Three months ago.

Senior year. The year every kid ever wished for to come. And for Namjoo, it was here.

She stepped into school the first day, her head held high, sandwiched in between her two best friends. It was the year she could step out of her bubble and show everyone who Namjoo really was like she’d always hoped she could do.

Though the beginning was rough, finding out she wouldn’t be sharing the same classroom as Eunji and Bomi, it wasn’t going to hinder Namjoo’s march in making the most out of her last year.

For so long she stayed in an inner circle and never gave herself opportunites. This year was going to be different.

But as she let herself be more outstanding, she realized it wasn’t at all what she had hoped for.

For starters, a really pretty girl possesses the locker underneath her own. She’s tall and possibly the most beautiful person Namjoo had ever seen, and that terrifies her. Also sometimes Namjoo catches her talking to her friends who are also crazy beautiful and bit scary.

(Maybe, just maybe, she was the reason why Namjoo rarely ever went to her locker and when she did, it was in a rush.)

Namjoo took her seat that first day, in the middle of the classroom where her teacher assigned her to sit. She greeted her seatmate, Mina, with a gentle smile who in return gave a more encouraging grin.

It was all she needed to let her dimples show as she turned to face the front of the class. Throughout those first couple months, she’d answer any question she knew with confidence running through her veins. And when she wasn’t answering a question, the teacher would praise her excellent work.

It felt good for some time, getting recognition when she wasn’t even asking or trying, but that feeling didn’t last for long.

One day while she was helping Mina with a math problem she was stuck on, the teacher had stepped out for a few minutes to go to the restroom. Suddenly as she was explaining how to set up a graph for logarithms, a dark shadow loomed over them.

Namjoo looked up to see one of the kids who sat in the back, Minhyuk, accompanied by a girl whose name she couldn’t remember, sneering down at the top of Namjoo’s head.

“You know, I really hate it when prissy kids end up in my classes. They act like they’re better than the rest of us,” he had said moving his head to the side slightly, indicating the words were spoken to the girl behind him.

Suddenly he reached down, snatching the pencil Namjoo was holding and snapped it in half, all while staring straight into the owner’s eyes. All that she could see swimming in his dark orbs were menace.

“Hey!” Mina shouted, slamming her own pencil down and glaring at the offender, “What the hell is your problem?”

Minhyuk scoffed and dropped the broken pieces of the writing utensil on Namjoo’s notebook as the girl and a few other kids laughed. Her head dropped, eyes skimming across the math problem she wrote down just some time before over and over. This can’t be happening, she thought, feeling her ears redden in embarrassment.

“‘My problem’ is little Miss Know-It-All over here,” he waved his hand at Namjoo, shaking his head, “I was hoping I didn’t have to constantly hear about some other smartass’s life in school when I’m only trying to get through mine.”

The girl from behind Minhyuk finally spoke up, only making Namjoo shrink into herself more, “I don’t know, you heard Mr. Shin, Namjoo does all the work like it’s a piece of cake. Maybe he’ll finally stop praising the girl if she didn’t do said work.”

From next to her, she could hear Mina grunt in anger, but before she could get up and give them a piece of her mind, Namjoo gently placed her hand on the smaller girl’s arm silently telling her it wasn’t worth it.

Minhyuk started chuckling as he caught onto the meaning behind the girl’s words, “That, my dear Sojin, is a great idea,” his shadow disappeared for a few seconds before it returned along with a loud ‘plop’ as he dropped his mathwork on top of Namjoo’s. “It better be done before school tomorrow, or else.”

It didn’t stop there though. The girl, Sojin, also returned in a similar fashion, a sinister smirk edged onto her face, “What he said.”

Namjoo jumped when Mina slammed her hands down and stood up from her seat, shaking her head in disgust, “You guys are cruel, and such idiots. Namjoo would never do your homework for you just because you told her to.”

