"I know, you've been avoiding me too," San told her, crossing his arms in what seems like childish frustration. "I'll have you know that I would have definitely let you destroy Jaerin if Wooyoung wasn't there to stop me. I might have even joined you, I don't like a single word that comes out of her mouth."
Mari punched the boy's shoulder in retaliation, watching him wince at her rather hard hit. "Are you out of your mind? Do you know how pissed off the Underboss would be if you fought that girl? You'd have the worst consequences of anyone in that manor!"
"You're my friend though!" San complained, clearly in opposition to Mari's thoughts. "What type of friend would I be if I just let someone I care about get into a fight by themselves? I'm supposed to help you, even if I get beaten or ridiculed in the process."
The girl rolled her eyes, thoughtlessly waving away the words coming out of his mouth. "San, you have no obligation to help me, you know that right? I don't want you to risk your reputation just because I'm getting into a petty catfight with a girl who can't even hold a knife."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" San questioned, his voice beginning to subconsciously raise due to irritation and desperation. He placed his hands on the girl's shoulders, nearly shaking her aggressively as he tried to get his point across. "Sit there and watch while you fight your subordinates? I'm not gonna let you do things like that alone, I don't care if your father runs the whole damn place or not!"
The entire hallway went silent, only the slight creaking of doors opening and closing, and students muffled chatting in the distance fluttered through the room. Mari's face was etched with pure shock and confusion, slowly processing the words that had come out of the boy's mouth. San seemed to have realized what he said, instinctively covering his mouth with his hands a little too late. "What do... you mean if my father runs the whole place?" She asked him, subconsciously playing dumb yet still hesitant at the same time.
Before San could even reply to her, the teacher's voice rang through their ears. "Choi San? That's you isn't it, I can recognize your voice anywhere. Is everything alright?" The question was followed by the squeaking of a chair and the sound of jingling keys getting closer to them.
"And that's my cue to leave," Mari mumbled, sidestepping away from San and running down the hallway as fast as she could. For a moment any normal bystander might have thought she was running track for how fast she charged off. But she knew if the teacher caught her after whatever Jaerin had told them? She was one hundred percent not going back home at her desired time. And all Mari wanted to do at this point and time was lay down and never get back up.
Plus, she wasn't mentally prepared to officially confront San about her family. He seemed to have pieced the puzzle together but she wasn't ready to see the final product.
Mari had been hiding this little bit of information since she first met the boy. She had continuously lied and excused herself from the topic for so long that telling him the truth felt like a foreign thought in her head. She thought she had built up a sturdy brick to keep him locked out of the truth, but it seemed as though she didn't do as good a job as she had thought. That or San picked up a sledgehammer and finally forced his way through.
She didn't even know if San or the teacher was following her actually, simply letting her feet carry her wherever she felt would be the safest. Where was the safest place for her even? Her home, the manor? She was bound to meet San at one point if she ran in that direction. Mingi's house? It takes too long to sprint, she'd need a car to get there before sundown and she didn't even know how to drive.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," She hissed, skidding to a halt and leaving scuff marks on the ground. She was stuck at a fork in the road, leading down two different hallways Mari had never walked before. Since when was her school this big? Was this what she got for never truly exploring the place in her first year? "This school can't be that big! Just pick a path and run!"
thirty two ▋track star
Start from the beginning
