Pilot
The Knight in Rusty Armor
It's the start of a new year. Transferring from a junior high to the new high school is a big change. To be honest, I am a total introvert. Hating the fact that I am a bit shy out of my comfort zone, I dwell in the corner of my own world. I have no friends. Friends just seemed so fake to me. They lie to you all the time. It's really hard to find a true friend nowadays. It's the first day of school, and I already feel the pressure that the upperclassman are giving me. Since the 15 years that I have been alive, I have discovered a distinct look people give you if they find a distaste in you. Unfortunately, that was the kind of look I was getting right now. I hated school. It was such a slow process. The teachers treat us like idiots that can't understand anything. It's the 21st century. However, most of us are idiots. That's what saddens me. It's lunch time, and I literally have no idea as of what I am supposed to do. Getting in the lunch line seemed scary, and I didn't want to get squashed by the seniors. Spotting a vending machine, I got a snack instead. It's only a few more hours until I can go home to eat food anyway. As I walk towards anywhere, I see a group of girls approaching me. I could already smell the depravity in which they were drowned in, but I shouldn't assume. I hear them snicker, and I can almost predict what happened next. It probably would have happened fast from another's view, but foreseeing this had slowed things down. Immediately, my beautiful snacks were knocked out of my hand and stepped on. My hair was grabbed, and I was slammed against the wall in no time. I almost chuckled, but I knew that it would only get me into more trouble. This was what I feared the most, bullying. The impact of the walk made me wince. One of the girls walked towards me, a smirk on her face.
"Hey, new girl. Freshman huh? You don't look that bad. You're cute."
Her filthy manicured hands grabbed my chin. The other girl's nails dug into my skin.
"What do you want?", I managed to grunt out.
"Why, I just want you to know something. This is my school. No one will be getting in the way. The guys are mine, everything is mine."
"What does that matter to me?"
"You seem like that person to get into the way."
"That's stupid."
Her face contorted into an expression of hurt, and her hand flew across my face. Before I could process this, the other three had joined into the fun of kicking my gut as I lay sprawled on the ground, defenseless. A kick to my head started to make me feel woozy. I felt weak. I couldn't do anything to defend myself. A worthless creature I was. The kicking stopped soon enough, and the same girl from before grabbed my hair, dragging me to the grass, where we were out of sight. She fished out a switchblade from her pocket. Another restrained my hands. I lay on the ground, sitting upright. Tracing it over my face as I shivered, she inflicted a small cut across my cheek. The scream that I let out made her cut my bottom lip. Kicking and screaming, I wished that someone would help me.
"Don't talk back to me again. This is your first warning, cutie."
The group of girls walked away, and I lay on the ground, in pain. I somehow managed to crawl to the bathroom, crying while cleaning myself up. Attending my last class, I sat down in my seat. Ignoring the curious looks of my classmates, I sat there, emotionless. The sudden voice of the teacher breaks me out of my trance.
"Bae Suzy, to the office."
As I furrow my eyebrows, I fear for what the reason could possibly be about. Was it about the earlier events? As I entered the office, 7 pairs of eyes are fixed on me. There were the 5 girls from earlier (they looked like they got into a fight), the principal, and another girl that I had never seen before.
"Sit down. We have to talk."
"What is it?"
"Well, Miss Jung is claiming that you were bullied by these five girls, were you?"
I stared uneasily at them as they snarled at me. If I said yes, I don't think I would live throughout high school, but even if I deny it, I'll still be tormented. I was conflicted, however, before I could say anything, the unknown girl known as 'Miss Jung' rose from her seat, and spoke.
"Excuse me. You're putting her on the spot. Let me just show you."
I saw her smile as she pulled out her phone from her back pocket. Handing it to the principal, she stood patiently as the principal stared at the small screen in horror.
"Very well. That answers many questions. However, I am not done. Miss Jung, why didn't you go confront these girls?"
"Well, I needed the evidence. She didn't draw blood until the end, and I did confront them."
The principal rolled her eyes. She then narrowed her eyes towards the other girls.
