QOTD: ‘If you stick your nose into too many things, you’ll get blackheads.’ -Saeron

            After her neurotic ramblings in the confines of her and Saeron’s shared room ended, Yeri decided to skip out on homework (as if she didn’t already make a habit of that at the slightest inconvenience) and go to bed early so she wouldn’t wake up with bags under her eyes. It was already getting pretty bad with the absolute lack of free time to pamper herself with her thirteen-step skin care routine (done both in the morning and before bed); Yeri had enough dignity to serve only her best looks to her social media followers even if she was doing a mission just for them.

            She woke up with bags under her eyes anyway, but Yeri was an expert at makeup, no thanks to her years and years of hogging the bathroom to practice even with her mom screaming at her to let her use the mirror too. No pain, no gain, she thought. Of course, that didn’t mean she had to be the one feeling pain—she could just assign that to her mother. That’s what parents were for, right?

            “I still think you’re insane for getting up two hours early to do your makeup,” Saeron commented, yawning as she passed Yeri to go brush her teeth. “Maybe if you cut back on that, you’d be less tired.”

            “Are you actively wishing for my downfall?” Yeri asked, whirling around to narrow her eyes at her friend. “I am beauty and brains, okay? Beauty and brains.”

            Saeron stared blankly at her, wondering why the she decided to say hi to the crazy girl at the playground all those years ago when they were both four. “Do you ever entertain the possibility of placing more emphasis on the brains part of that phrase?”

            Yeri flipped her hair. “What for? I’m naturally gifted in that area.”

            “...okay.”

            The taller girl walked off to clean up, muttering to herself that it was too early in the morning for ungodly things.

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            “Alright, everyone!” Ms. Kwon slammed a stack of stapled papers on her desk before placing her hands on her hip, a gesture much too dramatic to be that of a health teacher’s instead of a theatre teacher’s. “First group projects are coming up, and while I’ll give you some time to work on them in class, you’ll also have to meet outside of school hours to finalize presentations.”

            Yeri gulped. She not only didn’t have time to meet with people outside of class but also didn’t want to deal with the headache of Seulrene fighting in her presence and her having to mediate hassling over schedules to meet up with the two older girls seated on either side of her. The freshman glanced between the stoic faced seniors before meeting her teacher’s eyes in a panic. Ms. Kwon, however, was a cruel woman and did not once look her way.

            After Ms. Kwon finished explaining the project (they had to create a PSA video on one of the topics listed in the project paper that would be randomly drawn by one member in each group and present the topic to the class), Seulgi rushed to the front to get the paper at the same time Irene did, jostling Yeri in the process and almost knocking out of the goddamn middle seat. When she looked up what they were in such a hurry for, she wasn’t surprised to see them elbowing each other to grab a popsicle stick from the can Ms. Kwon was holding for the drawing. The teacher looked tiredly at the girls as everyone else stayed clear of the rivals. Park Joy and Son Wendy included.

            “Are you going to draw something so the others can get their topics too, or am I going to have to send both of you to detention?” When Seulgi and Irene looked up at her, she continued. “Don’t think I haven’t heard from Yoona what happened your freshman year.”

            Yeri perked up at that. What happened their freshman year?

            “What happened your freshman year?” some brave soul voiced out. He was quickly shushed by a hand slapped over his mouth. Probably done in fear.

            “None of your business, Jaemin,” Ms. Kwon quickly answered, as if she too was intimidated by the glares Seulrene were sending her way. “Here, why don’t I just pick for your group?”

            Yeri kind of wanted to pick a popsicle stick because she hadn’t done it in a long time, but she merely watched as the teacher drew a stick and read it out loud. It was for the best, anyway.

            “Alright, so Irene, Seulgi, and Yeri, you three are going to do STD prevention.”

            Well . Yeri wasn’t sure how to feel about doing a ed project with the school’s two biggest rivals, of all people.

            As if ignorant to her inner meltdown, the two seniors who had been causing a ruckus walked back to their seats, much to the relief of the visibly sighing students at the front of the classroom. Yeri envied them at that moment, because she looked down at the project paper and saw that one of the requirements for the PSA video was that all group members had to come out in the video at least once. Which meant territories that she didn’t feel like thinking about already.

            “STD prevention shouldn’t be too hard,” Irene started, breaking the silence. It was almost as if the entire class flinched at her flat voice. “We can just talk about the stuff listed in the textbook: contraceptives, hygiene, certain vaccines.”

            Yeri agreed enthusiastically. “Of course, of course! I trust you guys, since you’re the smartest ones in the school.” She paused. “We just...need to plan a meeting time.”

            “No need,” Seulgi commented. “We can get it done in class.”

            “Look, Kang Seulgi. I know you don’t want to be in my presence for longer than necessary, but I’d like to get an A on this project,” Irene sneered. “Unlike you, I don’t half- things.”

            “Oh? So are you going to forget about how you flunked a quiz once in sophomore year?”

            Yeri was more surprised just at the fact that Irene would flunk a quiz, ever, than that Seulgi knew of such a fact about her rival.

            “I told you, I was tired and misread the instructions.”

            “You act as if you were the one with a game the day before.”

            “For your information, the cheer team was at your game too, despite my wishes not to attend.”

            “Mighty rich of you to say that, Miss Cheer Captain. What would your teammates say?”

            “Oh, they’d sing praises about me compared to you. Do you even train your own team, or does your coach baby you?”

            “Well, fortunately our coach is competent and actually knows training regimes. I don’t know why yours trusts you, a mere student, to lead yours from the top.”

            Yeri’s head wasn’t spinning fast enough to think of a way to stop their back and forth (partially due to her lack of sleep over the past few weeks), so when she saw a shadow looming over her desk, she knew it was the direct cause for the two seniors going quiet.

            “Irene. Seulgi.” Ms. Kwon knocked on Yeri’s desk, intimidating the poor freshman than was necessary (why Yeri was the one suffering, she wasn’t quite sure about). “I’ll be seeing the both of you in detention today. I’ll email your coaches.”

            Yeri didn’t think she’d seen either girl look so helpless. Perhaps even queens could be defeated.

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            As much as Yeri wanted to do something stupid and follow them to detention, the knowing glint in Ms. Kwon’s eyes told her that she’d regret meddling with the teacher’s promises to have only the two girls together with a teacher in a room. It meant that she was left with a free day after school, something