Footsteps broke apart two individuals, with one now attempting to excuse herself from the scene while the other prevented just that.

Son Naeun found her left hand getting caught in someone else’s- Jung Eunji’s, to be exact- which resulted her eyes to widen from the sudden contact.

Although her own actions from a minute ago were much bolder, her confidence dispersed the second they gained a new audience member.

The late-comer appeared to be equally as surprised, yet she chose to remain mum as she merely watched on, her gaze filled with curiousity and amusement.

Naeun could only hiss out an embarrassed ‘what’ as she searched for an answer within Eunji’s eyes, flustered by the presence of the girl’s best friend.

However, she didn’t exactly receive a direct reply.

In fact, she received nothing but a squeeze of a hand, a sneaky signal with an intended message of ‘this conversation isn’t over just yet, so expect me soon’.

Whether or not if Naeun truly got that note, Eunji will never know, for she released her grip on the girl right afterwards; she didn’t want to keep Bomi waiting for too long, as her ‘fellow delinquent’ was still patiently waiting for them to finish whatever business they were dealing with.

As soon as she was set free, Son Naeun didn’t linger for another second necessary.

The girl speedily strutted down the hallway without sparing another glance back, the duo tracing her every step until she was completely out of sight.

It was only until then the leather-wearing student finally broke her silence, now glancing at Eunji with one eyebrow raised questionably.

“Uh, what the heck was that all about?” she asked while giving her friend a not-so-gentle nudge on the forearm, making the girl yelp briefly.

“Just trying to make a new friend.” Jung Eunji answered with a mischievous grin arched out of her lips, a sight that caused Bomi to roll her eyes as dramatically as she could. “… What, is that illegal now? Am I not allowed to make new friends, my dear Bomi-ah?”

“Yeah, because you trying to befriend Park Chorong’s best friend isn’t suspicious at all.”

“Oh, don’t tell me you’re actually being jealous? Because I’m not paying attention to you?”

“ no- I’m just confused to why you chose her out of the entire school to be your next victim.”

“Because she’s pretty?”

“You sound like a disgusting ert, dude, knock it off.”

“You know, she’s pretty feisty too, that one.”

“The fuc… you know what, I don’t care anymore. Let’s just get the hell out of here.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“That took you quite some time.”

Naeun wasn’t surprised to be greeted with that soft voice as soon as she returned to her designated seat, the concerned female already staring at right her.

The older student had the tendency of worrying about every little thing, and such nerves would kick in exceptionally fast when it came to her well-being.

They were equally as protective as one another, for one another.

“Yeah, I ran into someone on my way back and we had a chat.”

“Is that so?”

“What, are you doubting my words, unnie?”

“No, it’s just… for some reasons I feel as if you’re a bit troubled.”

“Oh, do I now?”

Chorong paused for a few seconds to observe her friend’s face even closer, her eyes darting anxiously back and forth in between Naeun’s blinking ones.

She found herself struggling to voice out the thoughts in her mind with proper words, hence she settled with a mere sigh. “Maybe… but maybe I’m just being paranoid again, I’m sorry. You know how I tend to overthink things, though I hope I didn’t come off as distrustful…”

“Hmm, I suppose I was a bit taken aback during the actual conversation… but there’s nothing to worry about now. I’m completely fine, really.” the younger reassured with a soft smile, triggering Chorong to subconsciously mimic the gentle expression.

“Well, if you say so, Naeun-ah…”

As they proceeded to pack up their belongings in preparation to head home for the day, Son Naeun couldn’t help but to replay the unexpected conversation she had just shared with a certain delinquent-looking student.

Perhaps it was the pain she saw within the girl’s honest eyes, or perhaps she felt revolted by her own unpleasant behaviour back then; whatever it was, Naeun soon discovered the fact that she got struck by a heavy sense of guilt, and it was quickly eating her alive.

It was a shocking realisation, really, since the young girl didn’t care about anyone at school other than her favourite unnie- which was Park Chorong and most definitely not a random girl named Jung Eunji. There was absolutely no reason for her to even think about the latter.

Ever since their enrolment, Chorong only had Naeun and Naeun only had Chorong.

They were two peas in a pod, inseparable since day one- and the cold beauty was perfectly content with that.

She had no intentions of changing such a status by becoming curious about another student…

Until now, that is.

Because there she was, clutching tightly onto the strap of her school bag as she stood there by the classroom door, internally struggling as she waited for her slow friend to catch up; she dreaded the wait, not because of her impatience but rather the fact it gave her extra time to torture herself with thoughts.

She couldn’t stop herself from thinking about that mysterious female- a thug, she had described her- no matter how hard she tried, and it was seriously bothering her to the point she wanted to tug on her long locks out of frustration.

She was supposed to remain truthful to her own words, for she was no liar.

She was supposed to despise such ‘-like’ and ‘violent’ individuals, just like what she had announced.

She wasn’t supposed to be feeling apologetic towards the girl, as she was merely protecting the one whom she cared for the most.

She wasn’t supposed to agree with Chorong’s past words, since she had already corrected her by saying she was only attracted to the ‘aesthetics’.

But maybe… maybe she was truly intrigued by the mischievous-looking delinquent.

Not just from the peculiar situation she was now involved in thanks to the girl, but maybe…

Just maybe…

Son Naeun was into the ‘bad’ type after-all.