Physical Education was not Lee Hi’s forte, not in the slightest.

Give her a puzzle or a set of questions to complete—that’s where her comfort zone lied, an activity which was couldn't be linked with breaking into a sweat. But being tested on her strength, stamina or willpower—under the watchful eyes of fellow classmates—it was nerve-wracking to say the least.

Now, imagine being tested by your capability, not just with the hawk-eyed teacher clutching onto a clipboard and frown lines gracing his face, not just the classmates that only remained to be a sea of random faces that you saw every day in school but that wasn’t the end of it. She was feeling an overexposure of a selected few faces, the owners of whom who had waved towards her direction when they first strolled into the room, some looking a little more smug than others. Then again, the auburn haired girl wasn’t totally shocked at their sudden appearance, like with the other student population, it was mandatory to pass all aspects of the academic curriculum whether it be fundamental parts or sports, otherwise the end result would be a swift kick out of the school. 

“Relax, hun. It’ll all be over before you know it.” The strawberry blonde girl smiled at her, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, as if she could sense the younger girl’s discomfort.

She wasn’t sure whether she should feel reassured or stressed that Gayoon was on her team.

Then again, Lee Hi idly contemplated as her gaze travelled over to the cat eyed woman, who seemed to feel her eyes on her as she merely shot her a wink before returning back to the conversation she was involved in, it could be worse than this, she could have had Hyuna instead. The strawberry blonde teenager wasn’t the worse company she could wish for.

“I really can’t stand these lessons, I’d rather do cleaning duty afterschool a hundred times instead.” Was all she grumbled out in distain, talking more to herself than anyone else as she moved to fold her arms over her chest. Gayoon gave her a sympathetic squeeze on her shoulder.

“Be careful what you wish for, from the looks of things, it seems likely that our teacher would be more than happy to give that as a punishment.” The petite girl let out a sound of agreement from the back of , it was true. The teacher was looking far from pleased as he assessed a few students who he thought weren’t giving it their all, barking orders as his face was turning redder by the second.

She inwardly sighed in annoyance, looking towards the happy—no surprise there—faced Suhyun who had already passed her assessment, once again no surprise there at all. The younger girl beamed brightly towards her brother who was shaking his head at something she must have said. Part of her wished she could be over on the other side, but that meant her assessment would come sooner than she wanted it to. It wasn’t that hard to feel the penetrating stares that were being shot into her back nor was it to give a wild guess to who the owners of these hawk-like gazes belonged to.

“Team D and E, you’re up next.”

However, it appeared that time wasn’t on her side as she found herself being nudged forward toward the stern faced teacher. Suhyun was lifting up her arm as a silent encouraging gesture for her paired with her trademark eye smile with her brother mimicking the action.

Throughout the designated hour slot of this lesson, there were a range of different sporting activities, though to make it fairer on those who may not participate regularly, each student would be tested on a single sports orientated game that they weren’t a member of—this didn’t make it any easier for the athletically challenged Lee Hi not in the least bit. Given by the dark looks from the other girls being assessed in the volleyball court, it didn’t appear that they were going to hold back. However, as Gayoon casually strolled over to stand beside Lee Hi, the glowering stares instantly ceased.

It was clearly obvious to know why these girls seemed so eager to spike the ball in her direction. However, no matter how many times Lee Hi tried, she would never be able to understand the unjustified fawning and swooning over the obnoxious vile group of bullies. That’s all they were, in her eyes.

“Let’s all play fairly, girls. The last thing we want to happen from this game is unnecessary bloody injuries.” The strawberry blonde girl smiled thinly, her tone coated with the promise of vengeance should something happen. The auburn haired girl could visibly see a selected few girls gulping to themselves at the threat, it was common knowledge that Hyuna, Gayoon and Jihyun held an impressive amount of power in the school. The reason behind this, she wasn’t fussed on learning about however.

The game itself was already underway, Lee Hi managed to hit the ball over a few times but she didn’t deserve much of the credit to her team leading in points, it was Gayoon who was truly shining through without a question. The way she swerved around their half of the court, how effortlessly she moved to spike the ball, it was nearly memorising to watch.

“Remember unnie, if you don’t beat my score you’ll have to buy us food!” Hyuna called over with a cheeky, confident coated smirk. The older woman in question threw a rare smile in her direction, thus distracting her from the game at hand, it was clear that the girls on the other team saw a golden opportunity. And they didn’t look like they were the type to look a gift horse in the face.

Not wanting to waste even one valuable second, the girls exchanged a look between them, a tall brunette flung the ball into the air and knocked it forward with all her might. Lee Hi could see the girls on her assigned team were quickly backing away from the attack, fear written all over their faces. She willed her body to follow the same actions not wanting to get involved, but instead she felt herself advancing forward towards the unsuspecting Gayoon. It didn’t take much to guess the events that were to follow.

