CHAPTER 10: Worse

Jinyoung went to school still thinking who would fit to bring Jihyo’s life back up. Or to put it simple, he was thinking who can make Jihyo fall happy, in this case, by falling in love. Falling in love is the happiest thing in a girl’s life. Or so he was told, by the Scheduler, who wasn’t even so sure about it. But he had no option but to follow the suggestion. Whatever might work for Jihyo to kick Jinyoung out of her body were deemed worth the try.

But no matter how hard he had been thinking for the past couple of hours, the answer still has not appear. He wanted a perfect guy. The right guy, for his precious little sister. It was the least he could do for her sister. Someone that might replace her memories of Jinyoung. Someone who could make her smile. Make her happy.

That was when he saw Donghyuk.

‘Mmm, Donghyuk is quite handsome, actually,’ Jinyoung thought as Donghyuk approached him.

“Morning Jihyo..” Donghyuk greeted Jihyo and both of them walked along the corridor.

“Morning!” Jinyoung greeted back cheerfully.

Donghyuk walked beside Jihyo casually. He observed her for a while before asking, “Do you wear a new uniform?”

Jinyoung was surprised. “How do you know?”

“Your skirt is longer than before. Actually you look better in a shorter one,” said Donghyuk without thinking what would happened next.

Jinyoung directly grabbed his collar and yelled, “You want to die???”

“Ah, my bad.. sorry.. Let me goo..” Donghyuk tried to free himself from Jihyo’s hand, and finally Jinyoung gave him a mercy. “Woah, you’re quite strong, Jihyo.” He parted his way as soon as Jinyoung let him go.

‘Heol, I regretted calling him handsome,’ Jinyoung said in his mind as he walked to the class.

“Morning, Jihyo,” Bambam and Yugyeom greeted Jihyo as she walked into the class.

“Hey, guys,” Jinyoung greeted them back and turned to Youngjae. “Hey, sleepy boy.”

Youngjae only nodded.

“Jihyo-ya, have you done your homework? Let me take a look,” Bambam asked.

“Homework?” Jinyoung was clueless.

“Heol, did you forgot? We need to write an essay for today’s literature class,” Yugyeom explained.

Jinyoung just remembered. “Ah! That’s right! What should I do? I forgot to do it.”

“You said you will study harder. But you even forgot your homework,” Youngjae sneered.

“Aish, if you won’t help, just stay quite Choi Youngjae!”

“Here. You can find the information from this review and paraphrase the essay with your own words,” Youngjae suggested as he handed his phone to Jihyo.

“Woah, that’s good! Thank you so much, Choi Youngjae,” Jinyoung regretted to yell at him, so this time he gave him a wink.

Youngjae could only chuckle.

-00-

“Thanks Bam and Yuggie for reminding me about the essay, thanks Youngjae-ya for helping me with the content,” said Jihyo cutely as they walked to their table at the cafeteria.

“No problem Jihyo-ya..” said Yugyeom nicely.

Jinyoung was smiling so bright, he rested Jihyo’s chin on her palm and said, “Guess you’re all not as bad as I thought..”

“What do you mean?” Both Bambam and Yugyeom were confused.

“Nothing..” Jinyoung was still all smiles. Then he tried to start a conversation. “Anyway, I want to ask all of you.. do you have a girlfriend?”

Youngjae choked up, while Bambam was nearly screaming, “What??”

Followed by Yugyeom. “Why do you ask that question?”

“Can’t I? I’m just asking...” Jinyoung shrugged. Then he added, “You both said that you’re the hottest boys in this school. But why I never saw you hang out with girls? You both were always together..” Jinyoung ended it with laugh.

“It’s not that we’re not hanging out with the girls.. It’s just they are too scared to approach us.. Right, Bam?” Yugyeom explained.

“Yeah, we’re too cool to be true!” said Bambam as he bro-fisted Yugyeom.

“Heol..” Jinyoung sighed, but then he tried to ask, “Mmm, what do you think about me?”

“About you?” Yugyeom asked back.

“Yeah, me.. as a girl..”

“As a girl??” Bambam asked with the same expression with Yugyeom.

“Yeah, what do you think about Park Jihyo as a girl? She’s pretty or charming or..”

“I guess I need to go to the restroom..” Yugyeom cut Jihyo’s words as he stood up.

“Ah, me too, wait for me..” Bambam followed him.

“Heol, why do they have to avoid that question? It’s really easy to answer!” Jinyoung pouted, and then he leaned closer to Youngjae. “I’m pretty right, Youngjae ya? Uhm? Uhm?”

-00-

After lunch break, they had a math class with their homeroom teacher, Mr. Kim. It was boring as usual, so to kill the time some of the students were sleeping, some were playing games on their phone, and some were checking their SNS. But what happened after they finished the class could get their attention.

Right after they finished the math class, Mina put her hands up and said, “Saem, Dahyun told me that she lost her phone.”

