"ms. im, come here for a second." ms. hwang called.

sooyoung inwardly sighed, knowing what's about to come.

"go ahead." minjee whispered with pity as she ushered her friend.

"yes, ma'am?"

"since you were late, i assume you were already expecting a consequence." the teacher says.

no, not really. i was five minutes late. should that even count? she wanted to reply but seeing that it won't do her any good, she just nodded her head.

"head down to the library at quarter to noon. mrs. shin, the librarian, needed some books to be sorted out." the woman smiled. "it shouldn't take more than ten minutes."

"okay. again, i'm sorry." sooyoung bowed at her professor, and went back to her seat.

"get ready for your next subject." ms. hwang told the whole class, which was responded by a bunch of mumbled goodbyes.

"so, so? is it-" her bubbly was interrupted when something was thrown at her head.

they heard a stiffled laughter from around the room.

"hey, midget. your head hit my pen." an obnoxious sounding voice made its way to their seat.

sooyoung glared at the guy before he sat down the chair in front of her (since wooyoung didn't even bother showing up) as he picked up the pen he threw. "you think new company's gonna change anything?"

this asshole directed the question at the shorter girl who looked down.

"get lost." sooyoung spatted, making him look at her.

"new kids are always a pain." he tilted his head to the side. "i'm yang joonsoo. remember. okay, fresh meat?" he proceeded to tap her head repeatedly with that pen.

the transferee clicked her tongue, sending him dagger stares. some people just make it hard for her to start over. "stop that."

"or what?" joonsoo mocked along with his so called buddies. "you standing up for this outcast?"

outcast?

sooyoung glanced at her shorter friend who was still holding her head down, looking defeated. this infuriated her even more.

she grabbed the pen from the boy and, from the adrenaline, broke it in half. the action shocked everyone watching them, especially minjee.

sooyoung threw the pieces at joonsoo. "i said get lost."

before anyone could do anything, their next teacher already made his entrance. "settle down everyone."

joonsoo scoffs as he stood up and went to his original seat.

"jee, you okay?" sooyoung worriedly ask as she still remained quiet.

"you, uhm-" minjee started. "it's okay if you don't want to hangout with me anymore." she says with a depressed tone.

"what?"

"uh- now that you know." the petite lass lets out a breathy chuckle. "but please don't stop hanging out with the rest! they really like you and-"

"minjee!" she whisper shouted to stop her but not disrupt the lecture going on. "i'm not going anywhere. i like them, too. i like you the most."

minjee eyes quivered. "but joonsoo-"

"i don't care. he doesn't scare me." she states sternly. "do the others know-"

"don't tell them!" the shorter grabbed her by the arm, almost begging. "they'll worry, and get into this mess and-"

"okay, okay. i won't." sooyoung agrees seeing her panic. "even jongho?"

"especially jongho."

the other sighed, not amused by the fact that this sweet girl was getting bullied and they can't know why. "okay. but i'm not staying put if he bothers you again."

"thank you, soo." she doesn't know how but minjee managed to make a grateful pout. "but be careful, okay? joonsoo's just like the rest of those snotty rich kids who thinks they're better than everyone."

sooyoung manages a nervous laugh. "isn't jongho rich?"

"yeah, but he hates them as well."

"you hate them?"

"don't we all?" minjee giggles. "they always get what they want and act like they're superior to anyone who they think are beneath them." she huffs as she finishes.

"can't argue with you there." the new student really couldn't argue with her, since she was right. that's exactly the reason why she hates going to those gatherings and she couldn't possibly imagine what minjee or any of her friends went through because of people like them.

and she's not gonna lie, she was once like that. that's exactly why she broke up with him. her self-centered self drove her to do it.

even though she worked hard to improve her attitude, that doesn't mean her narcissistic side completely disappeared.

and the jerks in this school just makes her want to bring out her inner mean girl.

ever since they became friends, sooyoung learned that san was popular but was also hated for being bisexual, yunho and mingi bullied for being together, jongho for hanging out with them, and now minjee.

if blood could actually boil, smoke would actually be coming out of her ears by now.

however, she hasn't quite mentioned the fact that she was wealthier than most. and now that it's revealed minjee was appalled by snotty rich brats and is being bullied by one, she figured it wasn't such a good time to tell them about her life.

i'll tell them later. she told herself. she wasn't ready to risk their friendship yet.

"right!" minjee snapped her fingers. "what did ms. hwang say?"

"she just said to go to the library before noon and arrange some books for a bit." she informed her friend.

"want me to come? it's usually where we talk anyway." the shorter girl offered to which sooyoung happily accepted.

"yes, please. i might not survive in the quiet." she said as if it was a fact, making minjee snicker.

"anything to share, you two?" the teacher called out.

"no, sir."

-

"this is not fair." wooyoung complains as they entered the campus again. it was just him and his blue haired friend since the other two went ahead to see their girlfriends.

"you lost so you," hongjoong paused for a dramatic effect, "do my assignment. isn't that fun?"

"getting all of these wrong will surely be fun." the younger smiled blankly.

he didn't expect this outcome from when they played at the arcade. he wasn't bad at games, but he was very distracted that time and he doesn't know why.

or rather, won't admit why.

"don't be like that. we had a bet." the older pouted. "and this is nothing to you. you're a genius!"

"flattery won't work, hongjoong." the purple hair bluntly said which made the other sigh. "i wouldn't have lost if yeosang wasn't glued to his phone."

"woo, come on." the navy haired whined. "seonghwa was also texting his chick. i won fair and square."

wooyoung lets out a groan. "fine. can't guarantee a high score, though."

"passing's fine." hongjoong reassured. "deadline's this afternoon, by the way. bye! you can do it!" he informs quickly before leaving.

"today?" the lilac opens scans the paper with his eyes only seeing a topic he hasn't encounter. "this bitch."

wooyoung has always been a fast learner, so it wasn't hard for him to grasp a foreign lesson. besides, it was just math. he just need to go to library and read a book about it, then he'll be able to learn about formulas or whatever is needed for the problems.

once he arrived at the library, he saw the place almost full. he looked around and, luckily, found an unoccupied table.

he places his bag on one of the chairs to let it be known someone was staying there already. he went on to scan the shelves to look for a math book that explained hongjoong's assignment.

as wooyoung left, a duo entered and also had their eyes set on the same table.

"let's just stay here. i'll just be regrouping the books according to lessons?" sooyoung says unsurely, chewing the gum her friend gave her.

minjee nodded and noticed something. "oh, looks like someone took this table."

"it'll be fine. we won't be here long anyway." sooyoung brushed off. "they'll understand. there's no where left to sit."

seeing as there were no more tables and they were carry at thirty books and magazines, minjee agreed to take the chairs.

"god damnit." they heard someone mutter behind.

both girls turned around to explain, but only to see a face she loathed. "oh, why does the world hates me so much?"