“I videoed down what you did to her just now.” He said simply, flashing his phone at him before quickly turning the screen away.

“Who are you trying to scare student? It’s so crowded in the train. How could you have videoed-” The man covered his mouth instantly upon realizing what he was saying.

“Apologize to her else, I will call the police.” Sunggyu kept his phone in his pocket.

“I didn’t do anything to her.” He insisted, looking away.  

Sunggyu laughed at his words before stepping forward. He slipped his name card in his hands.

“I am not just any student, Ahjussi. I am someone who can put you in jail even if you did not do it.” He whispered in his ear before putting on yet another smile.

The man’s hand trembled after he read Sunggyu’s name card and confirmed it with his nametag.

“I am sorry.” He instantly dipped his head in the air.

“For?” Sunggyu said.

“I am sorry for touching you, miss.” He lowered his head further.

The crowd began hurling vulgarities and disapproving words at man. Ahreum wiped away the tears forming in her eyes. Sunggyu looked to Ahreum who meekly nodded her head.

“Our stop is here.” He said simply and walked out with Ahreum trailing behind.

The man spat on the ground after they alighted, throwing Sunggyu’s namecard on the floor.

“T-Thank y-.” Ahreum was about to thank Sunggyu.  

“Don’t be too grateful. I am still regretting why I decided to help.” He raised his hand nonchalantly.

With that, Sunggyu walked off. Ahreum found herself smiling despite what he said. Regardless, she was still thankful he appeared when everyone turned their backs against her.

“Thank you.” She whispered to his retreating back. 

-

Reaching school, Ahreum stood in daze for a moment. The large space where her table and chair used to belong was so glaring. She knew it. Dropping her bag on the ground, she scanned the classroom. Her gaze fell upon Myungsoo’s fanclub leader who merely smirked back at her. It wasn’t the end. She could have been even more gullible.

“They left it at the music room.” One of the nicer classmates whispered.

Ahreum bowed slightly in gratitude before walking out of the classroom. Ahreum wondered if it was fun for them, playing pranks on her like this. She wondered if one day she was gone; would they miss her because they have no one to play such dirty tricks on.

“Hey. Did you hear? That fat girl from the other class had her table and chair missing.” Someone whispered.

“Really? You saw it?” Another person joined the conversation.

“I heard someone secretly left it in the music room.” He laughed.

Myungsoo lifted his head from his table as he listened closely.

“Yea! What was her name again?” One of them ran over to their table.

“I remember it was something really ironic. Ah, right! It was Ahreum.” He recalled.

The group laughed out loud at his remark. Clenching his fist, Myungsoo slammed down on his table before running out of the class. Music room. He remembered them saying. Running to the music room, Myungsoo saw Ahreum inside. She was just sitting there with her head on the table. Myungsoo didn’t need to guess to know she was crying. Ahreum had a heart of glass. She always did. Although she tries to put on a strong front, deep inside she was fragile. Or rather, she is already broken. Opening the door lightly, Myungsoo walked towards his best friend with careful steps.

“Ahreum, are you okay?” he asked.

Ahreum laughed inwardly at Myungsoo’s question. This was probably the umpteenth time he had asked her that question ever since they knew each other from young.

“Yea.” Ahreum lied, lifting her face from the table top and wiping her tears away.

No. Her mind yelled as she faked a smile. I am not okay. I never was.

Her eyes said it all. Myungsoo knew she wasn’t.

“Shall I help you move them back?” he offered, lifting the table.

“I’ll do it myself this time, Myungsoo.” Ahreum stood up.

“Please.” Ahreum lightly brushed Myungsoo’s hands away.

“Thank you.” She said as she took the table with her own hands.

In that moment, Myungsoo thought Ahreum felt foreign. The Ahreum he knew would always gladly accept his help. She would never brush his hands away when he wiped her tears. She would never push him away when he run towards her when she was in need. Myungsoo watched Ahreum’s retreating back but he didn’t insist to help. He knew she had her reasons but he couldn’t understand.  

