"You little..." Started Jennie as she turned to Lisa sitting next to her, burning flames dancing in her eyes. She violently got up, making the chair she was sat on fall, and that's when the Thai girl got scared.
"Hey, y-you're not going to hit me, are you?" She tried raising her hand in front of her.
"Oh? And give me one single reason why I shouldn't." Icily threatened the brunette.
"Animal cruelty?"
But before she could speak again, cheers rose from the crowd in front of them.
"AND HERE IS OUR FIRST CONTESTANT. IREEEENE BAE!!"
Applause and screams continued for a good minute as her friend walked at the center of the stage. She looked amazing, dressed as Maleficent. Deadly yet beautiful nonetheless.But as she stood there, waiting and smiling at everyone, the announcer seemed confused.
Jennie sucked in a breath, where were the others?
"AHEM. CAN THE NEXT CANDIDATE COME ON STAGE? OR WILL IRENE BE THE ONLY ONE COMPETING?"
"I'll compete!" A voice yelled from the masses and everything went silent.
Jisoo.
Under everyone's shock, the girl elegantly made her way to the stage, calmly pacing herself next to her rival, who looked at her with a mix of anger, jealousy and admiration.
If Irene was beautiful, Jisoo was ethereal.
Dressed up as what looked like an Olympian Goddess, she was simply radiating. Everything, from the gold accessories on her neck and arms, to the silky white dress hugging her waste was putting everyone in trance.
And that's when Jennie felt the danger. Lisa was right, Jisoo could definitely come out of this as the winner. But as time seemed to have stopped, claps suddenly rose up from the public. Loud, way louder than Irene's. This was bad, very bad, and Jennie's nervousness only got worse seeing her friend's expression slowly turning into a murdering one. She was going to make a scene.
"Welp, Game over I guess." She heard Lisa nonchalantly comment.
"Fuck." She internally cursed. She needed to do something. "Come on Jennie, think for God's sake!"
There was a solution. There had to be. Her brain was running fast. This was not the end. Lisa was not going to win this time.
Lisa
She stopped for a second, eyes widening.
What would Manoban do?
And as soon as the question hit her, she finally knew what she had to do.
—————————————
Jisoo was beaming, making a tremendous effort into not looking at Irene's face as she waved at the crowd.
"WELL WELL! ARE MY EYES DECEIVING ME OR IS IT INDEED JISOO KIM STANDING RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME!" Yelled the announcer, who's excitement had finally returned. "WE ALL KNOW SHE'S FRIENDS WITH THE INFAMOUS LISA MANOBAN, IS SHE HERE TO TAKE REVENGE FOR THE LATTER'S DEFEAT DURING THE ELECTIONS?!"
Hysterical screams were now the only think she could hear. She felt light, completely drunken on this feeling of being the center of admiration. God, was that what fame felt like? Because she could definitely get used to it.
And not being able to help herself, she finally and proudly turned to Irene, who looked livid to say the least.
"So," she began for only the other girl to hear. "How does it feel to be the least favorite now-"
But as she ended her sentence, she felt the mass suddenly get silent. It lasted only a second, and Jisoo immediately turned her head back to the front only to see every students looking at the right end of the stage.
"Good evening everyone."
The feminine voice sent shivers to her spine, and she froze right away.
Jennie Kim.
"OOOOOOOOOH! WHAT A HISTORICAL MOMENT WE'RE HAVING, I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS! OUR BELOVED COUNCIL'S EX PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN'S DAUGHTER IS ALSO TAKING PART TO THE HOSTILITIES!"
The announcer now simply just sounded crazy, and the crowd instantly followed his energy as it cheered as loudly as possible. The whole place had turned into a yelling mess to the point where it felt like the ceiling was about to fall down.
A few seconds of pure fiasco passed by and Jennie finally had enough. Clearing her throat, she forcefully tapped her right foot against the stage floor and everyone calmed down right away.
"Thank you everyone." She began, unimpressed. "Now since we are only three, I'm guessing we can already make this voting round the final one?"
She turned to the announcer who only nodded submissively.
"Uhm, yes." He then said, his voice toned down. "Just like every year, the voting urn is standing right on your left. So, I'll ask every students to stand up in line and go write down your favorite costume, we'll proceed to the winner reveal in 30 minutes."
