Sehun winced as he took his seat. It had been three days since he’d been assigned a punishment and during this time his homeroom teacher had added to his workload – from doing miniscule work such as collecting homework to cleaning the dusters, wiping the blackboard and sometimes even arranging the sports supply closet. He’d been given all the mediocre tasks. Much so that he’d spent his nights under the lamp studying and revising. He lacked sleep and his muscles ached.
 

“You’re over reacting Oh Sehun,” the student president teased with a touch of amusement in his face. Oh Sehun was sulking more than usual. The boy usually behaved as if the world worshiped the ground he walked on, yet today it seemed like he was also worshiping the ground – the school grounds.
 

“Mind your own business, Kim Joonmyun,” Sehun retorted being careful not to strain his lungs as he breathed. His ribs were sore from the unavoidable stretching he’d been subjected to. It was a pitiful condition to be in. Sehun groaned and reevaluated his cause, there was no time to hit the gym in his schedule but after the conclusion of this punishment he was seriously reconsidering it! It was embarrassing for his whole body to ache after lifting a few chairs and doing some rearranging of sports equipment. The heaviest thing he’d lifted were a stack of chairs. He’d never imagined he was this out of shape! Sehun growled to himself, the gym seemed exceedingly attractive to him.

“Wow, you’re not joking right now, are you Sehun? You’re really in pain? Ahhh see I told you, you should work out more but you just never listen,” Jongin beamed taking pleasure at his friend’s misfortune.

Sehun was rarely called out by the teachers, he was a favorite of theirs – all of theirs – he brought home the trophies that the teachers liked so much. It was fun to see him on the other side of the spectrum.

Jongin had dealt with his fair share of punishments for always managing to come in late. It wasn’t his fault, he was just too exhausted after finishing his homework at three a.m. He just didn’t have the energy to get up for seven, the idea itself was ludicrous and Joon Myun had confided that foreign countries didn’t have hagwons. The idea appealed to Jongin but his parents were unwilling to send him abroad to study. 

He just didn’t do well enough in his present school and they were afraid his grades would sink lower if they didn’t keep their eyes on him. Jongin always admired how much sweat, blood and tears Sehun poured into studying. How long had it been since Rae Mi had told Sehun that she liked intelligent guys?

Sehun narrowed his eyes at them suggesting he didn’t want to speak any further about the topic but Joonmyun was of a different mind frame, “Face it Sehun, the wangta’s trouble and you’re suffering the consequences of helping her.”

“Seryung’s been acting pretty friendly with the new wangta. I don’t know what your sister’s thinking hanging around with garbage but I can assure you that people are taking notice. You know the rules well. No one’s saying anything to Seryung because she’s your sister but that doesn’t mean people aren’t watching her and judging. You need to stop her Sehun, before she becomes a wangta too. We don’t want that now do we?” Sehun flinched at Jongin’s insinuation.

 Sehun had recognized it too. Seryung had made a friend or was trying to. She was playing a dangerous game by fearlessly standing on a slippery slope. Sehun understood why, he hated himself for indirectly painting a previous picture that Seryung had been trying hard to forget yet it was resurfacing with every passing day. Sehun also knew that this time Seryung wouldn’t repeat past mistakes, it meant she was in danger and that in turn meant he had to stop the danger but the problem was that he didn’t know how.

The whole idea of having a school ‘wangta’ was absurd, and the idea of finding joy in someone else’s torment repulsed him. He found no pleasure in watching a girl try not to cry as she pretended it was okay for her classmates to try and flush her belongings. Hana was trying hard, it was plain to see and everyone in the school was aware that she was trying to pretend things were fine. Things, however, were not fine. The students would only make things worse, they wanted to see the wangta’s break, cry, beg and lose themselves. The sadists ruling the school enjoyed these happenings, they would watch it via camera. Sehun scoffed to himself at the dirtbags he had to live with.

The table was silent as Sehun’s thoughts progressed towards his sister, the cloud that had been looming over him when he’d arrived at the table had finally burst. Sehun’s face ashened making his friends hold their breaths until they were sure he wouldn’t explode.

“You need to do something about it, before it’s too late, Seryung won’t be able to deal with it, she’ll break,” Joonmyun interjected his friends thoughts. He would be leaving soon, to study abroad, he didn’t need to fear the anger of Oh Sehun at this time. This was his last piece of advice to his friend, and it was crucial to point it out. Joonmyun knew that Sehun was aware of it, but he normally had to be prodded to take action.

“The other day you both ran to help wangta,” Jongin added carelessly. It was a risky statement to throw especially when Oh Sehun’s mood was darkening but he was curious too. What was it about Kim Hana that had made both the Oh siblings rush to her aid? The two of them didn’t even know her. They knew nothing about her, she was a stranger and what Jongin really couldn’t understand was, under what impulse had Sehun accidently branded her?

There was an alien effect that hovered around Kim Hana. Normally she would have been victim to much, much worse than having her belongs damaged. The lack of physical bullying made it all the more obvious; the Oh siblings intervention was negating it. Some of the students were confused as to which action they should take. Antagonizing Oh Sehun meant the wrath of his fan club and his fans were scarier than the glass room students because they were great in number, and almost as bad as idol group fans. The idea of disturbing the fan club was like walking into a sleeping lion’s den and then kicking it awake – it was dangerous. This was the reason Kim Hana was experiencing leniency.

What people were afraid of wasn’t Oh Seryung. They might have even added her to the list but with Oh Seryung came her male conterpart, Oh Sehun and his fan club was too vicious. Sehun himself hated them, it was plain to see - the fans harassed him. The fans consisted of girls not only from Sehun’s school but other schools too, it only took a couple of photos and a few videos of him dancing in the schools dance hall and the girls went crazy.

