Line 49 (Chapter 1, Part A)
Taeyeon couldn’t help but sigh deeply in anxiety as she walked across the school yard with two of her closest friends beside her. It was the first day of her senior year of high school that day, while Sooyoung, who was walking to her right, was suddenly a junior, and Seohyun, to her left, was a sophomore. A sophomore in high school, can you believe that? Wherever had time gone, Taeyeon wondered as they closed in on the front entrance.
“Take it easy, shorty,” Sooyoung said in response to her deep sigh. “I’m sure it’s gonna be just like before.”
Taeyeon just whined in answer. It wasn’t like this was a new school or anything, no; they’d been there a million times before. No, the reason for Taeyeon’s smothering nervousness was that she doubted that it would be like before very strongly. Due to a very low student count, their school had to mesh with two nearby schools. Seeing it as their school was the biggest and most central, it had fallen upon them to be the host. Taeyeon swallowed nervously as she once again pictured the sea of people she expected to be behind the front door, and stopped immediately as her throat threatened to close up.
“But it’s just,” she said, fighting to keep her voice from sounding too shrill or loud, “it’s terrifying! Aren’t you guys freaked out?”
Sooyoung gave her a stern look.
“You mean, am I currently wondering which bathroom would be the closest and least embarrassing to run to if I wet myself from fear?” She stopped walking, her eyes fixed on the door and swallowed dramatically before continuing: “Oh yeah”.
Taeyeon fought to not look too creepy as a smile broke out on her numb face.
“I think it’s exciting,” Seohyun said, turning her back against the school and smiling at the older girls. “I mean, think of all the new people we’ll meet!” she beamed at them with an expectant look on her face.
“Exciting for you, maybe,” Taeyeon grumbled. “You’re an angel, nobody would think of laughing at you or humiliating you beyond repair. I just… I don’t do well with crowds.” Her stomach rumbled darkly, as if to agree.
“We know,” Sooyoung said, as Seohyun smiled even wider at being called an angel. “We were there, you know, that time when you fe-“
“Please!” Taeyeon interrupted loudly. “If you add embarrassment to my collection of feelings right now, I might explode.” She glanced around at the stray people making their way towards the entrance. “Nobody needs to remember that story anyway,” she added lowly. Sooyoung held back a laugh and threw an arm over the shorter girl’s shoulders to give her an understanding pat on the arm. Taeyeon responded with a glare.
Taeyeon’s phone beeped, signaling a new text message, and she reached into her pocket to see who it was from.
Recipient: Taeyeon
Sender: Bunny
Almost at the school now~ Please look out for me, I don’t want to be trampled by the crowd
“Sunny will be here soon,” she told her friends, and Seohyun made two excited claps as she bounced back to her spot on Taeyeon’s left.
“Let’s just wait here for her then,“ Sooyoung said, seemingly glad to have an actual reason to stay out just a while longer.
The three stood in silence, watching the people passing them by, their limbs (in Sooyoung’s and Taeyeon’s case) frozen in fear. Taeyeon stared up at the cloudy sky, annoyed with the weather for being so calm when, according to her feelings, there should be a full-on thunder vs. rain war going on.
She awoke from her daze when Sunny suddenly appeared to the left of Seohyun, not sparing them a glance, but keeping her eyes, too, glued to the entrance to the school.
“Hey,” she said. She sounded calm, but the look in her eyes said differently.
“Hey. Sooyoung is wondering which bathroom would be the most ideal refuge in case the fear causes her to have an accident,” Seohyun informed her.
“Oh,” Sunny said, not looking surprised in the slightest, despite her eyebrows shooting up behind her short, blonde bangs for a second. “Well, I’d say your best choice would be the one in the basement. I mean, I know it’s off limits, but that means there won’t be a whole lot of people there, and you won’t have to pass the cafeteria. Avoiding people is crucial.”
Seohyun, Taeyeon and Sooyoung all nodded in understanding.
“People are dangerous. They have cameras,” Sooyoung said, paling slightly.
“And eyes,” Taeyeon added. Sooyoung nodded slowly.
They fell silent as a group of boys passed them noisily, some of them throwing appreciative glances their way.
“Well,” Sunny began after a minute of silently praying for her life, “I guess we should go inside then.”
“Yes, come on,” Seohyun agreed immediately, “let’s go.” She grabbed Sunny’s and Taeyeon’s hands and started pulling them towards the door.
“Stop sounding so happy, or I will smack you,” Sooyoung groaned as she walked beside them.
“Sooyoung,” Taeyeon warned, glaring at her friend. Sooyoung held up her hands.
