A week has passed since Taeyeon’s first arrival to the school. She started to socialize with the teachers, but mostly with EunRa. They spent time together, eating lunch on recess together, and even going home together.

This morning was just the same like other days. Taeyeon woke up early, walked pass the station, met up with EunRa in front of the school gates, then walked to class together.

They walked together side by side. They talked again about many things. They laughed at some times and made another joke. That morning was just another morning.

 

Until finally they arrived at the class.

From afar they could hear that the class was in ruckus. So EunRa decided to walk first, knowing that there might be some problems.

 

 

Well there was a problem.

 

When Taeyeon who walked rather far from EunRa finally arrived at the class, she was shocked.

EunRa was standing inside the class, near the door. Everyone stared at her, yet they stared at her coldly. The board was full of words, bad words.

And they were all meant for EunRa.

 

Taeyeon was shocked, but she didn’t know what to do. She felt a sharp gaze and heavy air around. Her stomach ached looking at how everyone looked at EunRa, and her.

“Have you watched it? I was shocked when I saw that video...”

“Yeah, I know right. So disappointing.”

“I thought I picked the right class president. But turns out I’m wrong.”

‘She’s such a . Disgusting.’

At the back, a group of three girls smiled, feeling satisfied. They leaned on the wall with their hands crossed.

“This is what happens if you ‘confront’ us.”, Their face said.

EunRa emptied her gaze, she froze. She could see her desk was turned around, crossed out with bad words, and her seat was nowhere to be found.

Then her head turned back to Taeyeon. Her eyes were red, yet she wasn’t crying. She looked as if she’s begging Taeyeon to not trust ‘them’. spoke slowly, with a depressed tone.

 

“Taeyeon…,”

---

 “That time, I felt like EunRa was asking me the question she said before; ‘Because… friends are there for each other, right?’ I didn’t know what should I do. I wanted to disappear immediately. Because the three girls at the back were ‘reminding’ me of what they said last week……” 

---

 

 

A week before;

Today was the second day of school, the day after she first came and the day after she shouted at her mother. Taeyeon woke up normally and early. She greeted her mother normally. Smiled normally. Asked ‘where’s dad’ normally. Everything normal, like nothing ever happened. (Her mother tried to act like that too, even though of course there’s something inside them that can’t forget what happened last evening).

She left her house, walked to the station, and arrived near the school’s gate. She was early this time, unlike yesterday. She tried to smile, so EunRa won’t have any suspicions.

But it surprised her, seeing EunRa waiting in front of the gates with a book on her hand. She immediately smiled widely, remembered that she still had EunRa even though she ‘lost’ her parents.

“EunRa-ah~” She called while waving her hands and jogged towards EunRa. EunRa looked towards her and waved back.

“Taeyeon-ah! How are you?”

“I’m fine! Did you wait here for a long time? You don’t need to do so…, you can just wait for me in class!”

“Nope! It’s alright. I just came here anyway.”

Taeyeon smiled happily.

“Thanks, EunRa-ah! Come on, let’s go!”

They walked together, side by side, laughing at some times, and even made jokes.

When they arrived at class, everything seemed fine. EunRa was gathered by some girls, asking many questions about the homework. Taeyeon was immediately brushed off from EunRa’s side. Then Taeyeon decided to leave EunRa and went to her seat.

Then lesson started. Taeyeon adapted quickly, she could answer some questions easily. Some students even started to ‘respect’ her. Some asked Taeyeon to teach them, so she did so. Taeyeon thought that maybe this means people acknowledged her.

But on recess, Taeyeon sat near the school yard alone, since EunRa was busy organizing some school activities.

Suddenly 3 girls approached her.

Because she was new, she still couldn’t memorize the names of the girls that were approaching her. She tried to not look at them, since she didn’t really know how to start a conversation with too many peoples.

But those girls were the one to start the conversation.

“Hello, Taeyeon. My name is Han SoRa.” Said one of them. Taeyeon was confused by how they are approaching her. And how many accessories that ‘Han SoRa’ wore.

“Mm.., hello too. Nice to meet you.” She said formally. She bowed her head lightly, then looked back at them. Then another girl with braids talked to her.

“Yeah! Nice to meet you too! My name is Min JungAh! I love your face! So Korean-like!” Taeyeon smiled and thanked her. Then she continued her words. “I really want to have a face like you, but too bad my mother is not Korean and by coincidence my face looked like her.” When the other girls heard that, they pushed JungAh’s hand, telling her to shut up.