"Bullying is not tolerated. You have physically harmed another person. You assaulted a person, and I assume that you will all be charged for what you have done. I cannot believe you girls. You have been suspended for a month. I will be notifying your parents about your unacceptable behavior. I expect you all to consult this issue with me with your parents."
The grumbling girls stood up to leave, but the principal cleared , signaling for the girls to stop.
"I want you to apologize to her."
They all turned around, mumbling emotionless apologies.
"Say it like you mean it."
"I am sorry,", they said in unison.
The principal then averted her eyes towards me. As in uneasily focus my attention on the girl sitting next to me, she smiles.
"No-"
"Save it.", the girl interrupts the principal.
"Excuse me?"
She stands up, and she sits on the Mrs. Kim's desk.
"I already know how this goes. You are going to ask her to keep this under wraps because you don't want to tarnish your wonderful reputation. You will say that you will do your best to protect her in the future, which you won't. You'll tell her that you will take care of her, but you won't. You say that you'll try to stop events like this from happening, but you won't. Am I right?"
Mrs. Kim sat there, agape.
"That is highly offensive Miss Jung."
"You didn't say it wasn't true?"
I had had it. I needed to know hat was going on.
"Excuse me! What is happening? Who is she? Why is she here? Why am I here?"
The principal fixed her composure after getting flustered from the smart remarks of 'Miss Jung'.
"If you must know, after what happened with you and Mia, Miss Jung thought it reasonable to give them a little... beating. I needed you to come in here to discuss what happened."
She scoffed, and as she did, I caught sight of her name tag that read,"Jung Leia."
"You only told her to come here, so that you can tell your bosses that you actually talked to her. No, she'll tell you what happened, but you're going to twist it around, aren't you? You all lie. You will dump this whole thing on me while that group of monsters continue to attend school, problem-free. Why? Because they are five of the main sponsors of this school. They're invincible in your eyes, but in mine, they're just vulnerable behind a faulty facade. Now, Mrs. Kim, am I wrong?"
The principal sighed. Grabbing the phone that sat on her desk, she dialed a phone number down.
"Hello? Yes. It's Mrs. Kim. I am calling to address a certain encounter concerning Kim Ahri, Kim Soojae, Lee Soojung, Park Wendy, and Kim Goojung. They were caught assaulting and bullying a girl. Yes. She's a freshman. I trust you will take care of this? I know what kind of effect it will give on our school. Since a handful of people already know what happened, we have to show them that we have control by punishing the girls. Who cares if our sponsors go away? We'll just have a new top five. It's fine. Bye."
With that, she smiled at Leia.
"You happy?"
"For once, I'm not disappointed in you, Auntie."
I widened my eyes. No wonder she was being so informal. With that, Leia flashed a grin at me. Mrs. Kim turned to me.
"I suggest you hang around with this brat for the beginning of your school year. Become friends, I don't know. I just know that if you want to be friends with someone in this school, one of your best choices is my niece. Now, about the incident. I am very sorry as to what happened, sincerely. It is entirely up to you. You can press charges, I don't know. Just do what you think is right. Now if you two will excuse me, I have business to attend to."
She left, and Leia started out the door. I sat there, confused. I didn't know if I should follow or not.
"You coming or what?"
"U-uh, okay."
I followed closely behind her despite the fact that I was afraid of her. She had such a carefree smile though.
"What class do you have now?"
"P.E., I believe."
"I do too.", she smiled.
She had a contagious smile, and I caught myself grinning back at her.
It remained quiet for awhile after that. She didn't seem awkward. She didn't seem uncomfortable, and for some reason, I wasn't either. She was one of the few people that I found comfortable.
She led me to the locker room. When she entered, greetings were heard from different parts of the room. I awkwardly stood behind her, fiddling with my fingers.
Suddenly, she shouted, causing me to jump back a little.
"Yah! Ladies, this is the new freshman. Or freshwoman. Her name is Bae Suzy. Treat her nicely, and you will because you know why?"
