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SCHOOL GROUNDS
MORNING
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✧──────✦ haneul weaved through the halls to catch up with jaehwa, who was just about to slide open her classroom door. she grabbed the arm that held onto the door and pulled her over to the side by the lockers. "did you hear what happened yesterday?"
"hear what?"
the teen took out her phone and typed in the passcode wrong a few times before finally unlocking it. haneul's fingers tapped through the different apps until she found newtube. at the top of her recommended page, was viral hit's most recent livestream. "did you not watch the stream yesterday?"
jaehwa shook her head, "i was at the arcade for most of the day and was in the middle of running errands when i got the notification. i forgot to watch it when i got home, why?"
the two now had one earphone each and listened to the video. "i challenge you to a fight in one months time." the screen was completely black, and was probably stuffed in his pocket or facing down, so all they could hear were the back and forth voices of hobin and taehoon.
based on what jaehwa had seen, hobin had no reason to be barking so loud when he had no bite. but if he could beat those other guys, he might be able to pull something off. she pulled at the ends of her hair when she remembered that taehoon was a professional fighter and scratched the idea from her mind.
"oh, before i forget, i saw the viral hit members in person the other day." haneul slowly turned towards her with a blank face.
"huh?" she turned her whole body towards jaehwa now. "what? where? when?"
she didn't think it was that big of a deal since it wasn't like they were celebrities, but they were a hot topic now. "the cameraman was recording taehoon beating some thug up. and then hobin came a few minutes later. then the girl from the stream came. then we got caught and jihyeok? is that his name? ended up going to the hospital."
"you got caught? are you okay?" haneul checked her arms, legs, and head for any injuries.
jaehwa pulled her hands off with a small smile. "i'm completely fine, but the other two are probably still sore." her friend was about to reply until the bell interrupted her and they seperated after waving a goodbye and entered their own classrooms.
she entered through the back entrance of her class and walked in to find taehoon with a foot on top of a guy lying on the ground. jaehwa had heard from haneul that whenever he did something like this, he'd quit after he asked for 500 won. her coin purse sat on her desk, so she squeezed past the drama and pulled out a coin.
"taehoon." he turned to look at her and was caught off guard when she flipped a coin to him. jaehwa proceeded to take out her homework that she had yet to finish, and tried to quickly write down the answers before the teacher came.
the teacher finally came into the class a few minutes after the bell and looked to the back of the class. "why are you just standing there, taehoon?" jaehwa was the only one that was brave enough to turn around and look. he was just standing there looking at the coin, while the boy previously on the floor had already taken his seat. before the teacher could ask again, taehoon walked out of the door. him leaving was a regular occurrence, so no one paid anymore attention to it.
once break time rolled around, she got up to head over to haneul's class so they could go get a snack together. the door slid open before she could reach for the handle. jaehwa tried to slide past the person until they put their arm up so she couldn't exit.
jaehwa looked up and saw a guy that she had never seen before. "excuse me," she tried going under his arm, but it kept moving down. across the hall was haneul waving frantically to her with her arms crossed in an 'X.' jaehwa backed off and went to use the other door.
haneul met her at the door. "who was that?"
"there's a girl that claimed you hit her, and that's her boyfriend." jaehwa guessed it was probably about the group that was bullying mina and aera.
"oh i remember that, does he not know what i look like?"
she turned towards her, "you mean you actually hit her?" all haneul got in return was a shrug as jaehwa drank from the water fountain. "that guy is only a grade lower in harassment than taehoon."
"have some faith in me," jaehwa wiped her mouth from the excess water. "he doesn't even recognize me, he probably has an empty shell as a brain."
"who's the empty shell?" she turned to see a guy that looked like the younger brother of the thug earlier that week. haneul pulled on her sleeve, trying to pull her away from potential danger.
his arm creeped around her shoulder. "let's talk outside."
next class was math and she really didn't want to miss it. "i have math next and i really need extra practice, can we do this another time?" she got no answer and was instead pulled away from the now forming crowd.
jaehwa, the guy, and the girlfriend, all stood in the back of the school, this time in a more reclusive spot. "i heard you hit my girl."
she wasn't expecting a slap straight to the cheek right off the bat. jaehwa didn't fall over, but she did stumble a little bit. "i didn't peg you as a girl hitter." she totally did.
he raised his hand to hit the other cheek, but didn't make it farther than a few inches before she kicked him in the stomach and watched him crumble to the ground.
jaehwa didn't understand why guys always thought they had an advantage over girls. especially after the kick she just landed, he couldn't be feeling good. he got up and was now visibly irritated. with a red face, he stalked over to her a little bit quicker and raised his hand again. did this guy never learn?
she dodged the hit and grabbed the back of his neck and lowered his face to slam straight into her knee. just because she was a taekwondo athlete, didn't mean she didn't watch the other martial arts.
she didn't know if doing that was legal or not in a formal match, but it didn't matter right now. jaehwa watched as the blood gushed out of his nose into his mouth and on his clothes.
"can i go back now?" she wiped her hands on her skirt as they were damp from the neck sweat.
jaehwa received no answer and walked to the bathroom. her knee was a little red, but she just put the knee brace back over it like she hadn't seen it. pretending that it didn't exist was the best thing she could do for herself right now. the mirror showed a few scratches on her cheek from the slap. had he never clipped his nails? instead of just rinsing the small beads of red, she decided to stop at the nurses instead. jaehwa had heard the bell a few seconds ago, so if she was late, she may as well take her time.
she dipped her head into the nurses office, "hello?" no one answered, so she helped herself to the first aid kit. treating wounds was one of her specialties after doing it for months after her surgery. ointment, bandaids, and rubbing alcohol. while she looked through the ointments, she found one that claimed to help with scars. jaehwa picked it up and thought that she may as well give it a try since no one was in the office.
jaehwa pulled a chair in front of a small mirror on the desk. the first thing she opened was the rubbing alcohol. once a cotton ball was slightly damp of the solution, she lightly tapped it on her cheek.. once that was finally finished, she unscrewed the cap for the ointment.
the bandage was now situated on her cheek where it had been bleeding the most, and she picked up the ointment that claimed to help with scars. jaehwa gulped at the sight of the scar that seemed puffier than usual.
she propped her leg up onto the chair and squeezed some ointment onto her finger. the package had said to lightly rub it in for three layers and then cover with a bandage or gauze afterwards.
the second layer had just been applied when the curtain covering the beds suddenly slid on the metal rod. jaehwa was like a deer in headlights for a few seconds before she took her leg off of the chair and pushed all of her trash into the bin.
she felt awkward as taehoon stared at her while she struggled to find the gauze. footsteps filled the room and jaehwa thought he was finally leaving, until they walked right next to her and opened a drawer filled with gauze.
he handed her a roll and looked at her knee again. "what's up with the scar?"
"surgery."
"for what?"
she looked at him suspiciously as she wrapped the bandage around her knee, "torn acl." jaehwa put the leftover roll back into the drawer and walked over to the exit.
"you look familiar," taehoon eyed the name tag on her shirt.
jaehwa knew exactly who he was, but decided on just saying, "you too."