Plop, plop, plop.

Tiny droplets of water hit the window of a black Porsche cruising along a rather deserted road. A little girl in the backseat pressed a finger against the glass, trailing it around in circles slowly.

“It’s starting to rain, umma,” She mumbled, innocent eyes darting upwards to examine the rapidly greying skies. Occasional streaks of lightning flashed in the distance, indicating an oncoming thunderstorm.

In a matter of minutes, what was a mere drizzle abruptly evolved into a crazy downpour, water coming down in torrents, splattering loudly against the windshield. The little girl leaned back into her seat in boredom since her view was completely obstructed. Picking up her teddy, she patted its head and squeezed its tummy.

“Honey, will you please slow down? We’re not rushing anywhere and I don’t think Sooyeon has her seatbelt on,” The girl heard her mother say.

“What did I tell you about talking to me while I’m driving?!” Came her father’s hostile reply. He was an aggressive driver, always behaving like a madman on the road. “Sooyeon, get your damn seatbelt on!”

“Okay, appa,” And the child tucked teddy under one arm before reaching for the leather straps. Unfortunately, they appeared to be tangled together in a tight mess, and the girl apparently had some problem trying to loosen up the huge knot. “I… I can’t get it to work, umma…” She whined, tiny fingers pulling at the lump impatiently.

“Try again, sweetheart. Easy does it,” The woman coaxed while helping her husband keep an eye on the road for potential hazards. By this time, he was going close to a hundred and twenty miles per hour. The heavy rain only made things more difficult, blurring almost everything in view. “Honey, please slow down. It’s dangerous…” Tried the woman once more as she gently rested a hand on her husband’s arm. To her surprise, he shook her off with one violent motion, accidentally steering the wheel in the process.

The car skidded off the road noisily and crashed into the barriers lining the sides, landing belly up. Everything fell silent for a moment.

All that could be heard was the loud splashing of rain against the metal of the car.

It took the man a few minutes to get his bearings and when he finally regained full consciousness, he weakly threw the door open and lugged his bruised being out of the wreckage.

Stumbling towards the other door, he yanked it open and carried his semi-conscious wife out, “D-darling, are you okay? Talk to me!” Worried eyes scanned the pale face for any sign of life. When she coughed and spluttered seconds later, he eased up.

“Check… check S-Sooyeon…”

“Okay,” He laid her down gently before retrieving his daughter from the back. The teddy bear was still clutched tightly in her arms.

“Sooyeon-ah!” The man called out, patting the girl’s face gently. There was a huge bump on her forehead and blood was oozing out from one of the many cuts on her face. With trembling fingers, the man caressed the girl’s soft hair, “S-Sooyeon-ah!”

But there was no reaction.

“God, please…” Fumbling in his pocket anxiously, he quickly pulled out his phone and dialed for help.

****

“Jung Sooyeon!”

A brunette jerked her head up when she felt a hard nudge in the ribs. Eyes still partially closed, she dismissed a yawn.

“Sica! Mr. Kim just asked you a question!” She heard a strained whisper from beside her.

Rubbing her eyes, she answered rather absentmindedly, “My answer is yes, Mr. Kim.” As soon as she said it, the whole class burst into laughter.

Before she knew it, a board duster went flying in her direction, hitting her square in the head. “Tell me, Miss Jung, what exactly does ‘yes’ have to do with finding the value of ‘x’ in this equation?”

With a confused look on her face, the girl massaged the sore spot on her forehead and shrugged before responding nonchalantly, “I don’t know, sir.”

“Is that your final answer?” The bald man went on in a threatening tone, his narrow eyes scrutinizing the hopeless student menacingly. This girl was one of the worst students in his class. Sometimes he wondered if she was even there at all.

“No…” For a moment she seemed to be deeply lost in thought, brows furrowed, lips pursed. “Uh…” She paused again seconds later to tap at her chin repeatedly with an index finger. When it was obvious that Mr. Kim was starting to get impatient, she eventually opened to speak, “I’m sorry but what was the question again?”

“Man, can you get any dumber?” One of the boys sneered, making the entire class cackle uncontrollably once more.

“Yah, Cho Kyuhyun, you better shut your trap or I’ll make you regret!” A dark-haired girl seated beside Jessica turned to face the owner of the rude comment, her eyes sending daggers flying his way.

“Settle down, Taeyeon,” Mr. Kim interrupted them. Before his next sentence, the bell rang, signaling the end of his lesson. Sighing heavily, he muttered, “We’ll pick this up again tomorrow. And Jessica, I guess I’ll have to see you again after school today.” Gathering his materials, the teacher hurried out of the classroom a little too eagerly.

Shrugging to herself without a care, the girl merely pulled the blue hood of her jacket up and laid her head back down onto the empty desk, hoping to catch some more sleep before the next class. She groaned in annoyance when she felt the hood being removed without warning. Peeling her eyes open slowly, she saw Taeyeon standing before her with her arms on her hips, a huge frown upon her features.

“Let me be, Taengoo.”

“I did less than ten minutes ago and see what happened,” The girl fumed, getting evidently more frustrated when that rascal Kyuhyun sauntered over.

“My answer is yes, Mr. Kim,” He mimicked in a girlish tone before chuckling, “Did you think he was proposing or something? Sica, oh Sica… I’m amazed at how you’re able to outdumb yourself again and again…”

“Keep your distance, you--”

“Yah, Kyu! Come check this out!”

“Bye, losers,” The bothersome guy snorted and flicked at Taeyeon’s forehead forcefully before making his way off in a pompous fashion.

“Why, you--”

“Forget it, Taeng,” Jessica grabbed her best friend’s wrist lazily before she could storm off after him.

“But it hurts!” The poor girl traced the spot with her fingers softly. Oh, the nerve of that guy. She was not going to let this go so easily. Her face scrunched up further when she heard her friend giggling, “What?”

“You just look funny with a red mark on your forehead.”

Scoffing at the ridiculous remark, Taeyeon gritted her teeth and grumbled in response, “Thanks a lot, best friend.”

“Anytime,” Jessica grinned softly before reaching for the hood of her jacket again. When Taeyeon reached out to stop her once more, she made a face, “I really need to do this, Tae. Class starts in five. Please.”

“Fine. But only if