"Look at that poor girl! She thinks she's all that!" The mean class bully said as he pushed JiMin off of her chair.

 

It was always like this, every day. Ever since she had started school two years ago. It wasn't her fault that she was smart and got good grades, unlike the rest of her classmates... She just studied really hard and was naturally good at memorizing things...

 

She hated being picked on, the insults hurt and when the meanies would rip up her quizzes and tests, her parents would get mad at her because they thought she was making up the great scores she actually got.

 

The worst part was that the teachers did nothing. They would see it happening and just turn their heads the other way. It was easy for them to ignore the poor girl's pleas for help.

 

Now, she was laying there on the cold tile floor as the boy tore her test to bits and threw the pieces at her. She didn't have to guess what would happen next, she already knew like the back of her hand.

 

One of the bully's friends came up to her, his binder raised in attack and brought it down on her arm.

 

If it wasn't enough that they would bother her for being intelligent, they would also about her clothing.

 

It was very much obvious that JiMin and her family didn't have much money- her school supplies were the same ones she'd had in kindergarten, her bag had holes and was covered in strange substances, and she wore the same clothes every week on the exact same days. 

 

The bullies were getting meaner with every little detail they were learning about her and she was realizing this quickly... She knew that she was going to be picked on more and more in the future.

 

"Hey, funny-eyes!" A girl bully called as she reached down to take off JiMin's glasses and handed them to a string looking boy, "Are you blind now?" If it wasn't bad enough that she was picked on for her smarts and her looks, she always had to be bothered about the fact that she wore glasses.

 

"Stop it..." JiMin tried to fight back, flailing her arms in an attempt to get her glasses back, but it was to no avail.

 

This was why she hated sitting in the back of the class. Here, the teacher couldn't see what was going on... and if she could, she just didn't care enough to do something about it.

 

Often times, at the end of the day, JiMin would have so many bruises that her overly-fearful parents would ask questions. Her fake reasons were never enough and as a result they would deduce that she was inflicting wounds to herself in hopes that someone would notice, call child protection services, and get her taken away from her parents.

 

"You know, your hair is so ugly." The girl mused as she pulled out a pair of scissors and brought them toward JiMin's long, silky hair, "You would look so much better with a bowl-cut.."

 

The bully had just enough time to cut off a strand of her hair before the scissors were pushed out of her hands and she was shoved to the side.

 

"Don't touch her!" A loud, protective female voice said from above her.

 

"Hush down, class!" The teacher said, finally noticing all the noise. She didn't try to stop anyone, she kept her back to the room and just kept writing on the chalk board with her ugly chicken scratch penmanship.

 

The boy who was holding JiMin's glasses threw them to the ground and laughed as the lenses shattered, "Now you're really going to be blind!"

 

The girl who pushed the mean girl away took no time to tackle the boy back into his seat, "I thought I told you not to touch her?!"

 

"Don't touch me! Mrs, she's touching me! YouKyung is touching me!" The boy screamed, trying to get the teacher's attention.

 

The woman at the board sighed and did nothing. In her years of teaching second grade classes, she'd learn to ignore commotion and keep teaching for those who were actually paying attention.

 

YouKyung took the meanie's binder and slammed the heavy book down on his head, making him yelp in pain and retreat.

 

JiMin, now tears faced, looked up to the older girl who had managed to, single-handedly, fight of the three baddies, "You... You saved me, unni..."

 

"Those mean kids always pick on you..."

 

YouKyung held out her hand to the younger girl who took it thankfully.

 

"Your hair..." YouKyung pouted, "I'm sorry... I cousin do anything about it..."

 

"It's alright." JiMin reassured as she was pulled to her feet, "Mommy will be mad, but it will grow back..."

 

"Come sit with me?" The older girl took JiMin's books and brought them to her own desk, then dragged the tortured girl over and sat her on her lap.

 

Out of the corner of her eye, JiMin could see the girl bully get up and kick the bits of her glasses with a scowl on her face before sitting down and her desk. She kept glaring at her and she wanted to feel scared but the arms that were around her waist were making her feel safe.

 

"You know... You don't have to do this unni..."

 

"Yes, I do. Or else no one else will." YouKyung answered, and placed a kiss on JiMin's bruised shoulder, "And, yes, I had to do that too."