“I went shopping at the mall yesterday. Victoria secret had this sell and I bought all these cute . Anyways my parents are not gonna be home tonight so wuah wo whau blah blah…” 

Ooh! A cookie!   

Sooyoung reaches into her locker and pulls the snack out. She was searching for her math homework but couldn’t find it anywhere, instead she found breakfast number three. Sniffing it, the cookie smells a little funky but she eats it anyways.

Rose is standing beside her and snarls her nose up in disgust as the girl munches on the mystery cookie. But she shakes it off and continues to smile. Because Sooyoung had really pretty lips and she was the captain of the track team and she’s not Lisa .  

The mornings at BBC high were everything mornings weren’t supposed to be. It was noisy and everyone was trying to scramble to their classes or get answers to a homework they didn’t do. Morning announcements were made by Vivi, the cool foriegn student with a smooth voice. And that’s when a lot of the popular students made others lives living hells.

A girl had mcdonalds, it was stolen by one of the basketball boys.

Some guy was drinking from the water fountain when the back of his head was slapped.  

And finally, “what the is she got on?”  

Sooyoung turns to see what Rose is on about. Her jaw drops along with the rest of the crowd. They start to laugh and point at Jinsoul. Sooyoung’s features don’t even twitch, although she was a bit shocked. They were required to wear school uniforms. Khakis or jeans and polo shirts to fit the class. Sooyoung’s class color was a deep red.  

Jinsoul however, was not following dress code. She had cartoon pajamas on and a large t-shirt that said, your mom calls me senpai.  Sooyoung didn’t know what the hell it meant but apparently everyone else did and thought it was the funniest thing in the world.  

The girl walks down the hallway with her head down. Away from all the judgement. She didn’t want everyone to see the tears in her eyes.  

Some people take videos of her, some throw paper, others holler at her making fun.  

Sooyoung doesn’t say a word.  

She only starts to follow Jinsoul.

“Hello where are you going? We still haven’t made out?” Rose steps in her way. Sooyoung really didn’t feel like it today. Actually she hasn’t felt like it in weeks but she was always down for whatever. But today, she had something else on her mind.

Rose is not happy when Sooyoung palms her face and shoves her out of the way.

Sooyoung hears the screams of her name behind her but she keeps on walking. She’s almost lost site of Jinsoul.  

It was kinda hard not to though. When the girl was wearing that. Jinsoul is resting her head on her locker. Looking done with her life. Sooyoung doesn’t blame her, school . But she doesn’t think it as bad for her as it did for Jinsoul. Standing behind Jinsoul, she scratches at her head. 

For the first time in her life, Sooyoung doesn't know what to say to a girl.

Jinsoul notices her presence though and groans against the blue metal of her locker. “Go ahead, get it all out. I know you’re dying to say something.” Sooyoung wasn’t dying to say anything though. If anything she gets more confused.   

She waits to get made fun of. For the person that was creepily breathing behind her to call her some lame weeb loser. Jinsoul heard it maybe five times a day so one more time wouldn’t hurt she guesses. Getting impatient she turns only to gasp to see Ha Sooyoung, “oh it’s you.”

Jinsoul holds her breath, Sooyoung always had this blank stare. She never really knew what was going on inside the girls head. She could be tearing Jinsoul apart in her mind, or she could simply feel sorry for her. The latter was closer to the truth. Although Sooyoung didn’t feel sorry for Jinsoul because she was grown. Jinsoul could take care of herself. But she didn’t understand why people ed with Jinsoul so much.

Sooyoung doesn’t say anything and it just freaks Jinsoul out a little bit. “Um, is there something you need?” Sooyoung chews on her lips. There was something she did need to talk about, but Jinsoul almost looked pissed. Maybe she should just leave it alone for now and wait for a better time.  

She’s about to leave and not think about Jinsoul for the rest of the day. Until a piece of cheese, the stale piece from that girl’s McDonald's biscuit that was stolen, smacks Jinsoul right in the face. Sooyoung gasps and waves her hands about. Finally deciding to get the cheese off of Jinsoul’s face. It peels off like a mask, Sooyoung tries to not gag.  

Holding the cheese in her hand she clears , “sorry um...that was gross.” Jinsoul’s gaze is pointed towards the ground. Sooyoung’s squeaky clean jordans contrast the hospital socks she had on.  

