After a grueling first day, Jessica was more than happy when she heard the bell ring for home. So many things had happened within such a short period of time and she didn’t know if she could take any more nonsense. She really wished she could go back to being home-schooled.

“Which way will you be going?” Taeyeon, whom she had surprisingly gotten accustomed to pretty quickly, asked when they arrived at the school gate.

“Left. And you?”

“Ah, my home’s that way.” Taeyeon pointed towards the right.

“Oh well, guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Jessica shrugged.

“Alright. Bye!” Taeyeon skipped off after bidding her newfound friend goodbye.

Jessica started along the path for home, pondering the day’s events. “Mom is so gonna hear about this… who knows? She might even consider letting me school from home again.” She rambled to herself.

It wasn’t long before she noticed a familiar figure trudging ahead of her, pushing along a blue bicycle. Her eyes immediately widened at the sight. “Ah! Andwae! Ttoya?!” It was only when the girl in front spun round that she realised she had passed the comment out loud.

Jessica cupped her hands to at once to hush herself. “Just avoid any conversation at all costs to avoid the bad luck.” She reminded herself internally. To her further dismay, the girl started making her way towards her.

“Y-you stay away from me! I said stop! Stop coming towards me!” Jessica warned, backing away slowly. Little did she know that she had reached the curb and before anybody could do anything about saving her, she had fallen down and sprained her ankle.

“Aish! Jinjja!” Jessica gripped her sore ankle tightly with clenched teeth.

“Mi-mianhaeyo…” The girl let her bike crash to the ground instantaneously and rushed over to Jessica’s side.

“I am so close to murdering you right now! You have no idea!” Jessica refuted in that high-pitched voice of hers.

“Are you able to stand up?” The girl tried to support her but was being shoved aside.

“Don’t touch me.” The hot-headed girl threw her a dirty look before clambering to her feet.

“Jeongmal mianhaeyo…” The girl’s head was bowed.

“Ugh, you know what, just stop saying that already. I’ve gotten into enough trouble and I have a bad feeling worse things are gonna happen with every word of ‘sorry’ you utter. So just stop, okay? Geez.” Jessica rolled her eyes and was about to limp away when she remembered that some confrontation had to be done. “What did you say your name was again?” She faced the girl with stone-cold eyes.

“Im Yoona.” The girl stated quickly as if she was being interrogated by some police officer or something.

“First of all, Im Yoona, that stupid bicycle of yours needs to go. Either that or you’ll need to take up some proper bike riding lessons. Secondly, whatever that happened earlier in that restroom just now… forget all of it, arasseo?” It was amusing to see how a person with an injured ankle could still be so full of herself. Yoona meekly nodded in response and expressed a quick “ne”.

“Also, with regards to that irritating friend of yours… could you teach her to hold her tongue or something? Otherwise, don’t blame me if I’m unable to suppress the inherent urge to beat her up the next time she ever tries to pick an argument with me.” Jessica inspected her nails as she spoke, completely neglecting how the other girl felt.

“I’m sure she didn’t mean it, she’s--"

“I haven’t finished speaking. Why did you approach me just now despite me telling you to stop? What the heck were you trying to do?” Jessica frowned at the girl, whose head was still drooped.

“I… uh… amugeotdo anieyo… it’s getting really late and I need to go. I’m really sorry for all the incidents that have happened today. Meonjeo galkke.” Yoona bowed hastily, pushed up her geeky glasses and turned to leave but a strong grip on her wrist made her pause in her tracks.

“Are you sure it’s nothing? I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. You’re not leaving until you give me some answers.” Jessica persisted. She hated it whenever people evaded her questions.

“It’s… I just thought… I just thought you were following me.” Yoona admitted, feeling her face burn up from embarrassment.

“Mwo? Me? Follow you? Please. And why would I do that?” Jessica raised a perfectly manicured brow.

“Mianhaeyo. I really have to go.” Yoona started to walk away.

“Ya! Aren’t you gonna get me a cab or something? I got hurt because of you!” Jessica shouted from behind.

“Oh yes, of course! I almost forgot. Okay, I will.” The honest girl returned to the curb and scanned the road for any sign of oncoming taxis.

~~~~~~~~

“Okay, I’ve been waiting here for close to ten minutes and you still haven’t managed to hail me a cab.” A bored Jessica, who was sitting on the curb, dropped the few blades of grass she had been fiddling with.

“Um, I hate to say this but I don’t think we’re in luck.” Yoona glanced at her watch. It was already seven. She had to hurry home for dinner. Her mother would be worried sick. Just then, a solution popped into her mind.

“Uh, if you don’t mind me asking, where do you live?” Jessica’s face scrunched up at the random inquiry.

“Wae?”

“Well, since we happen to be going in the same direction, I was thinking I could perhaps give you a ride home with that?” Yoona pointed to her bicycle lying on the ground.

“Mwo?”

“I mean, the front wheel’s a little cranky now from the collision just now but I think it should be alright…” Yoona explained further as Jessica’s expression grew sourer with every word she spoke.

After a few more minutes of persuasion, Jessica finally relented and climbed on. She really wanted to get home as well. She had never been more exhausted in her entire life. “Just know this: my life is extremely precious, okay? Don’t let anything happen to me.” She cautioned almost tearfully and Yoona giggled.

“It’s not supposed to be funny! I’m being serious here!” Jessica berated and Yoona pulled a straight face promptly.

“Arasseo. Just hold on tight, okay?” She reminded the anxious girl.

“Onto what?”

“Me, of course. Okay, let’s go.” Yoona started to paddle when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her waist. She felt her heart flutter from the contact for some reason but shook the thought out of her head fleetly.

~~~~~~~~

“Okay, here we are.” Yoona announced and Jessica hopped off once they came to a complete stop, letting out a squeal when she applied a little too much pressure onto her injured ankle.

“Be careful!” Yoona held onto the girl’s arm firmly to prevent her from falling. They stayed that way for a while before Jessica cleared and retreated abruptly.

“Okay, I’ve got this. You can go now.” Jessica mentioned complacently and started hobbling towards the front door. She turned around moments later and realised that the girl was still there. “Ya! I said you could leave!”

“I will once you’ve safely entered your house.” Yoona remarked with a soft smile. For a moment, it seemed as though Jessica was actually touched by what the girl had done for her.

“Pfft. Don’t think this is gonna change anything. I’m still gonna be ignoring you in school. Please do the same and try not to run into me anymore.” Jessica managed before slamming the door behind her.

“Does she really have to be so mean?” Yoona sighed before turning around and cycling back home. This has really been one hell of a first day.

Ah, finally~ Well, hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Thanks for the support~ ^^