All the pairs of eyes staring at her either creased into a knowing smile or widened in surprise.
"Do you mean that you're claiming her?"
Leia stepped back to sling an arm over my shoulder. She net down to my height.
"Of course not. I'm just saying that if you lay any hands on her, I will personally break those pretty nails of yours. No hard feelings though, Jia. I'm just saying."
Jia smirked. "Well this is going to be fun. I won't lay my hands on her, and you know that, but what about the other girls?"
"Taken care of."
With that, she walked off. I stood frozen in my spot. I didn't know why I didn't move. I was expecting Leia to say something. Although I don't know why. That was when Leia stopped.
"You know where your locker is right?"
I then broke out of my jumbled thoughts and nodded even though she wasn't looking at me.
"Y-yeah."
When I stepped out of the locker room, I saw Leia warming up next to a few guys. They seemed close. One of the guys even held her waist. She got angry and stepped on his shoe. Since she seemed busy, I didn't approach her.
I stayed in my spot, once again. I knew myself, and I knew that I wanted her to approach me. I knew I wanted someone to.
My back was turned to the class, but my ears perked up when I heard the sound of shoes colliding with the blacktop behind me. I turned around to come face to face with a pale-faced boy who seemed way too tall.
"Yah, Leia. She's way too pretty to be your friend."
Leia then popped up behind him. Although she was pretty tall herself, she disappeared completely behind the tall boy.
"Oh shut up you damn fetus."
She rolled her eyes then locked them onto me. Her lips curved up into a smile. I was smiling again.
"I'm gonna come up with a nickname for you, and it's gonna be Zee. Okay?"
"S-sure."
There were three guys with her. One who's eyes got really chinky when he smiled, the tall one, and one that seemed way too caught up in his own world to realize anything. They were all really cute, I had to admit. The chinky one poked Leia with a bored look.
"Introduce us."
Sending him a glare, she cleared .
"Zee, the chinky one is Jimin, the obnoxiously tall one is Jungkook, and the alien over there is Taehyung."
She pointed to her right. Taehyung looked at me and smiled. I didn't know why, but my heart fluttered like it had wings. Gulping, I looked away.
"Nice to meet you guys.", I managed to mutter.
Jimin then spoke up.
"Does she know?", he asked Leia.
"Know what?"
All four of them suddenly smiled.
"Jung Leia is your knight in rusty armor.", Jungkook stated.
My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.
"What?"
Leia stepped up behind the boys and shook her head.
"I don't know if you know this, but my family has been serving your family ever since the ancient times. My Jung family has always served your Bae family. That's how it is. It's been years and years, but I respect culture very much, and I will faithfully serve you."
She then bowed down, and the three boys did too. She looked up at me with a smirk.
"You can ask your mom, whom I have grown very close with, for affirmation."
The teacher then blew the whistle, indicating that it was time for the lap. The guys stood up and started to run a certain direction as did the rest of the kids. Leia stayed down on her knees.
"After you, Miss."
Without being able to respond, the teacher had shouted at me to run. In a panic, I obeyed. Leia started off after me. I wasn't in the best shape. Leia seemed to be, but she stayed close behind me. Whenever I stopped, she would jog in place, quietly urging me to keep running. Once we were done with the lap, we played dodgeball. Leia and Jimin were captains. I didn't know if anyone else could see it, but Jimin was clearly in love with Leia.
Leia picked Jungkook, some other students, and me as her teammates.
"Stay close,", she warned me before we started,"Kids are mean when it comes to dodgeball."
The whistle emitted it's ear-piercing sound, and the sound of thudding footsteps was heard down the court. I didn't know what to do. Strategy and such was never really my thing. In all honesty, I was scared to death. They were throwing the balls so hard, and it was a miracle that I never got hit. That was mainly because Leia was protecting me the whole time. She always had a ball in her hands for some reason. She always stood in front of me, keeping her left hand behind her to push me wherever I needed to go. At the end, it was Taehyung, Jimin, Leia, and me on the court. Leia had managed to hit Taehyung with a ball. She dove down to get a ball which left me open. Jimin and I made eye contact. He gave me an apologetic look before throwing his hand back to swing it forward. I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact. It never came. When I opened my eyes, Leia stood in front of me. Two sounds were heard. The sound of Leia getting hit by the ball, and the sound of Jimin getting hit by the ball. Leia's arm was outstretched, indicating that she threw the ball she had obtained earlier. I stood there and blinked.
