Chasing Her

Chapter Twelve

"It's amazing how those who love you

can leave you in the dark,

and yet you can still find your way back

to the light."

— K.A

Seoul High was conquered by noise; rowdy and boisterous students raced down the halls as if the world was ending just so they could see their results from the exam they had taken a few weeks ago. Some cried in anguish from what they were expecting because if they did poorly, then their ‘allowances’ would be reduced. Meanwhile, others couldn’t care less. It was one of many exams after all, and if they did poorly on this one, then so what? There would be more of them for them to do and get a better score on.

Well, that was the excuse they were using, at least. They weren’t wrong in the regard that there were many more exams they’d be taking in the years to come, because truthfully, Seoul High tested them once every few months since, as they say, “Seoul High is for the best of the best.” Best of the best what, exactly? Who knows? Even the headmaster wasn’t so sure what it meant.

Freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors alike crowded around the main hallway. Unlike the other schools in their district, their high school’s exams focused on the same material for every grade, so ranks were given, not separately by grades, but by combining all one thousand and six hundred students they currently had to one list. Mr. Do had once said it was a legitimate way for the teachers to find out how to edit their lesson plans, but then again, he also once said that, “Those who rank in the bottom ten percent were students that were not worth teaching.” If that sounded cruel enough, then fortunately, his language had been changed to make it more appropriate.

In fact, to Mr. Do, it was an eccentricity that the Park Ah Reum had never ranked that low; sure, she had Oh Sehun, rank number two, and Kang Seulgi, rank number three, as her best friends, but then again, she associated with the likes of Kim Yerim, rank 1032, and Park Sooyoung, rank 734. Moreover, there was that fool, Zhang Yixing, rank 1540, hanging out with her. Not even his acquaintance to Park Chanyeol, rank number one, could save him. Following the saying: “You are who you hang out with,” Mr. Do had the right reasons for being suspicious of the brunette.

She had always been at a safe rank, sometimes 400s, seldom 500s, but never in the thousands. He found it odd that someone like her, a student that often messes around in the classroom and does not take any of their lessons seriously, would be that high. She had been the protagonist of every insane plan that the students in his class had plotted against him; Mr. Do had assumed she would’ve had some intellect to be able to come up with them, but he brushed those thoughts aside, simply because no student would be insane enough to put their grades at risk. Strictly speaking, he’d estimated that if the ranks were measured by each individual grade, her rank out of the 345 juniors, would 98th, in the top 100, to be precise. Peculiar, isn’t it?

So, imagine his surprise, along with the students and other faculty standing in the hallway, seeing that the student ranked number one was not Park Chanyeol. Neither was it Oh Sehun, who had been trying to beat him for so long, and astonishingly, it wasn’t Kang Seulgi either, who had fallen to rank number five.

It was none other than, Mr. Do’s mortal enemy, Park Ah Reum who ranked first.

Mr. Do had nearly fallen over in his shock. What the actual hell? He squinted, rubbed his eyes, and pinched his cheeks a few times, but the results were still the same. Two small, little details stunned him. One: Park Ah Reum had gotten first place, and two: not only did she get a perfect score, but she got supplementary points to top it off, for a grand total of 1250. No one, in all of the years he’d been teaching, had gotten a perfect score or bonus points. Not even he, who had attended Seoul High way back when, had gotten a score as high as hers.

Mr. Kim, on the other hand, had chuckled at his old friend’s reaction and simply slapped him on the back, trying to drag him back to the teacher’s lounge, where he could interest Kyungsoo with some coffee. He could never resist coffee, especially at this time of the day. Noon was the best time for coffee, as his friend and co-worker would say. After migraines and migraines of whining kids and hearing them ask why their projects had been graded harshly, Mr. Kim could clearly tell that his friend was stressed.

A cheerful voice addressed them. “Jun. Soo. Fancy seeing you here,” she told them, a cup of coffee in her right hand.

Junmyeon smiled while Kyungsoo frowned. “This is the hallway, Ms. Bae,” Mr. Do retorted as he crossed his arms.

“No need to be such a smartass, Soo,” Joohyun politely reminded. “It’s far too early for you to be having a tantrum.”

Mr. Kim snickered. “Surely there’s a free bed in the nurse’s suite, correct?” he asked, gesturing towards the foul-mouthed colleague of his. “He might need it.”