“I will not be held responsible for anything I say or do today,” she said, “especially not if I really do wet myself. Okay?”
The other three shared a look.
“Don’t worry, I will protect you,” Sunny told Seohyun, wrapping an arm around her waist. Sooyoung snorted, but the look Taeyeon shot her made her drop her argument immediately.
“Maybe it won’t be as bad as we think,” Taeyeon said as they stopped just outside the door. “Maybe they won’t be so many.”
“Yeah…” Sunny agreed hesitantly. “Once I’ve been trampled to death and I’m stuck here to haunt this place, I’m sure I won’t care anymore. I don’t think ghosts can be trampled.”
“Come on, you guys,” Seohyun said, grabbing the door handle, “stop being such wusses. Let’s go!” She disappeared through the door and missed Sooyoung’s look of utter shock at being called a wuss by the youngest.
“That little…” Sooyoung mumbled and chased after her. Taeyeon and Sunny both sighed before inhaling deeply and following.
Inside, Taeyeon immediately bumped into Sooyoung who had stopped as soon as she had entered through the door.
“What the hell, Sooyoung,” she groaned, but when she recovered from the sharp pain of crushing her nose against the taller girl’s spine, she realized that there was no way Sooyoung would have heard her over the hysterical chatter that was filling the reception. She looked around and immediately knew her senior year was going to be hell: People. Everywhere.
Most of them were unknowns lining up at the reception to find out where how when why, but there were some familiar faces too, standing around observing or taunting the newcomers. Even Seohyun, who Taeyeon now noticed was standing beside Sooyoung, looked slightly taken aback.
“Still exciting?” Sooyoung muttered to her while her eyes seemed to shift crazily between every single person in the room. Sunny walked around Taeyeon and stared at Sooyoung’s crazy gaze.
“Hey!” she said, grabbing the taller girl by the arms. “You’re going. Off. The deep end,” she said clearly, making Sooyoung snap out of her trance and stare disapprovingly at her.
“Let’s get out of here before I do something incredibly uncool, like, say, faint,” Taeyeon said, feeling the walls closing in on her. She grabbed Sunny’s hand and hurried off, but didn’t make it as far as one meter before Sooyoung stopped her by pulling at her arm.
“Wait… I promised a friend from one of the other schools I would help her and her friends today, you know, with showing them around and teaching them everything,” Sooyoung said a little guiltily. “We said we’d meet up at the reception.”
“A friend? From one of the other schools?” Sunny questioned. The room spun in Taeyeon’s head.
“Yeah,” Sooyoung said, looking around for a sign of her friend.
“Traitor,” Sunny teased. “How do you even know her?”
“Mutual friends,” the younger girl replied and stopped straining her neck to get a good view of the room. “You know how Leeteuk is, he knows everyone.”
They backed against a bright yellow wall, to Taeyeon’s relief, while they waited for Sooyoung’s mysterious friend. Taeyeon was thankful she didn’t need to use her wobbly legs anymore and closed her eyes as she leaned against the wall.
“In the future, when you make friends, make sure they aren’t the type who’s always late, okay?” Sunny said, patting Sooyoung’s thigh lightly. The younger of the two sighed.
“I’ll text her,” she muttered, pulling out her phone. “Maybe she’s already lost.”
Recipient: Yoona
Sender: Sooyoung
You’re not lost, are you? I’m at the reception like we agreed ^^
Yoona gave an anguished sigh as she lowered her phone and looked around. She’d been trying to find her friends for a good half hour already, but it appeared they were nowhere to be found. Neither of them were picking up their phones, which, really, Yoona couldn’t blame them for, considering the noise that had taken over the school.
Recipient: Sooyoung
Sender: Yoona
I’ll be right there, trying to find my friends! Sorry I’m late <3
She pressed send and hurried to call Jessica for the fortieth time. If anyone was going to pick up, it was bound to be her, the cellphone obsessed creature. She wandered aimlessly through the unknown corridor while she listened to the signals ring as no one picked up.
“Come on, Sica, pick up! Where are you?” she hissed into the phone. “Busy eating Yuri’s face off as usual…” Two girls passing by gave her a frightened look.
She rounded a corner and found herself in an empty corridor. She sighed deeply and leaned against the stone wall, considering just forgetting about her friends and finding Sooyoung without them. Laughter echoed from somewhere beyond the corridor, the acoustics of the room distorting it to remind Yoona of every single horror movie she had ever repressed. No, she decided, her friends were bound to be around there somewhere, and besides, she wasn’t sure she’d ever find her way back to the reception even if she tried.