"Last one standing is Bae Suzy. Leia's team wins."
Shouts and hoots were heard as half of the class erupts in cheer. They all run towards me, giving me a huge hug. It was a simple game between peers, but I saw the significance. Winning was fun. I played no part in our victory, except for following Leia's directions I guess. Leia was outside the hug, giving Jimin a handshake as he breathlessly pulled her in for a hug. Now I had to know what was going on with them. After the hug, everybody dispersed to go get dressed. I was one of the last to get out of the gym, but I saw Taehyung by the bleachers, picking up the many balls spread across the court. I walked towards him.
"Need any help?"
He looked up at me to grin.
"That'd be awesome, thanks."
"No problem.", I replied with a smile.
His smile was contagious also, just like Leia's.
We picked up the balls in silence. When I had finished my side of the court, I stood up and turned around to crash into someone's chest.
It was Taehyung. He stepped back, laughing.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
"Well I guess that's all."
"Yeah.", I replied, not known what to say next.
I handed him my bag. He turned around and disappeared into the lobby of the gym. I followed after him. I was about to exit the gym when someone tugged on my wrist. I was pulled backwards to be enveloped in a pair of arms.
"Thanks for helping me, cutie."
His deep voice made it clear to me that it was Taehyung. He let me go, smirking as he ran out of the gym. I stood there, glued to my spot.
Oh god. It's my first day. Do I already like someone?
P.E. was my last class. I started walking out to the street. It was the first time in my life to walk home, alone. I was very uncomfortable with the idea, but I had to it up. I had gotten pretty far in a half hour. I was about to cross the street when I heard someone call my name. Well, my nickname.
"Zee!"
My head whips around to see a very excited Leia dashing towards me. She was running too fast and ended up a few steps ahead of me.
"I was looking for you at school."
"Really? I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's alright."
"Why were you looking for me?"
I had to admit that a huge feeling of relief washed over me once I saw the elder's face.
"To walk home with you of course."
"You live close to me?"
"I'm your neighbor. Are you that unobservant? I greeted you this morning."
"Oh, sorry. I have a very short-term memory. "
She chuckled. "Yeah well I can walk with you to and from school."
"It doesn't seem like I can stop you."
We were almost home. We didn't say anything to each other. It was quite most of the time. I wanted to know a lot of things, but I kept my mouth shut, in fear of annoying her.
When I got to my house, she tapped my head.
A concerned look was spread across her face.
"Hey, um. I'm sorry about not protecting you earlier."
"From what?"
"From those vile creatures called girls."
I laughed. "It's fine."
"Are you sure? I mean, I should have done something."
"You did. I think what you did would keep them away from me for a longer time rather than if you beat the crap out of them."
I tried to smile at her. She smiled back.
"I guess. I'm very sorry about what happened."
"It's fine. I'm very glad that you did what you did."
"How's the cut?"
My hand shot up to touch it.
"It's not that bad."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now, I will be leaving. Thanks for showing me around today."
"Anything for a friend."
She considered me a friend?
We left for our houses after that. Before I could enter mine, she shouted in my direction.
"Yah! Ask your mom about the serving thing!"
She disappeared into her house as I did into mine. I was happily greeted by my mother as her face contorted into horror once he got a good look at me.
"What happened?"
"Uh, dodgeball game."
She shook her head. "You can't lie to me. I know you more than yourself. Tell me the truth."
I sighed. "Some girls wanted trouble. They roughed me up a bit, no big deal."
My mom was aware of how I felt. How much it hurt to address these situations. She hated it, but she did what made me happy. A look of pain flashes across her face before she forces a smile.
