“Congrats bud, the sunset date seemed to be a success.”

“Uh- and how the do you know that?”

“Huh, what?”

“Were you stalking me, Jung Eunji?”

“No, I gained that info through my psychic abilities.”

Jung Eunji had managed to say all that without cracking a single smile, deadpanning her every word whilst receiving extreme judgement.

Yoon Bomi was making a face of disgust until she burst into a small round of laughter, shaking her head at the girl’s silliness.

This was why they were best friends.

“I’m going to go ahead and ignore your crack-head bullsh*t, Jung Eunji.”

“Ouch, my feelings.”

“But hey, I can say the exact thing back at you.”

“What bullsh*t are you spouting out now?”

“Don’t act dumb- I know you’ve made some progress with that Naeun chick.” Bomi proceeded to smirk before flicking her lighter, wanting a quick nicotine fix before the end of their lunch break. “I’ve seen how she looks at you. Pretty whipped, I must say.”

“Well, I’m sure it’s nothing compared to the way you gawk at your Chorongie.” Eunji smirked right back, already bracing for whatever that was coming her way. “Sometimes you look as if you’re undressing her with your y-looking eyes.”

So after Bomi kicked her , she puffed out a mouthful of smoke and took a seat onto the floor, closing her eyes to enjoy the calming effect of nicotine.

Eunji, who had once again rejected her friend’s generosity, proceeded to lean her back onto the rooftop door after swiftly dusting her poor skirt clean.

She also closed both of her eyes, appreciating the comfortable warmth of the sun as she tried her best to ignore the familiar smell of smoke beside her.

They were both fully engulfed by the peaceful atmosphere the rooftop had to offer, simply enjoying their spare time with one another’s company before the upcoming school bell crept up on them and force themselves to return to reality…

Though unfortunately, their tranquillity had an unexpectedly short lifespan.

It was broken when the door got pushed open from the other side, causing Jung Eunji to let out a cuss out of shock, stumbling a couple of steps forward involuntarily but thankfully quick enough to not lose her footing.

Meanwhile, Yoon Bomi flinched incredibly violently on the floor, also spitting out a swear word as her cigarette fell straight out of .

The duo were equally as surprised as one another, as they were most definitely not expecting visitors-

Especially so when they were currently lounging within a prohibited area of the school.

But what managed to surprise them even more was the identity of their visitor.

It was a familiar face who didn’t look like the type to break school rules.

And the sight of her panting for air was not a good sign.

“Naeunnie?” Eunji exclaimed after calming her rapid heartbeat down. “What are you doing here- and how did you know we’d even be here?”

“I-I need your help.” the girl spluttered frantically, though her trembling eyes made direct contact with Bomi’s instead. “It’s C-Chorong-unnie.”

“Wait wha- what’s going on? Is she okay?” Eunji continued upon witnessing the agitated state of Son Naeun, panicking from the sight as it was a first.

“I… I don’t really know, but my gut feelings are telling me it’s not.” Naeun gulped with her hand above her chest, still gasping desperately for air. “A group of students came to our classroom right after lunch started, and they summoned Chorong-unnie out for a ‘talk’…”

As they conversed on, Yoon Bomi plucked herself up from the floor and slowly made her way to their sides.

She was remaining surprisingly quiet for the fact they were talking about her crush being in potential danger.

“Well, who are those b*tches and where did they take her?” Eunji asked as she snuck a glance at her friend, attempting to read her silence and expression whilst simultaneously keeping up with Naeun. “Why didn’t you step in?”

“I-I don’t know who they are, but I managed to secretly follow them to the hallway near the janitor’s storage room, the one furthest away from the main hall. I literally have no clue to what’s going on anymore, but I can tell that they came for trouble. There’s m-multiple of them so there wasn’t much that I can do, plus they were dressed kind of like you guys, and I-”

“Oh come on Naeun-ah, haven’t we gone through this conversation before?”

“I-It’s not like that! I mean, it’s just- they all had this look in their eyes and there were so many of them, s-so I didn’t know what to do other than to fi-”

Abruptly, Son Naeun had cut herself off with a tiny gasp, greatly surprised by the hand that was now grasping onto her shoulder with force.

She turned her head to find Yoon Bomi staring intensely into her eyes, a visible flame within her pupils as she hissed through her gritted teeth.

“Bring me to them,” she demanded with a low growl, “now.”

“How long were you planning on deceiving our Bomi, hmm?”

“E-Excuse me?”

A whimper escaped past her trembling lips when the tough-looking female slammed her hands onto the wall, trapping Chorong’s head right in between.

The timid one knew she shouldn’t have allowed the unknown group of students to relocate themselves, as now they were standing within an empty hallway with nobody to witness their ‘talk’ nor for her to call for help.

“We know your secrets, so quit wasting your own energy by continuing this act of yours.” the girl barked unpleasantly.

“That’s right, because after we found out that Bomi has fallen for your ‘charms’, we went ahead and did some research on you.” another chimed in with a hand on her hips, smirking mischieviously. “Oh boy, did we find some juicy news.”

“Like b*tch please, you’re still acting as if you’re a totally different person!” a third one added, triggering the rest to break into a round of laughter.  “How are we supposed to just sit back and watch our friend get played by a pretty lil’ liar, huh?”

Removing a hand from the wall, the most intimidating-looking female tilted Chorong’s face upwards with a devilish smirk on her own.

She hissed lowly while turning the timid one’s head towards the right. “Just wait until we’re done with you today, babe. Let’s see if Bomi will still be interested in a ed up, dirty little snake like you, Park Chorong…”

The girl then leaned closer towards Chorong’s ear, making her shut her eyes tightly.

With an airy whisper, the frightening student asked:

“… Or should I say, Park Seunghee?”

Despite of the silence that had taken over their surroundings afterwards, those words echoed endlessly within Chorong’s ears.

Her mind was now spinning in a panicking haze while her heart was threatening to burst out of her chest.

She was no longer breathing, for her entire body was now frozen in place.

It’s been far too long since she has heard that name- and even longer for it to be directed at her.

By now it sounded extremely foreign, yet at the same time it was hauntingly sentimental.

Her true identity was supposed to be erased for eternality, after-all.