She started walking down the corridor, absently reading the scribbling all over the walls and some of the low ceiling; insults, attempts to start rumors, offensive lyrics, hearts and random drawings. What she had seen of the school so far didn’t make her feel the tiniest bit at home, but she knew it could be a lot worse. There was a lot of space, and though she sometimes only saw that as more corridors to get lost in, she had to admit it was something of a luxurious school. Granted, she had only had a few moments to peek into some of the classrooms, but the equipment in them had seemed expensive. She was impressed.
She came to a halt as she noticed a door that led directly to an outside basketball court. Beyond it was another one of the school buildings, probably the music house - she had been told it was supposed to be yellow - and even further away she could see part of the parking lot by the entrance. She really needed to start over, she had buried herself too deeply in this school, and she assumed her friends would be about as willing as Yoona herself was to get lost. Maybe they were even standing in the reception too, and Yoona was the only one making a fool of herself moving around too much.
Pushing the door open, she hopped out on the asphalt and started making her way towards the parking lot. The air of the warm summer morning flowed over her at once, and she paused for a second, taking a deep breath, focusing intently on - despite being lost - the feeling of intense happiness that filled her.
The sound of her heels echoed across the yard as she walked and she had to hold back a childish instinct to start skipping and laughing, running and screaming. She wasn’t sure where the sudden happiness came from, but she loved it. She felt strong.
As she walked past the music house, her feeling of strength was smashed when she noticed three people standing right next to the yellow stone wall. One of them, a boy, had his back against the wall while the two others, also boys, were holding on to his shoulders and looking none too friendly. Yoona stopped in her tracks as soon as she saw them.
One of the two scary-looking boys said something that Yoona couldn’t quite make out, and then he grabbed the third boy’s collar and banged his whole body harshly against the wall. The boy let out a small cry of pain, but then one of the boys landed a fist in his face, straight at his jaw, and he fell down to his knees.
“Hey!” Yoona called, running towards them and trying to ignore the stinging fear and the thought that - oh no - it’s way too early to be making enemies already.
The boys all looked up at the same time when the sound of her angry voice and the clicking of her heels reached them. For a moment none of them moved, but within two seconds the boys forgot about their victim and ran, struggling to pull up their hoodies while yelling things that Yoona couldn’t understand, and, frankly, didn’t care about.
She hurried towards the boy who was still on his knees with one hand pressed to the ground and the other holding his bleeding lip.
“Are you alright?” she asked as she reached him. She knew it was a lousy and clichéd question - cause who could ever be alright after having been beat up on the first day of school - but she didn’t know what else to say. She reached out a hand to the boy, but he kept his face down, not showing her anything but thick, black hair.
“Fine,” he snapped, his voice light and soft and obviously pained. Yoona let her hand fall down to her side and watched as the boy climbed back up to his feet. She couldn’t help but let out a gasp when he stood up and finally let her see his face.
“Sungmin?” she said, unable to understand what she was seeing.
“What? I -“ the boy began, confused, but then realization dawned on his face, “Yoona?”
“Yes!” she replied, excitement shining out of her eyes. She had known Sungmin through all of her childhood until they were around thirteen and Sungmin had transferred to another school. The boy she remembered was slightly feminine, hardworking, cute, talented in doing just about anything and a tad hyper. Seeing him now at age 18, Yoona almost couldn’t recognize him, he had changed so much. His hair was cut short on one side, and was left long down to his jaw on the other; he was dressed in all black and boots that looked like they could kick someone’s brains in on their own accord; and a thin line of eyeliner encircled his big eyes.
“Wow… you have no idea how glad I am to see you,” Sungmin said attempting a smile but stopping when the open cut on his lip reminded him of its presence. He lifted a hand in a black, fingerless glove to his lips and carefully wiped away the blood that was about to drip down his chin.
“Are you okay?” Yoona asked again, her heart stinging a little at the pain on Sungmin’s face.
“It’s okay,” he replied, “it’s hardly the first time.”
“That doesn’t really make it better though,” Yoona laughed nervously. “Who were those guys?”
Sungmin looked over his shoulder to where the boys had run off.
“Just some asses from my old school who want to make my life hell,” he replied with a snort. “They’re not really worth worrying about,” he added as he saw the sad look on Yoona’s face.
“Yes, they are,” Yoona said, fighting down the urge to reach out and wipe away the blood that was once again making its way down Sungmin’s face. “Does it hurt a lot?” she asked, nodding her head towards Sungmin’s cut.
