What made Hye-jin a target for bullies in this school was walking in front of Hee-Young when leaving the classroom after school on the first day. When she saw how tall Ye-eun was, she was immediately made a new target and her life became miserable from then on.
She never stood up to her, though. She knew from experience that it only made it worse. Telling a teacher, too. Girls like Hee-Young were always untouchable, far above the rest. It was better to just put your head down and hope for the best.
At least that was what Ye-eun had thought.
The silence in the class was deafening as they all tried to understand what had just happened.
Her jaw, along with everyone else's, hung open as they glanced between the new girl and Hee-Young, who was clutching her cheek in shock.
"Everyone. Out." Was all Hee-Young gritted out, her face flaming red with rage. That's all it took for every single one of them to rush out of the classroom like rats.
Once outside, they all scrambled to the windows to see what was happening. With her height, Ye-eun could see what was going on in the class to some extent, even as people pushed and shoved to see what was going on for themselves.
Hee-Young seemed to be saying something to the unimpressed new girl from inside the class. After what looked like a lot of cussing, she lunged forward, reaching for the new girl's hair. Time seemed to slow down as Hee-Young's manicured hands reached for black hair. One second, the new girl was standing there all unfazed, and the next, she stepped aside just as Hee-Young's hand almost reached her. Hee-Young lost her balance and fell against the lockers, the sculpture from the art club tumbling onto her head.
Everyone stared in shocked silence as Hye-jin simply picked up her volleyball, put it back in her duffel bag, and went back to sleep peacefully at her desk like nothing happened.
The hallway erupted into chaos.
"...Did you see that?"
"Hee-Young…"
"I can't see…"
The noise was loud enough that people from other classes came over to find out what was going on.
This was the first time anyone had stood up to Park Hee-Young before and come out of it unscathed, let alone won. It was crazy enough that people would certainly be talking about this for months. She just got here, and she already had everyone talking about her.
Ye-eun felt a pang of guilt.
If it weren't for her, the new girl would never have been in this situation in the first place, she thought. If only she hadn't been such a coward…
Having the confidence to fight Hee-Young was incredible, but the aftermath would be miserable for Hye-jin. Hee-Young's family was very well-off, and she didn't forgive easily.
Ye-eun glanced between the new girl taking a nap and the girl clutching her head while being carried out of the class by her friends, and sighed.
***
Throughout the rest of the day, Ye-eun kept looking for an opportunity to thank the new girl for defending her, but found none.
The girl slept throughout most of the classes, and in the ones she was awake for, Ye-eun was too intimidated by her glare to even open her mouth.
Getting to the end of the day, she was starting to lose all hope of talking to the professional sleeper and was zoning out of classes, worrying about how to tell her.
It would be terrible of her not to even say thank you after she went through all that trouble, Ye-eun thought with a sigh. There were even rumors starting to go around. And with Hee-Young still in the infirmary, the rumors were getting worse. Things like she punched Hee-Young in the face, or that she beat Hee-Young till she started bleeding. The most ridiculous of them all was that she was a gangster.
How disturbing.
She glanced at the girl who still had her head down. The sunlight streamed in through the window and highlighted her dark hair. Ye-eun guessed with how much she slept, it was believable. Who just sleeps throughout their first day?
As if she could hear her, Hye-jin lifted her head and gave her a withering glare. Ye-eun turned her head away so fast, she was surprised it didn't snap her neck.
Yup, definitely a gangster.
She let her tense body relax when she went back to rest. Gangster or not, she defended her. The first person who had done that in a while. She would have to find some way to thank her. She also wondered if she would accept some money. Was that too overwhelming? Would she even accept it? Well, if she was a gangster-
"And since we have a new student, Ye-eun, you can do cleaning duty with Hye-jin."
Ye-eun perked up as soon as she heard that. She could thank her during cleaning duty! Luck must be on her side today. Other students cast the new girl sympathetic looks. Cleaning duty on her first day. The teacher was horrible. But at least thanks to that, she could thank Hye-jin now..
***
Working up the courage was harder than she thought. Her mouth felt like sandpaper as she focused intensely on sweeping the room, while Hye-jin dusted the board. They worked in awkward silence, the only time they spoke was when they divided the work.
She didn't know how to tell her. Should she just say it? But what if she liked it quiet? But then she wouldn't get to thank her. How does she even start?
I looked over to where she stood on her tippy toes to reach the top of the board.
Just say it. What's the worst that could happen?
She counted down in my head for courage, 1,2,3…
"U-Uhh, thank you for this morning." Ye-eun cringed at the sound of her own trembling voice, but at least she seemed to hear her.
She stopped wiping down the board and turned to face her. Ye-eun flinched immediately those sharp red eyes landed on her and felt the tiny confidence she had gathered start to slip away.
"This morning?" She furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Yes." Ye-eun drew in a strengthening breath and kept talking. "You saved me from getting beaten up by Hee-Young."
She did it. She told her.
"Ah… so it was you." She gave her an assessing glance. Whatever she found, she wasn't too happy about it. "Have you been to the infirmary yet?"
Shocked by her question, Ye-eun stumbled over her words, "No, I didn't really need to go, it wasn't that bad."
"Really?"
"Yes," She nodded.
"Okay then." She turned back to wiping the board. "You shouldn't be thanking me, you know, she was just being too loud."
"I see," Ye-eun's eyes and shoulders fell. She didn't know what she was expecting. A friend? She almost laughed at the thought.
She returned to her work feeling dejected and glum, letting the sounds of their actions fill the silence. She couldn't even give her some money as thanks. But from the way she spoke, Ye-eun didn't think she would be too happy about it. Maybe she would buy her something from the snack shop.
Lost in her thoughts, she leapt out of her skin when the door barged open with a loud bang. Her first thought was that it was Hee-Young coming to take revenge. But when she saw the guy standing before them with an evil grin on his face, her jaw dropped.
"J-Jae-Hwa?" Hye-jin's alarmed stutter made her even more anxious. She glanced back at her to see her inching away slowly, a both irritated and disgusted expression on her face. She looked like she'd rather jump out the window than see this guy.
He only looked at her as his lips curved into a large grin,
"Hye-jin!"