And with that, the public peacefully obeyed as the three candidates where offered a chair for them to wait comfortably.
However, sitting silently next to each other with Jennie in the middle of Jisoo and Irene did not help them feel any less tense, and the latter, not being able to control herself anymore, slightly elbowed her friend.
"Jen," she started with a mix of anger and confusion, "what are you doing here."
"We'll talk about that after Irene. Now is not the moment."
"But-"
"Irene," threatened the brunette. "I said, after."
Widening her eyes, Irene tightened her jaw as she reluctantly looked back in front of her.
Jennie sighed, closing her eyes. Maybe talking in such a harsh manner wasn't the best decision, considering she was the one doing her wrong tonight. But at the same time, she couldn't risk to appear weak or doubtful. Irene needed to understand that, even in this situation, she was still the dominant one. She'll take the time to calm her friend's nerves later.
But as she was about to open her eyes, she suddenly felt elbowed again, at the difference that this time, it came form her right side. Quickly turning her head, she glared at the other girl sitting next to her.
"Uhm." Started Jisoo. "Look, I don't want to sound intrusive or something but-"
"No, I won't tell you the reason for my presence here, if that's what you're about to ask." Cut Jennie, already feeling annoyed. Come on, she thought, only twenty minutes left and she'd be out of here.
"God, I knew it..." She then heard Jisoo complain in a murmur. "What a bitch."
"Excuse me?!" She suddenly rose her voice, her head shooting back at Jisoo.
"What?" The latter answered, trembling. "I'm talking about Lisa, not you, I swear!"
Jennie frowned for a moment, now staring at her questioningly.
"You...Uhm." Stuttered Jisoo, carefully choosing her words. "You were sent by Lisa right?"
"What are you saying?"
"I mean, isn't that clear? She obviously made you participate in order to humiliate me." Replied the raven haired girl, looking a little fed up. "And to think I believed her when she said she wanted me to win...I'm so stupid."
"Jisoo..."
"No but seriously!" She continued, now clearly sounding mad. "Who does she think she is. Is this school just a playground for her? Are we noting more than entertaining pawns?!"
"Jisoo-"
"By the way, she told me you guys were friends. Is that true? Because if it is, you'd better run right now before she pulls any more trick on you-"
"Jisoo Kim!" Jennie finally thundered. "I'm not here because of Manoban's will. I'm actually the last person she'd want to see take part into this competition. So close your mouth for once and sit up straight. "
And not waiting for any response, she turned her head back to the crowd, under the latter's astounded expression.
A few seconds passed then, and as her eyes wandered on the crowd in front of her, she found herself smiling.
"I bet you didn't expect that, right Manoban?" She internally mocked as she now looked at the far end of the gym hall. She couldn't see the Thai girl from where she was, but could definitely guess her state of mind. She vividly remembered the latter choke on her drink as she had suddenly ran to the stage, and that only constituted a pretty big victory on her part.
After painfully long minutes of waiting, the voting process came to an end, and everyone's eyes were now on the announcer.
"Very well." Chanted the latter, visibly excited. "My team and I have finished counting each and every name you slipped into the urn. Now..." He paused, letting the suspense settle among the public.
"On third place, and with 17% of your votes....IRENE BAE!"
Encouraging cheers and applause rose as the girl walked to the center to receive her price. Jennie couldn't see her face but judging by the announcer's terrified expression when he handed her a small rose bouquet, there was no doubt she was more than pissed. And without saying anything, she immediately left the stage, not even sparing the brunette a glance.
Jennie closed her eyes, knowing she'd have some explaining to do. But despite the pain she was feeling for betraying her friend, she couldn't help to let out a relived sigh. Irene coming last was definitely better than her placing second, preventing her from arguing she could have won if Jennie hadn't participated. She could use that as a good excuse later. But before she had time to think further, the announcer loudly cleared his throat.
"Ahem! Well, now that this is out of the way. It's time for me to finally reveal the name of the winner..."
Please.
"Earning half of your votes tonight, I don't think I'd be lying if I say she was definitely your favorite!"
Just say it already.
"Coming first..."
God damnit you sadistic announcer, will you just fucking-
"JENNIE KIM!!!!"
