I can’t believe I didn’t see it earlier.  Chaewon looked at the signs surrounding it:

‘Reading Club’ on one side and ‘Debate Club’ on the other, with ‘Math Club’ right next to that one.  All of them had the same big gold stars as the Art Club’s sign.

Of course the dumbest sounding club needs to sandwiched with intelligent clubs in order to balance out the brain cells.  I can’t wait to make fun of her… revenge is gonna be served.

Chaewon stepped into the interactive area of the Fun Fun Fun Club but had to halt her death mission for a quick second.

She could see why the club had its name:

The interactive area was FILLED with games, toys, video games, and drawing stations.  There was a cotton candy machine and a claw machine with a bunch of stuffed animals inside.

The sweet smell of sugar drew Chaewon in, making water.

Damn.

Chaewon entered the fun wonderland, beelining to the cotton candy machine.

Someone was making a cotton candy heart, but it was so big that Chaewon couldn’t see who it was.

Only a club leader would be in charge of the machines.  That has to be Jinsoul.

“Time to get revenge.”  Chaewon picked up a cup of soda from one of the tables and approached the girl.

“Hey Jinsoul.”  

“Huh?”

The figure turned around, just in time for the soda to rain down on them, soaking their hair, clothes, and deflating the cotton candy heart into a sticky mess.

“Ha, gotcha.” Chaewon closed her eyes and put her fists on her hips, proud of her act of defiance, something that she would never be brave enough to pull at Miduce-

But then she heard a whimper...

And that whimper turned into a sob…

That sob turned into bawling…

Chaewon opened her eyes to see none other than a drenched Jiwoo in a ball on the ground, crying over her dead cotton candy heart.

All of the air out of Chaewon’s lungs as she rushed to Jiwoo’s side, snatching some napkins and patting down the teary girl’s hair.

“Oh my gosh, Jiwoo, I’m so sorry.  I thought you were Jinsoul.”

Jiwoo sniffled, looking up at Chaewon with watery penguin eyes.

“Why would you wanna throw soda at Jinsoul?”

“Just for some stupid thing.  I didn’t mean to get you all sticky I swear-”

“You better hope to God you didn’t.”

Chaewon froze, eyes wide, as a hand curled around her uniform collar, slowly tugging her up, her feet leaving the ground.

Chaewon gulped.  She knew exactly who it was from the Busan accent that refused to be hidden.

Probably from rage.

Before Chaewon could think of how to make herself not look like a villain, the hand shifted so that Chaewon spun, looking eye to eye with Sooyoung, who was, albeit stunning, but livid.

“Now, I know you’re a fun person to be around.  I know you, Chaewon.”

Chaewon’s heart jumped to life again.

“However…”

And it stopped just as quick.

“I don’t tolerate people who pour soda on my girlfriend and her adorable little cotton candy friends.”

As much as Chaewon was preparing for death, she still couldn’t help but feel mushy inside that a ticked off Sooyoung could still be soft for Jiwoo in the most serious tone.

“So, what do you say when you do something wrong?”

Sooyoung’s glare burnt into Chaewon’s skull.  She raised her hands and rubbed them together, scraping for any sliver of mercy.

“I’m sorry.  Sooyoung, I’m so sorry.  I thought she was someone else and I just-”

“Who?”

“Jinsoul.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“Oh geez, that piece of work?  Yeah, I would wanna throw soda at her too.”

Chaewon’s head tilted as Sooyoung carefully plopped her on the ground in order to lift Jiwoo up and give her a hug, something that the sad sticky girl gladly returned.

“Wait.  If you don’t like Jinsoul, why hang out in her club?”

Sooyoung scoffed.

“Hey.  Don’t ever compare my little Jiwoo’s amazing club to that clumsy pirate’s.  The Fun Fun Fun Club is way more…”

Sooyoung paused in order to find a more sophisticated word for the obvious follow up…

Jiwoo did not catch on.

