It was typical Monday break time in the cafeteria when Ji Eun wound her way between the tables, looking for Suzy. Suzy was the one who told her the location of the cafeteria a few weeks ago.
She tightened her grip on her bento box and her bottled water as her eyes traveled around searching for Suzy.
The sun was somehow unfriendly at this time and it made Ji Eun irritated. Sweats were rolling on her forehead. “Peter Pan’s lost boys…where’s Suzy…” She muttered quietly while frowning.
Ji Eun was so caught up in her own world when a short haired girl accidentally bumped her, making the foods on her tray splattered on Ji Eun’s uniform.
Ji Eun, who’s very uncomfortable at the mean time screamed in shock.
The students near them saw the disaster and also gave these shocked faces.
She tried to be nice and control herself but unfortunately, she didn’t succeed this time.
“Preposterous! What have you done to my clothes?!” Ji Eun shouted, trying to remove some sticky pickles on her blouse.
The short haired girl widened her eyes and started to panic, not knowing what to do.
Because of Ji Eun’s frustration, she opened her bottled water and intentionally spilled it on the girl’s clothes. “What the?!” The girl screamed, trying to clean it with her own hands but of course, it’s no use.
The students started to look where the commotion came from and after a few minutes, they saw the two of them slapping and pulling each other’s hair.
Some tried to stop the two girls but they continued their fight while some of them are taking videos and pictures while some just watched as if they’re just watching another mundane movie.
You stayed like that for minutes when Ji Eun heard a manly voice halted the both of them.
“STOP!”
The students saw anger in the eyes of their PE teacher. They quickly went back to their seats as if they didn’t have an idea about what happened a while ago.
“What’s the genesis of this commotion?!” The teacher said. His brows are furrowed as if he has the power to banish the two girls with food all over their uniforms.
“She threw a food at me!” Ji Eun shouted with anger in her eyes, unaware that what she’s doing right now is not helping her to come back in Fantasia at all.
The girl widened her eyes and looked at the teacher. “It was an accident! She was the one who spilled her wate---“
“No I didn’t!” Ji Eun said and shot her a glare.
Pinching the bridge of his nose, the teacher shouted at them, making the two of them flinched. “Enough! Off to the Guidance office right now!”
~:~
The two girls dwarfed their chair as they uncomfortably look at the guidance counselor.
Ji Eun was somehow confident and there are no signs of fear on her face since she doesn’t even know what’s a guidance office or a guidance counselor.
Mr. Jung observed the two, his elbows resting on the edge of his desk. He clasped his hands with curled eyebrows. The look was powerful as if he could hand out death sentences if he wanted to.
“So ladies…what happened?”
As soon as he finished asking, the girls started to bicker and pointing at each other, looking like children fighting because of a candy.
Mr. Jung heaved his shoulders and stared blankly at the two until they quieted.
“Who started it?” He asked, rubbing his chin.
Ji Eun smirked and crossed her arms above her chest. “That’s easy, she did it.”
The girl widened her eyes. “B—but it’s just an accident. She’s the one who intentionally spilled her water on me.”
Mr. Jung raised his brow and look at Ji Eun who has a blank expression. “Ms. Ji Eun?”
“It was just an accident too.”
The girl scrunched her nose and managed to pull Ji Eun’s hair. “liar,”
“Ms. Chohee!” Mr. Jung shouted, making Chohee flinched on her seat.
Ji Eun fixed her hair and gave Chohee a look as if she’s saying that she won.
“I have made my decision. Chohee, I want to talk to your guardian tomorrow and you, Ms. Ji Eun, will clean your classroom after the dismissal of your class.”
Ji Eun just smiled at his decision and stood up from her seat.
“Mr. Jung! This is unfair! I don’t want my parents to know, this is my first time to go to the guidance office so please give me a chance...” Chohee cried, afraid of the future that lies ahead.
“I have made my decision Chohee.” Mr. Jung said.
“Let me just clean the classroom instead…please.” Chohee begged, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Unfortunately, Mr. Jung just looked at her and waited for her to accept his decision.
Ji Eun rolled her eyes and went out of the room without even bowing or saying goodbye to the guidance counselor. She made her way through the corridors with a straightforward face as if nothing happened. But deep inside, she was thinking that today, she failed to do her mission.
~:~
Meanwhile, the event that happened between Chohee and Ji Eun spread like wild fire in the whole campus. Their school is not that big though that’s why it’s normal for them that all of the students know all the stories that are happening inside their beloved school.
Some boys and girls were surprised to see the video since they know that Ji Eun is a woman with beautiful face features but her attitude in the video their watching somehow disappointed them.