All of the student moved their stare at Dahyun who sat at the right corner of the front row.

“Is that true, Dahyun?” Mr. Kim asked.

Dahyun slowly nodded.

“Should we look for the phone in this class, Saem? Who knows someone in here might have stolen it,” Mina suggested.

“Don’t say that without a proof, Mina..” Mr. Kim argued.

“That’s why we need to check our bags, right Saem? To prove it..” Mina insisted.

Mr. Kim sighed and said, “Okay then.. All of you, please put your bag on the table and open it. I’ll come to check one by one.”

Then Mr. Kim went to check the student’s bag one by one, until he reached Jihyo’s bag. That was when he found the phone. “What’s this, Park Jihyo?”

Jinyoung was shocked. He didn’t have any idea that Dahyun’s phone will be inside Jihyo’s bag. “What?? H-how could it be in my bag?”

“Come see me at my office..” said Mr. Kim as he led Jihyo to get out from the class.

-00-

“It’s not me, Saem.. I don’t know how it was in my bag..” Jinyoung tried to explain.

“But it was -in fact- found in your bag, Jihyo..” Mr. Kim still couldn’t believe her.

“But that doesn’t mean I stole it, Saem..”

“Then how did that phone ended up in your bag?”

“I don’t know.. But I swear to God, it’s not me..” Jinyoung said firmly.

Mr. Kim tried to think while massaging his forehead. “Okay, let’s just meet with the principal.. I’ll make you a summon letter..”

“A summon letter?”

“Yes, a summon letter for your guardian.. We need to discuss it with the adults.. Stealing is a crime, Jihyo.. You should realize that..”

“But...” Jinyoung couldn’t find a word to defend Jihyo. “Yes, Saem..”

-00-

When Jinyoung got back to the class, all the students were whispering while staring at Jihyo. Jinyoung walked slowly to his seat while hearing the word thief going around.

He sat in his seat and was silent. He was still questioning how Dahyun’s phone was found in Jihyo’s bag. Then Youngjae’s question distracted his thought. “You’re not skipping night class today?”

“Uhm?” He turned to look at Youngjae and after a couple of seconds, Jinyoung could answer. “No, Il Mondo closed every Monday...”

Then, Jinyoung went silent again. Looking how Jihyo was so quiet, Youngjae tried to cheer her up. “If it’s not you, don’t be scared.. You did nothing wrong so you don’t need to be scared.”

Jinyoung turned to see Youngjae and stared at him deeply. “D-do you believe in me?”

“Finding that phone in your bag doesn’t mean you steal it, that’s what I believe..” Youngjae told firmly.

Jinyoung smiled a bit. “Thanks, Youngjae ah..”

Didn’t like with how calm Jihyo was, Mina started to badmouthing her. “Woah, seems the orphan really needs money.. Not enough with skipping class to work, she even have to steal a phone from her own friend..”

Momo added. “Guys, be careful.. Watch your belongings.. Who knows, you might be her next target..”

“Ah really, why should I be in the sane class with a thief? She should just transfer to another school..” Sana said it in a cute act, which made Jinyoung want to smack her.

He nearly got up wanting to fight, but Youngjae held him. He held Jihyo’s hand and signed her to stay calm. “You’ll gain nothing by fighting them right now.. You just need to calm down.. Remember, the truth will always be revealed.”

Youngjae successfully calmed Jihyo, but he knew Jihyo was still speechless over what just happened to her. He saw how mad Jihyo was when she saw the class was giving her loathing gaze.

-00-

“You’re going home right away, right?” Youngjae asked as he walked next to Jihyo to the school gate after the school end.

Jinyoung nodded slowly.

“Don’t go around just because you’re in a bad mood.. You better stay home and sleep..”

Jinyoung stopped walking and turned to face Youngjae. “As expected, an advice from the class’ sleepy head.” He ended it with a soft smile. That made Youngjae feel assured that Jihyo would be fine.

But then, there was someone calling Jihyo’s name. “Park Jihyo!”

Jinyoung turned to search whose voice that was, and found Jaebum. “Oh, Jaebum hyung!”

Jaebum waved his hand and waited for them to reach the school gate.

“Jaebum hyung, what are you doing here?” Jinyoung asked right after he reached the school gate.

“I’m picking you up..” Jaebum answered casually.

“You don’t need to pick me up, Hyung..” said Jinyoung softly.

“Why not? I have nothing to do since it’s our break time..” Jaebum offered a smile, but then he noticed there was someone next to Jihyo. “Who’s this?”

“Oh.. He’s my friend, Choi Youngjae..” Jinyoug introduced Youngjae to Jaebum.

“C-choi Youngjae.” Youngjae stuttered as he extended his hand.

“Im Jaebum..” Jaebum said as he shook the younger one’s hand firmly. “Are you Jihyo’s classmate?”