“And the tallies are in! Please reveal the results!”

All groups on stage watched the screen nervously as the point counter rose in number. They were about to reveal who was this week’s music show winner. Third place was 6mix, second place was Pink Punk, and finally...

“Loona! Congratulations!”

Confetti shot up from all directions as the blonde girl accepted the trophy.

“Please say a few words,” the music show hosts directed at her.

The solo artist Loona was beyond overjoyed. “Wow! I can’t believe it! Number one on my first week back. This comeback wouldn’t have been successful without the support of the fans. I love you all!” 

She blew the audience a kiss and they erupted into crazy cheers for their idol.

“Thank you to all the staff, the makeup and hair team, the managers, vocal coaches, choreographers, team directors and my CEO. Finally I want to give the biggest thanks to my producer Ryan. Nothing would be possible if it weren’t for your amazing work and ideas! You’re the best!”

Loona gave one last bow as she flashed the brightest smile for the camera. The music hosts gave their final goodbye as Loona’s first-place winning song began to play for the encore. The blonde sang without problem, still over the moon about having achieved her first win with her new song. She knew this would only be the beginning to many encore stages.

—☆★°•°•°★☆—☆★°•°•°★☆—

“Hey Cha Cha, catch!”

Someone yelled from the side as a ball then hit Go Won right in the head. The raven-haired girl was just minding her own business, walking to the student store to get a quick bite. She wasn’t counting with her tormentors being out on the field and getting exercise.

The basketball to the head made her a little disoriented, and it was a miracle how her glasses had stayed on and hadn’t gotten knocked from her head.

“Too slow, Cha Cha. Stop being such a zombie and pay more attention,” the group of girls mocked her before they took their ball back.

Go Won tried to pay them no mind. Nothing good would come out of confrontation. She simply resumed her walk to the student store, where she could forget all her troubles away as soon as she had some food in her system. 

She had picked a plain bagel and orange juice to go with it. She went back to the counter and placed her items down ready to pay, when suddenly multiple other snacks joined hers. Chips, soda, chocolate, cup noodles, sandwiches, and candy, to name a few. Go Won looked behind her only to lock gazes with the same three girls from before.

The small girl internally groaned.

Why the hell did they have to follow her? Didn’t they have someone else to bother?

What had Go Won ever done to them? She always kept to herself to the point that she didn’t even have friends. There was no way she had ever done anything to piss them off.

“Thanks for inviting us, Cha Cha. You’re so kind,” the tallest one of the bunch forcefully wrapped her arm around her neck as she mocked her.

The clerk looked at Go Won with pity. There was nothing she could do. If she didn’t ring the items to poor girl would probably have it worse. She knew these girls liked to gang up on weak students often. Why hadn’t a teacher tried to stop them yet? She frowned while she charged the items. 

The total came to almost 30,000 won and Go Won wanted the ground to swallow her whole. The small girl got her wallet out to pay, giving the clerk some scrunched bills and spare change. There goes all her cash, damn it. The small girl in glasses simply kept her head down as she retrieved her wallet back to her pocket.

The gang took their snacks without so much as giving Go Won a once over. They saw her as their personal piggy bank and punching bag. 

“Thanks again, Cha Cha!”

And again with that stupid nickname. That wasn’t even a syllable of her name! How did they even come up with it in the first place? Go Won really didn’t know how much longer she could keep up with the abuse. It had been weeks since the new school year had started, and she had the rotten luck to have become those girls’ next bully victim for a reason Go Won didn’t even know.

“Hey, turn it up!”

A random student told the clerk. The girl quickly went to grab the remote behind her to raise the volume of the TV. Loona was the talk of the tabloids again.

“This accounts for Loona’s 50th win this year. The monster solo artist that has taken Korea by storm, has no sign of stopping any time soon. Her new song One and Only already reached a whooping 50 million views on YouTube in just 2 days. Unbelievable!”

The news then panned to a clip of last night’s music show and Loona’s encore. Go Won smiled seeing the scene.

“She’s amazing!” Some random boy yelled.

“She looks like a Barbie!” His friend joined in.

Go Won simply laughed at their silliness before grabbing her snacks and getting out of there. She got her messy hair out of her face to take a bite out of her bagel, but she paused mid air when something began buzzing in her pocket.

She had planned to walk back to the classroom and go over her notes for an upcoming test, but maybe that would have to wait. Go Won retrieved her phone from her skirt pocket, the screen flashing a new text message.

“Call me when you can.”

Go Won decided since she was on break now, might as well. She walked to behind the school building first, making sure to be out of earshot from any random passerby. Once she was sure it was safe, she made the call.

“What’s up?” Go Won asked as soon as the other end picked up.

“Do you have any plans after school?” The person in the other line asked.

Go Won furrowed her brows. “No, why?”

“There’s been a change to your schedule. They moved tomorrow’s filming to today. I told them because it was so sudden the best we could do was get there around five.”

The raven-haired girl groaned. She may not have anything planned after school but she still had homework to catch up on!

“Anything else?” She wasn’t going to argue.

“Nope. I’ll come to pick you up once school is over.”

Go Won paled at the possibility. “No! Wait for me outside the subway exit of 99th street. There’s a gas station across the street. I’ll meet you there.”

The woman on the other line didn’t like the sound of that. 

“Go Won, we can’t be late. What if something happens to you? What if you miss the subway or wha