"No."

"Oh come on, you've skipped school 4 days in a row now! If it gets to 5, you're gonna get suspended."

"Not like it matters, I'm not needed at school anyway."

My little sister, Yeri sighed. I felt a little guilty honestly, seeing my little sister look as distressed as she did. She was a good girl, trying to get her older sister to school every day, which always made me a little happier inside. 

Yeri pouted. 

"I'll call mom."

"Leave her alone, she's stressed out enough at work as it is."

"Well, you're stressing me out right now, unnie! Come on, I haven't walked to school with you in ages, it's boring going alone!"

Yikes, she had a strong tug. I felt my shoulder snap when she yanked on my arm. I stumbled forward a little but regained my composure fairly quickly. That ballet training was a little useful after all. 

"Sorry, I don't want to go. Be a good little sister and leave me alone, I'm going to bed."

I headed to my room and closed the door behind me. I could practically feel my sister's pout as she watched me climb into my bed. 

"Whatever, guess I'll sleep."

***

Ah. .

"Se-seonsaengnim, what brings you here?"

My teacher, Miss Kim, stared at me from my front door. She looked at me as if I was some kind of pitiful dog, the look in her eyes showing nothing but worry and concern. Gross. 

"Irene, you haven't been coming to school for the last few days. What's going on?"

"Uhhh, I just haven't been feeling well recently, seonsaengnim."

"Can I see a medical certificate?"

"Uhh..."

Seonsaengnim sighed. Yikes, that probably wasn't the best excuse in the book. 

"Can I come in and talk with you?"

Not like I could say no and slam the door in her face. I opened my gate for her, bowing a little as she entered out of instinct from having done it so many times over the last year. She glanced around my apartment for a little bit before settling down on my sofa. 

"Nice little house you have here."

"Thanks."

"Parents not home?"

"Working overseas, like always."

"I see. Who stays with you then?"

"Just my little sister."

"Ah, how much younger is she?"

Damn, why was she so nosy? Was she trying to court me? Sorry teach, you're kind of attractive, nice chest, nice eyes, but way too old for me. I headed to the kitchen, grabbed some cups, and filled up some water for her. I still had basic manners.

"She's 4 years younger."

"So 14?"

"Yup."

She thanked me for the cup of water as I settled down to the seat next to her. I took a sip of the coffee I made for myself. 

"Irene, what is the real reason you haven't been coming to school?"

Straight to the point huh? No more of the small talk anymore it seems.

"No real reason, I just don't feel like it."

She didn't like that answer, judging from the way her eyebrows furrowed. I avoided her glance, choosing instead to face the TV screen in front of me. Her glare was pretty scary. 

"This isn't the first time this has been occurring. You have these periods where you just don't show up in school for an extended amount of time without any sort of valid reasoning. Are there any issues at home?"

"My parents aren't even here, so not at all."

"Then... could it be perhaps something at school?"

I scoffed. She was getting real close to what the issue was. Welp, might as well just come out and say it, so I don't have to waste any more time on this pointless conversation. 

"Yeah, I hate school. I hate everyone in there, they all ."

Now that was unexpected. I smirked a little at seeing the rather surprised look on seonsaengnim's face when she heard my response. It was satisfying, being able to make people feel some kind of strong emotion, be it shock, anger, or sadness. I liked it, quite a lot. It was borderline sadism, according to my little sister, but I am who I am.

"I didn't think you'd be so upfront about it. Very well, you have confirmed the information that I have been gathering about you for a while now with that response."

Wait, what?

"I've been asking around in the class about you. They all say that you're quite the loner."

Tch. What was wrong with that? I'm a loner of my own accord, I'm a loner because I chose to be. I didn't want to be friends with all those fake people anyway. 

"And as for your disappearances, they often occur after you have a... falling out with other people."

There it is. The way she phrased felt like a punch straight into my gut. Falling out?

"Just say it, I was rejected. On multiple occasions. And I broke off from every single friend that I ever made in school. That's why I'm not coming to school. There, happy?"

"Your honesty is unexpected."

"Maybe if you tried talking to me once in a while you would've known."

Oh, that stung. Seeing seonsaengnim desperately try to regain her composure after my comment was unbelievably satisfying. It was better than , not that I would know what that was like of course. 

"Ma-maybe not me, but I think someone more suited for the job would like to speak to you?"

Oh, don't you dare tell me-

"The student counselor would like to take you under her wing starting from tomorrow." 

... You got to be ting me.

"I don't need therapy, seonsaengnim. I'm perfectly fine. I have decent grades, my IQ is higher than the average, I'm-"

"You're going to see the counselor, Irene, whether you come to school or not. If you don't show up, she'll be at your front door tomorrow at the same time I was. Understood?"

I didn't even have time to come up with a rebuttal. She stood up and left the house right after she dropped that bomb on me, leaving my jaw hanging and my eyes wide open. 