Sehun’s reason for disliking them wasn’t because they admired him but rather they harassed his privacy. He wasn’t an idol star, nor was he preparing to debut but these girls did with him exactly what sasaeng fans did to idols ,and therefore Sehun wanted nothing to do with them. He had never really expressed this sentiment because truth be told they scared him too. They were his reason to quit the gym, he never really liked to be filmed nor did he like the way they took photos of him and talked about him as if he were a piece of meat. He was aware of the thirsty comments they wrote in the girls bathrooms too – everyone was aware – but it wasn’t publicized because the fans wanted to ‘protect Sehun’s privacy.’

The future was to remain ominous as the real perpetrators were making their decision. They were watching and waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Their pride was being stepped on as the school lay in wait for their command and they would send it – eventually. Their problem was that they didn’t like what they were seeing, the flow of things had been disturbed and tap water that usually followed the force of gravity was flowing the wrong direction. It was becoming defiant and gravity didn’t like disobedience.

Gravity, however, was malicious in its intentions, and the malice that ran in the glass rooms was enough to uproot an unsteady cause. Lions were the kings of the jungle and anyone who resisted their rule would be preyed upon. Lions and gravity were animals and forces but chaebols were human – to a degree – they used their brains – subjectively – and they had a reputation that they liked to live up to – even if it was unpleasant.
-

Despite what others believed Seryung wasn’t oblivious to the conspicuous hints being dropped her way. She’d noticed each and every subtle hint from the most miniscule accidents to the slightly more obvious ones. The sudden spilling of juice onto her uniform, the misplacing of her belongings from her locker, the accidental collisions as she roamed the halls, her test scripts disappearing before reaching the teacher, the stiff expressions of those around her to the eyes that tracked her every move – she’d sensed it all. She was aware an inauguration was happening, the reproachful eyes said it all.

Hana observed that things would be worse some days and quiet other days like the flow of a tide. Hana had been careful when buying new books, she'd even stopped storing things in her locker for fear they would be misplaced and later be found destroyed. Hana had come into school one day to find her lock had been cut and ever since she'd become more careful about her things, keeping them with her. This of course resulted in carrying more than one bag around. She had been subjected to ridicule for carrying them but she didn't care, or at least she pretended she didn't. Hard was an understatement, Hana had never been close with her classmates but now they all knew her, not just her classmates but the other students also knew her. Hana was in her final year of high school yet the younger students didn't take her status as a sunbae into consideration. They mocked her using informal words.

The attention was overwhelming sometimes, especially the days Hana had come to school to find that her grades had been printed and pasted on every notice board in the school, that had frazzled her. She wasn't the best student out there, and nor was she the worst, but she had her good and bad subjects. Seeing her grades in the open had shook her. She was reminded of how much her parents wanted her to do well yet she just couldn't meet their standard.

Seryung had shrugged when Hana had asked her if people were bothering her. Hana hoped they would leave the younger girl alone, and was relieved to hear that Seryung hadn't become a victim of bullying. Hana was unaware that an inauguration was taking place under her nose, under Sehun's nose and under the nose of the school. It was distinct in its flavor and distinguishable, it had been initiated to scare Seryung, but Sehun's sister had to back down, she had done so once before, not many were aware of it but it was fact.

Hana reflected on many things as she sat in the cafeteria, she watched how quickly it filled up and how the students all sat at their respective tables to chat. The once empty room flocked with animated students bringing atmosphere to life. Hana's table was empty - who would want to sit with the wangta? Hana patiently waited for Seryung to arrive.

The dark stare that haunted Seryung's face was alleviated briefly when she spotted Hana waving at her. Seryung smiled and walked towards Hana's direction when she ‘carelessly’ tripped. Her lunch tray clanged to the ground with its owner following directly after. All heads turned to the source of the disturbance. Seryung grimaced landing on her palms with her body sprawled behind her. Her hands numbed along with the shin that’d been struck to make her lose her balance. She pushed her face away from the floor in an attempt to sit up and scowl at the perpetrator but before she could do so, there was another clang dangerously close to her. Someone swiftly yanked her arm, firmly, propelling her back up, as she clumsily tried to plant her feet on the ground in time. Her eyes darted to her aggressive savior.

She on-looked as Sehun grimly slapped a tray out of his schoolmate’s hands, and a flustered Seryung back onto her feet until she was standing behind him. He clutched the other boy’s collar with his free hand, keeping the other secure on his sister's wrist.

Animosity crackled and the atmosphere grew colder. They all witnessed a turn of events and observed their new opponent with an inkling of disarray and exasperation.

Sehun was in a bad mood to say the least, he tightened his grip on the boy’s collar drawing him closer. Seryung had attempted to struggle, but he’d shook her with annoyance until she’d eventually gotten the message and stopped.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” Sehun hissed wary of the eyes that were judging his actions. The boy bravely threw a scowl at his adversary, a feeble endeavor to mask his apprehension. Sehun pursed his lips at defiance and closed the distance between them.

“Are you testing me?” He uttered a chilly whisper that swelled in menace upon reaching the boy’s ear. His voice trembled with a frightened “N-n-n-no…”

Sehun pushed him away, “Then don’t try it again,” he spat in a raised voice, challenging anyone who dared to go against him. The boy stumbled nodding incessantly, a word still lingered in his ears with trepidation. Sehun didn’t utter the word again. He examined his prey with a hint of disgust. The coward had dared to go against him! Seryung squeezed his arm slowly calling him back.

He didn’t look at her as he tossed her arm off his and released her from his grip. Seryung grimaced, his contour was implying her to follow without question. Se Ryung didn’t click her tongue. was dry as she followed her brother’s angry footsteps.

Once they were out of the cafeteria, Hana's phone buzzed. She stared at the number quizzically, it was Tao.