The teacher snapped his head at Ahreum who intruded the class as she moved the table in from the back door. He shook his head and continued writing on the blackboard.

“It’s your final year already. Get your senses together or you can kiss goodbye to the university gates.” The teacher slammed the marker on the table.

“Do you understand?” he shouted and the class responded with a resounding ‘Yes’.

The bell went off and Ahreum quickly left the class. She could hear the footsteps behind her so loudly. She fastened her footsteps in the direction of another secluded toilet. They wouldn’t find her there. She locked the door, hoping they lost her amongst the crowd of students on the hallway. However, she was wrong. She heard them kicking the door and when they reached her locked cubicle, they kicked it even harder.

“Yah, Park Ahreum. If you don’t come out at the count of 3… I promise you things would get 10x uglier. 3…2…”

“1.” She smirked, seeing Ahreum open the door with trembling hands.

Like predator pouncing on their prey, Ahreum felt caught. They pinned her down effortlessly regardless how hard she struggled. Picking up the measuring jug from the science lab, the leader chuckled.

“You look really thirsty. Shall we help you quench your thirst?” she said.

Ahreum felt her insides trembling at her words as she held the jug near the toilet bowl, Ahreum felt her heart in her stomach. She wanted to run away so badly. She wanted to scream for help but they covered .

“I heard Myungsoo ran to help you this morning.” She said as she filled the jug.

“Let go. L-Let go of me, please…” Ahreum pleaded with her muffled cries.

“I told you clearly to stay away from our Myungsoo oppa, didn’t I?!” She shrieked, pressing the jug against her face.

“You forced me to do this, don’t blame me.” She shoved the jug against Ahreum’s mouth.

“Make her drink!” She shouted and the other girl squeezed Ahreum’s cheeks, forcing open.  

Ahreum felt like vomiting but instead, she gulped it down. The moment they released her, she threw up into the toilet bowl. She heard them laugh behind her as her vision became blurry. Her sides ached as much as her raw throat did. She saw the flashes and she was certain they were videoing too. Ahreum could still taste the urine in . She wondered what she did to deserve this. Just because she was ugly, she had to bear with this. Ahreum wanted to slap them in the face so badly but she could only sit there and weep like a loser. She was outnumbered. She had always been.

“I hope that quenched your thirst.” The leader patted her head and wiped it on the door.

“Till next time.”  

“It was fun, ugly Ahreum.”

Ahreum gagged and vomited more contents out. Sitting against the door, she cried harder than ever. She could feel the gastric juice burning her raw throat. She could feel the pain in her heart. Pathetic. She felt downright pathetic. She was tired. So tired of playing games with them. She only wanted to blend in, to be normal, to graduate peacefully. However, everything was ruined.

“You are so pathetic, Ahreum. You are so useless, you can’t even stand up for yourself.” The voice returned again.

“There’s a way to end all this suffering. You’ll be happy then.” It was so tempting.

Ahreum fished out the penknife from her pocket and pushed the blade out. She stared at it for a good one minute before laughing out loud. If she dies in this cubicle, they would be guilty for life. Then, all these sufferings will be over for her. Then, Ahreum felt her phone vibrate.

From: Seoul National University    

Congratulations! You have successfully entered the final round of Seoul National University Music Department’s direct acceptance test. Please kindly come for the interview on the 30^th July.
We anticipate to hear from you!

Ahreum dropped the penknife in her right hand as she tightly clutched onto her phone in the left. She passed. She was going to the university of her dreams to study music. She made it! Tears of happiness fell. Ahreum cried so hard that she choked on her tears. Maybe, heavens decided to be kind to her too. Ahreum walked out of the toilet and headed towards the rows of lockers. She unlocked her locker and changed into her new sports attire. She was glad she changed her password earlier this week. Entering the class, Ahreum became the centre of attraction, yet again.

“Yah, Park Ahreum. Physical Education class is tomorrow. Did you forget?” Baekhyun joked and laughed. The class followed.

Ahreum remained silent and took her books out. Looking ahead, she told herself, “Just a bit more.” A bit more before she could get out of this hell and get away from all these devils.

