Most people enjoy the inferiority of their best friends.

- Lord Chesterfield -

Hana sipped her iced mocha latte with her eyes still glued on the book she was reading. Even as her thick, black hipster glasses slid down her nose bridge, she didn’t let that distract her from the work at hand. That’s how serious Hana is when it comes to work. Instead, she just coolly pushed her glasses to rest on her nose again.

A few guys a table away stared away dreamily at her but quickly hid behind books like young boys in love with their pretty school teacher. Of course they were trying to be cool about it but seeing they were actually being obvious with the open staring, Hana realized that the moment they sat down.

Her friends giggled to themselves when they caught one of the guys staring again and that guy blushed madly when caught. “God, he’s so cute!”

“Look, Hana, he’s so into you…” another friend teased in a garish drawling tone. “Oh, why don’t you just walk over and say ‘hi’ or something?” There was no mistake of the envy in her voice.

Hana finally looked up from her book and to her circle of friends. They all stared back expectantly with unblinking thick-lashed eyes. Sighing, she put down her pen and said, “I’m not interested.”

“Oh come on, Hana. You are the Queen in our campus now; you can have any guy you want. Why don’t you just pick one?” the first friend asked. The rest nodded enthusiastically. Silently, Hana rolled her eyes. Then, the former quickly chipped in, “Or you’re still thinking of ‘him’?”

Hana stopped at her work, stumbling slightly in her reading at the mention of ‘him’. The gaze darkened slightly and it didn’t go unnoticed by her friends as they quickly elbowed each other as a warning. “I don’t need a guy in my life.”

“Of course!” they chorused.

“Unlike some woman, I don’t need some guys dangling at my arms to prove my worth,” Hana practically spat out vindictively. “As the matter of fact, I don’t need a friend list on my Instagram to prove my worth.”

They nodded vigorously, all more than happy to agree. “She’s nobody now.”

“Yeah, did you see her Instagram?” another friend laughed menacingly. “She only has Hana in her friend list. You’re just too kind to reject her, Hana.”

Hana didn’t even bother to smile at that statement because deep inside, she knew, all these so-called friends were nothing close to being sincere around her. It had only been close to four months since Mi Kyung’s accident and her downfall as the reigning school queen. Before that, these people were the ladies-in-waiting for Mi Kyung. Look at now…

Ever since the accident, a misfortune where they were all present, they were fast to push the blame and slowly, severed all ties with the fallen queen. And now, when Hana was on the fast track to becoming the next queen, they made the beeline to serve her, attend to her. Hana didn’t know which is scarier – Abandoned by these friends or being surrounded by them!

But Hana didn’t entirely blame them. While Mi Kyung was at her height, she hasn’t been known for her kindness to others. She was fast to lose her temper when things didn’t go her way and was always the first to find faults in others. Most of the students have had run-ins with her and lived to tell the tales of her terrorizing days. Hana was one of them.

She still remembered clearly as if it was yesterday. Im Hana was Cho Mi Kyung’s girl, her personal slave; all because Hana’s family owed it to Mi Kyung’s family. Hell, she couldn’t even make it to this prestigious college if it wasn’t for Mi Kyung’s father. And Mi Kyung reminded her that every day of their first year.

Hana always believed that she’s at par with Mi Kyung in every way. They have the looks and Hana is definitely smarter than Mi Kyung. The only difference was that Mi Kyung was born with the golden spoon and Hana was not. So Mi Kyung gets to be the queen while she’s the servant. And now entering second year, Mi Kyung was not around. People were starting to see the real Hana without the shadows of Cho Mi Kyung.

“Did you know that she’s actually following EXO on Instagram?” Hana said nonchalantly while returning to her work. “I told her not too. It’s so not cool but she’s bored out of her mind being coped up in that room.”

“Oh God!” the others gasped in mock disbelief. Of course, no one admits it but secretly they were guilty of being some boy band’s fans.

“Yeah, I caught her looking at some EXO member’s page. It’s sad really. She could have done something beneficent with all that time she now has,” Hana continued. “I don’t really understand what she’s thinking.”

“Is she all better now, Hana?”

Hana gave a non-committedly shrug. “I heard from the servants that she’s been going to physiotherapy thrice a week and that the doctors said she’s making good progress. Her parents found her the best plastic surgeon in the country but she’s refusing to get treated for those scars.”

“I think she’s just trying to gain sympathy. – Like look at me, I’m a survivor with all the scars!” one friend chipped quickly and made a face. “Who cares anyway?”

“Well, it’s her choice. I certainly don’t care,” another replied coldly. She flipped her hair aside in a flamboyant fashion when she realized the boys at next table were still looking. “But hey, change of subject. Are you guys going to the new show by Cartier at Cheondamdong this Saturday? I’ve just got my invitation!”

At the mention of that, the other girls’ buzzed with new life, entering a new deep discussion about what they are wearing and what they are anticipating at the new seasonal unveiling. Hana rolled her eyes and quickly re-focused her attention to the real world. She didn’t need all the petty, materialistic girls clouding her life.

“What about you, Hana?” one of them asked, making Hana looked up in confusion. She quickly realized her mistake and apologized, “Oh, sorry, Hana. I forgot you don’t have the invitations. You have to be a VIP member to attend.”

If looks could kill, Hana was pretty sure these girls would have died a long time ago. But she knew they enjoyed trampling on others’ weaknesses. Hana just so happened to has them, but not anymore…

Smiling, she replied, “No worries. It’s this Saturday, right? I’ll see you girls there.”

Their jaws dropped and gapped like fishes out of water. Not only Hana was not a VIP member, she certainly didn’t have the luxuries to attend with weekend’s part-time jobs and nothing to wear to.

‘What they don’t know certainly won’t kill them,’ Hana mused silently. The part-time working tutoring Mi Kyung was more than enough to cover her monthly part-time. And as for the clothes and VIP passes, Mi Kyung no longer has needs for those.

Some readers must have guessed this coming... This kind of friendship is kind of fickle. -_-lll  Real time interaction between KyungSoo & Mi Kyung coming soon.

In the meantime, enjoy, comment, subcribe & upvote~ Thank you, love you all!! ^^