“Oh she will,” the boy laughed, “she’s weak and she knows her place.” He turned around and quickly hive-fived another boy who had been watching the scene with great interest. Before returning to their seats, he leaned down to Namjoo’s ear whispering a few final words that caused the poor girl to flinch.

“Don’t disappoint me, Namjoo.”

As if on cue, the teacher returned a few seconds later and sat in his desk at the front, oblivious to what occurred just moments before.

Mina leaned over, her voice lowed in a pitch barely audible to Namjoo herself, “Don’t listen to them, all right? They can’t do anything to you.”

Namjoo nodded but could bring herself to believe those words. So that afternoon, whereas she’d usually go out with her friends for coffee, she went straight home and worked on the assignments both assigned to her by her teachers and her classmates.

The next day, just as expected, Minhyuk and Sojin walked into the classroom earlier than usual. Before heading to their own seats they made a quick stop at Namjoo’s. The latter, who’d been sitting in preparation for this, swiftly handed them their homework.

“I’m impressed.” Was all she heard before the two laughed and walked away. From next to her, Mina rested her hand on Namjoo’s shoulder in sympathy.

It didn’t stop after that day. At the end of each school day, the two would stop by Namjoo’s desk and drop off their work before leaving without anything said but a promise still hanging over Namjoo’s head. It went on for two weeks until Eunji started becoming suspicious of Namjoo’s sudden disappearances after school.

Namjoo rushed to her front door after hearing a round of persistent knocking and doorbell rings. She pulled the door open only to be greeted by the two worried faces of her best friends. Before she could even say anything, they pushed their way through and made themselves at home on Namjoo’s living room floor.

“Guys, I’m a little busy right now,” she indicated towards the scattered books and papers resting on the floor and couch, as she closed the door and slowly stepped towards them. Eunji’s worried face was quickly replaced with disbelief as she stared the youngest down.

“You’ve been ‘a little busy’ for the last two weeks. I know it’s not homework because we have the same teachers,” she expressed while Bomi nodded along. Namjoo sighed as she sat down across from them, leaning against the couch.

“It’s just some extra credit,” the two unnies across from her looked at each other before bursting out in laughter.

Bomi calmed down before pointing at Namjoo in an exaggerated manner, “You? Extra credit? Namjoo-ah, you’re already at the top of our class, what do you need to do extra credit for?”

“She’s right. If anyone here needs that extra credit, it’s Pabomi,” Eunji chimed in, earning a smack from Bomi. Namjoo smiled slightly at the sight, she really missed hanging out with them.

“Now, are you gonna tell us the real reason or do you want us to slap it out of you,” the second youngest continued, playfully raising her hand but Namjoo remained silent.

She knew if she told them, they were gonna get super overprotective and demand to know who had been doing this to her. But she doesn’t want their protection. However they were expecting an answer, be it honest or not.

“It’s really nothing, I’m just getting a little stressed with finding some extracurricular activities to join,” she smiled in reassurance. Bomi hummed but Namjoo could tell neither one of them believed her.

“Oh!” Bomi clapped her hands together loudly, suddenly remembering something, “Eunji finally asked Naeun to be her girlfriend.”

Namjoo snapped her head towards her friend at lightning speed, eyes widening as she excitedly accepted the change in subject, “Omo, unnie! She said yes, right? You’ve been ‘hanging out’ for weeks so it’s about time!”

Then Eunji did something neither Namjoo nor Bomi had ever seen, she blushed. The two took in the girl’s bright red cheeks in amazement grasping this once in a lifetime opportunity to tease the usually chill girl with eagerness.

“Look, Namjoo! She’s blushing! Our Eunji is actually blushing, I can’t believe this,” Bomi laughed while covering and pointing at the second eldest.

Namjoo joined in the laughter as she shoved the blushing girl, “Maybe I need to start joining you during lunch so I can finally meet the girl who turned the mighty Jung Eunji into a big softy.”

