Lee Hi barely suppressed the urge to roll her eyes at the scene playing out for all the student body to witness.

 

She averted her attention back to her locker, though it was near impossible to ignore what was going on a few feet away from her. New students weren't uncommon to come across in this school, different faces appear every now and again until they eventually merge into the student pool. But this particular new student gave off the impression of being valiant—or in Hayi’s eyes, irrational.

 

“It’s not right for you to bully people into getting your own way.” That was her, the new girl, calling out on the behaviour of the gang members in the school—her actions were clear enough that she evidently didn’t have any recognition to who they really were.  

 

Now, while Lee Hi would admit that she respected the new girl on one level, she already knew what would happen next. The new girl, Lee Suhyun’s downfall.

 

It was a shame really, her school days would no longer be peaceful. No one ever stood up to them. That is of course unless you had a death wish or did not care about ruining your academic life.

 

The sudden sound of a hand slamming into the lockers was all that was heard in the hallway. The auburn haired girl merely took out the textbooks she needed before quietly shutting her locker door, she turned her head slightly to see some, if not all the gang members forming half a circle around her, creating quite a menacing slight for anyone watching on.

 

She could just about gauge the stiff expression on Suhyun’s face, it was obvious that she was doing her very best to keep it together, not to break down at the first sign of trouble. Lee Hi’s eyes lowered until it reached the crouched figure on the floor, the victim of the gang members, the older brother of Suhyun.

 

They’re taking up most of the hallway. Perhaps Lee Hi was being apathetic to this situation, where others would feel some kind of compassion or sympathy for what was going on. But, unfortunate as this was, there were many, many others in the world who were going through much worse circumstances, yet no one tries to help them since people were far too absorbed in their own lives to be able to pay attention to those around them or if they do attempt to help, it’s only for their own gain in the end.

 

“Listen here, girl. Don’t try to play the hero, they don’t always win.” Song Mino’s husky tones were all that was heard, he tilted his head as if to get a better view of her. To be fair to her, she kept her head up high, despite the fact she was trembling. Just below where she stood, her brother was struggling to stand up.

 

Lee Hi, like many of the bystanders, leaned against her locker, she idly wondered if any of the teachers would pass by. Then again, there’s not a lot they could do either, unless they bring the Principle down, the chance of that happening is akin to when pigs fly.

 

Another of the group, who was standing near Mino, reached out a hand to finger one loose strand of Suhyun’s hair. “She’s a pretty one.”

 

“Perhaps she can be compensation for all the trouble we’ve been put through.” Lee Jiwon, also know under the alias Bobby, smirked as he folded his arms over his broad chest. However, the direction where this conversation was potentially leading to was evidently enough to spur on Chanhyuk, the brother whose face looked like it had seen better days.  

 

“Please leave my sister out of this.” He practically pleaded with them, desperate times called for desperate measures as the saying goes. The brunette in question clung onto her brother’s blazer sleeve, looking like she wanted to do nothing more than to stay under his protection.

 

“She has nothing to do with what I did, I’m the one who made a scene and bothered you all—“

 

“Sorry to break it to you, but that’s just not going to cut it.” The most innocent looking of them all called out, Jinwoo who did not look apologetic in the slightest. He let out a sigh, as if all this was tiring. They’re all arrogant bastards. Was Lee Hi’s immediate thoughts, her fingers tapping impatiently on her skirt. The lessons had already begun and here she was, her learning being disrupted by annoying new students who didn’t know how to keep their heads down. Then again, her thoughts backpedelled slightly, if this school didn't contain such vermin bullies, perhaps life in school would have been more peaceful.

 

“Like Bobby said, we’re gonna need compensation. Look how much time we’re wasting here, dealing with your unnecessary insolence.” Jinwoo clicked his tongue, shaking his head. Within seconds, he had punched Chanhyuk in the stomach, causing the latter to fall back down to his knees as he wheezed out. Suhyun let out a muffled gasp as she instantly crouched down next to him with concern riddled all over her face.

 

“From now on, you will answer our calls, should we ever require anything—whether it may be trivial to you, it’s important to us. Take good care of us, new girl.” Mino pivoted on his heel, lifting up two fingers as a salute as the rest followed. Lee He made sure her gaze was kept averted away from them at all times as they passed, she had to suppress her frustration at them being the root cause of disruption in the day. Acting as if they were superior beings amongst peasants, what jokes they all were.

