———

It was awkward as hell.

Sat together in a circle with a fire in the middle of them, Ji-su, Eunji and Nayeon sat with the main group.

Everyone was silent.

Cheongsan was looking at both Ji-su and Nayeon, Cheongsan glad that Ji-su took his offer into consideration, was surprised when he saw a scared and cowardly Nayeon, glued to her and Eunji as they all came to the rooftop.

Cheong-san was questioning why they bothered to bring Nayeon in the first place.

Gyeong-su was glaring at Nayeon, mostly because of her almost murder attempt on him

Nam-ra, was staring dead at both Ji-su and Eunji, and the two also giving the class president subtle glances. As if they were communicating.

The rest of the group were all curious as to how they even survived so long.

"𝗦𝗼..." Daesu spoke first, "𝗪𝗵𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲?"

Everyone stared at Nayeon, Ji-su and Eunji, waiting for their answers, Ji-su stared back, she was hoping that everyone would've just stuck to their own cliques, basically she didn't want any of them to talk to her.

Eunji stared at Ji-su, Ji-su stared at Eunji, the two looked like they were having a telepathic battle of who would talk first.

In the end Eunji won, meaning Ji-su had to talk

"𝗬𝗼𝘂,𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗶𝗱𝗻,𝘁 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂?" Ji-su stared in Cheongsan's direction, "𝗛𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘂𝘀"

"𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘄𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗡𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝘀" Eunji continued, putting a long emphasis on the 'we' part, letting Ji-su know that she was still mad about that.

"𝗕𝗲𝗰𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁. 𝗚𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘂 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆." Ji-su ended

The rest of the group looked at Ji-su and Eunji in confusion, they were never there when Nayeon had attempted to murder Gyeong-su, which meant one thing.

"𝗧𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗳-𝗯𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗡𝗮𝗺-𝗿𝗮" On-jo concluded, taking the words right out of all their minds.

Ji-su and Eunji internally smiled, finally took this long before they realized.

"𝗛𝗲𝘆! 𝗜 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘄𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺? 𝗛𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵𝘆 𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗲" Daesu complained to On-jo.

"𝗗𝗮𝗲-𝘀𝘂 𝗻𝗼 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁" This time it was Hyoryung that interfered, causing Dae-su to bicker with her, then it turned into their childish arguments they always get themselves into.

Ji-su leaned towards to whisper something in Eunji's ear, "𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝘁𝘄𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻,𝘁 𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗜 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿..." The two girls giggled at the jokes.

"𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆! 𝗢𝗸𝗮𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵!" Cheongsan yelled between all this chaos, "𝗝𝗶-𝘀𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗡𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘇𝗲, 𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱𝘀, 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝗚𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘂 𝗮𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀"

Now the attention was on Gyeong-su, who looked surprised with the two words 'Nayeon' and 'Apologize'.

Nayeon who was sitting in between Nam-ra and Eunji was quiet, until a not so subtle shove from Eunji, she groaned then took a deep breathe.

"I,𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗚𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘂" She said, everyone knew it didn't sound genuine at all, and then a wave of annoyance overtook everyone.

"𝗔𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝘇𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗹𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗼𝘁, 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗜 𝗱𝗿𝗮𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲" Ji-su threatened. Knowing the dangers that lurked beyond the school rooftop doors.

Nayeon terrified shook her head in cooperation, "𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗲...𝗚𝘆𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗴-𝘀𝘂, 𝗜,𝗺 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆, 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱𝗻,𝘁 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝗶𝘁, 𝗜,𝗺 𝘀𝗼𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘁𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘀 𝗜 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂...𝗯𝗼𝘁𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘁𝘂𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. 𝗜 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗰𝗰𝗲𝗽𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆"

After that ended a round of applauses followed after, everyone was surprised at this new attitude in Nayeon, she wasn't whining or complaining.

Ji-su was somewhat proud of her, she had to be threatened sure, but Ji-su could tell it was a genuine apology.

Another reason why Ji-su had gone back for Nayeon was because she felt bad for her. Even though Ji-su thought the whole trying to kill Gyeong-su ordeal was a bit too much, Ji-su could relate to the other side of Nayeon, which was the insecure, lonely girl who just wanted friends she could count on.

It was quiet around the fire, and once again, Daesu broke the silence

———

On-jo had separated from the group, due to a failed confession from Cheongsan, provoked by Dae-su asking who he had a crush on.

Ji-su was surprised Cheong-san actually got the courage to finally confess, it was obvious that his feelings for the girl were more than platonic, everyone could see that...well, everyone except On-jo.

Now the circle was smaller and Su-hyeok and Gyeong-su were consoling Cheong-san, who was trying to hide his heartbreak.

'𝙃𝙚'𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝' Ji-su heard Eunji speak to her through their bond.

As The two spoke, Nam-ra stared at the two, wondering if she should make it known that she could here then too, Nam-ra was too scared to talk to Ji-su, and she didn't know Eun-ji that well, before this whole mess, Nam-ra knew Ji-su was an outcast, her parents wouldn't approve of her associating herself with someone of that title, but Nam-ra had broken that rule once before.

On Ji-su's first day at Hyosan high, she was merely an innocent vibrant student, really just there to have fun, that type of energy contradicted with Nam-ra's, which intrigued her slightly, Nam-ra had decided to talk to her at lunch, when she was caught Ji-su sitting alone, looking quite lonely.

Nam-ra sat by her, the first time she was eating lunch, and it was with the new kid with no friends, she was sure people were going to gossip about it later on.

When she sat down, Nam-ra saw Ji-su's lonely energy disappear.

"𝗛𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗼 𝗜'𝗺 𝗡𝗮𝗺-𝗿𝗮"

Ji-su looked at her with a smile, "𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂, 𝗜'𝗺 𝗝𝗶-𝘀𝘂"𝗽

The two ate silently, but it was a comfortable silence.

Nam-ra had enjoyed Ji-su's company.

Then something happened.

Ji-su just stopped talking to her.

Her normal vibration of happiness had disappeared, and so did the comfortable silence at lunch, and soon, Ji-su had completely disappeared from Nam-ra's life.

Ji-su could feel Nam-ra's stares, and she couldn't help but stare back.

Ji-su didn't hate Nam-ra, she hated the bullies that hurt her through her high school life.

How she couldn't express her positive emotions anymore.

Nam-ra wanted to finally speak to her fellow Hambies, but something had interrupted her. Specifically someone.

It was On-Jo's screams of help that triggered everyone's fight or flight.

Gwi-nam was back.

And he had On-jo on the neck, putting her in a chokehold.

————
𝗡𝗲𝘄 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱, 𝟭𝟭