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― twenty four.
"minji?" the girl snapped out of her daze, turning to her best friend who was staring at her in concern.
"what?" the girl questioned, wondering if she had something on her face. "your food." minji glanced down, realising that she had managed to tear her chicken katsu to shreds, the breadcrumb coat being scattered all over her plate along with her curry.
"oh." minji quietly mumbled to herself, tidying up the mess with the spoon in her hand. "i didn't even realise." she added as her friend stared at her in concern.
"what's got you so distracted?" she questioned, although she already had an idea of what it could be. minji, suddenly remembering where her focus had been at, turned her head towards the source of all her worries, glaring daggers at the girl who sat with her crush. seol, her best friend, followed the girl's gaze as a knowing sigh escaped her lips. "figures."
"i don't get what he sees in her." minji frowned, tearing her gaze away. "especially with what happened to her with her dad, or whoever that man was, how could you ever want to be with a girl like that?"
"minji." the said girl turned to her best friend, seol having an unreadable expression that confused minji. "i get that you like yeosang, but that was mean."
"i'm not wrong, am i?" minji fired back, glaring at the girl. "would you want to date someone who had been molested by their own dad, how messed up is that?" minji's voice seemed to be a little louder than she had realised, catching the attention of the tables around them ― including inha's.
yeosang's head immediately whipped around at the mention of what had happened to inha. his eyes landed on minji who seemed oblivious to the attention that had fallen on her. "plus, all these years, her daddy's been buying the school to get her the number one spot. she's not even that pretty, but with money you can do anything." she scoffed, continuing to diss inha, unaware that the girl was listening to everything.
seol, who had noticed the attention falling on them, stood up out of embarrassment, grabbing her tray too. "where are you going?" minji questioned, looking up at the girl. seol avoided her gaze, turning away from the girl.
"if that's the way you think, then let's keep our distance for a while." seol suddenly suggested, which seemed out of the blue for minji as she stared in surprise, watching as her best friend left her by herself. that was when she finally realised her surroundings, noticing how everyone was openly staring at her. minji's eyes widened in surprise as they landed on yeosang, who was glaring daggers at the girl.
it seemed as if he wanted to walk over and give her a piece of his mind, but inha held the boy back, saying something to him to keep him in place. minji's fists clenched as she glared at the girl. "you're always ruining everything." she quietly muttered under her breath before also standing from her table, leaving the cafeteria with all eyes on her.
"you're just gonna let her get away with saying all of that?" yeosang turned to inha defeatedly, as the girl simply continued to eat her lunch unbothered.
"what's the point in getting involved and making it so big? just let people talk." she waved it off, telling him to just return to eating before lunch ended. now that inha didn't have to worry about her weight, she was happily eating to her heart's content. although it still isn't easy to adjust to since her body wasn't used to the sudden nutrients it was receiving, she was just glad she didn't have to worry about it anymore.
"i think i spoke to her before." yeosang suddenly pointed out, remembering his previous exchange with the girl. although it was short, and he could barely recall it, he remembered her face. "her name is minji, she came to my desk introducing herself." he continued as inha simply nodded.
"i see." she mumbled. there was something about yeosang talking about minji that left a bad taste in her mouth. she wanted to move on from the topic, wondering why yeosang was so adamant in changing the subject. it's not like inha was affected by her words, it wasn't the first time she had been treated that way. inha realised from a young age that people would always be talking behind her back, and sometimes they'd say it to her face. however, their words could never compare to the damage her parents had left her.
"do you want me to talk to her? i'll make sure―"
inha sighed, aggressively setting her chopsticks down which cut yeosang off. the boy stared in surprise as the girl suddenly grabbed her tray.
"i'm going back first." she declared before leaving the boy behind. yeosang stared, completely baffled by the situation as he watched the girl exit the cafeteria. he had never seen inha act that way before. on one hand, it made him happy to see her showing a different emotion to the same old unaffectedness she always had on display. on the other hand, he was left behind.
