It was a brand new day and as soon as you arrived at school, you noticed that the students were glued to their phones and tablets, way more than usual. From the moment you walked inside the building, eyes were immediately drawn to you. As you walked through the halls, you noticed people whispering and staring at you; some people were even giving you looks of disgust, girls in particular.
"What's going on here...?" you muttered to yourself as you looked around at the cold eyes.
"Jiyeong!" You heard your name being called from up ahead. The voice belonged to none other but Sumin, who was running up towards you. You were glad to see a friend among the mysterious air that you were feeling so that you could possibly get some answers.
When she was close enough, you could clearly see the concerned look on her features. Seeing that alone just heightened your suspicions.
"Hey, Sumin," you greeted her.
"Jiyeong, we need to talk."
"I was thinking the same thing. I mean, ever since I got here, everyone has been acting weird. I've been getting these nasty looks from just about everyone all of sudden. I washed up really good just like I do every day, so it can't be my hygiene. Do you know what's going on?"
"Come with me, I'll explain to you in private." Sumin grabbed your wrist and started pulling you towards to a place near the janitors closet.
"So, what's going on?"
"Jiyeong," Sumin stopped and looked around to make sure that there was nobody around to hear the conversation, "do you realize that you've been hanging out with Oppa and his friends a lot these days?" Sumin asked.
"Really?" You started to think back on all the past days that you've spent with them so far. "I mean, I guess I have."
"Look, I know that you got here not too long ago and don't know how things are here, but that's not a normal thing for any girl in this building. No girl has been able to constantly spend time with all the members, much less one alone."
"Well, I guess you're right. I've never seen the same girls around them more than once."
"You see what I mean? You hanging out with them practically all the time is not a good look on your part. In fact, there's a rumors going around the school; a lot of people think that you're sleeping around with all of them."
Your eyes widened, "that I'm what?!"
Sumin dug into her bag and took out her phone. She unlocked it, went to IG, and turned the phone over to show you what she pulled up.
At first, your eyes were drawn to the side-by-side picture of you, and what seemed to be a back shot of you and the boys walking somewhere together. "People are taking pictures?" There was also a picture of your face next to the photo to identify who it was in the 1st photo.
"That's not the part you should be worried about," Sumin said.
That was when your eyes wandered down to the caption underneath. "Lee Jiyeong...." Your eyes widened at the contents of the post. You could feel your heart begin to sink after reading it. Well, it at least explained those nasty looks that you were just greeted with earlier. "Who did this?" You looked up to her with hurt eyes.
"I don't know, but whoever did this clearly wanted to stay hidden." Sumin pointed to the accounts profile picture. It was blank.
"And the entire campus has seen this?"
"Most likely. Rumors spread like a wildfire here. Especially, with all these vicious girls around."
You looked down, towards the ground with pursed lips. You felt a bit burdened by the fact that there was actually a rumor about you, being that this was the very first time that you've ever had something like this happen to you before. "Who in the world would make up something like that? Yeah, I've been hanging out with them a lot lately, but they've all been for innocent reasons. Sumin, you and Minji both know that we've just been hanging out."
"Of course, but the rest of the school doesn't know that."
'She's right, just because they know that, doesn't mean anyone else does.' "This is so embarrassing..." Your shoulders fell into a slump. "I know I shouldn't care what certain people think of me, but isn't this too much?"
"Jiyeong, I'm saying this because I really care about you and I don't want to see you hurt because of stupid stuff like this." Sumin placed a hand on your shoulder. "You should really stop hanging out with the guys. At least until the rumor dies down."
"I have to stop hanging out with them?" Your brows creased and your lips came into a frown. "That doesn't seem fair at all." You were starting to get used to their company.
"Trust me, Jiyeong, you need to keep your distance from them for a while. The people--or should I say the girls here--are way more vicious than the rumors that spread. Besides, don't you want this rumor to hurry up and go away?"
You sighed. You would have said no to the idea of staying away, but once you think about it, just about every single girl in your university is after them. Looking at the odds, it's you against about over a large amount of them.
"If you think that's what's best right now...then I guess I'll have to distance myself from them. It's a shame though because I like hanging out with them, y'know." A small smile came to your lips. "They're pretty fun, especially when they're all together."
"Don't worry," she gave you a reassuring smile, "things will get better sooner than you expect them to."
"Yeah," you nodded. "And thanks, Sumin, for being such a great friend." You held out your arms and moved in for a hug."
"Of course!" Sumin, too, moved in for that hug. "That's what friends are for." But on her lips, was the most wicked smirk.
"I was supposed to be tutored by Namjoon for a test later this afternoon, but how about us girls go for some ice cream later--"
Sumin held up her hand. "Thanks, but no thanks, I've got somewhere to be later. I'll see you tomorrow though, Jiyeong. I hope you feel better soon." Sumin, with the whip of her long locks, turned around and left you standing there.
