It was finally the end of school. As usual, Yuna could hear cheers and screams after the last bell rang. Yuna didn’t move and sat still, biting on her pencil.

She was deep in thought.

Kris nudged her, “Hey, you going?”

But, Yuna didn’t reply. Kris was so used to this he wasn’t affected anymore. He used to get annoyed when Yuna didn’t reply to him but maybe he had grown to the fact that this was just how Yuna was.

He just waited till she wanted to leave before he did. While waiting, he took out his book and read it.

It was only Myungsoo, Sungjong, Kris and Yuna left in the class.

Sungjong and Myungsoo was waiting for Woohyun to come back from the toilet before leaving with him to meet their leader so that they can go to his house for a movie or two. Seeing how Woohyun was taking long, they figured that he probably found a hot girl outside the toilet and decided to flirt with her. They were used to it; and like Kris, they weren’t really affected much anymore.

Kris looked at his watch. It was almost 3.30pm.

“Yuna, we need to go to the café or Halmeoni’s gonna get worried,” Kris softly said, loud enough for Myungsoo and Sungjong to hear.

While Sungjong decided to play his phone and not pay attention, Myungsoo who had been dazing out eavesdropped.

Yuna shook her head, “I’m sorry… Tell Halmeoni I’ll come later.”

Kris sighed and kissed her cheek before going off.

Yuna was used to his kisses and putting of arms around her. She didn’t mind anymore. But, if it was someone else, she wouldn’t hold back and probably kicked or punched him/her or at least leave a mark to remind them not to come near her anymore.

After 10 minutes or so, she sensed the awkwardness in the class. Sungjong stopped talking to Myungsoo and they were all silent, only the sound of breaths. Yuna, sick of the atmosphere, stuffed her things in her bag and stood up, taking her legs off the table.

She walked out of the class, not even glancing at the two boys, and left.

A few minutes after she left, Woohyun returned. Sungjong smacked his head when he realized that their assumption was right – Woohyun took so long because he was busy flirting.

“Idiot! It was so awkward being with the scary girl in the class!” Sungjong smacked him again.

“Stop beating me!!” Woohyun smacked him back.

While they quarrel, Myungsoo just coolly walk down the empty hallway, with the two following him.

He saw that Yuna hadn’t left and that the rain was back. And so was the thunder.

He figured that Yuna was astraphobic, seeing how Kris gripped on her hand and she kept flinching and kicking his seat every time thunder rumbled.

Yuna gripped tightly onto her bag, closing her eyes. Although she looked calm and didn’t move, you could tell she was scared from her quivering lips.

While Myungsoo and the two who were still fighting waited for their leader’s car to arrive, he saw that Yuna took out her phone to call someone.

---

Come on. Answer me-“BOOOOM!”

Yuna flinched. Ugh. I should have went with him.

Kris finally answered and Yuna told him about the thunder and how she was alone.

“Should I go there? There’s a lot of people here and I can’t leave Halmeoni alone…” Kris said over the phone.

Yuna clenched her fist and closed her eyes tightly before saying, “Okay.. I’ll survive on my own. I’ll take a cab or something. I’ll see you as soon as I arrive. Bye.”

She hung up and slid down the wall. Dammit, dammit, dammit. It’s getting hard to breathe.

She gulped her breath and opened her eyes. She saw that Myungsoo was staring at her all this time and hissed under her breath.

Wanting to save her pride, she stood up and took a deep breath before walking out in the rain, trying to stop a cab.

Her uniform was getting wet and the thunder rumbled louder out there. She was freezing, in both coolness and fear. Why is there no cab..?!?!

No matter how long she waited, not even one cab passed by.

She gave up and started walking towards the café. She knew the way there, it only took 20 minutes. She was scared but she didn’t want to go back to the school and let Myungsoo see her like this.

The thunder roared and she flinched, gripping hardly onto her bag, as if it would help her. She stopped walking for a while, under a tree, and started panting. It was getting hard for her to breathe as she tried fighting off her fear. Kris is so gonna kill me for this.

That was when she heard a girlish yell followed by sounds of kicking and punching. Yuna turned to see a dark alley. She knew there was someone in there and was contemplating if she should go help. She bit her lips. I can’t get involved… but she needs help. Dammit.

In the end, she finally resolved to helping whoever was in trouble and walked into the alley. 4 girls from Woollim High was beating up one who was sobbing on the floor, covering herself so as to not get hurt. She was crying and yelling once in a while.

“YOU. STUPID. . YOU DIDN’T. FINISH. MY. HOMEWORK. AND I. GOT SCOLDED. BY THAT. STUPID. STUPID. TEACHER,” the tallest girl, who seemed like the leader, yelled at her and kicked the vulnerable girl with every pause.

They were all soaking wet but they didn’t care.

“Give me that thing,” the leader pointed to a trashcan lid.

Yuna’s eyes widened. . I’ve felt those things. It’s gonna hurt!

With much hesitation, Yuna went against her will and ran to the girls and kicked the lid away before it was able to hit the girl at the bottom.

The 4 girls gasped, “J-Jang Yuna!”

“DON’T. HIT HER!” Yuna yelled.

They gasped, hearing her. It was their first time hearing Yuna talk.

Yuna then slapped each of their faces.

“HEY! Don’t touch me or my girls, you son of a !” the leader yelled at her.

Yuna slapped her face and kicked her down. The 3 other girls backed away in fear and finally ran away.

The leader stood up and growled, “UGH YOU COWARDS! I NEVER TRAINED YOU TO BE STUPID PRINCESSES TO RUN AWAY!”

“Aish!” she screamed and followed her 3 girls, not before glaring at Yuna and giving the “this-is-not-over” look.

Yuna rolled her eyes and looked down at the sobbing girl. She saw her nametag – “Hwang Taerin”. It’s the school’s valedictorian huh.

Yuna reached out to wipe the blood on her face, only to see the girl shift away.

Yuna rolled her eyes. She’s just like all of them – judgmental.

She reached out to wipe the blood again but the girl shifted away once more. Yuna angrily stood up, causing the girl to flinch.

“Dammit! I’m NOT trying to hurt you! I don’t hurt people like that! Do you seriously believe all those STUPID rumors?!” Yuna stomped her feet.

This was the second time the girl heard Yuna talk so much and somehow, she believed that Yuna really wasn’t trying to hurt her.

She slowly stood up with wobbly legs, “T-Thank you.. I’m sorry..”

Yuna softened but quickly gained her posture; she couldn’t let anyone see her being soft.

“Whatever. Just wipe off your blood and come with me,” Yuna said and walked away, hoping that the girl could catch up with her with her wobbly legs.

She didn’t want to help and appear too good.