“Did you hear? Did you? Ahn Daniel rejected another girl!” whispered Maria, your closest friend at school.
Her hair was dyed a fierce scarlet red, which looked like the colour of blood underneath the gaps of sunlight seeping from the blinds.
“Again?” you smile, pretending to be interested.
Ahn Daniel is one of the popular guys in school, asked out way too often. It doesn’t even surprise you that he was asked out again, but for some reason, he never accepts the confessions. Maybe he has another interest? Not like you really care anyway. You sigh as you lean on one elbow and wait for reccess to finally be over.

As you silently file into maths, you take your seat next to Daniel. In most cases, he unbearably loud, always disturbs the class and creates a ruckus—you never actually get any work done. You sigh about how unlucky you are to sit next to him, even if every single girl in the school would murder—just to be breathing in the same classroom as him. You don’t care, not like it matters, he never notices you anyway. It was pretty stupid how crazy girls would be over just one guy.

The girls give you dirty looks and glare at you fiercly as you take you emotionlessly assume your normal position.
“Hi,” he finally says. “Ga-yun...?”
“Ga-yun Yuri.” you reply, thinking he has finally noticed you. Tch, this guy is so ignorant to others.
“Ah, I see. Can I borrow your rubber?” he asks. So he only needed you for your rubber.
“Sure,” you reply as fumble through your pencil case, searching for your rubber which was cut in half with one side saying ‘yes’ and the other saying ‘no’.
“Here.” you say.
You hold your hand out, and he grabs it, and you feel his warm, soft skin against yours for a few seconds, and as he lets go, your hand quickly turns cold. He seems surprised and quickly looks away.

After class, you swiftly grab your books and pace furiously out of class. I have to get out of here. You despised maths. One reason was that it was incredibly boring, and the other, incredibly hard. Your parents suggested a tutor, but you never got around to finding one. I can do without a tutor, you thought confidently to yourself.

“So, what type of guy is your dream man?” asks Maria curiously, with her eyes staring at you dreamily.
You get the shivers.
“What’s with the sudden question?” you reply indifferently, taking a bite from your apple.
“I fell in love with someone~” she says. “I was just curious who you like!”
“I don’t really care at this stage.” you say casually, making no eye contact.
“Aren’t you even going to ask me who I like?!” she yells.
“Of course, I was just trying to make you wait.” you say jokingly. “So, who is this bastard that I’m going to have to keep an eye on?”
“So scary, Yuri.” she pouts. You were an overprotective best friend.

“Who is this low-life that you think is good enough for you?” you insist.
“It’s,” she leans in closer to whisper to you. “Ahn Daniel.”
“Ah.” you utter, raising an eyebrow. “So it’s going to be another one of those typical love stories. The quiet, useless girl liking an overconfident popular brat who end up becoming a cheesy, disgusting couple.” you spit out coldly.
“Eh, you’re so mean!!!” she exclaims.
“Aren’t you used to it by now?” you reply.
“Ne... (Yes...) you cold-hearted person” she mutters under her breath. You smirk. They don’t call you the ice princess for nothing.

*Flashback*

They were all whispering amongst themselves, gathered around you as the queenka of the school circled you, occasionally kicking you in the shin. You yelped from the sharp, yet immense pain. She grabbed you by the hair, causing you to stand while painfully tilting your head backwards.

“Not so tough now, huh, Yuri?” she softly whispered into your ear.
You thought all about how this came to be. How you, a normal girl, finally stood up to a bully and ended up getting a beating instead. At first she made your life hard by revealing your secrets to everyone and spreading scandalous rumors about you, until now. Until she beat you up in front of more than half of the entire grade.

“S-to—” you beg before being interrupted by a slap across the face.
You feel a throbbing sensation on your cheek, and reach your hand out to touch it. Everyone points at you, some even smirking and laughing, cheering for the queenka. I can’t believe I used to be friends with this girl. I even trusted her.

She kicks you hard in the stomach, and you crumple to the ground. She struts off in confidence as you stumble with Maria supporting you on your way back home. From that day on, you promised to yourself, not to ever trust anyone again. You distanced yourself from everyone and anyone, and you have kept this promise for a long, long time.

*End of flashback*

The only person you have communicated with is Maria. You knew each other since you were toddlers, and she is the only one that knows of your past besides you yourself. You treated her the nicest, and she knew she was being treated specially by you, so she doesn't push it. Otherwise, all others are treated like scraps of rubbish that you can toss aside.

You have grown a reputation of being a cold, fierce and cruel person, even earning the nickname, the ‘ice princess’. You were fine with the title, maybe proud even. Except for the ‘princess’ part. Unknowingly, your beauty was stunning, but you never paid close attention to it.