Eunji shoved her back with a roll of her eyes, the redness in her cheeks finally beginning to subside, “No way, Bomi’s already embarrassed me once. However you and Bomi together? I’ve only been dating her officially for a week and a half. If she meets the both of you, no doubt she’ll dump me.”

While Bomi protested Eunji’s claim of her best friends being too embarrassing, Namjoo let those words echo in her head. Guilt ran through her veins as she realized how out of the loop she’s been with their lives. Eunji and Naeun have been together for more than a week and she didn’t even have a clue until that moment.

“I’m sorry, unnie,” Namjoo vocalized unexpectedly, immediately silencing the two bickering girls in front of her as they stared at her in confusion.

“Why?” Eunji asked grabbing the youngest’s hand in concern.

Namjoo shook her head as her eyes focused on her other hand fiddling with the hem of her shorts, “I’ve been such a bad friend to you both. I’m so sorry.”

Immediately understanding, Bomi sighed after she heard this; Namjoo had always been a worrier. She’s always been too hard on herself and for the smallest things, she’d take the blame. Bomi didn’t know what made Namjoo avoid them for weeks, but she could tell not being around for them had been eating her alive.

“Don’t say that. We care about you and know you enough to understand when you need your space. Don’t ever think that you’re being a bad friend, got it?”

After no response and a few more silent seconds, Eunji indicated for Bomi to get up so they could take their leave. Namjoo also got up.

All three walked to the door but the two eldest stopped before completely exiting the house. “Get some rest, Namjoo-ah, you look tired.”

Said girl nodded at Eunji words as Bomi patted her head lovingly. Namjoo closed the door behind them and leaned her back against it. She hated feeling so powerless.

-----

Namjoo had planned on always completing the work of her classmates with no argument but one unlucky day had her finding out what “or else” meant.

She’d fallen asleep the day before right after school. That entire day she’d been like a zombie. First, she lost her flier for the new choir program, next she hit a pretty girl in the head with her locker (which proceeded in Namjoo getting yelled at by said pretty girl), then she found out she got rejected by the math team after not showing up for the last three meetings.

(Also she found the apology note she wrote for bottom locker girl lying on the ground as if it were trash, but that’s not important.)

It was definitely a stressful day.

However it was nothing compared to the day after.

After jolting awake in her bed, she rushed to get ready for school. As she was almost running down the sidewalk, the heaviness in her backpack she’d gotten accustomed to had her halting in the middle of a crosswalk. She forgot to do the work.

A car honked at her making her jump and run to the other side of the street. The car pulled up next to Namjoo as she began walking again while also freaking out.

“Yah, Kim Namjoo! What do you think you were doing in the middle of the street?” Her head instantly shot up at the familiar voice and turned her head to the right to see Bomi behind the wheel of her dad’s car. “Get in here right now!”

Not wanting to argue, she power walked to the passenger side, opened the door and quietly slid in next to the older girl. She was still slightly freaking out about not doing Minhyuk and Sojin’s homework but momentarily became distracted when she noticed the absence of someone.

Bomi, who was incessantly lecturing her about the dangers of crosswalks and stopping in the middle of the road while simultaneously driving to school, was cut off by Namjoo asking her about the whereabouts of the third member of their trio.

“Ah, she’s out sick today,” she rolled her eyes but a sudden mischievous glint in her eyes caught Namjoo’s attention.

“What is it?”

“Naeun’s gonna be wondering where her girlfriend is. Feel like meeting her today?” She joked, but on the downlow she really wanted Namjoo to meet the girl who captured Eunji’s heart. And the shorter girl not being there would mean no one would be around to stop them.

Namjoo, homework completely forgotten, instantly nodded, “Hell yes I do.” She and Bomi fistbumped before Bomi pulled into the school’s parking lot and claimed her spot.

As they walked into school, Bomi gave her a few disclaimers, “I’ve only spoken to her once but that was for like, ten seconds, even though she sits behind me in class. You know how Eunji is. Also she hangs around these other two girls, one of them being your locker soulmate.”