Jinsoul was running late for school. The bus was about to leave her at the house when she ran out. Not even having time to throw shoes on. Yes, she liked sleeping in hospital socks they were comfy.

So she lets her gaze travel back up. To Sooyoung’s uniform that fit a little too good. To Sooyoung’s neck that sported a shiny gold chain. To her stupidly attractive face that never showed an expression of any sort.  

Sooyoung is staring at the girl’s feet. She decides she should do something at least, unlike the past years when she did nothing. Sooyoung should just mind her business per usual. But something inside told her not to. “What size foot you wear?” Jinsoul hums, a little lost in how cute Sooyoung’s nose is.  

“Nine,” Sooyoung raises a brow. Weird they had the same size. Jinsoul lets her jaw drop as the most popular girl in the school peels off her jordans and kicks them towards her.  

Jinsoul kicks them back not saying a word. Sooyoung glances between both their feet. “Um I have more shoes in my locker, just take these.” Jinsoul blinks at her. She’s about to kick them back but Sooyoung is already walking away.

“Meet me at the track field at six.” Jinsoul watches the girl disappear in the crowd.  

She doesn’t smile...too hard. But when she catches Kim Jungeun’s eyes across the hall. The small smile disappears when she sees the snickering group and pointing fingers.

Her crush was making fun of her.

~~~~

Heejin won’t stop looking at her shoes, “bro that’s so weird.” Jinsoul had told her friends about her little interaction with Ha Sooyoung this morning. Now she was wearing the freshest pair of J’s in the school.

By her friends she meant Jiwoo and Heejin who both collectively had a crush on Sooyoung. Jiwoo squirms in her seat, “god she’s so dreamy! I don’t know how you don’t want to have her babies!” Jinsoul, however, didn’t see the big appeal in Sooyoung.   

“But noooo, Jinsoul likes the short who makes fun of her. Not Ha Sooyoung, hottest girl in the school mind you, that gives you her shoes because you didn’t have any.” Heejin blabbers out while peeling an orange. Jinsoul narrows her eyes at her friends dissing her. She didn’t know what was up with Ha Sooyoung but she was sure she wasn’t no better than Kim Jungeun.

She was probably just nice to her because she was failing math.

Jinsoul doesn’t let it bother her though. Because even though Sooyoung was probably only using her. She had never wronged her like most of the school’s population. Despite Sooyoung being aloof, she was still pretty thoughtful. Deep down inside, Jinsoul found it quite admirable.  

Across the cafeteria, Sooyoung is trying to enjoy her lunch. But today has been worse than others. Not only Lisa is yelling at her, but Rose too. “Why the  is that loser wearing the jordans I got you!” Sooyoung doesn’t look up she continues eating the ham sandwich her momma made her this morning. 

“Hello? I’m talking to you Sooyoung?” Rose pans out waving her hands around.

Swallowing when she’s ready she answers, “she didn’t have any shoes.”  

Rose seems to get even more pissed. Sooyoung was wearing her shower slippers. “Who cares if the doesn’t have shoes? That’s not your business Sooyoung!” Rose is right, it wasn’t her business but how could she just let someone go without something to wear on her feet. Rose keeps yelling at her but this ham sandwich is too damn good.

Her girlfriend gets tired of it, finally.  

Lisa steps in when Rose storms off cursing up a storm. Sooyoung’s ham sandwich is slapped out of her hand, “is all you do is stuff your face ?” She stops chewing and finally looks up to glare at Lisa’s stupid face which was twisted in anger. The rest of the table gets chills. Not from Lisa’s shaking fist, but from Sooyoung’s calm stare.  

“What’s up with you and Jinloser anyways?” Seulgi asks, she doesn’t give a about Rose or Lisa. She was curious as to why Sooyoung was helping this girl out when her captain never took the time of the day to care about anyone. Sometimes not even about herself.

Sooyoung goes back to eating, ignoring Lisa, “I’m training her for the relay.” Collective gasps erupted throughout the table. Except for Lisa, who scoffs.

Minho speaks up, “you can’t be serious Ha.”  

Why would Sooyoung help someone like her out.   

“Would you rather her and lose you all the race?” Everyone is enlightened except for Lisa. Who could give less of a about the race. Which was the reason she was the co-captain instead of the captain.

Sooyoung thinks that maybe she can finally have some peace until Lisa reaches forward to grab her sandwich out of her hand, “you can’t train someone like that. They’ll still lose. It’s about physical ability not skill.” Sooyoung’s blood boils when Lisa crumbles the sandwich up in her hand. “You really are bad at math aren't you Sooyoung.” Lisa doesn’t expect Sooyoung do anything. She never does anything.

But Sooyoung stands up, her stare cold. “Why do you give a Lisa?” The table is silent and Lisa’s tail goes between her legs. Sooyoung never spoke back. “Why do you give a about me Lisa, you’re obsessed.”  

“It’s like you don’t have a life outside of highschool.” Sooyoung leaves the table. She was done with that . It was so annoying and she’d rather be alone. Sooyoung searches for a vending machine while Lisa tends to her wounded pride.

Jinsoul catches Sooyoung’s eyes as she’s storming out.    