 

Soon enough, the sea of students in the hallway were hurrying to their lessons, panic evident in their expressions at being punished for being unintentionally late.  Lee Hi was just one face in the hustle of students and by chance her gaze met those belonging to the pair on the ground, no one dared to help them even with the absence of the school gang members.

 

She could see it, the desperation in their eyes with the blatant plea for anyone to help them. Lee Hi blinked, then returned her attention back on getting to class, leaving the pair alone with no one to support them. This was none of her business. Once you pissed off the gang members, there was no going back.

 

 

 

Lee Hi found herself in detention, not just one slot but dinner and afterschool detention, a few hours later that same day.

 

And since arriving late to this point now, she had been cursing hell for the gang members. Not once had she ever received a detention in her schooling, her teacher didn’t appear sympathetic when the other students had attempted to explain the situation and why they couldn’t just simply walk through the gang members—although this was an exaggeration, it was like walking through a minefield, you didn’t know which ones would blow up and cause you harm. The teacher wasn’t having any of it, much to their discomfort, saying something along the lines of getting to class early instead of standing around watching hooligans causing trouble. 

 

Which left her sitting on one corner of the room along with a few of her unlucky classmates, away from the leering stares from the real delinquents who should rightly be in detention. 

 

There’s no point staying angry. She tried to pacify herself, leaning against her fist as she decided to spend her time looking out through the window. The first thing that grabbed her attention was the abundance of dark clouds huddling together in the sky, the sun was nowhere to be seen. Looks like it’s going to rain, the only day I forget to bring my umbrella is the day it’s going to rain. She inwardly scowled, then her gaze dropped from the clouds to the ground where students could be seen walking towards the gates. I would have been doing that if it wasn’t for them. Then, they her line of vision. They were all laughing, joking as they pushed each other around. Without a single care in the world. Now, if the rain could fall right now this second and drown them to look like the rats they were, I’d be very happy.

 

The siblings were also in the room too, much to her own distain. Every so often, she could see them glancing in her direction from the peripheral of her eye. She didn’t know why they were looking to her for help when she should be the last person anyone should ask for help. There was always the school student council, but then again they weren’t always helpful especially when it came to the gangs. It didn’t help either that her patience was already running thin that day, her hardly touched lunchbox was still in her backpack so her stomach was constantly grumbling out for food, a stale reminder of the events that ran the course of the earlier part of the day.

 

The time seemed to go by slowly, the teacher himself seemed to be on the verge of falling asleep. Lee Hi’s hawk-like eyes were stuck to the clock like glue, she wasn’t going to let anyone get in the way of leaving school this time. I’ve wasted enough time today for other people. Just when Lee Hi could feel her resolve beginning to chip away, the hour had finally come to an end and without further ado the teacher dismissed them.

 

The auburn haired girl didn’t waste any time as she shot out of her seat at the first opportunity with bag already over her shoulder in tow as she departed from the classroom first. She sped down a flight of stairs and across all the hallways, a scowl playing on her lips as she passed an annoyingly familiar hall on her way out until she finally reached the double doors leading to her freedom. Though, her joy was short-lived as she stepped outside—only to be greeted by the rain which seemed to be getting heavier by the minute.

 

You have got to be kidding me.

 

She knew that the moment she treaded past the shelter, it wouldn’t take long at all for the rain to drench her clothes. Looks like I have no choice anyway. Lee Hi clutched her coat tightly around her, inwardly preparing herself for what was to come. Come on now Lee Hayi, just think this would be a good excuse to have a nice and relaxing bubble bath after the day you’ve had.

 

Lee Hi made the first tentative step forward, already starting to feel the rain droplets falling from above. Aish, this is going to be horrible.

 

“Wait please!” The petite girl didn’t even have to strain her ears to pick up the shouting, she could recognize that voice anywhere. Maybe walking in the rain won’t be so bad. She quickly double backed on her initial thoughts as she strode through the rain without a moment’s hesitation this time round. In a matter of seconds, she could already feel the water seeping through her clothes.

