September 1^st 2013

Writing in this journal for the last time before I have to leave the country… although I knew this stay was only for a little while, I’m not ready to go back to Korea. I’m doing well here and I like that people don’t treat me differently, or at least don't make it obvious. I know I’m quite privileged but I like being treated normally like everyone else… once I go back I’ll just be known as that rich girl who get’s incredibly low grades and wouldn’t last a day without her parents money.

But truthfully, there is an even bigger reason why I don’t want to go back and that is...

Jung Jinyoung, the person that fills my heart with rage the most. If perhaps we end up crossing paths in the future again… I’ll definitely stand up high and show you what I’m capable of. I’m not scared anymore…please don’t be scared anymore. – Ellin.

“Ellin, my precious daughter” Ellin’s mother smiled lovingly. As she began to walk over to her, Ellin quickly put her journal away. Her mother sat beside her on her bed and handed her a cold cup of lemonade.

“I’m not thirsty, you drink it. You look tired, mom” Ellin said, motioning her mother to drink. “But your dad made it especially for you, there’s even sugar canes in it” her mother said, placing the cold glass in her hands. “Well, then I can’t refuse.” Ellin said, forcing a smile on her face.

“Ellin… I know you’re really stressed and upset about having to leave but I promise you I’ll protect you when we go back” She comforted, her daughters hair gently. “It’s okay mom… you’ve raised me well enough to protect myself” Ellin reassured.

“Ellin, I wanted to tell you something important… I’m putting you in a high class school” her mom suddenly revealed, expecting her daughter’s refusal and protesting. “Mom, why!? You know I don’t like that kind of stuff, that’s why I’ve always asked you to put me in a normal school!” Ellin whined.

“I know, but didn’t you say you hated people treating you differently? If you go to this school then you will be treated like everyone else, since they’re all rich anyways” her mother reasoned.

“but… I’ll miss my old friends. I already contacted them that I’ll be coming back and I wanted to go to the same high school as them” Ellin said, continuing to protest against her mother’s decision.

“You mean the twins and Gummi?” her mom questioned, trying to remember who her daughter’s friends were. “U-huh, they’re the only friends who treated me like everyone else” Ellin smiled in remembrance of her old middle school friends.

“Ah, now I remember, the trouble makers!” her mother said with a chuckle. “My poor baby only get’s along with troublemakers, tsk tsk, what ever will I do” Her mother joked. “They’re not troublemakers, they’re… trouble stoppers!” Ellin said, laughing along with her mother.

“Well, you’ll still get to see them. I’ll put you in the same after school classes as them, they’re really smart, right? You better keep in touch with them then!” her mother said, pinching Ellin’s nose. “Ew, after school classes? Omma!” Ellin wailed.

“Minsun-ssi” one of her male classmates said, nervously approaching her. “What is it jongkook-ah?” Minsun asked curiously. “Hyojin… you have to go save her. Jisoo is stealing her money again… I tried to make him leave her alone but…I couldn’t” he sighed with a defeated expression on his face. "Damn Jisoo, I’ll teach him a lesson” Minsun fumed, angrily standing up and storming towards one of the staircase corners where Jisoo always bullies people in.

“Why did you do it!? Say something you piece of trash!” Minsun shouted, holding on to the neck top of a Jisoo’s shirt. “I didn’t do anything, she owed me money and so I took it back!” he defended.

“You dare tell lies to your senior? You think I’m that stupid? Apologize to her, now!” Minsun demanded.

The victim looked down, still scared by the boy who was previously harassing her. “Unnie… it’s alright, just let it go” the girl stuttered. “I’m use to it by now. He’ll probably still do it again tomorrow anyway” she said, clinging onto Minsun’s sleeve. “Hyojin-ah, you can’t just let him steal your money! If not for the sake of the money, do it for the sake of yourself!” Minsun scolded. “You go back to class okay? I’ll be there in a second” Minsun patted Hyojin on the shoulder and put the money back in her pocket. 

“Are you proud that you’re able to gain power only by lowering yourself to a bully? Does it make you happy that all you’ll be known as is a disgusting useless bully in this school?!” Minsun yelled, the boy’s eyes growing wide with anger. Minsun had finally made him reach a high in his rage, which resulted in him pushing her violently, sending her across the wall. “Who are you to go call people bullies when you’re picking fights with people every day?!” Jisoo yelled.

“Yah, did you just push my sister!” Choa suddenly yelled from the top of the staircase, Gummi standing beside her.

“Cho Jisoo, you still have 2 years left in this high school, you really wanna stay on our bad side?” Gummi shouted, crossing her arms.