“Eh? Chohee is a nice girl, she can’t do this. Ji Eun looks nice too but I’m not close to her so I don’t even know.” Jei said to her friends. They were freshmen and it astonished them to know that the people they look up to managed to do these kinds of things.
Myungsoo just go out from the restroom when his phone vibrated. He fished it out from his pocket and was surprised to see the video. *Woah, did that just happen? I didn’t know…*
Somehow, as he studied the video, he squinted his eyes to get a better view when he realized that the girl he accompanied to the clinic a few days ago was the one who’s in the video. *Aaah…she really seems childish.*
Right after he thought about that, Ji Eun was walking at the opposite direction. When Myungsoo suddenly saw her, he nervously put back his phone inside his pocket. He looked at her wondering if she will greet him or remember him. Ji Eun sensed his stare so she looked at him. Myungsoo was about to curl up his lips when Ji Eun rolled her eyes and walked pass him as if she owned the path. He cleared his throat, *Does she even remember me? Ahh…weird.*
He didn’t look back and went to his room.
~:~
When dismissal finally came, Suzy was surprised to see Chanyeol waiting for her outside her classroom.
“Eh? Why are you here?” She asked with a bewildered face.
Chanyeol scratched his head. “Picking you up of course, you don’t want to?”
Suzy shook her head vehemently and clasped her hands together. “No! It’s just that you’re always with Minah whenever it’s time for us to go home.”
He just smiled at the mention of his girlfriend’s name. “Ahh…we still haven’t talked yet. She’s absent today.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Ohh so you just came here because she’s absent…”
Chanyeol chuckled and ruffled her hair. “Whatever, let’s go, wait where’s Ji Eun?”
Suzy shrugged. “I have no idea. I didn’t see her at the cafeteria today since I stayed in the classroom to finish my project.”
They walked in silence through the corridors when Chanyeol’s phone vibrated. He took it out from his pocket and realized it’s an MMS from his friend.
“Oh crap,” He muttered as soon as he watched the video.
Suzy looked at him. “What’s the matter?”
He huffed in disbelief and handed his phone to her. When she finally had the chance to look, Suzy widened her eyes. “Oh my. Dancing. Goblins.”
The both of them gave each other this look as if they have the same thought and together, they run towards Ji Eun’s classroom.
Ji Eun just finished cleaning the classroom when she packed her belongings.
Slinging her bag on her shoulders, she strode out of the room only to see Chohee leaning on the wall, waiting for her.
The color of red outlined her eyes telling that she’d cried for the whole day with her additional red face.
Just as she saw Ji Eun stepped out from the door, she approached her.
Ji Eun crossed her arms above her chest. “What’re you doing here?”
Chohee sniffed. “Why did you lie? Can’t you see that my parents will get mad at me when they knew this?”
Ji Eun just gave her a smirk. “Oh I lied? I didn’t know.”
The girl huffed in disbelief at her response, “See? You’re lying again.”
“I don’t care.” Ji Eun replied with a death glare.
“I can’t believe you did that Ji Eun. You’re someone whom I looked up to when it comes to seniors, but not anymore.” Chohee muttered.
“Not anymore,” Ji Eun mocked, giving her a grimace.
Chohee looked at her with intense. “You have no idea what will my parents do to me when they knew this.”
Ji Eun just rolled her eyes. “Good for you,”
Just after she made a reply, she felt a burning slap on her cheeks. It seriously woke her up.
Tears were gushing out from Chohee’s eyes. She can’t believe she slapped Ji Eun but she just can’t stop her anger. “You just ruined my day.”
Chohee walked away without even looking back.
Her last words echoed in Ji Eun’s ears. I mean, this is what she wants anyway, ruining other’s day but when she saw the hurt on Chohee’s eyes, she can’t help but mentally curse herself.
Tears threaten to fall from her eyes when the slap on her cheeks sting when someone called her name.
“Ji Eun!”
She looked to her right and saw Suzy walking towards her with Chanyeol. Both of them wore these worried faces.
She managed to stop from crying when Suzy held her shoulders. “Oh my gosh, does it hurt?”
Suzy saw how red her cheek was but Ji Eun somehow just shrugged. “Nah, I’m alright. Let’s go,”
She walked ahead, not even waiting for Suzy and Chanyeol.
Chanyeol on the other hand, was somehow surprised when he saw how Chohee slapped Ji Eun. As if he really felt that sting even though he’s not the one who’s been slapped. He was speechless and when Ji Eun replied as if she’s not hurt at all. He cursed her in his mind when she denied the hurt even though it’s written all over her face. He knows that behind that strong façade of hers were piles of pain.