 

“Lee Hi-ssi, please wait up! You’re getting soaked in the rain!” This did nothing but make her speed up even more, causing cramps to appear in her legs much to her annoyance. Just keep walking, she’ll give up soon.

 

But, she was wrong. Lee Suhyun was persistent, that was for sure.

 

It came to a point where Lee Hi was halfway to getting to her apartment building complex and the younger girl was still insistent on following her—for what reason, Hayi didn’t know, with her brother following silently in tow. By this point, the auburn haired girl was practically soaked to the bone, while the siblings maintained their dryness.

 

“Stop following me. I can’t help you.” That’s what she told them when she finally had enough of hearing their mutterings and mumblings behind her, whirling around in evident exasperation.

 

The pair halted, the girl looking like a deer caught in the headlights. Though with some encouragement and nudging from her brother, she cleared . “I wanted to apologise for today.”

 

That definitely caught Lee Hi’s attention.  Why on Earth was she apologizing? It wasn’t her fault that there were sadistic bastards who took pleasure in showering people with nothing but sorrow. But the silence did not appear to deter Suhyun in the slightest as she bowed slightly.

 

“I’m sorry that you were dragged into trouble because of what I did,” She her lips nervously, her gaze wavering.

 

“Then it looks like you’re going to have to be apologizing to more than just me, if that’s your reasoning.” Upon seeing the confused expression, she digressed with a sigh. “It wasn’t just me that was stuck in that hallway.”

 

“But if that is what is driving your motive to apologise to me, then you’ve just wasted your time following me.” She shrugged, blinking slowly. Suhyun’s initially hopeful expression melted into disheartenment, her brother held tightly onto her hand, though his stare spoke more words than his lips ever could.

 

“I don’t blame you for what happened, no one does.” With that, she shot a meaningful look at the pair before she spun on her heel but not before calling over her shoulder. “You two should get home, it’s getting darker earlier these days.” And with that, she left them, this time however neither of the pair did not try to stop her.

 

 

 

 

 

The days following were quieter, in Lee Hi’s eyes anyway.

 

However, the school seemed to grow more in numbers consisting of gang members lately, it put her on edge more than anything else and she was sure the other students must have felt the same. The teaching staff were spineless as per usual, no actions were made or would be made unless ‘violence’ was used. Though these days, with the violent acts that were going on, she briefly wondered to herself whether the decision was just being used loosely just to reassure the school body.

 

It’s a dog eat dog world, no one really cares about others. The auburn haired girl mused to herself that morning, though her gaze was settled on her textbook but none of the words were sinking in.

 

Ever since the day she had been unjustifiably sent to detention, she spent more time in the library where there was a very high chance of no gang members being present and disrupting her day. It allowed her peace and quiet, something that her life definitely wasn’t deprived of, and was never late to class since then.

 

However, she couldn’t say the same for Suhyun. The ponytailed girl had lost count the amount of times the younger had been constantly late for class whilst running ‘errands’ so that her brother would be spared from a beating or two. It was difficult to ignore seeing it, when the cat eyed girl would be seen running around on a regular basis, a look of panic etched on her face every single time. However, the most response other students would give is a look in her direction, whether there would be a hint of feigned sympathy or genuine irritation, before returning back to their own worlds. It was pitiful.

 

“—did you hear? I just got a message which says that apparently the new girl brought the wrong food order for them.”

 

“Seriously? Does that girl have a death wish or what?”

 

Lee Hi’s ears perked up at the conversation that drifted over from the table in front, the textbook no longer grasped her attention as she subtly eavesdropped and thus she turned a page, just acting under the pretence that she was reading.

 

“You know what happened to her? They dumped all the food on her!” The first girl to speak whispered in conspiracy, causing her friend to gasp before demanding any further information on the matter. Just idle gossip, they don’t even remotely care about the girl’s wellbeing. Knowing that she wouldn’t get any work done, she closed her book and proceeded to pack all her belongings into her bag before walking out of the library.

 

She didn’t know why her feet led her to the girl’s bathroom, perhaps it was just a hunch. It was only when she opened the door, she could already hear muffled sobs near the sinks, the auburn haired girl composed herself as she walked casually into the room, where the other hastily tried to act as normal as possible—which was futile, no matter how much she tried to hide her face behind all the tissues.

