Seulgi was busy doing homework all day on Sunday, but Monday was a different story. For some reason she didn’t feel like going to school, she was sure Hanbyul would’ve told Moonbyul at least part of her strange encounter on Saturday morning. However, Moonbyul was her same usual self all throughout the day, which led Seulgi to think that maybe the worst had already been dealt with.

She was walking to the bus stop at St. George’s Square with Moonbyul and Wendy, like every afternoon after school. They usually had around thirty minutes to one hour to hang out together before everyone had to go their respective ways: volleyball practice for Moonbyul, singing lessons for Wendy, and—until very recently—piano lessons for Seulgi. Since freshman year, they’d had this tradition of getting ice cream at the park in the warmer months and hot chocolate when it got colder. They had actually been doing just that, on that fated afternoon, when Seulgi got jumped by those three vixens from Trinity.

It was early November and the weather was getting considerably chilllier so they decided to go to Lucky, a cozy small coffee shop nearby. Lucky was never too crowded because just a few shops down the street there was a big modern Starbucks which attracted most of the wealthy and pretentious students from IBS or Trinity.

Wendy ordered her usual green tea, Moonbyul got a mocha latte, and Seulgi went for a classic hot chocolate. They were waiting for their beverages when Seulgi excused herself to go to the bathroom. On her way back, she heard an agitated conversation coming from her friends’ table. She took a step back in surprise when she noticed that her friends had some odd company. Irene and another girl Seulgi had never seen before were talking with Wendy and Moonbyul. Her friends looked visibly more worked up than the other pair of girls. The shocked girl hid behind the wall that led to the bathroom as she eavesdropped on the ongoing conversation.

“You broke her hand, you bag. You can’t fix it, she already got disqualified from this year’s piano season. You’re so ing self-centered. I bet you didn’t even bother getting all the information before attacking Seulgi like that,” spat Moonbyul. Wendy’s hand wrapped around her forearm was the only thing holding Moonbyul back from disfiguring Irene’s face.

“I-I didn’t know she played piano,” murmured Irene, almost too quietly for Seulgi to hear all the way from her hiding spot.

“Look, I don’t think Seulgi would want to make things more complicated than they are. That’s probably why she didn’t even report you to your school or the police. So, it’s probably best if you just apologize and stay away for good,” said Wendy, trying to appease everyone.

“I tried that already, last Saturday, but I didn’t know she had to stop playing piano because of what I did. I didn’t even know she was actually tutoring Mino. I feel like I need to do more than just apologize,” Irene replied dejectedly. Seulgi almost felt bad for Irene, but a quick look to her right hand reminded her that Irene was the only one to blame for her misfortune.

“You can’t fix it. Have you ever heard about thinking before acting? Can you get her a brand-new hand? Can you get her to be the same old Seulgi? You can’t, so back off,” hissed Moonbyul taking a step forward with a menacing stance.

“Let’s just go. You’re making things worse,” said the girl next to Irene, quietly.