Eunji did not sleep much that night. So she got up really early and found herself at the Park's household. Mother Park was surprised to see her being so up early but invited her to come in for breakfast.

 

She explained that Chanyeol's classes would be shortened so they won't be coming home together from now on. Thankfully, his parents did not ask much showing how much they trust her with regards to Chanyeol.

 

Soon after, the tall guy came out from his room dressed in his school uniform. They made eye contact for a moment but both looked away as if nothing happened.

 

"Chanyeol-ah, come here. Eat your breakfast." His mother invited.

 

Chanyeol silently nodded and took his usual seat beside Eunji. His father, a government engineer, had gone out early for he would be in the field today to check the road construction in the south. Yoora eonnie was sitting just across the two of them. Her eyes squinted back and forth between the two when they kept quiet as soon as Chanyeol took his seat.

 

When Mother Park got up to get some rice, Yoora asked the two. "Are you in a fight? What's with these clouded face and gestures?"

 

Eunji's eyes popped as Yoora was quick to notice their hostility towards each other. "No, eonnie." She just said, unwilling to disclose what was happening. Chanyeol did not say anything but just proceeded to put some meat on her rice and they continued eating quietly.

 

They still went to school together.

 

"I told ahjumma about your shortened class..." She started saying as they rode the bus.

 

"You don't have to do that." He said coldly.

 

"You don't have to worry from now on." She assured.

 

Chanyeol opened his mouth as to speak but just scowled and looked away. Neither spoke a word to another so the words they kept asking in their beds the other night remained unspoken.

 

-------

 

Eunji focused on her studies and as much as possible tried to avoid anything that has to do with Chanyeol and Joohyun. Meanwhile, people at school started to grow fond of the two so basically they were always seen together.

 

At night, Eunji would be going home late from her after school academy alone. It scared her at first since her residence was quite far from the academy. But she got used to the quiet and stillness of the night when she goes home. Joohyun had also stopped pestering her as well so things must go well with the two.

 

The only thing that bothered her was Chanyeol, who would always avoid her. Which she completely understood because she was doing the same. There were nights that she thought of messaging him but would stop herself from doing so. Funny how they always used to be so close and now, they weren't even talking.

 

One night, after her class in the academy was over, it started raining really hard. Her classmates started going home and since most of them were picked up by their parents she was the only one who was left alone. Jisoo's parents offered her to join them in but her house was out of the way so it would be a long ride. She refused then.

 

She sat by the building's lobby and waited for the rain to stop. Minutes passed by and it didn't. She started getting scared and the urge to go home became stronger.

 

", I need to go home." She uttered and braced herself to run in the cold wet streets. She used her bag to cover her head and started running like a lunatic under the pouring rain. Just as she started running on foot, a man blocked her way. "Excuse me!" She yelled.

 

"Why do you always leave your umbrella?" The voice asked and she looked up to find Chanyeol staring down at her. "Until when do I have to look after you?"

 

"Y-Yeolmae..." She uttered the syllables of his name with softness that made her own knees weak. She put down her bag. Chanyeol was standing in front of her with an umbrella.

 

"Ugh. Don't look at me like that." He said. He looked very sad.

 

She stared at him, her eyes going hazy. Chanyeol stood closer and wrapped his arms around her. "It took me so long." He whispered in her ears which were enough to send Eunji sobbing. "I'm sorry, Ji-ah..." Chanyeol uttered as he pulled her close.

 

Eunji strangely felt home.

 

----

 

So that night, Eunji and Chanyeol painted the street with an image of a man and woman comforting each other under the pouring rain. Somehow, this image transcended to the school's webpage and had circulated among chatrooms.

 

The cellphones inside the classroom beeped almost in unison.

 

"W-what is this?!" Hanji was the first one to break the silence that had fallen over the students in Class 3-A. It was followed by Joohyun slamming her desk and running away. Murmurs soon erupted.

 

Eunji was busy reading her notes when Sohye said,"Yah... Eunji, check your phone."

 

She glanced at Sohye who was intently looking at her mobile. All eyes in the classroom were on her now, murmurs going around.

 

She opened her phone and there was a notification on the school's webpage handled by students. On the front page were pictures of her and Chanyeol the other night, holding each other in the rain. An umbrella covering them both. Their faces couldn't be seen but everyone could tell it was them.

 

She sighed and dropped her phone. She didn't know why but she came running after Joohyun.

 

"Joohyun-ah! Joohyun!" She screamed as she followed Joohyun in the school yard. By then, everyone in the school had probably seen the pictures.

 

Joohyun was fuming mad and was ignoring her until she had actually caught her arm. "Joohyun-ah! This is just a misunderstanding."

 

She was crying, glaring at Eunji. "You said you don't like him."

 

"I did." Eunji defended. "And I don't..."