 

No one deserves to be humiliated like that. The sight itself was overwhelming, her uniform looked like it was doused in a range of different foods, colours and the combination of the smells was enough for anyone to wrinkle their nose at the scent. It didn’t even look like they held back on the beverages either. What kind of person could do this without feeling any kind of guilt on their conscience?

 

“Wait here.” That’s all she said before she left the bathroom promptly. She didn’t know why she was doing this, this wasn’t any of her business. If she were to get involved now, there would be no going back. Within less than half an hour, she had gone to the main office to request for a spare uniform—which wasn’t by any means easy, the receptionist looked at her with extreme distrust and insisted that a payment had to be made in order to receive the uniform. Somewhat begrudgingly, she handed over the money, grabbed the bag containing the clothes and legged it out of the office without another word.

 

Right by the girl’s bathroom, was the last sight she wanted to see right now. They were standing outside and like always, they were laughing with one other and she could give a single guess what exactly they were sniggering about.

 

They’re really sick people. That’s all she could think of as she walked through to get to the bathroom.

 

“Hey, you there. Call the girl with the dirty uniform to come out, she’s neglecting the jobs she’s got from us.” Once again, as if that statement was absolutely hilarious, it all seemed to set them all off as they howled with laughter. Lee Hi could feel her free hand clenching tightly, wishing nothing more than to wipe those evil smiles off their faces as she stopped for a moment. She looked halfway over her shoulder, her face empty of emotion as she stared at each and every one of them unwaveringly, her eyes said everything she wanted to say which narrowed ever so slightly before she turned back to walk into the bathroom, the halls were no longer filled with raucous laughter.

 

It was almost as if Suhyun was rooted to the spot Lee Hi last saw her in, she was staring blankly into the mirror in front of her, her tear stained face was left untouched as if she had completely given up hope as new tears trickled down her grimy face. Upon seeing this sight, the older girl felt a tug at her heart. What if this was her own sister or her friend?

 

“Here.” She handed over the bag to the frozen girl, who slowly snapped out of her own reverie. The latter blinked in surprise, as if not expecting Lee Hi to be there, slowly she reached out and took the bag with a bow. She glanced inside the bag quietly before confusion riddled her face.  

 

“Why—“

 

But Lee Hi’s attention was placed solely on her phone, thus cutting her off promptly. The brown haired girl quickly scurried off into one the cubicles, the occasional shuffling of clothes was all that was heard in the bathroom until the door opened, revealing a somewhat cleaner vision of Suhyun walked out timidly.

 

“…Thank you, Lee Hi-ssi. You didn’t have to do this.” She practically whispered out, so the girl in question had to strain her own ears to pick it up. But she wasn’t focusing on that as she could hear the voices from the other side of the bathroom main door, they were still lingering out there.

 

It’s too early to thank me yet. They might ruin your new uniform if you go outside. Lee Hi’s gaze travelled from the door towards the only possible exit, the window just on the right of the sinks. But how would she be able to escape from there?

 

“Lee Suhyun, you see the window over there.” She calmly pointed over to the item in question, the younger girl slowly turned her head over before nodding somewhat hesitantly. “You’re gonna have to leave from there.” It was easier said than done, but it surely wasn’t impossible. There were girls who used to go to the toilet as a pretence during P.E and would leave through the window.

 

“I don’t think I can reach it…”

 

“That’s what I’m for, put your own uniform in your backpack and leave the bag here so I can bring it out to avoid suspicion.” The petite girl shrugged, moving towards the window as she settled her own bag on the floor. Suhyun’s eyes strayed over to the door, where her worst nightmares were currently at.

 

“We haven’t got all day, you wouldn’t want to repeat of lunchtime, now would you?” The dry drawling comment snapped her out of her musings in an instance, she was just about to hurry over when a disturbing thought suddenly popped up in her mind.

 

“I can’t do this.” Why not? Though the words didn't come out, almost as if she already knew what the younger girl would say.

 

“If I don’t show my face to them, who knows what they would do to my brother!” It was understandable to worry for the welfare of her brother, especially it involved the vengeance set minded individuals who had beaten him up in the first place.  

