𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐌𝐄𝐑 | 𝖫𝖧𝖲

𝐬𝐢𝐱: outcast

as the days went by, i noticed how other students acted when it came to... us.

kyungjun fought himself to the top and was one of those school crushes girls had. jake also got a little bit of popularity, he was handsome too after all.

but our trio was the problem.

the majority of the students didn't draw connections to me and my brother, despite the fact that we had the same surname. i was one of the outcasts along with kazuha and shuhua, simply because we weren't... how would you say it? full koreans. even though i was born here too.

    
i guess the others didn't see me as one of their kind due to the fact that i had international friends. honestly, that behaviour made me sad and feel disappointed. we're no different than them, yet we're treated like the last season's fashion collection.

the two boys also didn't spend much time with us anymore, probably because i told them it'd damage their reputation. thankfully they listened, at least we were able to hangout privately.

it was one of those days where i'd rather walk to school than getting in the car with the others. after all, the school wasn't quite far away and i did lots of hikes in australia.

i'm strong and independent!

"good morning, jieun.", heeseung smiled at me as he stood at the fence. "holy shit.", i gasped and backed off a little.

"were you planning on walking? let me join you!"

"i don't think that's a good idea, heeseung... why don't you join your group instead?", i hesitantly asked him, but he simply shrugged it off and began marching forward. "is everything alright?"

i hummed in response. school was practically draining since the lessons were pretty challenging and the fact that i wasn't treated nicely put the cherry on top of it all.

"you know you can come to me when something is bothering you, right? just like them old times when you needed my back to hide." he patted my head lightly.

to be honest, heeseung underwent a glow-up. he's gotten a lot taller than me, maybe one head and a half. i'd sometimes switch to contact lenses when i knew my glasses would disturb me, but he wore glasses as well, everyday. hee also grew out his hair a bit and styled it, most of the time he went for a side part.

but what i liked the most was his personality, because that hasn't changed a bit. heeseung was still that introverted, reserved guy. the difference was how the others viewed him. back then, he'd be an outcast no one dared to speak with, but in high school? due to the fact that he was in a pretty handsome friend group, people would call him attractive and mysterious. the type who wouldn't tell much about their private life.

eventually, we arrived at school. instead of walking to the classroom with him, i started to keep a distance when we passed the gates. heeseung didn't like it at all and just grabbed my arm.

"hey, let go!", i demanded. "i know what you're trying to do, jieun. don't even think about it." "but i don't have any intention to ruin your reputation!"

"woo jieun, you're coming with me.", heeseung barked and pulled me along. and when the halls were becoming more crowded, he put his arm around my shoulder and pulled me closer to him so i couldn't run away from him.

i was more than embarrassed when we arrived at the classroom together. he didn't even hesitate and followed me to my seat. "see? it wasn't that bad. see you at lunch break.", he smiled and left to get to his own seat.

"what was that?" shuhua broke the silence between us, "weren't you out with jake yesterday? suddenly you're getting along with heeseung again?"

"nothing is going on between me and jake. yesterday, he even told me that he's crushing on someone at this school and wants to put our activities together on hold." he was a great friend, so i couldn't be really mad at him. of course i understood him, which is why i also agreed to stop those little dates.

"how tiring. you were about to date our senior.", zuha sighed, "i wonder who he's crushing on."

"it's absolutely none of our business, so we should just let him be. the more important question is: did anyone of you do the grammar homework?" the three of us broke out in laughter after i asked them. "ji, sometimes you're really really funny.", shuhua replied and fixed my blazer, "that homework was very unnecessary, i only did it partly."

"the teacher cares about us as much as the rest of the students here. i don't even bother picking up my pen.", kazuha commented as she was spinning her pen with her fingers. "i'm also unable to join our little hangout later. dad wants to teach me about finances."

"fine by me. mom wanted to take me out for shopping since an event is coming up on the weekend.", shu replied with a bored look. "so you're leaving me all alone?", i scoffed. both of them nodded with a smile plastered on their face.

"hm, maybe i'll use the time to study then."

———

today, she looked very pretty. i think jieun stole the blazer from her brother, because it looked quite big on her. she also remained the soft waves, even though she had her hair tied up neatly. instead of those contact lenses, she went for her glasses.

i couldn't believe why people would exclude her. maybe because of her visuals? the other students were probably jealous of her, which was why she had to deal with everything on her own.

i wish i could tell her that she could count on me, just like the old days. but jieun had another mindset. she distanced herself from me because in her head, she'd only cause harm when she was near me, but that wasn't true.

jieun made me very happy, only with her presence. yet, i didn't have the courage to tell her yet. but hopefully, she'll find it out by herself eventually.