"OH MY GOD. OH MY GOODNESS!"
Jieun couldn't read anymore. She threw her phone down on the bed, jumping onto her bed and slamming her face into the sheets.
How did... How did this incident even get leaked? Who was that anonymous caller? Who even had the nerve to spout such horrible lies about her?
Well... the incident did happen. But it was twisted - so twisted that Jieun didn't even know what to do about herself.
"What's wrong, Jieun!" The door of Jieun's room flung open and a tall middle-aged lady barged in, looking anxious and worried. "What's wrong!"
"Nothing, mom." The thing Jieun hated most on earth, other than talking in front of a large crowd, was making her mom worry. Especially after what had happened a year ago... her mom jumped at every single sound she heard. Jieun forced a smile. "It's really nothing."
"Oh, thank GOD. I really thought- Nevermind." Jieun's mom heaved a sigh of relief, checking on Jieun one last time before leaving her room and closing the door behind her.
Ring... Ring...
Jieun's phone rang, snapping her back to reality. Right... the article. Jieun glanced at her phone, expecting the call to be from Yoojung. But instead... it was Taehyung.
Jieun picked up the call. "H-"
"Jieun, are you alright? Oh my goodness, they really did such a horrible thing to you like who even posts such an incident on a public platform like that? And like so many people follow our fansite. Urgh, you really don't deserve this. I bet you didn't even do it like why??? Why would anyone post such a thing without any facts? Literally... a caller without even a name? You must be so upset right now, Jieun... Why aren't you talking, Jieun? Are you crying? Are you really upset? Urgh, those people... Jieun? Jieun??? Hello???"
Taehyung went on a minute long rant like a machine gun, making it impossible for Jieun to respond. Hearing Taehyung speak that fast made Jieun laugh, taking some of her worries off her shoulders temporarily.
"Ah, finally I can hear you. I think the connection wasn't good or something. Basically I was saying that-"
"No, Taehyung!" Jieun laughed again, relieved to hear that Taehyung had complete faith in her. "But thank you."
"Thank me for what?! I'm literally so upset right now." Taehyung exclaimed. "How can you still laugh?!"
"I'm upset too, Taehyung." Jieun bit her lower lip. "But the fact that you have complete faith in me... I'm just so happy. I thought everyone would just assume that I- I really-"
"Really what? Cheated in an exam?" Taehyung laughed. "Come on, that's bullshit. You could never..."
"Well, it ain't completely false... I was involved in such an incident." Jieun admitted.
Momentarily silence.
"But the cheater ain't you, right?"
"Mmhmm."
"Then that's all that matters." Taehyung concluded. "You're a good person, Jieun. I just know you'd never do such a thing. I have faith in you."
Jieun froze. I'm not a good person. "T-thanks, Taehyung. I just thought that once everyone saw the article they would believe everything on there."
"Please, Jieun. I'm sure everyone in the right mind would not believe such rotten lies."
Unfortunately, according to Taehyung's words, everyone wasn't in the right mind.
Jimin and Yoojung had dropped Jieun a call right after Taehyung, both also sounding very worried and also having complete faith in her. But other than them, it seemed like no one else believed in her because the very next morning, all hell broke loose.
Once Jieun reached the school gate in the morning, she got swarmed by a herd of angered self-proclaimed F5 flower fans. They even tried throwing rotten eggs at her and no matter how hard Jieun tried to avoid them, there were simply too many of them.
She gave up and squatted down, covering her head and ears with her hands. She prayed with all her might: Please, God. Please send someone to save me. Even though her ears were covered, she could still clearly hear all the insults people were hurling at her.
"Leave F5, you cheater! You don't deserve to hang out with our F4 angels!"
"I can't believe I was your fan a while ago... You're pretty outside but rotten inside!"
"If you can cheat in an exam... I'm sure you'll have no problem stealing too, huh?"
"You're a witch, I can't believe Jungkook hangs out with someone like you!"
"How did you even get into our school? Did you simply buy the entire school?"
"Lee Jieun, you-"
Suddenly, all the throwing of eggs stopped. A sudden silence fell over the crowd, and the shouting turned into murmuring instead.
Jieun looked up.
