SERA POV: 

Text messages: 

"Hey, what are you doing right now?" -Sera 

"Annyeong! I'm in my way to the basketball courts with the boys. How about you?" -Mark 

"I'm doing homework, I have an assignment due next week.. T_T" -Sera 

"Haha good luck! I'm sure you'll do a great job. Don't worry, when you're done your work, I'll treat you to a meal~ It's a date" -Mark

You looked at your phone and kept smiling at the screen like a fool. It's been nearly 2 months since you started dating this boy named Mark. At first, you two were just friends but there was something more between you two. You found your heart beating at an irregular pace when you saw him and thought about him endlessly. You two got to know more about each other and supported each other as friends until one day, he asked you to be his girlfriend. You couldn't believe his words-it was like a dream, but you always knew he secretly had a crush on you while you were just friends. You've never dated anyone before because you never felt the same chemistry and attraction for any other guy as you have for Mark. Sure, there were guys who asked you out and tried to win over your heart but you were simply just not interested. It was only the beginning stages of your relationship so you didn't tell anyone. You knew if word spread to school, people would be talking about you two endlessly and you would never be able to catch a break. But eventually, the school would find out and you really dreaded that moment but you were also tired of being sneaky and pretending like you didn't really know him when you saw him in the hallways. You wanted to be able to walk with him to class and to eat lunch with him and to talk with friends about your relationship, normal couple stuff. It was hard to keep it a secret so you two decided that you would go to school together as a couple starting next week. You were prepared for the worst, the gossip, the commotion, and whatever else it may bring-or so you thought. 

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*OH CRAP!* You thought to yourself, you forgot to set your alarm last night. You practically flew to the bathroom to get ready and of course, last night you did the laundry and your uniform was still damp. You ran down to the kitchen in your pjs and popped two slices of bread into the toaster for a quick breakfast while trying to throw something together for Aerin. There was no time to make lunch and the leftovers from last night's dinner wouldn't be enough to feed the both of you. *I guess we're buying a lunch from the cafeteria today* you thought to yourself. You ran upstairs to make sure Aerin was awake and you went to see if you could borrow one of her uniforms. 

You knocked at the door and allowed yourself in. Aerin was in the bathroom blowdrying her hair. 

"Aerin-ah! Can I borrow one of your uniforms? I'm running late today" you called through the door. 

"Mhm just take anyone you see in my closet! I guess we're buying lunch today then?! hahaha" she laughed

"Thank you! You're the best, I'm so scatterbrained! I'm going back to my room to finish getting ready but there should be a slice of toast in the toaster and an apple on the kitchen counter for breakfast." 

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AERIN POV:

It was very unusual to see Sera off a beat in her usual routines. She was a girl of schedules, preparation, and effective time management and it made you laugh to see that she was human afterall. You skipped downstairs with your backpack and looked into the toaster for the slice of toast Sera made earlier. You grabbed some peanut butter from the cupboard and chopped up some banana slices. 

*DING DONG* You heard the doorbell ring and wondered who it could be at this time. Mom and Dad had already left for work half and hour ago and you weren't expecting anyone. 

You walked over to the door and opened it to see who it was. 

*WHAT ..IS HE DOING HERE?* you thought to yourself, stunned to see Mark standing at the door. He was almost just as shocked with his eyes wide open in surprise. The slice of toast you were chewing on almost fell out of your mouth before you caught it. 

"Uh..I..Do I have the wrong address? I was supposed to meet someone but this is the Kwon residence so.. I mean.." he stuttered. 

You felt a wave of emotion hit your body. You stood completely still, unsure of what to do or what to say. For one, this was it, this was the confirmation that Sera and Mark were a real couple and secondly, the secret was out. You and Sera were sisters. 

"Oh Mark! You're here! Sorry, I'm running a little late" called Sera with a bright smile as she sped down the stairs with her book bag. 

