You know determination had taken over when you were willing to lose your sanity in the process. Desperate times called for desperate measures. I never knew how true this quote rang until I found myself in such a situation.   I had a great plan to get rid of Suzy. If it worked out well, it could get rid of her for good. But if it doesn’t, at least it would guarantee Myungsoo’s ill feelings towards her. He didn’t even knew Suzy that well, so it wasn’t her dumb personality he fell for. Therefore I have accepted the harsh reality that Myungsoo was just another guy who looked at physical appearance. It made him shallow, but wouldn’t that make us the perfect pair?   If Suzy’s beauty was her only asset, I needed to take it away.   “Hello?” I spoke into the phone, scanning my surrounding to make sure no one surveilled this confidential conversation. I was on my way home, escaping those pathetic losers who tried to bring me down with more petty tricks. They hid my desk and chair, and I came back to find my textbooks and notebooks torn into pieces.   Did it break me down? Not at all.   Instead, it showed me how low human beings were allowed to go—they were willing to hurt someone who never did them wrong. Suzy wronged me and hurt me, meaning she deserved much more than destroyed textbooks and missing desks. For her, I had something much more extravagant.   “Hello,” a deep and rough male voice came from the other side of the phone. He sounded uninterested and disconnected since the beginning of our conversation.   “I heard you specialize in creating accidents,” I lowered my voice to a whisper.   There was a small scoff from the other side of the line, a somewhat proud one. “It is an understatement to my craft,” he said, a definite hint of arrogance.   Who was I to judge his character? As long as he could get the job done for me, that was all that mattered. Besides, anyone who was closely related to the dark web couldn’t entirely be of good character, anyway.   “When can we meet up?” I asked.   As I posed the question, I saw a dark hooded figure looming close to my house. None of his facial features were showing, hiding his eyes behind dark shades, and his mouth behind a mask. He held a phone against his ear, but upon sighting me, lowered his arm to his side. The loud beeping resonated in my ear as the call ended. I fixed the glasses on my face, trying to conceal my identity too.   “Choi Jinri?” He asked, his voice even darker and more sinister in person.   The fact I had given Jinri’s name instead of my own was really a punishment for my beloved friend. If anyone found out about this, they’d have her data, not mine. I’d be completely innocent, but she’d get all the blame.   “You must be Hoya,” I said, keeping our introductions short. No handshakes, no anything.   The guy stood still as he observed me from behind his dark glasses. I was very sure Hoya wasn’t even his real name, but some secret assassin code name or something. Seeing him in person, he did seem dependable enough to get the dirty job done.   “So, who’s the target?” He asked.   Of course I had all the files ready, quickly taking a paper folder from my bag. I handed it to him, like we were doing an illegal transaction. In a way, it would be considered illegal as it was frowned upon by society. But society’s opinion no longer mattered when they themselves were rubbish.   Hoya opened the file, scanning the data I wrote about Suzy, including a photograph of her. He took several seconds to skim over everything and returned his attention on me.   “What do you need me to do?”   Now we’re talking. I folded my arms and smirked maliciously at him.   “I need you to hurt her. To make her suffer. To have her despised by the society. I hope you have no problems hitting girls.”   Hoya mirrored my smirk. “I believe in gender equality. Male or female, a target is a target.” He shoved the papers back into the folder and looked at me once more.   “Consider it done.”   ***   Sometimes I wondered what the purpose was of going to school. Society told us to get good education, to be more intelligent, to learn from textbooks, but I beg to differ. What we learned at school was a far greater skill no textbook could ever provide. We learned how to survive. People either attack or got attacked, and even an innocent bystander would be forced to choose sides. We learned to defend ourselves in any way possible.   As I walked to the class, ignoring the cold stares from insignificant strangers I didn't even know the names of, I spotted Myungsoo and Suzy in the corridor. They were chatting and giggling with each other, their fingers coyly intertwined together like monkeys in love. Upon sighting me, Suzy let go so fast as if Myungsoo had some sort of contagious skin disease. She tried to hide their affection, looking at me apologetically.   Strangely, I must’ve achieved the final stage of complete numbness. It surprised me that I no longer felt an irksome annoyance to the sight. They can hold hands or kiss if they wanted to and I wouldn’t care. Because in the end, I know I’d win.   I flashed them a grin, one that left them so confused. Then I made my way into the classroom, ignoring the names people called me. It was like I had developed an ability to mute out their constant yappings that sounded no different from a barking chihuahua on self defense—all talk but no action. Once I retaliated, they’d back down in fear. But I was sparing them. My true target was still Bae Suzy.   Ah, speak of the devil, here she comes.   “Soojung,” she called my name with such affection and care I truly wanted to slap her for it. Why was she still trying to feign friendship after knowing what I had done? I hated her.   I did not want to waste my energy on replying her and gave her a bored look, plopping my head against my hand with disinterest.   “Since others always dirty your lunch, I was afraid you wouldn’t have anything proper to eat. So I made this for you,” Suzy said hesitantly, placing a pink colored lunchbox on my table. She opened the lid to show whatever rubbish she had made. Heck, she may even have poisoned it and no one would know. How cruel of her.   Without a second thought, I swung the dirty lunchbox from my table, keeping my eyes on Suzy as she looked on in horror. The lunchbox knocked over on the floor, the rice omelette and chicken nuggets scattered everywhere, no longer edible. I successfully ruined whatever beautiful presentation she made, and held back a scoff. I watched Suzy kneel down on the floor, try