Seohyun

Looking into the future ahead, all I see is a straight line. A perfectly straight segment, exactly 180 degrees- a completely non-winding path that I could look right down and see the imminent future that is to come: graduation from high school with honors, getting into a good college and also graduating with honors, “finding” a suitable husband, marrying him and having kids and living a safe, peaceful life.

It’s a promised, predictable future I’ve seen over a thousand times- and one that, frankly, I’m tired of. But of course, I've never had the courage to say this out loud.

Every day of my life, I have meticulously followed the path of privilege that has been laid out for me and near flawlessly played the role of the “goody two shoes” child who has always obediently pleased her parents. At this point in my life, after fifteen years of this, my parents pretty much completely trust me to maintain my high grades in school and to not to fall to the wrong side of the tracks.

They even approved of me dating Yonghwa-oppa which, honestly, wasn’t that hard for them. Yonghwa-oppa is appealing to them in every single way- he has this neat, orderly charm, good grades and a healthy, preppy upbringing. In other words, in the eyes of my highly expectant parents, he’s a perfect match to me and I’m sure they hope we’ll someday marry and raise kids in the exact same manner, for generations to come.

It’s horribly selfish of me…but I feel myself craving something more, something beyond the planned out life I’ve always led.

For a while now, I’ve yearned to break away from the persona I’ve inhabited as a good girl and experience something new, chaotic and completely satisfying. Occasionally, I will even long for a passion beyond the loving affections Yonghwa-oppa so selflessly gives.

But because of how rudely venal and how irresistibly tempting these secret desires are, I usually shove them into the farthest corner of the back of my mind, where I hope much time will pass before they haunt me again.

Monday morning, I waited for Yonghwa-oppa as he crossed the lawn to the front of the school. “Joohyun!” he greeted me cheerfully, taking me into his arms and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I smiled, feeling blood rush to my face as he gently nuzzled my neck, just like he always does.

“Oppa…let’s go inside- we don’t want Kibum-ssi to embarrass us at lunch like last time, do you?” I reminded him. Yonghwa-oppa pouted a little bit, but then gave me a grin that never fails to melt the hearts of the girls who love him- including me.

As he took my hand into his own and we walked into the school building, I kept reminding myself of how lucky I was, having one of the most popular seniors at Baeyoung high school as my boyfriend. 

“…and that is the most efficient way to complete the problem. Well done, Joohyun,” Jung Yunho-seosang, my physics teacher, commended me as he nodded at my complex method drawn out on the blackboard. I bowed my head respectfully to him and returned to my seat. Yoona-unnie, who was sat right next to me, looked up from her notes and smiled.

“Nice job, Joohyun- you figured it out faster than I did,” she whispered. Flattered yet embarrassed, I insisted that she was still the smarter person with better grades- which is very much true. Yoona-unnie has one of the highest grade point averages in all of Baeyoung and is a top member of the school’s various academic clubs and teams, right alongside Jinki-sunbaenim. I admire her quite a lot- but she prefers to keep to herself and study most of the time. She isn’t very concerned with making many friends with others- it’s actually somewhat uncommon for us to speak each other at all.

A half hour into taking more notes, the bell rang, signaling the start of break time. Eager to stretch my legs out, I walked out of classroom. As I walked around, I could hear clamors of noise coming from the music room. The glee club seemed to be holding a practice. I poked my head in and glanced wistfully at the lively activity inside. I’ve always had a deep interest in music, especially playing piano and singing. I still take lessons for piano, but singing is a talent I was discouraged from pursuing long ago.

I averted my attention to what appeared to be a tense argument between two members. A tall, lanky older boy with pale skin and mussed brown hair was towering over a skinny, scrawny boy and seemed clearly pissed off. “I’m not gonna tell you again, Jo Kwon,” he snarled, glaring down at the already intimidated younger boy. “You can’t mess up on these runs no matter what. If you’re not going to take this seriously, then get the hell out!”

What a scary guy, I thought to myself as the fuming boy stalked away. “Yah, Kyu chill out,” Yesung, a senior whom I recognized, chided the boy. “He’s new. Lay off on him.” The boy glowered at him and was about to retort back when I heard a voice behind me say, “Ah- well if it isn’t Kyuhyun bullying the younger ones in the second week of school already.”