 

"You said you'll tell him to stop picking you up."

 

She bit her lip and said, "I did." She even avoided him even though it was hard. She basically threw their friendship into trash so he could just be happy with Joohyun as she requested. Eunji thought she didn't deserve this hate but somehow she felt guilty nonetheless. She felt bad about having a human being feel this way toward her.

 

"Last night was just... I don't even know why he came up." By the looks of Joohyun, it was clear that she won't be accepting any of her explanations but she at least, had to explain her side. "So please understand, Joohyun. Chanyeol, he likes you so much. Please trust him."

 

"Should I, Jung Eunji?" Joohyun said between her tears. "It would be easy if he isn't always about you." She looked away. "I don't even come close to what you are to him. Maybe being his girlfriend is just a label."

 

Eunji was astounded. "Why would you think that way, Joohyun-ah?"

 

She glared. "I won't let this slide this time." She warned and left Eunji in the yard.

 

----

 

The whole day was a haze for Eunji. Everybody seemed to be talking behind her. Joohyun was crying and was sent home. All sympathy were given to her then, and everyone blamed her for that.

 

Chanyeol on the other hand seemed not to care. He always did not care as Eunji knew him. He was probably showing this side in their relationship so Joohyun thought he really was not into her.

 

She chose to skip her after class academy that night. She went straight home and tried not to open her social media accounts to avoid negativity. People started coming after her through these accounts and she had to block each one of them.

 

Just before she slept, she received a message from Chanyeol.

 

23:05 | 1 Message from Yeolmae

Yeolmae: I'm sorry about today. Please don't think much about this.

Yeolmae: The exams are almost here. You should just focus.

 

 

The following day, Eunji came to school early. Things got worse nobody even greeted her and they were acting as though she was a disease. When she reached her desk, it was full of scribbles and writings.

 

Eunji is a b*tch.

Shipwrecker

 

She sat quietly and not bulged. This will just be another day. Everything will be over soon. She convinced herself. But the day just dragged on with whispers, and hostility around her.

 

"Yah! Let's go to the gym. " Sohye invited her.

 

"Oh. We have class today?" She asked, getting out of her own thought bubble.

 

Sohye nodded pathetically at her friend who had been the subject of hateful words from all the people at school.

 

"Come on." Sohye hauled her arm to drag her outside.

 

They walked to the gymnasium. As usual, Eunji got all the stares. She never wanted any of this attention. She never liked being the subject of everyone's curiosity. Joohyun was already there sitting with their classmates while Chanyeol was not in sight. Class A and Class B took the same PE class.

 

Eunji maintained her pokerfaced showing no sign of weakness for that was the least she could do. Show them she was invincible. She had been acting cold about everything. If she showed them any sign of fear, they would just continue attacking her.

 

The two girls went inside the gymnasium shower room to change into their PE uniform. Eunji was inside one of the cubicles changing her clothes when Sohye realized that she had left her rubber shoes in the classroom.

 

"Oh . Eunji-ie, I'll be going back to get my shoes in the classroom. Will you be fine here?"

 

"Is that so?" She asked rolling down the shirt on her waist. "Sure, go ahead Sohye. I'll head out to once I'm done here."

 

Sohye was very hesitant to leave Eunji alone. But with her assurance, she at least felt safe. "I'll be right back then."

 

After that, Sohye left and close the door. Just as when Eunji finished getting dressed, she heard some footsteps and the door opened. "You're back really quick, Sohye." Then the lock clicked.

 

She emerged from the shower room and realized it wasn't Sohye who came back. It was Hanji, one of Joohyun's friend and a huge follower of the JooJoo couple's relationship. Alongside with her were other girls from their class, Han Saemi and Kang Miran.

 

Eunji met their gazes. They were standing just behind the door—arms crossed over their chests, an eyebrow raised and a very hostile face staring back at Eunji.

 

"I thought it's Sohye." She said. "Sorry." She started walking to her locker to put back her school uniform. Hanji, who looked like the leader of this pack started walking towards her and closed the locker door she just had opened.

 

Eunji sighed and tried opening it again but Hanji slammed the door. "Do we have a problem here?" Eunji asked fearlessly. "Because the last time I checked, I think we don't have any... Kim Hanji." She emphasized.

 

"Whoooa." Hanji uttered. "Look at this . Are you even human?"

 

Eunji stared back.

 

"How dare you steal somebody else's boyfriend behind their back?" Saemi seconded.

 

"How can you shamelessly walk around showing no remorse at all?" Hanji asked again. "What a fearless woman indeed... Just like her mother."

 

The mention of her mother was her boiling point. "YAAAAH! KIM HANJI! WATCH YOUR MOUTH!" She yelled.

 

The girls laughed. "Why Eunji-ie? Am I right? You are slowly turning just like your mother... Whatever the tree is, so is the fruit."

