it was finally 5 o'clock. dinner.
hyeju had already had enough of everyone here. the two rich girls that were already gossiping, that one blonde bitch that won't stop looking at her, and that girl that wouldn't stop trying to talk to hyeju and the catty-featured girl she sat next to.
hyeju and the girl were fine sitting in silence together, but the bubbly one wouldn't shut up. she didn't even leave for dinner.
hyeju scanned the people at her table. the catlike girl was next to her, bubbly bitch on her other side, the two brats were past bubbly bitch and the blonde one was directly across from her.
one hell of a table.
hyeju and the quiet girl ate in silence, and hyeju spent the time trying to remember her name. yuji? ryujin?
"hey, you with the cat face. what's your name?"
hyeju looked up to see heejin looking at the girl next to her, while sooyoung stifled a laugh.
the girl seemed surprised by the question, and answered quietly. "it's hyunjin,"
"i didn't hear you."
sooyoung burst into a fit of giggles.
"she said it was hyunjin."
as previously stated, hyeju was already tired of these people. it was probably best just to answer her question so the brat shut up.
heejin turned to face hyeju. "i wasn't asking you, dumbass. i was asking the girl next to you. she can answer herself." heejin turned again, and smiled at hyunjin. "what's your name sweetie"
everyone could see her face turning a deep shade of pink, but she still answered. "it's hyunjin."
heejin leaned back in her chair. "okay thanks."
then her and sooyoung got back to whispering.
hyunjin leaned over to whisper to hyeju, "why do you think they were asking?"
hyeju mentally rolled her eyes. she thought this hyunjin girl wasn't that bothersome, but she might get really annoying if she gets caught up in rich people drama.
"they probably wanna know the names of everyone so they can talk shit about them. that's all they know how to do."
hyunjin's face turned pink again. "why would they talk about me?"
"cause you're the poorest one here. you're perfect bait. keep your head out of your ass and you'll probably be fine."
"oh, ok"
hyunjin looked down at her food again.
hyeju sighed and stood up to throw the rest of her food away. she ate half of her sandwich and two of her blueberries, but she wasn't hungry anyways.
"look who's leaving so early."
it was the rich brats again.
"what do you want heejin."
sooyoung piped up this time, "nothing really, we just found it funny how fast you decided to broadcast the fact that you're an *outcast*" sooyoung shook her hands at the word outcast, causing heejin to laugh.
"we're not in high school. get over yourselves. your money doesn't make you better than me, it just erases you girls' chances at having a decent personality."
heejin chuckled. "look at who that's coming from, your 'personality' doesn't come off as very original either. you resemble an edgy side character from any movie if it was fed to a dog and thrown up."
hyeju examined the room, and made eye contact with the blonde girl again. the fuck does she want?
"i'd rather be the barf of a dog than have to be around either of you two."
hyeju stormed out of the commons. do they really think they're better than me? she felt her emotions collect in her throat. just keep walking. maybe there'll be a closet or something to hide in.
there was not a closet.
hyeju was too deep in her thoughts to notice anyone, and she walked right into another body.
she made eye contact with the person she ran into. immediately she started moving the other way, but the blonde girl grabbed a hold of her wrist and wouldn't let go.
"get the fuck away from me."
"i want to talk to you."
hyeju turned to look at the girl currently trapping her in place. "why the fuck do you think i'd agree to that?"
"my name's chaewon."
"i don't care what your name is, let go of me."
"i know what type of person you are."
"if you pull one of those 'you're such an outcast' jokes i will punch you."
chaewon shook her head and slowly took hyeju's other hand.
she didn't pull away.
"you think everyone that's better than you looks down on you."
"that's just how the world works chaewon, don't say that like i'm the only person that feels that way."
"but that's not how the world works. not everyone looks down on you."
hyeju rolled her eyes. "i'm done with this. stop acting like you care about me."
hyeju pulled her arms away and found her way to her room. she was done with this shit. she went into her bedroom, but it wasn't small enough. she shoved herself in her closet and was comforted by the suffocating feeling.
"what the fuck does she even know. she's just pitying me. she doesn't actually care."
she choked back sobs.
✰ ☾ ✰
that next morning, hyunjin left her room to see yerim and yeojin sitting on the couch.
"good morning! do you wanna get breakfast?" yeojin was already bubbly.
"have you guys not eaten yet?" hyunjin rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up.
"we haven't gotten anything yet, we've been waiting for you and jiwoo."
hyunjin sat on the couch next to yeojin, and noticed yeojin and yerim moving slightly away from each other. "you guys are too nice, maybe we can leave a note for jiwoo or something cause i need to eat."
yeojin nodded and soon enough they were on their way to the commons.
there was a small counter with assorted basic cereals, and some bread, butter and a toaster.
yeojin served herself some cereal while hyunjin grabbed a couple slices of bread.
yeojin looks at her, "are you not gonna toast that?"
"eh, i just like bread. i don't see a difference in whether it's toasted or not."
yeojin shrugged and they sat down with yerim. they started talking about childhood foods but hyunjin's mind was interrupted.
heejin and sooyoung both walked in the commons.
hyunjin's breath caught in her throat. she knows she should hate heejin. she's rich, and annoying, and looks down on her, and would never respect hyunjin.
but that doesn't stop her stomach from fluttering.
hyunjin turned, knowing that seeing heejin would make things worse. "so i guess they don't have coffee."
"there might be some at the shop." yeojin looked up from her cereal.
yerim turned to yeojin, "i haven't seen it yet." and hyunjin shook her head to show she hadn't either.
"i passed by it this morning when wandering around. it contains stuff like board games and tvs to pass the time, a smart play on their part."
"i thought there was a group tv?"
"yeah there is, but they're still selling them in case someone that doesn't need the reward money wants a personal tv."
"we should check it out."
the three of them went back to their room to see if jiwoo was awake yet (she was not) and then followed yeojin to the shop.
everything was so expensive.
"why the hell is this deck of cards 20 dollars-"
"150 bucks for monopoly?"
"guys i found a book that costs 50 bucks."
the girls marveled at the costs of everything, simple things like notebooks and pens were quadrupled in price.
"the only things we were told to pack were clothes and hygiene products, now i see why."
hyunjin sighed, she shouldn't have assumed things like these would be provided.
she knew the reward money was plenty enough for her to buy some things, but she also knew the guilt of buying things she didn't need and not saving the money for her family would kill her.
she turned the corner, debating with herself the things she could get, and came face to face with heejin, who's glare made her weak in the knees.
"get out of my way."
✰ ☾ ✰