"I'll take a look at those wounds in a bit. How was your day?"
"It was pretty good , despite those girls. I guess you can say I made a friend today. Also, I met the cutest boy today. However, my friend. Her name is Jung Leia. She lives next door."
"Oh, her.", she says adoringly.
"Yeah, her. She told me that her family has been serving our family for centuries. Is that true?"
"Why yes it is. The Jung family is very traditional, and they told their lovely daughter to look after you. I thought it was silly, but they took it very seriously. But you two have befriended each other, so that's wonderful!"
I gawked at my mother.
I do have a knight in rusty armor.
A/N : First chapter! Tell me what you think in the comments below. :)
"Hey, new girl. Freshman huh? You don't look that bad. You're cute."
Her filthy manicured hands grabbed my chin. The other girl's nails dug into my skin.
"What do you want?", I managed to grunt out.
"Why, I just want you to know something. This is my school. No one will be getting in the way. The guys are mine, everything is mine."
"What does that matter to me?"
"You seem like that person to get into the way."
"That's stupid."
Her face contorted into an expression of hurt, and her hand flew across my face. Before I could process this, the other three had joined into the fun of kicking my gut as I lay sprawled on the ground, defenseless. A kick to my head started to make me feel woozy. I felt weak. I couldn't do anything to defend myself. A worthless creature I was. The kicking stopped soon enough, and the same girl from before grabbed my hair, dragging me to the grass, where we were out of sight. She fished out a switchblade from her pocket. Another restrained my hands. I lay on the ground, sitting upright. Tracing it over my face as I shivered, she inflicted a small cut across my cheek. The scream that I let out made her cut my bottom lip. Kicking and screaming, I wished that someone would help me.
"Don't talk back to me again. This is your first warning, cutie."
The group of girls walked away, and I lay on the ground, in pain. I somehow managed to crawl to the bathroom, crying while cleaning myself up. Attending my last class, I sat down in my seat. Ignoring the curious looks of my classmates, I sat there, emotionless. The sudden voice of the teacher breaks me out of my trance.
"Bae Suzy, to the office."
As I furrow my eyebrows, I fear for what the reason could possibly be about. Was it about the earlier events? As I entered the office, 7 pairs of eyes are fixed on me. There were the 5 girls from earlier (they looked like they got into a fight), the principal, and another girl that I had never seen before.
"Sit down. We have to talk."
"What is it?"
"Well, Miss Jung is claiming that you were bullied by these five girls, were you?"
I stared uneasily at them as they snarled at me. If I said yes, I don't think I would live throughout high school, but even if I deny it, I'll still be tormented. I was conflicted, however, before I could say anything, the unknown girl known as 'Miss Jung' rose from her seat, and spoke.
"Excuse me. You're putting her on the spot. Let me just show you."
I saw her smile as she pulled out her phone from her back pocket. Handing it to the principal, she stood patiently as the principal stared at the small screen in horror.
"Very well. That answers many questions. However, I am not done. Miss Jung, why didn't you go confront these girls?"
"Well, I needed the evidence. She didn't draw blood until the end, and I did confront them."
The principal rolled her eyes. She then narrowed her eyes towards the other girls.
"Bullying is not tolerated. You have physically harmed another person. You assaulted a person, and I assume that you will all be charged for what you have done. I cannot believe you girls. You have been suspended for a month. I will be notifying your parents about your unacceptable behavior. I expect you all to consult this issue with me with your parents."
The grumbling girls stood up to leave, but the principal cleared , signaling for the girls to stop.
"I want you to apologize to her."
They all turned around, mumbling emotionless apologies.
"Say it like you mean it."
"I am sorry,", they said in unison.
The principal then averted her eyes towards me. As in uneasily focus my attention on the girl sitting next to me, she smiles.
"No-"
"Save it.", the girl interrupts the principal.
"Excuse me?"
She stands up, and she sits on the Mrs. Kim's desk.
