[ T H E  D A Y  O F  T H E  I N C I D E N T 
J I Y O O N ’ S  S T O R Y ]

A DUFFLE BAG AND a pair of combat boots sit idly on the front porch of her house next to the red front door. Jiyoon stands next to it—having just gotten dressed in her primly pressed school uniform—her eyes growing wide in wonder and question. She could’ve sworn it was only her and her mother home. If he came home, it must’ve been late last night while she was dead to the world sleeping. Of course, her mother wouldn’t have woken her, as she has a big test today and her mother always says she has to get a good night’s sleep in order to get good grades. Seeing him late at night would lead to Jiyoon most likely not being able to sleep at the looming thought of conversing with him the next day. As the conversation won’t be of any good and only lead to his further disappointment of having Jiyoon as a daughter. What to do? Go inside or leave for school and worry about it later? If she leaves it’ll lead to her stressing big time throughout the day, and thus failing her test. But if she goes inside it’ll lead to her being passive toward her father who asks about her grades, track, and social life. She has a three point six but her father wants her to have the highest possible grade point average. She’s the second-best runner on the team—only twenty-two seconds behind—but she’s not the first so she’s not as good. Her best’s friends Hyunwoo; but, his father deals with phones and hotels, what good will that do with her life later in life? Her other friend is Hyungwon whose parents she’s never met nor heard of; how does that benefit her?

Gripping the straps of her beige bag, she jogs down the front steps and forgets that she ever saw anything. Even though it’ll sit through her mind all day—it’s too early to deal with it. Entering her car, and slinging the door closed—Jiyoon wishes away the looming thoughts and instead digs out her phone, focusing on that instead. Flipping quickly through the school’s media page, glancing at statuses that some students had posted, she came to a stop at one. Lee Jooheon. The red head whom she’s made her life’s mission to ‘save’ and bring towards the light of justice and all things good. He had created a status: ‘Wait till you see it!’

“See what?” Jiyoon mutters as she places one leg over the other and taps her finger against her phone screen in thought. The only thing she can possibly think of, is the fact that maybe he’s planning something. Something big, as his message brings the onslaught of anticipation and crazed reactions. That being said, it’s only two weeks into the semester—it can’t be that bad…right? I mean, he has a whole year and a half to do crazy pranks. He can’t serve up the best right now. You save the best for last to keep people anticipating and waiting. Watching. Just like he always does.

Jiyoon’s constant sighing of annoyance—mainly from thinking about what Jooheon could plausibly be doing—and kicking of her feet, she gained the attention of her driver. It’s not uncommon to find Jiyoon in this state. She does it quite often after school, when she gets the notice of a test in the upcoming weeks. Whenever she and Hyunwoo get into a fight. Whenever her father comes back from the barracks and when her and her mother get into petty fights. Okay, well, she gets into lots of idiotic moments of frustration like this. She worries too much. Frankly, she just needs to relax. Stop putting herself into everyone’s problems. But, that will never happen. As her mind is constantly working.

Seeing the campus empty, and surrounded by rain clouds, Jiyoon can feel the looming thoughts of the soon-to-be talk in her mind. Pushing it away, she shuts the car door after leaving it and bids her chauffer a goodbye. With her grip tightly on her bag, Jiyoon walks the pebbled path to the front entrance of the school. Hesitantly, she grabs into her pocket for her phone and shifts in one earplug—not two, seeing as her father always taught her that if you wear both your headphones, you’re more likely to be attacked. Not that she’s going to be attacked on a campus with security trained by Master Sargent’s, and First Lieutenants of the ROK Armed Forces. The heighten security is due to the fact the millionaire’s children and children that are practically royalty attend Daejeon. Nevertheless, it’s better to be safe than sorry—that’s her motto.

She’s not interested in listening to music right now, mainly because she’ll start murmuring song lyrics out loud and the academy staff will give her odd looks. Especially because she listens to a lot of Mad Clown and how awkward would be if suddenly she started whispering ‘Anyway, looks like you don’t wanna be the bad guy so just go piss off! Yeah, goodbye, take care. I’ll be watching to see if you end up happy. I love you so much…’ Not to mention the last incident something like that happened, she indirectly told the vice principal ‘you’re just the worst from your head to your toes’ and just kept walking as his mouth stayed open in astonishment. Not realizing that the vice principal believed that she was insulting him.

