Chapter One
(Jung Soo Jung)

It's a rule. Nobody talks to the psycho. Nobody invites the psycho to end-of-school parties or any party at all. In fact, she's not getting any attention at all, except for instances where a black cat is nearby or when someone is at the brink of any bad luck. 

I am that psycho everybody calls. Worse, I could not defend myself. How can I when they've seen a side of me that I myself could not comprehend?

One thing I hate about Physics class is that I'm at seated at the middle of the two dummiest people I've ever known. They never listened in class, and all they ever do is pass messages, talking about nonsensical things like the hottest guy in school or the hippest party in town. 

I was supposed to be by the window with no seatmate until our professor made me sit between them. He thought it could help, but the truth is otherwise. 

"Uhm, excuse me." The girl beside me, Lee Minyoung, pokes me lightly as if a mere touch in my skin or any part of my clothing could get her some contagious disease. I glance at her and notice her horrible blush on, making me feel the urge to roll my eyes.

She slides a small piece of torn paper on my desk. On top was the note, Pass to Sujin.

Without any further ado, just to avoid any scene, I slide the note to the girl at the other side.I open my notebook, hoping that they'd get the hint not to involve me in their petty behavior. 

And that's it. As if on cue, my temples start to tremble and my vision starts to shake. The blackboard that was full of mathematical equations just a moment ago turns to be nothing but patches of green and white. 

I take one deep breath and look down, supporting my head with one arm.

Not now. Not in class.

The patches start to disperse and form into something even more incoherent--something too bright. I ball my hands into a fist, hoping to free away any vision away from normality. As usual, I couldn't. A black goo starts to roll down the brightness and for a moment, I feel my heart clench. 

I stuggle for breath.

"Uhm, excuse me." Someone pokes me again, slowly bringing back normality in sight.

I catch the professor's eyes. He pauses for a while before looking out of the window, taking a deep breath and going back to the lesson.

"Excuse me." Sujin whispers as she elbows me lightly.

I turn to her, grab the note and slide it to Minyoung. For the first time, I feel thankful for their petty game. If not for it, I could have been in a darker vision by now.

"Miss Jung." The professor calls me before Miyoung could take the note.

"Trouble," I hear her whisper.

The bell rings, making me flinch and stand from my seat. "Yes, teacher?"

"Could you please follow me after this class?"

"Yes." It's not as if I have any other choice. "Yes, teacher."

"Hey," Sujin whispers as the professor leaves. "Please don't tell him the note's from us."

"Sure." I fake a smile. If they were only smarter, they'd get that I was being sarcastic. The problem is that they're not. "Miss Psycho-Girl-Who-Brings-Bad-Luck will keep it a secret."

"You were out in space again, Miss Jung."

"Sorry, teacher." I bow my head, hoping I could disappear at any moment by now.

"This is not about the note. I know it's not yours." He pauses in front of the guidance office. Did I mention how much I hate going to counseling? They'll never understand me anyway. "You're a smart student, but your grades are affected by whatever is bothering you."



I see a slouching, lean yet really tall guy sitting on the couch beside the counseling room. He wears the school's uniform that, even though inappropriately worn with the top-most buttons open, looks neat and well-ironed. He has his head low with several locks of his light hair covering his eyes.

I cleared my throat, making him flinch. I then realize that he's drowned in his earphones. Remnants of a wound, now healing, is seen just above his upper lip. His left hand is covered in white bandage, which seems to be new. I assume he's just been in a fist fight or some kind of violence, which made him in the school's counseling.

He moves on his seat and then pats the space beside him. "Hi," he says without looking at me. 

I sit beside him and try to be as comfortable as possible, but I can't. For one, I'm about to be counseled which means people think I have major problems, maybe mental or emotional. Secondly, I'm seated skin to skin with a stranger in this love seat kind of couch.

"Hi," I utter, hoping not to scare him. I mean, everyone in school knows I'm a psycho. 

He looks at me, locking his eyes on mine. I look away, and I saw in my peripheral vision that he did, too.

"Do I know you?" he asks.

"Me?"

He scoffs. "Who else? Do you see anyone else in this room?"

Cocky.

"Who knows? Maybe I do."

He smirks. "I bet you're called into counseling because of your attitude."

"Oh yeah? I bet you're here because of so much trouble you've been through. It's written all over your face. Literally."

The door opens before he could make a come back statement, making me feel like I've won a debate.

"Oh, here you are." Miss Kwon, the guidance counselor, says with a smile. I often wonder why he never loses her smile. "I assume you already know each other?"

"Yeah." The guy says, sarcasm reflected on his voice. "You can give us an exam on how well we know each other and I'll do well. For starters, I know her name's Miss Bad Attitude."

"Kris." Miss Kwon glares at him.

"One more thing you must know about me is that I have low tolerance of cocky people like you." 

"Soojung." Miss Kwon raises a brow. "Both of you, please enter my office. We have lots of things to talk about."

"Together?" We say at once.

"From now on, I think you'll be starting to do things together. You know, more like being best friends?"

I scoff, and so does he.