“What we’re doing and what you’re doing is completely different.” Choa gritted as she helped her sister up and then continued to walk over to Jisoo who remained frozen in a corner. “You’re bullying people out of pure amusement, entertainment, and gain. We pick fights because we can’t just stand by and watch people like you hurt others” Choa spat. “Sure, we’re both violent, but the difference between you and us is that we have a conscience, and you don’t!” Gummi yelled, making Jisoo clench his fist in anger.

“You girl’s better stop provoking me… you know I could beat all three of you up in a few minutes, right?” he yelled.

“Go ahead and try” Minsun laughed. “I’m not afraid of you” she continued.

Losing himself in his anger, Jisoo stormed towards Minsun and grabbed her by the collar and slapped her across her face. “Did you just hit my sister!” Choa shouted, charging towards him and kicking him in the groin. He fell to the ground immediately and moaned in pain.

“Minsun, are you alright?” Gummi asked, cupping her face. “I’m fine… let’s just beat him to a pulp” Minsun grated.

Jisoo managed to get up and out of Choa’s grip “You two are such idiots” he laughed, as he stormed towards her.

“Not so fast.” Gummi said, grabbing onto his shirt from behind and pulling him back. She proceeded to take his arm and twist it around his back, making him unable to move. “Did you forget that I have a black belt? How forgetful of you… but then again, you do have the lowest rank in our school so I don’t expect much of you” Gummi said, laughing in his ear.

“YOU GIRL’S, IN MY OFFICE, NOW!” the principle yelled, outraged by the chaos that taking place through the staircase. Students who were watching from afar quickly hid and pretended to go back to class while Gummi, Choa, and Minsun slowly turned around to face each other in frustration. “Funny how she says nothing to Jisoo” Gummi said as she turned her head to watch Jisoo run into the bathroom as if he had no fault in what had just happened. “This school is utter trash” Choa sighed as she kicked the wall and began to walk to the principals office, the girl’s following with their hands tucked into their pockets. As they were walking they caught people staring at them. They responded to them by giving them rude glares, making them all quickly look away.

“You 3 keep causing a ruckus and this school is through with it!” the women yelled, making even the girl’s a little scared. “This is your last and final year, can’t you three at least behave yourselves, if only for the sake of your records and grades?” she sighed, shaking her head at the three.

“But our grades are pretty good for people who get sent to the office every week” Minsun said, pouting innocently. “Yeah, don’t forget Gummi is the #1 student in this school” Choa said, making the principal put her hands on her face in frustration.

The three girls giggled and gave each other low-fives. “ENOUGH!” the principle shouted, making them sit up straight. “You girl’s getting good grades and causing trouble makes things even worse. Do you know how many students are breaking the rules these days because of your example? You’re showing them that despite goofing around, you can still get good grades. But that’s only the case for you three! Grades are falling and you girls continue to encourage bad behavior. Not even the studious students can study properly anymore because of you!” the principal scolded, looking all of them straight in the eye.

The three girls stayed silent and suddenly felt a rush of cold air pass through them. They continued to look at their principal whose expression only became weaker, and more disappointed. Fear began to grow in their stomachs at what her expression may mean and they could only hope they were wrong. But as the principal was signing a paper, the fear was quickly replaced by rage.

“Why do only we get punished? You know that Jisoo and all those other bullies are the problem. Why don’t you ever punish them? Is it because we’re the easier target? I mean, look at Minsun’s face, she has a bruise on it!” Gummi finally spoke up.

“Look, every single parent of every single student in this school hates you girls. I want to stand up for you but I want to keep my job. Unfortunately, the Korean school system is one where the parents rule over. You girl’s are well aware that Jisoo’s father is a part of the school board, so why do you keep picking fights with him?” she asked, unable to understand the passion and persistence of the girls that sat in front of her.

“Because, we want our lives to mean something to people. Simply studying day in and day out, getting good grades, and being a “worthy” citizen to society isn’t our ideal of a life worth living, that’s why!” Choa explained, making her principle smile slightly in endearment.

“I’m sorry girls…honestly, I envy you three and your passion but unfortunately…this is It” the principle got out of her seat and handed them all a paper.

“Expulsion?!” Minsun screeched, looking up at the principle in shock. “We all saw this day coming.” Gummi sighed.

“Sign it… we’ll be transferring you girls to a new school. Truthfully, this transfer was planned before the school year even started. We decided that once you created another problem, we’ll expel you and then send you to another school” their principle revealed.

“Wow, so the whole school board was just waiting in anticipation until we created trouble” Choa said, laughing in disgust.

“There’s something else you girls should know that you haven’t asked me yet, surprisingly...” She said, making the girl’s look up curiously “what is it?” Minsun asked.

“The school you’ll be transferring to is…Chrome high” She announced.

The girl’s all looked at each other, eyes wide open with confused expressions. “What!?’ they said in unison, turning their heads to the principal. “That school is for the rich bratty kids who can’t shut up about their heir and heiress problems. How the hell were we even accepted to transfer there?” Gummi asked in complete disbelief at what the principal had just revealed to them.