That caused Namjoo to halt mid step as she stared at Bomi with wide eyes, “Unnie, no, what if she’s with them? I hit her with my locker yesterday!”

Bomi and Eunji have been fully up to date with Namjoo’s big crush on the girl who owns the locker underneath her’s for a while now. Ever since school began she’d gush about her long legs and bright eyes and though recently they haven’t heard much about the girl due to their friend’s absence, they knew Namjoo’s crush was still going strong.

“I doubt she’ll be with them, it’s still early,” Bomi waved off, before pausing, “Wait, you hit her with your locker?”

Namjoo nodded her head guiltily and gestured for Bomi to continue leading the way. Soon they approached two girls, none of which were Namjoo’s locker buddy but still somewhat familiar.

“Hi, Eunji’s girlfriend,” Bomi waved smugly with a sly smile before turning to the shorter girl next to Naeun with a sudden bright grin, “Hello, Chorongi-ssi, weird seeing you outside of the classroom.”

The short girl just laughed and nodded awkwardly while Naeun rolled her eyes. Namjoo shook her head at her friend’s total dismissal of the situation, “Seriously, unnie?”

She turned to the two girls next as she shoved an oblivious Bomi out of the way, “I’m Namjoo,” she introduced bowing politely, valuing a good first impression.

Naeun’s eyes widened slightly while Chorong not-so-subtly nudged the tallest girl in the side. Namjoo’s eyebrows scrunched together in confusion at the weird reaction she got from introducing herself.

Finally Naeun composed herself as she smiled widely, “So you’re Namjoo? Either there’s a lot of Namjoo's in this school or you’re just really famous.”

Bomi and Namjoo exchanged glances after hearing that, “What do you mean?”

But before Namjoo could get an answer, her eyes focused on a tall figure behind Chorong. Her eyes widened as she diverted her attention from Minhyuk to the floor. She had to leave.

“I’m sorry, I have to go to my locker before class,” she whispered towards Bomi and waved with a forced smile to the other two, already walking away, “It was nice meeting you.”

Bomi stared after her, eyes narrowed in concern at Namjoo’s sudden change of character. She’ll have to speak to her later about that, she thought as Naeun asked about Eunji’s absence.

At her locker, Namjoo thought it was a great opportunity to at least drop off the apology note in her pretty locker buddy’s hand before rushing off to class. So she waited.

Moments later said girl arrived, causing Namjoo to immediately straighten up. For the first time since the school year began, she got to look at her properly and read the name listed on her nametag. Oh Hayoung.

She tried to smiled cutely but the taller girl seemed (adorably) confused, so Namjoo quickly explained what she waited there for, handed the girl the note and left before she could say anything. She almost ran straight into Naeun but luckily dodged her just in time, mumbling a quiet apology.

She arrived to the class a few minutes before the bell but the sight of both Sojin and Minhyuk leaning against her desk gave her the indication that today would not go well.

“You’re later than usual,” Sojin stated, popping her bubble gum noisily. “Homework. Now.”

Namjoo hesitated as she she stopped in front of her desk. What was she going to tell them? That she forgot?

Minhyuk as if he was a mind reader, immediately picked up on Namjoo’s hesitation and narrowed his eyes accusingly, “You didn’t do it, did you.”

It was a statement rather than a question but it made Namjoo flinch at the harsh tone, eyes falling to the tiled floor. Minhyuk scoffed in disbelief as he stood up right from his leaning position and towered over the girl.

“You cracked earlier that I expected,” he uttered lowly, staring down at the top of Namjoo’s head. He then turned his head and nodded at Sojin who looked ready to explode, “Just like I said. Weak.”

He twisted the rest of his body around, grabbing Sojin by the arm and walked to their seats without another word.

Namjoo raised her eyes from the floor letting out the breath she’d been holding. The teacher walked in, and politely told everyone to take their seats. As Namjoo obeyed, her eyes traveled to the occupants of the seats in the back only to see be met with menacing glares.