Instead, she’ll listen to one of her millions of audio romance books. She’s a er for romance. Especially the over-the-top cliché romances that practically never happen in life. Fairy tales even. Anything that painted the non-existent perfect picture of life. Where colors blossom in the sky when your heart soars with love, and all you can think about is sunshine and rainbows, happiness, and unicorns. How lovely would that be? Alas, Jiyoon doesn’t have time for romance, and she doubts anyone at the school would actually like her. As many students tend to dislike her for her overbearing and strict nature.

Stepping into the halls, Jiyoon grasps tightly onto her bag, and glances each and every where she can as she takes tentative steps. The emptiness of the school never fails to make her a tad bit scared. It just seems like anything—or anyone—could pop out at any moment and kill her. A bit drastic; but, her father always taught her to expect the worst. Which is why she’s not too surprised to see a whisk of red hair flash before her eyes and dart into the nearest room. Instead of crumbling to the floor and screaming, she only lets out a short yap and places a hand over her heart to settle it. The red-head peaks out from behind the door he disappeared into, and smiles at Jiyoon when he spots her.

“Did I scare you?” He taunts with a bright smile showing off his dimples.

Jiyoon shakes her head and pats at her cheeks, “Not even close, Jooheon.”

“Liar.” He mocks, chuckling a bit, before disappearing once again into the room. Jiyoon’s eyebrows clash together, since when does he come to school early? From what she knows—as she knows a lot about him, through unnecessary involvement—he comes to school rather late to piss teachers off. Which can only mean the doofus is doing something stupid, again.

Pulling out her headphone, and shutting off her phone, she quickly follows into the room. Finding Jooheon needlessly searching through a high cabinet behind a teacher’s desk. “What exactly are you doing?” The boy flinches at the sound of her voice, not exactly realizing she was following him. He turns to look over his shoulder, and winks at her, before looking back at what he’s doing. Jiyoon, flustered, rolls her eyes.

“I’m busy,” He responds as he seamlessly moves from cabinet to cabinet. She watches in continuous awe, as he skitters around the room quickly. “Besides, you’ll find out later.” The sentence comes out almost quiet; but filled with happiness. Like what he’s going to do today is going to bring joy to him. And probably only him. If Jiyoon has to imagine, it’s not going to be anything good, and she just knows that means chaos for everyone else.

She approaches him, and taps the back of his shoulder. His shoulders lightly jump; before he turns around and faces her. A smile flashing in her direction, painted on with fake enthusiasm. Though she can spot the annoyance from her stopping whatever he’s doing. A sigh leaves , and her shoulders slump as she once again fixes the strap of her bag. “Please Jooheon, don’t do anything stupid.” For a split second, she swears she spots his smile falter. But then it’s back, and he’s chuckling in her face while shaking his head.

“Why? Are you worried about me?” He leans forward, and dips his head in front of her face. Passively, Jiyoon takes a step back and scoffs—trying to cover up the fact that that move just made her heart burst with feelings unknown to her. Jooheon chuckles again as he shakes his head—his red hair falling in different directions. “So cute.” He mutters to himself, as he once again goes back to rummaging through the cabinets. Jiyoon can only huff. No matter what she says or does, nothing will ever get through to him. He’ll forever do what he wants; even if that means never doing anything right.

With one last huff of annoyance, Jiyoon leaves for the halls—and lets him go about his craziness himself. She stops at her locker, processes through her clean and organized racks of binders and notebooks; before, shutting it close and heading for the gym. Hyunwoo hasn’t texted her; but, he’s usually at school around this time. And if he hasn’t texted, it probably means he’s busy destressing in the gym by over practicing. He doesn’t truly understand the subject of relaxing; though, if being honest, neither does she.

Peaking, into the hardwood coated gym, she can hear the basketball hit the floors before she even spots her best friend. He’s coated in sweat, wearing his favorite pair of gym shorts and white t-shirt, and breathing raggedly. Notifying Jiyoon that he’s been here for longer than she may of thought. “I think you’re going to die if you keep this up.” She calls out, just as the gym door closes behind her. Hyunwoo’s head shifts over his shoulder as he turns away from the basketball hoop, and lets the ball roll on the ground toward her. Jiyoon lifts it into her hands, and juggles idly.

