i originally wrote this on wattpad >> https://www.wattpad.com/story/179302990-whalien-52

ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴍɪᴅᴅʟᴇ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ᴠᴀꜱᴛ ᴏᴄᴇᴀɴ          

"miss, we will be there in 5 minutes,"
a voice echoed. i slowly opened my eyes and hummed in reply.

i checked my phone, 
7:47am
i sighed and decided to put my earphones in and let a random music come on from shuffle.

"imma scream and shout for what i love,
passionate but i don't give no s,,

i opened the windows and felt the fresh air hit my face. i quietly hummed the melody of the song and observed what was happening outside. 
the streets felt so empty even though there were few people walking to school, is this really what south korea is like?

suddenly, my eyes locked onto something ; a distinguishable male figure with dark hair holding hands with a small girl with long, brown locks falling down. they were both walking together as their intertwined hands rocked forward and backward.
get a room
as soon as i saw that vulgar moment, i rolled my eyes and closed my window immediately.

"are we there yet?"
i asked as i pulled out one of my earphones. 
"just a few minutes, miss," he sternly answered, his eyes fixated on the road.

"mr lee, i don't want to be picked up after school today. and in future, it'll be too much hassle,"  i added before closing my eyes again. 
"b-but ma'am, i was ordered to tak-" he hesitated.

"well, i will not be expecting you after school." i sighed as i felt the worrisome tension in the car,
"if my beloved mother wants to know how i am doing so much, she can ask herself instead of receiving daily feedbacks from a stranger."
"i'll make sure to notify her miss, but are you sure you can get home? it's only been a few days since you moved here." he mumbled as he stirred the wheel.

"i'm going to my new apartment.
since i won't feel welcomed OR comfortable in that house," i sneered under my breath.

i peeked my eyes open and saw a small, sincere smile appear on his face. i closed my eyes again and let myself sink into the music.

i knew all about it, his family was struggling. 
his wife was diagnosed with a stage 3 heart cancer and they had two children to look after. 
i heard today was some important event for his kids in school. a theatre performance, was it?? 
as someone, whose parent(s) didn't give two s about my education and never visited my school, i would never want anyone to experience that.
my step father? probably the 2nd one this month. last one had a REALLY bad temper, hope he sorted out his anger management. 
anyways, my mother has a "hobby", or would you call that job?, for marrying desperate, rich, old men for money. 
i heard this time, he owns a huge entertainment agency called "JS Co." or something, and he has a daughter who's tragically the same age and attends the same school as me. from the rumours, i've heard she's a so i'm not expecting much or keeping my hopes up.

"just stay quiet and don't do anything that attracts attention," i tell myself over and over again until i'm suddenly pushed forward by the force of the car stopping.

"ma'am, we're here," mr lee's deep voice echoes and awakes me from my wandering thoughts.

i opened the car door and said my goodbyes.
i watched as i saw the black car fade away and turned around to see a big building.
talk about intimidation.
i take a big gasp and hold on tight to my bag.

"good morning students,"
a woman teacher standing near the gates chirped, as she softly pulled her hair behind her ears simultaneously. 
"good morning mrs park!"
a group of boys mimicked her high pitch tone and carefully placed their invisible strings of hair behind their ears.

i walked into the building, everything seemed so busy. everyone was so absorbed in their own world it made me feel tasteless. colourless.

there was a big crowd and i walked near to see what was happening.
i observed and detected an elegant yet delicate physique of a girl w brown hair and a long, black haired girl being pushed to the floor.

her eyes ; full of hatred.

satanic.

"well, this coffee's a waste," the girl giggles as she slowly poured the fluid down the helpless girl. 

i look down and saw the girl trying to cover her face. her arms were full of bruise and a deep cut could be seen on her left leg. now, all her body was wet and drenched but she did nothing and stayed still.
"come on, let me see your ugly face once more," the bully retorts as she grips the weak girl's face and forced an eye contact. 
i look around and saw some students not taking any interest in this whatsoever as they carry on walking past, going to their lockers or some in the crowd watching silently.

i glance at her name tag, 'jung soo jung'. so, this is the new step-sister. no surprise.

soojung grabs her hair and starts ragging it, the crowd was in an uproar. i turn around to walk away, it's not my place to in. after all, i'm new here, why should i already cause trouble on my first day?

"you're such a coward, picking on weak people. d-do you think i'm not fighting back because i'm scared of you? well you're wrong. all you amount to is a privileged bit-"
"you trying to be really cheeky with me now?" she growls and slaps her face. the slap echoes around the room as i hear gasps from the crowd and my eyes widen in shock.

'i don't even know that girl. she could've done something wrong in the first place and deserved it.'

'but still, that's too far.'

'what a loser,'

'she's so pitiful, look at her crawl.'

'c'mon doggie, bark for us !'

i turned around, my blood started to boil.

"i shouldn't," i whisper to myself,"if i can't even endure watching an outcast being bullied how can i survive in the real world?"

i take a deep breath and push through the crowd. i saw soojung ing the poor girl's hair back and forth as the girl bashes her head on the floor. 
blood rolled and dripped from her forehead, slowly forming into a small puddle. 
b b lood 
"oh my god! you digusting , you molted on me!" she screams, pulling strands of her hair whilst people in the crowd laugh. 
"oi, someone get me a sharp knife," my eyes bulge wide as soojung smiles gleefully whilst caressing the girl's face,"won't it be nice to put a mark on my ? like a collar for a dog, a long cut would look pretty, right?"

my fists clenched.