—————————————
22:30
It had been 15 minutes since the winner had been announced and needless was to describe the shameful look Jisoo had on her face when she found Chaeyoung and Mina near the bar.
"Chae..." She started, looking down. "You were right, I shouldn't have-"
"No Jisoo." Suddenly protested her friend as she brought her into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry. You were the one who was right. You stood up for all of us. This was very brave of you and I'm super proud, right Mina?"
"It's true, you really looked magnificent out there. And honestly, if it wasn't for Jennie, I'm sure you would have won."
"Thank you guys." Could only muffle Jisoo as she buried herself further into the hug. Shame had now completely left and she could finally breathe. Maybe, Lisa was right to trick her into this crazy adventure. "Alright, how about we start searching for this satanic Thai girl. I hate to admit it, but I kind of miss her."
"That's a very good idea. Mina told me she had seen her sitting at one of the table near the entrance, let's go."
The Japanese girl was right, Lisa hadn't moved an inch since the beginning of the contest, and Jisoo couldn't help but laugh when she saw her in her costume, with her bottle half emptied and her feet on the table. She didn't look sad or disappointed, but not necessarily thrilled either.
"Yo bitch." She greeted as they sat beside her. "Look at you being all alone, I was almost tempted to throw you a few bucks."
"Well," responded Lisa nonchalantly, "I guess that with the amount I spent on your costume, the gesture would be the least appreciated."
"Awww come on! You said yourself I didn't have to win. And I still beat Irene, didn't I?" Jisoo beamed as she jokingly poked at her friend.
And as she continued to do so, the Thai's serious expression finally left to let a small smile stretch her lips.
"You're right, Chicken." She finally said with a soft tone. "Good job."
This night may have started horribly, and her plans may have failed, but seeing her friend genuinely happy was actually quite comforting and she couldn't help to feel somehow glad that for once, she was the loser in all of this. Yeah, it felt good to be humbled sometimes.
"So, Mina told me you tried to get laid and failed miserably? Please tell me more."
Okay, maybe not that good.
But as she was about to answer, the four girls suddenly heard someone's laugh. And turning their head at the same time, they immediately recognized both figures standing in front of them.
"Seriously? Yeah, please tell us more." Taehyung gently mocked as him and his friend took a sit.
"I'll pass thanks. My therapist told me it was not good to dwell on bad memories."
"You have a therapist?" Suddenly asked the other boy.
"No. But I'm sure he'd say something along those lines." She answered, frowning as she took a full look at him. He was shirtless and his whole body had been painted in green. "Now if you don't mind, besides a cheap cosplay of Hulk, who the fuck are you?"
The boy looked confused for a second.
"What? You don't recognize me? Oh, well I guess you were pretty wasted when we met." He said after a while. "I'm one of Jennie's friends, you can call me Kai. Nice to finally meet you."
—————————————
It took an awful amount of time for Jennie to finally find Irene.
"Ooooh look who's here!" Slurred the latter as she saw her friend approaching her. "Ms. Jennie Kim, the costume queen! The public's favorite student!"
"Was it really a good idea to drink that much?" Simply answered the brunette as she took the smaller girl by the arm and led her to a more secluded area.
"Well, then how am I supposed to have fun? You literally ruined my night."
"Stop being so dramatic for God's sake. See? This is exactly why I decided to participate."
"No, you participated because you wanted to take all the glory to yourself." Accused Irene, which only made Jennie roll her eyes. This girl was so childish sometimes.
"Alright, then explain why I didn't participate last year." She started. And her friend's silence was enough for her to continue. "I don't care about this contest. It's completely beyond me. But what I do care about, is preventing any chaos from happening. Do I have to remind you the mess you caused last year?"
"Okay," retorted Irene, "but I would have won tonight. The only reason why you took the victory is because of your influence! At least admit I was way better dressed than you."
"I'm not even going to deny that." Calmly nodded Jennie. "You had a better costume than I, but you know where the problem lies."
"What? You think this Jisoo girl was better?!"
"She beat you Irene. Doesn't that say enough?"
"You don't know if she would have beaten me on one on one!"