"This is my younger sister Aerin! You may have seen her around in your dance classes, she's a second year student" 

"I..Hi Aerin, I didn't know you two were related all along?!" Mark said as he ruffled the back of his head with a slight blush in his cheeks from either confusion or embarassment. 

You simply gave a small bow and dashed off up the stairs into your room. *What was that just now?* you thought to yourself. 

You wanted to just lie in bed and stare at the ceiling. School was the last place you wanted to be, especially seeing Mark with Sera. You tried to pull yourself together and convinced yourself that there was nothing you could do but to be happy for them. Sera was every guy's ideal girl. Pretty, smart, graceful and caring, not to mention, Mark was a great guy. You fought back the tears swelling in your eyes and looked at the mirror. *Aerin, be happy, be happy for them, they deserve it*

You arrived at school late, and made a trip to Moonbeam Cafe to grab a few sweets to lighten up your mood. After some macarons and a chocolate croissant, you dragged yourself to the school gates. After apologizing to the second period teacher, you day-dreamed throughout most of the lecture. The day felt long enough and you've only been at school for a little over an hour. It was now lunch, and you saw crowds of students make their way towards the cafeteria. You didn't have a lunch but you also didn't have an appetite. 

"Aerin-ah!" called out a familiar voice. It was E-Young and she quickly jogged over to you. 

"Oh, hey E-Young" you said as you forced yourself to give a genuine smile. 

She linked her arms into yours and hurried you to the cafeteria. 

"Hmm, I don't know what to choose" she said looking at the food selections. She chose a chicken salad and a green tea beverage. You looked around and grabbed some grape juice and headed to the cashier to pay for your items. You were planning to go to the library to study but you felt bad turning down E-Young's invitation to lunch after she agreed to help you catch up on the dance routines. 

"Oh, I forgot my wallet in my locker!" you said, as you were at the check out line, realizing your hands were empty with no wallet. 

"Don't worry about it, here, it's my treat! You didn't even get any food, go grab a lunch!" replied E-Young enthusiatically. 

"I..I ate a big breakfast, I'm not hungry" you said with a faint smile 

You two walked to an empty table and set your trays down. 

"I'll be right back! I'll grab my wallet and pay you back" you said 

"I said not to worry about it!" E-Young called as you hurriedly walked out the doors and headed towards your locker. 

You lightly jogged to your locker and looked into your backpack for your wallet. You grabbed 2000 won and zipped up your bag before closing your locker. As you were making your way back. You heard a few girls gossipping in the far corner. 

"Did you see that this morning? Sera and Mark..who would've thought they were dating?" said one girl 

"They look good together to be honest, but I heard Seolhyun was dating Mark..she was all over him a few weeks ago at her party" replied another one 

"You really think she isn't going to do something about it? HA! Seolhyun is the queen of drama, she's an attention hog" 

"Now that you mention it, there's no way she'd sit still and just accept that Mark's uninterested" 

You almost stopped in your tracks and paused to try and listen to more of what they had to say. You nearly forgot the confrontation you had with Seolhyun last week-she was going to stop at nothing to get what she wanted and if she couldn't get it, she would make sure that no one else could either. You ran back to the cafeteria and tried to look for Seolhyun. By now, she would've seen Sera and Mark together and probably schemed up a plan to break them up. You've known her for way too long and needless to say, she didn't change much. She always used low-blow attacks and a fake smile to charm her way into whatever she wanted. You pushed open the doors to the cafeteria and looked around to see if you could spot her. There she was, sitting at a table with Mark and Sera along with a few of her friends. *! WHAT IS SHE DOING OVER THERE WITH THEM?* you thought to yourself. 

As you were walking over to E-Young to give her the money, you saw Seolhyun move her coffee cup to the edge of Sera's arm and tip it over, spilling it all over herself, making it look like Sera was the one who did it. 

"AHH OMG!" Seolhyun shrieked 

"My uniform is all wet and stained" 

"Oh sorry Seolhyun! Are you okay? Are you burnt or anything?" said Sera with a worried look on her face, rushing to grab napkins to try to clean up the mess. 