~~~~

Her shoes are almost falling apart. She ties the strings in a loop when the team come up to surround her. Sooyoung sees if her shoes are too tight, they were almost busted open at the sides. But no, they felt just right.  

“Yo, captain.” She looks up to see the freshman Dahyun. She looks almost scared. “Lisa said there’s a new event at the spring sports festival.” Sooyoung rolls her eyes and begins to stretch. Practice hadn’t even begun and there was already bull.

“What’s that?”

Dahyun clears , she can’t even look at Sooyoung. “It’s a race, only the two of you.” Sooyoung looks around at her team. They’re all scared.

“The winner will be the new captain.”   

~~~~

By the time Jinsoul gets there she’s still running. The girl stands awkwardly by the track watching Sooyoung jog around and around. Sooyoung always stayed late to keep practicing while everyone went home.

She’d keep running until her body wouldn’t allow her too.  

Running was her first love. It wasn’t forced, it was something she was passionate about and wouldn’t mind doing for a long period of time. But her body had limits, her life did too. So she slows down and stops near Jinsoul. The girl shyly looks down. Sooyoung could tell she’d been crying.

But she doesn’t ask, it wasn’t her place. “You’re late.”  

Jinsoul nods and holds out her shoes. The jordans had scuff marks on them. Sooyoung was a bit irritated but she shrugs it off. It wasn’t Jinsoul’s fault she didn’t know how to wear shoes like these.  

“Um do you want to start?”  

She doesn’t expect the answer she gets, “not really.” Sooyoung knows something’s up with Jinsoul so she walks off. Surprisingly Jinsoul follows her like a lost puppy.  

Sooyoung turns and Jinsoul accidentally bumps into her. “You can go home.” Jinsoul looks up at her with sad eyes. Sooyoung lets her eyes dart side to side. If Jinsoul didn’t want to start today that was fine. That just meant she could practice more on her own. But Jinsoul shakes her head and it confuses Sooyoung.

She’s still confused as she stands in front of Jinsoul who is sitting on the bleachers. Sooyoung blocks the sun for Jinsoul. The girl is slumped over her socks getting dirty from the dusty ground.  

Sooyoung is unsure what to do. So she sits beside her, “how was your day?” She cringes at the question, of course it probably for the blonde. But thankfully Jinsoul doesn’t even seem to be listening to her.

“Today my team asked why I was training you, they were upset.” Sooyoung is still bitter about her ham sandwich. It was so good to be wasted by Lisa’s grubby hands. “I don’t understand why though it’s like I’m committing a crime by simply talking to you.” Sooyoung don’t know what’s the big deal. She doesn't see what's so different about her and Jinsoul. They were just two sixteen year old girls trying to get through highschool. Who cares if she was popular and Jinsoul was not.  

But what was it that made her so popular and Jinsoul such a loser.

Why was it such a bad thing if Sooyoung didn’t see it that way. She thought this whole social ark was a bust. Who cared about all that. They were all losers in some way weren’t they?  

She looks at Jinsoul who hasn’t looked up from the ground, why was this girl less important than her to the whole school. Neither of them really talked. So why was she liked so much more than Jinsoul.

“You don’t talk much do you?” She asks and Jinsoul doesn’t react once again, only kicking in the dirt. Sooyoung thinks she and Jinsoul are more alike than the glance of an eye. On the outside they were polar opposites, the opposite ends of the social ladder. But Sooyoung doesn’t think they’re so different as it seems, “it’s okay, I don’t like talking either.”

Everyday Sooyoung was surrounded by people who kept talking and talking to her. But she’s met someone who has even less to say than she does. “It’s like people can’t stand silence sometimes. They just be talking to get rid of the awkwardness.” Silence can be uncomfortable to others, Sooyoung found it relaxing. It was annoying when people would fill it with random nonsense.

She realizes something though. That she was just talking to get rid of the silence, like the people she was just criticizing, “I’m kinda doing that right now ain’t I...sorry.” Jinsoul laughs and Sooyoung becomes embarrassed at the fact that Jinsoul was actually listening.

The girl looks at her with a small smile on her face, “it’s okay, I've never heard you talk this much.” Sooyoung doesn’t say anything and she mirrors Jinsoul from before and stares at the ground. “Maybe I like listening though.” She blushes at Jinsoul’s words. Why did that make her feel tingly inside?  

