blushing | mark lee

|| 8. stand up ||

minhee's P.O.V.

"lets go!" haechan called us like we were his children.

all of us grabbed our bags and headed out the door. we all decided to walk because we couldn't fit in the car. 8 of us and only 5 seats, i am not getting squished. it only took about 10 minutes to walk to the school, i was actually pretty excited. new school, new start.

my phone buzzed from my bag, i think i got a text.

its from herin.

herin: hey, sorry for the late reply, but I'm waiting at your locker!

i smiled. i honestly feel really happy that i made my first real friend. i mean yeah, haechan and the others, but i had childhood connections with them. i made a new friend on my own, and she seems like a good person.

i parted my ways from the boys, without telling them, just to meet herin at my locker. there she was, just examining the crowd of highschoolers, thinking she's looking for me. i approached her and caught her attention.

"hey minhee!" she exclaimed.

i greeted back.

"how was your day so far?" she asked.

"pretty good, its only the beginning, and i look like trash." i said.

"are you freaking kidding me, you've been getting so many stares. you're the only one who could pull the uniform off." she lightly hit my shoulder.

i laughed. "stop being over dramatic, just treat me like an ordinary girl."

and as i said that, i opened my locker and papers just flew out. i knelt down to pick them up from the floor as i read the letters. they were just compliments and even some love-y types of notes that creep the crap out of me.

"daebak." herin gasped as she read them with me.

"I'm friends with the most popular girl in school!" she jumped around.

"yah! its not even the serious!"

"are you kidding me? do you see the stares? do you hear the compliments? ordinary girl my ass." she snarled.

i laughed, I'm becoming really comfortable with her.

"cmon lets go."

***

we both walked through the halls, and again i got the stares, whispers, and compliments that REALLY get me overwhelmed.

"so how are you best friends with the most popular guys in school?" herin asked me.

i furrowed my brows. "you mean haechan and his friends? i was haechans childhood friend."

she nodded her head while her mouth made an "o" shape.

"they're popular?" i asked.

"oh god, you still got a lot to learn." she laughed.

"well then, tell me everything i need to know."

she ranted on for like 10 years about the problems in the school. the most popular girl is someone named like euni or whatever, haechan and the boys are the most popular boys and they have a table in the cafeteria. there are the football players, dancers, the cutest boys, the prettiest girls, and she even told me some rumors of girls i had no idea who they were.

so much information to receive in 10 minutes.

***

school finally started, classes were great. i got a lot of work done, i barely have homework so far, and dance was really fun. everyone is really welcoming and loving, its kinda creepy, but also nice.

it was now lunch time and i made my way to my locker to get my books for the next class. i saw haechan and the gang from a distance walking towards me.

"you're sitting with us today." haechan said.

"but isn't that like a popular table?" i asked remembering herin's words.

"yes, now you're part of it." he ruffled my hair.

"lets go noona!" jaemin said pushing me by the shoulders.

i laughed and stumbled into the cafeteria where everyones eyes averted to me. there was this one girl that stood out, she gave me the nastiest glare I've seen. it made my spine shiver. i held my head down and followed the boys to their table.

i could hear the comments coming from students.

"how lucky, she gets to sit with them?"

"is she haechans girlfriend?" ew.

"she just comes and she's automatically accepted as the popular girl." okay that hurts.

i sat on the edge next to mark and i took out my little container that had ramen my mom made the night before. we started to eat and chat, you know, the usual. just then, that same girl, the girl who looked like she hated my guts, was coming towards us with a friend.

she was holding an iced coffee in a cup with no lid. as she got closer, her voice became clearer and louder. a few seconds later, she was right next to me, just a few inches apart and she stopped. she glanced at her friend and paused.

then she dumped that ice coffee on my uniform. i gasped in shock of the action and the coldness of the beverage. she and her friend snickered at the sight of me covered in coffee. mark sharply stood up, guessing that he was going to go off on them, but i pulled him down.

"i got this." i whispered.

i stood up calmly.

"what is your name?"

"kim euni."

oh my god, its her, that girl herin was talking about.

i started to talk in english, its become kind of a habit when I'm getting frustrated.

"listen kim euni. im not idiotic. i know you did that on purpose. but why? are you intimidated by me? are you mad at me? do you hate me? you know nothing about me! i have no idea who you are and I've been here for not that long. is that how you treat new students? your friends? this is so mean, disrespectful, and just. plain. spiteful. is that how you would treat your mom? grandmother? aunt? or teacher? if not, then don't do it to others."

they both looked at me with blank expressions. THE CAFETERIA looked at me with blank expressions. i knew mark knew what i was saying, i could see him smiling out of the corner of my eye. i looked at him and smiled.

"dont understand me huh?" i asked.

i repeated the WHOLE thing, but in a different language. chinese.

they both gave me the same stare but with a more nervous intention.

i chuckled, and finally started to speak in korean, adding more to my rant.

"let me tell you honey, you keep this act, and you're going to become a terrible person in the future. and right now, you're already half way there."

i could tell they were scared, someone finally called them out... me.

i took the deepest breath i have ever taken and moved in 2 inches closer to those two girls so they could really hear me.

"now, I'm going to go into the bathroom to fix my uniform. and while I'm in there, maybe you should fix yourself."

those were the last words i said before walking by myself to the bathroom, with pride in my hands. I've been through so many things like that in america, but now I'm in korea. if i didn't let them treat me that way back then...

im not going to let them do it now.