Ye-eun
Ye-eun could not believe her eyes
Ree Jae-Hwa was one of the most well-known students in this school. Many say it was because he was a massive social butterfly and had a lot of friends, or that he was very handsome and had a lot of girls crushing on him.
He was also the vice captain of the prestigious boys' volleyball team, and they had two consecutive wins in the last two years.
Others say the real reason why he was so popular is that he'd been deemed Korea's rising star in the volleyball league. Some say he has the potential to become the next ace spiker for the Korean national team and that he was asked to play for the national youth team but declined.
Even being in the same room as him was an honour. At least that was what Ye-eun heard from Hee-young's gang when she was running their errands. She had rarely even been this close to him. She barely ever saw him. They were in different classes.
So you could imagine her shock when this guy walked up to Hye-jin in a few strides, his long legs covering the distance, and towered over her. Ye-eun felt frightened for Hye-jin, but the short girl straightened herself to her full height, which still wasn't much, and glared back at him, determination in her gaze.
Ye-eun didn't want to witness two fights in one day. She thought of whether she should run to get the teacher.
The boy acted first. With a booming laugh, he wrapped his arm around Hye-jin's neck in a chokehold and ruffled her dark short locks. Ye-eun watched, mouth agape, as her hero, Hye-jin, clawed and struggled to get his arm off of her to no avail.
Ye-eun was confused.
"Let me go, you big oaf!" She tried to kick his shin, but he dodged like he already had years of experience with that trick.
"You little brat, to think you could leave your friend behind without saying anything like that." Ree Jae-hwa's smile didn't reach his eyes anymore; instead, it was tight with irritation.
"I don't owe you an explanation, you damn idiot. Let me go, you fool." Gritting this out, she punched his chest, causing no damage.
Ye-eun inched closer to the door. If she could reach it, she could run away and escape these crazies. She needn't get involved in two intimidating people's business.
She was almost to the door when the guy noticed her.
"Who are you?" He asked, his voice stopped her dead in her tracks. Slowly, she turned around to find him staring at her like some specimen of human he had never seen before.
Ye-eun tried not to be offended.
In the short time he was distracted, Hye-jin managed to wrench herself free and run to grab both their bags. She tossed Ye-eun hers, which she caught clumsily, and grabbed her arm, pulling her out of the classroom hastily.
"Run!"
Ye-eun didn't need to be told twice. She set into a steady running pace beside Hye-jin, and together, they took off down the corridor.
"Who's your new friend?"
Ree Jae-Hwa's casual voice and presence were next to them so suddenly, it almost made Ye-eun screech.
How could he have caught up so easily?
He was grinning like a madman, like this was something fun to him, as he casually jogged beside them.
Hye-jin let out a sound of frustration, stopped in her tracks, and turned to face him as they all halted. Her hair was a tangled mess, her breathing frantic. Whether from the run or her anger, Ye-eun couldn't tell. Her red eyes glowed fiercely in the soft sunlight, making her already tight features look even more ferocious.
"Leave us alone, Jae-Hwa. I don't want to speak with you."
"Is that how you greet your old friends, Hye-jin?"
"Leave us alone right now, or I will never speak to you again." Hye-jin's agitated huff may have sounded a bit childish and out of character in the moment, but it seemed to have worked. The big guy almost seemed to flinch at those words, his easy-going smile retreating to a cold mask.
"You can't ignore me forever, Hye-jin. We need to talk eventually."
"Not today." That was all Hye-jin said before grabbing Ye-eun's arm and running down the hall again. Ye-eun decided to sneak a glance back at Jae-Hwa.
He stood with his arms folded over each other as he watched them go. He was so stoic, one would think he was a statue, but when she looked at the unhappy draw of his face as he watched them go, he almost seemed… sad. Whatever for Ye-eun could not fathom.
***
Hye-jin
After making sure they were at a safe distance, Hye-jin made them stop to catch their breath.
She hadn't expected Jae-Hwa to be in this school, too, and she had underestimated how persistent that fool was.
She looked at Ye-eun panting and coughing beside her, trying to catch her breath, and felt a tang of guilt. She didn't need to run that much from him, especially not to the school gates, but she knew it was her fears that pushed her to run. And she wasn't going to leave Y-eun behind with him. Not when she didn't know what he might try to pull.
She remembered the way he had flinched when she threatened to never talk to him again, but immediately pushed it out of her head. She had already decided that she wasn't going to get caught up in his world anymore.
She started checking the condition of her knee, stretching it out. She had been careless. She had gotten caught up in her emotions.
"W-what was that?" Ye-eun sputtered beside her, having finally caught her breath. Her hair was a tangled mess, hanging wildly around her face, and her clothes were in an even worse state than before. She gave a look of bewilderment to Hye-Jin.
"Sorry," Hye-jin said after a long time, scratching the back of her neck. She sensed Ye-eun flinch at the sudden apology. But she was sorry. She probably thought Hye-jin was super weird.
"No, don't apologise." Her voice was small and shaky as she clenched her fists in determination. "Do you know Ree Jae-Hwa?"
Hye-jin tensed at the question. Of course, everybody knew him now. In the time they hadn't spoken, he had gone on to become a prodigy in the volleyball world. He was no longer the boy she had once known. She felt shame heat her cheeks. Why was she even comparing them? She was such a loser.
"Not anymore." She said, as she massaged her knee, absent-mindedly checking for any pain. When she found none, she grabbed her bag off the ground and turned to Ye-eun one last time.
"You should stay away from him as well," she stared into the frightened green eyes of the girl before her. Her face was drawn in confusion as she stared back.
"Don't pay him any mind, even if he approaches you." With that, she left the tall girl standing confused in front of the school gates.
As Hye-jin walked the distance back to her house, she let her mind wander. Too much had happened in one day. Maybe she'd be better off risking asking her mother to switch schools. She couldn't handle it if every day was going to be like this.
She hadn't expected Jae-Hwa to be in a school like this as well. She thought he would've gone to a more renowned volleyball school. Seojeong was relatively new, which is why she had thought she'd have been able to lay low here without drawing any attention to herself. Turns out she was dead wrong.
With everything going on, it was only a matter of time before people found out who she was, she thought as she unlocked the door to their house, taking her shoes off at the door.
"Mom, I'm back!" she called.
She was greeted by the warm, mouth-watering smell of kimchi wafting from the kitchen. She got there to find her mom cooking dinner.
"Welcome back, Hye-jin. Did you take your shoes off?"
"Yeah." She flung her bag onto the couch. "Mom, I told you you shouldn't be cooking in your state, though."
"I'm fine enough to cook a little meal, Hye-jin," Her mother rolled her eyes as Hye-jin came to stand beside her in the kitchen, sniffing the aroma and watching as she served helpings onto plates for both of them.
"How was your first day of school?" Her mother's eyes twinkled in excitement.
She couldn't tell her that she took down a bully and basically harassed a random girl from her class on the first day.
So instead, she said, "Nothing much happened." With a shrug, hoping her mother couldn't see the sheen of sweat building on her brow at the lie.
"Really? Nothing at all?"
"Nope."
"Oh, okay." Her mother looked disappointed. "Well, how did you like it?"
She looked into her mother's hopeful gaze and felt a pang of guilt. She was hoping she had a place she would come to love after everything that happened to them, and she couldn't seem to let her down. Telling her they needed to move again would only cause her more pain.
So instead she walked off to her room and yelled over her shoulder, "The kimchi's burning."
Her mother jumped with a yelp and tried to prevent further damage, scampering around the kitchen and removing the food from the stove.
She wouldn't be the cause of her mother's tears anymore if she could help it.