Jessica’s body jerked as Yuri shouted for her to snap out of her trance.  No matter how hard she tried to think, it made her angrier and angrier, trapped in an endless spiral. She had always worked hard and did whatever she needed to get what she wanted. This time it didn’t work out the way she wanted it to, which caused a considerable impact on her mental state.

Before she fought for rank 1 spot from Sunny’s friend Eunhaeng. But she has gotten through that. From one incident, she exploited them, and as a result, it forced Eun to transfer out.

“I think I am going to go outside and get some fresh air.” Said a dejected Jessica, already getting up from her chair, ready to leave the cafeteria.

It’s been a week since Jessica found out. At school, she remained silent and stayed in the background when her friends talked. She pretended everything was fine at home so she doesn’t have to get yelled at. More importantly, not to let Krystal worry about her again.

Jessica did not say much other than answering every question with hums and sighs. Ever since she discovered that everything was set up by Taeyeon, the anger never fully subsided, and it drained her.

Eventually, she stopped trying in school and avoided her friends all together. Her friends are growing worried about her because they have never seen their friend so disheartened and quiet. Hyoyeon and Yuri were still puzzled on why the girl was this upset. All they knew was that there was something odd about Taeyeon scoring lower, but didn’t Jessica also achieve perfect?

“There you are.” Yuri felt a bit of relief when she found her. Yuri finally found Jessica sitting alone outside the school after running out of the cafeteria right when lunch started. Her once confident and cheerful bestie now sat in front of her, shoulders drooping and head lowered. She saw her in this state only when her father first rejected her dreams of pursuing a music career. “So what? So what if she scored lower on purpose? You can’t treat yourself like this. You still got 100% by yourself on that midterm. It’s not like she beat you.”

“It’s useless, Yul. After knowing she ranked lower on purpose, getting that ing 100 feels worse than getting an F!”

“I don’t get it. Why do you have to compare yourself with her? Isn’t rank one what you always wanted!?”

“Do you not know how humiliating that is!? I have always scored the highest and r