15.1 School

Mina stopped running after she was a safe distance from the female washroom. Huffing and panting to catch her breath, events from the bullying incident inevitably replayed in Mina’s head like a movie scene.

“Go ahead and tell the teachers. And I’ll see to it that your Appa’s entire career ended with a giant full-stop. My Omma just needs to throw her weight around and he’ll never find any job after losing his current one with us.”

(~ Jimin, Chapter 14)

“Mina! Get out immediately and don’t come back.”

(~ Seulgi, Chapter 14)

Jimin was not lying about the amount of influence her family had in Korea. Both her parents were descendants of chaebols (large family-owned business conglomerate in South Korea), thus the union further strengthened the existing affluence of each family. Mina’s father was due for a potential promotion, hence the last thing Mina needed was to jeopardise his chance to climb further up the corporate ladder. Moreover, Seulgi had clearly stated that she did not need any help from Mina. With all the facts placed on the weighing scale, it did not look like a difficult decision to make. Pretending that nothing had happened and walking away seemed like the obvious thing to do, however…

“My Chemistry lesson happens after the lunch break, so you may borrow mine first and return it to me during lunchtime.”

“Stop right there! You are hurting her!”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find a way out myself. Please pass my book to Krystal.”

(~ Seulgi, Chapter 14)

Streams of tears rolled down Mina’s face as images of Seulgi’s eye smile flashed in her mind. Slumped against the railing of the staircase, Mina blamed her cowardice for trapping her inside this moral dilemma.

“Are you ok?”

Mina looked up and find Mdm Ahn, the school janitor and an idea struck her. Wiping away her tears, she pleaded, “Mdm Ahn, can you please do me a favour?”

15.2 School - Back To The Washroom…

“Have you any idea what you’re up against when you shove me up the wall like this,” Smoking Friend seized Seulgi by the placket of her blouse and slammed her body down. “I do not get a judo black belt for nothing.”

For a while, Seulgi was on the verge of blacking out when her back collided with the ground, only to be rudely revived when Jimin poured the remaining can of coke on her face. “Didn’t I say not to bore me earlier on? Wake up and entertain me!”

“You should’ve poured some of the coke on her toned stomach. It’ll look like she’s lying there showing off her sweaty abs. How y is that?” Smoking Friend was filming the whole process with her smartphone. “Speaking of y, look at those hickeys! Didn’t know you go that far with Taeyong.”

“What a !” Jimin spat on Seulgi’s exposed waist. “Acting sweet and nice in front of everyone, while being shamelessly easy behind closed doors.”

“It wasn’t Taeyong! It’s… never mind… (Chapter 13)” Seulgi protested, but paused halfway. She was powerless to stop the video recording, but she could at least be mindful of her words, and how she looked in them. With that in mind, she quickly fastened the buttons that came undone when Smoking Friend grabbed her blouse and threw her down hard.

“So, you didn’t do it with Taeyong. Then again, giving yourself so easily to someone else doesn’t change the fact that you’re a closeted .” Smoking Friend spared no mercy in her insults.

“You have attached already? With someone else?”

Sensing a change in Jimin’s tone, Seulgi jumped at the opportunity. “Yes. Judge me all you want. The point is I’m going out with someone, so it’s impossible between me and Taeyong.”

Jimin pondered over the revelation with a newfound optimism. With Seulgi taken and totally out of the way, she could continue to remain hopeful that Taeyong had a change of heart in future. Perhaps she should start taking her father’s advice about being kind and nice.

“You may go now,” Jimin motioned her friends to clear the path. “After you have washed your hands, that is.”

Seeing how things were beginning to take a positive turn, Seulgi did as told. When Seulgi the tap, Jimin caught sight of what she was wearing. Funny how she did not notice it before…

“The bangle you’re wearing… it looks kinda familiar.”

15.3 School - Staff Room

“Ten, would you help me to carry that stack of notes?”

“Sure, Ms Son.”

When they were nearing the doorway to leave the staff room, they saw Mdm Ahn dashing towards them in a state of panic. Both Ms Son and Ten moved aside to make way for Mdm Ahn to enter the staff room.

“Teacher, please help!”

“What happen?” Mrs Choi was the only teacher left in the staff room.

“There’s some trouble in the female washroom near the canteen! Jimin, Seulgi and a few other girls…” Mdm Ahn had difficulties finding the words to describe the situation as she did not witness it first-hand. “Anyway, a teacher’s presence will help.”

“Did Mdm Ahn mention Seulgi’s name?”

“I heard it too, Ms Son. And Jimin. I don’t feel good hearing these two names in the same sentence.”

“What do you mean?”

“How should I put it? It’s a complicated story…”

On hearing Ten’s remarks, Wendy felt the need to be there for Seulgi, at least as a balancing factor to ensure that the situation was handled fairly. She was in this school long enough to know that most teachers would take Jimin’s side by default. “Listen, Ten. You return to the class first and play the video to keep the students occupied. I need to go to the scene and take a look.”

15.4: School - Washroom

It did not take long for Wendy to keep up with Mrs Choi, who took the lead and opened the door to the washroom.

“Now what’s going on… ahh!” Mrs Choi almost slipped on the liquid soap spread across the floor if Wendy did not catch her in time.

“Are you okay?”

“Thanks, Ms Son,” Mrs Choi’s eyes traced the trail of liquid soap which eventually led her to the dispenser that had dropped onto the ground. She recalled discovering that the dispenser was loose earlier this morning and had notified the administrative office. From the look of things, they could not fix it in time. Compared to the broken dispenser, the commotion nearby demanded more urgent attention. Jimin squatted on the ground with her hand cupping her bleeding nose, whereas Seulgi had hers balled into a fist. In view of what she had witnessed, Mrs Choi felt the need to mete out some punishment on the spot under the capacity of a teacher, so she stomped towards Seulgi.

