‘first day of high school…don’t do anything stupid'
Those were the first thoughts that ran through her head, she couldn’t say anything foolish or weak. It had been 5 years since the death of her brother and she had finally got enough courage to go back to school, she had experienced many firsts the past few weeks. The first time she took a shower in who knows how long, first time getting out of her room, first time leaving her diary behind, first time seeing her family.
Oh her family, they all seemed so wary when she finally emerged from her room, but instantly brightened when she finally stuttered out that she wanted to go to school. They already had a school picked out, but they just needed Jieun to co-operate with them. Her mother helped her wash herself, put on makeup, do her hair and of course get dressed. While her father helped her cram since already a week of school has passed by, and everyone might be ahead of her. But Jieun had studied all week, so she was prepared.
Walking down the hallways, she noticed how people stared at her, some with their eyes steely on her, other with gaping mouths. Jieun didn’t feel like she stood out, but maybe her mom shouldn’t have dressed her in all designer clothes for a public school. Just as she was about to hide in the girl’s bathroom, someone tripped her. “Aigoo, the new girl got in the way.” one girl sneered while looking down at the fallen girl. “Omo..what should we do? The rich girl can’t hide behind her mommy and daddy.” another smirked while kneeling to get a better look. “Well, look how pretty your hair is.” she tugged on her hair then pulled out her headband. “I-I” Jieun started trying to get back her accessory back. “You what?” the first girl raised her sharp eyebrows. “my-m-my….uh…um..m-y-y…br-o-th…um my br-ot-he….” she noticed their faces curl into cruel smiles. “The girl’s stupid too, along with ugly!” they laughed as she tried to attempt to relate her feelings. “M-y br-other….he-e-e um…um…it-s…min..e….m-my-y br-othh-er….m-in-e…” she squeaked out trying to stand but was pushed back down. She felt the crowd of students staring at her, pitying her, feeling sorry for her, and doing nothing. She squeezed her eyes shut, she couldn’t do this..they looked at her just like everyone did at the funeral…at home…at school…everywhere..pity but no hope of helping..”please.” she trembled.
Minhyuk was merely on his way to classes – he wanted to get good grades, show his mother that he was a son that she could be proud of. One that would likely follow in his sister’s footsteps of success. Any detours seemed unlikely, however, when he stepped into the hallway that day, his eyes fell onto a crowd of students surrounding around the girl’s bathroom. Being the curious person that he was, he fell into lined, pushing through to the front to get a better look at what was going on. Instead of finding something desirable, he found the opposite – bullies, seemingly finding their target for the year.
Not if he could help it.
Stepping out in to the open, he moved over to the girl on the ground and bent down, hesitantly looking her over, his hand reaching out for her to take. “Are you okay? Take my hand, let’s get you out of here.”
When he stood up, eyes turned to the girls in question, then narrowing at them. His opposite hand that was free was held out toward the one girl, expecting her to react without him having to say anything. When she stood her ground, he spoke up. “Unless you want to get in trouble with the principal, I suggest you hand over what’s not yours.”