"I already know how this goes. You are going to ask her to keep this under wraps because you don't want to tarnish your wonderful reputation. You will say that you will do your best to protect her in the future, which you won't. You'll tell her that you will take care of her, but you won't. You say that you'll try to stop events like this from happening, but you won't. Am I right?"
Mrs. Kim sat there, agape.
"That is highly offensive Miss Jung."
"You didn't say it wasn't true?"
I had had it. I needed to know hat was going on.
"Excuse me! What is happening? Who is she? Why is she here? Why am I here?"
The principal fixed her composure after getting flustered from the smart remarks of 'Miss Jung'.
"If you must know, after what happened with you and Mia, Miss Jung thought it reasonable to give them a little... beating. I needed you to come in here to discuss what happened."
She scoffed, and as she did, I caught sight of her name tag that read,"Jung Leia."
"You only told her to come here, so that you can tell your bosses that you actually talked to her. No, she'll tell you what happened, but you're going to twist it around, aren't you? You all lie. You will dump this whole thing on me while that group of monsters continue to attend school, problem-free. Why? Because they are five of the main sponsors of this school. They're invincible in your eyes, but in mine, they're just vulnerable behind a faulty facade. Now, Mrs. Kim, am I wrong?"
The principal sighed. Grabbing the phone that sat on her desk, she dialed a phone number down.
"Hello? Yes. It's Mrs. Kim. I am calling to address a certain encounter concerning Kim Ahri, Kim Soojae, Lee Soojung, Park Wendy, and Kim Goojung. They were caught assaulting and bullying a girl. Yes. She's a freshman. I trust you will take care of this? I know what kind of effect it will give on our school. Since a handful of people already know what happened, we have to show them that we have control by punishing the girls. Who cares if our sponsors go away? We'll just have a new top five. It's fine. Bye."
With that, she smiled at Leia.
"You happy?"
"For once, I'm not disappointed in you, Auntie."
I widened my eyes. No wonder she was being so informal. With that, Leia flashed a grin at me. Mrs. Kim turned to me.
"I suggest you hang around with this brat for the beginning of your school year. Become friends, I don't know. I just know that if you want to be friends with someone in this school, one of your best choices is my niece. Now, about the incident. I am very sorry as to what happened, sincerely. It is entirely up to you. You can press charges, I don't know. Just do what you think is right. Now if you two will excuse me, I have business to attend to."
She left, and Leia started out the door. I sat there, confused. I didn't know if I should follow or not.
"You coming or what?"
"U-uh, okay."
I followed closely behind her despite the fact that I was afraid of her. She had such a carefree smile though.
"What class do you have now?"
"P.E., I believe."
"I do too.", she smiled.
She had a contagious smile, and I caught myself grinning back at her.
It remained quiet for awhile after that. She didn't seem awkward. She didn't seem uncomfortable, and for some reason, I wasn't either. She was one of the few people that I found comfortable.
She led me to the locker room. When she entered, greetings were heard from different parts of the room. I awkwardly stood behind her, fiddling with my fingers.
Suddenly, she shouted, causing me to jump back a little.
"Yah! Ladies, this is the new freshman. Or freshwoman. Her name is Bae Suzy. Treat her nicely, and you will because you know why?"
All the pairs of eyes staring at her either creased into a knowing smile or widened in surprise.
"Do you mean that you're claiming her?"
Leia stepped back to sling an arm over my shoulder. She net down to my height.
"Of course not. I'm just saying that if you lay any hands on her, I will personally break those pretty nails of yours. No hard feelings though, Jia. I'm just saying."
Jia smirked. "Well this is going to be fun. I won't lay my hands on her, and you know that, but what about the other girls?"
"Taken care of."
With that, she walked off. I stood frozen in my spot. I didn't know why I didn't move. I was expecting Leia to say something. Although I don't know why. That was when Leia stopped.
"You know where your locker is right?"
I then broke out of my jumbled thoughts and nodded even though she wasn't looking at me.
"Y-yeah."
