Dull [Book III]

Unexpected

No one expected a heated argument between them after what happened. Not even Soojung herself.

On her way home on Monday, all she could ever remember was that she and Jiyong were shouting frenziedly towards each other after they were the only ones left in the parking lot. She wasn't quite sure how they ended up that way, but Soojung felt like she had to at least defend Lay's case after knowing everything behind it.

Jiyong started the fight as he found out that Lay helped her yesterday with groceries and took care of her, even cooking dinner which she couldn't do with the damn cast. As usual, it was his false accusation of Soojung being unfaithful, giving the kind actions meaning of them seeing each other as more than just friends.

Offended, Soojung yelled back and went back to the cafeteria, only for her friends to call her off, claiming that Jiyong was the one with their group and that she should've sided with him. It was another useless argument. She went home and tried to find someone to talk to, but Dohee was more than busy now that her midterm exams were really close.

Friday came and Soojung was miserable than ever, even when she went back to the hospital by herself to get her cast removed. Her shoulder was fully functional again, but the space left by Jiyong, her friends, Lay, her father, Dohee unnie, and the asshole Uppers at school... everything was pressuring her into just crawling to the darkest part of her bedroom and never return back out. For a whole week, Soojung felt like the most fed-up person in her class.

She could never talk to anyone, even to Minah, who seemed like she was having problems herself for the past three days. Minah acted like the bitch she was when they first met, but Soojung didn't dare ask and let her be.

The eleven o'clock bell rang and Soojung was up on her feet in no time, shoving things inside her bag before hurrying out the door. Mouth shut for a very long time, she learned how to concentrate on stuff that she heard whenever she treaded the hallways – mostly bad things about her.

Soojung tried to shut them out, but it seemed like the Uppers who talked shit about her knew very well how they could get inside her head. She was getting really pissed off, and it was becoming harder and harder to control her fists from bashing their faces. Near the stairs was where Soojung stopped walking.

"What did she ever do to suddenly appear here?"

Soojung's jaw clenched.

"I heard that her father's coaching the football team in uni. Do you think he talked to the board to get her into the second section?"

"He's not even a fulltime coach yet."

"She's unbelievable. How can a delinquent suddenly climb up?"

When Soojung had enough, she turned around and faced the group of girls, obviously making their voices loud so she would hear. Smirks met her blank expression and stared them all down, but not one girl got intimidated by her presence.

"Oh look." The first one said. "Speaking of the devil."

"You just can't shut that hole of yours, can you?" Soojung asked flatly. "I've seen you around and all you've ever done is spread crap about me."

"It's about time you noticed." The second one added and crossed her arms over her chest. "We just want people to know. You're a delinquent, right? The things we say are real. If there's crap around here, it's probably you."

They laughed, and Soojung tried hard to keep her rage in.

"Stop the rumors and leave me alone." She warned.

"Or what? You're going to fight against us?" The first one challenged. "Clearly, that's all you know. Why don't you go back to your previous section where you truly belong?"