The next thing the auburn haired girl found herself doing was pushing the strawberry blonde girl out of the way to feeling a strong force throwing her a few paces away from where she was originally standing to the ground and an explosion of pain erupted from her forehead. Thus, she had no time to filter through her thoughts as a stream of profanities were expressed in the form of grunts and groans as she clutched onto her pounding head. Why the did I just do that for?

She kept her eyes firmly shut, trying her hardest to ignore the pain shooting from her head. Why couldn’t I have just moved out of the way like everyone else?

“Unnie!” Even with the pressure building up in her head, Lee Hi was still able to muster up the energy to hear the desperate call of Suhyun, who seemed to be clinging onto her arm—at least that’s what it felt like she was doing, she was far more absorbed in the swelling pain to notice much else going on in the background.

“Gayoon-ssi! Control yourself!” That’s the only part she managed to overhear over the loud shrieks erupting into the atmosphere, evidence that the teacher was evidently trying to mediate the situation though albeit poorly at that.

“—those es need a thorough lesson in listening. What did I say about playing fairly, huh?“ It sounded like a demon had been unleashed from the underworld, it nearly sufficed in sending shivers down her spine.

“Looks like the little one is a magnet for trouble.”

The only relevance of that statement is that I’m like a magnet to troublemakers, not trouble itself. She was about to retort but bit her tongue at the last moment, regaining some of her self-control. All she really needed right now was some medication, preferably aspirin to help her be rid of her insufferable head pains. 

If the teacher refuses to let me go to the nurse’s office, it would then be official that he has no heart. So with this new found resolve, her eyes snapped open as she slowly lifted herself up from the floor. It took every single fibre of her body not to continue the stream of curses that escaped from her lips merely moments ago. Suhyun was, indeed to her knowledge, holding onto her arm with concern heavily etched on her face with Chanhyuk kneeling down beside his sister.

The scenario certainly gave off the impression that the attention had been stripped away from her as the sea of faces were slowly dispersed away to watch Gayoon, who at this moment in time looked very much akin to a provoked snake and the terrified girls before her. Hyuna on the other hand, was doing nothing at all to stop the chaos, looking down at the girls with no mercy.

It makes me wonder what the situation would have been like if I didn’t take the hit instead of Gayoon? There was no doubt in her mind that instead of the strawberry blonde immersing herself freely into acts of violence, it would have been Hyuna instead.

But it wasn’t the right time to be idly speculating on such matters. What’s done has been done, there was no going back and it was futile to regret her decisions now.

She pushed herself up, despite protests from the siblings, but one single look from her and they were instantly silenced, until she was fully standing up. The auburn haired girl didn’t have to push her way through the crowds as she walked towards the teacher who was trying to restore order in his own class, by this time her face returned back to its collected and calm state.

“Seonsaeng-nim, unless you require anything more to assess, I wanted to ask if I may take my leave from class early to go to the nurse’s office.” The middle aged man merely waved off her inquiry, blowing on his whistle for the umpteenth time, Lee Hi followed his gaze with an inward sigh. Why couldn’t people just live peacefully, is that really such a difficult task to follow?  

“Gayoon-ssi,” She called out, although the action was subtle, she could make out the older woman’s shoulders stiffening up but she did not release her hold on some brunette’s hair.

“You’re better than this, walk away from the situation and take a breather if you need it. Don’t feel as if the need to attack is your only option of choice.” Whether her statement did anything to calm the situation down, she would inevitably hear around the school in a flurry of tangled rumours but for right now, her conscience was slightly guiltless now that she had said something as she walked towards the main doors leading out into the hallway with nothing but heavy silence being the only thing to accompany her out.

This might be the worse headache I’ve ever had in my life. Now that there were no witnesses around to watch, she scowled darkly as she lifted up one hand to press against her forehead. That’s the first and last time I’ll ever do something as stupid as that.

The school nurse was as perky as always, but to the sullen auburn haired girl, it made everything she did all the more irritating.

“Your forehead is going to be swollen for a while and you may feel a touch of nausea and a spell of dizziness I’m afraid, but just take it easy from now on until you start to feel better.” She smiled before finishing jotting down her notes, Lee Hi found her gaze roaming around the room for the nth time, noting how her desk was extremely well organised in her boredom. “Honestly I’m always telling Mr. Kim to instruct his students to be more careful with how much strength they put into hitting the balls. It would mean a lot less students coming here with minor head injuries.” The woman shook her head, clicking her tongue in disapproval.

“Can I leave now? I need to get changed so I can make my next lesson.”

The ravenette shot her an incredulous look before it melted down into genuine concern. “Are you sure you’re well enough? You could just stay here for the next hour and I could send someone to collect your bag for you?”  