When I stepped out of the locker room, I saw Leia warming up next to a few guys. They seemed close. One of the guys even held her waist. She got angry and stepped on his shoe. Since she seemed busy, I didn't approach her.
I stayed in my spot, once again. I knew myself, and I knew that I wanted her to approach me. I knew I wanted someone to.
My back was turned to the class, but my ears perked up when I heard the sound of shoes colliding with the blacktop behind me. I turned around to come face to face with a pale-faced boy who seemed way too tall.
"Yah, Leia. She's way too pretty to be your friend."
Leia then popped up behind him. Although she was pretty tall herself, she disappeared completely behind the tall boy.
"Oh shut up you damn fetus."
She rolled her eyes then locked them onto me. Her lips curved up into a smile. I was smiling again.
"I'm gonna come up with a nickname for you, and it's gonna be Zee. Okay?"
"S-sure."
There were three guys with her. One who's eyes got really chinky when he smiled, the tall one, and one that seemed way too caught up in his own world to realize anything. They were all really cute, I had to admit. The chinky one poked Leia with a bored look.
"Introduce us."
Sending him a glare, she cleared .
"Zee, the chinky one is Jimin, the obnoxiously tall one is Jungkook, and the alien over there is Taehyung."
She pointed to her right. Taehyung looked at me and smiled. I didn't know why, but my heart fluttered like it had wings. Gulping, I looked away.
"Nice to meet you guys.", I managed to mutter.
Jimin then spoke up.
"Does she know?", he asked Leia.
"Know what?"
All four of them suddenly smiled.
"Jung Leia is your knight in rusty armor.", Jungkook stated.
My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion.
"What?"
Leia stepped up behind the boys and shook her head.
"I don't know if you know this, but my family has been serving your family ever since the ancient times. My Jung family has always served your Bae family. That's how it is. It's been years and years, but I respect culture very much, and I will faithfully serve you."
She then bowed down, and the three boys did too. She looked up at me with a smirk.
"You can ask your mom, whom I have grown very close with, for affirmation."
The teacher then blew the whistle, indicating that it was time for the lap. The guys stood up and started to run a certain direction as did the rest of the kids. Leia stayed down on her knees.
"After you, Miss."
Without being able to respond, the teacher had shouted at me to run. In a panic, I obeyed. Leia started off after me. I wasn't in the best shape. Leia seemed to be, but she stayed close behind me. Whenever I stopped, she would jog in place, quietly urging me to keep running. Once we were done with the lap, we played dodgeball. Leia and Jimin were captains. I didn't know if anyone else could see it, but Jimin was clearly in love with Leia.
Leia picked Jungkook, some other students, and me as her teammates.
"Stay close,", she warned me before we started,"Kids are mean when it comes to dodgeball."
The whistle emitted it's ear-piercing sound, and the sound of thudding footsteps was heard down the court. I didn't know what to do. Strategy and such was never really my thing. In all honesty, I was scared to death. They were throwing the balls so hard, and it was a miracle that I never got hit. That was mainly because Leia was protecting me the whole time. She always had a ball in her hands for some reason. She always stood in front of me, keeping her left hand behind her to push me wherever I needed to go. At the end, it was Taehyung, Jimin, Leia, and me on the court. Leia had managed to hit Taehyung with a ball. She dove down to get a ball which left me open. Jimin and I made eye contact. He gave me an apologetic look before throwing his hand back to swing it forward. I closed my eyes, bracing for the impact. It never came. When I opened my eyes, Leia stood in front of me. Two sounds were heard. The sound of Leia getting hit by the ball, and the sound of Jimin getting hit by the ball. Leia's arm was outstretched, indicating that she threw the ball she had obtained earlier. I stood there and blinked.
"Last one standing is Bae Suzy. Leia's team wins."