I turned around and saw Yonghwa-oppa. When I turned around and hugged him, a prickling sensation arose in my spine and I could almost feel the boy’s eyes boring into my back. When I finally let go of Oppa and turned around, the boy had a serious expression and his eyes studied me. Yet he casually said, “Hey there, Yonghwa. Who’s the chick?”

I could feel my cheeks turn hot with a sudden self-consciousness at his comment and immediately glanced at the floor. What on earth is happening to me…? I wondered.

Thankfully, Yonghwa-oppa didn’t notice and made introductions. “This is my girlfriend, Seo Joohyun. She’s a second year, so you might not know her. Joohyun, this is Cho Kyuhyun, one of the senior leaders of the glee club.”

I made a respectful bow, thankful that I could keep my eyes still trained on the floor rather than at his face. When I straightened myself up, Yonghwa-oppa held me close and said excitedly, “Joohyun! I have a brilliant idea- let’s go on a date this Saturday!”

“Eh? But…doesn’t Oppa have extra study classes to go to? You have entrance exams which are really important…”

Yonghwa-oppa pleaded, “Studying can wait till later when it comes to my precious Joohyunnie. Come on, Joohyun, we haven’t been on a date in such a long time!” He did have a point.

“All right, Yonghwa-oppa,” I agreed. “I do miss being alone with you outside of school…”

“Yes!” he cheered and took me into his arms once more. I cast a furtive glance the boy named Kyuhyun who still stood there, awkwardly watching us. Our eyes met and for one fearful second, I thought he would lock his gaze on me. But he simply shrugged and walked back into the music room, continuing to shout at the other members of the glee club.

Sunny

Hell has nothing to do with brimstone, fire and eternal physical torture. Hell involves slowly driving yourself to completely embrace the fact that you are and forever will be completely alone and worthless. In that respect, forcing myself to wake up and face the many demons wearing human masks at Baeyoung is a pretty good equivalent to hell.

At Baeyoung- heck, at any high school- if you make a huge mistake, if you screw up big time, there is just no way to bury your past. It haunts you, walks right beside you in the hallways and passes by people who can see it as clearly as if it weren’t just a personified metaphor and was a walking, visible monster splashed in neon yellow paint.

But at Baeyoung, life is especially difficult, because there are some people here that are not content with simply reminding you of your past

At this point, I’m used to the gossip hounds. The ones who flick their beady hawk eyes at me and then scurry away, as if they truly believe I can’t hear their whispers and their hungry trading of information:

“That’s her, the one who was in that scandal last year…”

“I heard she was at so and so’s party last weekend, got piss faced drunk and screwed four guys in one night.”

“What a …”

“How disgusting…”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if I saw her on the streets one day, offering minimum pay to give some filthy hobo a .” 

It’s not just girls either- in fact, the guys show it much more than the girls do. Almost everyday, I pass by little crowds of guys who eye me and give me disturbingly lewd leers. Sometimes, it escalates into catcalling and shouting out offers to show me a “good time by the bathrooms.” Occasionally, I face physical harassment- slaps on my , an “accidental” touch of my leg. Once, I was even pushed up against a wall before a hall monitor caught us- though it didn’t help me much since as soon as he saw me, he rolled his eyes in disgust and walked away.

And of course, there are those lovely, over-privileged girls whose parents don’t give a damn about whatever they do and who love nothing more than to elevate themselves by beating down others.These girls, thankfully, don’t approach me very often. But when they do, they always come in droves of six to seven and always overpower me.

Monday afternoon was one of the worst times it could happen to me- I was already feeling lower than dirt after being called on by the teacher when I didn’t know the answer, screwing up and hearing loud whispers of “Oh of course the dumb doesn’t know” travel all around the room. I also had a ton of homework to do when I got back home. But of course, luck wasn’t on my side.

Many of them were girls I used to know- a few of them I even recognized to be on the cheerleading team- the group that used to be my family until everything fell apart. But their faces didn’t matter much- it was their feet that were digging harshly into my ribs and face. 