Mina who’d been silently watching the scene, took hold of Namjoo’s hand, “They can’t do anything to you.”

But just like before, she couldn’t bring herself to be reassured by those words. She lived in paranoia during class, and time seemed to fly by. Next thing she knew, the dismissal for lunch came.

Namjoo had always hated going to the cafeteria, reason being she didn’t enjoy the heavy noises nor the crowds. She’d always chosen to sit in the library and enjoy her lunch or in the music room. On occasions Bomi and Eunji accompanied her but on a regular basis Bomi would sit with her taekwondo friends while Eunji alternated between the debate team and Naeun’s table.

Though they were best friends they still had different interests which all were okay with.

However today as Namjoo grabbed her water bottle and lunch sack, to head to the library, a hand suddenly flew out and knocked the food out of her hold. She looked up and instantly noticed the lack of students in the classroom, all were gone except two.

“You really think you weren’t going to get punished for not doing what we told you?” Minhyuk chuckled humorlessly as he walked in Namjoo’s direction slowly. As he got closer and closer, she backed up more and more until her back hit the wall. Her eyes stared up at him in fear.

He reached his hand up and slammed it on the wall next to her head as he leaned in closer to her face. Namjoo moved her head to the left as she shook in fear of what he might do. Her eyes began filling with tears and she shut them tight to prevent them from falling.

Suddenly she felt a tight grip on both of her arms, assuming Minhyuk was holding her as he told her to open her eyes. She slowly opened them while Minhyuk’s grip got tighter.

The sight of his violent orbs caused a single tear to run down her cheek. He then moved his head to her right ear, “This is a warning. Don’t disappoint me a second time.”

Then he let go of her with a slight shove forcing her back to hit the wall. After Sojin gripped Minhyuk’s sleeve and pulled him out the classroom door, Namjoo slid to the floor pulling her knees up to her chest.

She pressed the palm of her hands into her eyes to stop her tears from falling, her breathing began slowing down from when it picked up earlier. She shook her head after a moment, furiously wiping her eyes. He was right; she is weak. She can’t even stand up for herself.

Wallowing in her sadness, Namjoo wrapped her arms around her folded legs dismissing the idea of lunch all together, which she never did since it was in her nature to inhale food like it was water. She sat there for the remainder of lunch until only minutes were left, then she got up to compose herself before everyone returned.

She gathered the water bottle and sack lunch that was knocked out of her hand earlier and tossed them in the trash bin carelessly.

As she relaxed in her seat, she realized their was no point in indulging in her sorrow as nobody did this to her but herself. Sighing, she stared up at the clock which told only three hours remained and then it was the weekend. She couldn’t wait to get out of this class.

Eventually Namjoo’s classmates began filing back into the classroom, but she couldn’t care less as she rested her head on her propped up arm and gazed down at her unfinished English assignment. Mina seemed to notice something was off with her but didn’t question her about it, which Namjoo was grateful for.

The day ended slower than it began but it didn’t matter to Namjoo as she was just glad to get out of that room. She made her way down the hall, bag thrown over her shoulder. Approaching her locker, she caught sight of Hayoung kneeling on the floor, positioned in front of her own open locker.

Namjoo, assuming Hayoung could hear her and infer that she was there, leaned over her crouched body and unlocked the small metal door. However she assumed wrong because just as she got her locker door open, Hayoung jumped up and slammed her head into it.

Namjoo stood there in shock for a second, hand covering before she quickly began assessing the girl’s head for any injuries while simultaneously apologizing.

Great job, Namjoo. She probably hates you even more now.

She ended up helping Hayoung to her car, the entire way muttering insults to herself. Later while she’s in bed, she’ll realize that she’d actually been speaking to Hayoung and having a real conversation with her, after three months of admiring her from afar.