“Kind of,” he replied, “but it’s okay. It’ll heal.”
Yoona smiled sadly at him.
“But hey, it’s been a really long time since we saw each other, right?” Sungmin continued, changing the subject. Yoona, who could tell he wasn’t too eager to talk about his bullies, followed along.
“It has,” she agreed. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”
Sungmin gave a short laugh and leaned against the wall. “I guess I’ve changed,” he said, looking down at his boots and rubbing them together. “You look exactly the way I remember you, though,” he continued, looking up at her again.
Yoona smiled. “So I still look thirteen?”
“Pretty much” Sungmin laughed. “Not a day older at least.”
“Hey!” Yoona said, reaching out to give him a playful punch. Sungmin flinched noticeably, and Yoona let her hand fall down again. Their smiles faded and an awkward second passed between them.
“Sorry,” Yoona mumbled silently.
“So,” Sungmin said, standing up straight and ignoring Yoona’s apology, “I take it you’re going here now as well?”
“I do,” Yoona replied, the happiness of seeing her old friend a little tainted by her mistake. “You too, huh?”
“Sadly.” Sungmin kicked at a couple of rocks with a sour look on his face. “Needless to say, I hate this place already.”
Yoona reached out a hand and put it on his arm. “It doesn’t have to become so bad,” she tried, “at least now we can be friends again.” When she didn’t get a response, she added “right?”
“Yeah,” Sungmin smiled weakly at her. “I’m sorry I didn’t keep in touch after I moved.”
Yoona expected some kind of explanation to come after the apology, but Sungmin didn’t seem to have one. “It’s okay,” she said, squeezing his arm where she held it. “I wasn’t so good at it either.”
Sungmin smiled, and silence fell for a few seconds.
“Well, from now on I guess that won’t be a problem,” he said, and Yoona let go of his shoulder.
“Exactly,” she beamed. “Now we can protect each other from this school, which seems to be both evil and confusing.”
“Right,” Sungmin nodded. “What were you doing walking around back here anyway? Why aren’t you in the assembly hall?”
“Well, see, I was looking for my retarded friends,” Yoona explained, “who are incapable of answering their phones.”
“Ah,” Sungmin said, looking around. “I really don’t think you’ll find them back here though.”
“No, I know, I was just heading back to reception,” Yoona hurried. “You should come with me,” she suggested happily.
Sungmin looked over his shoulder again before glancing towards the parking lot and the people moving towards the entrance. Once again Yoona’s smile faded a little, and she could have sworn something had changed horribly in her childhood friend, something she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Where the old Sungmin would be enthusiastic and regretless, this new version seemed so… tarnished. As if he had an injury he didn’t want to reveal.
“Yeah, sure,” Sungmin said with a halfhearted smile, and the moment passed. Yoona’s worry dissipated. Almost.
Old habit made Yoona want to hook her arm in Sungmin’s as they walked together. It felt strange seeing him after such a long time; she had missed him a lot during the first few years of their separation. Lately, though, she had gotten over the hole her best friend left behind pretty much completely. Seeing him again was like ripping the old wound all over again, only to have it heal immediately.
The morning had already been a rollercoaster of emotions, and she hoped secretly that from now on, maybe she could fix whatever was broken in Sungmin.
When Yoona and Sungmin rounded the corner and found themselves on the front side of the school, the first thing Yoona saw was her three friends standing closely together in a heap. They all had their heads held high; Yoona supposed neither of them were nervous at all. They really had no reason to be, as they had always belonged to more popular crowds.
“There they are,” Yoona told Sungmin, pointing towards her friends. “Finally…” She grabbed a hold of Sungmin’s arm and started walking quickly towards them. “Hey!” she called as they grew closer, and the trio looked up and waved at her.
“Where have you been?” a girl with golden locks and the name of Jessica asked when Yoona and Sungmin caught up to them.
“Where have I been?” Yoona spluttered, “where have you been? And why didn’t you answer your phone?”
Jessica stared at her with a blank expression for a moment, before pressing the hand that wasn’t busy holding her girlfriend, Yuri’s, into her pocket to pull out her phone. Her eyes widened when she saw the list of missed calls.
“Sorry,” she tried in a high pitched voice, attempting to be cute and looking apologetically at Yoona.
“We only just arrived,” Tiffany cut in from beside Jessica to explain their absence and stop the other girl’s act of cuteness before it went too far.
“Yes, somebody overslept,” Yuri added from her spot beside her girlfriend, squeezing Jessica’s hand and earning a glare from the latter.