“Miss Park, see me at my office after class.” The teacher said with a kind smile.

Ahreum followed her to the office and closed the door behind her.

“Ahreum, I see that you are wearing your track clothes. Is anything wrong?” She asked.

“I-” Ahreum wanted to tell her all her grievances.

She wanted to tell her all her sufferings but she knew it wouldn’t help. She would only get it 10x worse after which. And it would never truly stop. She just needed to hold on a bit longer. A bit more.

“Nothing’s wrong, songsaenim.” Ahreum faked a smile.

“By any chance, you couldn’t fit into your uniform?” she pointed at Ahreum’s track clothes.

Ahreum looked up in surprise at her words and she could tell she was biting back a smile. It sickened her how even her teacher only notices her exterior bulky form. She felt nauseous.

“In anyways, if you need help financially to get new uniforms, just come to me. I’ll always be here for you.” She said with a bright smile, patting her hand.

 “I will. Thank you.” Ahreum bowed respectfully before excusing herself.

She must have thought she was an angel.

-

“Young master, you are not working today right?” There is an important gathering today.” The man said over the phone.

“I know. It’s at 3PM, right?” he looked at his watch.

Joonmyun stopped walking upon seeing his family car stopped right before the school gates. They just don’t listen. He had said umpteenth times for them not to act like this. The chauffeur quickly get out of the car and opened the door for him. Annoyed, he quickly got into the car.

“Drive.” He instructed, removing his spectacles and school tie. It was suffocating.  

He disliked going to such gatherings, especially when Sunggyu wasn’t attending. It was boring and hypocritical. They are basically events where people throw half-hearted compliments and approach each other for their own motives. If his mother hadn’t threatened to stop him from doing his barista part-time outside school, he wouldn’t have agreed to attend this gathering. Removing his shirt, Joonmyun put on his button-on white shirt. He wore his blazer and fixed his tie before looking himself in the mirror. He looked different. All he ever wanted was to look like a normal teenager of his age. Now, he looked just like one of them. And he hated it so much.

“10 more minutes.” Joonmyun looked at his watch again.

He slipped out from the side door and went to the garden. He just wanted to catch a breather.

“Are you listening to me?” The older lady poked at the younger girl’s temples.

“You’re our daughter. You do what we need you to do. Are you clear?” she demanded.

The girl wiped off her tears and nodded. In an upset manner, the older lady stormed off. Then, the girl noticed Joonmyun. She looked embarrassed. She quickly walked off before Joonmyun could apologize for unintentionally eavesdropping.

“This is my son, Joonmyun.” His mother proudly patted his back.

“This my daughter, Yoori.” The girl with doll-like eyes looked up and smiled.

Joonmyun recognized her in an instant but she didn’t seem to remember him.

“Nice to meet you.” Joonmyun extended his hand.

“Me too.” She said meekly, taking his hand.

“We will leave the younger ones to talk.” The lady guided Joonmyun’s mother away to the table.

An awkward atmosphere sets in between the two. Joonmyun coughed slightly before breaking the silence.

“We met at the garden earlier, I am sorry for overhearing your conver-” Joonmyun began.

“It’s okay.” Yoori quickly cut in

Joonmyun fell silent at her reaction. She seemed flustered and he felt bad for making her feel uncomfortable.

“Do you want some juice?” he offered and she nodded her head.

Joonmyun came back with two glasses of orange juice and he thought Yoori changed. The look in her eyes and the way she carried herself in subsequent conversations changed. She felt different.

“It’s funny, isn’t it?” she laughed at her own joke. Joonmyun laughed along but he can’t help but observe how she didn’t look truly happy while laughing.

Her wide smile felt forced and it disturbed him. Joonmyun thought he saw himself in her. 

Author's Note: 
Thank you for patiently waiting for my updates. 
I am sorry the new chapter took long. I needed to sort some things out.
Thank you my friend for helping me untangle some stuff  XD 
Hope you guys liked the new chapter and please do show some love in the comment section <3