She doesn’t necessarily remember what she blabbed on about to the taller girl but then she’s talking about how intimidating she could be and then Hayoung was leaving, all ending with Namjoo being confused.

When Bomi caught up to her in the parking lot, she shook and pulled Namjoo away from her frozen position in the middle of a parking space. She led her to her car and gave the younger girl another unnecessary lecture about the dangers of parking lots and being aware of her surroundings.

The entire ride home, she kept quiet while Bomi talked about how boring class was during the day without Eunji. Once Bomi pulled up in front of her house, Namjoo prepared to leave but was stopped when her friend grabbed her hand.

“I know you’ve been busy lately, but my dad keeps asking about you. He said you should come over next weekend since it must be lonely with your parents gone a lot,” Bomi told her, softly squeezing hand, “I guess I’m not the only one who misses having you around.”

Namjoo’s eyes soften at those words. Bomi’s dad had always been like a second parent to her and Eunji both. During the summer, she spent a lot of time at Bomi’s house while her parents attended to their jobs which required traveling often. She knew she couldn’t decline the invitation.

“I’ll come over,” she accepted to which Bomi brightened at. Like usual, she patted Namjoo’s head lovingly before the younger girl exited the vehicle.

After she entered her empty home, she called her mom as she routinely did after every school day. Her mother expressed her love and longing to be at home with her only child while Namjoo returned the sentiment.

Once she hung up from the short call, she headed to her room to change into more comfortable clothing. Her eyes traveled at once to the reddened marks on her upper arms after she ed her school uniform and removed it. Minhyuk did squeeze them pretty hard, she thought.

Not wanting to get worked up again, she walked over to her drawers and pulled out a half-sleeved shirt and a pair of shorts. After getting dressed she jumped back onto her bed and stared at her ceiling.

She frowned as she thought about the interaction she had with Hayoung. It was nice hearing her voice but for all the wrong reasons. The frown transformed into a small smile as she thought about how Hayoung had been so sweet even though Namjoo technically hit her with her locker door again.

The weekend passed too quickly for her liking. She spent most of it doing homework, watching trash television, eating, and trying not to think about Monday.

But since the universe never seemed to be on her side, Monday came too fast. She made sure to grab her lunch and breakfast, and most importantly, her homework as she left her house and walked down the sidewalk.

Bomi only drove to school every other day as did most of the seniors since it was a school rule that students can only drive to school every other school day. When she wasn’t driving, she was taking the bus because she hated walking. Namjoo, on the other hand, hated the bus considering it was usually crowded and she preferred walking as did Eunji.

She didn’t see Hayoung at her locker that morning but she didn’t think much of it as she sped off to her class. She took out Minhyuk’s and Sojin’s homework and placed it at the edge of her desk, hoping they’d just grab the work and not say anything to her.

Luckily for her, they did just that.

After school, as she was packing up her things Hayoung cautiously approached her and waited until Namjoo was done before kneeling down and gathering her things. Namjoo laughed at that silently and boldly asked Hayoung about her day.

The taller girl smiled up at her sweetly, and replied, “Long and tiring, you know? I just want to get home.”

Namjoo nodded in agreement before spouting off about how a boy in her class got kicked out of class for spilling cherry soda on all the written English exams. Hayoung turned back to her locker but Namjoo could tell she was catching onto every word.

Soon, the two parted when Chorong waved Hayoung over from across the hall.

The next couple of days went by the same, until Wednesday. Unfortunately during a chemistry lab, Mina mixed up the procedure and ended up blowing up Namjoo’s lunch which resulted in a week's worth of detention.

However after the last lesson of the day, Mr. Shin, the mathematics teacher, walked into the classroom and asked Namjoo to stay behind. When the class was empty and the history teacher left, Mr. Shin sat in a seat in front of her.

“Namjoo, lately I’ve noticed you’ve been really quiet,” he began, “I’m just concerned with your sudden change in behavior. Is something wrong?”