Sooyoung has nothing else to say, so they sit quietly. It’s not awkward however. It’s actually comfortable. After a long day there’s finally a moment of peace. She’s glad she could share it with Jinsoul who seemed like she needed some peace n’ quiet in her life.   

Jinsoul kicks at her shoes, making her look up. The sun was starting to set, so the sky was becoming orange. It was beautiful really, she thought the sky’s lighting complimented Jinsoul’s features. In this moment, looked softer than Sooyoung has ever seen them.  

Usually Jinsoul was upset or pissed. Making her features sharp and puffy. Sooyoung still appreciated them then, but right now she could even consider Jinsoul pretty. Has she always been this pretty? “Why are you being so nice to me Ha Sooyoung?” She concludes that Jinsoul has always been this pretty, she just hasn’t been observant enough to notice it.  

“Why not?”  

Jinsoul doesn’t expect the answer and her smile drops. Sooyoung notices it and questions further, “Is there a reason I shouldn’t be?”  

She shakes her head, Sooyoung has her at a loss of words. “I mean I guess not, I did promise to help you with math.” Sooyoung frowns, that’s not the reason she was nice to Jinsoul. There was no point to be rude. The girl has never done anything to her. She’s never done anything to anyone to be treated the way she does.   

“I’m not exactly the coolest person,” it pisses Sooyoung off.

“So I should just be an ?”

Jinsoul smiles, Sooyoung may actually talk a lot. Maybe no one has gave her a conversation worth her involvement however. “Noo it’s not just that. I don’t know.”  

Sooyoung crosses her arms. Jinsoul almost looks nervous, her hands clench onto the bleachers and her feet scuff across the dirt in her socks. “I’ll be honest, if I wasn’t failing math I probably wouldn’t have ever talked to you.” Jinsoul frowns at Sooyoung’s words. At least she told her the truth.

It leaves a hole between them.   

Until Sooyoung admits it, “I’m glad we made that deal though.”

Sooyoung looks at her with a softness she’s never seen before, “you aight to me I don’t know why people with you.” Jinsoul isn’t given a chance to react before Sooyoung goes back to watching dirt pile between her feet.

Jinsoul stares at Sooyoung’s profile. Maybe she didn’t see the big deal about Sooyoung before. But she could understand now. She was kinda charming in a way. Where she was so genuine that it left a fresh air about.  

“I’m glad too, I can’t wait to see how bad you are at math.” Jinsoul jokes and starts to giggle, but snaps shut when Sooyoung glares at her.  

Jinsoul regrets it because she’s never seen Sooyoung so emotional. She tries to distract it by asking about her shoes, “why don’t you get a new pair.”

Sooyoung goes back to having a stoic face, in which Jinsoul doesn’t know if she’s happy about or not. “Don’t really got the money to buy new ones. I spend all of it on food. Plus these are comfortable.” Jinsoul stares at the shoes. They were comfortable because they were so broken in. But she’s confused.  

“You have jordans and nice jewelry, you can’t afford some track shoes?” Jinsoul widens her eyes when she realizes how blunt she just was. If Sooyoung smacks her she won’t blame her. But instead the weirdest thing happens. Sooyoung bursts out into laughter.

Jinsoul is shaking in her seat and scoots away. Ha Sooyoung, the girl who never breaks a smile is laughing so hard that tears pour from her eyes. Jinsoul thinks she may get murdered, her intense fear of Sooyoung returning when the athlete wipes the tears from her eyes, “damn that got me no lie.”

Sooyoung doesn’t know why it was so funny, but Jinsoul calling her out like that really tickled her. Pointing down to her shoes, Jinsoul is freaked out when the girl goes back to not smiling. It was a complete 180, “Rose got me the jordans and my chain.” Sooyoung points to her diamond studs, “these too.”

Shaking her head, she explains, “she said she had to date someone fresh. I guess she doesn’t care about that on the track.” Jinsoul frowns, Sooyoung’s girlfriend was a bit of .   

Jinsoul would like to talk more honestly, because Sooyoung’s made her forget about the show that was her day. But the athlete stands up. “If we not practicing today, i’m gonna go run some more if you don’t mind.” Jinsoul holds one hand out, giving Sooyoung the go ahead.

She watches the girl jog off until finally heading home herself.  