I’m sure my headache will go sooner if I’m not stuck here with your endless chattering. Lee Hi made sure to slowly slide off the bed with an affirmative nod, giving her thanks as without further ado, she departed from the room—or at least, that’s what she was planning on doing before the door suddenly opened nearly knocking her back roughly in the process. Needless to say, she wasn’t in the best mood right now to deal with anyone.

“Lee Hi-ssi! Please accept my deepest apologises for not being there when you needed me, they kept me longer doing chores and—“ Judging by the scowl that was quickly forming on her face, he was wise enough to halt in his ramblings. The auburn haired girl merely walked around the boy and into the hallway, inwardly wishing for the aspirin to work faster to rid herself of her headache—soon to turn migraine by the turn of events. Of all the people…why this guy?

Then again, there could be worse people who could have burst through the door instead, she idly contemplated.

“I don’t mean to pry—“ Then don’t, it’s simple. Lee Hi rolled her eyes, already knowing what he was going to say. “But have you eaten much for lunch? If not, I’ve got some food here if you wanted to eat?” As if to emphasis his point, he shuffled through his bag, his face scrunched up as he searched through the contents of his backpack.

“I’ve already had my lunch.” Thanks to Suhyun, who brought in a copious amount of food, as per usual. Her brown eyes became slated as her gaze dropped from his face to the container, from what she could make out, she hazarded a guess it would be confections.

“Wait, this isn’t some kind of…gift from the host club, right?” She tilted her head to the side, suspicion suddenly spiking up.

He shook his head, somewhat tentatively. “They weren’t exactly pleased to hear that you didn’t like their presents, not that they’re mad at you or anything.” Upon seeing her wary expression, he waved a hand in the air quickly. “It’s just that…that’s not the type of reaction girls normally give to receiving personalised gifts from the host club, they’re very popular with the girls.”

Lee Hi shot him a blank stare, having an idea on how inflated their egos were. “So, just because a proportion of girls like them, they’re shocked to learn that there are girls out there who don’t care about whether they’re in existence or not?

“I’m not exactly portraying any of them in a positive light right now, but they aren’t that bad once you get to know them. They are perfectly examples of hosts who treat their guests with the finest of care and pay attention to every last detail of their assigned clients.” He managed to get out in one breath, looking every bit passionate about his statement. Though he was already anticipated her reaction, he couldn’t help but feel slightly disappointed at her lack of response.

“Got that perfectly memorised, huh?” She scoffed to herself in disbelief not being able to understand why he continued to defend them when they did not return the favour of treating him fairly, resuming her walking pace once she realized how much time she had wasted. She still had to walk back to change into her uniform and go back to her class, the mere thought was enough to maintain her lingering headache.

“Wait! Why don’t you come and see for yourself? Then you can make a fair judgement.”

“I’ve already had the displeasure of meeting them before and if you didn’t already know I’m underage, I wouldn’t be able to get inside that place anyway.” There’s no way in hell I would even consider stepping one foot there, it sounds like a seedy place.

“You must be forgetting someone, Lee Hi-ssi.” For whatever reason she couldn’t fathom, he was smiling as he walked alongside her. She felt as if she had missed the punch line here. “You were given a golden letter, right?”

“That is not given freely to just anyone you know, it’s the exclusive pass that allows you entry. And I know you’ve probably already thought it by now, but it’s not a sleazy club. The majority of the patrons are rich students since they’re one of the only ones who can afford the high rates.”

“I would be happier spending my money on food and rent.” No doubt the prices are extortionate even without additional costs added onto it. She threw an exasperated look at him, before her gaze returned back to its original place. The auburn haired girl nearly breathed out a sigh of relief when she could see the girl’s changing room getting closer and closer.

“If money’s putting you off going…amongst other things.” He added in, after receiving a scalding look. “You have nothing to worry about, trust me. I’ll be going there once the school day is over, if you want to come along, I’ll wait for you at the main entrance.”

With that, he stopped in his tracks as he aimed a meaningful look at the unconvinced girl. “Come on, what have you got to lose?”

Now, where I have heard that before, I wonder?

                                     {Extra}

“We know you’re getting very close with princess, lately.”

“P-Please don’t—“ Suhyun’s pitched voice halted as she swallowed carefully, trying to tilt her head backwards as if she tried to squish herself into the wall.  “I don’t appreciate it when vermin pretend that they have a place in our school.”

Jinwoo reached out to twirl a piece of her hair around his fingers, a smile etched on his face. “We’ll make this easy for you, choose your only brother or your replaceable friend?”

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Happy New Year everyoneee~ :)

Looks like the wait is nearly over, just one more chapter to go before the host club is revealed :) 

As always, take care! ^^