Damn, what will I do with my life? I pondered in math class. There has got to be more than going to school with idiots. More to life than just studying things I don’t like. Why don’t I like anything? I looked around, there is Sungjin, who is really passionate about music, Soomin, who’s a rumored YG trainee, Jimin, who really loves math, and even Yeoreum. Who loves fashion and makeup. What’s living without liking anything. The teacher slamming her books into the desk shocked me, arousing me from my thoughts.

    “So!” She paused for dramatic effect. She scanned the classroom with an evil smirk on her face. “Midterms are next week.” After hearing the distressed moans of her students, her smile deepened. “Since you guys do pretty well each time, I’ll just let you guys do what you always do. Self study.” She waved brightly and left, as kids started to rummage around for their books.I felt my eyebrows twitch. Lazy. I labelled her in my brain.  

    My affectionate table partner got up and left to go talk with his friends. Hm...I guess I should put my time to use instead of sitting here.. I thought as a got up with my things and started out the classroom. As I walked by his table I felt his gaze on me. But that just enabled me to walk faster.

    I got to the front doors of the school when I realized I very badly had to take a piss. I debated for while, to piss or to not. But in the end, my body won over my mind and it was decided I got to the washroom. As I approached the washroom I heard a voice. No two...wait now three? As I got closer I realized that I recognized the voice. The one and only, Yeoreum.

    “You’re such a , you go around seducing guys, you think we wouldn’t know.”

I pushed open the door and walked into the washroom.

    “We’re here to teach you a lesson, you’re not gonna go around with punishement.”

    I saw a group of girls cornering another girl, their backs to me.

    “If she did, she’d be stupid as well as cheap huh?” The group of girls cackled. I shivered.

They were too busy laughin as I slid myself into a stall. I was about to sit down and you know, do my business when I heard that name, the name of the transfer student.

    “Xuan Yi you’re such a .” Oh my god..I thought….I really don’t wanna get involved with this...But my morals thought differently.  I pulled up my skirt, unlocked the stall door and kicked it open.

    “Heyyy Yeoreum. What’s up” I said as I gave her a lazy smile. Her group of girls turned around shocked. Only Yeoreum held her ground.

    “Well, of course, it’s Jisoo. What a shocker. Here to defend your girl? Disgusting.” She said.

    “Well my classmate...but whatever makes you understand.”I said regretting my decision to stand up for Xuan yi.

    “Ugh my mood is ruined, you both make me sick. Why-”  She paused as another girl walked out of another stall. Yeoreum cleared , and quickly walked off, leaving  me with Xuan Yi and the stranger girl, who was now washing her hands. Alright, well….that was anticlimactic I thought, as I turned to leave the washroom.

    “Wait! J-Jisoo...um….thanks.” I heard Xuan yi say. I turned around, and gave her a half hearted smile.

   

    I was currently at my happy place, well the place closest to it. A comic book store, in a big bean bag cushion. Schools would be out soon, which meant I should go see my lovely younger brother. My sunshine, my reason for living. If I ever commit suicide, I hope people don’t feel sorry for me. Living is so boring anyways, what is the point? But I can’t leave my brother alone, he’s so tiny. I re-read the 11th book of attack on titan for the 5th time. I swear, I could recite it by now. I sighed, maybe I should just go see my brother. I put the book away and left the store. If I walk really slowly, then maybe I’ll get there 10 minutes early? Hm...well that won’t be a bad idea. We should shopping after, we have no food in the house.

Before I knew it, I was in front of my brother’s middle school. Ah...it was very cute looking. The bell rang and students started pouring out. I leaned against the front gate, trying to look cool as I looked for my brother. Ah! I saw him, his back was facing me. I ran towards him, as fast and quiet as I could and jumped onto his back.

“Jiiiisuuung!” I squealed as I pinched his cheeks. He almost toppled over, and I realized

he was talking with his friends. Well..that’s awkward. I got off his back and slung an arm around his shoulder. I recognized a few of his friends, Jaemin. Jeno…..

    “Hey dudes, I’m gonna steal Jisung now, sorry.” I said and pulled him away.

    “Jisoo! Can you stop? I’m 13! 14 soon! We were talking about something, can you be more polite? And act your age!” He fumed. I watched him complain. He was just too cute.

    “Yeah yeaaah sure. But hey, let’s go grocery shopping! Dad left money on the counter last night.” I tried to make him happy. He liked food a lot, and cooking. He was nagging about the fact we had no food and how I was eating “unhealthy”. Jisung stopped in his tracks, and moved away from me, causing my arm to fall off his shoulders.

    “Dad came back?”

    ‘Yeah…?” I responded.

    “How come I didn’t see him?”

    Our dad was a truck driver. He delivered stuff all over Korea, and since truck driving doesn’t pay a whole lot, in order to support all three of us, he works a lot of overtime, and doesn’t come home often, maybe once or twice a month?

    “He came back at like 2 am, and he left at 5 am. We didn’t want to wake you” I explained to him.

    “But still, I haven’t seen Dad in a month!” He raised his voice. It was quite awkward...I felt sorry, but we couldn’t change what had already happened. We stood there, on the street for a while, until I thought of something that would cheer him up.

    “But hey, we have money, which means you can pay your dance academy fees.” I watched him try to hide his happiness. He cleared his throat and muttered a few things I couldn’t hear. I grinned, and slung my arm around his shoulders again.

    “So what should we buy?” I asked.

 

    And so that week before midterms were full of Jisung’s great cooking and slacking off. That week before midterms changed a lot of things in my life. My choosing of not to study changed my life. Surprisingly, it was for the better.