Ilhoon walked into the class earlier than usual that morning. He clutched his bag pack’s strap as he walked down the lane of the classroom to get to his seat. The young man sensed the glares and sneers from his classmate which explains why he got his head down.

The sad fact about Ilhoon was, though he had the image of a teenage boy who would walk the area coolly with his head up, he was always ducking around. He was afraid of being caught or spotted by any students especially the male ones. He hated the fact that each and every single day, he was tormented to go to school.

The young man tried to pull his chair when he felt a sticky liquid in between his fingers. He rubbed his fingers together and noticed little tiny balls of rubber formed in between his fingers.

‘Sore Loser’ was written on a memo pad stuck to the back of his chair with glue. Ilhoon looked up to see the smirk on Kim Seyong’s face while he fist-to-fisted with his group of friends. Seyong definitely felt like a champion when his pranks worked.

Poor Ilhoon could only his dry lips, frustrated and sighed in exhaustion. After all, what could he do? He was not a skilled fighter. He was not a well-known student in the school where he could confront his bullies face to face. He was not the type of guy who would use his fist whenever and wherever he likes.

He tore the memo pad from the chair and his veins popped out while crumpling the small piece of paper in his fist. The patient young man finally settled down in his seat while taking out his books. His mathematics assessment book was opened as he took his writing materials out.

Staring blankly at the questions on the page of the assessment book while holding his black pen in the right hand, he couldn’t help but to let his thoughts go astray.    

‘Am I such an easy target of bullies?’

‘Am I that easy to be fooled?’

‘Am I just that easy?’

‘Goodness, why can’t I even stand up for myself?!’

Ilhoon was fighting the urge to bang his table in annoyance. He ran his fingers through his hair and laid his head on the table exasperated.

He was annoyed with Kim Seyong, definitely. He was annoyed with Seyong’s existence. He was annoyed with Seyong’s pranks. But above all, he was annoyed with himself.

His forehead cringed as Minji’s voice echoed through his head at the thought of a ‘fighter’.

Ilhoon is a fighter? He could laugh at himself for days at his own joke. He could not even fight back over a prank. What more being a fighter?

He was not trying to be someone who was ungrateful but he got irritated when Minji was always standing up for him. She would hunt those bullies down one by one even if it takes her weeks to find them all. With that, Ilhoon could even argue with Minji for a whole week trying to make her comprehend the phrase of ‘stay out of it’.

Ilhoon wished to hunt those bullies down like Minji did. He wished to take down those bullies like she did. He wished to feel respected like how she was getting respected. He just wished to feel appreciated for once. He wanted to get started by letting his classmates to welcome him at least. He wished, wished and wished.

‘But were all of that too much to ask for?’ he gritted his teeth.

‘Perhaps, yes. That’s just impossible’, he shook his head and let out a sigh

Minji slipped on her shoes and grabbed her skateboard at the side of the front door, not forgetting to lock it. Feeling that she had to be in school early that morning, she sped off on her board.

She arrived in school after taking the shortest route for only fifteen minutes. Unlocking her locker through the combination, she picked her books for the day and stuffed her skateboard inside.  Banged her locker close and off she goes to class.

Her shoes squeaked to a stop once she stepped into her class. Somehow, she could sense the tension in the air. And she despised the atmosphere. It was suffocating.

Seyong clucked his tongue and whistled in pleasure looking at Minji. If she could have smashed his face, she would’ve done so by then. Letting it slide, she continues to make her way to her seat.

She quickly settled down in her seat but soon, did a double take when she saw Ilhoon shaking his head, heaving out a sigh. Her forehead cringed in curiosity.

“Hey dude,” she greeted him with a soft punch on his shoulder.

Ilhoon lifted a hand but he still buries his face in his arms. Her head automatically tilts as her eyes widened in surprise.

“Are you okay?” she started off.

“Wait, of course you’re not,” she mumbled to herself.

“I-I mean, what’s wrong?” she gently shook his shoulders. In his arms, his head shook.

Silently blowing her top, the girl turned towards the front.

“Alright, fine. Do what you like,” Minji threw her hands in mid air and set her books on the table.

Five mathematics questions have been done including the question that she was working on at the moment, yet Ilhoon didn’t even acknowledge her when she tried to start a conversation.

Minji chose a small eraser from her pencil case and got ready to shoot Ilhoon in the ear.

“Class, please settle down. I have a few announcements to make, so please spare me your attention,” Jeon seonsaengnim came in and stood on the podium.

‘Aish, great.’ Minji kept her small piece of rubber and sighed in defeat.

Whew. Hello! I'm back after decades of not updating. xD Hope you guys like the long chapter though. Thank you for waiting and reading. :) do comment and tell me how it is, yeah?