Why do they never get caught, you might ask? There are certain sections of the school that are not properly overseen- and almost every single one of my bullies seem to know where each place. And, at this point, I've learned better than to complain to anyone. 

When they finally left, I felt myself cough up blood. Crap… I thought. They got me good this time. Cautiously, I felt around for any broken bones or ribs and sighed with relief when I found that everything was intact.

I could hear someone calling my name through the haze of pain and consciousness I was slipping in and out through. Finally I opened my eyes fully and realized that it was Taeyeon-unnie, who was bent over me and examining my wounds. I shot straight up from the ground, despite how much it hurt to move.

What the hell is she doing here? I wondered. If anybody caught her talking to me, she was done for and I had already caused enough trouble for one of the last few people who still showed me kindness.

“Taeyeon-unnie…it’s fine, I’ll be fine…” I grimaced, trying my best to give her a reassuring smile. I must have failed, because she narrowed her eyes at me and insisted on dragging me to find the nurse. Wincing at the pain, I cried out, “No, Unnie! Stop…I’ll take myself there. You get yourself going to cheerleading practice or wherever- just let me go by myself…”

“Sunny…” she said, voice faltering. She sighed exasperatedly and said, “Please, please don’t forget that you’re not alone, Sunny. There are people that still care about you. It’s fine to cave in and ask for help. Jessica and I will be here for you. And you’ll find someone you can put your trust in no matter what. I promise.” I swallowed a lump back in my throat and felt the tears stinging in my eyes. Even after all the shame, all the humiliation I’ve been through, Taeyeon-unnie is still so damn nice to me…and I still don’t understand why…

“Taeyeon! Hurry up- we’ve got practice!” A shrill voice that I recognized all too well pierced the air. I looked behind me and saw the nauseatingly perfect face of Jea facing Unnie, not even bothering to glance in my direction, even though I was very much in her line of vision. “And you better wash your hands later- don’t want that dirtiness getting everywhere now do we?”

Taeyeon-unnie clenched her hands into tight fists and glared at Jea’s retreating back. “Goddamn ,” she muttered.

“Unnie, she’s right- you have to go…”

“…you better make sure you go straight to the nurse and tell her exactly what happened. I’ll see you sometime Sunny…and I mean what I said earlier…” When she finally walked away, I managed to pull myself up off the floor and started limping towards the nurse’s office.

On my way, I passed a crowd of boys and, as usual, I flattened myself against the wall, praying that I would pass by unnoticed. However, their attention was fixated on whatever was in the middle of the circle they formed. On closer inspection, they were giving some poor student the same treatment I had just received earlier. When they finished, they dragged the bleeding boy up by the collar and to my surprise, I recognized him.

Sungmin was a senior and a social outcast like me- there had always been rumors about him being homoual. No one really knows for sure, but he has been relentlessly bullied by other students anyway.

The brute male holding him at that moment sneered, “Maybe this will teach you a good lesson not to cross us, .” With that, he flung Sungmin into the wall and the crowd of boys laughed and jeered at him, throwing things at his already battered body.

I’m not sure what came over me at this point. I have witnessed this kind of bullying many times before and have done nothing before. I can’t say I know what compelled me to walk over and offer to help a boy I hardly knew.

“…Are you all right?” I asked him. He groaned and muttered that he was used to this and I felt complete empathy for him. Giving him a hand in standing up, I hissed as I felt my own wounds contort painfully.

“The better question is, are you all right?” he asked me. Even though I assured him that I was fine, we ended up accompanying each other to the nurse’s office and it was through this encounter, I was first formally introduced to the complex person known as Lee Sungmin.

Sooyoung

Life isn’t worth living if we are deprived of the wonderful thing known as good food. That’s my motto basically and yes, I know I sound like a total glutton though I’ll have you know that I exercise quite often and do yoga and ballet.

Needless to say, my favorite part of the day at Baeyoung is lunch. Every day is routine: as soon as the bell rings, I hurriedly grab my bag and run out to the cafeteria and head for the tables where my friends gather to eat lunch. I then plop down next to them and excitedly begin to consume the fabulous meal I helped the cook in my house make.