“No wait!” just when Mrs Choi was about to strike Seulgi, her hand was held back mid-air by Wendy. “We need to find out what had happened first.”

“What else is there to find out, when it’s clear as day that Seulgi had hit Jimin?” Mrs Choi retorted. “In case you want to look at some CCTV footage, let me remind you that there isn’t any installed in the washroom.”

“First of all, I suggest that someone help Jimin to the sickbay immediately,” Wendy turned to look at Jimin’s friends.

“I’d do it,” Smoking Friend volunteered herself.

“The rest of you will come with me to the Disciplinary Office!” Mrs Choi ordered.

“Mrs Choi. I have Art lessons right now.”

“Are you looking for an excuse to escape from the investigation?”

“Today, only my form class have lessons after lunch. Since the other students are free now, why not let them go through the questioning first?” Wendy suggested. “Seulgi will go after her last class, which happens to be your Chemistry, so you can easily ensure that she won’t run away.”

Since Wendy had a point, Mrs Choi was forced to concur with her so they went separate ways after that. Wendy and Seulgi were already running late, so they rushed to the class without saying anything to each other. In contrast, the other camp could afford to take their own sweet time. On the way to the Disciplinary Office, Jimin’s friends received a text notification on their mobile phones at the same time. Smoking Friend had posted a concocted story on their chat group for them to use as witness account later. This was to ensure that they were saying the same thing.

15.5: School - Disciplinary Office

3 hours later

Seulgi finished telling her side of the story to Mdm Cho. She made no mention of Mina. Whether this was a wise move or not remained to be seen.

“So, you claim that Jimin and her friends trapped you in the washroom, harassed you and took your thing. Do you have any evidence, or at least a witness, to support your statement?”

Although Mina was the best person to testify for her, Seulgi tried not to implicate her in this conflict for fear of her father losing his job just for helping.

On getting no response from Seulgi, Mdm Cho broke the silence. “You have caused grievous hurt to a fellow student and that could amount to expulsion from school. Due to the severity of the offence, it would take more than just a one-sided story from you alone to act as a mitigating factor.”

On hearing from Mdm Cho the prospect of being expelled, Seulgi swallowed a lump in .

“Anyway, you think about what other evidence you have to help your case. I’d also let Ms Son know about the findings so far. Depending on how the case develops, I may need to see you again for more rounds of interrogations. So don’t you dare skip school or do any more stupid things to make it worse, understand?”

“Yes, Mdm Cho.”

“It’s only your first year and look how much trouble you have got yourself into! You seriously need to reflect on your conduct,” Mdm Cho took a glance at the clock. “What? It’s already 6.30 pm? It’s all your fault that I’d be late for my family dinner.”

After dismissal from the disciplinary office, Seulgi went to the car park that was beside the washroom. It did not take her long to find what she was looking for. Lying in the middle of the road was her precious bangle or rather half of it. As Seulgi bent down to pick up what was left of it, she could no longer fight the tears from falling, the by-product of the emotions she had been holding back all this time.

“Why is my Seulgi-yah so sad?”

Seulgi looked up to find a fresh-looking sunflower waving in front of her face. Turning her head to face the source of the familiar voice, Seulgi suddenly remembered that she was supposed to meet up with Joohyun at the school foyer because they ended school at the same time and could go home together. “Oops sorry, I forgot the time. Let’s go home now.”

“You are not answering my question,” Joohyun took out some tissue to wipe Seulgi’s tears. “Who has the nerve to make my Brown Bear cry?”

“Brown Bear?” Seulgi was so amused by Joohyun’s new pet name for her that she stopped crying. “You mean Mr Brown from Line Friend? But he’s a male.”

“Don’t kid yourself. In your subconscious mind, Brown Bear is a female, so don’t argue with me on this one (Chapter 7),” Joohyun pinched Seulgi’s nose playfully, before slipping the same hand down the latter’s arm to where she was holding the broken bangle. “Are you crying over this?”

“It’s ok. After seeing Unnie, I feel better already. Is that sunflower for me?” Seulgi did not want to burden Joohyun with her problem, so she tried to divert the topic.

“Yes. We had a good harvest in the school garden, so I picked one for you. But…” Joohyun pulled Seulgi up as she was standing up herself. “You have to share with me what happened first. Let’s talk about it on our way home.”

FLASHBACK: Several Hour Ago In The Washroom;

End of Flashback…

“You should have gone to the sickbay too. Didn’t one of them hurt your back? If you can get a medical report from the doctor, that might have helped to prove your case,” Joohyun reasoned.

“The doctors will also discover the scars left by my Omma. Won’t they question about those as well?”

“You worry about Mina’s Appa losing his job. You worry about your Omma being charged for physical abuse. Who’s going to worry about you being expelled from school?”

“Unnie?” Seulgi pointed mischievously at Joohyun.

“Hahaha! Like I care about a stupid bear…” Joohyun sighed.

“Yeah, I know I’m a pabo… but hey look!” Seulgi pointed at the faraway horizon. “Can we forget about everything for a moment and admire the beautiful sunset instead?”

Seulgi’s naive optimism never ceased to amaze Joohyun. Despite what she had said earlier, Joohyun had to admit that Seulgi was right. She was indeed worried about Seulgi’s possible expulsion from school.

A/N: I'd like to take this opportunity to congratulate Red Velvet on their successful comeback. 

To be honest, Queendom sounded too safe and generic for my liking, but whatever it takes to achieve commercial success. I prefer Pose for its relatively more impactful sound and choreography. Oh wait, why am I reviewing their album here?