The student looked at the teacher in confusion, she didn’t think anyone would notice. But nevertheless, she shook her head in answer, “No, Mr. Shin.”

The math teacher sighed as he stared at her, “Your seatmate, Kwon Mina, spoke to the chemistry teacher who spoke to me. She said some students have been harassing you. Is this true?”

Namjoo wanted to be mad at Mina but she knew she had good intentions. Though in that moment she could be angry, “No, it’s not! Nobody’s bothering me.”

“Namjoo…” Mr. Shin clasped his hands together in front of him and rested them on Namjoo’s desk, “You have to tell me the truth.”

The girl shook her head, she didn’t want to be that person who couldn’t handle the situation by herself. But she couldn’t lie to a superior when they had the power to do something. She could almost hear Bomi in the back of her head saying something about Namjoo always respecting morals.

“I’m not going to ask you to tell me who they are, I know it’s burdensome. But, if you don’t tell me, they’ll only do it to more people,” he said, already sensing that what Mina had claimed was not a lie.

She shook her head again, looking down at the marks on her desk left by previous year students. She traced the lines with her finger wanting to be anywhere but in this classroom and in this situation.

Mr. Shin sat up straight, resting his hands at his sides as he spoke his next words, “I’m going to put in a request to assign you to another classroom.”

Namjoo’s head shot up in surprise, “I’m sorry, what?”

“There’s another class a couple rooms down that has an empty slot, I think you’ll be more comfortable in there,” he explained, smiling reassuringly, “Will that be okay?”

She paused for a few moments before nodding slowly. She had come to strongly dislike the setting of the classroom. And though she’ll miss sitting next to Mina, she won’t miss anything else.

“Okay, I’ll let you know by Friday morning,” he gave her another reassuring smile for getting up and leaving. Namjoo followed behind seconds later.

Instead of heading to her locker, she went straight home. As she reached the end of her driveway she could make out two figures standing in front of her door. Walking closer, she realized they were Eunji and Bomi.

They both noticed her at the same time and yelled at her to quickly come open the door.

“Why are you guys here?” Namjoo inquired, handing the both of them bottles of water and sitting on the floor of her living room in front of them.

Eunji kicked her for the rude question but Namjoo only smiled in response, “Bomi, here, informed me about your little incidents with Hayoung. Also neither Naeun nor Hayoung reveal anything to me and you’re a terrible liar, so spill.”

Namjoo rolled her eyes as Bomi shrugged indifferently while turning on the TV.

“Nothing to reveal, I just hit her with my locker twice and since then we’ve been talking a bit more.” Or rather Namjoo talked and Hayoung listened.

“Damn, and I thought my game was bad,” Eunji teased, nudging the taller girl with her foot.

After a few more minutes of teasing on Eunji’s end, Bomi finally smacked her and told her to stop talking while she’s watching her dramas. Namjoo stuck her tongue out at the shortest girl to which she scoffed at.

Namjoo thought about the last month and how she couldn’t even speak to her best friends about it. Today was the first time in weeks she felt like she was able to breathe. But she felt awful not being able to be open with them, so when Bomi asked her if she was still busy, she came to the conclusion that they needed to know.

“I want to talk to you guys about something,” she started, “it’s about what’s been happening this past month.”

-----------

Done! With this chapter, at least. Sorry if you don’t like long chapters, I personally love them but it’s subjective. Also I realize it’s been like 2-3 weeks since I’ve updated but it’s mostly due to lack of motivation.

Some background: this chapter focused on Namjoo’s perspective of the beginning of her senior year and her friendship with 93line. Like I said last chapter, some angst was coming. (I love writing angsty stuff for Namjoo because I find it really interesting but Hayoung angst will come as well, no worries)

There wasn’t that much Hajoo/Hayoung but trust me there will be plenty in the next chapter. Also there's a bunch of holes here but they’ll all be filled in future chapters.

Sorry if this seemed rushed, probably because it was. But I hope it was somewhat enjoyable!! Thank you!