My friends are all used to it and joke about it very often. Lunchtime at our table is usually where I have the most fun all day- Taecyeon-sunbaenim tells us exciting stories of where he’s been to on vacation, while Kibum, or "Key", makes up the funniest antics. I talk to Yoobin, Hyerim and Miryo-unnie about the latest health remedies, fashion releases and gossip about other students as well as tease Yonghwa-sunbaenim and Joohyun-ssi for being such a cute couple.

Sometimes, the cheerleaders and the jocks will stop by our table. While there are some of them who make me wonder if they’re missing some vital brain cells, I love talking to people like Donghae and Kibum-sunbaenim and Taeyeon and Jessica-unnie.

The rare times when he isn’t busy with student council work, Siwon-oppa, my cousin, will sometimes join into our conversations as well. Yes, the student body president and one of the most sought after seniors in Baeyoung is my cousin. Contrary to what some people think, it’s not stressful at all- Siwon-oppa and I are actually really good friends.

Then there’s the new guy, Kim Jonghyun, who’s become quite popular on the first day of being here. He’s quite interesting, though he does seem to enjoy to hitting on Jessica-unnie.

I was having an unusually good Monday and my awesome mood would have lasted all the way to the end of the day if my worst enemy hadn’t decided to show up at our table today.

I was simply eating my lunch and talking to Joohyunnie, minding my own business, when that annoying, freakishly tall and nosy prince of devils decided to grace everyone with his presence and invade our table. Not only that, he sat down right in the empty seat next to me and said in that obnoxious voice, “Hey Sooyoung- are you gonna share your food with me or what?”

I lowered the sandwich I was just about to take a huge bite out of, narrowed my eyes and gave him the most evil death glare I could manage. Siwon-oppa saw and chuckled, “Changmin, don’t so much…”

I have no idea what anybody likes about that jerk. He’s pretentious, inconsiderate and, worst of all, steals my food! And anybody who does that to me is automatically added to my hit list. But I just can’t seem to win against him- the always uses his height against me, even though I’m pretty tall for a girl myself.

Like when I was distracted for a moment by Key, that poop-head Changmin reached over and grabbed my chips. Just him being here was annoying me to no end and now he was stealing my food! There was no way that I, Choi Sooyoung, was going to stand for this and I swore to myself that I was going to beat him up if it was the last thing I did.

“Give me back my chips, you stupid skyscraper!” I shrieked with anger, trying to grab them back but Changmin, being the jerk he is, held them just out of my reach.

“What’s the matter, huh, Sooyoung?” he taunted me. “Don’t you want your chips back? Oh wow- barbecue-flavored.” He reached into the bag, took out a chip and ate it. I bit back a scream of frustration and made another grab for the bag yet he held it up higher and higher.

“Sooyoung, have you ever heard of sharing?”

“Why would I ever share with a like you?!”

“Yah, you two- get married already!” Key joked and everyone burst out into laughter. Changmin turned and glared at the younger boy and I noticed that a pale pink flush colored his cheeks but that didn’t matter to me. With his attention elsewhere, I took the opportunity to snatch the bag of chips back.

“Victory!” I cheered. “And as for that, Key- who would want to marry a jerk like him?”

Taecyeon winced and patted Changmin on the back. “Sorry man, looks like you just got rejected.”

Changmin snorted, “Who would want to marry a brute girl like her?” I ignored him and daintily began eating my chips. Who cared what he thought of me? There wasn’t a chance in the world that I was going to even consider a stupid idiot like him as a possible husband.

The person I’m going to marry is handsome, yet a kind and selfless person who cares deeply about others. Just like a certain person I admire…

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A/N: hey everyone! i'm so so soooo sorry this took so long to post. so much for a regular posting schedule >.> sorry if these particular pairings/otps seem really slow in developing- especially sunsun and seokyu. but not to worry- something will happen in the chapters to come, i promise ^^

ANNOUNCEMENT! i will be going away these next two weeks to places where it's hard to reach the internet thus there is no way i can post another chapter up from monday to friday :[ but of course, that doesn't mean i'm going to stop writing! no, quite the opposite- i'll be coming back both weekends so hopefully, i'll have a chapter by then!

once again, i apologize for my terrible procrastination and the lateness of this chapter. hwaiting everyone~!