QOTD: ‘es get rich when things fall together.’ -Barack Obama

            Yeri knew she had to be the luckiest girl to bless the Earth, because not only did she have a beautiful face and suave conversational skills, but she also would be campus royalty soon. Why, you ask? Well, the answer came in the form of two seething seniors seated to either side of her: the art club president cracked her knuckles with vengeance on the left as the student council vice president mumbled profanities under her breath to Yeri’s right. Yes, Yeri was seated in between none other than Kang Seulgi and Bae Irene.

            Now, as much as Yeri wished that she could have claimed the genius idea of situating herself smack dab in the middle of the two rivals, it was entirely coincidental that they ended up where they were and that the teacher decided to make it the assigned seating for the rest of the semester. When Yeri walked into the classroom three seconds before the bell rang, she dashed to the middle of three of the only empty seats left in the classroom with the intentions of splaying her stuff across the three-seater desk. (Un)Fortunately, Kang Seulgi and Bae Irene arrived a few minutes late to very sorry-looking Park Joy and Son Wendy in seats in which the adjacent spots were immediately claimed upon their arrival. No amount of bullying could get the students away from them. Yeri suspected that the entire class, minus Son Wendy and Park Joy, who were Kang Seulgi and Bae Irene’s best friends, respectively, and even the teacher were Seulrene shippers. There was no other way that they all arrived so early to leave just one desk front and center. Or maybe people just liked sitting in places where they wouldn’t get caught not paying attention. Yeri always wanted attention, so she couldn’t relate.

            Anyway, Yeri was sandwiched between the biggest rivals on campus, and if they kept glaring at each other any longer, Yeri was sure that she’d have to maneuver her way out of her seat like it was a laser maze, because she could feel the top of her head singing from their intense eye contact. It would’ve been hot, but to be honest, Yeri was a bit intimidated.

            Yeri glanced around the classroom discreetly to see if there were any people she knew: health was generally taken by freshmen or senior athletes, Park Joy the only junior athlete in the class. While she had hoped to take a class with Kang Seulgi and Bae Irene, Yeri didn’t actually think they’d end up in the same period before lunch—she certainly wasn’t complaining though.

            “Alright, so this is the finalized seating, and any projects or group quizzes that happen in class will be with the two other people at your desks.” Ms. Kwon, the health teacher/basketball coach, scribbled something down on a clipboard before setting the papers on her desk. “Also, because of the ‘easy’-” she airquoted- “nature of this class, I expect everyone to contribute to discussions. Participation will be graded meticulously.”

            A bunch of groans rose into the air, and while Yeri herself had no problem with participating, she still understood the sentiment. Mandatory participation . She couldn’t wait until she could go to college and blend into a crowd of three hundred students on the days that she was tired from staying up seething over the other influencers who took jabs on her posts through cryptic comments. She had her eye on @imkite, the sophomore at JYP High whose real name was Im Nayeon. Sure, Nayeon was hella cute, but Yeri hated the way she wrote ‘suuuuure myemim’ on everything.

            “All of you will have a group presentation during finals week, so I would suggest planning early and getting your topics approved by me asap.” More groans rang out, and Yeri was sure she heard someone full-on wailing too. “Stop complaining, you whiners. I’m sure you’ve already heard that I don’t fail anyone, so you should at the very least work with me. If you ended up in Tiffany’s class, she would’ve made half of you drop out in the first month. Don’t let her smiling face deceive you.” Ms. Kwon peered at her students. “Don’t tell her I said that either.”

            It was true. Yeri had heard about how Ms. Hwang was beautiful and always smiling and cheery, but that positive energy somehow translated into an enthusiasm for everything, and truckloads of work and hard exams were not excluded. Health was supposed to be easy credit; Yeri knew she’d choose the grumpy Ms. Kwon any day.

            “Ms. Kwon, I have a question.”

            No one dared groan at Irene’s raised hand. Ms. Kwon nodded at the cheerleader to continue.

            “Will you allow us to change seats for medical conditions?”

            Yeri raised an eyebrow as Ms. Kwon tilted her head with skeptical eyes. “What’s the problem?”

            “I’m farsighted. I’d like to sit in the back.”

            “Just get glasses,” Seulgi scoffed.

            Irene glared at her. “I wasn’t talking to you, Kang Seulgi.” The girl’s name was said with such venom that Yeri was sure it could’ve killed three elephants.

            “If you don’t want other people’s input, then you should have just asked after class, Bae Irene.”

            Okay, the way Kang Seulgi’s voice settled into a baritone made Yeri do a double-take with how amazing it sounded. If she couldn’t get the two rivals together, Yeri would try to snatch up the volleyball captain herself.

            “Girls, if you don’t stop talking this instance, I’m going to move Yeri to the left and seat you two right next to each other.”

            That shut them up.

            Ms Kwon sighed. “I’ve heard a lot about you two. I know you’re both great students-” (they were both in the running for valedictorian with their same GPAs)- “but I swear, if you fight in my class, I’ll make you serve detention together without anyone else other than the teacher present. And I will do it whenever necessary.”

            And so Yeri watched as they ignored each other for the entire first week of school, fists tight whenever the other made a snide remark. The only ‘interaction’ they had was when they participated in class to outshine each other and get a better score. Yeri felt nauseated by how often hands shot up on both sides of her. She’d get whiplash from watching them try to answer all of Ms. Kwon’s questions themselves (although the perfect group quiz score they got for the first week made it seem relatively mild compared to the benefits she got from sitting in between them. It had mostly been Yeri copying off of the two furiously scribbling seniors).

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            “Saeron, are you working the activities fair this week?”

            Saeron plopped onto her bed before shaking her head. “Do you even hear yourself? My club disbanded in the middle of last semester, idiot.”

            “What?” Yeri swung her head off of her own bed to stare at her friend upside down. “You never told me this.”

            “I literally told you two hours ago.”

            “Uh, no you didn’t.”

            “I knew this would happen. Do you want to hear the recording?”

            Yeri held up a hand. “Nope.” She then sat upright, feeling the blood rushing to her head. “What was your club again?”

            Saeron looked like she wanted to hurl Yeri down the fire escape. Her eye twitched, but she managed to keep her hands to herself. “The Won Bin fanclub.”

            “Uh, no offense, but I think I know why your club disbanded.”

            “People can’t handle looking at him for more than two minutes at a club meeting, I know.” Saeron slung an arm over her eyes. “