"Okay..."
'That's right, you lying bitch, stay away from my oppa.'
After talking with Sumin, classes seemed like an eternity. In every class that you went to, you found a group, or at least a pair of people, talking about you, laughing about you, or sneering at you with eyes of judgment. The following 2 days were just as bad, but it was a good thing that the weekend was on its way; although, the weekend was short-lived, and you were right back to school Monday morning before you knew it.
"Jiyeong!" You heard a female's voice calling out your name as you walked up the stairs and into the building. When you looked back behind you, you saw Minji jogging her way up the stairs to catch up with you.
"Hey, Minji." You were going for the normal bright smile, but could only manage a weak one instead.
"Hey, how are doing, with all this I mean?" Her voice sounded just as concerned as Sumin's, but more sincere.
Your weak smile just fell into a frown. "So, I take it that you've heard."
"Of course I did. The rumors of this school don't take long to spread. How are you holding up?"
You shook your head. "Not so good. I talked to Sumin before and she told me that it would be best if I avoided the guys until everything dies down."
"She's right, it's better that you keep your distance from them for a while."
"Jieyong! Minji!" Just then, you could hear your names being called. When you turned to look behind you, you saw all the guys strolling up towards you two. From that point on, the whispering and mocking had begun.
You sighed, "Oh no..."
"What're you girls up to?" Jimin waved. The feeling of guilt was present as you just stood there, not saying a thing.
"Just chatting before you came and interrupted," Minji decided to answer.
"Jiyeong, are you okay?" Jimin asked, yet you still kept silent to his question.
Hoseok started snickering, "Jiminie, what did you do to Jiyeong?"
"I didn't do anything!" The flustered look on Jimin's face made you feel more guilty.
"Well, she looks like she's pretty upset with you," he said. "Jiyeong," Hoseok took a few steps closer to you and placed a hand to your shoulder, "tell us what Jimin did to you. We'll ruff him up a bit if that's what you want." But Hoseok hadn't gotten his answer because he was pretty much snubbed as well.
"Ha!" It was Jimin's turn to mock him. "Looks like she doesn't want anything to do with you either."
"Jiyeong, what's going on?" It was Jungkook this time who had stepped forward. His head was tilted in question as he tried to get an answer from you. "You know you can always tell me your problems." He tried to reassure you even more by placing his hand on your head and softly petting you.
The weight of the guilt piled on even more than before since it was Jungkook this time who was trying to get an answer out of you. You were just about to open your mouth and say something to him, but stopped when you heard a few people say:
--"Isn't she that gross bitch, Lee Jiyeong?"
"Ugh, she's so disgusting."
"Do you think she already gave any of our boys a disease, yet?"--
Minji, who was close enough to hear the crude comments, sent sharp glares towards the people who said them. They immediately turned their heads and kept quiet, but even though Minji had shut them up, you had still heard them. Their harsh words pierced your heart.
Unable to stand any more than that, you smacked Jungkook's hand away from your head and turned away. All you managed to squeak out was, "Bye," before grabbing onto Minji's hand and pulling her away from the scene.
"Jiyeong!" Jungkook called you back, but you were already halfway down the hallway.
"Alright, something's definitely up with her," Yoongi said. "She just ignored her best friend, so something must have happened, or is going on that she doesn't want to tell us about."
"I don't know what could be wrong with her," Jungkook said. "Everything seemed okay with her when she came over to my place the other day."
"Well, did anyone see Jiyeong after Jungkook last week?" Yoongi asked.
"Wasn't Namjoon supposed to help Jiyeong with her test?" Jin said, turning everyone's eyes to him.
"Yeah, but Jiyeong texted me that she didn't need the help anymore."
"So, it probably has something to do with you." Yoongi, followed by the rest locked eyes on him.
"Wait, wait, wait," Namjoon put his hands up, "I haven't done nor said anything to make Jiyeong want to ignore us, much less me."
"Then why is she acting so weird?" Jimin put his hand to his chin, trying to think. "Somebody would have had to say something to bother her. Maybe even piss her off." As he said that, all the boys immediately turned to Taehyung.
"Yah, why're you all looking at me?"
"Are you kidding me right now," Jimin started. "You're the only one who gets on Jiyeong's nerves
out of all us."
"That doesn't mean I did or said anything to her recently!" Taehyung protested. "I haven't even seen her since Thursday."
"Taehyung's right," Yoongi concurred. "He hadn't gotten a chance to talk with Jiyeong, because we were all pretty much together after that day for the rest of the week, so he couldn't have said anything to her."
"So what the hell is going on?" All the boys could do for the rest of the day was ponder on about you.