"Please, can you please stop lying to yourself? The crowd's approval was clearly leaning toward her. You heard them cheer." Jennie finally argued, making the Maleficent girl shut up for good this time. Her eyes softened. She didn't want to fight, and deep down, she was sure the girl didn't want that either.
"Listen." She said, comfortingly rubbing her back. "I was only here to settle things down and make sure you wouldn't make a scene. But you said it yourself, people didn't vote for me because of my costume. You and Jisoo stole the show tonight, and you'll still continue to do so if you look past all of this and just try to enjoy your night."
Irene was still silent, but this time it wasn't out of anger. Jennie smiled.
"Plus," she finally murmured mischievously, making the other girl meet her eyes in curiosity. "if you took the chance to forget about it, you might actually end your night pretty well."
"What do you mean?"
"Come on, I saw the way you looked at Jisoo when she came on stage." Jennie rolled her eyes. "Maybe if you'd put aside your anger, you might actually try and get her."
She didn't miss it when Irene's eyes instantly lighted up as she was talking, but before the latter could say anything, they both heard Hwasa's voice behind them.
"Hey girls," she said as her, Jeongyeon and Jimin had joined them. "Is everything alright?"
"I think so?" Jennie answered, looking at Irene nodding. "Yeah, everything is fine. Where is Kai by the way?"
"He and Taehyung went to join Lisa and her group of friends." Answered Hwasa.
"Hey about that-" Started Jeongyeon.
"Wait a second Jeong." Jennie interrupted the short haired girl. "Why did he do that?"
"Your cousin wanted to present him to her. And you know Kai, he wouldn't say no to meeting any girl soo..."
"God, how old is he seriously?" The brunette sighed.
"Well, about that." Spoke up Jeongyeon. "Why don't we join them? I want to meet Lisa too!"
"I'm in." Suddenly joined Irene, who now seemed as happy as ever. "Jisoo is there with them right?"
But before Jennie could say anything, Jimin suddenly stepped in.
"Wait. Are you all serious?" He frowned.
"Yeah why not?" Both girls answered together.
"I mean," started the boy, clearly not at ease with where this conversation was going. "They aren't really..." he struggled to find his words before finally letting it all out. "It's not like they're the most reputable students out there."
"Jimin!" Scolded Hwasa. "Are you seriously implying what I think you're implying?"
"What?" Objected the boy, feeling uncomfortable at the disapproving looks now laid on him. "I mean, isn't it normal to...carefully choose who you're hanging out with?"
"Wow, you sound like my dad." Commented Jeongyeon. "Plus, the parties you throw at your house are literally opened to anyone, how do you explain that?"
"Well, there is a difference between allowing people of all kind in your house and befriend them. I'm not saying they're bad, it's just that-"
"Okay, I won't listen to anymore of this." Finally said Hwasa. "Jennie, say something! I know you're better than that too."
But as she expected her friend to back her up, the brunette slowly lowered her gaze, biting her lips. Every eyes were on her.
Jennie was conflicted. She couldn't be mad at Jimin's sayings, and that simply because a part of her agreed with them. Poor students, rich students...she knew this distinction didn't make sense at its core, but she would be lying if she said they didn't make a top factor into how she chose her acquaintances. Associating yourself with people from good families still had its importance, not matter how outdated that mentality was. Money still ruled the world.
"Jennie..." She heard Hwasa call in a soft tone. "What about Lisa? Isn't she your friend?"
The brunette internally shook her head. Lisa was an exception. An unfortunate one, but still an exception. She couldn't help it if she wasn't able to stay away from the Thai girl. Plus, the latter was probably richer than all of them combined, so it's not like she was completely betraying herself, right?
She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulders. Irene.
"Come on." The girl was dead serious. "Put aside your crappy principles and end this night in a good way. I did it, and so will you."
Jennie widened her eyes, those last words hitting her hard. She blinked multiple times as if waking up from a dream. What was she doing? Irene was right. Why would she even consider all of this now? When all of her views had already been challenged so many times since the beginning of the year?
She chuckled, shaking her head. This made no sense. She was Jennie Kim. She had all the power and right to do anything she wanted, even if that meant breaking some preconceived morals set before her. She was the future after all.
Plus, if she wanted to have Lisa, she was bound to get along with her friends as well, no matter their background.
"You're right," she finally said. "Let's go meet them."