 

“You let me worry about that, just get out before any of them barges in here.” I wouldn’t put it past them to intrude into the girl’s bathroom. Lee Hi could already feel an impending headache. What am I getting myself into? The younger girl didn’t look fully convinced, then again why would she be? Lee Hi didn’t exactly step in to help her or her brother when it really mattered.

 

“Just trust me on this one,” She stated, after a moment of hesitation she added. “Please.”

 

Silence broke through the room, in which the pair just simply stared at each other. After what seemed like an eternity, it was Suhyun who broke it as she did exactly what Lee Hi instructed her to do before walking up towards the window.  Lee Hi bent down, placing her hands up, inwardly bracing herself as Suhyun placed her first foot into her hand which she made sure to hold securely and doing the same with the second foot. Once she was confident her hold was safe enough, she lifted up her arms ever slowly until her arms were extend to its maximum. It wasn’t long before she could already feel the strain from the prolonged action.

 

Suhyun leaned onto the wall for extra stability, to ensure she didn’t fall as she attempted to open the window, it took a few failed attempts of trying to unlock it much to the pair’s frustration. Soon enough, the voices outside of the bathroom started to become louder which caused the younger of the two to become even more panicked, causing her actions to become disorientated.

 

“Stay calm, you can do this.” Hayi hoped that her words would have provided some kind of comfort, she wasn’t sure how much longer she could last under the pressure. It took a couple more shots, the tension was nearly killing the older girl but almost as if her hurried prayers had been answered, the window finally opened which widened further after more fumbling around to adjust it, much to the pair’s relief.

 

Suhyun pushed herself through the gap, with the assistant of Lee Hi the other side trying to make sure the former doesn’t slip back down. The latter let out a long drawn of sigh once the weight finally left her hands, with the brunette pacing herself outside.

 

“What about you? They might do something—“ Suhyun’s eyes widened in realization, looking as if she was going to double back to climb into the bathroom once again. Like hell she was going to do that after all the effort put in to get her out.

 

“What’s the worst that could happen? Once they see you aren’t in here, they’ll go away.” At least, that’s what I hope is going to happen. Lee Hi transferred some of her belongings from her backpack into the spare bag used for Suhyun’s clean uniform. “Go ahead to your lesson.”

 

“There’s no point going now, I’m already late as it is. I’ll meet you at the corner café outside of school instead!” Was she really hearing this right? The first year was seriously considering to ditch her lessons? Aish, I’m being a bad influence on her. But before she could even reply, the cat eyed girl had already wandered off.

 

You can do this. Just lie through your teeth and you’ll be fine…Even she had to admit, that wasn’t reassuring in the slightest. She wished she had left with Suhyun via the window, but even though the gang members weren’t exactly the brightest bulbs in the box, she was sure they would have noticed that they suddenly disappeared into thin air. Picking up all her possessions, looking at her reflection in the mirror and tidying herself up, she walked towards the dreaded door. She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and wished to the heavens above that she could keep her composure.

 

With the right set of mind, she opened the door, to find—surprise, surprise—them waiting outside. Seriously, don’t they have anything better to do than to follow around a first year? The first thing that greeted her were a few faces, closer than she would have liked, they probably had convened a plan to intimidate Suhyun the moment she left the girl’s toilets. How predictable.

 

“Oh, it’s you again. Weren’t you supposed to call the girl for us? You were in there long enough.” Mino tilted his head, his profile blank as he observed her.

 

“She wasn’t in there.” Yet, none of them parted to let her pass. The auburn girl’s eyes narrowed, going along with the polite approach.  “Can I pass through? I need to get to class.”

 

“What’s the rush, little one? How about you hang out with us instead?” Taehyun, the one with the middle parting in his hair, had the nerve to wrap an arm around her stiff shoulders, along with his overly patronizing tone—it was difficult enough to control her anger. Little one? How cliché.

 

“I’ll have to decline your invitation.” She said flatly, not sounding apologetic in the slightest as she shrugged off his arm.

 

“Just let her pass, she’s not the one we’re after.” The typically quiet one of the group, Hanbin called out as he placed his headphones around his neck. If she remembered correctly, she shared some lessons with him. They hardly ever exchanged pleasantries, but he was one of the most civil out of all of them, and for that she was immensely grateful especially right now.

