. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.
001.
⤷ ゛oh my gosh   ˎˊ˗

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╰┈➤【 TO be stared at.

Oh Sae-bin craved it more than anything else. She needed it like oxygen. She'd rather be despised than ignored, even if that meant people would call her a self-centered, arrogant bitch— which is close enough to the truth.

It's like calling someone like Yeon Si-eun 'nonchalant' and someone like Na Baek-jin 'evil': on the surface, the assumption seems right, but the more you get to know them, the sooner you'll realize it's a very wrong assumption.

Another thing about people like Yeon Si-eun and Na Baek-jin is that very few people, in fact, actually manage to figure out whether or not their assumption is correct, because these boys let very few people in.

The same thing goes for Oh Sae-bin.

Everyday, this 'self-centered, arrogant bitch' wears shoes of which the heels are a bit too high, but just not high enough for teachers to comment on it. The same goes for her skirt, though she pulls it even higher up when she passes a male teacher, only to test if he can be the next one to get fired.

Today, her shoes are a simple red color, matching with the stripes on her black-and-red tie— their primal uniform colors at Eunjang high school. The boys wear blazers and pants in black, with a white dress shirt and the same necktie as the girls, who instead have vests and pleated skirts in the primal colors.

A total of three girls have stared at her ever since she stepped out of Assistent Park's car, but one of them is her friend who'd been waiting for her, so that one doesn't count.

"Where'd you get those?" A-reum asks without any other greeting, eyeing the new golden hoops in Sae-bin's ears.

"It was a gift," she responds. "I don't know."

A-reum's eyebrows wiggle immediately. "From?"

"My father," Sae-bin declares, tone dry. "A gift to celebrate how he changed the jewelry rule."

A loud squeal leaves her friend's mouth. "Oh my gosh, you're kidding! He got them to change the rule?"

Sae-bin nods triumphantly. "Now Ms. Yoon can't attack you again for wearing flower ones."

"But I lost my flower ones," A-reum says with a huge pout and her voice higher pitched than ever.

Sae-bin reveals a tiny pink bag from behind her back and presses it into A-reum's hands, striking one manicured nail across it. "You left them at mine."

"Oh!" The girl gasps. "Oh my gosh, oh— thank you," she peeps. "I need to get rid of this catch phrase—oh my gosh—wait, no, I just said it again, oh my—" She slaps her hand to her mouth. "Stwop mwe if I sway it agwain," she tells Sae-bin, words muffled, then removes her hand. "I love your dad!"

Sae-bin scoffs a little, and the sound almost sounds like the heavy breaths that would leave Beom-seok's mouth after he got hit again, and again, and again. "I know."

"I wish my dad would allow me to study in a different country," A-reum goes on. "The Philippines sounds like a dream. Why wouldn't you go with— wait, oh my gosh, he's looking!"

"You said it again," Sae-bin points out.

Instead of freaking out this time, A-reum nods curtly and lifts her chin high up, fixing her hair. "Is my lipstick smudged?"

"No."

"Thank God. What if he thinks I'm with another guy?" A-reum mumbles. She sneaks a glance towards their left, at Park Hu-min, better known as Baku. "Ugh. He's so..." she sighs out dreamily.

Baku's gaze pauses on A-reum for less than a second before he turns back to the vending machine.

A-reum clutches her pink bag of rescued flower earrings with both hands. "He totally looked," she whispers. "He knows I'm here."

"He also knows the vending machine is broken. That's why he's kicked it seven times this week and looked your way to make sure you didn't notice— which you didn't."

"You're a nerd in disguise," A-reum responds. "How do I look? Do I look approachable? No, I look desperate, don't I? Or aloof. Is aloof good? Do I look aloof?"

Sae-bin adjusts her vest and smooths her skirt, pulling it up a little higher. "Aloof." She pauses. "I'm bored. I'm thinking about fifty things at once and none of them are fun."

A-reum's attention flicks to the golden hoops again. "Your dad really changed the rule? Like—officially?"

"Officially."

The memory flashes through Sae-bin's mind— her father's bored voice on the phone with the administration, simply mentioning his status to get what he wanted.

"They'll announce it during homeroom," she adds. "Ms. Yoon will pretend she's thrilled."

A-reum hums. "She hates being contradicted. Speaking of rules... how high are those heels?"

"Moderate."

A-reum groans. "If you get me in trouble one more time—"

"Then blame Ms. Yoon. She's the one who decided measuring skirt length was more important than stopping people from getting beat up on school grounds."

When you've grown up in a world where adults bend around your fingertips, where money is uncountable, where your father can call a school at midnight and have policies rewritten by morning— what consequences are left?

"Do you think he'll save me if I get involved?"

"Do you want to walk around with a black eye?" Sae-bin asks in return.

A-reum shrugs. "They'd have a new thing to talk about. I'd be cool again."

Sae-bin can't argue with that. She sighs, long and theatrical. "Let's go inside."

They step past the gates— heels tapping against the ground, skirt hems swaying, and their smell of way too much perfume lingering around them.

A group of first-year girls stands too close to their path, blocking the hallway. Sae-bin and A-reum keep walking. The girls scatter instantly.

A-reum beams. "Oh! They're learning."

One of the girls bows too low in apology.

"Don't strain your back. It's embarrassing."

The girl straightens immediately, red-faced.

They move on. Second floor, left wing, where the older students usually cluster.

"Oh Sae-bin?" A girl asks shakily.

Sae-bin stares at her.

"I- I was wondering if you could... look over my makeup? Before the class photos next week? You always look so... perfect."

A-reum's eyebrows shoot up.

Sae-bin tilts her head slowly.

The girl swallows. "I'll pay," she adds quickly.

Sae-bin's smile blooms. "Of course," she says. "Come find me at lunch."

The girl visibly sags with relief. "Thank you! Really, thank you!" She hurries away.

A-reum bursts out laughing. "I could see the sweat on her forehead! The makeup will smudge off the second you apply it. What's she so scared of? It's not like you're the one who killed that kid."

"Killed that kid?" Sae-bin repeats, curious but keeping her expression flat.

"You didn't hear? There's this new dude. Apparently he got transferred because he killed a kid at his old school. Byuksan."

She stares at her friend for a little too long. "At Byuksan?"

"Uh-huh. His name is... what was it? Yoon Si-on— no, no... uh... Yeon Si-eon!"

"Eun," Sae-bin corrects. "Si-eun."

A-reum blinks. "You know the guy?"

"No," Sae-bin hums thoughtfully. "Just remembered I did hear the rumor."

"Ah, yes! Okay, so, they say he killed a kid and now he's here, but why would they let a killer in our school? Do you think Baku would save me if he attacked? I haven't seen Si-eun, but his name sounds... well, it does sound killer-like, doesn't it?"

He didn't kill the kid, Sae-bin almost says. He never even hurt him.

"I guess so," she says.

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╰┈➤【 AUTHOR'S NOTES !

A rather short chapter but ieeee I'm so excited for this story!! + I love making flawed OCs so don't worry if you don't like Sae-bin that much in the beginning— character development exists

Don't forget to leave a vote !! ★

Have a good day x