Taeyeon was a bit, “ugh.” But she still tried to be kind and tried to think it was a joke. That’s when the last one stepped forward.

“And I’m the last one to introduce myself? Geez you guys are such a sissy.” She said, trying to joke but still it looked serious to Taeyeon. “Anyway, my name is Lee HyeRi. It’s nice to meet you, Taeyeon-ah. Can we sit next to you and chat? We really want to know more about you.”

Taeyeon agreed to them. And so they sat next to her. HyeRi sat on her left, SoRa sat on her right, and JungAh sat next to SoRa. Thank goodness the seat was long enough for four of them.

“So.., Taeyeon-ah, how was school for you?”

“Mm, it was fine! The lessons were hard at the beginning but now I’m adapting to it now.”

They nodded to each other when they heard that answer. Well, they knew Taeyeon’s brain was above average.

“Then, Taeyeon, do you want to know more about our class? Like, what the students really are, or maybe….” SoRa said. “… how things work in our class?”

At first Taeyeon didn’t want to know. She was still new here, so she thought she’s not suitable enough to know. But then she remembered Seonja, and EunRa.

Well, maybe there’s nothing wrong to know more? Rather than being happy for not knowing anything.

“It’s up to you… I’m good with anything…” Taeyeon said, full of doubt.

 

---

“I really regret that I’ve said that. Things might’ve changed if I didn’t know anything at all.”

---

 

 

Hearing that, SoRa, HyeRi, and JungAh stared at each other. Their mouth’s end lifted up, carving a smile. After a few seconds, HyeRi finally started it.

“You know, long time ago, our class was so peaceful. The class president was not yet EunRa. Everyone respected the class president….

…since the class president was the smartest one, and a very diligent girl. She could handle any difficulties easily. So yeah, all of us respected her.

Until one day, she made a huge mistake. She was supposed to be home, but she went to a pub. We were on our way home when we accidently saw her. She was wearing a very impolite dress. We were shocked, so we decided to film her.

We wanted to keep it as a secret, but it was leaked to the internet. Not only our class, but even the teachers found out about it.

Everyone, including us, were very disappointed. Some even raged, since they trusted her so much. On those days, we didn’t even want to look at her face. We disgusted her….”

HyeRi stopped for a while, looking for room to breath. She was too emotional, Taeyeon thought.

When HyeRi stopped, Taeyeon cut off, questioning something.

“Then…, what happened to that girl? Did she transfer school?”

HyeRi turned to Taeyeon, stared at her very deeply.

 

“She committed suicide.”

 

Taeyeon was shocked. But HyeRi didn’t let Taeyeon ask anything again. She immediately continued her story.

“We were shocked too. She cut her hands multiple times before killing herself….

… well, yeah it was shocking. But only few of us really knew about it because the school tried to keep it as a secret. We were one of the ‘few’, since we had many sources.

 

After that, a few months passed and then EunRa became the class president.

We were so happy. We really placed our hope on her. For a couple months, our hope didn’t vanish. Our class even got better day by day.

Then a new semester started. New students started coming to our school. One of them came to our class. She’s from Mokpo. She looked fresh and kind. Maybe a little bumpkin, but we didn’t hate her.

Like what EunRa did to you, she also approached that girl…”

“Was that girl Seonja?” Asked Taeyeon suddenly. HyeRi was annoyed whan Taeyeon cut her line.

“Can you just let me finish my story??”

Taeyeon was shocked, then immediately said sorry while bowing down her head. JungAh and SoRa nudged HyeRi’s hand, reminding her to keep calm so Taeyeon won’t suspect anything. HyeRi realized their doings, so she rushed bowing back to Taeyeon and continued her story.

“Anyway, about your question just now, the answer is no. Seonja is just EunRa’s ex-friend. They were close before but then the boy Seonja liked, actually loved EunRa. Well you know what happens next. They finally ‘broke up’…,

…but who cares. Back to my story.

EunRa made the new girl more open with other students. We started getting close to her too. But as we get more involved with that girl, we started to realize her true identity.

She was such a .

We found her going to a famous club even though she’s still underage. She wore such y dress.

‘By chance’, we brought a camera. We filmed her as we saw her getting inside a club after meeting with some erted-looking guys.

Who knows someone who looked so innocent could be like that?

