"Ouch!"
There was a thump.
Then an odd mixture of suction and vibration as the greenish-black floating hole closes.
The figure on the floor groans, rubbing her butt in pain as she stumbles up and frantically looks behind for the unworldly thing. Alas, all that remains is a blank wall. She exhales shakily as she examines her surroundings, a blank corner and a window overlooking a towering old building.
The girl gasps.
It's fancy. Grand. Ivy-enveloped buildings and luscious grounds - so fancy that its existence as a school is hardly obvious if not for the outpour of uniformed students.
She observes her clothes, a lilac checkered two-piece and matching heels, the coordinated beret strewn on the wooden floor. The same outfit she was wearing yesterday. The girl calms her breathing, thinks hard about what she did last night and draws a blank.
What would I be doing at a high school? Did I get too drunk again?
She sighs, inelegantly swiping the beret off the floor and stuffing it in her pocket, stretching out her stiffness. Her heels clack against the floor as she wanders through the rows of books in the empty library with caution.
A school indeed, she thinks, scrambling for her cell phone and drawing nothing. She curses to herself and proceeds through the next narrow gap of wooden shelves until she winds up next to a cluster of desks. A head snaps up, she freezes, eyes widening in confusion at the familiar face.
Except he's blonde now, donning a...chef uniform? And looks like he's seen a ghost. They stare at each other. His mouth is agape.
"Geum Jin-mi?" She exclaims.
"Min Lila?"
Hijack!
Lila blinks. Shit, here we go again.
Suddenly, she's outside what she assumes to be the school's main building, legs carrying her forward through the doors without her instruction and a coordinated designer handbag in her hand which was never there before. She barely catches a glimpse at her surroundings as her body drags her through a bizarrely grandiose marbled atrium for a school and towards a wooden panelled corridor. And more importantly, to a large crowd of students. Three six-foot-something boys swagger through in a triangular formation whilst girls scream declarations of love and wave tokens of affection in the air and boys cheer with admiration. The lighting shrouding them is borderline blinding.
How ridiculous. Lila squints. It must be the new drama I'm shooting. Where are the cameras?
She narrowly dodges another hoard of people whizzing down the red marble steps towards the towering trio. One figure staggers around with a large box; Lila cringes as they wobble about, shoved from all angles. She gasps in horror with the rest of the crowd as the poor girl flies into the head of the pack, the contents of the box splaying over him and the floor and she ceremoniously lands on top of him, not before accidentally kissing his cheek. The cherry on top of an extraordinary disaster.
That fall looked unrealistic as hell. The director will call cut in a second.
Lila's eyes dart around in confusion as no such thing happens.
"Sorry!" Clumsy girl squeaks.
"Don't touch me."
He scowls, shooting up off the floor.
"I'm really sorry." She squeaks.
"You ruined the art supplies and my school uniform." He sighs, wiping his cheek for effect. "And my face too."
Lila rolls her eyes. Why did Jinmi choose for me to star in this cheese fest? Or rather...the puppet master.
From a distance, Lila wonders why the boy sounds so familiar as he demands. "Are you out of your mind?"
She recognises another voice, possessed by the only girl who stands up for the pitiful one on the floor and lectures him and the leering crowd.
"You think you can do this because you're A3? You guys are no different from the rest of us."
Then she shoulders past the rude man, striding to leave. Everyone watches her in shock.
Lila's eyes widen as the feisty girl marches away from the crowd, towards her direction. "Dan Oh? What on earth are you doing here?"
The girl blinks as her legs drag her straight past.
Something is very wrong here, Lila inhales, about to set after her.
"Min Lila?"
She turns her head, suddenly confused as the three guys walk like royalty stride towards her.
"Oh Namjoo?" She blurts in horror as she observes his paint-splattered uniform. "Wh-"
"What are you doing here?" He asked the question she wanted to. "I thought you were studying in America."
The crowd begin to whisper excitedly. Girls scowled, boys grinned.
She unwillingly giggles. Words tumble out her mouth which aren't really hers, something Lila grew accustomed to. "Clearly not."
