jinri?"

"I never said that you have to befriend her. I just said that she's our next target," Soojung said. She took out a piece of paper with bloody hand-writing. "Jinri is pretty superstitious. She'll believe in anything and everything you tell her, especially if you're close to her."

"Isn't that the same one that Hyeri had?" Seulgi asked.

"It's similar, yeah. I just got another paper and rewrote what the chain letter said," Soojung told her. "Anyway, the point is to put that in Jinri's locker or desk without getting caught."

"What good would that do?"

"She'll believe in the chain letter. This would lead her to being paranoid because now she'll have to put it in three other people's locker. Also, she'll suspect that Hyeri might've done this because she had the chain letter previously. Once she feels stressed out, she'll call Taehyun out for a late night. On that night, you'll pretend that you've been wandering around late and night."

"And then what?"

"Well, that's it for now," Soojung said, closing her notebook. "We'll have to see if things work out."

"So I just have to put this in Jinri's desk, right—" Seulgi paused when she noticed that there were two more paper attached to the paper. "Two?"

"Give one to yourself," Soojung instructed. "One for Jinri, one for you."

"What about the third one?"

"Whoever you want."

Soojung walked away, leaving Seulgi to think about who to give the third paper.