 

Jung Eunji must have lost her senses because the next thing she knew was she's throwing her school uniform at Hanji. That's when the two other girls started pulling her away and Hanji took a grip of her hair. Everything else felt a blur. There were screams after. Then the other door opened with a loud thud. The girls stopped moving and there was another scream. This time coming from a man.

 

"YAH! STOP THAT!" Park Chanyeol looked very angry at the sight of Eunji on the ground and the three other girls crowding over her. He walked straight to them and the other girls started moving away from Eunji. He bent down to where she was, "Are you okay?"

 

Eunji was glaring at him. Her hair was dishevelled, a button of her shirt torn and bruises all over her arms.

 

"Let's go." He reached for her hand but she slapped it away.

 

"Stay away from me!" She muttered and got up. There were students lurking outside and she ran like a mad woman with her socks on back to her classroom. It was Sohye who helped her to get back her things from the gymnasium. It was also Sohye who volunteered to take her home after their class. She was feeling very sorry for leaving Eunji all by herself. She assured her it was okay. 

 

She went home early that day, skipping another after school class. So when her mother went home and found her in the house, she was taken aback. 

 

"Oh, Eunji-ie!" Jung Yeobin uttered as she found her 18 year old daughter in their couch. Eunji seldom went home early since she was always attending her after class academy.

 

She said she wanted to go to a good university in Seoul. That's why Yeobin was trying her hard to save money for her university. Few months and she would be having a college student.

 

"Eomma..." She scooted over to give her mother space on the couch.

 

"Why are you early? Don't you have a class?"

 

"I'm not feeling well, eomma." She said.

 

"Why is that?" She asked and placed a hand over Eunji's forehead. "Are you sick?"

 

Eunji did not answer but enveloped her aching arms around her mother.

 

"Oh, what's wrong with this little baby being so clingy?" She asked wrapping her arms around her too.

 

She shook her head. "You're a good woman, eomma. I'm glad to have been born in this lifetime as your child."

 

It made her mother smile. "I'll never ask for any child too. What's with this though?"

 

Eunji shook her head. Yeobin squeezed her in a tight hug. "My baby is a big girl now but she still is my baby.. Does that even make sense?' Yeobin laughed melodiously. "Have you eaten? I'll prepare food."

 

"Okay," She said letting go of her mother. Her eyes followed her mother who as then walking to the kitchen.

 

God, she hated Kim Hanji that day. Not one soul in her class knew what a wonderful woman her mother was and how dare these people accuse her as though she was a bad woman. Falling in love was her only fault-- if that would be counted as one. But if she did not fall in love, Eunji would not be here.

 

Yeobin met Eunji's father in the University. They were both college students. The relationship was ideal until somehow, his father's family learned about this. He happened to be a chaebol—a secret he kept from Yeobin. And that he was also betrothed to marry a rich girl from another chaebol family.

 

It reached to the point where the matriarch of the family met her, telling her to stop seeing their son. She wanted to keep her peace so she obliged the woman's request. After graduation, she was decided to go back to Gyeonggi but somehow the man asked to meet her one last time and she came back with a child to Gyeonggi after nine months.

 

She was determined to keep Eunji a secret. Until Eunji finished elementary and the wife whom the chaebol married came running after them accusing Yeobin of trying to steal her husband when they hadn't even met in more than 10 years. It was chaotic. The rich family learned about her existence.

 

Yeobin decided to move to the country, in Gangwon Province, where they were staying until now. When Eunji was just in middle school, the wife came back again pestering Yeobin. It was after the divorce of the couple was on the news. The wife was so threatened her ex-husband would get back with Yeobin but he didn't so she stopped few months after.

 

That was when Eunji learned the complicated life of theirs. She wanted to change that by studying hard, earning good records to attend to a good university. Find a good-paying work. Give her mother the life she deserved. That was a good motivation. She couldn't let what was happening to her now affect her goal.

 

When her mother finished cooking, she prepared the dinner table.

 

"Eunji-ah..." Yeobin called. "You'll be in college in a few months. Are you excited?"

 

Eunji nodded. She couldn't wait to get out of high school at this rate.

 

"What schools have you applied into?"

 

"I sent applications in schools at Seoul."

 

"Well, Eunji-ah... That man." It was her father. She always addressed her as that man or the man. "He has recently contacted me..."

 

"Eomma..." She uttered. They never usually talked about her father. This was the first time he was brought up at any of their conversations.

 

"It's about you, of course." She started saying. "He told me that if you ever wish to study in Seoul, he's willing to support. And that family wanted to meet you..."

 

She was astounded. "Why just now?"

 

"Jung Eunji..."

 

"I'm just wondering." She said. "Took him so long."