"Gosh, has our princess been well?" One of the three boys cooed, ruffling her perfect hair. Lila naturally scowls at his handsome, friendly face.
"I see you're annoying as ever." She scoffs.
He clutches his chest. "Oh, you wound me, Miss Min."
Lila rolls her eyes, her inner self silently freaking out at the stranger's dramatics.
Do I know him? How do I know him?
Her eyes drag to the third, silent figure.
A smirk overtakes her face.
"You're awfully quiet, Baek Kyung. Sad to see an old friend?"
Hijack!
Lila gasped. Suddenly, she's sat at a school desk.
"Midterms are over!" Someone cheers.
Lila blinks as an exam paper she never filled in is swiped off her desk. Shouts of merriment burst around her, but amongst the buzzed energy, she felt slow and nonsensical. She gazes at the unfamiliar school uniform she dons, the emblem reading Seuli High School and the unfamiliar classroom filled with blurs of unfamiliar people.
It's all too overwhelming.
✎✎✎✎✎✎✎
Lila bolts upright as soon as she's awake, panting. Her head throbs as she blinks away the black dots in her vision, frowning with confusion as she feels the crisp, white sheets under her palms. A curtain surrounds her.
"You're awake." A voice exhales with relief.
Lila blinks. Those boys from earlier sat at her bedside. Two wear relieved expressions and the third dons a brooding scowl which suggests he'd rather be anywhere else.
"Namjoo, what happened?" She sighs, massaging her temples. "Where the fuck am I?"
He exchanges a shocked look with the chirpier boy whilst the other simply raises an eyebrow.
"The nurse's office. And did you always speak so brashly?" Namjoo scoffs.
Hijack!
Lila's eyes widen as she notices the sudden green hue, she waits for words to fly out of her mouth without her control.
"Were the A3 worried about me? I'm flattered." She tosses her hair.
The brooding one sneers. "We're only here because Namjoo made us."
Lila internally scowls at his attitude. What was this dickhead's name again?
"Now, now Kyung-ah. We couldn't let our princess wake up alone." The friendlier one chirps.
So that was his name. Kyung.
"Don't go overboard, Lee Dohwa." Namjoo orders, extending his hand for Lila to take to stand up.
And the nice one is called Dohwa.
Dohwa frowns in response, extending his hand as well so it slightly hits Namjoo's out of the way. They glare at each other.
What a pathetic display of masculinity, Lila sighs to herself.
Their two hands remain outstretched as they wait expectantly for her to choose one. Lila's body doesn't force her to choose either, so for her own entertainment, she reaches out to Kyung. He looks up from his phone with surprised disgust.
Hijack!
Lila sighs with frustration. She's suddenly damp with perspiration, in a pleated tennis skirt and sports bra, standing on one side of a tennis court. The ever-serious Baek Kyung thrashes the ball over from the other side of the net. That ghastly green hue overcasts the surroundings again.
Since when did I play tennis? Lila whines to herself as she returns a shot she considers impossible by her own standards.
The battle goes on whilst the spectators gossip among themselves.
"She's good." Shin Saemi comments. "I heard she's been training in America."
Kim Ae-Il pouts. "But not as good as our Kyungie."
Lee Aesam shakes her head profusely. "Never. Baek Kyung, fighting!"
Eun Dan Oh's character chuckles. "Even Baek Kyung's incredible skills are tested by her."
"I wonder why she's back. It better not be because of Namjoo ." Lee Samjin sneers, arms crossed.
Saemi gasps. "Surely not! She'll never have her dirty hands on my Namjoo."
Kim Iljin kisses her teeth. "Maybe she's here for Lee Dohwa?"
There's more outcry.
"She should stay away from our precious A3 altogether." Park Yijin comments.
The magic chime, the blessed sound of the end of the stage sounds and the green tinge disappears. In a flash, Lila is off the court, throwing her racquet to the side and gulping water.
"Hey! I'm not finished!" Kyung barks with displeasure as the crowd murmurs with confusion.
"Well, I am. Later, frownface." She mockingly waves before jetting off towards the main building.
"What the hell is up with her?" Kyung mutters to himself.
status: edited.