Chapter 2: Fluttering Feeling
WarmthIrene Bae is a tough girl.
This is what Irene tells herself as she lifelessly strolls the empty school hallways. Cheer practice was long over and most of the students were already at home.
Her fellow cheerleaders were inviting her earlier to eat at this greasy fast food chain but she had to decline, saying that she'd rather eat a shoe than the fatty 400-calorie burgers they sell there. Irene sighed.
'I am a strong girl,' she kept thinking, as if to remind herself.
She's used to malicious rumors that endlessly try to break her reputation. She can tolerate the rude comments thrown her way by their vicious cheer captain. She can run all the laps, do all the sit ups and endure all the planks given by their merciless coach. She can deal with the stress and pressure from her parents, teachers, and school work.
She can handle anything.
But why does she suddenly have the urge to cry?
Irene's tiny hands balled into fists as she tried to blink away the incoming tears. The brunette let out a small groan as she felt hot tears form in her eyes, blurring her vision. She can't cry now, she tells herself.
It has always been this way; same words, same actions, same everything. It was basically like routine now. This shouldn't have an effect on her anymore, she's used to this.
Then why does it still hurt as much as the first time?
She may be tough, but she's not invincible, Irene realizes. Even though she's used to rumors, they still affect her. Even though Irene can tolerate their head cheerleader, she still scares the out of her. The high expectations from her parents and teachers still stress her out. The brunette fears she might have a mental breakdown before she could even turn 20.
Irene dug her nails on the heels of her palms, harder and deeper until she almost drew blood.
Stupid, stupid, stupid. Stupid Irene.
She let out an ugly sob as tears finally streamed down her face. She broke down in the middle of the silent hallway, barely holding herself up as she clutched at a nearby wall. Her heart ached terribly like life was being squeezed right out of it. She even had to cover to silence her sobs.
And as if life was truly making her suffer, she heard footsteps heading towards her direction. Irene cursed in her mind; whoever is up there was really trying to her up.
It was a flight-or-fight situation (or at least for her), and she had no choice but to run. She had no idea where she's headed and she could barely see because of the tears in her eyes but she kept running.
That was until she bumped into someone. It wasn't actually bump because she literally bounced off of that person when they collided. She painfully landed on her behind and she almost cursed out loud.
Irene kept her head down as she silently cried, mad and hurt (but mostly mad). She heard a feminine voice shout out a curse word, followed by several apologies (and she's pretty sure she heard the word '').
She internally sighed; there's no point in hiding now. This girl already saw her in her most vulnerable state. ' this,' the brunette thought. She looked up and met the eyes of the person she collided with. It was the 'Free Hugs' girl, she realized as she stared into familiar monolid eyes.
'Oh wow, so I guess destiny is playing a trick on me now...'
Irene saw a flicker of worry in the girl's eyes and she vaguely heard her ask if she was okay. She made a face; did it look like she was 'okay'?
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'Free Hugs' girl gave her an apologetic smile and a comforting pat on the back. She remained silent as she sobbed.
There was no point in running now, so she just hid her face from the other girl, humiliated at her situation. She suddenly felt anger at herself, for letting her guard down so easily, for being so careless, for being so weak. Irene dug her nails on her thighs with her head down, trying to save herself from more embarrassment.
That was before she felt a strange warmth envelope her tiny frame. It was sudden and to be honest, it really shocked her to the point that she jumped. Irene stiffened as she felt comforting hands rub on her back and heard whispered reassurances from the other girl.
At first, she was confused, baffled that a person she didn't know was hugging her; a bit annoyed because someone was taking pity on her and she hated how that felt. However, there was this heartwarming feeling that she felt that quite stood out from her other emotions.
It was probably caused by the overwhelming feeling that the strange warmth gave her, but as soon as she felt it, hot tears continuously streamed down her cheeks. And this was when she cried her heart out to a stranger that she hugged once.
When it seemed like her eyes couldn't cry anymore, her sobs died down and her mind was at peace. Reality slowly hit her again, and she realized what she's done.
'Oh my god, I just bawled my eyes out in front of a stranger! What the hell, Irene? Just how pathetic can you be? I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have done that, I shouldn't have done that!'
Irene looked up to warn the girl but was surprised to see tender eyes look back at her.
"Yeah, yeah, I'm not telling anyone."
She never noticed it before, but right now, as she stared up at her, she realized how pretty the 'Free Hugs' girl was. Damn, this girl is kinda, slightly, a very little bit... charming, but of course, she won't say that out loud.
Instead, Irene felt blood rush to her cheeks, making her face as red as a tomato. She had to look down again in order to cover her red face and her growing grin.
Timidly, the brunette muttered a quick "thank you" before she swiftly got up and ran.
It's been a few weeks since she had that crazy encounter with the 'Free Hugs' girl. Apparently, Kang Seulgi is her name and is actually the Vice President. (Don't ask her how she knew, she just does.)
Ever since that incident, she sees Seulgi everywhere. In the hallways, in the cafeteria, in classrooms (she didn't even know Seulgi was her classmate before that encounter). She even sees her in the parking lot!
Irene doesn't know if it's because Seulgi reminds her of how weak she was or if it was something else. Probably the former.
But she seriously can't stop her eyes from scanning the crowd, looking for that dark-haired monolid girl (who slightly resembles a teddy bear).
Like right now.
Irene and her gang were currently in the cafeteria, eating their lunch. Dozens of students were having their lunch break so the whole place was packed. However, as if her eyes were magnetized, she was staring right at Seulgi. She had no idea how her eyes magically found Seulgi or why she was still staring.
"Hey Irene! Did you hear me?" A voice snapped her out of her trance, making her quickly shift her eyes from the dark-haired girl to her circle of friends. Sitting in front of her were Amber, Krystal, Joy and Suho.
"Hmm? Sorry, it's just... really loud in here..." she answered as she looked apologetically at Amber. The other girl gave her a suspicious look.
"Who were you even looking at?" Amber asked while twisting her body to look behind her, following Irene's line of sight. The others followed too, taking a sneak at who Irene was looking at.
They were surprised to see that Irene actually had her eyes on the president's table. Seated at the table was the loud president, Wendy together with Yeri, the mischievous secretary, the peace-making associate Bogum, and of course, the clueless vice president, Seulgi.
Wendy and Yeri were shamelessly singing on top of their lungs while Bogum was trying so hard to be invisible.
"N-No one!" she shouted suddenly. Her friends gave her weird looks. She quickly made up a lie to cover her up. "U-Um, they're just so noisy, it's annoying. Don't you think?"
Surprisingly, Amber and the rest bought it and nodded their agreement, continuing with their meals. Irene sighed, relieved. However, when she was about to look at Seulgi's table again, she found a pair of suspicious eyes staring back at her. Krystal.
The brunette's eyes widened as Krystal continued staring at her, unblinking. It felt like the red haired girl was staring right into her soul, eyeing her like she could see past Irene's lies.
She was about to clear any of the girl's suspicions but before she could, Krystal already shifted her gaze back at her lunch, quietly nibbling on her bread.
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Author's Note: HIII hahaha!! Wahhh T__T this is took so long, I'm so sorry!! Hngg lmao the end is a bit meh, but anywho! I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!! :D hueheu
OH btw! I need your help guys T___T Can you suggest people who could be in Irene's circle of friends? I'm having a hard time looking for people lol, so far I have Amber, Krystal, Suho and Joy... I'm thinking about putting Jackson too! Anyway, please leave a comment about it T__T hahaha sorry, my A/Ns
Thank you for reading!! :D
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