 

It's not like she hated her father. Actually she didn't. Her mother raised her that way. Every since she learned about the truth, her mother was careful to tell her that it was nobody's fault that they ended up that way. So she shouldn't hate his father. So instead of hatred, she just became indifferent about him.

 

"Don't hate him, Eunji-ah." Her mother said. This was her second fault--- Eunji decided. She loved him still.

 

Their dinner was interrupted by screaming from the house next door.

 

"What's that?" Yeobin asked worriedly.

 

Eunji dropped her spoon as she realized the angry voices were coming from Chanyeol's house. She ran towards the door and saw that their door was open. Her heart was pounding hard against her chest.

 

She stepped inside the house and saw Chanyeol's parents fuming mad at their son. He was on the floor, kneeling submissively. Yoora was sitting on their dinner table.

 

"How dare you con us into attending that academy when you weren't even enrolled there?" His father yelled in his booming voice.

 

Eunji walked to the scene, "Ahjussi, it wasn't Chanyeol. It was me!" She started saying. She knelt beside Chanyeol and glanced over him. Her eyes were quick to catch his bleeding lower lip. His father must have beaten him up.

 

"Eunji-ie, get up! Stop defending him!" His father ordered.

 

"Ahjussi, it really was me." She cried. "I'm sorry. Ahjumma... It was me. Chanyeol has nothing to do with it. I told him to tell you he's attending my classes too so he can practice for his band."

 

His mother sobbed. His father looked angrier this time.

 

"Did you tell Eunji to say those words to your mother? What a disrespectful child!" His father went on saying. "You only care about yourself! You even dared to drag Eunji on this? Come here! You deserve more beating!"

 

"Ahjussi, please!" Eunji begged and tried to cover Chanyeol.

 

"Yeobin," Father Park said. "Please take Eunji home."

 

Her mother was quick to get her away from Chanyeol. Mother Park also helped to get her up and she kept on saying sorry to Yeobin for the trouble Chanyeol caused Eunji.

 

They both went home and God knows what happened to Chanyeol inside their house. Eunji stayed on her bed and kept mum about what was the chaose next door was about. But Yeobin must have known about it already so she did not ask.

 

She lay on her bed and cried. When the house next door became quiet, she heard footsteps coming out of the house. Her mother was asleep in her room already. She changed her clothes and went outside too.

 

She walked around their neighbourhood and found Chanyeol in the playground. He was sitting on the swing looking at the sky. He looked a mess.

 

"Chanyeol..."

 

"J-Ji-ah." His deep voice uttered. "What are you doing here? It's late."

 

Eunji sat on the empty swing beside him. "Why are you even here?"

 

"Oh, appa was so mad he sent me out."

 

"Are you sleeping here tonight?"

 

"It depends."

 

"On what?"

 

"I don't know." He uttered grinning.

 

"I'm sorry, Chanyeol. It was my idea."

 

"No. It was my fault." He said. "I'm sorry you had to see all of that earlier."

 

She remembered what happened earlier. She couldn't stop blaming herself for what happened. "How did they found out?"

 

"I'm not sure." He said weakly. "Probably went to the academy to check on me. How are you anyway?"

 

"Not so good."

 

He nodded. "Yeah, me too. Oh god, it hurts." He looked up in the skies. Eunji glanced up to him and saw he was tearing up already.

 

Eunji, who was already on the verge of tears, stood up and sat to the ground facing him. She was not sure if people would be out at this hour taking pictures of them but she did not care. She placed her hand over Chanyeol's bruised hand.

 

"I'm sorry, Chanyeol. It must have hurt a lot."

 

He bowed this time and started crying. Eunji did not let go of his hands until his tearducts ran dry.

 

----

 

Exams soon came after. Every day was a torture for Eunji. People continued doing things to her and Chanyeol had to stop defending her as she requested because they kept coming back at her every time he intervened.

 

Eunji had been skipping her after class academy. Her mother had been loose with her all those times. She did not interrogate and did not say a word about this. It was when the results of their exams came out that Yeobin actually had to speak up.

 

Eunji's scores dropped in all of her subjects.

 

"Eunji-ah, tell me the problem." For the first time, her mother asked her. "It was fine that you wouldn't like to tell me what was happening in your life in the past days... But seeing you grades go downhill like this. I, at least, need to know." She looked very pained. It was that moment that Eunji knew she messed up really bad.

 

"I'll do better next time, eomma." She promised.

 

Her mother looked at her softly, "Just start over."

 

She bit her lip and nodded. "I will, eomma. Please stop worrying."

 

She heaved a deep sigh and looked at Eunji. "I have discussed this with your father. You're transferring to Seoul next term."

 

And she did. It was Sohye whom she told this about. Not a word to her classmates, not a word even to Chanyeol. She left Gangwon quietly.