“Well you see… I can’t tell you girl’s right now how you got in. You’ll know soon enough” She said, completely avoiding Gummi’s question.

“Do we have to accept this transfer? I mean, I’d rather go to a normal school, you know, one not filled with people I want to punch in the face by just the sight of them” Choa said, making her friends laugh.

“You have no choice, and I honestly think this is best. You girl’s are smart and deserve to be in a high school with that much privilege. You’re very lucky, don’t forget that” the principle walked over to her door and opened it, signaling them to leave “Thankful my ” Minsun muttered to herself “don’t think this will be the last you see of us!” Choa said before she exited the room.

Their principle sighed deeply at the sight of the three biggest troublemakers leaving. For some reason, it felt bittersweet; she was glad that things would finally quiet down, but at the same time, who would fight the crime going on in their school?

It was a fresh morning and the students of chrome high leisurely got out of their luxurious cars and made their way to their classes diligently. Although everyone was wearing a uniform, each student accessorized it in a different way and did everything they could to show off their wealth. Some wore expensive watches, others held brand name book bags, and all made sure that their shoes were of the latest trends.

Unlike the other students who got dropped off by each of their parents individually, the 5 most popular boys of school made sure to always come to school together, mostly because one of their members loved to over-do things by making a grand entrance.

“Jung Jinyoung, just leave without me. I just woke up and I haven’t even eaten breakfast yet!” Baro said as he rushed to buckle up his jeans. “I’ll buy you breakfast later, just put on your clothes and let’s go. How can we make an entrance if we’re late to school? There will be nobody there!” Jinyoung fretted.

“You’re seriously too much...” Sandeul laughed, taking a bite from his apple. “I don’t want to be late, let’s just leave him behind and go!” Gongchan nagged, pulling Jinyoung’s arm.

“Yeah, listen to Gongchan. How can you expect me to get through math with an empty stomach? I can’t bear through that, sorry bro” Baro said as he went to the kitchen and messed through the cupboards to find something to eat.

“Aish, So it’s only us three then? Whatever… at least I’ll still be in the middle then I guess…” Jinyoung sighed, making his friends shake their heads at how very vain he could be.

“Wait, what about Shinwoo? He sleep in too?” Baro questioned as he shoved a spoon full of cold rice in his mouth. “No, he went to school early for some reason… some morning tutoring session or some ” Jinyoung replied.

“Well, we’ll meet you their then!” Gongchan said, taking both Sandeul and Jinyoung’s hands and dragging them outside of the kitchen.

“You boys are here? Why didn’t you tell me? I would have made breakfast if I had known” Baros mom smiled.

The three boys stopped and greeted her. “Hey, you would make breakfast for them but not for me?” Baro yelled from the kitchen.

“You have to learn how to make food for yourself” His mom yelled back, making the three boys laugh.

“Have you boys heard? Three new students will be transferring to chrome high today” She alerted them, making the boys become incredibly curious.

“Huh? But we barely ever get transfers…” Gongchan said “their parents must be pretty powerful then…” Sandeul added, amazed.

“Yeah… who are these three transfers anyway? Do you know anything about them?” Jinyoung asked curiously. “Of course I know everything about them. My husband told me that they’re all girls, and get this, their parents are not powerful at all. It’s a complete mystery how they got in” she said, making the boys look at each other in confusion “Whoa… I’m kind of excited to see who these girl’s are.” Gongchan said, becoming quite excited. “I hope they’re hot” Sandeul muttered to himself.

“Oh right, I almost forgot the most important part, they’re total iljins.” She said, shaking her head.

“Iljins?” the boys all said in unison.

“we’re gonna go!” Jinyoung exclaimed, running outside to the car, the boys all following behind him.

“Yah, Shinwoo-ah, there you are!” Jinyoung said as he walked up to his friend. “Why? Were you looking for me? Class is about to start” Shinwoo alerted as he took his book bag out of his locker. “I know that dummy, but I have some interesting news to tell you.” Jinyoung said, gaining Shinwoo’s full attention. “We’re getting three transfer students today, all of them are apparently iljins!” Jinyoung revealed, stunning Shinwoo.

Jinyoung was unknowingly talking loud enough for a boy standing close by him to hear everything he was saying. He quickly whispered it to his friend and that friend did the same to someone else standing by.

“Woops, forgot how big my impact is” Jinyoung self praised, making Shinwoo laugh. “Great, now their first day will be very welcoming” Shinwoo said sarcastically, lightly punching Jinyoung in the shoulder. “Whatever, they’ll get picked on either way for not being from rich families. Hopefully they’re at least good looking, right?” Jinyoung said, not receiving much of a reply from Shinwoo. “Class is going to start, I’ll see you later.” Shinwoo said waving to his friend and then headed to class.