“I do not.”

Mr. Do glared at the two before swiftly walking toward the stairway to go to his classroom. Each step caused a squeak to resonate from his shoes. Noticing it rather late, he looked down and sprinted.

Junmyeon and Joohyun laughed while he did so. Teasing the so-called strict teacher had always been their idea of fun. One reason being that he usually went along with their antics, and the second being that they knew that the man himself secretly enjoyed their company. It made him more of an approachable person, both to the faculty and the students.

Ms. Bae took a sip of her coffee, watching as a familiar, cat-like figure approached them. “Seok!” she excitedly called out, jumping up and down to greet him, seemingly forgetting the cup of coffee that was in her hands.

The man chuckled at her childlike demeanor. “Joo, there’s no need for you to be so excited to see me,” the second Mr. Kim answered. He turned to Junmyeon, trying to suppress a grin. “Mr. Kim! Have you seen the ranking?”

Junmyeon smiled. “I did.” His eyes displayed warmth, the kind individuals typically see during graduation. “I always believed she was a bright kid,” he stated, pulling out a handkerchief from his front pocket to wipe a ‘tear’.

Joohyun nudged him with her elbow. “Calm down, Jun. You’re acting like she’s your child.”

“She’s got a point,” Minseok commented.

He stared off into the distance wistfully while his hand reached into the air, grabbing a fistful of nothing. “Don’t you treat your students as your children?”

The two glanced at one another and sighed. Another day, another one of Kim Junmyeon’s so-called theatre performance.

…

Seulgi rose from her seat the second the lunch bell had rung, in hopes that she could finally catch Ah Reum and resolve the misunderstanding between them. She’d given her time. A week to be exact, and knowing her, if someone made it clear that they didn’t want to talk to her, she would never approach them first. That would mean that she did something wrong. Seulgi was far too proud to acknowledge that she’s done something awful, much less anything worthy of apologizing for.

So, apologizing? For years, that was out of the question. She was a prodigy, for God’s sake; she could easily resolve a conflict with someone without having to utter those outrageous words.

Yerim and Sooyoung merely glanced at her sympathetically for her efforts. They were experiencing the Ah Reum drought as well, but unlike her, the two had each other.

In fact, Ah Reum had been liking her solitude lately. She ate lunch alone, walked to class alone, and even walked home alone. Seulgi had tried to get across to her so many times, but she never budged. The Ah Reum that used to cling to her side felt like a dream to her now, like that Ah Reum had never existed.

The one she knew now was so cold, as if her once warm heart had been frozen solid and would not thaw under any circumstance. Seulgi was sincerely afraid, for Ah Reum’s heart of gold was what defined her. She was too kind of a person; too cheerful of a person, but most importantly, Ah Reum was too selfless. Seulgi had reminded her not to allow other people to trample all over her and that she should stand her ground, but the brunette had always refused, saying that everyone deserved second chances, even if she’d given nearly a life’s worth of second chances to Oh Sehun.

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she had gotten swept away by the crowd of students desperately trying to get to the first floor. For a second, Seulgi was baffled, but after a few moments had passed, she pushed past them to try and seek refuge in the corner.

Murmurs filled the air. Shock and disbelief were what Seulgi had heard from their voices; nevertheless, she could not quite catch what they were discussing, for they had all passed by her too fast.

A figure leaning ever so calmly against the wall grasped her attention. Her breath hitched, and her brain short circuited immediately, frying what remained of the defenses she’d installed in her mind to ward off potential jerks.

“Yo!” he greeted. “I’m guessing you’re waiting for the crowd to die down as well?”

Seulgi eyed the stairwell. “What’s the commotion about?” she asked. She didn’t look at him; she couldn’t. She’d lose her wits if she did. Seulgi knew she would.

“Oh. Your henchmen didn’t tell you?” Luhan questioned mischievously, most likely referring to Yerim and Sooyoung, who were known as the ‘gossip queens.’ They had information concerning everything going on at Seoul High. Things Seulgi didn’t particularly care about? Definitely, but they also had access to news that were supposedly confidential.

When Seulgi gave him a confused look, Luhan faltered. He laughed awkwardly, refusing to meet her gaze.

“Is it bad?”

He shook his head. “Nope.” He continued to avert his eyes when she approached him. “It’s just…shocking,” he added, rather nervously.