Kim Hwayoung sat alone on the school’s fountain, staring blankly at her lunch box. She was waiting for the boys to finish baseball practice so that they could go home together. A couple of girls sneered at her, while a few boys looked at her in pity.

“Why if it isn’t Seoul’s princess, Kim Hwayoung,” a tall girl stood in front of her. Hwayoung stared at the girl’s shoes, listening to the clicking sound of its heels.

“Not talking are you?” this time it was the second girl.

“Oh I get it. Since you’re Seoul’s princess, I guess you wouldn’t want to spare your voice and talk to us, right?” The tall girl gave a rough nudge on Hwayoung’s knees, tumbling her lunch box down.

“Oops, shall I clean the mess for you, my lady?” the second girl laughed.

Hwayoung could feel her fist crumpling into a ball. She stared at the now wasted food on the floor. It was hard enough to not shout, but keeping hot tears from not flowing on her cheeks are even harder. Hwayoung stood up, picked up her lunch box and was about to leave when the tall girl pushed her into the fountain.

A few students stopped and stared at the scene. Some students joined in to laugh at her, while some others just shook their head, wanting to defend her but knew that if they did so, they’d get bullied as well. Hwayoung couldn’t stand it anymore. She let her tears fall.

“Crying? Boo hoo!” the second girl laughed, her arms crossed.

“Jiyeon! Hyuna! Stop!” everyone drifted their attention to the source of the voice.

 Youngjae, Jongup and Yongguk walked towards Hwayoung, shifting everyone who’d been watching the incident backwards. The looks on their face silenced everyone’s whispers and laughter. No one dared to produce a single sound.

“You,” Yongguk dropped his baseball bat with a huge clang and pointed at the tall girl, “Park Jiyeon. How many times have I told you to stay away from her?”

Jiyeon baffled for a few seconds and flipped her bangs. “What? Are you her bodyguards or something? I’m not afraid of you,”

“I’m not telling you to be afraid of me, I’m telling you to stay away from her,” now Yongguk’s eyes was filled with fury. Maybe Hwayoung and Yongguk isn’t the “boyfriend-girlfriend” type unlike Youngjae, but he cared for Hwayoung as if she’s his one and only family.

Now Jiyeon was out of words. Her jaw hung open, staring at Yongguk in disbelief.

“What are you staring at?” Youngjae glared at everyone. He scooted down and picked up the now empty lunch box and gave it to Hwayoung.

“You don’t have to do this,” Hwayoung said in a small voice. Youngjae put an arm around Hwayoung, but Hwayoung shrugged it off, holding back her tears.

“The two of you,” Youngjae clenched his teeth, “leave.”

Jiyeon and Hyuna were left dumbfounded. The two of them are the prettiest girl in school with hot bods, but being humiliated by the BAP boys, they’re nothing. One day they’re the queens, but every other day the two of them got scolded by the BAP boys, the rest of the students see them as nothing more than a peasant. Jiyeon let out a small scowl before stepping out of the scene, followed by Hyuna.

“Are you okay? Shall we go home now?” Jongup reached out his hands to Hwayoung, helping her standing up.

“You should go practice. I’ll manage myself,” Hwayoung let a tear roll down, grabbed her bag and left.

She hated how the students are treating her. When she had all this money and fame, they’d be lining up to say hello. But now that she’s nothing but an ordinary girl, everyone ditched her. So much for the term “true friends”.

“Hwayoung!” Youngjae ran towards her, “Let’s go together. I can ditch baseball practice if you want to,”

“No. You love sports and you know that. I don’t want you to skip any practices because of me,” Hwayoung flashed a weary smile and heads off.

Hwayoung liked being treated like a precious jewel by Youngjae, but sometimes she wanted to have a time alone. 8 years have passed and Youngjae had never been mad at her, nor did the other 4 BAP boys. She felt like, for these past years, she’s nothing but a burden to Youngjae and the Yoos.

It took an entire 20 minutes for Hwayoung to get home. As soon as she placed her school bag and took off her vest, leaving a white blouse, her checkered skirt and a tie still in it’s place, she heads off to the market to buy some groceries for tonight’s dinner. She passed the ahjummas she met every single day, and politely nods at them as she pedaled her bicycle faster since the sun is almost setting.

Today, Hwayoung had this itch to cook something good for the Yoos and the BAP boys, since they saved her from the two spawns of the devil (a.k.a Jiyeon & Hyuna). So here she is, ignoring the sore in her legs as she found her way to the big supermarket located 15 minutes away from her, correction; Yoos, house.

She went from aisle to aisle, picking the right ingredient to create her special dish, aglio olio fettuccini with mussels. Aside from picking the ingredients to create the meal, she put a bottle of Gatorade and chocolate bread into the cart. She took a sip of the Gatorade and the bread as soon as the lady in the counter gave her the receipt. Money wasn’t a problem to her. Although her parents passed away years ago, the amount of money she inherited from them was a lot, and what I mean by a lot is… A LOT in capital letters.

She wrapped the plastic away and disposed the trash into the bin. Before she get into her bike and went home, she took a glance at the time from her phone.

‘6:00 PM… The boys won’t be back ‘till 8,’ she sighed.

Hwayoung unlocked the bike lock and placed the groceries into the basket with the key and pedaled her way home. It was not for another 10 minutes when she arrived into the gate of the estate she lived in. Then it was not for another 3 minutes when she felt like someone’s following her, though she doesn’t know who or what it was.

 A chill crept behind her neck. Is it some of the gangsters? Nah, gangsters don’t live in this estate. What if it’s some pedo? Or a ghost even. Humans can’t fight ghosts. The images in Hwayoung’s mind made her fasten the pace towards her house.

“Excuse me,” a man’s voice was heard behind the bush. Hwayoung let a small scream but stopped when the guy showed himself.

“Can I help you with anything?” Hwayoung let out a squeak.

“No… I mean yes. I…” the guy hesitated.

“Yes?”

“Is this house a rental house?” The guy asked. He got a strong Busan accent, but seems like he’s trying to hide it.

“Yes, there’s a vacant room… are you here to rent a room?” Hwayoung loosened her body, knowing that this guy brings no harm.

“No… I mean yes, ugh sorry,” the guy stuttered.

“It’s okay,” Hwayoung smiled, “Could I have your name? I’ll sort out some papers and you could pay the rental fee a month after you move in, say, tell me where you come from,”

The guy was silent, not knowing what to reply.

“You’re pretty shy,” Hwayoung laughed, “Shall I take a guess? Are you possibly from Busan?”

The guy was still silent, now with a confused look.

“Um okay… Can I have your name then?”

“Daehyun, Jung Daehyun,”