Minju's POV
"His family went bankrupt and is dirt poor. If he isn't a gold digger, what is he?" A netizen commented.
"He's obviously not good enough" Another one said.
I frowned as I scrolled through the comments on the articles. I sighed as I read them.
How could they say such things?
Malcolm's POV
-Time Skip-
"Yah. Are you going out?" Hyunjin asked as he saw me standing and about to leave.
"Are you crazy? You can't go out. There are reporters everywhere" He said, concerned.
"What can I do? If I skip classes, it'll hurt my grades and cost me my scholarship" I retorted.
"If I don't go to work, then...I won't be able to pay my bills. I have to" I said before walking towards the door.
"Still, I don't think you should go. Don't go" Hyunjin urged.
"Hyung, I have a great idea to get you out of here" Jeongin said and I looked at him as I was eager to hear his idea.
-Time Skip-
We went down altogether wearing hoodies and masks to conceal our identities. We looked at the reporters that were crowding infront of the entrance.
"Okay. We need to lure the reporters to eleven o'clock, so hyung can get to the lecture hall. Got it?" Jeongin explained as we looked at him before nodding.
"Okay. On the cound of three. Jeongin, you go first" Hyunjin said and Jeongin replied by humming.
"One"
"Two"
"Three!" Hyunjin shouted before him and Jeongin started running towards the other side.
"Yah! Hwang Malcolm! Where are you going?!" Hyunjin yelled which caught the attention of the reporters as they looked at a running Jeongin.
Wow. I can't believe it worked
They followed him and I made my escape towards the lecture hall. Hyunjin and I waved at each othet before going to the opposite direction.
Minju's POV
I was about to go out of my room and I peeked outside to see Chaeyeon wearing a suit and pair of shades with a makeshift earpiece.
I looked at her weirdly but I just decided not to question it.
I can't believe she took Han's idea
We walked through the hallway as a person walking by started taking pictures of me but Chaeyeon blocked her with her hand.
Many more came and Chaeyeon had to wrap around her arms around my head to make sure none of them gets a picture of me.
Malcolm's POV
I made it to the lecture hall and removed my mask and pulled off my hood when I entered. I sat down and noticed that the people, who were seating near me, stood up and sat somewhere else. I just sighed and chose to ignore it.
I pulled out my notes and couldn't help but overhear the murmurs and other comments of the other students as they talked about me. I mean, they weren't even hiding it.
I felt my phone vibrate so I took it from my pocket and saw that the professor was calling me.
I quickly left the hall and went to her room. I entered and she told me to sit down so I did.
"Was it you?" She asked as she looked up from what she was doing.
"Wait...you think it was me? I wouldn't do that" I denied.
"I told you to ignore it, didn't I? This is what I was afraid of" She said in a annoyed tone.
"You told me not to tell anyone about Minju. And who would I even have to tell, anyway, professor?" I defended.
"Well, given the situation, that's definitely what anyone in their right mind would think. The things they're saying online are not completely unfounded. A debt collector came to the school. Your family is not normal" She said which kind of stung.
"Why would you believe them, but not me?" I asked.
"Regardless, the school was hurt by this. Someone must take responsibility. I'm asking, just in case. You didn't sell the confidential information about Minju to the press or paparazzi, did you?" She asked and I sighed as I couldn't believe she didn't trust me enough to know I wouldn't.
"Ms. Ji, you know me. How could you even say that?" I asked in low voice.
"If you did, you'd be expelled immediately and held liable in court. It's detrimental for our school's reputation to leak private information. We'll know once we investigate and I'm just giving you a chance before things get any bigger. So act accordingly" She said in a sad tone.
"Why should I take the fall for this? Why? What did I do wrong?" I asked.
"If it's proven that you didn't do nothing wrong, you can return to school later when things quiet down" She replied and I was just left speechless.
Minju's POV
"I'm sorry, Minju" Professor Jieun said and I looked at her.
We were currently in my dorm room as she went here to talk about my current situation.
"We're working with your mother on how to handle this, so don't worry about it" She reassured.
"Do you know how it suddenly got out?" I asked.
"Hmm. I'm sure it was him, but he keeps denying everything" She replied and I became curious.
"Who was it?" I asked eagerly.
"Who else? Malcolm was photographed with you. How else would the paparazzi get a picture of the two of you together?" She explained and I was taken a back by this.
"Wait, what? Malcolm-ah knew about me this whole time?" I asked, confused.
"He found out by chance while helping me a few days ago" She replied and that got me thinking.
"He's my TA, so he's always with me. No matter how careful I was, it was inevitable. That's why I warned him to keep it a secret at all costs" She explained.
"I really don't think he did it" I defended.
"You can never know what someone else is thinking. He and I were the only ones in the whole country who knew that you were here attending our school. Who could have possibly leaked it? Me?" She said and that got me little annoyed.
"There's no proof it wasn't you either" I retorted.
"It wasn't me" She gasped.
"It's definitely not me. This obviously-" She said as she became defensive.
"Please don't speak recklessly until the truth about the story is revealed" I cut her off.
"Okay" She gulped.
I sighed as I could only imagine how Malcolm must be feeling right now.
I'm sorry...
