ELEMENTAL ATTRACTION (JENLISA, CHAESOO)

Chapter 1. First impressions

Twenty pairs of eyes were curiously looking at the red-haired girl standing in front of the entire class. A new student in the elite YG high school always sparked interest because everyone was wondering the same thing: "Where will this new student land on the school's social ladder?" Yes, as much as the teacher and parents hated to admit it, the social hierarchy in YG school existed although there weren't any written rules about it. It was simply known and understood by all students that everyone should know his place. The position in the hierarchy depended on many things: looks, school performance, sport achievements, reputation, parents' financial status, etc. It decided where you sat in the cafeteria, who you ate with, which parties you were invited to, sometimes even who you were allowed to talk to. Many realized how sad and pathetic that was, but they were a silent minority. Most students accepted it and actively tried everything in their power to climb that ladder, most often than not unsuccessfully.

Irene, the Student's Council president, was looking at the new girl with a mocking smile. It took her half a second to understand that this girl won't endanger her position on the very peak of the social ladder. She steadily climbed her way to the top through the years. It certainly helped that she was beautiful and had extremely rich parents, but the most important factor was how Irene was able to manage people around her: exploiting their weaknesses and taking advantage of their strengths. Someone once called her "the puppet master" but she didn't like it. Irene preferred to see herself as a chess grandmaster, methodically managing the pieces on the chessboard of life.

If Irene was the master, then Seulgi and Yeri were her assistants. Both were more than happy to be second in the hierarchy and were ready to do everything for Irene. The three were known as the Triangle, the group which basically ruled the school. Of course, there were also other people at the top of the hierarchy like Xiumin, Irene's boyfriend, captain of the football team, Yeri's boyfriend Jimin, the best dancer in school or Seulgi's many boyfriends. Other popular girls were sometimes invited to hang out with them too, like Tzuyu, the beautiful member of Irene's cheerleading team or Jisoo, the school's sports star. But the most important decisions were always made by the Triangle.