This time, we were so angry that we leaked it to the internet. But I repented a second later. I erased the video.

Too bad someone else saved it and shared it everywhere.

The school was so mad. Everyone was so mad. EunRa couldn’t even do anything. She was hated by the whole school.

Well who doesn’t?! She deserved it.”

Taeyeon heart stiffened. She could see where the conversation is going. She didn’t need to ask what happened to that girl. She already knew it.

As Taeyeon’s face pales, HyeRi showed her angry expression. Not at that girl, but at ‘someone’ else.

“That’s what she get if she messes with us!” HyeRi said out of the blues. Realizing that, SoRa kicked HyeRi’s leg.

“I mean-WE mean, she shouldn’t have done that. That’s what she get if she get involved with us. We have many sources. There’s nothing she can hide forever from us.” SoRa said, ignoring HyeRi’s shout of pain.

Taeyeon nodded to her and made an awkward smile. Her eyes started showing signs of fear.

Suddenly, the bell rang. The three girls stood up, said goodbye to Taeyeon and left her there alone.

Taeyeon’s head repeated their words. Mainly about how people got under their ‘sight’, captured, and finally got hated or disgusted by the whole school.

Then she wondered who they really were. Who their parents are, what’s their ‘power’ and ‘connection’, and how can they ‘coincidently filmed’ all of those things. Unexpected, it didn’t take too long for her to know.

Lee HyeRi. She’s the daughter of the school’s director. To make it simple, the one who build the school, owned it, and had the power to do anything to it was HyeRi’s father.

Han SoRa. Daughter of the CEO of a famous marketing group. Rather than marketing, it’s more to ‘advertising’. Some people say her father was able to make a video clip out of nothing.

Min JungAh. Her father was one of South Korea’s richest person. She even had her own private jet. She had the power to put anyone, anywhere.

So why would ‘the talk’ of the class and even the school, come to Taeyeon? Why would they tell Taeyeon their class’s past?

She knew they didn’t tell her that for nothing. Rather than telling her ‘how things work in our class’, it seemed more like a threat.

But…, was it to tell Taeyeon to be careful of them…, or something else?

Taeyeon didn’t know.

She only knew that it would be a bad decision to confront them…, and that’s exactly what she’s going to do for the whole semester.

 

Just avoid them, at any cost.

-back to the week after-

 

“Taeyeon…,” EunRa said, looking right through Taeyeon’s eyes.

But Taeyeon’s eyes weren’t concentrated to her. Her eyes were shaking, looking around in fear. She can only find herself looking back at the three girls at the back, who actually stared at Taeyeon the whole time.

She knew that those three girls were the cause of this.

 

 

“Wh-What should I do?? What should I do what should I do what should I do?! I can’t leave EunRa. But…, what will happen if I stay? What will happen…, to me and her?! I don’t know, I don’t want to know, I don’t want to remember anything, I don’t want to hear anything, see anything, feel anything…. I have to avoid them, at any cost… Even if the one who’s standing in front of me is my first friend? Even if ‘my first friend’ is going to get trapped in their plans, sinking and finally doing the same thing as others?? I CAN’T…,

… but…”

Taeyeon’s mind was spinning around those words. The more she think deeply, the more reasons to say ‘but’. She could feel her whole body sweating hard. Knowing the eyes that were looking at her now, and the eyes begging to be defended.

 

Her mind stopped.

 

Her eyes closed.

 

Her breath was held.

 

 

Taeyeon turned.

She ran away.

 

Not knowing what to do or say, her legs decided to leave. She went through the door and slammed it. She couldn’t hold her tears any longer. She cried and cried as she ran away from that class, and that school.

 

Her fear engrossed inside her mind. She didn’t want to be the ‘target’. She didn’t want to be ‘hated’. She didn’t want to be ‘disgusted’.

 

Yet something was throbbing her heart. Because…, she didn’t want to ‘attack’ EunRa too.

 

She ran away as far as she can and stopped at a park. She stood up silently on the sidewalk, looking down to the ground, suddenly feeling stupid.

She felt ashamed.

 

Now she’s the one feeling disgusted. Disgusted by herself.

There’s this little voice telling her that she did wrong. But then another one showed up, telling her that running away was her only option. That she did the right thing.

She felt like there’s something inside pulling her around. Playing with her, as if she’s just a puppet.