“-FUN!!  It’s way more fun!!”  Jiwoo huffed, making her bangs flow up and down from the air.

This inflated Chaewon’s heart a little too much.

“What do you mean it’s way more fun?  Soulie’s club is fun to the people who matter: intellectuals.  Not people who live off half a brain cell, no offense Jiwoo.”

Chaewon had never heard that voice before.  It was mild combo of nasally and deep with a mix between laid back and intimidating.  The only reason it didn’t sound like Sooyoung’s was because of the huge amount of confidence that laced each word.

“Well if it isn’t the most loveable person ever: the debate club leader.”

“Whatever, Sooyoung.  You’re just pissed that no one wants to go to your stupid reading club.  Books are for losers.”

“Arguing’s for losers.”

“Says the one who’s arguing.”

“Says the one who butted her head in this conversation for no reason.”

“You know if Chuu wasn’t next to you, I would’ve stuck one of your stupid books down your throat by now.”

“Don’t call her Chuu, you brat.  Go and run back to your blonde beanpole of a girlfriend.”

Chaewon, after hiding her face from the commotion happening behind her, finally decided to turn around.

A girl with a sleek blazer over her uniform and greyish-blonde hair was head to head with Sooyoung, standing as strong as a rock even though Sooyoung had at least half a head of height on her.  

Her red and white checkered skirt was the same as Jiwoo’s, so they were in the same grade.  That’s why she only wants to kill Sooyoung… I guess.

“If you’re just gonna be a distraction go back to your own lame booth.”  Sooyoung growled, stretching her spine in order to look as intimidating as possible to the cocky intruder.

“But what’s the fun in that when I can watch you squirm?”  The debate girl smirked, making Sooyoung flinch.

“Squirm about what?”

“Nothing.  I just like to enjoy watching you doubt yourself because of a simple threat.”

“Man, they call you Kim Lip for a reason.  You have anything else in that mouth cannon of yours?”

Chaewon smiled.  Sooyoung bounced back pretty well and it was now this Kim Lip girl’s time to hesitate.

Surprisingly, Jiwoo decided to be a voice of reason.

“Guys, cut it out.  I don’t like it when you fight.”

Both girls stopped their snarling to look at Jiwoo, expressions soft.

Wow, they’re both whipped for this girl. Chaewon chuckled. Relationship dynamics were one of her favorite things to observe: back in Miduce, the only positive relationship she had was with Yujin on their walk to school, but after Yujin left there was nothing.  So Chaewon would sit quietly and try to read but get into watching other friend groups and students in the hallways try to figure out their lives.

Chaewon left memory lane to tune back into what was in front of her.

“I’m sorry, Chuu, I just don’t like it when parasites try and destroy your club.”

Kim Lip scoffed.

“Wow, since when did I announce that I was trying to destroy anything?  Stop putting words in my mouth-”

“Sorry, it’s too abnormally large for me to assume that you’re not just spouting pure garbage all the time-”

“BUNNY TEETH!!-”

“OWL NOSE!!-”

The shouting prevented the two girls from hearing footsteps coming towards them.

“Woah, Lippie, there you are.  I thought you were gonna help me with the contest.”

Sooyoung rolled her eyes.

“Here we go…”

“Sorry, Soulie, I drove in the wrong direction and crashed in this ditch.”

“... But last time I checked you didn’t have wheels.”

Kim Lip bit her lip as Sooyoung started laughing her off.

“OH MY GOSH, SHE’S SO DUMB HOLY CRAP!!”

Jiwoo nudged Sooyoung, her lips forming a frustrated pout.

“Sooyoungie, stop it.  That’s not nice.”

“Yeah, listen to your girlfriend for once and stop being an before my fist meets your face-”

“You little-”

Sooyoung lunged at Kim Lip but Jiwoo caught her just in time, pulling her back to the reading nook.  

Kim Lip, scared that Sooyoung was actually about to fight her, scooched closer to Jinsoul