Heroes | JJK ✔️

ii. Chemistry

If she was wondering if the students noticed her before, well, they were sure looking at her then. Their eyes were glaring into her, staring at her as if she were an alien that had landed in this school with a clown outfit on. She wished she could just hide under a rock and stay there forever so she would never feel this way again.

Mina's eyes slowly traveled to the person in front of her, seeing a tall boy, his dark hair draping over his forehead as he furrowed his eyebrows at her. Her mouth opened in shock as she saw the large red stain on his white shirt, from the provoking amount of kimchi she had on her tray.

"I-I am so sorry!" she bowed slightly to the boy, who only looked at her unamused, standing uncomfortably so that the stain on his thin white shirt wouldn't reach his skin underneath. "I didn't see where I was going, I-I'm so sorry, and about your shirt, I-I'll buy you a new one, I—"

"Yeah, because money can fix everything, right?" the boy spat. Mina stared at him with wide eyes, her heart falling to her stomach. Great, she thought. The last thing she wanted was to be seen as some rich celebrity, and it turns out she was making herself be seen as that.

At her silence, the boy only huffed and brushed past her as the other students continued staring at her. She felt as if she had dug her own grave, and she was ready to jump in at any moment. This utter humiliation was enough to last her a lifetime, and she thought what she feared came true.

Pulling her out of her thoughts was a tug at her arm by Bitna, who took her away after slightly witnessing the accident. By the time they made it to their table, the other students had continued their conversations, yet an odd feeling simmered through the air.

"Are you okay?" Bitna asked as they both sat down, across the table from each other. Her tray was already on the table, and Mina deduced that she must have set it down quickly before saving her from the situation.

"I don't belong here," Mina swallowed down the lump in her throat as she fumbled with her fingers, staring at the table. "Everyone hates me already."

"I promise you, they don't. They're just not used to new people, especially people as pretty and special as you," Bitna said calmly.

"I don't want to be special, I just want to be like everyone else," she stated, biting her lip.

"Why?" Bitna furrowed her eyebrows. "Being like everyone else is boring! Hell, the reason why I sit alone at this table every year is that I don't want to be like these people! And do you think I'm not special?"

"Y-Yes, you are," Mina muttered, glancing up toward her.

"Damn right I'm special," Bitna huffed, dramatically tossing her hair over her shoulder. Mina chuckled a bit at the action, looking down once again. "Hey, if you're special, celebrate it! Or else you'll end up like Heejin and her minion, Hanbyeol."

Mina nodded shyly, sending her a small smile as thanks. However, her face fell as soon as remembered the previous situation she'd encountered with that boy who looked like he wanted to murder her.

"Did you see the way that boy looked at me?" she bit the inside of her cheek as she asked.

"What, Jungkook?" Bitna blinked, almost as if she were surprised. "Was he mean to you?"

"I-I don't know, he made a remark about how money can fix everything after I offered to buy him another shirt..." Mina sighed. "I was stupid."

"Huh," she tilted her head in confusion, tapping the table with her fingernails. "His name's Jeon Jungkook. He was in our history class earlier. He's usually a quiet and nice person. He's one of Namjoon's best friends."