14^th February, 2006

“Hello, Sunggyu.”

The boy slammed his locker door shut with a bang. He was almost amused to see Tiffany as she plucked one of many lollipops off the lockers.

“Strawberry,” Tiffany remarked, calmly on the lolly. “Your favourite flavour.”

“That was quicker than I expected.” Sunggyu ruffled his hair, yawning. “Thought you had more dignity than that.”

“You think I’m here to beg?” His ex-girlfriend raised a sceptical eyebrow. “I thought you knew me better than that.”

“I did,” Sunggyu said casually.  “So, why are you here?”

“I wanted to ask you a few questions.” She withdrew the lollipop from again, her lips seductively.

“Go ahead.”

“Did you always have a thing for younger girls?” Tiffany asked nonchalantly.

“I have a thing for any pretty girl, Tiffany.” Sunggyu smirked.

“I’m touched,” the girl said mockingly. “Does that include s as well?”

“Give me an example,” Sunggyu said, feigning ignorance. He knew what the real question was; he knew her.

“Does the name Krystal Jung ring a bell?”

“Jessica’s dongsaeng, right?” He shrugged. “Yeah, I might have seen her around a few times…”

“So how long have you been seeing her?” Tiffany demanded.

“I’m not seeing anyone yet, Miyoung,” Sunggyu said lazily. There was a twinge of satisfaction when he saw her clench her fists in suppressed anger. 

 “You expect me to believe that?” Tiffany sneered.

“Already have. Does it look like I want another girlfriend?” He eyed her scornfully. “Please. I thought you knew me better than that.”

“I’m not going to waste any more time on you, Kim Sunggyu,” she retorted. “Care to elaborate?”

“If I wanted another girlfriend, I would’ve stuck with you or chosen one of your friends.” Tiffany raised an eyebrow at the offhand compliment. “I don’t want some dumb junior hanging around me all the time, and I didn’t want to deal with you crying and begging for me to take you back. I wanted to get the message across as simply as possible.”

“Thanks for that,” Tiffany said sarcastically. “Happy now, Soojung?” She grinned wickedly.

Krystal stepped out from behind a locker, eyes burning with furious tears. Lies, all lies… But she was Krystal Jung, and Krystal Jung didn’t go down without a fight.

“You’re an ,” Krystal spat, hating the way her voice sounded so pitiful. “An attention-seeking, man-, stupid jerk, Kim Sunggyu.”

“Ooh, the happy couple’s fighting,” Tiffany sang, pleased. “I think I’ll leave you two to sort out this mess.” She turned, walking past Krystal with the same steady click-clack of her shoes echoing in the not-quite empty hallway.

“How could you do this to me? Krystal continued. “Hell, how could you do this to anyone? Did you ever think about the consequences?”

Sunggyu shrugged. “Not really. After all, you’re just one girl out of many. You’re all the same, you crazy fangirls. All so desperate for my attention.”

“So, basically, you’re saying that Tiffany is one girl out of millions,” Krystal snarled. “What makes her so different? What makes her stand out? Why am I not good enough?” The last question slipped out almost involuntarily, but she was desperate to know.

“What makes her so different?” Sunggyu repeated incredulously. “Do you really want to know the reason why? I don’t think you could take any more of the truth,” he sneered.

“Try me,” Krystal hissed. “Everything Tiffany has, I have too. What makes her so special?”

“You reek of desperation,” Sunggyu scoffed. “So desperate that you take the smallest opportunity possible and turn it into the biggest lie. But it means nothing to me; it was all a waste of your time, a useless ploy and it was all backfire on you.”

There was a loud smack as Krystal let her hand collide with Sunggyu’s face, leaving an angry red mark. “Shut up! Shut the hell up, Kim Sunggyu!” Krystal screeched, her face flushing pink to match his. “You have no idea what you’ve done! You’re nothing but a spoiled, selfish, arrogant moron who doesn’t deserve anything!”

Still enraged, Krystal shoved at his chest; Sunggyu grabbed her hands and held them still, glaring.

“Let go of me!” She yanked away from his tight grip, tears pouring down her face. “Let go! Let go, !” Frustrated, Krystal stomped on his foot, simultaneously yanking her hands away.

“Stop trash-talking me, you little ,” Sunggyu snarled, raising his arm.

The next thing Krystal knew, she was on the floor, tears streaming down her face as she clutched her cheek. Another stunning blow to the other side, and she cried out in pain, unable to stop her sobs. Sunggyu yanked her arm up, forcing her to stand up before slamming her against the lockers. Her vision out for a moment; seconds later, there was an aching pain at the back of her head. Krystal cowered, shutting her eyes and turning away from his murderous gaze. 

“Please, stop,” Krystal whimpered. “Please…all I wanted was for you to love me. Was it so hard? Why would you–”

She was silenced with another smack, and this time she stayed silent, finding it increasingly difficult to keep her balance. Only Sunggyu’s bruising grip was holding her up, but with a disgusted look on his face, he grabbed her wrist and yanked her away.

Krystal stumbled blindly after him, wincing as he slammed the cafeteria doors open with a loud bang. She could feel everyone’s judgemental stares on her, feel the hatred and mean satisfaction oozing from the curious crowd as Sunggyu threw her down, indifferent as she collapsed. A hush spread across the crowd, making her sobbing painfully obvious.  

Sunggyu pointed disdainfully at Krystal as she wept. “This girl is nothing but a lying, scheming ,” he hissed. “Jung Soojung is not my girlfriend; she has never been, and never will be my girlfriend. Got it?”

He stepped closer to Krystal, nudging her in the ribs with his shoe. “Get up, you filthy .” Krystal shied away, her face buried in her arms. “!” Sunggyu cursed. “I said get up!” He landed a well-placed blow against her side, smirking when she yelped.

“Sunggyu, that’s enough.” Woohyun placed a restraining hand on his friend’s shoulder, glowering. “She’s not worth your time.” He pulled Sunggyu away and out of the lunch area, murmuring quietly in an attempt to calm him down.

~~~~

Krystal felt too weak to protest when she felt herself being pulled up again, but her eyes fluttered open involuntarily to the unwelcome sight of Tiffany guiding her through the hallway.

“Get away from me,” Krystal mumbled.

“I’m just trying to help you,” Tiffany answered sweetly. “You would want me to do this, would you?” Without warning, she gave Krystal a gentle push in the ribs – right where Sunggyu had kicked her – and watched, smiling pleasantly as the younger girl fell to the floor again.

Krystal muttered something under her breath, glaring darkly at Tiffany.

“Sorry, didn’t catch that,” Tiffany continued, her voice as smooth and sweet as honey. “Need some help?”

“Get away from me,” Krystal repeated forcefully. She swatted Tiffany’s hand away, getting clumsily to her feet again.

“I still hate you, you know,” Tiffany said casually. “Even though you mean nothing to him, you still kissed him. But if it helps, I hate him more.”

Krystal gave her a scornful glance, before answering, “The feeling’s mutual.”