THE PERFECT MURDER.

05

WRITING FOR A SCHOOL JOURNAL seems very vintage and old-fashioned, but maybe it's the fact that it is both traits that makes running the school newspaper so exciting. And I'm the only one that does it, it's solely mine and mine alone.

Well of course, good things aren't meant to last in the rollercoaster of life. Mine happens to come in the form of ebony haired 'new kid' who always smells like Armai's Code Colonia. And he walks in just as I begin typing my latest article, adding gasoline to the flame which is our school spirit. The Red and Blue Festival is now only days away.

"Why do you use a typewriter?" Yeonjun leans against the doorway. "Isn't that a bit old school?"

"That's precisely the point, Jim Stark." I tease. "Typewriting makes no room for errors, and forces me to think about my every word. Believe me this is just a drafting process, I'll edit this later and post it in a newspaper format to have it printed by the school, but this typewriter is very key to my journaling success. This antique machine is the sole reason I've been able to keep the club running."

"Oh." He glances around the empty room, taking a brief take-in of the wooden shelves rimming the walls, neatly stacked with articles, newspapers, and other books. Then he looks back at me. "Can I join?"

"Join?" My hands hover over the next key. "You mean join the school paper?"

"Yeah." Yeonjun shrugs. "You're the only one right?"

"Well, yeah but—"

"Cool." Then he steps inside the room, giving himself a short walkthrough tour of the place. "I've always wanted to write for a legitimate newspaper. It's sounds like an interesting experience."

"Yes it is." My hands wrap around the edge of my chair. "Which is why the selection process for being a press writer is very arduous."

He hums, taking out a book to skim through it, clearly unaffected. I clear my throat. "You know, working on this paper takes up a lot of my free time, which is why most people don't bother joining. I stay up pretty late perfecting my articles."

"Mostly I don't do much after school." Yeonjun's eyes meet mine. "I was looking through some of the after school activities they have here at Thistlethorn, this was one of the ones which appealed to me most."

"Lovely." I grumble under my breath, turning back to the typewriter. "And I hope you know that you have to be good at journaling to even have an article published for the paper? The administration goes through it, and if they don't like it, then they won't approve of it."

"I used to do some journaling back at my old school. It was fun, especially considering there was always many stories to write about." Yeonjun places the book back in the shelf. "And I mean this is a writing school, I think I can attest for myself on my writing skills. So don't worry your pretty little head about me ruining the rep of your journaling club. I promise you have nothing to fear."

His confidence is probably what irks me most. The new kid is so sure of himself, I don't even know how to react to it. Mostly, I'm not accustomed to that behavior unless it's from one of the Thistlethorn boys (which includes Lucas Wong's ring of friends) or Kang Seulgi.

Begrudgingly, I finally agree.

"After school." Yeonjun pauses in his ascent out of the room when I speak up. He turns halfway. "Today. I'll show you where all our resources are located."

Then he grins widely, which probably boosts my serotonin levels by the most minute of increments. "You got it boss." Of course, he ruins it by winking at me then dashing out the door.

🥀

LOOKING BACK ON THE MOMENT, it was a success. I hadn't actually thought Mai would've let me join the school paper, but she was actually a lot more easier to convince than I had prepared myself for. Of course, Yuqi was surprised I was able to sway the IT girl as much as I had, but I didn't take the victory as an easy win.

"I mean — that's good!" She takes a bite out of her sandwich. "She at least likes you to some degree, even if it doesn't mean she will tolerate you enough to be her friend. If this is how you wanted to stay untouched at Thistlethorn, I think you got it."

"The real question is; who should I really worry about?" I lean back in my seat. "You told me to stay away from Mai. Most people don't go to her, so I went to her. She's not that awful, so I don't get why people live in intimidation of her. So these rich boys who like to push the weak ones around? Should I really be scared of them? I mean, even they look scared of Mai if she's around...so it seems like this entire school is just afraid of confrontation."

"You should watch out for Lucas Wong." She finally says, entangling both her hands together. "Now he is what I would call a classic bully. His older sister's husband is the dean of this place. So no one tries to do anything against him, he has his own protection."

I scoff. Rich children and their entitlement, it makes me sick.

"Yeah." I laugh, getting up with her. "I think I've dealt my share with bullies and rich children. Pretty sure I can handle him."

"Well," Yuqi's hand wraps around my shoulder, holding me back for a moment. "I wouldn't exactly be too sure of that." She nudges her head to the direction right of me, where I can see Mai herself getting a bag of takeout. Lalisa hands it to her, the interaction is seemingly normal, but it's what Mai does after which makes it odd. Lucas Wong, who stands near the exit of the diner, holds her eyes until she leaves the place. Even a stupid person would be able to sense the tension between the two of them.

"What's their deal?" I ask, tossing the remnants of my empty soda can into the trash. Yuqi shrugs cluelessly.

"I don't know much, but Mai is what you would call a confrontational person. The classic rebel archetype. The kind of things Lucas does? It would seem right up her aisle to mess around with him for it...rough him up a bit. Since she's an IT girl, and sister to the most perfect girl in town, just like him...she's practically unreachable. But yet somehow she hasn't done anything of the sort. Lucas and her have always had that sort of...deadlock."

"Deadlock? You mean to say Miss Perfect's very own La Femme Nikita is at some sort of armistice with Thistlethorn's Damon Salvatore? I mean," I watch Mai exit the restaurant, she leaves in a faster pace than she had been in a couple seconds ago. "what would Lucas and her have over each other? He seems like a pretty all show no tell kind of guy."

"Mai is strange, Yeonjun. But one thing her and him have in common? It's secrets. And just so that it's between you and me," Yuqi inches closer to him, enough so that her voice hangs into a whisper. "I think what they know about each other, it must be big."

"Big enough to ruin both of them."