“Hey,” Jessica began, sounding offended, “it’s not my fault when my alarm doesn’t go off. Who can help it if the alarm doesn’t go off? It has nothing to do with me, you know I’m innocent in this!” She pouted and stared sadly at Yuri.
“I know, honey,” Yuri quickly agreed and let go of the other girl’s hand to reassuringly rub her back, “I know.” Tiffany turned away from the couple, but Yoona didn’t miss how she rolled her eyes at them.
Jessica’s expression softened. “I’m just lucky to have you call and check in on me every now and then. Otherwise I’d still be sleeping now,” Jessica cooed, her eyes locked lovingly at Yuri for a moment before they turned blank again and she appeared to start dreaming about going back to sleep.
“Of course I check in on you,” Yuri said, sickly sweet. “After having been together with you and seeing your sleeping habits…” she began, but Jessica immediately turned cold and gave her a death glare. “I mean… of course I check in on you.” She giggled awkwardly and grabbed Jessica’s hand again, bringing it to her lips.
Yoona noted how Tiffany stuck out her tongue and made vomiting movements, and she pressed her lips together to stifle a laugh. She glanced at Sungmin who was staring at the now hugging couple with one of his eyebrows raised. Damn, Yoona thought, she hadn’t thought he’d find out they were insane this fast.
“Let’s head inside before I get diabetes,” Tiffany mumbled and walked over to Yoona’s side. “And also,” she continued, glancing at Sungmin who was behind Yoona, “aren’t you gonna introduce us?”
“Right,” Yoona said, turned around and pulled Sungmin forward until he was facing Tiffany. “This is Sungmin.” She put her hand on his back when she noticed how nervous he looked under Tiffany’s stare.
“Sungmin? The Sungmin?” Tiffany asked, switching her gaze between Yoona and Sungmin a few times.
“That’s the one,” Yoona laughed slightly. Sungmin smiled weakly, looking a little happier knowing Yoona had talked about him with her friends. “This is Tiffany,” Yoona continued for Sungmin’s sake. “And that over there is Jessica with her head on Yuri’s shoulder.” Tiffany reached out a hand for Sungmin to shake, while Jessica and Yuri gave two little waves. Sungmin held up his left hand with an insecure smile at them as he took Tiffany’s hand in his right.
“Now,” Tiffany said, grabbing Yoona’s arm and walking towards the entrance to the school, “let’s find this friend of yours who’s gonna save us from getting lost today.”
Sungmin hurried back to Yoona’s other side while Yuri and Jessica followed slightly behind. “More friends?” Sungmin asked, trying to hide his anxiety at the thought of having to interact with more people, but the fear was evident in his voice.
“Don’t worry,” Yoona said. “All my friends are nice. And if they aren’t nice to you, they aren’t my friends.” She gave him an encouraging smile.
“Your friends seem kind of weird though,” Sungmin said lowly. Tiffany leaned forward and shot him a questioning glare from Yoona’s other side. “Not you,” Sungmin explained, holding up an apologetic hand as they walked on, “I mean…” he continued and nodded towards the couple walking behind them. Tiffany looked at them over her shoulder before laughing. “Is Jessica bipolar?” Sungmin asked. “She seems bipolar.”
Yoona directed a glance of disapproval at Tiffany who laughed even louder at Sungmin’s question. “She’s not bipolar. She’s just a bit… different. She has some mood swings, but who doesn’t.”
“Being around Yuri tends to make her a little crazy though,” Tiffany cut in. She turned to Sungmin. “They’ve been together since like the dawn of time, and they’ve always been like this,” she smiled fondly. “So I think you’d better get used to their ways, cause I doubt they’re going anywhere.”
Sungmin nodded, distracted by the sight of the front door just a few meters ahead. Yoona sighed in relief when she noticed there weren’t as many people out as when she arrived. She didn’t know if the relief was for Sungmin or for herself.
Yoona, Tiffany and Sungmin jumped up the few stone steps to the door, pulled it open slightly and waited for Yuri and Jessica to catch up to them.
“Hurry up!” Tiffany told them with her hand on the doorknob. “Aren’t you guys excited to see where and with whom we’re going to spend our last year of high school?” she asked with a smile.
“I can hardly contain myself,” Jessica deadpanned, stopping beneath the steps and staring up at Tiffany. The latter just flashed her a bright smile before pulling the door open fully and rushing inside.
“You’ll have to excuse Tiffany,” Yuri told Sungmin as she made her way up the steps with Jessica, “I think she’s been single for too long.”
Sungmin stared pointedly at Yoona.
Part B