"Hi, I'm Park Chaeyoung but everyone calls me Rosé or Chae." the new girl introduced herself. "I like art, alternative music and I love animals. I really care about the environment, it's really important for me. I'm looking forward to getting to know all of you and I hope we'll get along..." she added with a genuinely friendly smile.
Seulgi looked at Yeri and pointed her finger towards her open mouth, making the vomiting face. They both giggled quietly and turned to Irene, who made and L-shaped sign with her hand and whispered "Loser" with her mouth. She even felt slightly sad for the new girl who obviously will be stuck at the very bottom of the social food chain without even knowing it yet. Irene liked to judge people by their first impression because she was rarely wrong. Looking at Rosé she immediately noticed a nice body and a pretty face, but the rest was just awful. The "I'm different" hippie style, cheap clothes, no make-up... But that naive, innocent attitude was the worst, Irene hated it so much. "I bet she's vegetarian too, likes poetry and will probably start a campaign to save some fucking forest or something." Irene thought, suddenly feeling the urge to vomit.
"Welcome Rosé, please sit down." the teacher said. The girl looked briefly at the two empty seats and quickly chose the one next to a beautiful dark-haired girl who was smiling at her reassuringly.
"I'm Jisoo." the brunette whispered simply.
"Nice to meet you." Rosé answered automatically before noticing that the girl next to her looked like a complete opposite of her. "Shit, I should've probably chosen the other seat." - she thought - "but her eyes seemed so friendly..." She took another glance at Jisoo's appearance and noticed stylish make-up, sporty yet elegant outfit, expensive earrings perfectly matching the colors of her clothes... "OK, I admit she looks amazing, but it's totally not my style." Rosé thought. She actually liked sport but really hated the competition and the entire jock culture. "She must think I'm some kind of a weirdo..." she assumed, looking down.
Jisoo didn't think that at all. Being the school's most popular female athlete, she was able to instantly recognize by Rosé's slim figure and sharp movements that she certainly practiced some sport. Sure, Rosé "hippie" look was a little weird, but it didn't bother her at that much. What piqued her interest was how innocent and optimistic the girl sounded. "Her idealism is going to get crushed here." Jisoo thought worriedly, feeling a strong need to help the new girl. "I'll have to protect her, at least a little bit at the beginning." she decided.
"What are you doing? Don't let this loser sit with you." she suddenly heard Seulgi's annoyed whisper. Recently Jisoo was hanging out with Triangle girls. They allowed her to join their group because her sport achievements made her famous at school, she was also very attractive and popular with guys. She was even invited to several exclusive Triangle-organized parties. Jisoo had to admit that belonging to the school's "elite" felt good, it really boosted her confidence when other students looked at her with respect and admiration. However Seulgi's words annoyed her a lot, a brief flash of anger appeared on her face. "Don't call her a loser!" - she had the riposte ready, but she bit her tongue and didn't say anything. "I'm not strong enough to oppose them." she thought sadly. So she just looked back at Seulgi and shrugged as if saying "What do you want me to do now?"
"Hi, I'm new." suddenly the entire class turned back to see another new student enter the classroom. The tall blonde girl was dressed as if she was the leader of a motorcycle gang, but instead of leather pants, she was wearing torn black shorts, revealing extraordinarily long legs. Her make-up was almost too heavy, especially the shadows around her big round brown eyes, which were looking around in a nonchalant manner. She threw her bag on the ground next to the empty seat and dropped on the chair, completely ignoring the curious looks.
"Lisa Manoban, you're late to class on you first day, please don't let it happen again." the new girl didn't even look at the teacher. "Now please come forward and introduce yourself to your classmates."
"Do I have to? You already said my name."
"Well, no, but..."
"Then no." Lisa's voice was like steel.
She glanced to her right and saw a brunette girl staring at her with her mouth slightly open. Her dark, cat-like eyes widened, she was visibly stunned. "Damn, what an... unusually beautiful face." Lisa thought. "Too bad she looks like... like a pastor's daughter." Indeed, her neighbor was dressed very conservatively, her clothes were plain, with toned-down colors, mostly beige.
"What are you looking at?" Lisa asked angrily, she didn't like being stared at.
"Oh, I'm sorry." the brunette looked down, embarrassed. "I've just... never been able to talk to teachers like that." she explained with slight admiration in her voice. "My name is Jennie by the way." she added.
"Well, hello Jennie. Pleasure to meet you." Lisa said mockingly in a fake polite voice. "Could you leave me alone now?"
Jennie nodded and looked away, still visibly flustered. People like Lisa really intimidated her. She was taught to be always polite, always cautious, never to break any rules, never to go out of her safe zone. And yet she couldn't help but admire this renegade attitude. "I wish I could be more like Lisa. Maybe if I we become friends, she could teach me how." for a moment she felt hopeful when this idea came to her mind. "No, someone like her would never want to be friends with a boring nerd like me." she thought with resignation.
Irene was anxiously watching Lisa, feeling a sense of danger rising inside her. She was sure that the new girl would never climb anywhere near the top of the school's social hierarchy, but something else worried her. "A rebel like Lisa, someone who so blatantly doesn't care about any rules, may actually become popular outside our hierarchy and that would be a disaster." she thought, already creating plans in her mind. She made a signal to Seulgi and Yeri.
"My place, 6 pm. Emergency Triangle meeting." she whispered.
She looked at the rebel girl again, not without a hint of admiration in her gaze. She always liked a good challenge and Lisa seemed like a worthy opponent. "We'll have to teach her a lesson so that she understands well that there are some rules that even she can't break. And who makes these rules here." her mind was no longer worried, but excited. A new game of chess has just started.

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A/n: Hi reader! I hope that you liked the first chapter! Please consider voting for your favorite parts as you read, it would really mean a lot to me. Thanks!