Karma ━━ Jake Sim

𝟭𝟬 ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀No Pressure

Frankly, Sujin's never felt so out of place in her entire life.

She lets out a frustrated sigh as she untangles the tie from around her neck for the fifth time. It's a sliver of material, for god's sake! Why is it so damn hard to properly do? She eventually gives up, settling for whatever mess of a Windsor knot she'd managed to pull through on the seventh try. It's wonky, and hangs a little too loose off her collar, but she can't quite bring herself to care.

"I think that's the worst attempt at a tie I've ever seen." Sora snorts, tightening her own around her neck without even having to look in the mirror, "And that's saying something - you should've seen Riki's on his first day."

Sujin frowns - "Whatever." - and fishes out a pair of sneakers from her suitcase. She lets out a silent breath of relief whilst tying up the laces. At least one thing on her body isn't entirely foreign.

"Hey, it's not all that bad." Sora offers unconvincingly, "It kind of suits you!"

"You're a terrible liar, Nishimura." Sujin drawls, scooping her phone off the nightstand and positioning herself in front of the full-length mirror. She pulls her best 'Can you tell I'm about three seconds away from ending it all' face - which doesn't take too much pretending, to be honest - and snaps a picture to send to her best friend. Heeseung will most definitely have a laughing fit over this uniform, she predicts, and won't let her hear the end of it for months.

She presses 'Send' anyways.

A few minutes later, her frown deepens as she sees the message fail to send no matter how many times she hits the 'Retry' button. "What?" She whispers, mostly to herself, "I swear it was fine last night..."

"Ah, the Wi-Fi?" Sora guesses correctly, taking Sujin's silence as a confirmation. "Yeah, they shut that off on weekdays. We've gotta use another network, but practically everything that isn't some kind of academic website's blocked on that one." She rolls her eyes, "It sucks, I know."

"Oh my god, what is this - prison?!"

"Not far off." Sora jests, "And good luck trying to find reception out here. I swear, it's like Darisan's in its own little bubble! The school network only allows local calls and texts, so nothing comes in or out... it's kind of spooky."

Over-controlling would be a better word to describe it, Sujin thinks. She throws her phone to her bed in frustration. What's the point of carrying it around if she can't even use it to complain to Heeseung after every class?

"This is bullshit." She mumbles, hauling her tote over one shoulder with a sigh.

"I'm gonna have to agree with you on that one." Sora gives her a sympathetic pout, "But enough with all the moping. Let's get moving - or else we'll miss breakfast!"

Before Sujin is able to protest, the cheery girl loops an arm through hers and pulls her through the door with a giggle.

"First day of school... We're ready for you!"

Sujin can't possibly disagree more.

★

͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏ ͏͏͏͏͏͏⠀⠀ The auditorium is packed. It's a huge room - the largest in the whole school, according to Sora - with high ceilings and dim lighting. It's made up of seemingly endless rows of maroon colored seats and a larger-than-life stage with a simple wooden lectern brandishing the school's crest front and center.

Sujin reads the Latin motto embedded into the crest: 'VENI, VIDI, VICI'.

"I came, I saw, I conquered." Yang Jungwon recites the translation to her as they make their way to a row of empty seats, "Julius Caesar, 47BC."