"I DON'T WANT TO GO FOR TY THERAPY!!"

***

"Are you clinically depressed?"

"No, I'm not."

"Then why do you have to go to therapy?"

"It's counseling, please."

Yeri heaved yet another sigh. 

"Yah, are you some kind of old lady? Why are you sighing so much?"

"Because of you. I wouldn't be surprised if grey hairs started popping up on my scalp now."

Yowch. I did not want to be the reason my younger sister's beautiful hair suddenly looked like our grandma's. I began digging around her scalp, looking for the pesky things just in case, but she slapped my hand away pretty quickly. Another yowch.

"I didn't mean that literally!"

Duh, I was just playing around. I slumped back into the sofa where my seonsaengnim was sitting at earlier, tutting upon remembering what transpired earlier. 

Therapy sounded like bull. Okay, 'counseling' sounded like bull. How was talking to some random shrink going to magically fix all the issues I have right now? Will they be able to help me make friends? Will they magically make me more confident? Will they suddenly make me worth a damn in others' eyes? No way, right? No way in hell. 

"So, you going to school tomorrow?"

"Don't have a choice. I don't want them showing up at our house again. That was just awkward."

"Sounds about right... Welp, go get the help you need, unnie."

"I don't need help."

"I think you do."

I sighed. Does even my sister think this is necessary? What a terrible day this was becoming. Why even live at this point? Maybe I can just die in my sleep, wouldn't hurt to give it a try. 

***

Didn't work.

That damn morning sun penetrated my eyes, while my younger sister's yelling blasted through my ears.

Damn it.

"Unnie! Time to go to school with me! Hurry, hurry!!"

She's lucky I loved her, or else I would have already dropkicked her the moment she opened . Getting out of bed was the most difficult part. Once I got that out of the way, I'm pretty much golden. 

"Give me 5, I'll be ready then..."

I didn't bother showering, putting on makeup, styling my hair, or whatever other crap those wannabe idols at my school did. Are you going to school to learn or film a music video? Throwing on my uniform, which I didn't iron, of course, I waited at the front door for my little sister to get ready.

"Hah? You look like a homeless person."

"So?"

"Don't you wanna be more... presentable?"

"You think I'm important enough for people to care if I'm presentable? I appreciate the compliment, but other than you, you'd find it hard to find someone else who cares enough about me to be concerned with how I look."

"Uhh, sure thing, unnie. Let's go."

And we were off. I took one last longing look inside my castle, my throne room, my bedroom, before closing the door. Oh, the beautiful thing. I'll be back soon baby, I promise. 

"We're not getting evicted you know?"

"Of course I do, idiot."

I couldn't tell if Yeri was looking at me with anger or pity. Either way, it wasn't pleasant. I reached out to pat her head, which she begrudgingly accepted. That brought a smile to my face.

"Alright, let's get a move on."

***

Darn, am I under some kind of watch list or something?

"Good, you're here."

Seonsaengnim was stood right at the front gate, clearly waiting for me since the school opened it seems like. Crap, she was getting closer. I looked left and right, quickly trying to evaluate some kind of escape plan for myself. 

"Seonsaengnim! I got her right here for you!"

Damn you, you little brat! What a goddamn traitor! Once we get home I swear to god I'll-

"I'll take it from here," seonsaengnim said, yanking my arm and dragging me away. I glared back at Yeri, who had the biggest -eating grin on her face. Curse her.

"This'll help you, unnie! Hopefully, it'll get you more friends!"

Screw you, I don't need friends. They all leave you the moment you don't become useful to them anyway, and it's not like I'm useful to anyone in the first place. Also, why was I being grabbed by my elbow? It was horribly uncomfortable, everything about this . I hate everything, I want to just go to the roof and-

Alright, enough of the self-loathing and suicidal thoughts. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all. Who knows, this could be one of those situations where the counselor is some hot guy who I end up falling in love with. 

Who am I kidding? This wasn't a rom-com.

"Don't I have to go to class, seonsaengnim?"

"You'll get private lessons afterward, with another teacher. The counselor is only free in the morning."

So I get to skip lessons for a bit. Neat. We were now in the 'other' part of the school, the building that never got used other than for summer school. I was gonna be all alone with this counselor in an empty building? What if I got kidnapped and sold for organs? Or worse...

Nah, I doubt I was worth kidnapping. 

"And we're here."

What a shabby classroom. There didn't even look to be any tables in there. Seonsaengnim opened the door, and in there sat one lone woman, looking through her phone. A woman? A girl? She looked like she was my age.

"Here's your counselor, Irene."

Hah? You sure you didn't get the wrong person?

The girl stood up and bowed to me. I flinched. Someone bowing to me felt weird.

"Good to meet you, Irene. My name is Wendy."