 

“But she’s more interesting than that other one, this one’s feisty.” Jinwoo commented airily, his trademark smile etched on his face—however it wasn’t as innocent as people liked to think it was.

 

“She is right here and she’s actually boring.” She was getting increasingly annoyed that the conversation was just going around and around in circles, if she didn’t act now who knew long how she was going to stay here for. So, she merely pushed her way out of the circle and strided purposely towards the direction where her next class was. All I have to do is make sure they’re not following me, then meet up with Suhyun, of all the place she could have suggested why did she have to suggest meeting outside of school?

 

“Well, if you’re in such a hurry, we’ll accompany you so you won’t get lonely.” Seungyoon or was it Seunghoon? She wasn’t sure which one of the two had called just behind her, then again she didn’t really care who it was. She was more focused on walking faster to get to class to be rid of them all, the problem was that her legs were much shorter than theirs, so they were able to catch up with her effortlessly, much to her own annoyance. A few tried to include her into their conversations but she wasn’t responding throughout the walk to her class, fully intent on keeping the silence. She nearly released a sigh of relief when she was approaching her next lesson, she never thought she would ever be glad to be in a P.E lesson. Suhyun’s lucky she doesn’t have to participate in any of it. She thought bitterly.

 

The auburn haired girl was about to walk into the gymnasium when she felt her arm being grabbed, albeit not exactly gently nor rough. “Aren’t you going to thank us for walking you to your class?” Honestly, these guys…

 

But she knew that ignoring them would only throw more fuel into the fire. So to speed things up, she merely turned around and bowed slightly and said in her most monotonous voice. “Thank you for walking me to class.” Once that was done, she didn’t hesitate on hightailing it out of there the moment she could.  

 

Looks like I’m going to be getting familiar with that detention room this year. She inwardly grumbled to herself, so much for a peaceful school year, the petite girl knew once her teacher was looking around and his gaze settled on hers that she would inevitably be in trouble. He opened his mouth when his face suddenly crumbled in fear and averted his eyes elsewhere.

 

She blinked in confusion, her eyes looking around the rest of the room to find the same reactions taking place. Why were they acting like that? Lee Hi stepped through the threshold, going to stretch before joining in. At least, that’s what she was planning on doing.

 

Until she felt herself being pulled back, her back hitting something. “Please go easy on this one, seonsaeng-nim. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to her while we’re not here to watch over here, that includes everyone. Take care of her so we won’t have a reason to beat you up.” Mino’s voice rang out loud and clear for all to hear, no doubt with his trademark smirk etched on his tanned face.

 

And Lee Hi wanted to do nothing less than murder him on the spot at that precise moment.

 

“I can look after myself, don’t proclaim such unnecessary statements.” Lee Hi said loudly, gritting her teeth to stop herself from continuing, especially in public before elbowing one of the perpetrators of her rage and walking further into the room.

 

“Isn’t she so cute?” Jinwoo chirped, his smile causing a few girls nearby to swoon. But Lee Hi wasn’t to be fooled.

 

“Be good now, you hear?” Seunghoon hollered over with a grin plastered across his face. The rest began chiming in their own goodbyes, much to her own dismay, until each and every one of them departed from the room. It was only then when the petite girl felt as if there was a large weight removed from her shoulders. Just when I thought they weren’t going to ever leave.

 

But, surprisingly as if those boys possessed such power, no one really bothered her during the remains of the lesson. She got on with the lesson as normal, she wasn’t athletic by any standards, but she still gave everything a go at least once. Soon enough, the lesson was coming to an end, though Suhyun was starting to play on her mind. Did she make it out alright by herself?

 

She ruffled her hair in annoyance. Why did things have to get so complicated? Her musings were interrupted when she noted three converse clad feet were standing in her way, causing her to look up to see the three main girls that the rest of the student body tried to avoid at all costs.

 

“I see you’ve gotten familiar with the YG boys.” Hyuna, the self-proclaimed leader of the group whose beauty was envied by many, commented as if talking about the weather.  