“These uniforms are too much, how the hell am I supposed to kick peoples asses in these? This skirt is way to short!” Choa complained as she followed one of the teacher assistants to her homeroom class. “Did you just say "kick peoples asses?"” the assistant asked, letting out a laughter that filled up the empty hallways “Oops, that was a little loud.” The assistant muttered. “My impact, always making people laugh” Choa smiled.

Choa unfortunately had to be separated from her sister, as always, they never aloud the twins to be in the same class ever because they knew that the two together would probably create the biggest chaos.

“So this is it, class 7” the women said, motioning for Choa to walk inside.

“Cool” Choa said softly. She then proceeded to walk into the room without hesitation or even a knocking on the door.

“Yah, look, is she perhaps the transfer?” Baro whispered, nudging Shinwoo and Sandeul who were sitting on opposite ends of him.

“Excuse me, who are you?” a male teacher asked rudely. He was old, had very little hair, and was only a few inches taller than Choa herself.

All the students began to giggle and whisper as Choa walked up to the front of the class. “Me? I’m the new transfer student, duh.” She said twirling her hair with her finger, completely in her own world.

The students looked at her in disbelief and shock “yah, this girl sure thinks she’s something amazing” one of the students whispered, “zero class, look at how she wears her uniform” another mumbled.

“Y-you’re the transfer student?” the man asked doubtfully shaking his head and then directing his attention to the rest of his students “kids, I forgot to tell you that there will be a new student joining our class today. Please….um… welcome her…” the man said insincerely.

Choa was dying of laughter on the inside at everyone’s reactions; she predicted exactly how the students and teachers attitude would be so her and the girls all purposely decided to over do it with their “iljin” rumored identity.

“Well, go on and introduce yourself” the man ordered.

“Yo chingus, I’m Choa, pronounced Cho-A, understand? My name may be Minjin on the attendance sheet but remember that it’s Choa and we’ll get along just fine, okay?” she waved and then proceeded to blow a bubble from the gum she was chewing. “so, where’s my seat teach?” she asked as she chewed her gum obviously.

“It’s over there… beside Shinwoo” the teacher directed in disgust. “Who’s that?” Choa questioned, turning her head and scanning the class.

Shinwoo slowly put his hand up “Ahh, the guy who has the same hair cut as me?” she said walking over to him as the class erupted with snickering and whispers.

Choa noisily pulled out her chair and sat in it comfortably with her legs spread out. All the girls looked at her if she were of a different species. Choa looked up and waved her fingers at the girl’s who were staring at her “I know, I’m pretty, right? You can take pictures of me if you want” Choa smirked.

Shinwoo’s eyes stayed glued to her and he suddenly couldn’t hold back his laughter anymore. Choa looked at him and lifted her eyebrow “what is it?” she asked. "No, nothing… you’re just really funny” he smiled. “Tell me something I don’t know” She yawned.

Both Minsun and Gummi barged into class 9 without caution and went up to the front of the room while the teacher was still writing on the board, unaware of their entrance. All the students turned their heads and stared at the girl’s in confusion as they passed by them “are those the transfers?” "Yah, look at that girl's face, she has a bruise on it... i guess their iljin rumors are true"

“What’s up chingus!” Minsun said loudly, giving the teacher a scare. He turned around, confused at the two girls who stood in front of him “who the hell are you two?” the teacher asked, “are you two the new transfer students?”

“Yup, that’s us” Gummi smiled. “Yah, our homeroom teacher is pretty good looking” Minsun said to Gummi in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Uhmm… please introduce yourselves and then go sit… there’s an empty seat on each side of the room” the teacher said awkwardly as he moved aside.

“I’m Heo Minsun, you may also know me as the girl who’s made it on the news papers 2 times in a row” Minsun introduced, smiling cutely and making her fellow classmates scoff.

“Gummi is my name. I’m older than all you losers so you better attach –ssi to the end of my name, or sunbae, whichever you prefer. Oh and use polite speech at all times, got it?” Gummi said fiercely. “Who the hell brags about being older?” a girl whispered to her friend.

The students all shook their heads in confusion at their two new classmates.

Minsun proceeded to walk to her seat leisurely without looking at the students, but suddenly, one of them began to stand out to her from the back of the classroom. All the students also stared at the student whose head was hidden behind a giant textbook

“Why the hell are you hiding?” Gongchan asked, nudging his friend who didn’t move “shhh!” he replied.

Minsun walked up to him and and without hesitation she pulled down the book where his face hid. “” the boy muttered under his breath.

“Dae-bak.” Minsun said, mouth dropping open in amazement “Yah Gummi, come over here and look at what the cat dragged in!”

Whenever "(ƒ)" is placed at the beginning of a chapter it means it is a flashback/from the past.