She’s not too good with basketball, and this is proven when she throws it at the hoop—and it ricochets off the side of the red band, and slams off the bleachers to the floor, where it stops rolling when it hits the side of Hyunwoo’s foot. Jiyoon lets her head drop, as a few mindless chuckles leave Hyunwoo’s mouth. “That was horrible.” He comments, to which Jiyoon nods with a laugh.

“Duly noted,” She states as she lifts her head and smiles at him. “Basketball and I don’t go together.” Hyunwoo smiles at her, and she returns it with one of her own. She finds it nice that she’s able to make him smile. Sometimes it’s the smallest things, like her failure at basketball, that can lead to other’s happiness. And with his life (not that he’s ever told her much about it) he needs those small bits of happiness.

Hyunwoo picks up the ball and juggles it between hands before sighing and throwing it up into the hoop—banking it. Jiyoon continues to smile, and claps at his lackluster performance. She can feel it, there’s something wrong with him. Jiyoon likes to pry into people’s lives, it’s how she understands them; but, with Hyunwoo…she knows she can’t do that. So, instead, she waits and she waits until he’s ready to tell her. Hyunwoo’s that type of guy who likes to keep everything inside, so as not to burden others. He also hates pity, and he knows that’s all that most people will give him.

“Dad stuff?” She questions as she finds her way to the bleachers, and stretches out on one. Hyunwoo follows the action, and takes a seat next to her. His body sinking in between the two seats as he lies backward—unlike her who sits properly with one leg crossed over the other.

“Dad stuff.” He affirms as a sigh leaves his mouth.

Jiyoon spots his lone grey jacket lying next to her, she grabs it, and passes it to him. Instead of putting it on, the boy uses it to wipe off his sweat. Jiyoon can’t help but shake her head. “That’s disgusting.” Hyunwoo stops to glance at her and frown.

“Would you rather me be sweaty and smelly all day?” He places his jacket on his lap, and smiles at her bewildered and bitter face. Sometimes—well, most of the time—she forgets that most of the guys at her school don’t take a shower after exercising…like she does. As a runner for the track team, she’s almost always showering to keep herself clean. Or else she’ll feel disgusted. “Come on, your Hyungwon might be here.”

Jiyoon groans in annoyance, when will she ever live that down? “I told you I don’t have a crush on him anymore!” Hyunwoo chuckles as he leaves her to cry out in frustration. “I haven’t liked him in…in…in forever! That’s so mean!” All that can be heard from her best friend, is endless chuckles and laughs. Which just annoys her more; but, seeing as it keeps him away from his sad thoughts—she’ll let it slide.

Halfway through third period, and Jiyoon knows something is wrong. She hasn’t seen Jooheon at all since this morning. Something is going to happen. Something that doesn’t sit right in her stomach. Which is why she spends her time at lunch trying to tracking down the red head. She doesn’t know where Hyunwoo is, in the gym practicing (seen as things may be worse with his dad). She saw his face after second period, he must’ve called Hyunwoo and gotten even angrier over something that she still doesn’t know. After stopping Jooheon from whatever he’s going to do—Jiyoon promises to figure out what’s up with her best friend.

Speaking of Jooheon, not even two minutes into tracking him, she finds him. An intense look of determination that—for a split second—makes her swoon. Jiyoon manages to think away the thoughts of him looking really good with that look on his face, and instead focuses on following him. She tracks him through hallways, and tries her best to keep a good distance with him while trying not to lose him. She counts the number of hallways they maneuvered through: five. And when she comes upon the sixth, he’s nowhere to be seen. Thankfully, for her that is, there’s only one room for him to have gone in. The gym. Though, in the long run, she’s not so sure it was a good thing.