 

I’m not sure where this conversation is heading… Though, she couldn't brush off the feeling of uneasiness. “Not really, they’ll lose interest and find someone new to bother tomorrow.”

 

“Unfortunately, that’s not how they work.” The strawberry blonde haired girl, Gayoon shook her head. “Once they’ve settled on deciding their victim, unless you’re incredibly boring and submissive, they would go away.”

 

“You should have seen their faces when you walked away, all they saw wasn’t a rejection but a challenge.” The last of the trio, Jihyun added in her two cent as she nodded in agreement.

 

I still don’t get why they’re talking to me…is this some kind of K-drama plot twist where I get bullied?  “…Right, okay. And you’re telling me this because?”

 

“It’s frustrating how they think they can strut around the school as if they own it.” The leader scowled darkly, her eyes averted from her nails towards the petite girl, like she was trying to size her up. “And I think that you’re annoyed that they have placed their attention and interest on you, when you weren’t even their target.”

 

“And to get them to leave you alone, we can help you with that.”

 

“For what price?” She was sceptical of whatever scheme they were planning and honestly didn’t want to be a part of it. She didn’t like the unforeseeable consequences if she were to become involved in this, who was to say that they wouldn’t lose interest in her?

 

“We don’t want anything from you, if that’s what you’re so worried about.” Jihyun snickered behind her hand.

 

“All we want is too see those YG boys knocked off their pedestal, that’s all.” The strawberry blonde haired teenager shrugged her shoulders, as if her statement could be easily accomplished.

 

They’re all crazy. Was all Lee Hi could think of as she stared blankly at them. Then again, isn’t this reality better than if they were going to actually bully me?

 

“So, you in?” Hyuna raised an eyebrow, her red lips pulled into a grin. The other two shot her expectant looks.

 

What do I possibly have to lose? Even if I don’t agree to this, there would be nothing stopping them from bothering me. Perhaps it would be a good thing for the rest of the students in the school, if they weren’t here?

 

“What do I have to lose?”

 

 

 

 

Lee Hi didn’t want to get up the following morning.

 

By either pure luck or chance, she didn’t run into any of the ‘YG boys’ as Hyuna had put it. And for that, she was grateful, yet constantly felt on edge that they were really there but didn’t approach her. After the P.E lesson, she had waited until she was one of the last in the changing room before she made her exit, knowing that she had made Suhyun wait longer than necessary. She left through the back exit, where most students used to sneak off to skive class, unbeknownst to the teachers, knowing that she had more chances getting caught through the main gates which was guarded throughout the school day.

 

It wasn’t long before she found herself at the corner café Suhyun was telling her about, the younger girl seemed relieved to see her face as she walked through the door, her senses were assaulted by fruity and saccharine scents from the pastries on offer. Though, it wasn’t safe to be sticking around a place that was so near to the school, especially when they might have been lurking around. So without further ado, they parted ways after catching up and Lee Hi found herself walking back to an empty apartment, like always.

 

Returning back to the present, the petite girl could not concentrate in the lessons, no matter how much she tried. So far, she did not even see any of the gang members as of yet, the day was already approaching lunch time. And she was dreading every single second, not knowing what exactly those three girls were planning on doing.

 

Maybe they were actually just kidding? Who knows if they were just pretending and really wanted to get closer to the YG boys?

 

“That’s it for this lesson, please read until pages 67-75 and go over the question summary on each topic, we will go over the answers in the next lesson.” With that, the teacher dismissed them for lunch, causing Lee Hi’s mind to go into inner turmoil, though her face shown no evidence of this.

 

Slowly, she put away her books and stationary, not knowing why she suddenly felt worry in the pit of her stomach. This increased in tenfold when she noticed who was standing outside her classroom. You’ve got to be kidding me…

 

“Come on out, little one! Time to go eat!” What am I? An animal? She frowned at that, she already had lunch in her bag, so she had no intention of leaving the classroom. How did they even know where my classroom was?

 

“What’s the hold up, eh? You just wanted me to come get you personally, didn’t you?” Mino strolled into the classroom, the ever-present cocky smirk etched on his face. In your dreams, more like.

 

“Why are you still bothering me? Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” Lee Hi clicked her tongue in evident annoyance, knowing that she wouldn’t get any peace and quiet if she stayed in the classroom, she grabbed her bag and stood up from her chair.