But then, she realized the other ‘puppet’.

 

EunRa.

---

As EunRa watched Taeyeon ran away from her, EunRa’s mind broke down completely.

She trusted Taeyeon! She even stood up for Taeyeon before!

But Taeyeon didn’t do the same thing to her!

Taeyeon didn’t shout disagreement, she couldn’t even stand still for more than a minute!

EunRa’s feeling were between disappointment and anger. But it all disappeared when a voice called.

“EunRa? We need to talk.” Said HyeRi. HyeRi tried to act all sad and regretful for what they just heard, but she still can’t hide her devil smile.

EunRa’s head that was looking at the door Taeyeon slammed, now turned around and stared at HyeRi. Her emotions were unstable. Her eyes were already widened by the shock. HyeRi’s call could only make it worse.

EunRa knew what they were going to talk later. She knew the ‘question’, yet she hadn’t made the ‘answer’.

 

“Give me 2 days.” She said. 

HyeRi nodded in agreement, trying not to laugh. JungAh covered that already chuckled in satisfaction. SoRa could only turn her head away, hiding it. The three of them knew that '2 days' were the due to EunRa's decision. The decision who the 'target' will be. EunRa? Or Taeyeon?

EunRa knew that actually all of this wouldn’t happen…,

 

 

…if she just abandoned Taeyeon from the beginning.

 

---

On the other side, Taeyeon didn’t have the strength to come back to school. She went back home and met with her mother on the door. Her mother was pretty shocked with Taeyeon’s eyes that were red.

“Taeyeon, what happened?! Aren’t you supposed to be at school now?!” Her mother asked in confusion.

Taeyeon was about to run into her mother's hug, but suddenly she remembered the bad memory she had with her mother.

She looked at her mother with more and more fear.

She feared that her mother would turn sides. She feared her mother will call her crazy, then disgust her.

Getting controlled by that 'fear', Taeyeon pushed her mother from the front door and ran into her room. She locked her room, leaving her mother outside banging the door. Her mother called her multiple times, but Taeyeon still couldn’t hear a thing.

 

Taeyeon covered herself in blankets. Scared, and lonely.

---

After that, her mother kept asking what happened, but Taeyeon didn’t say anything. Taeyeon only said that she didn’t feel well and needed rest.

Her mother finally agreed to let Taeyeon rest for 3 days. Her mother couldn’t ask why she lied, since she didn’t feel righteous.

 

Then the 3 days were over.

Taeyeon decided to get over the blanket and come to school.

She walked pass the station and arrived at school. She couldn’t see any shadows of someone waiting in front of the gates.

She tried to ignore it. She went inside the school and into her class…,

…only finding herself being confronted by many girls. Surprisingly, behind them was EunRa.

 

“You country bumpkin! How dare you trap EunRa!”

“EunRa didn’t do anything wrong, but we suspect her… And it’s all because of you!!”

“GO AWAY! I’m sick of you!”

They said in repeat. A girl was so angry that she pushed Taeyeon and kicked her. Taeyeon screamed in pain, but no one cared.

Suddenly, EunRa stepped out. She stopped the angry crowd that were rushing to Taeyeon. EunRa turned her back, raised her hand, giving a sign for them to be quiet for a while.

“Guys, seriously. It’s still morning now. Don’t make such a ruckus.” She said in a calm tone.

“But EunRa, you know what she did to you!” Said someone in the crowd.

EunRa nodded, then smiled.

“Yeah, I know. But that’s alright. Since…,

 

…she’s not even my friend.

...Of course some new student can do such bad thing. She's just a stranger to us. We don't know anything about her. So we can't blame her when she did such bad things. 'Cause that's just who she really is."

Taeyeon was shocked at those words. Did it really come from the girl she knew a week ago? That 'EunRa'??

 

 

But Taeyeon couldn’t agree less. A friend would always be there for each other. A friend…, wouldn’t run away knowing that her friend was in danger.

She was just a stranger to EunRa. A mere stranger.

 

Taeyeon stayed silent as the shadows left her. The girls cracked up the crowd and went back to their places while Taeyeon still stayed at that spot.

 

She repeated the same words to herself.

“Maybe it was my fault to begin with. EunRa's probably right. I'm just some strangers. Yeah, I'm fine with that. I’m really…,

 

…fine.”

 

Her tears fell down one by one. 

 

---

"One of my biggest regret in life started after that."

---