"I guess I'll be okay...just that my uniform is ruined" she replied 

"Sorry! I don't know how it happened, I..I..let's go to the washroom to try and clean you up" said Sera 

You weren't going to stay back and let her interfere with Sera and Mark. You ran over to them and grabbed Seolhyun's wrist, halting her in her footsteps. 

"YAH! What are you doing?" Seolhyun said 

You grabbed the collar of her blouse with a firm grasp. "Don't act stupid with me now. We both know what just happened. If you were going to take this opportunity to try and intimidate Sera, then just get lost" you said with a stern look on your face. 

"Hey hey, Aerin, what are you doing? Let go of her!" said Sera 

You ignored her request and continued to reprimand Seolhyun. "I clearly saw what you did, just grow up!" 

"That's enough Aerin!" yelled Sera, slapping you across the cheek 

You looked up at her in shock at what had just happened. Your own sister slapped you in the face in front of the whole school, defending a girl who was trying to cause drama, spreading malicious rumours about her to bring down her reputation. *THIS * you thought to yourself as you glared at Seolhyun. You clenched your fist and felt your body temperature rising as you trembled with anger and sadness. Even your own sister didn't believe you. "You crossed the line Aerin." said Mark with a disappointed look on his face. 

Your heart sunk as the two people you cared for the most had abandoned you in favour of a two-faced conniving . 

You could see Seolhyun pretending to be hurt, sobbing while a whole group of girls were comforting her. 

You scoffed at her and fought back the tears swelling in your eyes. You didn't know what to say, and but you knew that you could not stand to be there for a second longer. You grabbed your things and walked out of the cafeteria as the whole school looked at you. 

"Can you believe what she just did?" one student said 

"I know right? Who does she think she is, she should know her place!" 

"She's a hateful jealous for trying to attack Seolhyun" they whispered to each other. 

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You were called into the principal's office and you knew that there was no point trying to explain yourself because no one believed you. 

"Kwon Aerin, you have caused quite a scene today. What do you have to say about yourself?" asked Ms.Baek in a stern tone as she slammed her desk. 

"You are a poor example of what this school stands for and have disappointed your teachers and your fellow peers" She pulled out your academic file which included your school history and disciplinary record. It was clean to her surprise. She looked at it, again and again browsing to see if this was a reoccuring incident so she could announce your punishment. 

"It says here that you are a consecutive Honour Roll student with no history of academic or disciplinary offence." "I don't know what has caused you to do such a thing but it was clearly immature and unacceptable here at J.Y. Arts Academy. "Is there anything you would like to say to plead your case before I announce your punishment?" 

You looked up at her and shook your head. Since the start of this meeting, you hadn't muttered a single word. You stared at the floor the whole time-you felt numb. You have never been to the principal's office, at least for matters such as this and you could not process what had transpired an hour ago. You were in shock. Not only were you humiliated in front of the whole school, you knew that you had become the newest subject of endless gossip and hate. Your parents would've gotten a phone call home by now and you prepared yourself to expect the worse.  

"Kwon Aerin, since this is your first disciplinary offence, I will reduce your suspension to 3 days and you will have to write a 2 page reflection on your actions to be submitted when you return." "Return to class" she ordered.  You bowed and managed to mumble a 'sorry' before you exited her office, gently closing the door behind you. 

But before you closed it all the way, something came over you and you suddenly blurted out these words, "Principal-nim, I was not the only one who was a part of this drama so why was I the only one called to see you? Didn't Kwon Sera also inappropriately slap me across the cheek?" and with that you shut the door and walked out of the office. 

You didn't return to class and went to sit on a bench in the courtyard instead. You had never cut class before, but you couldn't bear to stay inside the school any longer. You needed some fresh air, and a quiet place to think. 

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P.S. SORRY I HAVE BEEN M.I.A. for the last 2 months! Really long update as an apology <3 

JACKSON WILL MAKE HIS APPEARANCE NEXT CHAPTER!