 

“If you weren’t so cute, you might have gone through much worse, count yourself lucky.” Bobby grinned with his trademark eye smile from the door as he leaned against it with a few of the others’ heads sticking around. I hardly count myself lucky in this situation.

 

“Let’s go eat together.” Mino ushered her out of the room, clearly not taking no for an answer since he was practically on her heels when she moved towards the door. By the time she had gotten out of the classroom, she was already being flocked from all sides, leaving no viable escape route with Jinwoo looping his arm through hers with a smile.

 

Even though I would rather be stuck anywhere else but here…at least they aren’t causing harm to Suhyun or her brother. If she were to attempt to see the lighter side of things—which were pretty much scarce in this case, even if she had to suffer, it probably wouldn’t be for long. That is, if Hyuna, Gayoon and Jihyun pull through anyway.

 

Sooner than she would have liked, they entered through to the cafeteria. From the corner of her eye, she could gauge out the three teenagers on one side of the room, just about catching Gayoon’s wink as they passed by towards the largest empty table.

 

“What do you want to eat? Oppa will get it for you!” It was obvious they were just joking around as snickers ran through the group as if there was some kind of hidden joke that she wasn’t aware of. She merely didn’t acknowledge the question as she went to sit at the far end of the table, but was dragged back to sit in the middle. Begrudgingly, she took out her own lunchbox quietly and picked up some cooked meat with her chopsticks when Taehyun swooped in and took a slow bite.

 

He leaned back and his lips with an approving look. “That tastes good, little one. Save some for me when I get back.” Mino’s eyes narrowed as he pushed his friend towards the food queue, all of them pushing to the front and not giving any inclination of giving a damn about the others who had been waiting, yet none of them voiced out their opinions.

 

Lee Hi’s appetite quickly vanished as she stared into her lunchbox, especially her now contaminated chopsticks. Even if I wiped it, he still used it...they’re all bastards.

 

“Looks like you’re having a ball.” Hyuna’s voice sounded closer than she had anticipated, just as she was about to turn her head, the older woman was merely inches away. She grinned as she leaned back, her eyes averted for a brief moment before they returned back to the blank faced girl. Gayoon and Jihyun had already taken the seats on the left and right side of Lee Hi, both had smiles on their faces.

 

“It’s not exactly fun being treated like a pet.” She replied bitterly, stabbing her food with her chopsticks—using the other side which wasn’t contaminated.

 

Gayoon glanced upwards before nodding towards Hyuna and Jihyun. “Listen, just follow our lead, alright? Hopefully, they’ll lose interest in you once we’re done.”

 

“But what are you doing to do—“ The red lipstick clad woman placed a finger on her lips, causing the younger to look cross-eyed for a second. She walked around Lee Hi’s chair until she sat down on the latter’s lap, causing a wide eyed response from the girl in question.

 

“Oh, you’re such a little cutie.” The strawberry blonde haired girl cooed, reaching out to lightly grab her cheek. The oldest of the trio played along with her hair, twirling it around her finger. “You should eat more, say ah~” With that, she picked up some chicken and popped it into the younger girl’s mouth, cooing as well as she praised her for eating well.

 

“I could just eat you up~” Hyuna trailed a single finger from her forehead to her lips before tapping on her nose with a teasing smile. Uh…what the hell is going on?! Lee Hi gulped, not knowing exactly what to do, she felt uncomfortable with their intense stares boring into her all at once.

 

“Yah, what are you think you’re doing?” There was no doubt about it, however Mino’s voice seemed to sound huskier than usual as he practically snarled out. Jinwoo’s radiating smile was replaced with a dark scowl, if looks could kill, Taehyun’s stare would have annihilated the three girls into ashes. Seunghoon’s carefree nature was nowhere to be seen, his eyes began harder to read while Seungyoon clicked his tongue, whilst shaking his head. Bobby and Hanbin were just on their way, trays in their hands as they took in the situation, the former had a similar reaction to the others while the latter remained indifferent, or at least that’s how he looked externally. Who knew what was going on in his mind?

 

It seemed like the situation had come to a crossfire and Lee Hi was right in the middle of it.