Chapter Ten.

All I See Is Red 

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Hell.

This was Hell.

And Kim Saeyeon was stuck right in the middle of it, all because she let her anger get the best of her.

“ me,” she muttered before laying her head down onto the desk.

--

Before Hell (three hours ago)

Class was in session.

After returning from Room 204 and being lightly scolded by Mr. Lee for coming in late and not wearing her school uniform, Saeyeon was finally seated in her homeroom (not like she was ecstatic to be there but school was a must and she was finally glad to have it start and be over with). Youngjae had made up a bull explanation about how he was showing her around and such; and although Mr. Lee wasn’t amused, he questioned them no further.

Once she sat down, Saeyeon noticed that her textbooks were out of her locker and that there were handful of scribbles covering her desk. The scribbles consisted of berating words, ranging from ‘’ to ‘outcast’ to even (this was Saeyeon’s particular favorite) ‘’. She went through her books to see that there were pages slightly tattered with and more insults written in red and black ink. Saeyeon snorted and glanced towards Jennie, the obvious culprit. If this was supposed to upset her in any way, then the would have to do much better than that. Despite the fact that Saeyeon knew that she hardly let petty things like this bother her, she also knew that she had an insane, short fuse that could easily go off if correctly tampered with. Internally, she agreed to not let that snake get the best of her. Although it was annoying to deal with, everything was easily replaceable, so Saeyeon didn’t care.

Aside from her vandalized desk and marked textbooks, the rest of her time in class was undisturbed. Jennie hadn’t glance Saeyeon’s way after she had entered the classroom or even acknowledged her presence; but the girl wasn’t opposed to such actions (truthfully Saeyeon was for it). But that only made her wonder what exactly Jennie had meant when she said she had a lot of things planned for today.

By the time fourth period was over, Saeyeon had pushed her worries about Jennie’s big plans far away from her mind and was more focused on what she would being eat for lunch. The girl was starving (that always seemed to be the case this time of day every day) and needed food in her as soon as possible.

Unsurprisingly, Jennie was the first person to leave the classroom, and everyone shortly followed after, even Goo Junhoe who didn’t throw her a second look as he left the room.

Saeyeon was packing her things when she felt someone’s presence near her (she knew who it was).

With his backpack slung over his shoulder, Youngjae let out a long whistle, taking in the sight of her desk. “Wooow. Looks like she really has it out for ya.” 

“Vandalism at its finest,” she muttered sarcastically. “ even went as far as messing with my books.”

“What are you going to do about it?” Youngjae asked, curious.

Saeyeon rolled her eyes, grabbing her things (plus her textbooks) and walked out of the room with Youngjae trailing behind her. “For now, nothing,” she admitted. “I’m far more concern about taking care of my empty stomach right now.” She strode over to her locker, and the first thing she noticed was that there was a piece of paper sticking out of the lower left corner (probably more insults). “Hold this, will you?” Saeyeon didn’t even wait for Youngjae to reply and handed over her books, which he blankly took without a complaint. Annoyed but curious, she put in her combination and with a click, the locker opened.

Instantly a bunch of pink half-sheet of papers poured out and scattered all over the floor. Saeyeon furrowed her brows, grabbing one from her locker and reading it.

“What are those?” she heard Youngjae ask.

She didn’t answer as her eyes slowly widened in recognition, and her heart abruptly jerked in her chest.

What the hell?

These… these were hers.

Her birthday invitations from five years ago.

No, they weren’t the originals (Saeyeon had hand-made those herself) but nonetheless these were her invitations. Exact replicas. Saeyeon’s mind should’ve gone blank from the surprise reminder. She wasn’t expecting to see her birthday invitations ever again, so having dozens of them fall out of her locker definitely caught her off-guard. There were jumbled thoughts going back and forth in her head, flashbacks of that dreaded day… the worst day of her life. Students innocently passing by reached down to pick the invitations up and glanced at Saeyeon. Whispers about her quickly ensued as they scurried away.

Her eyes flickered from side to side as she began to tremble in her spot.

How the hell did Jennie even get these? She didn’t remember there being a Kim Jennie back at Jeguk.

That’s when it dawned on her.

Hanbin.

She narrowed her eyes.

“Saeyeon?” Youngjae uneasily spoke. “Are you okay?”

Slowly the said girl crushed the invitation in her hand (as if it was Jennie’s head) and dropped it. Saeyeon muttered something nearly inaudible before strutting away, her chest heaving in anger.  

Youngjae quickly set Saeyeon’s books inside her locker and pulled out his phone to make an emergency text. As dense as he was, Choi Youngjae could sense when something really bad was about to go down (call it his sixth sense). That, and he was absolutely positive he had heard Saeyeon say she was going to kill Kim Jennie.

--

Saeyeon wasn’t thinking.

Well, she was thinking, just not rationally. Entering the cafeteria, she stormed over to where Jennie usually had lunch, which was (as you guess it) with Hanbin and his friends. From afar, she could see the table that was fully occupied by the people she whole-heartedly despised the most at this school, the people who were the cause of it all (it being her years of misery).

And as she continued to near them, Saeyeon seethed in anger, so much to the point where all she saw… was red. Kim Jennie had perfectly tampered with Saeyeon’s temper, and for that, she was going to have to pay the price.

Speaking of the …

Jennie was the first one to notice Saeyeon making her way to the table. She smugly opened to ask if Saeyeon had liked her little gift; however, she wasn’t given the chance to ask such a question. Saeyeon had wordlessly grabbed Jennie’s tray of food and flipped it towards her without hesitation. Instantly Jennie was drenched, slightly open in disbelief.

“What the hell?!”

Everyone at the table immediately stood up, equally as shocked.

“What the do you think you’re doing?” Hanbin, the person sitting nearest to Jennie, shouted, pulling Saeyeon’s arm so she would face him.

Uninterested, Saeyeon harshly tugged her arm away from his grip and simply pushed him out of her way before grabbing Jennie by the hair. She had a bone to pick (maybe even break) with Jennie, and anyone who stood in her way would simply be collateral damage.

Hanbin, who hadn’t expected that, awkwardly stumbled back, losing his balance.

Jennie let out a high-pitched shriek as Saeyeon nonchalantly dragged her away from the table, her hand still tightly clutched onto the ’s hair.

“Let go of me, you crazy !” she yelled.

As if on command, Saeyeon released her grip and heartlessly shoved her onto the ground.

Immediately Jisoo and Suhyun ran over next to their leader with worried expressions. “Are you alright?”

Once again, Jennie didn’t have the chance to speak; Saeyeon had already grabbed another tray of food off of the table (probably Yunhyung’s) and began to pour the content (utensils included) all over the trio. The three girls loudly gasped as they became coated with glass noodles, kimchi, and (her favorite) pickled radishes.

“What the he