That Stupid List (A Seventeen Fanfic)

Chapter 1: Demon

Jin had made an effort at being as unnoticeable as possible in college. She did not want to stand out. She did not want to put herself out there, to make new friends or to live out the social experience of going to college. All she really wanted was to get good grades, and receive her degree, and perhaps even earn a scholarship to pursue higher education.

She had had enough standing out when she lived in Jordan. Being the only Korean in a Jordanian all girls' local school, she was bound to be different than everyone else. Not to mention that her name, Jin, was actually "demon" or "goblin" in Arabic. That made her even more of a spectacle in her school in Jordan, and so she wanted to avoid that as much as possible when she returned to Korea.

It isn't that she hated her old school, on the contrary, it was a life experience she knew most people would never have. She made lasting friends, learned Arabic, and developed a cross-cultural understanding that most Koreans will never even dream of. It was just a strain to always be the center of attention, and so she came to Korea to escape that for a while.

She applied to the same college as another Korean friend of hers that had lived in Jordan, Sena. Her actual name was Seohyun, but no one could pronounce it properly there, and she was tired of the Jordanians asking her if she knew SNSD'S Seohyun. When Sena returned to Korea, she just kept using that name because she thought it sounded prettier than her old name.

Jin applied to the same college as Sena because she didn't want to go into an unfamiliar setting knowing no one. She was also not planning on making new friends in college, and so she wanted to make sure she had at least one friend there so that she isn't a total loner.

She didn't really mind being a loner though. She was naturally quiet, and she naturally kept to herself most of the time. If frustrations ever well up inside her, she doesn't really talk to people. Instead, she lets them out on the pages of her diary.

She developed quietness from her years of living in Jordan. She couldn't speak Arabic as a child just starting out in school, and so she could never really talk to anyone. When she eventually did learn Arabic, she was so used to not speaking that it just naturally became part of her disposition.

She wrote everything in her diary. It was just as much a friend to her as Sena was. It knew everything about her. It helped her figure things out, and gave her space to clear her head. It experiences happiness and sadness with her. It maps out her life, gives her advice, and comforts her when she needed it.

Her diary contained everything about her– all of her insecurities (which were plenty), all of her secrets, her wildest dreams, every embarrassing thought that had ever gone through her mind. Therefore, it was absolutely imperative to her that no one in the world gets their hands on this diary.