Because, the minute she takes a step inside, she finds herself starring into a red abyss that smacks her in the face and drenches her in the color. There’s cries, then there’s scream, and then there’s silence. And for Jiyoon, in the middle of the red, she spots a slightly panicked Jooheon. That’s why, even though she knows Jooheon meant for this prank to happen, he didn’t mean for it to go down like this. She knows he’s sorry, and that’s why she doesn’t hate him as much as the others may. (Though, let’s be honest here, she is a bit biased.)

[ P R E S E N T  D A Y ]

JIYOON STANDS IN FRONT of everyone with a sour look on her face. They’re all angry. They think her idea of a team bonding camping trip is ridiculous and stupid. Everyone except for her, Hyunwoo, Jaemi, and Hyeryung. Everyone else practically stares at her like they want her dead. Especially Hoseok. “This is just crap!” The boy nearly screams, and all Jiyoon can do is stand there and listen to him. Apparently, the team has turned into a democracy where people are allowed to voice their opinions on everything. “Who died and made you supreme leader? Did you ever think, for one minute, that some of us actually don’t want to be friends or care for one another?”

“Please,” Jiwon jumps to her feet and reaches out to point an accusing finger at Hoseok who only sighs in annoyance. “You just don’t want to go because you don’t want to talk to Hyungwon.” Jiyoon glances in the direction of Hyungwon and slightly sighs when she notices his clearly saddened expression. She seems to always forget about the issue between him and Hoseok (along with Jiwon and Sora).

Hoseok smirks in the younger girl’s direction, “You better keep your trap shut, or will we have to have a repeat of last time?” For the first time, in what Jiyoon thinks is ever, Jiwon clams up and immediately sits down—completely facing an entirely different direction from Hoseok. Hoseok who continues smirking, and starts laughing. “That’s better.” He mutters as he takes his seat next to his quiet cousin who may or may not be listening to music and ignoring the entirety of this conversation.

“Don’t you remember what Principal Junghwa said?” Jiyoon begins as she takes a step toward the bleachers to show she’s addressing everyone who’s sat on it. Someone people nod their heads, while others (specifically Hoseok, and Jooheon) shrug their shoulders and roll their eyes. “She said, if we don’t do a good job, she’ll give us a harder punishment. The only way for us to do a good job, is to get along and try to be a team. How do we do that? By getting to know one another and building trust, it’s the basics to any team. That’s why we have to do this.” Jiyoon thinks her plan over in her head.

They’ll go to the campsite, divvy up into their small teams, get to know one another, share secrets, and bond—then, around the campfire and after practicing small routines, they’ll bond with everyone else. And when they get back, they’ll be a real team. Some may bond more with others, and others may not bond at all; but, what she does know, is that at least parts of the team will get to know each other and become friends. She just hopes, that those who have distaste for one another, can put behind their differences and try to get through this mess without fighting further. Because, the more they fight, the worse their team will get.

“And what if your plan doesn’t work?” This time, it’s Sora who quietly speaks up. Jiyoon doesn’t know much about the girl, other than her being Hoseok’s cousin (closets friend too) and her equal hatred toward Hyungwon. Sora lifts a hand through her hair and pulls out one earbud (having been ignoring the most of the conversation until she got fed up). “Statistically speaking, more than a half of our team can’t stand each other. Haeyoung, and Jiwon don’t like each other, and those two equally dislike Jaena. Hoseok hates Hyungwon and Jiwon. Jiwon doesn’t like Hoseok either and you can add me into that equation too. Hyungwon sometimes doesn’t get along with Jiwon because she’s annoying. Kihyun hates Jooheon, and so he dislikes Haeyoung as well. And, if we’re being completely honest, Hyeryung doesn’t like Jooheon either. Minhyuk doesn’t like anyone but himself. Jaemi doesn’t like Jooheon because something having to do with the first day of school. Changkyun dislikes Jooheon for some reason too. And I’m pretty sure you have some sort of animosity toward Haeyoung who equally returns it. Speaking honestly, the whole team dislikes Jooheon on an equivalent level for getting us into this mess. So, really, how is this camping trip going to change any of this?”

