The next day was a perfect day. I opened my eyes, only to realize that I had less than fifteen minutes to get ready and dash into school if I wanted to show up before the gate was closed. I almost, almost gave up when I realised how impossible it seemed to be but anyway, I tried. My punctuality record hadn’t been that great the year before and I had gotten several warnings from my former homeroom teacher about calling my parents to let them know. So this year, I wasn’t in for another risk.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I could actually get my morning routines done within good seven minutes. I blinked in confusion, wondering whether I had miscalculated. I gave up recalculating when I rushed down the staircase, expecting to be greeted by my nagging mom before I realised there wasn’t actually anyone at home. Only then that it crossed my mind that mom had actually reminded me to set up an alarm the night before. She needed to leave for work early that day while dad always did. Well I did set my alarm. I did wake up when it went off but I switched it off and went back to sleep because I knew my subconscious mind could always wake me up when it’s time. Unfortunately, today was one of those days my reflexes didn’t seem to work properly, causing me to oversleep.

Making a dart for school, I almost bumped into numerous people, majority of whom also seemed to be in morning rush. I tapped my feet impatiently, waiting for the traffic light to turn green which seemed to take forever. I glanced at my wrist, only to realise I had forgotten to put on my watch so I slipped a hand into my blazer pocket and checked out the current time shown on my phone. Great, three minutes left and school was still a good few meters ahead. Huffing, I knew it was close to impossible for me to make it there on time so at the end, I decided to save up my remaining energy and just took my time. Damn, I was in rush for nothing. I should have done this from the very beginning.

I opened the door hesitantly, ignoring the pairs of eyes that were now staring at me out of curiosity.

“Ms Yoon, you are aware of detention after school, right?”

Tchh, I didn’t need any reminder because I was very clear about that. Anyway, I bowed “Yes ma’am, I’m sorry for being late.”

I could tell that from both her expression and tone that she wasn’t very pleased with me appearing out of nowhere to interrupt her explanation. So I could only apologize for my mistake.

“Take your seat and be punctual next time.” That was all needed before the attention of the whole class was diverted back to the endless boring session of the day.

“Isn’t your mom always the first one to kick your before you even get a chance to oversleep?”

I ignored her question and munched on my sandwich whole-heartedly. Eventually having my first meal of the day made it multiple times tastier and I appreciated whoever came up with the idea of creating such a wonderful meal.

Eun Byul came back with two bowls of black bean noodles on a silver tray and my eyes twinkled in delight, eyeing the freshly-cooked dishes as if they were some sort of precious gem stones. 

“Wow wow girl, calm your .”

I knew I probably looked like a mad person who had been starving for days but I could care less. I could see the noodles practically calling me out to hurry and stuff them into my mouth.

“Oh dear Lord, should I just pretend that I don’t know you?”

I rolled my eyes at her dramatic fake sickened expression, having mouthful of noodles made it impossible to snap at her right at the moment.

“Go on… surely it will be much more comfortable to eat without having someone observing me all the time.” I shrugged, taking another mouthful of the delicacy and purposely let out a dramatic hum of satisfaction. I knew it would annoy her.

Shaking her head, Eun Byul voiced a low whisper “God, what do I do with this kid?”

“Are these seats taken?”

I swallowed my food and raised my head up to search for the source of voice and I sighed in annoyance once I discovered to whom the high-pitched voice actually belonged to. Eun Byul and I exchanged glances but neither of us bothered to answer.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Tchh, what a manner.” I scoffed without even sparing a glance at the girl but I was sure she heard clearly what I had just blurted.

“Don’t think so high of yourself little girl. We wouldn’t have chosen these seats if not for the fact that the whole canteen is fully occupied.”

Great, now who was the little girl? At least I wasn’t the spoilt little princess who could only settle everything with daddy’s money. Kim Hye Jeon obviously had an issue with me but I honestly didn’t know why. I had always thought that it was because she couldn’t receive the truth of Sehun’s and my past relationship but now that she had him as her boyfriend, what’s the point of messing with me? It’s not like I had any intention to snatch her boyfriend away. I would rather completely avoid anything related to him.

Attempting to get out of the place as soon as possible, I focused back on my food so I could finish it as immediately as possible. I munched, munched, and munched before I remembered something.

I turned to Eun Byul, still disregarding Kim Hye Jeon and her two other friends’ presence “Aren’t you supposed to get ready for PE?”

“Yeah but..” She stopped her sentence abruptly so I knew she wasn’t actually finished yet. The look she gave me was screaming ‘Are you okay to be left alone with these witches’ so I gave her a slight nod. She hesitated to leave so I shooed her away before she got into trouble for being late. I could empathize with her situation because showing up late for PE was practically committing a suicide. Coach Lee was one of a kind you would never ever want to mess with. Although I would be glad to have a companion for detention at the end of the day, I didn't have the heart to drag her with me.

I realised I was probably going to get indigestion from the way I ate but I preferred that better than to share the same table with Kim Hye Jeon and her minions for a few minutes longer. They were constantly blabbering stuff about parties, latest fashion trends, basically all meaningless stuff. I wasn’t eavesdropping here but how could I not listen to their conversation when they were right next and across me? My healthy ears would have caught the talk even if I didn’t wish to.

“The boys should have been done playing basketball by now.”

From the corner of my eyes, I could see her pulling out her phone, her fingers actively tapping something on the screen. It wasn’t difficult to guess who she referred to by the word ‘boys’ because I had managed to get a good view of the basketball court on my way to the canteen earlier and my eyesight was fine enough to catch a glimpse of a few familiar figures there, casually playing a little basketball game of theirs. I definitely didn’t plan to face a certain someone so I hurried to finish whatever left in my bowl.

“Hunnie, are you done? The girls and I are having lunch.”

I almost puked at the fake, overly girly voice and a moment later , a familiar deep husky voice replied. Why the hell was there a need to put the call on speaker?

“Oh, we’re in the locker room, changing. I’ll see you in a while.”

“You’re taking so long. The lunch break’s almost over.” She wailed, faking another child-like whine.

“Is it so? Then do you want to come and help me get changed?”

Holy crap, bloody hell. This time I really lost it when I choked on my food, almost spitting it onto the obnoxious face of Kim Hye Jeon. She scrunched up her nose in disgust, looking at me as if I was the weirdest living thing on earth. Hey, let me get this straight. I was the victim, the poor little innocent person who had lost her appetite all of a sudden. I just didn’t get it. If they were going to talk about something like that, why not keep it to themselves?

I ignored her though, gulping down a glass of water in one go and steadied my breathing. Soon later, she was back to her ‘dirty’ conversation again.

“I’m afraid I can’t now. I’ll make it up after school?” She raised an eyebrow, earning chuckles from two of her friends. Great, now I heard another thing I shouldn’t have.

“Then I’m going to expect something mind-blowing. You know how I hate a flake the most, hon.”

“You can count on me. You know I never disappoint you.”

The call was ended with a hum from him and I sighed a frustrated breath, wondering why the hell I was trapped in this kind of situation? I cleaned up the mess, collecting everything into the tray to get ready to leave.

“He sure is one naughty handsome devil.” One of her blonde-haired friends commented.

“So you better make sure you have that in your bag.” The other added.

“Of course I’m always prepared..” I was avoiding any eye contact because storming out of here was the only thing I aimed, breaking myself free from the annoying smirks and hideous story of Kim Hye Jeon and her two other counterparts. The last thing I unintentionally heard before I left the three was Kim Hye Jeon finishing up her previous statement “..because a man has his needs.”

Usually at this time of the day, I would be reenergized