~~~~

When Sooyoung is so exhausted she can’t run anymore she looks towards the bleachers. She wishes Jinsoul was still there. Something about that girl, there was something about her.

Sooyoung, for the first time in forever actually enjoyed a conversation. It left her wanting to talk more. But she really needed to practice. Jinsoul wasn’t her priority but...there was something about her that Sooyoung couldn’t stop thinking about. She couldn't put her finger on it though, whatever that was so intriguing about Jinsoul.

It was okay though, Sooyoung had tomorrow. She could talk to Jinsoul more tomorrow and maybe the girl won’t be as sad. Maybe she’ll get to see more of her pretty smile that...Sooyoung couldn’t stop thinking about. Pulling out her phone while she walks home, searching Jinsoul on instagram.

Sooyoung couldn’t wait until tomorrow.  

~~~~

Jinsoul is laying in her bed, with clean socks and pajamas that aren't so embarrassing incase she sleeps through her alarm again tomorrow. Today was a nightmare. Everyday was becoming one. Just like Sooyoung had said earlier, she doesn’t know why people hate her so much to torture her everyday.  

The shirt was a bit too much.

Hiding her face in her hands she screams. God it was so embarrassing. Maybe she could see why people liked to make fun of her. She was different which was some sort of taboo to teenagers. Even if everyone bent over backwards trying to be different from everyone else. It was only some things, the stuff that was cool, then it was okay to be different.  

If Jinsoul was different in the cool way, maybe then she would be accepted. Because the way she was different meant that everyone thought she was just a weirdo.  

Just like her crush. When Jinsoul had walked into the music room to have her daily conversation with Kim Jungeun. The girl was talking to some other girl. Someone prettier than her. Jungeun was looking at that girl differently than she did Jinsoul.  

When Jinsoul was caught staring the shorter girl pulled her out into the hallway. With a scowl on her face, red from embarrassment.

The words still rang in her ears.

I don’t like you like that. 

You’re kinda weird you know… 

But thanks for teaching me that cord. 

Jinsoul wanted to bust that stupid guitar over her head. Of course, Jungeun was only nice to her because she needed something. She only spoke to her because she had to, not because she wanted to...unlike Sooyoung. Jungeun then had said bye to her, darting back into the room eagerly to talk to the prettier girl.

When she had walked to the field after that she had seen Sooyoung running.  

Sooyoung was different.

She didn’t look at Jinsoul with sympathy like Jungeun did. To Sooyoung, Jinsoul was just any other person.

Why not? 

That still stuck in Jinsoul’s head. Sooyoung didn’t have a reason to be nice to her. Jinsoul was sure if the girl was failing math or not that she would be treated the same by Sooyoung no matter what. Sooyoung was nice to her, just out of respect.  

If she didn’t have a motive then Jinsoul shouldn’t question her. Sooyoung was just a genuine person and it left a fluttering feeling inside her chest.

She only smiles at the memory of Sooyoung and checks her phone. She had a new message on instagram.

[d1.catch_this_smoke_soo]: what’s your schedule?  

Maybe today was really bad, but it certainly didn’t feel that way anymore.

All thanks to Sooyoung.

~~~~