There was Jungkook, back facing her, eggshells stuck in his hair and flour all over his uniform. Beside him, stood Yoojung, Jimin and Taehyung, all drenched the same way. They had apparently formed a barrier in front of Jieun, preventing her from getting hit.
The F5 had just stood up for her.
~
"Urgh, my hair still smells of rotten eggs. Why do people even throw eggs anyway. They hurt so bad and they just make the person smell gross."
The five friends were walking from the toilet, their hair all in a mess after their bath and the air around them still smelling vaguely of rotten eggs. Do note that they still looked amazing though - F5's visuals should never be underestimated.
"Um, Taehyung. I believe that's the whole point." Yoojung laughed. "Actually... that was quite fun."
"'You all better not touch her. She's a part of us, and get your facts right before blaming the innocent.' That was pretty cool, Choi Yoojung! Those so-called fans scooted at once!" Jimin laughed, offering Yoojung a high-five.
Yoojung hesitated when she saw that it was Jimin, but she smiled politely and took the high-five anyway. It was an improvement.
Jieun watched as her four best friends laughed and joked about the whole incident. She could have gotten mad that they were taking this matter so lightly, but instead, she was so relieved. And grateful. That they took the seriousness out of the matter and could laugh about it. It made her want to laugh too, and so she did.
And all of them turned to look at her at once.
"Finally you're laughing." Taehyung swung an arm around Jieun. "We were trying so hard."
"I'm just grateful that I have four wonderful friends who believed in me and stood up for me..." Jieun grinned. "-and risked smelling like rotten eggs and also all gave me a phone call yesterday-"
"Oh, so we're automatically friends now?" Jungkook said jokingly.
"Come on, Jungkook. We're pass that stage." Yoojung said as she punched Jungkook in the shoulder. "Speaking of that, Jeon Jungkook. I heard you didn't call Jieun yesterday. What's up with you, huh?"
"Why should I?" Jungkook said nonchalantly.
"Jeon Jungkook, you- Even after that post-"
"What post?"
"I told you yesterday on the phone!" Yoojung whipped out her phone, accessing the fanpage, scrolling frantically, trying to search for that post. "Remember? I told you Jieun was-" Yoojung stopped short. "Wait, where is it?"
The corner of Jungkook's mouth twitched.
"Jeon Jungkook, don't tell me-" Yoojung watched Jungkook's slight grin turn into a huge smile. "Oh my goodness, you did it, didn't you? You hacked into the system and deleted the post."
"What?!" Taehyung snatched over the phone and stared at the fansite, with Jimin and Jieun peaking over his shoulder. "You deleted, what?! You- Oh good grief, you did."
"You- you-" Yoojung was momentarily at a loss of what to say. "You insanely clever genius of a boy! How did you even do it?"
"No biggie - they should be grateful I didn't shut down the whole site once and for all. Anyway, it was way more effective than interrupting the thoughts of a person who needs to calm down by calling them."
Yoojung, Jimin and Taehyung went silent at once, exchanging glances as Jieun stared at Jungkook, completely dumbfounded.
So that was why he didn't call yesterday.
Jieun beamed, turning to look at all of them one by one. "Thank you all for standing up for me, today."
"They misunderstood you, of course we have to protest!" Yoojung said righteously, patting Jieun on the shoulder.
"Aren't you guys gonna ask me about the real story though?"
"Oh, right." Taehyung laughed. "We don't really care, because we all know you didn't do it... You can tell us... but only if you really want to! Most of the time though, letting things out does make you feel better."
So Jieun did.
Turns out... the cheating incident was all her "friend"'s fault. Jieun was a top student in her class and school. Many people were jealous, hence ignoring her, except for a small number, who were simply using her to benefit themselves in their studies.
One time, during an examination, one of her so-called friends begged her to show him her scripf, but Jieun refused. Instead of giving up, he turned around and snatched it by force. When the teacher caught them, that "friend" blamed it all on Jieun. Jieun, told the truth, but no one believed her, since she wasn't well-liked.
That, however, wasn't the reason Jieun had left that school. She was let off with a warning, but the way she was treated by everyone just went downhill from there. She only had one true friend who maintained their friendship. And the psychological trauma of that incident was why she had chosen to transfer schools...
At least, that was what Jieun told them.