Three Years Ago   I sat around my desk. It seemed smaller than the ones in the US. Not just my desk, but the people here seemed smaller too. Not in terms of weight of height, but in terms of their heart. Their capacity to accept flaws was so small, I wondered whether they even had any compassion left in them.   As I got ready to retrieve my lunchbox from my limited edition Gucci bag, a bunch of girls appeared around my desk. One of them slammed her hand on my table, and I noticed her painted nails. It was against school rules, but the color was so well camouflaged she never got expelled.   “Krystal Jung, huh?” The girl spoke, scoffing as she threw a sideway glance to her bimbo friends. They laughed along like a button for fake mean girl laughter had been activated.   “We are in Korea. Don’t you know we don’t go by American names? How would one even pronounce it? Ku-ri-su-tal?” The girl enunciated every syllable, pouting her disgustingly thick lips in a way no guy would ever find her attractive.   I smiled. “It’s Krystal, actually.”   The stark contrast between our accent was clear. While hers sounded like a barking dog pleading for leftover food, I spoke like a nightingale people lined up for to hear. It shocked them. Poor souls, they had been in each other’s mediocre company for so long, the presence of a sudden star in the midst must’ve been shocking.   I learned that these girls opted for violence. They pulled me by my hair, forcing me away from the chair. It hurt.   “Listen, new girl. If you dare to say anything else to piss us off, we’ll make sure your entire school life feels like hell.”   “If this is hell, it explains why you are all so hideous,” I commented without thinking. It wasn’t my fault their dead skin cells were practically about to peel off. And the zit between her eyebrows? Gross.   Of course it aggravated these little monsters and they soon surrounded me and kicked me by the legs. All over a stupid name? If they wanted me to refer to myself as Soojung, they could’ve asked nicely instead of trying to amputate my legs.   “Teacher’s coming!” A voice suddenly erupted from behind the class. It caused all the girls to release their filthy hands off me and return to their seat like model students. I fixed my hair, running my fingers to comb and straighten the messy strands.   I halted when I realized a sudden presence beside my desk. Looking up, I came face to face with a god. Perhaps not a god, but someone with visuals deserving of our worship. It reminded me of myself when I look in the mirror.   “So you’re the new girl?” He asked, his voice like the breezy wind during a warm summer night. He extended his hand to me. “My name is Kim Myungsoo.”   “My name is Krystal Jung.” I reached out for his hand, but stopped halfway. “I meant Jung Soojung.”   Myungsoo looked momentarily lost, then chuckled a laughter that made my heart ache in fear he’d stop producing such a beautiful sound one day. He took my hand in his, and I realized how small my hands were in comparison to his.   “I like Krystal. It sounds different. Being different is good.”   I smiled for the rest of the class, like a child had been given the present on top of her wish list. It was an unforgettable first day.   On that same day, I told the teacher of the girl’s painted nails. I exaggerated a little and said she forced me to paint my nails too. Said I had to take the blame if she ever got busted.   I didn’t see her for the following week. She got suspended.   ***   Present   I walked to my classroom, seeing the bunch of fake girls I referred to as ‘friends.’ We got along so well because every single one of us pretended to be a better version of ourselves. No one dared to expose their flaws.   “Hey, I have a question for you girls,” I said, dropping my hand over the one named Choi Jinri. My favorite bracelet dangled in bright light, emitting an ethereal crystallized color. “Do you know a girl named Bae Suzy?”   “Oh, that weirdo from class 1-A?” Park Sunyoung responded, taking out the lollipop she was on. “She’s really weird. Why are you looking for her?”   “I heard some rumors about her,” I quickly lied on the spot. Being exposed to a world where deceit and treachery seemed to be our main upholding moral, it was quite easy for me to adapt.   “What rumor?” Jinri asked, her eyes sparking with curiosity. She wasn’t interested in the rumor itself, but in the fact that someone else was more ruined than she was.