Shouts and hoots were heard as half of the class erupts in cheer. They all run towards me, giving me a huge hug. It was a simple game between peers, but I saw the significance. Winning was fun. I played no part in our victory, except for following Leia's directions I guess. Leia was outside the hug, giving Jimin a handshake as he breathlessly pulled her in for a hug. Now I had to know what was going on with them. After the hug, everybody dispersed to go get dressed. I was one of the last to get out of the gym, but I saw Taehyung by the bleachers, picking up the many balls spread across the court. I walked towards him.
"Need any help?"
He looked up at me to grin.
"That'd be awesome, thanks."
"No problem.", I replied with a smile.
His smile was contagious also, just like Leia's.
We picked up the balls in silence. When I had finished my side of the court, I stood up and turned around to crash into someone's chest.
It was Taehyung. He stepped back, laughing.
"Sorry."
"It's okay."
"Well I guess that's all."
"Yeah.", I replied, not known what to say next.
I handed him my bag. He turned around and disappeared into the lobby of the gym. I followed after him. I was about to exit the gym when someone tugged on my wrist. I was pulled backwards to be enveloped in a pair of arms.
"Thanks for helping me, cutie."
His deep voice made it clear to me that it was Taehyung. He let me go, smirking as he ran out of the gym. I stood there, glued to my spot.
Oh god. It's my first day. Do I already like someone?
P.E. was my last class. I started walking out to the street. It was the first time in my life to walk home, alone. I was very uncomfortable with the idea, but I had to it up. I had gotten pretty far in a half hour. I was about to cross the street when I heard someone call my name. Well, my nickname.
"Zee!"
My head whips around to see a very excited Leia dashing towards me. She was running too fast and ended up a few steps ahead of me.
"I was looking for you at school."
"Really? I'm sorry. I didn't know."
"It's alright."
"Why were you looking for me?"
I had to admit that a huge feeling of relief washed over me once I saw the elder's face.
"To walk home with you of course."
"You live close to me?"
"I'm your neighbor. Are you that unobservant? I greeted you this morning."
"Oh, sorry. I have a very short-term memory. "
She chuckled. "Yeah well I can walk with you to and from school."
"It doesn't seem like I can stop you."
We were almost home. We didn't say anything to each other. It was quite most of the time. I wanted to know a lot of things, but I kept my mouth shut, in fear of annoying her.
When I got to my house, she tapped my head.
A concerned look was spread across her face.
"Hey, um. I'm sorry about not protecting you earlier."
"From what?"
"From those vile creatures called girls."
I laughed. "It's fine."
"Are you sure? I mean, I should have done something."
"You did. I think what you did would keep them away from me for a longer time rather than if you beat the crap out of them."
I tried to smile at her. She smiled back.
"I guess. I'm very sorry about what happened."
"It's fine. I'm very glad that you did what you did."
"How's the cut?"
My hand shot up to touch it.
"It's not that bad."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now, I will be leaving. Thanks for showing me around today."
"Anything for a friend."
She considered me a friend?
We left for our houses after that. Before I could enter mine, she shouted in my direction.
"Yah! Ask your mom about the serving thing!"
She disappeared into her house as I did into mine. I was happily greeted by my mother as her face contorted into horror once he got a good look at me.
"What happened?"
"Uh, dodgeball game."
She shook her head. "You can't lie to me. I know you more than yourself. Tell me the truth."
I sighed. "Some girls wanted trouble. They roughed me up a bit, no big deal."
My mom was aware of how I felt. How much it hurt to address these situations. She hated it, but she did what made me happy. A look of pain flashes across her face before she forces a smile.
"I'll take a look at those wounds in a bit. How was your day?"
"It was pretty good , despite those girls. I guess you can say I made a friend today. Also, I met the cutest boy today. However, my friend. Her name is Jung Leia. She lives next door."
"Oh, her.", she says adoringly.
"Yeah, her. She told me that her family has been serving our family for centuries. Is that true?"
"Why yes it is. The Jung family is very traditional, and they told their lovely daughter to look after you. I thought it was silly, but they took it very seriously. But you two have befriended each other, so that's wonderful!"
I gawked at my mother.
I do have a knight in rusty armor.
A/N : First chapter! Tell me what you think in the comments below. :)
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