Jiyoon tries her best not to outright gape at Sora. Maybe it’s true what they say about quiet people: they know the most. For the longest time, she always believed the girl just kept to herself and thus didn’t know much about anything else. Yet, seeing this, Jiyoon was wrong. Having all of it laid out in front of her, for her to hear instead of think about: truly outlies the fact that the team is a mess. At least everyone dislikes someone. Except for Hyunwoo, who sits quietly in front of her smiling supportively and giving her a thumb’s up. Though Jiyoon’s sure, that isn’t enough for this situation.

“Look,” Jiyoon begins as she slides a hand through her hair. “We all have to try our best. I know that some of us have anger for one another that tracks back a long time ago; but, if we can’t get through this—we’re all going to suffer. Please, just this once, thinking of this like a clean state. Erase the past, and try to start over. Or, at the very least, try to dislike each other less.” Jiyoon knows no one is going to want to listen to her. Hell, she doesn’t want to listen to herself. She sounds like one of those people who acts like there’s nothing wrong with her life, and everything’s ‘perfect’ so everyone else should be too. Though, she knows that’s not true. Her life isn’t perfect; not even close. But they don’t know that; and they probably never will.

Hoseok stands up, and drags Sora with him down the bleachers. “You can’t erase the past.” He mutters, and Jiyoon knows that’s not directed at her; but, rather Hyungwon. Hyungwon who only looks like he wants to respond but physically cannot as he freezes up. Jiwon hardens too, and wants to bark back at the boy; but, holds her tongue for reasons unknown to Jiyoon.

“I agree.” Haeyoung states as she shoots a glare at Jiwon.

Jiwon rolls her eyes, “Oh shut-up, drama queen.” Haeyoung’s glare intensifies as she grabs her own things and heads off the bleachers. “What you can’t handle name calling?” Jooheon calls out and tells her to shut-up as he follows after Haeyoung. Jiyoon watches them, and spots how Jooheon sends her a short smile before heading out the door. Flustered, Jiyoon looks away from the door to spot Hyunwoo staring at her with a raised brow. She coughs, and slides a hand down her face.

“Does anyone else want to say how they feel about all of this?” She asks.

Jaena raises her hand timidly, to which Jiyoon nods her head encouraging her to continue. “Well, if we do this camping-thing, will we be staying in tents or cabins? Are we actually training there? Will we split into groups? Are there camp guides besides Coach Jung? And, what is the agenda?” Jiyoon blanches, all the questions she was dreading. She hasn’t exactly planned the whole thing out to a T. Only the main details.

“Well, there will be cabins on the campsite, and we have permission to use them. We will be training there; they have a separate facility used for the routine practices as it’s a cheer camp. It’ll only be basic training and practicing of routines—nothing too difficult.” Jiyoon pauses to take a deep breath and think things over. So far, everything sounds about right. “I think it’d be best to keep our groups the way they are for practice, and that way we can tighten the individual group bonds. As for camp guides, Principal Junghwa decided it would cost too much to pay for them, and said Coach Jung would be enough (plus medical staff). But, I don’t have a specific agenda planned…yet.”

Jaena nods as she scribbles a few things down on her notepad. Everyone else who’s left, which isn’t much, seeing as half decided to bail (including Minhyuk who disappeared sometime during her conversation with Jaena), pretty much seems fine with what’s been said and gather’s their things to leave. Till it’s just her, and Hyunwoo. “I don’t think I can take this anymore.” Jiyoon sighs as she squats down and places her head in her hands.

“You try to hard sometimes, Jiji.” He rises to his feet, grabbing his bag, and her own. Jiyoon nods in agreement as she stands up and slightly leans against Hyunwoo for support. “Come on, tired one, let’s get you home!” He cheers as he throws his arm around her shoulders and drags her off with him out of the building. Jiyoon presumes that he’s right, she does try too hard. Maybe she should’ve stayed out of it, and not have gone as far as asking Principal Junghwa for help. But she does what she does because she wants to help, and wants the best for everyone. She was hoping it would be this; but, so far, it isn’t.

[ authors note ]  Oh God, I'm so sorry everyone. It's been three months since I lasted update. I have no excuses (well, I do; but, it doesn't matter) for being gone for so long. I hope you can all forgive me. I want to get back into the swing of updating faster and being on here. The good thing is: I haven't lost inspiration to write. The energy to write is still there. Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the update and now you know: I'm back! Hopefully for good. ^^